King Herod the Great

Herod the Great was an ambitious and cruel man who became the king of Israel in 36 BC and ruled on behalf of the Romans. His ancestors were Edomite rulers of Dime who had been forced to acknowledge the over lordship of the Jewish Hasmoneans. Herod's father was Antipater, the conniving and devious man who saw an opportunity to restore Edomite rule, and who bore a major part of the responsibility for the destructive civil war that impoverished the entire nation. This war ended the Hasmonean dynasty and began Israel's slavery to Rome.

In the aftermath of the Roman conquest in 63 BC, Antipater came out on top because he convinced the Romans to appoint him as their regent, ruling Jerusalem on behalf of Rome. Rule was never easy, however, because of the constant and increasing tax burden imposed by the Roman government. The emperor Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC, and in the ensuing power struggle between Cassius, his murderer, and Octavian, both sides demanded even more taxes from all of the Roman tributaries in order to raise armies and fight each other. In trying to collect these taxes, Antipater underestimated the level of Jewish hatred against Rome and was killed in a riot. His son Herod, who had been the ruler of Galilee under his father, immediately, seized power.

Herod, who had commanded troops since the age of sixteen, smashed with ruthless ferocity the Jewish tax revolt that had killed his father. He was further tested by Antigens, the son of Aristobulus and the last of the Hasmonean ruling family, who had escaped from Rome. Gathering his supporters, Antigens retook Jerusalem in order to restore Hasmonean rule. Antigens captured and tortured Hyrcanus, his uncle and the enemy of his father, and he then ruled in Jerusalem for several years. But his army was eventually defeated by Herod and the Romans, and Antigens was beheaded, bringing the Hasmonean dynasty to a bleak and bitter end.

Herod learned early in life to rule by force and to be totally ruthless; he raised the taxes even higher to drive the people into submission. A confiscatory tax called the fiscus Judaicus was devised especially for the Jews—either bow down and worship the emperor or pay him.

In order to show the people that their taxes were achieving some tangible results, Herod went on a building binge. He had the Tomb of the Patriarchs ...