Herod the Great: The tyrant king of Judea

Herod was born in 73 BCE and came from an Idumean family that had been forcibly converted to Judaism during the military campaigns of John Hyrcanus I in the second century BCE.

As a result, he was ethnically Idumean. However, some ancient sources suggested he may have been born in Ashkelon.

Regardless, his father, Antipater, was the procurator under Julius Caesar and used this position to advance his son’s career by securing his appointment as governor of Galilee in 47 BCE.

Herod quickly demonstrated his loyalty to Rome when he had Hezekiah, a local rebel, executed without Sanhedrin approval.

Roman leaders praised the action, yet it caused hostility among Jewish authorities who questioned whether his conduct was legal. 

Following the Parthian invasion in 40 BCE, Herod lost control of Jerusalem and fled first to Masada and then to Petra before he travelled to Rome.

There, he persuaded Mark Antony and the Senate to name him King of the Jews.

With Roman military support under the command of Gaius Sosius, Herod returned to Judea and began a long campaign to defeat the Hasmonean claimant Antigonus II Mattathias.

After three years of conflict, Herod had captured Jerusalem in 37 BCE, and Roman forces executed Antigonus by beheading on Antony's orders, a method considered scandalous for a monarch.

The siege had involved severe street fighting and the mass execution of Antigonus’ supporters.

To also secure his claim, Herod married Mariamne, a Hasmonean princess, though the alliance would later turn bitter. 

Once Herod had secured the throne, he relied on Rome to legitimise and protect his authority.

After the defeat of Mark Antony at Actium in 31 BCE, Herod shifted allegiance to Octavian and met him at Rhodes.

There, he acknowledged his former loyalty to Antony and promised loyalty to Octavian, and he offered substantial tribute and a promise of continued assistance.

Octavian, who soon would become the emperor Augustus, confirmed Herod’s kingship and even expanded his territory to include parts of Gaza, northern Arabia, and regions across the Jordan River. 

Through military suppression and strategic marriages, Herod had built a fragile stability that Roman recognition later confirmed.

However, his authority rested on the backing of Roman power rather than on popular support, and this dependence required constant diplomacy, expensive gifts, and demonstrations of loyalty to the emperor.

As a Roman client king, Herod's rule was part of an imperial strategy of indirect control over unstable frontier provinces. 

To show his power as a monarch and his loyalty to the Roman world, Herod initiated a large building programme that changed the region.

His most famous project, the renovation of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, began around 20 BCE and involved a large expansion of the Temple Mount platform to an area estimated at approximately 140,000 square metres.

The renovation preserved Jewish religious functions. Herod added architectural features that showed Roman tastes, including the golden eagle placed above the main gate, which many found offensive.

Shortly before his death, a group of students tore down the eagle in protest, which prompted Herod to arrest and execute the people responsible. 

At Caesarea Maritima, Herod oversaw the development of a deep-water harbour constructed using opus caementicium, a type of Roman concrete that allowed ships to dock along the Mediterranean coast.

This harbour was one of the earliest uses of concrete on such a scale in open water.

Around the port, he ordered the building of a theatre, amphitheatre, and a temple dedicated to Augustus, which created a centre of Roman administration and commerce that increased trade between Judea and the Empire.

He named the city Caesarea and gave the harbour the name Sebastos, the Greek equivalent of "Augustus," to show his loyalty. 

Herod also constructed military fortresses at key locations. At Masada, Herodium, and Machaerus, he built heavily fortified palaces that combined luxury with defence.

Herodium, which he intended as his burial site, featured a man-made hill and impressive buildings that showed his personal power and provided political security.

These fortresses offered both protection against rebellion and secure retreats in times of crisis.

At Jericho and Jerusalem, he constructed grand palaces and public buildings that combined Greek styles with local traditions.

Even with these major efforts, his building programme placed a heavy burden on the population.

His projects had relied on high taxes and on land seizures together with forced labour, which had created widespread resentment among ordinary people. 

Outside Judea, Herod financed buildings and public events in cities such as Antioch, Athens, and Rhodes, where he sponsored games and constructed temples in honour of Roman gods.

At Athens, he contributed to the construction of a stoa, which promoted his image among Greek elites.

Specific architectural contributions are not always clearly recorded. His activity in these cities strengthened his reputation as a valuable ally to the Roman world and made his name familiar to Roman senators and governors who could protect him if his local rule came under threat. 

As mentioned above, while Herod ruled with the title of 'king', his power depended entirely on Roman approval.

Augustus viewed him as a loyal client who ensured order in an unstable frontier province, and in return, Herod governed with considerable freedom in domestic matters.

However, this dependence created tension within Judea, especially when Herod’s loyalty to Rome required him to adopt measures that conflicted with Jewish expectations of a legitimate ruler. 

He appointed and removed high priests based not on piety or lineage but on loyalty to his regime.

