Power and the Princess
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| Herodias and Antipas with Salomé |
The Family of Herod Antipas
The family members of Herod that we meet in the Bible are King Herod Antipater (whose nickname was Antipas), his wife Queen Herodias, and her daughter Princess Salomé. Both Antipas and Herodias are divorced and in their second marriage.
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| King Herod Antipater, Ruler of Galilee and Perea |
Herod Antipater, King of Galilee and Perea
Herod Antipater was a son of Herod the Great. He had been married to Princess Phasaelis, the daughter of Aretas the Fourth, king of the Arabic country of Nabatea, which abutted Perea on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. This was a typical political marriage of the times, designed to solidify relations between two neighboring countries. However, on a trip to Rome Antipas met the ravishing Herodias, and the two of them fell together into a lifelong relationship.
Antipas returned to Palestine and divorced Phasaelis, which gained him her father King Aretas as an enemy. Later, Aretas and Antipas had a border dispute which was leading toward war, and Antipas was obliged to appeal to Rome for military assistance. This did not go over well with the Romans, and contributed to Antipas' later fall from power and retirement to Gaul with his wife Herodias.
Word came to the ears of Antipas about a raggedy prophet in the wilderness who was decrying Herod's marriage to Herodias, which was against Jewish law. Antipas was superstitious, and was disturbed as to what this prophet meant to him and to the future of his kingdom. He eventually acquired the arrest of this "John the Baptist," and threw him into the dungeon of his palace fortress at Machaerus in Perea. There the king would go down to listen to the Baptist and wonder what his words meant.
After the death of the Baptist, Antipas began hearing about another prophet in Galilee, Jesus of Nazareth, and some were telling him that this was the Baptist, risen from the dead. He wondered at this and wanted to see and question Jesus, but he took no action to arrest the man, perhaps because his arrest of the prophet John did not produce a good result. It was rumored that Herod wanted to kill Jesus, but this was unlikely, in part due to Herod's superstitious nature.
When Jesus did get arrested by the high priests in Jerusalem, Antipas was in town with his security detail and questioned Jesus at length, hoping to see him perform some miraculous sign. But Antipas got nothing out of Jesus, and his security detail treated him with contempt and mocked him.
Antipas returned to Palestine and divorced Phasaelis, which gained him her father King Aretas as an enemy. Later, Aretas and Antipas had a border dispute which was leading toward war, and Antipas was obliged to appeal to Rome for military assistance. This did not go over well with the Romans, and contributed to Antipas' later fall from power and retirement to Gaul with his wife Herodias.
Word came to the ears of Antipas about a raggedy prophet in the wilderness who was decrying Herod's marriage to Herodias, which was against Jewish law. Antipas was superstitious, and was disturbed as to what this prophet meant to him and to the future of his kingdom. He eventually acquired the arrest of this "John the Baptist," and threw him into the dungeon of his palace fortress at Machaerus in Perea. There the king would go down to listen to the Baptist and wonder what his words meant.
After the death of the Baptist, Antipas began hearing about another prophet in Galilee, Jesus of Nazareth, and some were telling him that this was the Baptist, risen from the dead. He wondered at this and wanted to see and question Jesus, but he took no action to arrest the man, perhaps because his arrest of the prophet John did not produce a good result. It was rumored that Herod wanted to kill Jesus, but this was unlikely, in part due to Herod's superstitious nature.
When Jesus did get arrested by the high priests in Jerusalem, Antipas was in town with his security detail and questioned Jesus at length, hoping to see him perform some miraculous sign. But Antipas got nothing out of Jesus, and his security detail treated him with contempt and mocked him.
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| Queen Herodias |
Herodias, Wife and Queen of Herod Antipas
Herodias was the grand-daughter of Herod the Great and thus a descendant of the Hasmonean dynasty of the latter kings of Israel. On suspicion of rebellion, Herod the Great executed her father and cared for his orphaned sons and daughter. Herod the Great arranged Herodias' first marriage to his son Herod II, who was briefly his heir but never attained a throne.
