23. A Great King’s Great Problems at Home
Mariamne was a stunning beauty, and Herod was crazy about her – but not in a good way. On the one hand, he was passionately in love with her. On the other hand, he was also crazy jealous. While Herod loved Mariamne, she did not feel the same. It was probably understandable since Herod had eliminated her brother and uncle. Also, Herod’s father had ended Mariamne’s father, then embalmed him in a tub of honey. Nonetheless, Herod had five children with her – two girls and three boys.
Herod might have been crazy in love with Mariamne, but considering how many of her relatives Herod had disposed of, she could not bring herself to love him back. Eventually, after she gave birth to their fifth child, Mariamne stopped having intimate relations with him. That fueled his suspicions that she was cheating on him. Herod’s mother and sister fanned those suspicions and added to the accusations that Mariamne planned to poison him. Eventually, Herod ordered Mariamne executed in 29 BC. That was bad enough, but things soon went from bad to grotesque.