Herod sailed to Rhodes to meet Octavian, not sure what would happen to him. Herod supported Antony and ended up on the losing side as Antony was defeated at the Battle of Actium in 31 B.C, and committed suicide in 30 B.C. and the two faced off in a civil war, with Antony controlling the eastern parts of the Roman Empire and Octavian the west. The alliance between Octavian and Antony came to an end in 32 B.C. Cleopatra VII coveted Herod's territory and used her influence with Antony to persuade him to turn over some of Herod's territory to her. "The confiscation of the wealth of the hostile Jewish upper classes made him exceedingly rich and provided Herod with funds to pay for the continued goodwill of his Roman overlord, Mark Antony," Vermes wrote.Īdditionally, Herod found himself in conflict with Cleopatra VII, the queen of Egypt and lover of Antony. Herod confiscated property belonging to those who he believed did not support his rule. Herod accused the three sons of trying to kill him. The king also executed his sons Alexander and Aristobulus in 7 B.C., and Antipater II, Herod's oldest son (whom he had with another wife) in 4 B.C. Herod had at least 10 wives and believed that Judaism allowed polygamy. over accusations that she had committed adultery and had tried to kill him. "She bore him three sons, Alexander and Aristobulus as well as a third son who died young in Rome, and two daughters," Vermes wrote. Herod married Mariamme, the granddaughter of the former high priest, Hyrcanus II, in an attempt to bring family members from the Hasmonean Dynasty into the fold. Family members from the Hasmonean Dynasty, who had been in power before the Romans arrived, resented the fact that the Romans had made Herod king of Judea. Herod's position was still weak, however. Herod returned to Judea and, by 37 B.C., he retook Jerusalem and other parts of the region with support from the Roman military. The two agreed to make him king of Judea.
After his arrival in Rome, Herod sought out the support of Octavian and Mark Antony, who were allied at the time. Then in 40 B.C., the Parthians, aided by a revolt, took over Jerusalem, killed Phaesael, installed a loyal regime and forced Herod to flee to Rome. In 43 B.C., Antipater was assassinated by poisoning. However, the control the three men had was tenuous. By 43 B.C., Antipater, Herod and Herod's eldest brother Phaesael "exercised quasi-royal powers in the land with the agreement of the ineffectual and accommodating Hasmonean High Priest Hyrcanus II, who ruled only in name," Geza Vermes, who was professor emeritus of Jewish Studies at Oxford University until his death in 2013, wrote in his posthumously-published book, "The True Herod" (Bloomsbury, 2014).
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