Herodian Kingdom of Judea.[4][5][6] He is known for his colossal building projects throughout Judea. Among these works are the rebuilding of the Second Temple in Jerusalem and the expansion of its base[7][8][9]—the Western Wall being part of it. Vital details of his life are recorded in the works of the 1st century CE Roman–Jewish historian Josephus.[10]
Herod also appears in the Christian
birth of Jesus, although most Herod biographers do not believe that this event occurred, primarily because he died four years prior to the birth of Jesus (subsequent references to "Herod" in the New Testament relating to the Roman-appointed Galilean ruler Herod Antipas).[11] Despite his successes, including single-handedly forging a new aristocracy from practically nothing,[12] he has still been criticized by various historians. His reign polarizes opinion among historians, some viewing his legacy as evidence of success, and some viewing it as a reminder of his tyrannical rule.[10]
While Herod the Great is described in the Christian Bible as the author of the Massacre of the Innocents, the remainder of the Biblical references to the "two Herods of the Bible" are all ascribed to
Arab on both sides of his family.[15] According to Josephus, Herod was a descendant of Eleazar Maccabeus (Auran) of the Hasmoneans.[24]
Herod rose to power largely through his father's good relations with the
Coelesyria and Samaria, greatly expanding his realm of influence.[29] He enjoyed the backing of Rome, but the Sanhedrin condemned his brutality.[3] When yet a private man, Herod had determined to punish Hyrcanus
the Hasmonean king, who had once summoned Herod to stand trial for murder, but Herod was restrained from doing so by the intervention of his father and his elder brother.
In 41 BCE, the Roman leader
consulship of Calvinus and Pollio (40 BCE), but Appian places it in 39 BCE.[1] Herod went back to Judea to win his kingdom from Antigonus. Toward the end of the campaign against Antigonus, Herod married the granddaughter of Hyrcanus II, Mariamne (known as Mariamne I), who was also a niece of Antigonus. Herod did this in an attempt to secure his claim to the throne and gain some Jewish favor. However, Herod already had a wife, Doris, and a young son, Antipater
, and chose therefore to banish Doris and her child.
Herod and Sosius, the governor of Syria, at the behest of
Agrippa and Gallus (37 BCE), but also says that it was exactly 27 years after Jerusalem fell to Pompey, which would indicate 36 BCE. Cassius Dio also reports that in 37 "the Romans accomplished nothing worthy of note" in the area.[33]
According to Josephus, Herod ruled for 37 years, 34 of them after capturing Jerusalem.
As some believe Herod's family were converts to Judaism, his religious commitment was questioned by some elements of Jewish society.
circumcised,[35] and many intermarried with the Jews and adopted their customs.[2] While Herod publicly identified himself as a Jew and was considered as such by some,[36] this religious identification was undermined by the decadent lifestyle of the Herodians, which would have earned them the antipathy of observant Jews.[37]
Herod later executed several members of his own family, including his wife Mariamne I.[18]
Reign in Judea
Herodian Kingdom of Judea at its greatest extent.
Herod's rule marked a new beginning in the history of Judea. Judea had been ruled autonomously by the Hasmonean kings from 140 until 63 BCE. The Hasmonean kings retained their titles, but became clients of Rome after the conquest by Pompey in 63 BCE. Herod overthrew the Hasmonean Antigonus in a three-year-long war between 37 and 34 BCE, ruled under Roman overlordship until his death c. 4 BCE, and officially passed on the throne to his sons, thus establishing his own, so-called Herodian dynasty.
Copper coin of Herod, bearing the legend "ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΗΡΩΔΟΥ" ("Basileōs Hērōdou") on the obverse.
