24. The Ruthless Founder of a Judean Dynasty
Augustus once remarked on how Herod the Great of Judea (74 BC – circa 1 AD) treated his offspring, with the quip: “I would rather be Herod’s pig than his son“. The Roman client king and founder of the Herodian Dynasty that lasted until 92 AD built some massive projects, such as the Second Temple in Jerusalem, and the fortress of Masada. However, he is best known from the Christian Gospels as the king who ordered the Massacre of the Innocents when Jesus was born. His reign had started off well, but as it progressed, Herod grew paranoid about plots against him, some real, others imaginary. Those around Herod manipulated his fears, and he often lashed out violently. The victims of his wrath included members of his own family.
Herod was born to an Edomite father, from a people who had been forcibly converted to Judaism only a generation or two before Herod’s birth. However, he was raised as a nominal Jew, and he married into the ruling Jewish Hasmonean Dynasty, tying the knot with Princess Mariamne, one of the last Hasmonean heirs. He then disposed of her relatives to remove contenders for the throne of Judea, and got the Romans to make him king of the Jews. Understandably, that gave Mariamne plenty of cause to resent her husband. As seen below, that did not turn out well for Mariamne. It also did not turn out well for two of her sons with Herod, Alexander and Aristobulus, who resented their father’s treatment of their mother.