REL 433 - Archaeology
Course Notes
Herod the Great
Historical Setting
After the Maccabean Revolt of 167 BC John Hyrcanus, the son of Simon Maccabaeus, reigned 134-104 BC and led a movement to enforce Judaism in his territory. He destroyed the Temple which had been built on Mount Gerizim by the Samaritans, and he forcibly converted the Idumeans to Judaism. The Idumeans were the descendents of Esau; they originally lived east of the Dead Sea, but had relocated to the west of it after the Babylonian conquests. Even after conversion, the Idumeans were not regarded as fully Jewsih, although their leaders rose to positions of political power.
After the Punic wars Rome began to take an interest in the Eastern Mediterranean, and moved into Egypt. During the Roman civil wars between Julius Caesar and Pompey, Pompey fled to Egypt, where he was assassinated by Ptolemy XIII. Ptolemy XIII raised an army against Caesar, but the Idumean Antipater (also known as Antipas), the father of the future Herod the Great, sent armed forces to Caesar's aid. Because of this help, Caesar favored Antipater, granted him Roman citizenship in 47 BC, and made him Procurator of Palestine. From this position of power, Antipater managed to get his son Herod appointed as governor of the region of the Galilee.
Antipater had been the governor of the Jewish region of Idumea, to the south of Jerusalem. To make matters more complicated - his father was also named Antipas, and was governor of Idumea during the reigns of the last Hasmoneans. The family of Herod were Idumeans who had settled to the south and west of the Dead Sea, and had been forcibly converted to Judaism.
As long as Julius Caesar lived, Antipas remained loyal to him. When Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC Antipater transferred his loyalty to Cassius, one of the murderers of Caesar, who had seized Syria, to the north of Judea, and so had a strangle-hold on Judea. Antipater was involved in several plots and counter-plots and palace intrigues, and was poisoned at a banquet in 43 BC.
Herod and Rome
In 42 BC Octavian and Marc Antony defeated Brutus and Cassius at the Battle of Philippi, and Marc Antony set out to inspect the regions which had supported Brutus and Cassius. Herod managed to convince Marc Antony that his father had been forced to submit to Cassius, and played on his friendship so much that Marc Antony appointed him tetrarch of the Galilee, with his brother Phasael as tetrarch of Jerusalem.
However, the Jewish population resented Roman interference in appointing their rulers, and joined the Parthian Empire (in what is now Iraq and Iran) against Herod and Phasael. Aristobulus became king in place of Hyrcanus, Phasael committed suicide, and Herod escaped and fled to Rome.
In 40 BC Herod reached Rome and got himself appointed as a vassal king under Roman authority, with the title "King of the Jews".
There was also a Hasmonean claimant to Judea, Antigonus II, the son of Aristobulus II. Antigonus got help from the Parthians, so the Romans came in on the side of Herod and defeated Antigonus.
In 37 BC Herod the Great captured Jerusalem, and had Antigonus II executed.
Cleopatra wanted Palestine for herself, and tried to induce Marc Anthony to have Herod murdered. However, Marc Antony and Herod had known each other as teenagers when Herod was kept as a hostage in Rome, and had become friends. Marc Antony refused to kill Herod, but did let Cleopatra have Jericho and other parts of Herod's kingdom.
Cleopatra and Marc Antony continued their affair and their plotting to gain control of Rome itself, until Octavian, who was Julius Caesar's nephew and heir, caught their fleet of warships in the Bay of Actium, in Greece, and defeated them in 31 BC. They both committed suicide rather than be taken prisoner.
Cleopatra was the last ruler of the Ptolemaic Dynasty. On her death, Rome took complete control of Egypt.
In 27 BC the Roman Senate gave Octavian the title of Augustus, and he continued to increase in power until he became Emperor of Rome.
Herod the Great, the son of Antipater, had been a friend of Marc Antony, but when Mark Antony was defeated by Octavian, Herod managed to convince Octavian of his loyalty to Rome. Octavian, as the Emperor Augustus, confirmed Herod's title of "King of the Jews" and not only restored to him the lands which Cleopatra had taken but also granted him other territories to the east and north of his original kingdom.
Herod's Family
Herod's family was very complicated. Several of the women were named Salome. Many of the men included "Herod", "Antipas", or "Aristobulus" in their names. The family was characterized by inbreeding and incestuous relationships - uncles married nieces, aunts married nephews, cousins married cousins, and most of them married and divorced several times, or killed one another.
