JESUS   THE   MESSIAH

His Life and Times

No. 8 

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     Continuation of The Personal History of Herod

     Herod had yet to conquer his kingdom, though.  At first he had success with the help of the Romans.  Anything he had gained, though was lost during his brief absence on a visit to Antony.

     Joseph, the brother of Herod was defeated and slain.  This caused Galilee, who had been subdued by him, to revolt.  The aid which the Romans sent, though, was very strong, and Herod more than recouped his losses.  Soon all of Palestine was in his hands, with the exception of Jerusalem.  While he was laying siege to the city, he sent to Samaria and wed a beautiful Maccabean princess named Mariamme, who had been betrothed to him five years before.  

     This ill-fated Queen Mariamme and her elder brother Aristobulus (uncle of Herod), united in themselves the two rival branches of the Maccabean family.  Their father was Alexander, the eldest son of Aristobulus, and brother of that Antigonus (son of Aristobulus) whom Herod now besieged in Jerusalem.  Their mother was Alexandra, the daughter of Hyrcanus II.  The uncle of Mariamme was not long able to hold out against the combined forces of Rome and Herod.  The carnage was terrible.  When Herod, by bribery, at last induced the Romans to leave Jerusalem, they took Antigonus with them and under Herod's direction they executed him.  

     Antigonus was the first of the Macabees who fell victim to Herod's jealousy and cruelty.  The history which follows is one of terrible carnage and destruction.  The next to experience his vengeance were the principal adherents in Jerusalem of his rival Antigonus.  45 of the noblest and richest were executed.  

     His next step was to appoint an obscure Babylonian to the High-Priesthood.  This awakened the active hostility of Alexandra, the mother of Mariamme, Herod's wife.  Alexandra claimed  the High-Priesthood for her son Aristobulus.  

     Mariamme was the only real person whom Herod loved in his own mad way.  Through her entreaties and through the entreaties of Cleopatra with Antony, Alexandra prevailed, and at the age of seventeen Aristobulus was made High-Priest.  But Herod had his mother-in-law watched, especially after they attempted to remove themselves from Jerusalem in coffins to flee from Cleopatra.  After this, his suspicions grew to a murderously maddening state, especially after he saw that everybody really liked Aristobulus at the Feast of Tabernacles.  He felt that he was a dangerous rival and must be gotten rid of, so Herod secretly ordered him to be drowned while bathing.  Alexandra went public with who she thought the murderer was, and her great influence with Cleopatra led to Herod being brought before Antony with charges against him.  Once more, though, he bribed his way out of the ordeal, but troubles seemed to keep coming against him by the droves.

     Because he could not be sure of the outcome of the summons before Antony, Herod had secretly asked his uncle Joseph (who was also his brother-in-law because he had wed his sister Salome) to kill his wife Mariamme so that she could not ever belong to another man.  Unfortunately  Joseph told Mariamme about this plan to show her how much she was loved.  Upon hearing about this, Salome (Herod's sister) accused her husband Joseph of having an affair with Mariamme.  When he heard about this, Herod ordered Joseph to be executed without even a trial.  This act got him in huge hot water with Rome and part of his provinces were taken away from him.  

     Somehow he managed to come out on top again, though, because Antony was conquered by Octavius.  Herod was able to make his peace with Octavius and Augustus, and even do good service to his cause by furnishing supplies when he needed them.   Because of this he was rewarded by a substantial addition of territory.  In order to tie up any loose ends, though, he decided to trump up charges against Hyrcanus II (Alexandra's father) and have him  executed so that he couldn't cause any more trouble.  

     When Herod was about to appear to Augustus, he gave the same directions about Mariamme to a man named Soemus.  Again she learned what the plans were, and Mariamme, Salome (Herod's sister), and Kypros (Herod's mother) all tried to have something done about his actions.  Herod was stronger this time, and he prevailed mightily against them.  Soemus was slain without a hearing, and the beautiful Mariamme was executed after a mock trial.  After she was executed, remorse seized Herod and he so longed for her that he almost killed himself.  Alexandra, Mariamme's mother, had plotted against Herod and she felt that now would be the time to carry out her plan.  She was discovered and executed, though.  Now the Maccabean race was left only with distant members, and they fell victim to Herod.  Thus perished the family of the Maccabees.

     The hand of Herod was next turned against his own family.  He had ten wives, but the only ones we will mention are those whose children occupy a place in this history:

Doris                                  Antipater

Mariamme, (Maccabean)        Alexander and Aristobulus        

Another Mariamme                Herof

Malthake, (Samaritan)           Archelaus and Herod Antipas

Cleopatra of Jerusalem          Philip

     The sons of Mariamme, the Maccabean queen, were sent to Rome for their education because they were considered to be heirs to the throne.  For doing this, Herod received the country east of the Jordan and was allowed to appoint his remaining brother, Pheroras, as Tetrarch of Peraea.  

     The young princes were married upon their return from Rome.  Alexander was married to a daughter of the King of Cappadocia, and Aristobulus to his cousin Berenice, the daughter of Salome, Herod's sister.  None of this, though, could distinguish the hatred of Salome towards the now dead Mariamme, the boy's mother.  The boy didn't like her, either, and this caused much dissent in the household.  At first Herod didn't pay much attention to the problem.  Eventually, though, he called Antipater, the son of Doris, back from exile and sent him to Rome for education. because he might need to be the next heir instead of the other two.  

     The breach became out in the open and Herod took both his sons to Italy to bring the matter before Augustus to see if he could help in the matter.  The wise counsel of the Emperor restored peace for a time.  Things would be better until Salome got back into the picture and began stirring things up again.  Then the King of Cappadocia reconciled Herod and his sons again, but in the end Salome and Antipater, the son of Doris. prevailed.  Alexander and Aristobulus were imprisoned and an accusation of high treason laid against them before the Emperor.  Augustus gave Herod full powers, but advised that a mixture of Jews and Romans try the case.  

     Both of the brothers were condemned to death, and when some of the soldiers tried to intercede for them, 300 of them were cut down in a riot and the princes were strangled in prison.  This happened in Samaria where, 30 years before, Herod had wedded their mother Mariamme.  

     Antipater was now the future heir.  He was impatient to get on the throne, so he plotted with his uncle, Herod's brother, against his father.  Again Salome found out about the plot and brought it out into the open.  When Herod had indisputable evidence that Antipater had plotted against him, he lured him to Palestine.  When he got there Herod cast his son into prison.  Permission from Augustus came and his son was executed just 5 days before Herod himself died.  

     This ended a reign  almost unparalleled for reckless cruelty and bloodshed without real cause.  The people hated Herod as king and detested his reign of cruelty and lawlessness.  The king had surrounded himself with foreign counselors and was protected by foreign mercenaries.  As long as he lived no person was safe, for he had an army of all-powerful spies that pervaded every sector of Jerusalem.  The king himself was even said to have gone out at night in disguise and would talk to people just to see what they would say. 

     For more information from this book, go to the archives page at my site  www.cathydeaton.com   There are other articles of interest there also. 

     This text taken from the book Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah written by Alfred Edersheim.  This book is used by permission.