Antigonus, who had Hyrcanus’s ears cut off, maiming him and thus render-
ing him ineligible to be High Priest. Antigonus, though, lasted only as long
as the Parthians.
In response to the Parthian restoration of Antigonus, the Roman senate
nominated Herod king of Judea, stipulating that he had to conquer Judea in
order to rule. Herod invaded Judea. After the Parthians were defeated by the
Romans in 38, Herod completed his conquest of the entire Land of Israel,
including Judea and Galilee, within a year. Following Herod’s conquest,
Antigonus was beheaded by orders of Antony at the request of Herod. Herod
then solidified his hold on new kingdom by marrying Mariamne, grand-
daughter of Hyrcanus II. He ruled for the next 41 years.
Herod was well liked by the Roman imperial court, thus relations between
Judea and Rome improved. He was required to send troops to fight in Roman
campaigns, allowed to mint coins and raise a small army, and was given unlim-
ited authority over the life and death of his subjects. For a brief moment in 32
B.C.E., his position was uncertain when Antony was defeated by Octavian.
Herod won over the latter, who gave him Cleopatra’s possessions in the Land of
Israel, including Samaria and part of Transjordan. This expanded Judea under
Herod to the size it had been under Alexander Jannai. His relations with the
Hasmonean royal family were far less cordial. He regarded the Hasmoneans as
a constant threat, and murdered almost the entire royal family, including his
wife Mariamne, his mother-in-law, and the children he had through
Mariamne. The royal family was virtually extinct by 4 C.E.
Herod is perhaps best known for his extensive construction projects. He
built twenty-two new cities, including Caesarea and Antipatris. He renovated
older cities such as Jericho, and erected fortresses all over his kingdom. These
included Masada, near the oasis Ein Gedi in the Dead Sea region. He also
erected temples in honor of the Roman emperor in Samaria and Caesarea.
Most notably, he began extensive renovations of the Temple in Jerusalem, a
massive project that was completed only in 64 C.E. Later, rabbinic tradition
would laud this project: “Whoever has not seen the Temple of Herod has
never truly seen a beautiful edifice.”
To pay for these costly renovations, Herod expanded the tax apparatus of
the Hasmoneans. His economic policies favored the wealthy elite. Indeed, the
unprecedented wealth of the elite during Herod’s rule is attested to by arche-
ological remains of houses with reservoirs and elaborate mosaic floors. His
policies favored Jerusalem over the countryside. Not surprisingly, the Galilee
region became the main source of tension and discontent. Yet he kept such
tensions in check, maintaining the peace for more than forty years.
More complex, perhaps, were his policies regarding religion. To the Jews,
he presented himself as a Jew – the scion of an Idumean family that had con-
verted to Judaism under Alexander Jannai, and a member by marriage of the
Hasmonean family. To the Romans, he presented himself as a Roman.
Nonetheless, he repeatedly offended Jewish sensibilities. He had a golden
The challenge of Hellenism 35