Tristan Hughes
👤 SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
And Herod's family had a long, albeit checkered, history with the regime.
They hailed from the region of Idumea, or Edom, south of Judea.
It's now that we introduce our second expert, Dr. Helen Bond, Professor of Christian Origins at Edinburgh University.
The Nabataeans were an ancient people who lived in present-day Jordan.
They are best remembered for their wondrous capital, Petra, and its hundreds of rock-cut tombs.
Herod's mother, Kypros, may well have grown up in Petra.
Leading this family was Herod's ambitious father Antipater.
Skillfully, Antipater had cemented himself near the heart of the Hasmonean regime.
He became one of the most influential and powerful figures in the kingdom.
His gaze was also fixed on a rapidly changing world.
The age of powerful Greek neighbours was ending.
Antipater wanted to secure their support.
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, better known as Pompey the Great, was the most revered Roman general of the time.
He had won great victories in both Anatolia and in the Caucasus.
He had then taken control of Syria for Rome, bringing the ailing Seleucid Empire to its end.
Rome now had a direct border with Judea.
Its legions and most esteemed general were ready to intervene.
Officially, Arcanus or Hyrcanus, the royal Hasmonean prince, was the new ruler of Judea.