Antipater II ( grc-gre, Ἀντίπατρος, Antípatros; c. 46 – 4 BC) was

Herod the Great Herod I (; ; grc-gre, ; c. 72 – 4 or 1 BCE), also known as Herod the Great, was a Roman Jewish client king of Judea, referred to as the Herodian kingdom. He is known for his colossal building projects throughout Judea, including his renov ...

's first-born son, his only child by his first wife Doris. He was named after his paternal grandfather

Antipater the Idumaean Antipater I the Idumaean, he, ''‘Ānṭīpāṭrūs'' (born 113 or 114 BCE, died 43 BCE) was the founder of the Herodian Dynasty and father of Herod the Great. According to Josephus, he was the son of Antipas; Hebrew: אנטיפס) and had ...

. He and his mother were exiled after Herod divorced her between 43 BC and 40 BC to marry

Mariamne I Mariamne I (died 29 BCE), also called Mariamne the Hasmonean, was a Hasmonean princess and the second wife of Herod the Great. She was known for her great beauty, as was her brother Aristobulus III. Herod's fear of his rivals, the Hasmoneans, ...

. However, he was recalled following Mariamne's fall in 29 BC and in 13 BC Herod made him his first heir in his will. He retained this position even when

Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

and

Aristobulus Aristobulus or Aristoboulos may refer to: *Aristobulus I (died 103 BC), king of the Hebrew Hasmonean Dynasty, 104–103 BC *Aristobulus II (died 49 BC), king of Judea from the Hasmonean Dynasty, 67–63 BC *Aristobulus III of Judea (53 BC–36 BC), ...

(Herod's sons by Mariamne) rose in the royal succession in 12 BC, and even became exclusive successor to the throne after their execution in 7 BC (with

Herod II Herod II (ca. 27 BC – 33/34 AD) was the son of Herod the Great and Mariamne II, the daughter of Simon Boethus the High Priest. For a brief period he was his father's heir apparent, but Herod I removed him from succession in his will. Some writ ...

in second place). However, in 5 BC Antipater was brought before

Publius Quinctilius Varus Publius Quinctilius Varus (Cremona, 46 BC – Teutoburg Forest, AD 9) was a Roman general and politician under the first Roman emperor Augustus. Varus is generally remembered for having lost three Roman legions when ambushed by Germanic tribes l ...

, then Roman governor of Syria, charged with the intended murder of his father Herod. Antipater was found guilty by Varus; however, due to Antipater's high rank, it was necessary for Caesar

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...

to approve of the recommended sentence of death. After the guilty verdict, Antipater's position as exclusive successor was removed and granted to

Herod Antipas Herod Antipas ( el, Ἡρῴδης Ἀντίπας, ''Hērǭdēs Antipas''; born before 20 BC – died after 39 AD), was a 1st-century ruler of Galilee and Perea, who bore the title of tetrarch ("ruler of a quarter") and is referred to as both "H ...

. Once the sentence had approval from

in 4 BC, Antipater was then executed, and Archelaus (from the marriage with

Malthace Malthace ( el, Μαλθάκη, Malthákē) was a Samaritan woman who lived in the latter half of the 1st century BC. She was one of the wives of Herod the Great and the mother by Herod of Herod Antipas, Archelaus, and a daughter, Olympias. Sh ...

) was made heir in his father's will as king over Herod's entire kingdom (with Antipas and

Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...

Tetrarchs The Tetrarchy was the system instituted by Roman emperor Diocletian in 293 AD to govern the ancient Roman Empire by dividing it between two emperors, the ''augusti'', and their juniors colleagues and designated successors, the ''caesares''. ...

over certain territories). Concerning Antipater's execution following on the heel of Herod's executions a couple of years before of his sons

and

, it would be recounted in the compendium ''Saturnalia'' (compiled by

Macrobius Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius, usually referred to as Macrobius (fl. AD 400), was a Roman provincial who lived during the early fifth century, during late antiquity, the period of time corresponding to the Later Roman Empire, and when Latin was ...

) that Augustus remarked "It is better to be Herod's pig than his son." We know two of Antipater's wives through the writings of

Josephus Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for ''The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly d ...

. First was his niece

Mariamne III Mariamne III was a daughter of Aristobulus IV and Berenice. She had three brothers, Herod of Chalcis, Herod Agrippa I, and Aristobulus V, and one sister, Herodias. Some time after the death of her father in 7 BCE, Mariamne III was betrothe ...

, daughter of

Aristobulus IV Aristobulus IV (31–7 BC) was a prince of Judea from the Herodian dynasty, and was married to his cousin, Berenice, daughter of Costobarus and Salome I. He was the son of Herod the Great and his second wife, Mariamne I, the last of the Hasmon ...

. The second was a high-ranking Hasmonean princess whose first name is lost to history. She was the daughter of

Antigonus the Hasmonean Antigonus II Mattathias ( grc-gre, Αντίγονος ''Antígonos''; he, , ''Matīṯyāhū''), also known as Antigonus the Hasmonean (died 37 BCE) was the last Hasmonean king of Judea. A puppet king installed by the Parthians, he was the son ...

, the last Hasmonean king who also served as high priest. This wife of Antipater was also a first cousin of

, renowned royal wife of Herod the Great. Josephus records that she was at the palace with Doris, Antipater's mother, in support of her husband during his trial before Varus in 5 BC.

In literature

Robert Graves Captain Robert von Ranke Graves (24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985) was a British poet, historical novelist and critic. His father was Alfred Perceval Graves, a celebrated Irish poet and figure in the Gaelic revival; they were both Celtic ...

' ''

King Jesus King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

'', Graves puts forth the idea that Antipater secretly married at the age of 15

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

, who was of a royal Jewish line. The marriage served to strengthen the position of Antipater among Herod's many sons as future King of the Jews. Antipater was killed by his father five days before Herod's own death according to

. (Some records indicate a period of two years between Antipater's death and Herod the Great's death). According to Graves, a pregnant Mary is compelled to pretend to marry an old, pious carpenter,

Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

, to protect herself and the unborn

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

. Author Joseph Raymond supports this hypothesis as a fact. Unlike Graves, however, Raymond specifies that Mary was actually the unnamed daughter of Antigonus who would later become Antipater's wife.See also

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Antipater Herodian dynasty 46 BC births 4 BC deaths Herod the Great 1st-century BCE Jews Heirs apparent who never acceded