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Herod: King of the Jews and Friend of the Romans
This book provides a stunning look at the king who had an extraordinary impact on Roman-era Palestine. The author integrates historical, archaeological, and social analyses, writing with clarity and enthusiasm for his subject. The charts, maps and diagrams make this a very accessible tool for use in the classroom. Richardson portrays Herod in the complexity of his Judean and Roman frameworks.
360 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 1996
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
November 26, 2022
A good book, with a critical interrogation of Josephus based on reading between his lines about what Nicholas of Damascus said, as well as Herod-related writings of Strabo, etc., plus previous academics. In essence, to the degree it’s possible, Richardson is doing redaction criticism on Josephus as part of this book. He also examines Fergus Millar, E.P. Sanders and other academics. This would certainly be considered at least semi-academic, and definitely a “sympathetic” bio.
First, the biggie from Richardson, and the biggest outrightly new thing to me. He says that, with the possible exception of one or two towns that were centers of Cos worship, the Hasmonean conversion of the Idumeans, as well as their incorporation into the Hasmonean realm, was voluntary. Related? Herod himself was no “half-Jew” or “forced Jew.”
Now, Herod did erect a temple to Baal Shamayim (Shemim as articulated by Richardson) in the Gaulanitis area community of Si’a. He did erect a temple to Augustus at Panias, along side the old temple to Pan, in part to “neutralize” the cult’s fostering by the Ituraean king. (Panias later became the Caesarea Philippi of Biblical times.)
Now, the Imperial-type eagle that gave so much offense? Richardson doesn’t call it a nothingburger, but hints that the level of umbrage taken was not in accord with reality. He calculates its position as being on a bridge to one of the lesser temple gates, and at that spot, explicitly says it would not have been visible from the temple itself.
From here, lesser items, not necessarily new to me, but new on focus etc., in much more depth at the Graph.
First, the biggie from Richardson, and the biggest outrightly new thing to me. He says that, with the possible exception of one or two towns that were centers of Cos worship, the Hasmonean conversion of the Idumeans, as well as their incorporation into the Hasmonean realm, was voluntary. Related? Herod himself was no “half-Jew” or “forced Jew.”
Now, Herod did erect a temple to Baal Shamayim (Shemim as articulated by Richardson) in the Gaulanitis area community of Si’a. He did erect a temple to Augustus at Panias, along side the old temple to Pan, in part to “neutralize” the cult’s fostering by the Ituraean king. (Panias later became the Caesarea Philippi of Biblical times.)
Now, the Imperial-type eagle that gave so much offense? Richardson doesn’t call it a nothingburger, but hints that the level of umbrage taken was not in accord with reality. He calculates its position as being on a bridge to one of the lesser temple gates, and at that spot, explicitly says it would not have been visible from the temple itself.
From here, lesser items, not necessarily new to me, but new on focus etc., in much more depth at the Graph.
September 12, 2014
A very thorough, insightful investigation into the life of King Herod "the Great". This is my first full length read on Herod and his family, so I can't compare it with anything yet, but it seems to me like a great place to start. Soon I want to read Vermes' book on Herod as well.
January 5, 2020
Richardson's book focuses on the first Herod. It's a biography based largely around the work of Josephus, and it is focused primarily on the political rise and fortune of the king, recounting much in the way of his war exploits and quarrels within his family.
I came to this book not so much wanting to read about Herod as wanting to read more about the culture from which he derived--the Idumeans. The Edomites, of course, have a long history, but I wanted one that focuse specifically on the culture of the people at this time, the time of the Herods. There was no such book that I could find, so I figured a book about Herod might give me some of that. Indeed, this book did.
But because the focus was, as it should have been, being a biography, on Herod's political career, it was something of a disappointment for me.
Richardson uses fiction techniques to start and end his work. He begins with Herod's death, describing it from the point of view of various peoples who would have known him--radical zealots, Romans, Pharisees, and so on. Indeed, how he was remembered would have depended in many ways on what your own political and religious views were. He was, on some level, very religious, and another, just the opposite. He was an opportunist. He was one who did well for his adopted Jewish people. He was one who sold them out to Rome for his own gain. He was one who did the best he could to support Judah at a time of Roman hegemony. The conclusion reaches for similar points, documenting his various accomplishments.
In between, we get the actual biography, which is, as many histories can be, a bit overwhelming with its accounts of battles. Such rarely keeps me wanting to read, even in books that are outright about wars. After so many, they begin to seem similar, like so much maneuvering to attain specific ends. I tend to prefer to know those ends and in general how they were obtained--not so much the specifics.
