The Herods: Murder, Politics, and the Art of Succession
Stock No: WW474282
The Herods: Murder, Politics, and the Art of Succession  -     By: Bruce Chilton

The Herods: Murder, Politics, and the Art of Succession

Fortress Press / 2021 / Hardcover

Buy 25 or more for $20.25 each.
Buy 100 or more for $18.69 each.
In Stock
Stock No: WW474282

Buy 25 or more for $20.25 each.
Buy 100 or more for $18.69 each.

Buy Item Our Price$20.99 Retail: $27.00 Save 22% ($6.01)
In Stock
Quantity:
Stock No: WW474282
Fortress Press / 2021 / Hardcover
Quantity:

Add To Cart

or checkout with

Add To Wishlist
Quantity:


Add To Cart

or checkout with

Wishlist

Product Description

Herod the Great was appointed king of the Jews by the Romans in 40 BCE and ruled until 4 BCE. Resourceful, remorseless, and revengeful, he kept the peace for 37 years. On his death, the territory was divided between his sons. Chilton tells the gripping story in this engaging page-turner, untangling the Herodian dynasty's political and religious intrigues that form the backdrop to Christ's ministry and the rise of the early church.

Product Information

Title: The Herods: Murder, Politics, and the Art of Succession
By: Bruce Chilton
Format: Hardcover
Number of Pages: 375
Vendor: Fortress Press
Publication Date: 2021
Dimensions: 9.25 X 6.25 (inches)
Weight: 1 pound 10 ounces
ISBN: 1506474284
ISBN-13: 9781506474281
Stock No: WW474282

Publisher's Description

Until his death in 4 BCE, Herod the Great's monarchy included territories that once made up the kingdoms of Judah and Israel. Although he ruled over a rich, strategically crucial land, his royal title did not derive from heredity. His family came from the people of Idumea, ancient antagonists of the Israelites.

Yet Herod did not rule as an outsider, but from a family committed to Judaism going back to his grandfather and father. They had served the priestly dynasty of the Maccabees that had subjected Idumea to their rule, including the Maccabean version of what loyalty to the Torah required. Herod's father, Antipater, rose not only to manage affairs on behalf of his priestly masters, but to become a pivotal military leader. He inaugurated a new alignment of power: an alliance with Rome negotiated with Pompey and Julius Caesar. In the crucible of civil war among Romans as the Triumvirate broke up, and of war between Rome and Parthia, Antipater managed to leave his sons with the prospect of a dynasty.

Herod inherited the twin pillars of loyalty to Judaism and loyalty to Rome that became the basis of Herodian rule. He elevated Antipater's opportunism to a political art. During Herod's time, Roman power took its imperial form, and Octavian was responsible for making Herod king of Judea. As Octavian ruled, he took the title Augustus, in keeping with his devotion to his adoptive father's cult of "the divine Julius." Imperial power was a theocratic assertion as well as a dominant military, economic, and political force.

Herod framed a version of theocratic ambition all his own, deliberately crafting a dynastic claim grounded in Roman might and Israelite theocracy. That unlikely hybrid was the key to the Herodians' surprising longevity in power during the most chaotic century in the political history of Judaism.

Author Bio

Bruce D. Chilton is the Bernard Iddings Bell Professor of Religion at Bard College, where he has taught since 1987. In addition to his many celebrated publications on the texts, practices, and beliefs of ancient Judaism and Christianity, he is also the author of popular historical biographies of Jesus, Paul, Mary, and James.

Reviews

“Chilton's study . . . sorts through the literature and history and scholarship with scholarly acuity and the literary skills for which he is known.”

Scot McKnight, Northern Seminary

“An exacting historian and consummate storyteller, Chilton exquisitely details the motivations, actions, and consequences of the Herodian policies and intrigue that shaped the worlds of early Judaism and Christianity. No dynasty is more historically significant or interesting than the Herodian, and no existing analysis of that dynasty is as complete and insightful as Chilton's.”

Alan J. Avery-Peck, College of the Holy Cross

“This is a well-crafted study: the primary sources have been carefully considered, and scholarly literature perceptively engaged. But Chilton gives readers so much more. His study renders an exciting story of the Herodian dynasty, whose relevance for Jesus and the origins of the Christian Church can hardly be exaggerated. Those who think that history is dull will instead be drawn deeply into Chilton's narrative—and will love it!”

Craig A. Evans, Houston Baptist University

“The biography of this important family is well executed. Informed lay readers will be able to follow the story, and scholars will find the story combined with the endnotes helpful.”

Jason Maston, Houston Christian University, Religious Studies Review

Ask a Question

Author/Artist Review