Sent to Rome to be educated, Herodias met the visiting Herod Antipas and took up with him. Here was a for-real king who could secure her future as queen over Galilee and Perea. Antipas brought her back to Palestine as his queen, but Herodias heard about a wild prophet down by the Jordan who was decrying her illegal marriage to Antipas. If this prophet's complaint were to gain traction, she would be thrown down from her throne.
There is little doubt that Herodias encouraged her husband to arrest John the Baptist and throw him in the dungeon. In fact, it was well known that Herodias wanted the Baptist dead. Her husband would have none of that, though, and visited the prophet in his jail cell.
But one day opportunity arose: Antipas was throwing a great party for his birthday, and all the noblemen of the land were invited. Herodias sent in her daughter to dance for the nobles, who by this time were well-sotted with wine. Her beauty and her dancing were the light of the party. Then it was that her husband made a rash promise to the child. With an oath, he said, "Anything you ask, I will give to you, up to half my kingdom."
The child didn't know what to ask for, so she went to her mother for advice. Herodias told her to ask for the head of John the Baptist on a platter. In this way Herodias's throne would be secure, and her daughter's future would be enhanced. Antipas was appalled, but he was trapped by his oath and his audience of partying nobles. The deed was done, and the dance entered into history.
Sent to Rome to be educated, Herodias met the visiting Herod Antipas and took up with him. Here was a for-real king who could secure her future as queen over Galilee and Perea. Antipas brought her back to Palestine as his queen, but Herodias heard about a wild prophet down by the Jordan who was decrying her illegal marriage to Antipas. If this prophet's complaint were to gain traction, she would be thrown down from her throne.
There is little doubt that Herodias encouraged her husband to arrest John the Baptist and throw him in the dungeon. In fact, it was well known that Herodias wanted the Baptist dead. Her husband would have none of that, though, and visited the prophet in his jail cell.
But one day opportunity arose: Antipas was throwing a great party for his birthday, and all the noblemen of the land were invited. Herodias sent in her daughter to dance for the nobles, who by this time were well-sotted with wine. Her beauty and her dancing were the light of the party. Then it was that her husband made a rash promise to the child. With an oath, he said, "Anything you ask, I will give to you, up to half my kingdom."
The child didn't know what to ask for, so she went to her mother for advice. Herodias told her to ask for the head of John the Baptist on a platter. In this way Herodias's throne would be secure, and her daughter's future would be enhanced. Antipas was appalled, but he was trapped by his oath and his audience of partying nobles. The deed was done, and the dance entered into history.
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| Princess Salomé |
Princess Salomé, Daughter of Herodias
At the time of the dance of Salomé, she was only 14 years old, a fact that seems to have been missed by all the Bible commentators I have consulted. But Salomé was born around AD 14, and the Baptist died toward the end of AD 28, so this would have been but a child in our eyes.
However, in the culture of the day Salomé would have been of prime marrying age. Following Jewish practice, she would be entering into a year-long betrothal phase at this age. Her mother, who had been a princess of the court of Herod the Great, had been adept in acquiring for herself a queenly crown. Now she was arranging for her daughter to follow her example. Her husband's birthday party would have been filled with nobles, princes, and kings, and it was time for Salomé to show her stuff.
Within a couple of years, Salomé ascended to the throne of Trachonitis and Iturea, seated beside her new husband Herod Philip, king of the northeastern reaches near the Sea of Galilee. But Herod Philip died within a few years. Yet her fame and her beauty still held sway, for shortly she married Aristobulus king of Chalcis, a few miles farther to the north.
The legend of Salomé and her dance became much greater than that of the princess herself. Plays and operas have been written about her, and she has become the original femme fatale. The dance of this child has been transformed into the Dance of the Seven Veils in music and ballet, while the real person, the 14-year-old girl, has been largely forgotten.
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| Ancient Coin with Likeness of Herod Antipater |
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