In 29 BCE, Herod executed his beloved second wife Mariamne I for adultery, for which her sons Alexander III and Aristobulus IV would never forgive him. Still only children, Herod sent them to Rome for education. Upon their return to Judaea as young men, the renewed presence of the Hasmonean princes only served to amplify the intrigues at court. As an uncharacteristically ambiguous countermove, Herod allowed his firstborn son Antipater, and his mother, Herod’s first wife Doris, to return from exile, which only made matters worse. After ten years, the game of thrones reached a boiling point. Herod arrested and executed Alexander and Aristobulus for conspiracy to commit patricide, leaving Antipater as Herod’s best candidate for succession. But the games had only just begun…
God Save the King