What do you think?
Rate this book
Osprey Men at Arms #443
The Army of Herod the Great
Herod was Rome's most important and powerful ally at the end of the Republic and during the first years of Augustus' principate. He has entered posterity as a ruthless ruler against both his own family and, according to the gospel of Matthew, as the instigator of the slaughter of the innocents. He was also an able administrator, however, and succeeded in developing a powerful army. At its peak, Herod's army could field approximately 40,000 men. This book offers a fascinating look at this ancient army using the latest Israeli archaeological reports and finds, including weapons and armor fragments. Various campaigns are also discussed, such as the First and Second NAbatean War (32-32 BC, 9 BC), the siege of Jerusalem (40-37 BC), and Aelius Gallus' expedition to Arabia in 25 BC.
48 pages, Paperback
First published June 27, 2008
27 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 19, 2022
"The Army of Herod the Great" was indeed interesting and started off with a simple fact. "Herod's army was the last independent regular Jewish army before the creation of Zahal, the defense force of the State of Israel, some 2,000 years later." Of course, Jews made up the majority of Herod's army. However, other units were mercenaries from neighboring regions as well as Roman allies.
You may wonder why only 3 stars if I liked this book. Well, there are two reasons, which might not apply to everyone else. My copy, from Amazon, was a print on demand. It has a different 'feel' from past Osprey Publishing books. Being as I purchase these books to add to my personal library, and to pass on to any interested descendants, I was rather disappointed with this. These 50-page books are not cheap.
The other reason was the extensive listing of references, which took up space. For instance, "Later, after the conquest of Joppa, men from the 'local population' once more enlisted, probably Jews as well as Idumaeans (Josephus AJ XIV, 396-7, 400 and BJ II, 292-294); even Jews from Jerusalem (AJ XIV, 400 and BJ I, 294) and Jericho (AJ XIV, 458 and BJ I, 335) joined Herod's army." You will find lines like these on nearly every page. I am not a college professor nor one looking to question the source of his information. Most who buy these books aren't. They simply want to learn some history or know what colors to paint their historical figures and maybe recreate a battle with miniature soldiers. The author should have maybe stated something like, "Refer to the books 'War' and 'Antiquities' by Josephus."
As I stated earlier, this book was interesting. I learned a lot in those few pages. Herod built a lot of buildings and fortresses. He was pretty successful at politics as well as war. Leading his armies in the field, which all current politicians should be required to do, he inspired them to victory more than once with motivational speeches. The purpose of his military colonies was twofold. Veterans settled in an area would be sure to quell any resurrection by the locals and hopefully in time they would intermarry and thus pacify an area by peaceful means.
In spite of my complaints, I am not sorry I bought this book.
Photos, a nice map and color plates are included.
You may wonder why only 3 stars if I liked this book. Well, there are two reasons, which might not apply to everyone else. My copy, from Amazon, was a print on demand. It has a different 'feel' from past Osprey Publishing books. Being as I purchase these books to add to my personal library, and to pass on to any interested descendants, I was rather disappointed with this. These 50-page books are not cheap.
The other reason was the extensive listing of references, which took up space. For instance, "Later, after the conquest of Joppa, men from the 'local population' once more enlisted, probably Jews as well as Idumaeans (Josephus AJ XIV, 396-7, 400 and BJ II, 292-294); even Jews from Jerusalem (AJ XIV, 400 and BJ I, 294) and Jericho (AJ XIV, 458 and BJ I, 335) joined Herod's army." You will find lines like these on nearly every page. I am not a college professor nor one looking to question the source of his information. Most who buy these books aren't. They simply want to learn some history or know what colors to paint their historical figures and maybe recreate a battle with miniature soldiers. The author should have maybe stated something like, "Refer to the books 'War' and 'Antiquities' by Josephus."
As I stated earlier, this book was interesting. I learned a lot in those few pages. Herod built a lot of buildings and fortresses. He was pretty successful at politics as well as war. Leading his armies in the field, which all current politicians should be required to do, he inspired them to victory more than once with motivational speeches. The purpose of his military colonies was twofold. Veterans settled in an area would be sure to quell any resurrection by the locals and hopefully in time they would intermarry and thus pacify an area by peaceful means.
In spite of my complaints, I am not sorry I bought this book.
Photos, a nice map and color plates are included.
July 17, 2024
Herod is known mainly for his Biblical role but was an effective military commander. Rocca gives a thorough short overview of his forces and their majors battles.
September 12, 2025
Amazed at the complexity and the size of the Herodian army. Gaining additional background and insight into the world that our Lord Jesus Christ ministered and served. A profitable monograph for this study.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews