King Herod the Great: A Short Biography

By Doug West

Do you want to learn about King Herod but don’t have the time or patience to read a thick book? Then this short and concise book “King Herod the Great: A Short Biography” is for you!!
During King Herod’s life he has been credited with many great accomplishments and many horrendous acts, including the following:
•Prince of Galilee at the age of 25,
•Married the 17-year-old Hasmonean princess Mariamne for political gain,
•Along with the Romans, he drove out the Parthians when they invaded Judea and the region in 40 B.C.,
•Killed the high priest of the Jews and his brother-in-law, Aristobulus,
•Had his second wife Mariamne executed for treason,
•During a severe drought in Judea, Herod procured food from Egypt to feed his starving subjects,
•Lavishly rebuilt the Temple of Jerusalem,
•Built a fortress-palace at the mountain of Masada,
•Built a massive port at Caesarea Maritima for trade with the Mediterranean world,
•Attempted to have the child Jesus killed in Bethlehem,
•In fits of paranoid madness, he had several of his family members killed, including his own sons.
•And much more...
The book “King Herod the Great: A Short Biography” gives a brief look at the life and times of this infamous king. To illustrate the story of his life there are numerous pictures of the places and events that were part of his life. In addition, the book contains: a list of reference books for further reading, a timeline of King Herod’s life and events of that period of history, and a section that contains short biographical sketches of the key individuals in the book.

Pick up your copy today by clicking the BUY button!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Doug West
• Release date: Aug 2, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215574959

Doug West

Doug West is a retired engineer, small business owner, and an experienced non-fiction writer with several books to his credit. His writing interests are general, with expertise in science, history, biographies, numismatics, and “How to” topics. Doug has a B.S. in Physics from the Missouri School of Science and Technology and a Ph.D. in General Engineering from Oklahoma State University. He lives with his wife and little dog “Millie” near Kansas City, Missouri.

Book preview

King Herod the Great

A Short Biography

By Doug West, Ph.D.

C&D Publications

King Herod the Great

A Short Biography

By Doug West, Ph.D.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Copyright © 2023 Doug West

All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. Reviewers may quote brief passages in reviews.

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1 – Herod’s Rise to Power

Chapter 2 – Reign of Herod

Chapter 3 – Herod the Great Builder

Chapter 4 – Herod and the Bible

Chapter 5 – Final Years: Descent into Madness

Timeline of the Life and Times of King Herod

Biographical Sketches

References and Further Reading

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Additional Books in the 30 Minute Book Series

Preface

Welcome to the book King Herod the Great: A Short Biography. This book is volume 67 of the 30 Minute Book Series, and as the name of the series implies, if you are an average reader this book should take less than an hour to read. Since this short book is not meant to be an all-encompassing biography of King Herod, you may want to know about his life and times. To help you with this, there are several good references at the end of this book. I have also provided a Timeline, in order to link together the important events in his life, and a section of the book titled Biographical Sketches, which includes brief biographies of some of the key individuals in the book. In the text, those individuals who are in one of the biographical sketches will have their name in bold print the first time they appear in the book.

Thank you for purchasing this book. I hope you enjoy your time reading about this infamous historical figure.

Doug West

July 2023

Introduction

The land of ancient Palestine, now made up primarily of the nations of Israel and portions of Jordon and Syria, is and was a land of great diversity of peoples and religious beliefs. The region, inhabited since the earliest of times, is located at the intersection of three continents, making it a crossroads for religion, culture, commerce, and politics. Over the millennia, the region has been controlled by various kingdoms and powers, including Ancient Egypt, Ancient Israel and Judah, the Persians, Alexander the Great and his successors, the Hasmoneans, and at the time of Herod the Great, the Roman Empire.

As the birthplace of Judaism, the region of Palestine was politically and religiously dominated by the Jews. Intermixed with the Jews were many Gentiles who worshiped the pagan gods of the Canaanites, a people that had inhabited the region since the beginning of recorded history. When the Romans annexed the region in 63 B.C., they brought with them their own belief systems of various gods to compete with the one true God, Yahweh, of the Jews.

Roman Judea was a troubled region as the people yearned to break free of the yoke of the Romans and enjoy the independence they had known during the preceding period when the kings from the Hasmonean family ruled the region. When the Romans seized control of Palestine, they brought to power the pro-Roman Jew, Antipater, and his sons