Herod and the People’s Front of Judaea

Abstract This chapter discusses resistance against Herod. There are three occasions in Josephus’ works where Jews prefer death over subjection to Herod. These are normally understood as heroic episodes, and it is likely that Josephus intended them to be understood this way. However, detailed analysis uncovers an underlying layer of mockery: Nicolaus seems to have included these episodes from three different stages of Herod’s life (his fight for the throne, the middle of his reign, and his very last days) to show what sort of irrational opposition the king (and Nicolaus himself) constantly had to deal with. This not only justified Herod’s descent into tyranny, but also allowed Nicolaus’ readers a glimpse into the limits of Roman rule: some people just won’t learn.