Professor Benedict Eckhardt

I think most people remember Herod today or know Herod today as essentially the baby killer.

Thinking about the New Testament tradition and the massacre of the innocents, it remains the one go-to idea that people have if they hear the name Herod.

Whether it should or not is another question.

Herod's rise is absolutely extraordinary.

It's eventful, it has everything.

It has battles, it has family deaths, it has murders.

It's got everything in it, really.

This is really a Roman installation.

This is Rome deciding and declaring that Herod will be king.

So we know, for example, he's very active.

He's very energetic.

He likes riding.

He is quite involved in warfare, in putting down bandits, for example, as he's a young man.

So he seems to be very fit, very physically active.

He's said repeatedly when he's a young man to be energetic, to be this kind of energetic character who bursts onto the scene and gets things done.

This is his first position and this is his stepping stone where he starts coming to the attention of a broader audience, shall we say.

This is quite an opportunity for Herod because he deals with it very, very quickly.

He kills Ezekias and various other people within his band, and we learn that this is quite popular within the region.

Syrian towns and villages are said to be very, very happy with Herod about this, that he has brought back peace and restored their possessions and so on.

But further to being popular in the region, it's also popular with the Romans and with Sextus Caesar in particular.