Herod the Great's brother, Phasael, committed suicide in 40 BC rather than live to be mutilated by the Parthians. Phasael had a son, also named Phasael, who married Salampsio (the daughter of Herod the Great and Mariamne I)
Herod the Great's sister, Salome I (ca.65 BC-ca.AD 10) was first married to the governor of Idumea, and had a son, Antipater IV, and two daughters, one of whom was named Berenice.
Antipater IV married Cypros II (the daughter of Herod the Great and Mariamne I).
Berenice's first husband was her cousin Aristobulus IV (the son of Herod the Great and Mariamne I), and her second husband was the brother of Herod the Great's first wife Doris - he was killed by Herod for suspected conspiracy. Berenice had a daughter, Mariamne III, and three sons, Herod Agrippa I of Judea, Herod king of Chalcis, and Aristobulus Minor.
Salome I divorced or deserted her first husband and married again, in contravention of Jewish law.
After the death of Herod the Great, the Romans appointed Salome I as ruler of parts of Syria, Jamnia, and a region near Jericho.
Salome I was the great-grandmother of the Salome who asked for the head of John the Baptist.
Herod himself may have had ten wives (accounts vary) and numerous sons and daughters (whose names in some cases are unknown).
Herod's first wife was Doris, whom he married ca.47 BC. Doris bore Herod a son, Antipater II, ca.46 BC. However, in 37 BC Herod wanted to marry Mariamne in order to strengthen his claim to the throne, so he divorced Doris and sent her into exile along with her son. He called Doris back in 14 BC and sent her away again ca.6 BC.
When Herod killed Mariamne (ca.28 BC) he called Antipater II back and began to favor him over his other sons. Antipater II was a trouble-maker, and plotted to supplant his half-bothers in Herod's favor. In 13 BC Herod made Antipater II his heir. However, Antipater also plotted to murder his father, and the plot was discovered by the Romans. Augustus sentenced Antipater to death in 4 BC and Herod had Antipater beheaded. This along with the earlier murders of Herod's sons Alexander and Aristobulus IV caused the remark reported of Augustus that "It is better to be Herod's pig than his son." (As Herod tried to pass himself off as Jewish he would not eat pork, so his pigs were safe.)
In 43 BC Herod married a Hasmonean princess, Mariamne I, (the daughter of Alexander of Judea, granddaughter of Aristobulus II, and sister of Aristobulus III), in order to strengthen his claim to the throne. They had five children : Alexander (35-7 BC), Aristobulus IV (d.7 BC), another son whose name is unknown, and two daughters, Salampsio and Cyprus.
Herod became insanely jealous of Mariamne, and several times gave orders that if he (Herod) died, she was to be killed. Herod's sister Salome accused Mariamne of adultery with Herod's uncle Joseph - so he had Joseph killed. Herod's mother and sister continued to plot against Mariamne, and as a result Herod had Mariamne executed ca.28 BC. He also murdered her grandfather, her mother, and her brother.
Alexander married a Cappadocian princess, who bore him two sons, Tigranes and Alexander, and a daughter whose name is not known. His half-brother Antipater II and Herod's sister Salome I plotted his downfall by spreading rumors and making Herod suspicious. Iin 8 BC both sons were imprisoned, and in 7 BC Herod had Alexander and Aristobulus IV strangled. About 300 of Alexander's supporters were also killed.
Aristobulus IV married Bernice, the daughter of Salome I (Herod the Great's sister). They had three sons, Herod V of Chalcis, Herod Agrippa I of Judea, and Aristobulus Minor, and two daughters, Mariamne III (who married Antipater II and then Herod Archelaus), and Herodias. This is the Herodias who married her cousin Philip (son of Herod the Great and Mariamne II) and then left him to marry her cousin Herod Antipas (son of Herod the Great and Malthace). Herodias and Philip had a daughter named Salome (the famous one who asked for the head of John the Baptist). Salome married her uncle Philip the Tetrarch (the son of Herod the Great and Cleopatra of Jerusalem). After the death of Philip the Tetrarch in 34 BC Salome married her cousin Aristobulus of Chalcis, and became queen of Chalcis.
