King Herod
Dan Snow's History Hit
History Hit
4.7 • 13.7K Ratings
🗓️ 11 December 2023
⏱️ 58 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Content Warning: This episode contains discussion of sexual behaviour which may not be suitable for children.
Appointed by the Romans as king of Judaea, King Herod's reign was defined by great architectural projects and canny diplomacy. But he could also be cruel and paranoid, with scandal and family intrigue marring his rule. King Herod even appears as an unlikely and unlikeable character in the Christmas tale; the king who ordered the execution of children in an effort to kill Jesus. But did this really happen?
Dan is joined by Seth Schwartz, professor of Classical Jewish Civilisation at Columbia University, to explore the life of this ancient king, and the Hellenistic world in which he ruled.
Produced by James Hickmann and edited by Dougal Patmore.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | There you are on the train and you see someone harassing a woman. |
| 0:05.0 | What do you do? |
| 0:07.0 | I'll check if she's okay and ask if she wants to report it. |
| 0:10.0 | I'll ask the directions to distract him. |
| 0:12.0 | I'll tell someone who works at the station. |
| 0:14.0 | His mind mate, I'll tell him to stop. |
| 0:17.0 | There are many ways you can safely tackle violence against women and girls. |
| 0:21.0 | If you think it's wrong, act on it. |
| 0:23.0 | Find out how at gov.uk slash enough. |
| 0:27.0 | If someone is in danger call 999. |
| 0:33.0 | Hi everybody, welcome to Dance Know's History here. |
| 0:35.0 | Christmas is nearly upon us folks and we've got a seasonal, |
| 0:38.0 | a seasonal episode of one of our sibling pod cars today. |
| 0:41.0 | King Herod. |
| 0:42.0 | We all know about King Herod. |
| 0:43.0 | He features in the Gospel of Matthew. |
| 0:45.0 | King Herod air quotes the Great of Judea. |
| 0:48.0 | I think that might be a self-bestowed nickname there. |
| 0:52.0 | Epithet. |
| 0:53.0 | The Great. |
| 0:54.0 | Anyway, he's one of the most infamous figures of the whole of history thanks to his role in the Jesus being born story. |
| 1:01.0 | But what do we actually know about this ancient Near Eastern ruler who lived at the same time as some truly gigantic figures from our history? |
... |
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