Professor Benedict Eckhardt
👤 SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
Cassius is one of the assassins of Julius Caesar.
and he comes to Syria after the assassination of Caesar, where Rome is on the brink of civil war.
The wider empire is going to be instrumental in how we handle this, and thus if you're getting insecurities on an imperial level, you are going to need to take hold of troops, which is one of the reasons that he is in the area, and you are going to make sure that you can supply them properly.
You are going to need plenty of money in order to maintain your troops.
This is going to have good repercussions for Herod.
Not only does he, but actually the rest of the family, come into great favour with the new big Roman on the block.
He makes sure that these general Roman-Imperial relations continue very well for the family, that they are in good standing, that they are useful allies, but also the specific relationship with these individuals on the ground, as it were.
Malachos has been one of the people who doesn't do quite so well during this period.
He does not pay the amount of his tribute very quickly.
And Antipater actually has been instrumental in protecting him, in making sure that Cassius does not take vengeance on him.
And thereafter, Malochus apparently starts trying to plot against Antipater.
This is found out and there is a reconciliation.
But at this point, another Roman in the area, Mercurius, wants to execute Malochus and get him out the way because he has been plotting against Antipater, who is absolutely key and instrumental and a really useful ally for the Romans.
He says, no, no, no, we've had this reconciliation, it's absolutely fine.
What seems to have happened is that essentially the family's success with Cassius and furthering their Roman relations causes local worries.
It looks like they really are on the rise.
You have this huge imperial power who are also supporting them and in some ways making them look fairly invulnerable, that this has its flip side.