Herod Agrippa I was King of the Jews from AD 37-44, and was the king who executed the Apostle James and then imprisoned Peter (Acts, chapter 12)
Herod Agrippa I had a son, Herod Agrippa II, and a daughter, Berenice. Herod Agrippa II was eventually given parts of the Galilee and some other regions. Although Berenice was married several times it is probable that she was also in an incestuous relationship with her brother. Both Herod Agrippa II and Berenice were present at the trial of Paul in Caesarea (Acts 25:1-26:32)
Salampsio married her first cousin Phasael (the son of Herod's brother Phasael) and they had three sons and two daughters. Their daughter Cypros married Herod Agrippa I (the son of Aristobulus son of Herod, and Berenice daughter of Herod's sister Salome)
Herod Agrippa I (son of Aristobulus IV and Berenice) had one son (Herod Agrippa II), and three daughters (Berenice, Mariamne, and Drusilla). Drusilla's second husband was Felix, the Roman Procuratoe of Judea who kept Paul in prison in Caesarea (Acts 23:23-24:27). Drusilla was in Pompeii in AD 79 and was killed when Vesuvius erupted.
In 37 BC Herod married one of his nieces. They had no children.
In ca.34 BC Herod married one of his cousins. They had no children.
In ca.29 BC Herod married Mariamne II, the daughter of a Jewish priest named Simon. They had one son, Herod II. Herod II was the first husband of Herodias (the daughter of Aristobulus and Bernice). Herod II and Herodias had a daughter, Salome (the one who asked for the head of John the Baptist)
Herod the Great suspected Mariamne II of plotting against him with Antipater II, so he divorced her ca.6 BC
In 28 BC Herod married Malthace, a Samaritan woman, who bore him Herod Antipas, Archelaus, and a daughter Olympias. She died in 4 BC (after the death of Herod the Great).
Herod Antipas married his niece Herodias whose first husband had been Herod II, son of Mariamne. Herod Antipas was appointed tetrarch of the Galilee and Perea (4 BC-AD 39).
Archelaus was appointed to rule Samaria and Judea by the Romans when Herod the Great died, but he was removed from office in AD 6 because of his brutality.
Also in 25 BC Herod married "Cleopatra of Jerusalem" (so-called to distinguish her from Cleopatra VII of Egypt). Her two sons were named Herod and Philip (who was known as Philip the Tertarch or Herod Philip II).
Philip married his niece Salome (the daughter of Herodias and Herod II.)
After the death of Herod the Great, Philip was granted Ituria and Trachonitis, the northern quarter of the kingdom. He was then given the title of Philip the Tetrarch. Philip the Tetrarch died childless in 34 AD.
In 16 BC Herod married Pallas and they had a son named Phasael.
Also in 16 BC Herod married Phaedra, and they had a daughter named Roxanne.
Also in 16 BC Herod married Elpis, and they had a daughter named Salome
Herod's building projects
Herod employed first-class stone masons - their buildings have survived to this day, and are characterized by being made of enormous stone blocks with smooth borders about one inch wide and rougher raised central portions. The Western Wall in Jerusalem is what remains of the retaining wall built by Herod for the Temple Mount.
In 20 BC Herod started to rebuild and extend the Temple in Jerusalem. Because he was not of pure Jewish lineage, he was only allowed to enter the outer court of the Temple (The Court of the Gentiles). He built a high wall around the Temple complex, with a walk-way on top, so that he could look down into the courts of the Temple.
The project to rebuild the Temple continued after the death of Herod - until AD 62 - only a few years before it was destroyed by the Romans.
As a bolt-hole for his family Herod build the fortress/palace of Masada, overlooking the south end of the Dead Sea. Masada was held by the Zealots against the Romans during the Jewish Revolt, but fell in AD 73.
Herod built the great building over the Cave of Macpelah and the Tombs of the Patriarchs in Hebron - now a pilgrimage site for Jews, Moslems, and Christians.
He built Machaerus as another fortified retreat in case of rebellions.
Herod rebuilt and enlarged royal palaces at Jericho and in Jerusalem - their remains can still be visited.
To give a better harbor on the Mediterranean coast Herod built Caesarea Maritima (named for Julius Caesar) - using Roman concrete which would withstand submersion in sea-water. The city included a large sheltered harbor, a palace on the sea-shore, and a superb theater which still exists. Fresh water was brought to the city by a large aqueduct which runs for miles parallel to the sea-coast.
He built the fortress/palace of Herodion, with a steep earthen embankment which makes it look like a volcano, and it was there that he was buried. Up until recently the burial place of Herod was a mystery - it was known to be at or near Herodion, but the exact place had been hidden. It has now been discovered and excavated, on the side of the hill of Herodion rather than inside the fortress.
Copyright © 1999 Shirley J. Rollinson, all Rights Reserved
