Difference between revisions of "Herod the Great"

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*This page is edited by [[Samuele Rocca]], Israel
#REDIRECT [[:Category:Herod the Great (subject)]]
*SCHOLARLY AND FICTIONAL WORKS: see [[Herod the Great (works)]]
*ANCIENT SOURCES: see [[Herod the Great (sources)]]
 
 
'''Herod the Great''' (1st century BCE) was Governor of Galilee (47-40 BCE) and then King of Israel (37-4 BCE). 
 
==Overview==
 
Herod the Great was the second son of the Idumean [[:Category:Antipater (subject)|Antipater]] and the Nabatean Cypros. In 47 BCE [[Antipater]] was made procurator of Judea by [[Julius Caesar]] and appointed his sons [[:Category:Phasael (subject)|Phasael]] and Herod as governors of [[Jerusalem]] and [[Galilee]] respectively.
 
In 43 BCE [[Antipater]], who supported [[Cassius]], was poisoned. Herod and [[Phasael]] were quick enough to switch allegiance to [[Mark Anthony]] and retain power.
 
In 40 BCE Herod faced an even greater challenge. The Hasmonean [[:Category:Antigonus (subject)|Antigonus]] allied himself with the [[Parthians]] and by deception captured both [[Phasael]] and the High Priest [[:Category:John Hyrcanus II (subject)|John Hyrcanus II]]. Hyrcanus was mutilated to make him unfit for the office; [[Phasael]] committed suicide.
Herod fled to [[Rome]]; the Senate accepted his plea and elected him ''King of the Jews'' with the task of restoring the power of Rome in the region against the [[Parthians]]. At the same time, Herod married the granddaughter of John Hyrcanus II, [[:Category:Mariamne (subject)|Mariamne]], to secure the support of the rival portion of the [[Hasmoneans]] to his cause against the Hasmonean [[:Category:Antigonus (subject)|Antigonus]].
 
Herod achieved full victory; from 37 BCE to his death in 4 BCE he would be the sole and undisputed ruler of Judea. Herod always remained a loyal ally of the [[Romans]] and their leaders.
 
In 34 BCE [[Mark Anthony]] granted to [[Cleopatra]] the balsam plantations near Jericho, parts of Herod’s kingdom. In 32 BCE a civil war between [[Mark Anthony]] and [[Cleopatra]] on one side and [[Augustus|Octavian]] on the other side. Herod, who sided with [[Mark Anthony]] begun a war against the [[Nabataeans]] and defeats them. After the battle of Actium, Herod sides with [[Augustus|Octavian]]. In 30 BCE Herod met [[Augustus|Octavian]] at Rhodes and he was confirmed as King of Judaea. Moreover, Herod received from [[Augustus|Octavian]] Jericho, given by [[Mark Anthony]] to [[Cleopatra]], the Decapolis region with the cities of Gadara and Hippos, the Samaria region, and the coastal cities of Gaza, Anthedon, and Straton Tower, made independent by [[Pompey]] and [[Gabinius]].
 
The alliance of Herod with the [[:Category:Hasmoneans (subject)|Hasmoneans]] did not last long. Herod first killed [[Mariamne]]'s brother, [[:Category:Aristobulus III (subject)|Aristobulus III]], whom he had briefly appointed High Priest. Then Herod killed [[John Hyrcanus II]], after treacherously inviting to return to [[Jerusalem]] from his confinement in Parthia. Ultimately, [[:Category:Mariamne (subject)|Mariamne]], as well as Alexandra Herod's mother in law, also were executed in 29 BCE.
 
Between 27-25 BCE Herod sent 500 soldiers to [[Aelius Gallus]], Prefect of Egypt in his campaign against Arabia. In 25 BCE, as famine and pestilence devastated the country, Herod appeal to [[Petronius]], Prefect of Egypt, for help.
In 23-22 BCE Herod was given by [[Augustus]] the Districts of Trachonitis, Batanaea and Auranitis. Herod’s kingdom had by now the same borders of the Hasmonean kingdom at his gratest extension. Later on, in 20 BCE [[Augustus]], when visiting Syria presented Herod with the territory of [[Zenodorus]], which included Ituraea.
In 18-17 BCE Herod travelled to Rome to bring home his sons [[Alexander]] and [[Aristobulus]].
In 15 BCE [[Agrippa]] visited Herod in Jerusalem. The following year, in 14 BCE Herod joined [[Agrippa]] in Asia Minor. There, he was received by the local Jewish communities. In 12 BCE, once more Herod travelled to Rome to accuse his sons [[Alexander]] and [[Aristobulus]] in front of [[Augustus|Octavian]] at Aquileia. [[Augustus]] was succesfull in settling the quarrel. In 10 BCE Herod travelled once more to Rome. In 9 BCE as consequence of the Second War against the [[Nabataeans]], Herod is in disfavour with Augustus. However, by 7 BCE, thanks to the good offices of [[Nicolaus of Damascus]], Herod was once more in favour with the Roman ruler.
 
Herod proved to be a very effective ruler. He completed ambitious construction projects in [[Jericho]], where he edified three palaces in the Wadi Qelt area between 40 and 15 BCE. At [[Jerusalem]], between 20 and 19 BCE he begun the rebuilding of the Temple, which was inaugurated by Herod and [[Agrippa]] in 15 BCE. Herod erected in Jerusalem as well the Antonia Fortress, located in the north western corner of the Temple Mount. In the western part of the city a huge palace, which included three huge towers, named after Mariamme, Phasael and Hyppicos was erected.[[Samaria]] was dedicated in 25 BCE as [[Sebaste]] in honor of [[Augustus|Octavian]]. In 23 BCE Herod founded the harbor and the city of [[Caesarea Maritima]], dedicated in 10 BCE. New fortresses were erected to defend the kingdom, such as the [[Herodium]] and [[Masada]].
 
The succession to his throne proved to be a very complicated matter. With many wives and children, Herod had many options but was not able to control the intrigues and the competition. In 7 BCE Herod had the two sons of [[Mariamne]], [[Alexandros]] and [[Aristobulus IV]], executed. In 4 BCE the same fate came to his oldest son, [[:Category:Antipater II (subject)|Antipater II]]. The fame of Herod as a fearful and suspicious child murder, which the [[Gospel of Matthew]] has left to the Christian tradition, was not totally undeserved.
At the end, Herod divided his kingdom in three parts to be given each to one of his surviving children, [[:Category:Herod Archelaus (subject)|Herod Archelaus]], who inherited Judaea, Samaria, and Idumaea [[:Category:Herod Antipas (subject)|Herod Antipas]], who inherited [[Galilee]] and [[:Category:Herod Philip (subject)|Herod Philip]], who inherited the Gaulanitis area.
 
==Herod the Great in ancient sources==
 
*See [[Herod the Great (sources)]]
 
==Herod the Great in Scholarship==
 
==Herod the Great in Fiction==
 
==Related categories==
*[[Herodians]] / [[:Category:Mariamne (subject)|Mariamne (subject)]]
 
==References==
*'''Herod the Great''' / [[Adam Marshak]] / In: [[The Eerdmans Dictionary of Early Judaism (2010 Collins / Harlow), edited volume]], 729-735
 
==External links==
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herod_the_Great Wikipedia]
*[http://www.livius.org/he-hg/herodians/herod_the_great01.html Livius.org]




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Latest revision as of 08:15, 7 February 2012

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