Pheroras

Pheroras (* around 68 BC; † 5 BC ) from the Herodian family was the youngest brother of the Jewish king Herod the Great (* 73 BC, † 4 BC) and for many years as the “second man in the state” one of his closest political and military collaborators.

origin

The parents of Pheroras and Herod were the influential Idumaean politician and Roman friend Antipater and his Nabataean wife Cypros. Other siblings were Joseph, Phasael and Salome .

Political and military activities

Pheroras took part in the military actions during the fighting against Antigonus . Herod entrusted him above all with the guerrilla warfare against the partisans of Antigonus. On the orders of Herod he rebuilt the fortress of Alexandreion . Phasael and Joseph were killed in military fighting. When his brother Joseph was killed, Pheroras tried in vain to prevent Antigonus from mutilating the corpse by paying 50 talents. During the Parthian invasion (40 BC), Pheroras was in command of the Masada fortress .

After the establishment of the Herodian kingdom in Judea , Pheroras belonged to the closest family circle of Herod, who was appointed king by the Roman supremacy. Flavius ​​Josephus grants Pheroras full participation in royal power.

Marriage policy

In order to strengthen the legitimacy of his kingship, Herod pursued a planned marriage policy aimed at merging his own family with the Hasmonean royal house. The other family members also had to submit to this policy. Herod himself disowned his first wife Doris and married in 37 BC. The Hasmonean princess Mariamne . Pheroras had to marry a sister of Mariamne, whose name has not been passed down. From this marriage two daughters were born.

Despite these efforts, Herod did not succeed in achieving a complete and harmonious union of both families. Rather, there were great internal tensions between the two branches, which erupted in jealousies, rivalries and intrigues: The Hasmoneans looked down on the Herodians with disdain and despised them because of their low Idumaean origin. The Herodians defended themselves against the humiliation with intrigues and conspiracies.

29 BC BC Herod had his wife Mariamne executed for alleged infidelity. His sons Alexander and Aristobulus from their marriage to Mariamne later threatened to avenge the death of their mother on everyone involved. As a result, Pheroras and Salome in particular felt their position at risk and endeavored to achieve the overthrow of the Mariamne sons.

Tetrarch of Perea

The Tetrarchy of Perea in the time of Pheroras

When it became apparent that the Mariamne sons, once they came to power, could put the Idumaean branch of the family at a disadvantage, Herod asked in 20 BC. BC from Emperor Augustus for his brother Pheroras a separate domain. This was Perea as Tetrarchie . In addition, Herod assigned him a hundred talents from the income of his kingdom so that Pheroras - in the event that he (Herod) himself were overtaken by death - would find himself in a secure position and not become dependent on the Mariamne sons. The important fortress of Macharus was in Perea .

Involvement in conspiracies

In the (life-threatening) plots at the Herodian royal court, in which it was a question of the best position for the succession, Pheroras was involved several times and seriously accused. It seems that he let himself be pulled over to the side of his nephew Antipater , the son of Doris, and intrigued against the Mariamne sons. He needed the mediation of the Cappadocian king Archelaus to reconcile his brother Herod. Pheroras was accused of having been involved in the intrigues against the Mariamne sons Alexander and Aristobulus through his support for Antipater in the background. Flavius ​​Josephus describes Pheroras as "one of the murderers of Alexander and Aristobulus".

Resistance to Herod

After the death of the first wife of Pheroras, the sister of Mariamne (20 BC), Herod intended to subject his younger brother again to the necessities of his marriage policy and suggested that he and his niece Salampsio (* around 35 BC) to marry. Pheroras was also to receive a dowry of 300 talents. Salampsio was Herod's eldest daughter and came from the king's marriage (37 BC) to the Hasmonean princess Mariamne (executed 29 BC). The blood of the national Jewish Hasmonean dynasty flowed in her veins.

However, Pheroras refused to submit to the marriage policy of his brother Herod, although he angered him to the utmost. Although - as Flavius ​​Josephus mentions - he was already engaged to Salampsio, he had fallen in love with a woman of lower origin (name unknown) and was not ready to give up this bond or let it be destroyed. The Jewish historian Flavius ​​Josephus speaks of a "slave" to whom Pheroras is said to have hung with a "pathological tendency".

Even when Herod made another attempt a few years later (around 14 BC) to separate his brother Pheroras from his wife by offering him the hand of his daughter Cyprus, Pheroras was not prepared to part with his wife , of whom he now also had a son.

Contacts with the Pharisees

The wife of Pheroras, the above-mentioned "slave", maintained - as Flavius ​​Josephus reports - contacts with the Pharisees who were in political resistance against the Herodian regime. When the Pharisees were imposed a heavy fine for refusing to take an oath, the wife of Pheroras is said to have paid this penalty. It can be assumed that she did this with the knowledge and consent of her husband Pheroras.

