Life and Marriage
Herod the Great's execution of his Hasmonean sons, Alexander and Aristobulus IV in 7 BC, left the latter's daughter Herodias orphaned and a minor. Herod engaged her to Herod II, her half-uncle, and her connection to the Hasmonean bloodline supported her new husband's right to succeed his father.
As Josephus reports in Jewish Antiquities (Book XVIII, Chapter 5, 4):
Herodias, was married to Herod, the son of Herod the Great by Mariamne II, the daughter of Simon the High Priest. had a daughter, Salome...
This marriage led to opposition to the marriage from Antipater III, Herod the Great's eldest son, and so Herod demoted Herod II to second in line to the succession. Antipater's execution in 4 BC for plotting to poison his father seemed to leave Herod II, now Herod I's eldest surviving son, as first in line, but his mother's knowledge of the poison plot, and failure to stop it, led to his being dropped from this position in Herod I's will just days before he died.
Read more about this topic: Herod II
Famous quotes containing the words life and, life and/or marriage:
“For every life and every act
Consequence of good and evil can be shown
And as in time results of many deeds are blended
So good and evil in the end become confounded.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)
“The most useful man in the most useful world, so long as only commodity was served, would remain unsatisfied. But, as fast as he sees beauty, life acquires a very high value.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“The parent who loves his child dearly but asks for nothing in return might qualify as a saint, but he will not qualify as a parent. For a child who can claim love without meeting any of the obligations of love will be a self-centered child and many such children have grown up in our time to become petulant lovers and sullen marriage partners because the promise of unconditional love has not been fulfilled.”
—Selma H. Fraiberg (20th century)