World Religious Traditions II LAIDE AYODELE REL/134 June 11th, 2014 STEVEN SELLERS Introduction: Herod the great was popularly known as an outstanding man and one of the personalities in Jewish history. Herod was raised as an Indumeans Jew, and his family was forced to practice Judaism. He never liked the fact that his family was forced to convert to Judaism along with the Indumeans, and a s young boy he did not fit with the rest of his Jewish peers. He was always bullied and treated differently by the kids in his neighborhood. Because of his family background and history, he was never fortunate to have any friend instead he focused on his future and plan to rule Judea someday. He didn’t get the opportunity to meet his mother because she died at child birth; he looked up to his father as a role model because he was successful, tricky and smart. These are the attributes Antipater manipulated and made his two sons governors over Galilee and Jerusalem Even though, he was ambitious and cruel during his reign that did not hinder him in terms of understanding the period of Roman domination of the Jewish people. His was brought into the spot light when he was appointed as the governor of Galilee; the position was influenced by his father, Antipater. During his career as a governor, his brutality was noticed when he crushed a revolt in Galilee. His rise to power is the roman civil war which initiated Rome being ruled by Caesars and emperors. It all started during the battle of Actium in 31 BC which was between Anthony and Octaviun. Initially Herod sided with Anthony but later switched his allegiance to Octaviun, who won the battle. Octaviun changed his name to Augustus when he became the first Roman emperor. Herod was made king of Israel by the confirmation from Augustus. Herod wanted to rule over more land because he was not satisfied with the people due to fact that he was an Indumean Jew and so he looked up to Rome. His opportunity came when some people in Galilee wanted to rebel against Rome to gain their independence, Herod killed everyone who participated because he never cared for people of Galilee and because of his brutality he was summoned for a trial with the Sanhedrin, he didn’t care about the Sanhedrin because he had the power and affluence, after the demise of Caesar, he made friends with the newest king of Asia so as to remain king over Judea. During his thirty three years as the king of Judea, Herod initiated the development and social stability of the country. King Herod even married a Hasmorian princess in hope of gaining the support of her people. Herod was upset that his people hated him even though he was economically doing well. he made Judea richer than it ever had been. He loved to build extravagant and beautiful buildings and castles and cities. Out of all the years he ruled he never got the trust or respect of his people and he hated that. He was selfish and smart and powerful and he wanted to be popular he wanted his people to love him and wanted to be known forever so he made one more last project before he died. That project was the rebuilding of the temple. He made the temple the most expensive and beautiful place known to history for the wrong reasons. He didn’t care that it was for God himself all he really cared about was the fact that he will be known for building such a beautiful temple. And that is exactly what He is most known for. Herod lived a long life he was a strong but horrible leader. He never Show More
