Herod the Great
King of the Jews, an Idumæan by birth, made king by the triumvirs in 40 в. c. He is famed in history for his cruelty; and one of his latest acts was the massacre of the Innocents, which he ordered in the hope of killing him who (the Magi had told him) was "born king of the Jews." He died in 2 A. D.
HEROD AGRIPPA I., son of Aristobulus by Berenice, daughter of Herod the Great. From his attachment to Caligula he was imprisoned by Tiberius, but on the accession of Caligula (A. D. 37) he received the government of part of Palestine, and latterly all the dominions of Herod the Great. To please the Jews, with whom his rule was very popular, he caused St. James to be put to death, and imprisoned St. Peter. He died in the circumstances related in Acts xii., in A. D. 44.
HEROD AGRIPPA II., a Jewish prince; son of Herod Agrippa I.; born about A. D. 27. On his father's death, he being too young to govern, Judea was reduced to a Roman province. He subsequently received the kingdom of Chalcis, and obtained the superintendency of the temple at Jerusalem, where, with his sister, Berenice, he heard the defense of Paul before Festus. Being driven from Jerusalem by by the revolt of the Jews he joined Cestius, and later on Vespasian, and during the siege of Jerusalem was very serviceable to Titus. After its reduction (A. D. 70) he and Berenice returned to Rome. He is supposed to have died there, A. D. 94.
HEROD ANTIPAS, son of Herod the Great, by his fifth wife, Cleopatra, was appointed tetrarch of Galilee on his death (4 в. c.). This was the Herod who put to death St. John the Baptist, in compliment to his wife Herodias in revenge for his reproaches of their incestuous union. Having visited Rome he was accused of having been concerned in the conspiracy of Sejanus, and was stripped of his dominions, and sent (A. D. 39) with his wife into exile at Lugdunum (Lyons), or, as some say, to Spain, where he died.
HERODIAS, a granddaughter of Herod the Great and Mariamne, daugh- HERODIAS, a granddaughter of ter of Aristobulus and sister of Herod Agrippa I. She was first married to her uncle Herod Philip, but afterward abandoned him and connected herself with his brother Herod Antipas. It was by her artifice that Herod was persuaded to cause to be put to death John the Baptist, who had boldly denounced the in- HERPES tween her and Herod.
HERODOTUS (-rod'ō-tus), a Greek historian, surnamed "the Father of History"; born in Halicarnassus, Asia Minor, probably about 484 B. C. Disgusted with the government of Lygdamis, the grandson of Artemisia, who was tyrant of his native city, he retired for a time to the island of Samos, whence he acquired the Ionic dialect, in which he afterward composed his history. To collect the necessary materials for his great work, he entered in early manhood on a course of patient and observant travel, visiting almost every part of Greece and its dependencies, and many other countries. On his return from his travels, he took a prominent part in delivering his country from the tyranny of Lygdamis. But the expulsion of the tyrant did not bring tranquillity to Halicarnassus, and Herodotus, having himself become an object of dislike, again quitted his native city, and settled at Thurii, in the S. of Italy, B. C. 443. Here he wrote the work which has immortalized his name.
His history consists of nine books, which bear the names of the nine Muses. He died in Thurii, Italy, probably about 424 B. C.