I. Herod’s Character.  The character of Herod is comparatively easy to understand, for it is elemental and one that constantly recurs in history.  We in America are familiar with this type which is represented by our unscrupulous captains of industry or political bosses—­energetic, physically strong, shrewd, relentless toward all who threaten to thwart their plans, skilful in organization, not troubled about the rightness of their methods, provided they escape the toils of the law, able to command men and successfully to carry through large policies.  They are not without their personal attractions, for it is instinctive to admire that which is big and able to achieve.  Many of them also make permanent contributions to the upbuilding of the nation.  Oriental history is also full of analogies:  Nebuchadrezzar, Cyrus, Alexander, and in more recent times Mohammed Ali of Egypt.  Herod was largely the product of his inheritance and training.  His father, Antipater, had taught him to regard the Jews with secret but well-concealed contempt, and to hate Aristobulus and his ambitious sons.  His religion was loyalty to Rome, for this meant wealth and success.  He delighted in public approval, and his ambition was to be known as a great builder.  As is true with this type of man, he was a natural tyrant.  Power was his ruling passion, and he regarded with extreme suspicion any who might take it from him.  In this respect the contemporary rulers of the Roman Empire set an example which he was not slow to follow.  His Idumean and Arabian blood coursed hot and fierce through his veins.  It was an age when moral standards were exceedingly low, and Herod never learned to rule his passions.  The Oriental institution of the harem gave him full license, and he lived and loved as he fought and reigned—­vehemently.  Such a man is especially susceptible to the weaknesses and crimes that come from jealousy, and the influences of his family and court intensified these fatal faults.

Herod is not without his attractive qualities.  A man who is able to execute on a large scale and win the title Great is never commonplace.  In giving Palestine the benefits of a strong and stable government he performed a real service.  In his love for Mariamne and for the sons she bore him he was mastered by a passion that for a time ennobled him.  Like every man, moreover, who fails to taste the joys of disinterested service for his fellow-men, Herod paid the bitter penalty for his own unrestrained selfishness.  He awakes pity rather than denunciation.  He never found life, because he never learned to lose his life in the service of his people.