King Herod

Herod, Roman-appointed king of Judea (37-4 BCE), who built many fortresses, aqueducts, theaters, and other public buildings but who was the center of political and family intrigues in his later years. The New Testament portrays him as a tyrant, into whose kingdom Jesus of Nazareth was born. Herod the Great was a Roman Jewish client king of Judea in the 1st century BCE.

He is known for his building projects, his conflicts with the Hasmoneans and the Parthians, and his role in the Bible and Christian tradition. Today, King Herod the Great tends to have a bad reputation due to the Biblical narrative about the slaughter of babies in Judea. Biblical villain King Herod killed his own children.

The name Herod does not refer to one king but to a family line of rulers installed and sustained by Rome. We first read the name Herod in the New Testament at the start of Matthew and Luke. Luke sets the birth of John the Baptist "during the time when Herod was king of Judea" (Luke 1:5), and.

In 36 BCE, an Idumean named Herod took over as king of Judea. Known as Herod the Great, he apparently suffered from paranoia and ruled with ruthless brutality. He put to death forty-six leading members of the Sanhedrin and killed all the remaining members of the Hasmonean family, including, eventually, his own wife and children.

Herod I, or Herod the Great (circa 75 - 4 BCE), was the king of Judea who ruled as a client of Rome. He has gained lasting infamy as the 'slaughterer of the innocents' as recounted in the New Testament's book of Mathew. Herod was, though, a gifted administrator, and in his 33-year reign, he was responsible for many major building works which included a rebuilding of the Temple of Jerusalem.

Explore the life and legacy of Herod the Great-Rome's "King of the Jews"-a master builder, shrewd politician, and ruthless ruler whose power shaped Judea and history itself. Herod the Great was a Roman client king of Judea, known for his extensive building projects, including the expansion of the Second Temple. Early Life and Background Herod the Great, born around 72 BCE in Idumea, was the son of Antipater the Idumaean and Cypros, a Nabatean Arab princess.

In 41 BC Herod the Great was named governor of Galilee. However, the Jewish Hasmonean dynasty was in conflict with Rome, and Herod supported Rome in the conflict. He was given the title King of the Jews by the Roman Senate and then charged with the responsibility of conquering Judea so that he could rule as a client king.