Herod the Great: Jewish King in a Roman World

by Martin Goodman

A vivid account of the political triumphs and domestic tragedies of the Jewish king Herod the Great during the turmoil of the Roman revolution
 
Herod the Great (73–4 BCE) was a phenomenally energetic ruler who took advantage of the chaos of the Roman revolution to establish himself as a major figure in a changing Roman world and transform the landscape of Judaea. Both Jews and Christians developed myths about his cruelty and in Christian tradition he was cast as the tyrant who ordered the Massacre of the Innocents; in the Talmud, despite fond memories of his glorious Temple in Jerusalem, he was recalled as a persecutor of rabbis.
 
The life of Herod is better documented than that of any other Jew from antiquity, and Martin Goodman examines the extensive literary and archaeological evidence to provide a vivid portrait of Herod in his sociopolitical his Idumaean origins; his installation by Rome as king of Judaea and cultivation of leading Romans; his massive architectural projects; and his presentation of himself as a Jew, most strikingly through the rebuilding of the Jerusalem Temple and his numerous polygamous marriages. Goodman argues that the later traditions about Herod as a monster derived from public interest in his execution of three of his sons after dramatic public trials foisted on him by a dynastic policy imposed by the Roman emperor.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, Judaism, Biblical Studies

248 pages, Hardcover

First published March 12, 2024

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Martin David Goodman is a historian and writer on Roman history and the history of the Jews in the Roman period.

Reviews

[Josh Swinscoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

To preface, before Going into this I had zero knowledge of Herod the Great and his life. This has definitely changed after reading this.

I love the actual design of it, the sleeve, the hard cover and the page sides. All this just makes the boom feel unique and nice for myself.

However, I feel like the chapters at times are far to long, and I enjoy shorter around 20 upto 30 page chapters at a push, yet this one has some around 40. Now this is entirely a personal thing, as I am a slow reader and take my time, but it helps me space it out and just feels like I'm faster at reading. However I can't dock any points related to this as it's just a little opinion that isn't a big deal.

The book does jump around a bit at time, but overall is pretty chronological. It details Herods life very well, explaining how he dealt in a radically changing world, both geographically with borders and politically.

Overall I would definitely recommend this as a book to read, I enjoyed it alot and it taught me plenty about Herod.

5/5

[Daniel Hoffman · Rating 5 out of 5]

The life of Herod the Great is one of the best documented of any ancient king. Herod was a bit of an upstart on the Judean political scene, and owed his throne (and its preservation) largely to the friendship he cultivated with the Emperor Augustus. Martin Goodman seems equally at home with Romand and Jewish history, and this biography puts Herod in his ancient social and political context.

The blurb says:

"Herod the Great (73-4 BCE) was a phenomenally energetic ruler who took advantage of the chaos of the Roman revolution to establish himself as a major figure in a changing Roman world and transform the landscape of Judaea. Both Jews and Christians developed myths about his cruelty and rashness: in Christian tradition he was cast as the tyrant who ordered the Massacre of the Innocents; in the Talmud, despite fond memories of his glorious Temple in Jerusalem, he was recalled as a persecutor of rabbis."

Regarding the thing that Herod is perhaps most famous for—his slaughter of the innocents in attempt the kill Jesus from Matthew 2—Goodman regards this as fictional, but as far as I can tell that is not because it contradicts anything we know of Herod (it actually fits his character very well), but simply because 1) It is not documented elsewhere, and 2) In Matthew it functions typologically to cast Herod as one like Pharaoh. Neither of those is a good reason to my mind to deny its historicity.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s always interesting to read well researched books that expand on what we were taught in Sunday School. I realize now my boyhood confusion over Herod was justified … three different kings are referred to as Herod in the New Testament, only one of which was actually named Herod. Plus, the whole ‘killed all the babies’ story is unverifiable, popping up (perhaps for literary symmetry with the Moses story) in one of the gospels 4 years after the actual man named Herod died. Fascinating.

A readable book, highly recommended.

[Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book really demonstrated that Herod had a great ability to form alliances and manipulate people. He backed eventual losers in Rome's civil wars. Whether it be Pompey, Julius Caesar, Mark Antony (Herod had issues with Cleopatra), before aligning himself with Octavian. Herod tried to fix marriage alliances for his siblings and children; he eventually killed most of his family. The biggest irony this book documents is that while Herod wanted to be beloved by the Jewish people, his desecration of the temple and hated among Christians marred his legacy.

[Gabriel Stein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating

A fascinating biography of a complicated personality. Herod the Great has had a “very bad press“. Martin Goodman‘s biography examines the king, his life and his accomplishments, without hiding his tragic and complicated family life. It deserves to be widely read.

[Bill Dauster · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fine history of Herod by a leading scholar of the era

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

In one of the Christian stories of Jesus, Herod the Great (73-4 B.C.E.) is portrayed as a monster: he’s said to have ordered the death of innocent children in order to kill a prophesied king of the Jews. In the biography “Herod the Great: Jewish King in a Roman World” (Jewish Lives Series/Yale University Press), Martin Goodman, emeritus professor of Jewish studies at the University of Oxford, casts great doubt on the tale, noting that not only don’t the dates match up correctly, but the earliest Christian gospels make no mention of the story. What Goodman finds ironic is that a man so concerned with his posthumous reputation should be slandered after his death.
To read the rest of my review, visit https://www.thereportergroup.org/book...

[Owen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gripping and nuanced biography of one of the enigmas of the ancient Mediterranean. For the brevity of this biography I think it did a great service as a primer on understanding the importance of Herod in the massive transformation of the ancient world seen with the fall of the Roman Republic and destruction of the Hasmonean kingdom and how Herod weathered both those storms while still showing his complexities and faults.

A great book on a topic I didn’t know much about, a must read for those interested in Rome but only know it from a Roman perspective

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciated this biography for upending what I thought I knew about Herod and teaching me a lot that I didn't know. His is a complex life, and our sources are few (mostly Josephus). My own interest was in learning about how Herod functioned as a Jewish king in a Roman empire (a la the subtitle of the book), and Goodman does a great job with this multifaceted topic. I'll confess that my eyes started crossing in the chapter on Roman politics, until I finally decided that I'd let the details sweep over me and try to capture just the big ideas. A very readable biography.

[Michael Grady · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book! The writer easily navigates between competing versions of various writers and even among contradictions of Josephus himself. Seamlessly intertwines various versions, sites sources, while easily maintaining the readers interest.

[Bud Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Somewhat technical, but quite readable nonetheless. An illustrated family tree would be helpful! I don't agree with Goodman's explanation of the Biblical account of Herod's slaughter of the innocents; otherwise, a well-researched scholarly book.

[Stan Alam · Rating 4 out of 5]

just as I suspected, no so great. I usually don't listen to audio books. Finished it over the weekend. I would recommend the book. The early iron age was a terrible time to be alive.

[Esther Dushinsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook

[Terence]

5 out of 10.