Herod’s Relationship with Augustus

Josephus

Jewish Antiquities 15.342–343

93–94

While Herod was engaged in these matters, Sebaste already having been built as a city, he decided to send his sons Alexander and Aristobulus to Rome to meet with Caesar. When they arrived, they lodged at the house of Pollio, who was especially eager for Herod’s friendship. They were even permitted to lodge at Caesar’s own residence, for he received the boys with the greatest benevolence. He also granted Herod the right to give his kingdom to whichever of his sons he wished, and besides all this, he bestowed on him the territories of Trachon, Batanea, and Auranitis, of which he had assumed control.

Translated by William Whiston, adapted by Aaron Samuels.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 2: Emerging Judaism.

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Josephus writes that Herod’s sons Alexander and Aristobulus were greeted warmly by Augustus Caesar, who granted Herod the right to pass sovereignty over his kingdom to the offspring of his choice. Herod dispatched his two heirs to Rome, largely for the purpose of giving them an education. In recognition of Herod’s earlier pleas before the Roman Senate for rule over Judaea during the Parthian invasion and his subsequent ability to restore relative order within the frequently unstable Roman province, Augustus granted Herod several territories as a mark of his alliance with Rome as client king. This passage depicts a continued state of friendship between Rome and Herod as well as the attendant benefits of Herod’s position as a successful provincial ruler over Judaea.

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Creator Bio

Josephus

37–100

Flavius Josephus was born into a prominent Jewish priestly family and served as a general stationed in the Galilee during the First Jewish Revolt (66–73 CE). He was captured by the Romans and eventually integrated into the Flavian imperial aristocracy, who commissioned him to compose chronicles of the Jewish–Roman war and the history of the Jews. Josephus’ works, all written in Greek, include The Jewish War, Jewish Antiquities, Against Apion, and his autobiography, Life of Josephus. These writings provide important insights into the Judaisms of the Second Temple period and include one of the few surviving accounts of the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE.

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