Herod was granted the title of "King of Judea" by the Roman Senate.[38] As such, he was a vassal of the Roman Empire, expected to support the interests of his Roman patrons. Nonetheless, just when Herod obtained leadership in Judea, his rule faced two threats. The first threat came from his mother-in-law Alexandra, who sought to regain power for her family, the Hasmoneans,[39] whose dynasty Herod had overthrown in 37 BCE (see Siege of Jerusalem).[40] In the same year, Cleopatra married the Roman leader Antony.[41] Recognizing Cleopatra's influence over Antony, Alexandra asked Cleopatra for aid in making Aristobulus III the High Priest.[39] As a member of the Hasmonean family, Aristobulus III might partially repair the fortunes of the Hasmoneans if made High Priest.[39] Alexandra's request was made, but Cleopatra urged Alexandra to leave Judea with Aristobulus III and visit Antony.[42] Herod received word of this plot, and feared that if Antony met Aristobolus III in person he might name Aristobulus III King of Judea.[42] This concern induced Herod, in 35 BCE, to order the assassination of Aristobulus, ending this first threat to Herod's throne.[43] The marriage of 37 BCE also sparked a power struggle between Roman leaders Octavian, who would later be called Augustus, and Antony.[41] Herod, owing his throne to Rome, had to pick a side, and he chose Antony.[44] In 31 at Actium, Antony lost to Octavian, posing a second threat to Herod's rule.[45] Herod had to regain Octavian's support if he was to keep his throne.[44] At Rhodes in 31 BCE, Herod, through his ability to keep Judea open to Rome as a link to the wealth of Syria and Egypt, and ability to defend the frontier, convinced Octavian that he would be loyal to him.[46] Herod continued to rule his subjects as he saw fit. Despite the autonomy afforded to Herod in his internal reign over Judea, restrictions were placed upon him in his relations with other kingdoms.[44]
Herod's support from the
Jewish Antiquities, Josephus emphasizes the tyrannical authority that many scholars have come to associate with Herod's reign.[47]
Herod's despotic rule has been demonstrated by many of his security measures aimed at suppressing the contempt his people, especially Jews, had towards him. For instance, it has been suggested that Herod used secret police to monitor and report the feelings of the general populace toward him. He sought to prohibit protests, and had opponents removed by force.
. The expansion of the Temple was Herod's most ambitious project.
Herod undertook many colossal building projects. Around 19 BCE, he began a massive expansion project on the
hydraulic cement and underwater construction to build the harbor at Caesarea Maritima.[47] While Herod's zeal for building transformed Judea, his motives were not selfless. Although he built fortresses (Masada, Herodium, Alexandrium, Hyrcania, and Machaerus) in which he and his family could take refuge in case of insurrection, these vast projects were also intended to gain the support of the Jews and improve his reputation as a leader.[49] Herod also built Sebaste and other pagan cities because he wanted to appeal to the country's substantial pagan population.[47] In order to fund these projects, Herod utilized a Hasmonean taxation system that heavily burdened the Judean people. Nevertheless, these enterprises brought employment and opportunities for the people's provision.[50] In some instances, Herod took it upon himself to provide for his people in times of need, such as during a severe famine that occurred in 25 BCE.[51]
Although he made many attempts at conforming to traditional Jewish laws, there were more instances where Herod was insensitive, which constitutes one of the major Jewish complaints of Herod as highlighted in Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews. In Jerusalem, Herod introduced foreign forms of entertainment, and erected a golden eagle at the entrance of the Temple,[52] which suggested a greater interest in the welfare of Rome than of Jews.[50] Herod's taxes garnered a bad reputation: his constant concern for his reputation led him to make frequent, expensive gifts, increasingly emptying the kingdom's coffers, and such lavish spending upset his Jewish subjects.[49] The two major Jewish sects of the day, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, both showed opposition to Herod. The Pharisees were discontented because Herod disregarded many of their demands with respect to the Temple's construction. The Sadducees, who were closely associated with priestly responsibilities in the Temple, opposed Herod because he replaced their high priests with outsiders from Babylonia and Alexandria, in an effort to gain support from the Jewish Diaspora.[53] Herod's outreach efforts gained him little, and at the end of his reign anger and dissatisfaction were common amongst Jews. Heavy outbreaks of violence and riots followed Herod's death in many cities, including Jerusalem, as pent-up resentments boiled over. The scope of the disturbances sparked hopes that the Jews of Judea might some day overthrow the Roman overlords, hopes reawakened decades later in the outbreak of the First Jewish–Roman War in 66 CE.[49]
Herod and Augustus
The relationship between Herod and Augustus demonstrates the fragile politics of a deified Emperor and a King who ruled over the Jewish people and their holy lands. As they interacted, Herod's desire to satisfy both the Jewish and non-Jewish people of his kingdom had to be balanced with satisfying Augustus' aim to spread the culture, architecture and values of Rome throughout his empire. The sway of Augustus and the Roman Empire on the policy led to the use of Romanized construction throughout Herod's Kingdom. An example of Herod's architectural expansion of Judea in devotion to Rome can be seen with the third temple he commissioned, the Augusteum, a temple dedicated to Augustus.[54]
Herod's most famous and ambitious project was the expansion of the Second Temple in Jerusalem which was undertaken so that he would "have a capital city worthy of his dignity and grandeur", and with this reconstruction Herod hoped to gain more support from the Jews.[44] Recent findings suggest that the Temple Mount walls and Robinson's Arch may not have been completed until at least 20 years after his death, during the reign of Herod Agrippa II.[55]
In the 18th year of his reign (20–19 BCE), Herod rebuilt the Temple on "a more magnificent scale".