Among those appointed were Ananelus and Simon ben Boethus, whose daughter became Herod’s wife.

This action broke with centuries of religious tradition and weakened the authority of the priesthood.

As a result, the Sanhedrin lost influence, and Temple leaders were seen as corrupt collaborators.

Herod’s practice of choosing outsiders or his own family members for key religious offices deepened the distrust among Jewish groups who considered him a usurper. 

At the same time, Herod tried to appear as a pious ruler by observing Jewish dietary laws.

He sponsored Temple rituals and avoided graven images in public monuments within Jerusalem.

These efforts seemed empty to many because he continued to fund pagan temples in Roman cities and surrounded himself with Greek philosophers and Roman administrators.

The monitoring of his subjects and the removal of potential rivals, which were backed by a network of secret police, ensured that opposition stayed hidden, but fear rather than loyalty kept many in line.

Pharisaic teachers and some scribes quietly criticised these contradictions, though few dared to act openly. 

Because he maintained this careful balance, Herod ensured that Augustus continued to view him as a reliable ruler.

He provided military support when required and contributed taxes without delay, and he maintained open trade routes through his kingdom.

Yet the price of this cooperation was a growing discontent among the very people he claimed to rule, who saw in Herod a despot backed by a foreign power who cared more for Roman favour than Jewish tradition. 

Herod’s reign became increasingly paranoid, especially in its final decade. The constant threat of Roman disapproval, combined with court plots and succession disputes, led him to suspect treachery in his own household.

His wife Mariamne, although politically valuable because of her Hasmonean descent, became a target of suspicion.

Influenced by his sister Salome and because he was consumed by jealousy, he accused Mariamne of plotting against him and ordered her execution in 29 BCE. 

However, the death of Mariamne did not end Herod’s fears. Her mother Alexandra, who had once tried to seize power during Herod’s absence, was also executed.

Their sons, Alexander and Aristobulus, were later accused of treason and strangled at Sebaste in 7 BCE after a trial overseen by the Roman governor Publius Quinctilius Varus.

Despite their Roman education and princely status, Herod considered them too dangerous to survive.

In the same year, he turned against his firstborn son Antipater, who had once been the favoured heir, and charged him with conspiracy.

After he gathered evidence, including intercepted letters and accusations of bribery, Herod had him executed in 4 BCE.

Some sources suggest the execution occurred shortly before Herod’s own death, though the precise timeline remains uncertain. 

Josephus records that Augustus joked it was safer to be Herod’s pig than his son, a bitter joke that referred to Jewish dietary laws and the king’s brutality.

Herod's fear of losing control, along with the instability caused by rival heirs and court plots, drove him to remove anyone he suspected of trying to seize power or betray him.

While these executions eliminated threats, they also destroyed what little trust was left among the royal court, religious leaders, and the general population. 

When he had removed members of the Hasmonean dynasty and installed his own children as successors, Herod aimed to create a new ruling family loyal only to Rome and himself.

However, his violent methods ensured continued instability, and after his death, Augustus divided the kingdom among Herod’s surviving sons: Archelaus received Judea, Samaria, and Idumea as ethnarch rather than king; Antipas was granted Galilee and Perea; and Philip took control of the northeastern territories. 

The title "the Great" referred to the scale of his building works and to his diplomatic and administrative achievements, not to his character.

He reigned from 37 BCE to 4 BCE during an unstable period, and, through calculated displays of loyalty, he kept his kingdom alive for over three decades.

His record in warfare and his investment in the economy and in major building projects surpassed those of previous Judean rulers, especially in securing Roman support and building infrastructure that connected Judea more closely to the Empire. 

Herod’s renovation of the Second Temple was one of his most lasting achievements.

It was the centre of Jewish worship until its destruction in 70 CE, and it had been the largest and most impressive structure in the kingdom.

His port at Caesarea created new trade opportunities, while his forts, aqueducts, and administrative centres allowed him to project power across a fragmented region.

These projects brought temporary prosperity and increased Judea’s importance as a Roman client state. 

However, his reputation was hotly debated. Roman historians praised his loyalty and political skill.

Jewish sources described him as a tyrant who persecuted his own people, corrupted sacred institutions, and ruled through fear.

For later generations, especially those influenced by early Christian writings, Herod became associated with cruelty and injustice, particularly through stories like the Massacre of the Innocents recorded in the Gospel of Matthew.

However, no independent historical source confirms that this event occurred, and the silence of Josephus and other contemporaries has raised doubts about whether it really happened. 

Herod died in 4 BCE at his palace in Jericho. According to some accounts, he had ordered the execution of Jewish nobles upon his death to ensure mourning.

His kingdom, already weakened by internal strife and external dependency, split apart soon after, and within a few decades direct Roman rule replaced what remained of Herod’s dynasty.

Even so, his name continued to be part of the history of Roman Judea, remembered for both ruthless violence and grand building projects.