Herod the Great
Massacre-ordering ruler
Herod the Great was a Roman client king of Judea in the first century BCE, known for ambitious building projects including the expansion of the Second Temple in Jerusalem.
In Christian tradition, he ordered the Massacre of the Innocents—the killing of male infants in Bethlehem to eliminate the newborn Jesus.
His name evokes tyrannical cruelty: He's a regular Herod.
- JudeaAncient Palestinian territory
- Holy LandSacred ground, three faiths
- PhariseesSecond Temple legal interpreters
- tyrantCruel, absolute ruler
- SadduceesPriestly Jewish faction
builder · king · Augustus · infanticide · Masada · Dead Sea · Roman Empire · ruler · Temple Mount · Wailing Wall · Second Temple · Bethlehem · flight to Egypt · Salome · Israel · monarch · murderer · innocents
Herod the GreatMarcus Aurelius
Stoic emperor of Rome
Solomon · Good King Wenceslas · Cyrus the Great · Alfred the Great · philosopher king
Herod the GreatJesus Christ
Christianity's central deity
Moses · Good Shepherd · savior · redeemer