The parts that spoke most to me, thus, were those that focused more on Herod's building program, which was impressive. Also of interest--though this too got bogged down in details--was his growing paranoia and the destruction of his family largely by himself. Finally, a mere chapter--but an interesting one--is devoted to his descendants, the tetrarchs that followed him and the final kings.
I came to this book not so much wanting to read about Herod as wanting to read more about the culture from which he derived--the Idumeans. The Edomites, of course, have a long history, but I wanted one that focuse specifically on the culture of the people at this time, the time of the Herods. There was no such book that I could find, so I figured a book about Herod might give me some of that. Indeed, this book did.
But because the focus was, as it should have been, being a biography, on Herod's political career, it was something of a disappointment for me.
Richardson uses fiction techniques to start and end his work. He begins with Herod's death, describing it from the point of view of various peoples who would have known him--radical zealots, Romans, Pharisees, and so on. Indeed, how he was remembered would have depended in many ways on what your own political and religious views were. He was, on some level, very religious, and another, just the opposite. He was an opportunist. He was one who did well for his adopted Jewish people. He was one who sold them out to Rome for his own gain. He was one who did the best he could to support Judah at a time of Roman hegemony. The conclusion reaches for similar points, documenting his various accomplishments.
In between, we get the actual biography, which is, as many histories can be, a bit overwhelming with its accounts of battles. Such rarely keeps me wanting to read, even in books that are outright about wars. After so many, they begin to seem similar, like so much maneuvering to attain specific ends. I tend to prefer to know those ends and in general how they were obtained--not so much the specifics.
The parts that spoke most to me, thus, were those that focused more on Herod's building program, which was impressive. Also of interest--though this too got bogged down in details--was his growing paranoia and the destruction of his family largely by himself. Finally, a mere chapter--but an interesting one--is devoted to his descendants, the tetrarchs that followed him and the final kings.
April 9, 2026
I can't believe more people have complained about this, but I'm 100 pages into this book, and I haven't learned really anything about Herod. It's just been information and speculation about what was happening in the world when he FINALLY (on page 96) enters the scene and even then he comes up as someone's son and not the main character in his own biography. Don't get me wrong, it's important to know about the world at the time, but it should be in reference to Herod since he is the subject of the biography. Furthermore, I bought a bio on Herod so I could learn more about him, but this author is writing as if the reader is already informed about much of what he's writing. Yet, I'm reading the book to find out, so..... it's just not good.
January 15, 2020
A very thorough and intriguing study of King Herod's life and accomplishments. I would not recommend this to a casual reader of history. It is sometimes difficult to follow and seems to be written for an audience who already has a firm grasp on Roman and Jewish history of that era. But if you have a solid historical foundation, this book is excellent and very informative.
Read
June 10, 2025Didn't realize that this was fiction when I picked it up. It was fine, there are quite a few things that are accurate in here so its a decent way to get some insight into what Herod's life was actually like, though almost all of the dialogue, thinking, internal conflict is added by the author (appropriately as this historical fiction)
April 21, 2020
Excellent and intriguing.
August 12, 2026
Fascinating about a tyrant to many, a servant to the Romans, and given the title "The Great".
February 27, 2011
This one is not for the casual biography reader. It presupposes a knowledge of antiquities that I did not have, but I enjoyed doing some investigation to find out more. Probably not too surprising for a leader who lived from 70 to 4 BCE, there are a lot of question marks about his life story. Mr. Richardson does an impressive job piecing together Herod's biography primarily from the sometimes inconsistent writings of Flavius Josephus, a Jewish historian from the first century CE. Most interesting is the methodology of reconstructing the life of Herod through the historical, literary, archeological and architectural records. I don't recommend this book unless you have an interest in this period.
Read
July 28, 2011This book at 300+ pages is a readable concise version of Herod's life a none too easy subject to wrestle. I wouldn't say it was a great read depending on how interested you are on this subject but I found it useful for my compendium as an Israeli Tour Guide and it certainly is readable.
May 6, 2008
worked well for me with Fergus Millar's Roman Near East
October 18, 2008
Offers great analyses of Josephus as a source; Richardson is favorable to Herod (as is made very clear by his closing statements) and gives a great picture of his life
September 15, 2011
I'm glad I read this for background in teaching Hebrew school, but I really think that Herod is waiting for a Stacy Schiff or other A-list non-fiction writer to cover the subject.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews