The Decline and Death of Herod

In his final days as king, Herod suffered from several illnesses that defied treatment. Josephus relates that the declining king, fearful that the Jews would celebrate his death, concocted a plan to imprison and massacre prominent Jews on the day of his death to guarantee Jewish mourning. He even made an unsuccessful attempt at suicide with a paring knife, which his cousin Achiab managed to prevent. Herod’s desperation offered new hope to his son Antipater II, who in 5 BCE was convicted on the charge of conspiracy to poison his father by a regional Roman council assembled by the Syrian legate Quinctilius Varus. Antipater endeavored to bribe the jailkeeper to let him escape prison and assume the throne. Learning of the plot, Herod ordered Antipater’s execution in 4 BCE.

Herod died five days later, after thirty-seven years in power. Josephus writes that his sister, Salome, released the imprisoned Jews rather than murdering them in accordance with Herod’s instructions. Whether Herod in fact issued such instructions as alleged by Josephus is uncertain, since no massacre took place—stories about the intention of tyrants to commit wicked deeds that never happened are notoriously hard to verify. The story resembles the tale in 3 Maccabees of the Jews in Alexandria being imprisoned by Ptolemy IV (3 Maccabees 3:11–4:21) and later saved by miraculous means (6:16–29).

Upon his death, Herod’s son Archelaus assumed power (Herod’s sons Alexander and Aristobulus having been executed in 7 BCE). Archelaus arranged an impressive funeral for the departed king. Josephus’ final commentary characterizes King Herod as fortunate in public life yet unfortunate in family life, a common assessment in Greek historians’ depictions of tyrannical rulers.