Herod's Temple. Today, only the four retaining walls remain standing, including the Western Wall
. These walls created a flat platform (the Temple Mount) upon which the Temple was then constructed.
Herod's other achievements include the development of water supplies for Jerusalem, building fortresses such as Masada and Herodium, and founding new cities such as Caesarea Maritima and the enclosures of Cave of the Patriarchs and Mamre in Hebron. He and Cleopatra owned a monopoly over the extraction of asphalt from the Dead Sea, which was used in shipbuilding. He leased copper mines on Cyprus from the Roman emperor.
Massacre of the Innocents, 10th century depiction. Herod on the left.Members of the Herodian dynasty mentioned in the New Testament
Herod's reign over Judea is recorded in the Gospel of Matthew,[58] which describes an event known as the Massacre of the Innocents. According to this account, after the birth of Jesus, a group of magi from the East visited Herod to inquire the whereabouts of "the one having been born king of the Jews", because they had seen his star in the east (or, according to certain translations, at its rising) and therefore wanted to pay him homage. Herod, as King of the Jews, was alarmed at the prospect of a usurper. Herod assembled the chief priests and scribes of the people and asked them where the "Anointed One" (the Messiah, Greek: Ὁ Χριστός, ho Christos) was to be born. They answered, in Bethlehem, citing Micah 5:2. Herod therefore sent the magi to Bethlehem, instructing them to search for the child and, after they had found him, to "report to me, so that I too may go and worship him". However, after they had found Jesus, they were warned in a dream not to report back to Herod. Similarly, Joseph was warned in a dream that Herod intended to kill Jesus, so he and his family fled to Egypt. When Herod realized he had been outwitted, he gave orders to kill all boys of the age of two and under in Bethlehem and its vicinity. Joseph and his family stayed in Egypt until Herod's death, then moved to Nazareth in Galilee to avoid living under Herod's son Archelaus.
Most modern biographers of Herod, and some biblical scholars, dismiss Matthew's story as a literary device.[11] Contemporary non-biblical sources, including Josephus and the surviving writings of Nicolaus of Damascus (who knew Herod personally), provide no corroboration for Matthew's account of the massacre,[59] and it is not mentioned in the Gospel of Luke. Classical historian Michael Grant states "[t]he tale is not history but myth or folk-lore",[60] while Peter Richardson notes that the story's absence from the Gospel of Luke and the accounts of Josephus "work[s] against the account's accuracy".[61] Richardson suggests that the event in Matthew's gospel was inspired by Herod's murder of his own sons.[62]Jodi Magness has said that "many scholars believe that the massacre of the innocents never occurred, but instead was inspired by Herod's reputation".[63] Others, such as Paul Maier, suggest that since Bethlehem was a smaller town, the slaughter of about a half dozen children would not have warranted a mention from Josephus.[11]
Herod died in Jericho,[20] after an excruciatingly painful, putrefying illness of uncertain cause, known to posterity as "Herod's Evil".[b][65][66] Josephus states that the pain of his illness led Herod to attempt suicide by stabbing, and that the attempt was thwarted by his cousin.[67] In some much later narratives and depictions, the attempt succeeds; for example, in the 12th-century Eadwine Psalter.[68] Other medieval dramatizations, such as the Ordo Rachelis, follow Josephus' account.[69]
Josephus stated that Herod was so concerned that no one would mourn his death that he commanded a large group of distinguished men to come to Jericho, and he gave an order that they should be killed at the time of his death so that the displays of grief that he craved would take place;[70] his brother in law Alexas and his sister Salome did not carry out this wish.[71]
Dating
Most scholarship concerning the date of Herod's death follows Emil Schürer's calculations, which suggest that the date was in or around 4 BCE; this is three years earlier than the previous consensus and tradition (1 BCE).[72][73][14][74][75][76]
