The Many Faces of Herod the Great
Overview
For most of the Western world, Herod the Great is an icon of cruelty and evil, the epitome of a tyrant. Adam Kolman Marshak portrays Herod the Great quite differently, however, carefully drawing on historical, archaeological, and literary sources. He shows how Herod successfully ruled over his turbulent kingdom by skillfully interacting with his audiences—Roman, Hellenistic, and Judaean—in myriad ways. Herod was indeed a master in political self-presentation.
Marshak’s account chronicles how Herod moved from the bankrupt usurper he was at the beginning of his reign to a wealthy and powerful king who founded a dynasty and brought ancient Judaea to its greatest prominence and prosperity. He presents a new lens for understanding the powerful, notorious King Herod, ruler of ancient Judaea.
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Key Features
- Presents Herod the Great’s achievements
- Contributes to the history of Judaea, the study of Roman client kingship, and ancient politics
- Includes maps and illustrations
Contents
- Cultural and Intellectual Milieu
- Rome and Its Client Kings
- Hellenistic Monarchy in the Graeco-Roman World
- Judaean History from the Maccabees to Herod
- From Hasmonean to Antonian
- Herod’s Rise to Power (47–42 BCE)
- Herod and Antony (42–30 BCE)
- Herod the New Hasmonean
- Client King in an Augustan World
- Herod the Augustan Client King
- Bringing Judaea into the Roman Sphere: Herod and Romanization
- Herod and the Hellenistic King in an Augustan World
- Herod, Melekh HaYehudim
- Herod and the Temple
Top Highlights
“Those he had put to death included his wife Mariamme, who was of the Hasmonean line; her grandfather Hyrcanus II, who had been High Priest; his brother-in-law Jonathan, whom he had appointed high priest at the age of seventeen; his sons by Mariamme, Alexander and Aristobulus; and finally Antipater, whose mother he had divorced to marry Mariamme. The Roman emperor Augustus once quipped that it was better to be Herod’s pig than his son. Yet he reigned for thirty-seven years. The Jewish historian Josephus wrote that ‘in his life as a whole he was blessed, if ever a man was, by fortune; a commoner, he mounted to a throne, retained it for all those years, and bequeathed it to his own children.” (Page xiii)
“Herod is called ‘the Great’ because his reign in Jerusalem was the most splendid since the legendary days of Solomon” (Page xiii)
“astute and adept political player who skillfully manipulated the system to enhance his own position and power” (Page xxii)
Praise for the Print Edition
This substantial and exceptionally well-documented study of Herod the Great will be for a good long time the basic resource for English readers on the grim but brilliantly successful monarch who was one of the shapers of world history. There is no doubt that it is a needed book. . . . Adam Kolman Marshak shuttles with the ease and assurance of an expert Roman historian between ground level and the bigger picture, carrying the reader with him all the way.
—Tessa Rajak, emeritus professor of ancient history, University of Reading
Applying the valuable reference point of self-presentation to Herod, the famous king of Judaea, Marshak has created an excellent vehicle to more fully understand the larger-than-life man in all of his complexity. In this biography we come to appreciate how Herod navigated in his Roman, Hellenistic, and Jewish worlds.
—Donald T. Ariel, head, coin department, Israel Antiquities Authority
A clear and well-written analysis of Herod’s dynamic career, his politics, and his self-representation as a Jewish, Hellenistic, and Roman king. Marshak encompasses all aspects and sources, from texts to architecture to coins. This comprehensive book presents Herod as a model of a client king in the Augustan principate.
—Achim Lichtenberger, professor, archaeological studies, Ruhr University Bochum
Writing the history of Herod the Great is not an easy task. Scholars are confronted with a hostile literary tradition and a complex historical background. Marshak meets the various challenges with aplomb. . . . An important contribution both to historical scholarship on Judaea and to more general debates on the art of government.
—Benedikt Eckhardt, professor, University of Münster
- Title: The Many Faces of Herod the Great
- Author: Adam Kolman Marshak
- Publisher: Eerdmans
- Print Publication Date: 2015
- Logos Release Date: 2017
- Pages: 432
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subjects: Herod I, King of Judea, 73 B.C.-4 B.C; Jews › Kings and rulers--Biography; Jews › History--168 B.C.-135 A.D
- ISBNs: 9780802866059, 0802866050
- Resource ID: LLS:MNYFCSHRDGRT
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T01:35:13Z