A prophecy emerged from Pharisaic circles at that time that Herod would be overthrown as king and Pheroras and his children would receive the Jewish kingship. Either in the eyes of these circles Pheroras actually represented a political alternative to his brother Herod or in this way an attempt was made to deepen the outwardly visible cracks in his relationship with Herod in order to drive a wedge into the Herodian dynasty.

Withdrawal from the royal court

Herod later made another serious attempt to destroy Pheroras' marriage and to separate the unloved sister-in-law from his brother by threats of the greatest royal disgrace. But that too was in vain: Pheroras stood by his wife and preferred to endure his brother's unwillingness and go into exile .

He now gave up his residence in the Jerusalem palace and withdrew into his tetrarchy to Perea, where he resided - probably in the royal palace in Betharampta (later Livias ), located directly on the Jordan . This meant that he stopped participating in his brother's advisory group ("Privy Council"). Later, Herod, with a milder mind, tried to heal the disturbed relationship with his brother and asked him to take on political orders for the kingdom again. But Pheroras refused and stayed, as he had announced, in Perea.

Preparations for fratricide

As it turned out later, Pheroras was involved in the planning of Herod's son Antipater, who wanted to win him over to eliminate the aging Herod with poison. In fact, the necessary poison has already been secretly obtained through intermediaries in Egypt . The fratricide was never realized, however, as Herod became seriously ill and finally Pheroras himself. During this illness Herod visited his brother in Perea and assured him of his affection. Moved by this, Pheroras ordered the destruction of the poison.

Death in Perea

Pheroras never recovered from his illness. When he 5 BC After he died, Herod had him laid out, brought to Jerusalem, solemnly buried there, and wrote a general mourning for him.

Servants of the Pheroras, who apparently knew about the procurement of the poison from Egypt, suspected that the death of their master was due to a poison attack and filed a complaint with the king. Herod immediately had an investigation carried out, in which the relatives of Pheroras were also threatened with torture. The wife of Pheroras first tried to evade this investigation by jumping from the roof of the palace to her death, because she feared that she would be punished for her involvement in the procurement of the poison. However, when Herod promised her impunity, she uncovered the background and thereby weighed heavily on Antipater, Herod's eldest son and co-conspirator of Pheroras. Herod then had her injuries treated and was reconciled with her.

After Herod's death in 4 BC As executor of the will, Emperor Augustus endowed the two unmarried daughters of Herod, Roxane (from his marriage to Phaedra) and Salome (from his marriage to Elpis) with a large dowry and married them - as Flavius ​​Josephus reports - to two of Pheroras left sons.

literature

• Linda-Marie Günther : Herod the Great. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 2005, ISBN 3-534-15420-7 .
• Gerhard Prause: Herod the Great. The correction of a legend. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1990, ISBN 3-421-06558-6 .
• Peter Richardson: Herod. King of the Jews and Friend of the Romans. T&T Clark Publisher, Edinburgh 1999, ISBN 0-8006-3164-1
• William Smith: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Volume 1. Boston 1867, p. 301.

Remarks

1. ↑ Flavius ​​Josephus , Antiquitates 14, 7, 3 and 17, 3, 3; Bellum iudaicum , 1, 8, 9 and 1, 29, 4.
2. ↑ Josephus, Antiquitates 14, 15, 4; Bellum iudaicum 1, 16, 3.
3. ↑ Josephus, Antiquitates 14, 7, 3; 15, 4.
4. ↑ Josephus, Bellum Iudaicum 1:17 , 2.
5. ^ Josephus, Bellum Iudaicum 1, 22, 4-5.
6. ↑ Josephus, Bellum Iudaicum 1:23 , 1; Antiquities 16, 1, 2.
7. ↑ Josephus, Antiquitates 15, 10, 3; Bellum iudaicum 1, 24, 5.
8. ^ Josephus, Bellum Iudaicum 1:25 , 1-6.
9. ↑ Josephus, Bellum Iudaicum 1:29 , 4.
10. ↑ Josephus, Antiquitates 16, 7, 3; Bellum iudaicum 1, 24, 5.
11. ^ Josephus, Antiquitates 16, 7, 3.
12. ^ Josephus, Antiquitates 17, 2, 4.
13. ↑ Josephus, Bellum Iudaicum 1, 29, 4f.
14. ↑ Josephus, Antiquitates 17, 3, 1-3.
15. ^ Josephus, Bellum Iudaicum 1, 30, 4ff.
16. ↑ Josephus, Antiquitates 17, 11, 5; Bellum iudaicum 2, 6, 3.