Two of Herod's sons, Archelaus and Philip the Tetrarch, dated their rule from 4 BCE,[77] though Archelaus apparently held royal authority during Herod's lifetime.[78] Philip's reign would last for 37 years, until his death in the 20th year of Tiberius (34 CE), which implies his accession as 4 BCE.[79]
Some scholars support the traditional date of 1 BCE for Herod's death.[80][81][82][83]
Yet others support 1 CE for the probable date of Herod's death.[84][85]
Filmer and Steinmann, for example, propose that Herod died in 1 BCE, and that his heirs backdated their reigns to 4 or 3 BCE to assert an overlapping with Herod's rule, and bolster their own legitimacy.[1][14][86][73]
In Josephus' account, Herod's death was preceded by first a Jewish fast day (10 Tevet 3761/Sun 24 Dec 1 BCE), a lunar eclipse (29 Dec 1 BCE) and followed by Passover (27 March 1 CE).[87] Objections to the 4 BCE date include the assertion that there was not nearly enough time between the eclipse on March 13 and Passover on April 10 for the recorded events surrounding Herod's death to have taken place.[86][88][73]
In 66 CE, Eleazar ben Hanania compiled the Megillat Taanit, which contains two unattributed entries for cause of festivity: 7 Kislev and 2 Shevat. A later Scholion (commentary) on the Megillat Taanit attributes the 7 Kislev festivity to king Herod the Great's death (no year is mentioned).[89] Some scholars ignore the Scholion and attribute the 2 Shevat date instead to Herod's death.
Successors
Augustus respected the terms of Herod's will, which stipulated the division of Herod's kingdom among three of his sons.
, read the writings of Josephus and focused his search on the vicinity of the pool and its surroundings. An article in the New York Times states,
Lower Herodium consists of the remains of a large palace, a race track, service quarters, and a monumental building whose function is still a mystery. Perhaps, says Ehud Netzer, who excavated the site, it is Herod's
archaeologists of Hebrew University, led by Netzer, announced they had discovered the tomb.[97][98][99][100] The site is located at the exact location given by Josephus, atop tunnels and water pools, at a flattened desert site, halfway up the hill to Herodium, 12 km (7.5 mi) south of Jerusalem.[101] The tomb contained a broken sarcophagus
but no remains of a body.
Not all scholars agree with Netzer: in an article for the
Palestine Exploration Quarterly, archaeologist David Jacobson (University of Oxford) wrote that "these finds are not conclusive on their own and they also raise new questions."[102] In October 2013, archaeologists Joseph Patrich and Benjamin Arubas also challenged the identification of the tomb as that of Herod. According to Patrich and Arubas, the tomb is too modest to be Herod's and has several unlikely features. Roi Porat, who replaced Netzer as excavation leader after the latter's death, stood by the identification.[103]
Macrobius (c. 400 CE), one of the last pagan writers in Rome, in his book Saturnalia, wrote: "When it was heard that, as part of the slaughter of boys up to two years old, Herod, king of the Jews, had ordered his own son to be killed, he [the Emperor Augustus] remarked, 'It is better to be Herod's pig [Gr. hys] than his son' [Gr. hyios]". This was a reference of how Herod, as a Jew, would not kill pigs, but had three of his sons, and many others, killed.[105]
According to contemporary historians, Herod the Great "is perhaps the only figure in ancient Jewish history who has been loathed equally by Jewish and Christian posterity",[10] depicted both by Jews and Christians as a tyrant and bloodthirsty ruler.[10] The study of Herod's reign includes polarizing opinions on the man himself. Modern critics have described him as "the evil genius of the Judean nation",[106] and as one who would be "prepared to commit any crime in order to gratify his unbounded ambition."[107] His extraordinary spending spree is cited as one of the causes of the serious impoverishment of the people he ruled, adding to the opinion that his reign was exclusively negative.[108]
Herod's religious policies gained a mixed response from the Jewish populace. Although Herod considered himself king of the Jews, he let it be known that he also represented the non-Jews living in Judea, building temples for other religions outside of the Jewish areas of his kingdom. Many Jews questioned the authenticity of Herod's Judaism on account of his
