Fisher Amy Marie - Herod: king of the Jews and friend of the Romans

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Herod

Herod: King of the Jews and Friend of the Romans examines the life, work, and influence of this controversial figure, who remains the most highly visible of the Roman client kings under Augustus. Herods rule shaped the world in which Christianity arose and his influence can still be seen today. In this expanded second edition, additions to the original text include discussion of the archaeological evidence of Herods activity, his building program, numismatic evidence, and consideration of the roles and activities of other client kings in relation to Herod. This volume includes new maps and numerous photographs, and these coupled with the new additions to the text make this a valuable tool for those interested in the wider Roman world of the late first century BCE at both under- and postgraduate levels. Herod remains the definitive study of the life and activities of the king known traditionally as Herod the Great.

Peter Richardson is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Religion at the University of Toronto, Canada.

Amy Marie Fisher works at the University of Alberta, Canada, where she is also an adjunct instructor in the study of religion.

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Ancient Biographies

Forthcoming titles:

Ptolemy I Soter
Sheila Ager

Philip II of Macedon
Daniel Ogden

Cyrus the Great
Lynette Mitchell

Series URL: https://www.routledge.com/classicalstudies/series/ANCIENTBIOS

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Herod

King of the Jews and Friend of the
Romans

Second edition

Peter Richardson and
Amy Marie Fisher

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Second edition published 2018
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2018 Peter Richardson and Amy Marie Fisher

The right of Peter Richardson and Amy Marie Fisher to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice : Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

First edition published by The University of South Carolina Press 1996

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Richardson, Peter, 1935- author. | Fisher, Amy Marie, author.

Title: Herod: king of the Jews and friend of the Romans / Peter Richardson and Amy Marie Fisher.

Description: Second edition. | Abingdon, Oxon, New York, NY: Routledge, [2017] | Series: Routledge ancient biographies | Originally published: Columbia, S.C.: University of South Carolina Press, 1996. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017001848| ISBN 9781138803923 (hardback: alk. paper) | ISBN 9781315163352 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Herod I, King of Judea, 73 B.C.-4 B.C. | JewsHistory168 B.C.-135 A.D. | JewsKings and rulersBiography.

Classification: LCC DS122.3.R53 2017 | DDC 933/.05092 [B] dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017001848

ISBN: 978-1-138-80392-3 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-16335-2 (ebk)

Typeset in Sabon LT Std
by Swales & Willis Ltd, Exeter, Devon, UK

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To past and present colleagues
with gratitude and admiration

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We are grateful to Routledge for proposing a second revised edition of Herods biography (published by the University of South Carolina Press in 1996, reprinted as a History Book Club edition, and reprinted in 1999 by Fortress Press and by T & T Clark). This present contribution to the Routledge series Ancient Biographies is longer and has more photos, permitting a wider range of evidence for analyzing Herod and his context. Herod would have been gratified to have his life included alongside other royals.

We have benefitted from published reviews of the first edition and also from reviewers enlisted by Routledge Press prior to this re-writing: Adam Kolman Marshak, Steve Mason, Byron McCane, Daniel R. Schwartz, and other unnamed reviewers. We have appreciated the collegiality of archaeological friends and mentors over many years: the late Ehud Netzer (Jerusalem), the late Douglas Edwards (Seattle Pacific College), Donald Ariel (Israel Antiquities Authority), Mordechai (Moti) Aviam (Kinneret College), Sandra Blakely (Emory University), Caitlin Clerkin (University of Michigan), Jennifer Gates-Foster (University of North CarolinaChapel Hill), Jodi Magness (University of North CarolinaChapel Hill), Michael Nelson (CUNY Queens), Douglas Oakman (Pacific Lutheran University), Andrew Overman (Macalester College), Jonathan Reed (University of LaVerne), and Daniel Schowalter (Carthage College), among others. Colleagues in religious studies and biblical studies have been generous in many ways: the late Sean Freyne (Dublin), the late Jerome Murphy-OConnor (cole Biblique et Archologique de Jrusalem), the late Elaine Myers (London), the late Alan Segal (Barnard College/Columbia University), William Arnal (University of Regina), Brigidda Bell (University of Toronto), Willi Braun (University of Alberta), Laurence Broadhurst (University of Winnipeg), Michel Desjardins (University of Waterloo), Terence Donaldson (Wycliffe College, Toronto), Yaniv Feller (University of Toronto), Philip Harland (York University, Toronto), Jennifer Harris (University of Toronto), Larry Hurtado (University of Edinburgh), William Klassen (University of Waterloo), John Kloppenborg (University of Toronto), Nathalie LaCoste (Memorial University), Russell Martin (Toronto), Halvor Moxnes (University of Oslo), Michele Murray (Bishops College, Qubec), Judith Newman (Emmanuel College, Toronto), Calvin Roetzel (Macalester College and University of Minnesota), Sarah Rollens (Rhodes College), E. P. Sanders (Duke University), and Stephen G. Wilson (Carleton University), to name only a few.

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This new edition incorporates small changes in almost every line as well as larger changes. The many important studies published in the last two decades have meant numerous additions and alterations and new references. One major difference is the re-ordering of the chapters, so that Herods story is told sequentially in Part I, with Part II dealing with Herods context. The original introduction has been deleted and what was a conclusion is now an introduction. Some sections have been deleted, others totally or extensively rewritten, while a new final chapter considers Romes view of Herod and his family at the same time as it considers early Christian developments. New sections include a history of scholarship on Herod; Josephuss works; the Herodian economy; Romes amici ; Herods army and navy; and the chronology of Herods wives. We have reconsidered and altered our chronological summary and rearranged the list of Herods building projects.

We repeat what we said in the Preface of the first edition, that Herod was much like Henry VIII, Catherine the Great, and Peter the Great: talented, vigorous, lusty, skillful, charismatic, attractive, decisive, and influential. Like them, he was a disaster in his personal life; also like them, he changed his nations history. Others were known as the greatfor example, Alexander, Antiochus, Pompey, and Frederickbut it is rather ironic that Herod, popularly called Herod the Great to this day, was known neither in his lifetime nor soon afterword by this title, and we do not so name him; we generally use the simple form, Herod.