Page 22 - Advanced Life of Christ - Student Textbook

second wife, Mariamne (he eventually had 10 wives). This earned him the saying attributed to Augustus:
“It is better to be Herod’s pig than his son.” (https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/herod-the-great/) It is not
out of character for Herod to call for the murder of all male children 2 years and younger in Jerusalem
when he heard that a “king” was born that may oppose his rule.

Throughout Herod’s reign, he was insecure in his position. In Jerusalem the king built a new market, an
amphitheater, a theater, a new building where the Sanhedrin could convene, a new royal palace, and in
20 BC he started to rebuild the Temple which was completed by others in 64 AD. He built the Temple to
help build a stronger relationship with the Jews and to exalt the Jewish faith above all others. He also
built buildings in Jericho and Samaria. In trying to relieve his fear of insurrection, he constructed the
massive fortresses of Herodium, Machaerus, and Masada.

Herod’s crowning achievement was the new port city of Caesarea in honor of Emperor Augustus. This
magnificent and opulent city was dedicated in 9 BC. The city was laid out on a Greek grid plan, with a
market, an aqueduct, government offices, baths, villas, a circus, and several pagan temples. The port
was a masterpiece of engineering; its piers were made from hydraulic concrete which hardens
underwater.

Despite all the beautiful buildings Herod constructed for the Jewish people, for the most part he was
greatly hated. The Sadducees hated him because he had terminated the rule of the old royal house to
which many were related, so their influence was curtailed. The Pharisees despised him because, even
though he claimed to be Jewish in religion, he did not reverence the Law. And the people hated him
because to build all the buildings and sites were expensive to build, so he taxed the Jews with TWO
taxes annually, one at 10.7% and one at 8.6%. Herod had to resort to violence and employed
mercenaries and secret police to enforce the tax.

Herod died of a terrible disease and his son, Herod Antipas was assigned to rule Galilee and the east
bank of the Jordan. His sibling, Philip, was to be tetrarch of the Golan Heights, and Herod’s son,
Archelaus, became tetrarch of Samaria and Judaea. Herod was buried in Herodium and few were sorry
to see him go. This was how the country was divided in leadership when Jesus Christ was a young child.

Herod the Great

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