Idumean background and his infamous murders of members of his family. However, he generally respected traditional Jewish observances in his public life. For instance, he minted coins without human images to be used in Jewish areas and acknowledged the sanctity of the Second Temple by employing priests as artisans in its construction.[109]
Along with holding some respect for the Jewish culture in his public life, there is also evidence of Herod's sensitivity toward Jewish traditions in his private life: around 40 ritual baths or mikvehs were found in several of his palaces.[110] These mikvehs were known for being used during this time in Jewish purity rituals in which Jewish people could submerge themselves and purify their bodies without the presence of a priest.[111] There is some speculation as to whether or not these baths were actual mikvehs as they have also been identified as stepped frigidaria or Roman cold-water baths; however, several historians have identified these baths as a combination of both types.[112] While it has been proven that Herod showed a great amount of disrespect toward the Jewish religion, scholar Eyal Regev suggests that the presence of these ritual baths shows that Herod found ritual purity important enough in his private life to place a large number of these baths in his palaces despite his several connections to gentiles and pagan cults.[112] These baths also show, Regev continues, that the combination of the Roman frigidaria and the Jewish mikvehs suggests that Herod sought some type of combination between the Roman and Jewish cultures, as he enjoyed the purity of Jewish tradition and the comfort of Roman luxury simultaneously.[113]
However, he was also praised for his work, being considered the greatest builder in Jewish history,[citation needed] and one who "knew his place and followed [the] rules."[114] What is left of his building ventures are now popular tourist attractions in the Middle East.[115]
begins. After the conquest of Jerusalem and victory over Antigonus, Mark Antony executes him.
36 BCE – Herod makes his 17-year-old brother-in-law
Aristobulus III
high priest, fearing that the Jews would appoint him as King of the Jews in his place.
35 BCE – Aristobulus III is drowned at a party on Herod's orders.
32 BCE – The
Nabatean
war begins, with victory one year later.
31 BCE – Judea suffers a devastating earthquake. Octavian defeats Mark Antony, and Herod switches allegiances to him.
30 BCE – Herod is shown great favor by Octavian, who confirms him as King of Judea at Rhodes.
Bronze coin of Herod minted at Samaria
29 BCE – According to Josephus, amid Herod's great passion and jealousy concerning his wife Mariamne I, she learns of Herod's plans to murder her and stops sleeping with him. Herod charges her with adultery and puts her on trial. His sister Salome I is the primary witness against her. Mariamne's mother Alexandra makes an appearance to further incriminate her daughter. Historians speculate that Alexandra was next on Herod's list to be executed, and she only did this to save her own life. Mariamne is executed, and Alexandra declares herself Queen, stating that Herod was mentally unfit to serve. Josephus states that this is a strategic mistake, and Herod executes her without a trial.
28 BCE – Herod executes his brother-in-law Kostobar,[116] husband of Salome and father to Berenice, for conspiracy. There is a large festival in Jerusalem, as Herod had built a theater and an amphitheater.
27 BCE – An assassination attempt on Herod is foiled. To honor now-Emperor Augustus, Herod rebuilt Samaria, and renames it Sebaste.
25 BCE – Herod imports grain from Egypt and starts an aid program to combat widespread hunger and disease following a massive drought. He also waives a third of taxes due. He begins construction on Caesarea Maritima and its adjoining harbor.
23 BCE – Herod builds a palace in Jerusalem as well as the Herodion fortress. He marries his third wife
Mariamne II, the daughter of the priest Simon Boethus. Immediately, Herodes deprives Jesus, son of Fabus of the high priesthood, and confers that dignity on Simon instead.[117]
22 BCE – Augustus grants Herod the regions of Trachonitis, Batanaea, and Auranitis in the northeast.
c. 18 BCE – Herod traveled to Rome for the second time.
