Kostobaros

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Kostobaros (* around 70 BC; † 28 BC ) was a brother-in-law of the Jewish King Herod the Great . He advocated a national- idumaean policy and planned to destroy the kingdom of Herod. 28 BC He was executed by Herod.

origin

As the Jewish historian Flavius ​​Josephus reports, Kostobaros came from one of the first families in Idumea. His ancestors had been priests of the Idumean national god Kos before Idumea was conquered by John Hyrcanus I during his reign (135-104 BC), politically attached to Judea and at least partially converted to Judaism under the use of force . Kostobaros had become extremely wealthy through the inheritance of his family and his businesses.

Political goals

Josephus' report shows that Kostobarus mourned the lost national independence of Idumea (the Old Testament Edom ) and its cultural independence from Judaism. While Antipater , the father of Herod, who also came from Idumea, had accepted the incorporation into Judea and tried to make a career as a politician within Judaism, Kostobaros wanted to turn back the wheel of development and lead the Idumeans back to independence.

Political and military activities

First, however, Kostobaros sided with the governor of Idumea, Antipater, the father of Herod, and supported him in his efforts to maintain his power within Judea by supporting the weak high priest John Hyrcanus II and in the fight against the nationally minded Hasmonean king To enlarge Antigonus . During the siege of Jerusalem in the years 39–37 BC. BC by King Herod, an Idumean on the Jewish throne, Kostobaros stood as an Idumean on Herod's side.

The siege of Jerusalem dragged on because within the city walls the so-called "sons of Babas" (the individual names have not been handed down) unconditionally supported King Antigonus, counteracted all defeatist slogans and called for unshakable loyalty to the Hasmonean royal family. For Herod, the sons of Baba were dangerous enemies of his own kingdom, which came from Roman hands, and he was determined to render them harmless. After the conquest of Jerusalem, he therefore commissioned Kostobaros to strictly monitor the city gates in order not to let the "sons of Babas" and other opposition members slip away. Kostobaros actually discovered the desired people, but thought it wiser to secretly bring them out of the city himself and hide them on his estates (probably in Idumea) so that he can use them politically in the interests of his plans at a later opportunity.

Herod was deeply concerned about the disappearance of the "sons of Baba" without a trace, as he had to fear that they could start an uprising from the underground at any time. When rumors emerged that Kostobaros had something to do with the disappearance of these enemies of the state, Kostobaros swore to the king that he knew nothing about this matter. Finally, Herod believed him.

Governor of Idumea

34 BC King Herod even appointed Kostobaros governor of Idumea and Gaza and married him to his sister Salome , after he had her previous husband Joseph, his uncle, who had also held these offices, for treason and alleged adultery with his wife, the Hasmonean princess Mariamne , had executed. The daughter Berenike emerged from the marriage of Salome and Kostobaros , of whose five children all achieved royal or princely honors.

As Flavius ​​Josephus writes, Kostobaros' self-confidence increased enormously through his appointment as governor of Idumea. He now saw the chance to implement his national-Idumean ideas politically and looked for ways to withdraw Idumea from the assimilation-oriented policy of King Herod and to re-establish it as an independent nation. Possibly he intended to bring the "sons of Babas", related to the Hasmonean royal house, whom he had been hiding for many years, to the government in Judea as a political alternative to Herod.

Foreign policy

In order to secure his plans in terms of foreign policy, Kostobarus turned to the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra VII. He tried to influence her so that she should ask the Roman general Mark Antony to return Idumea under Egyptian suzerainty. In fact, Cleopatra asked her lover to extend her domain, but Mark Antony did not give in to her wishes. When King Herod heard about this, he wanted to have Kostobaros executed immediately. His mother Cyprus and his sister Salome asked him to pardon Kostobaros, which he did.

Treason and death

A little later, however, it came 28 BC. BC to a fatal rift for Kostobaros between himself and his wife Salome. This rift was so profound that Salome, in sovereign disregard of the Jewish family legislation of the time, issued her husband with the divorce certificate. In order to enforce this divorce, she also revealed to Herod some political secrets that Kostobaros either unwisely confided to her or that she had spied on. She informed her brother that Kostobaros and his friends Gadias Antipater, Lysimachos and Dositheos were planning a conspiracy against him. In order to give these statements persuasive power, she also revealed to him the hiding place of the "sons of Baba".

Herod was - after the portrayal of Flavius ​​Josephus - shocked by these revelations. He immediately dispatched an armed team with the order to arrest and execute the long-sought oppositionists who were a constant threat to his young kingdom. Kostobaros and his fellow conspirators also shared this fate. As Flavius ​​Josephus writes, Herod managed to eliminate the last prominent representatives of the Hasmonean royal house with the execution of the "sons of Baba". With the death of Kostobaros the national-Idumaean opposition also died down. Idumea remained an integral part of Judea in the years that followed.

See also

swell

  • Flavius ​​Josephus: Antiquitates iudaicae , especially 15, 7, 9-10.
  • Flavius ​​Josephus: De bello iudaico .

literature

personal data
SURNAME Kostobaros
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kostobar
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Governor of Idumea, brother-in-law of Herod the Great
DATE OF BIRTH around 70 BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 28 BC Chr.