14 BCE – Herod supports the Jews in Anatolia and Cyrene. Owing to prosperity in Judea, he waives a quarter of taxes due.
13 BCE – Herod makes his first-born son Antipater, by Doris, first heir in his will.
12 BCE – Herod suspects his sons Alexander and Aristobulus, from his marriage to Mariamne, of threatening his life. He takes them to Aquileia to be put on trial. Augustus ultimately reconciles the three. Herod supports the financially strapped Olympic Games and ensures their future. He amends his will so that Alexander and Aristobulus rise in the succession plans, but Antipater remains the primary heir.
c. 10 BCE – The newly expanded temple in Jerusalem is inaugurated. War breaks out against the Nabateans.
9 BCE – Caesarea Maritima is inaugurated. Owing to the course of the Nabatean war, Herod falls out of favor with Augustus. He again suspects Alexander of plotting to kill him.
8 BCE – Herod accuses his sons Alexander and Aristobulus of high treason. He reconciles with Augustus, who also gives him permission to prosecute his sons.
7 BCE – Court hearings take place in Beirut in front of a Roman court. Alexander and Aristobulus are found guilty and executed. The succession is amended such that that Antipater becomes the exclusive successor to the throne. Herod Philip, his son by Mariamne II, is now second in the line of succession.[clarification needed]
6 BCE – Herod takes action against the
Pharisees
.
5 BCE – Antipater is brought before a court, charged with plotting to murder Herod. Now seriously ill, Herod names his son Herod Antipas from his fourth marriage with Malthace as successor.
4 BCE – Young disciples of the Pharisees smash the golden eagle over the main entrance of the Temple after their teachers label it as an idolatrous symbol. Herod arrests them, brings them to court, and sentences them. Augustus approves the death penalty for Antipater. Herod executes his son, and changes his will again: now
toparchy
in the Gaza region. As Augustus did not confirm this revision, no one receives the title of King. However, the three sons were ultimately granted rule of the stated territories.
It is very probable that Herod had more children, especially with the last wives, and also that he had more daughters, as female births at that time were often not recorded. As polygamy (the practice of having multiple wives at once) was then permitted under Jewish law, Herod's later marriages were almost certainly polygamous.[118]
Family trees
In part based on the tree of Rick Swartzentrover.[α]
^ abHerod I at Jewish Encyclopedia: "He was of commanding presence; he excelled in physical exercises; he was a skillful diplomatist; and, above all, he was prepared to commit any crime in order to gratify his unbounded ambition."
^Peters, Francis E. (2005). The Monotheists: Jews, Christians, and Muslims in Conflict and Competition, Volume II: The Words and Will of God The Words And Will of God. Princeton University Press.
^Kasher, Aryeh; Witztum, Eliezer (2007). King Herod: a persecuted persecutor : a case study in psychohistory and psychobiography. Translation by Karen Gold. Walter de Gruyter.
Herod the Great rebuilt the Temple sanctuary and expanded the Temple Mount at its north side around the older Temple courts, and "enclosed an area double the former size." Formerly, according to the Mishnah (Middot 2:1), the Temple Mount had measured 500 cubits x 500 cubits square, and its expansion was done to accommodate the pilgrims.
^Josephus, Flavius. Antiquities of the Jews (Loeb ed.). pp. Antiquity of the Jews Book XII/Chapter 9/Section 4, Book XII/Chapter 10/Section 6, Book XIII/Chapter 5/Section 8, Book XIV/Chapter 1/Section 3.
^Schürer, Emil, T. Alec. Burkill, Geza Vermes, and Fergus Millar. The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ (175 B.C.–A.D. 135). Edinburgh: Clark, 1973. pp. 270–275.
^The Jewish War, 1.14.4: "[Mark Antony] then resolved to get him made king of the Jews...told them that it was for their advantage in the Parthian war that Herod should be king; so they all gave their votes for it. And when the senate was separated, Antony and Caesar went out, with Herod between them; while the consul and the rest of the magistrates went before them, in order to offer sacrifices [to the Roman gods], and to lay the decree in the Capitol. Antony also made a feast for Herod on the first day of his reign".
upon the Idumeans, and in that of King Aristobulus, who made the Itureans undergo circumcision (Josephus, "Ant." xiii. 9, § 1; 11, § 3)."
^The Jewish War, 2.13.7: "There was also another disturbance at Caesarea, - those Jews who were mixed with the Syrians that lived there rising a tumult against them. The Jews pretended that the city was theirs, and said that he who built it was a Jew, meaning King Herod. The Syrians confessed also that its builder was a Jew; but they still said, however, that the city was a Grecian city; for that he who set up statues and temples in it could not design it for Jews.".
^Herod I: Opposition of the Pious at Jewish Encyclopedia: "All the worldly pomp and splendor which made Herod popular among the pagans, however, rendered him abhorrent to the Jews, who could not forgive him for insulting their religious feelings by forcing upon them heathen games and combats with wild animals".
magistrates
went before them, in order to offer sacrifices [to the Roman gods], and to lay the decree in the Capitol. Antony also made a feast for Herod on the first day of his reign.".
^ abLevine, Amy-Jill. "Visions of Kingdoms: From Pompey to the First Jewish Revolt," in The Oxford History of the Biblical World, ed. Michael D. Coogan. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), p. 357.
^Schiffman, Lawrence H. "The Jewish–Christian Schism," in From Text to Tradition: A History of Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism (Hoboken: Ktav Publishing House, 1991), p. 145.
^Graetz, Heinrich (1893). History of the Jews: From the Reign of Hyrcanus (135 BCE) to the Completion of the Babylonian Talmud (500 CE), Cosimo Books, New York, Volume 2, 2009 ed, p. 109
^Keresztes, Paul. Imperial Rome and the Christians: From Herod the Great to About 200 AD (Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America, 1989), pp. 1–43.
^Vardaman, Jerry; Yamauchi, Edwin M., eds. (1989). "The Nativity and Herod's Death". Chronos, Kairos, Christos: Nativity and Chronological Studies Presented to Jack Finegan. Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns: 85–92.
Philip; but Idumea, and Judea, and the country of Samaria, paid tribute to Archelaus
, but had now a fourth part of that tribute taken off by the order of Caesar, who decreed them that mitigation, because they did not join in this revolt with the rest of the multitude."
, p. 246: "When Archelaus was deposed from the ethnarchy in 6 CE, Judea proper, Samaria and Idumea were converted into a Roman province under the name Iudaea."
^Josephus, Wars, 5.33.1. On the historical circumstances of the building of Herodium, see: Jonathan Bourgel & Roi Porat, "Herodium as a Reflection of Herod's Policy in Judea and Idumea," Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins 135/2 (2019), 188–209.
Cohen, Shaye J.D. (1999). "Roman Domination: the Jewish Revolt and the Destruction of the Second Temple". In Shanks, Hershel (ed.). Ancient Israel: from Abraham to the Roman destruction of the Temple (Revised ed.). Washington, D.C: Biblical Archaeology Society.
Günther, Linda-Marie (hg.) Herodes und Jerusalem (Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2009).
Günther, Linda-Marie (hg.) Herodes und Rom (Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2007).
Jacobson, David M. and Nikos Kokkinos (eds). Herod and Augustus: Papers Held at the Institute of Jewish Studies Conference, University College London, 21–23 June 2005 (Leiden, Brill, 2009) (IJS Studies in Judaica, 6).
Kasher, Aryeh and Witztum, Eliezer. King Herod: A Persecuted Persecutor. A Case Study in Psychohistory and Psychobiography (Berlin and New York, Walter de Gruyter, 2006).
Knoblet, Jerry. Herod the Great. Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America, 2005.
Kokkinos, Nikos. The Herodian Dynasty: Origins, Role in Society and Eclipse (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic,1998).
Schalit, Abraham. Konig Herodes – der Mann und sein Werk. Berlin, 1969 (in German, expansion of the former book by the same name from 1960 in Hebrew: הורדוס המלך – האיש ופועלו. ירושלים: מוסד ביאליק).
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Media related to Herod the Great at Wikimedia Commons
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