Aristobulus III was the last scion of the Hasmonean royal house, brother of Herod the Great's wife Mariamne, and grandson of Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II. He was a favourite of the people on account of his noble descent and handsome presence, and thus became an object of fear to Herod, who at first sought to ignore him entirely by debarring him from the high priesthood. But his mother Alexandra, through intercession with Cleopatra and Mark Antony, compelled Herod to remove Ananelus from the office of High Priest and appoint Aristobulus instead.
Herod I, also known as Herod the Great, was a Roman client king of Judea, referred to as the Herodian kingdom. He is known for his colossal building projects throughout Judea, including his renovation of the Second Temple in Jerusalem and the expansion of the Temple Mount towards its north, the enclosure around the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, the construction of the port at Caesarea Maritima, the fortress at Masada, and Herodium. Vital details of his life are recorded in the works of the 1st century CE Roman–Jewish historian Josephus.
Berenice was the daughter of Costobarus and Salome I, the sister of Herod the Great. She married her cousin Aristobulus in order to reduce discord within her family caused by Herod's favoritism towards his wife Mariamne. Her marriage was an attempt to unite the two main sides of her family previously split by marriage and alleviate the tension surrounding which side would be responsible to succeeding Herod. This did not solve the problems present among the heirs, and eventually Aristobulus was executed by his father in 6 BCE, and Berenice was accused of complicity in his death. By Aristobulus she was the mother of Herod Agrippa I, Herod of Chalcis, Herodias, Mariamne III and Aristobulus Minor.
Mariamne is a name frequently used in the Herodian royal house. In Greek it is spelled Μαριάμη (Mariame) by Josephus; in some editions of his work the second m is doubled (Mariamme). In later copies of those editions the spelling was dissimilated to its now most common form, Mariamne. In Hebrew, Mariamne is known as מִרְיָם, (Miriam), as in the Biblical name ; Mariamne is the Hellenized version of the Hebrew, as Koine Greek was a common language in the late Hasmonean era in Judea, where both Mariamnes lived.
Aristobulus IV 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 Hasmoneans, and was thus a descendant of the Hasmonean Dynasty.
Herod of Chalcis, also known as Herod Pollio King of Chalcis, Herod V, and listed by the Jewish Encyclopedia as Herod II, was a son of Aristobulus IV, and the grandson of Herod the Great, Roman client king of Judaea. He was the brother of Herod Agrippa I and Herodias.
Aristobulus V of Chalcis was a son of Herod of Chalcis and his first wife Mariamne. Herod of Chalcis, ruler of Chalcis in Iturea, was a grandson of Herod the Great through his father, Aristobulus IV. Mariamne was a granddaughter of Herod the Great through her mother, Olympias; hence Aristobulus was a great-grandson of Herod the Great on both sides of his family.
The Herodian dynasty was a royal dynasty of Idumaean (Edomite) descent, ruling the Herodian Kingdom and later the Herodian Tetrarchy, as a vassal state of the Roman Empire. The Herodian dynasty began with Herod the Great, who assumed the throne of Judea, with Roman support, bringing down the century long Hasmonean Kingdom. His kingdom lasted until his death in 4 BCE, when it was divided between his sons as a Tetrarchy, which lasted for about 10 years. Most of those tetrarchies, including Judea proper, were incorporated into Judaea Province from 6 CE, though limited Herodian de facto kingship continued until Agrippa I's death in 44 CE and nominal title of kingship continued until 92 CE, when the last Herodian monarch, Agrippa II, died and Rome assumed full power over his de jure domain.
Mariamne I, 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, led him to execute all of the prominent members of the family, including Mariamne.
Mariamne II was the third wife of Herod the Great. She was the daughter of Simon Boethus the High Priest. Josephus recounts their wedding thus:
There was one Simon, a citizen of Jerusalem, the son of one Boethus, a citizen of Alexandria, and a priest of great note there; this man had a daughter, who was esteemed the most beautiful woman of that time; and when the people of Jerusalem began to speak much in her commendation, it happened that Herod was much affected with what was said of her; and when he saw the damsel, he was smitten with her beauty, yet did he entirely reject the thoughts of using his authority to abuse her, as believing, what was the truth, that by so doing he should be stigmatized for violence and tyranny; so he thought it best to take the damsel to wife. And while Simon was of a dignity too inferior to be allied to him, but still too considerable to be despised, he governed his inclinations after the most prudent manner, by augmenting the dignity of the family, and making them more honourable; so he immediately deprived Jesus, the son of Phabet, of the high priesthood, and conferred that dignity on Simon, and so joined in affinity with him [by marrying his daughter].
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. Aristobulus IV was the son of King Herod and Mariamne I, a Hasmonaean princess related to the renowned Judas Maccabaeus.
Antipater II was Herod the Great's first-born son, his only child by his first wife Doris. He was named after his paternal grandfather Antipater the Idumaean. He and his mother were exiled after Herod divorced her between 43 BC and 40 BC to marry Mariamne I. 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 and Aristobulus rose in the royal succession in 12 BC, and even became exclusive successor to the throne after their execution in 7 BC.
Herod II 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. Some writers call him Herod Philip I.
Hérode et Mariamne or Mariamne is a 1724 tragedy by Voltaire. Adapted from the writings of the historian Josephus, it is set in ancient Jerusalem, and portrays the tragic death of Mariamne at the hands of her jealous husband, Herod the Great, king of Judea, who suspects her of an intrigue with Varus, the Roman governor of Syria.
Alexander, son of Herod was born about 35 BC; died about 7 BC. His mother was the Hasmonean princess Mariamne.
Salampsio was the eldest daughter of Herod the Great by his royal Hasmonean wife, Mariamne I. She was married to Phasael, the son of Phasael, Herod's brother. The marriage resulted in five children: Antipater, Herod, Alexander, Alexandra, and Cypros. Cypros married Herod Agrippa, the son of Aristobulus IV and was the mother of Herod Agrippa II, Berenice, Mariamne, and Drusilla; and Alexandra married Timius of Cyprus.
Ananelus was a Jewish High priest in the 1st century BCE.
The Herodian Kingdom of Judea was a client state of the Roman Republic from 37 BCE, when Herod the Great was appointed "King of the Jews" by the Roman Senate. When Herod died in 4 BCE, the kingdom was divided among his sons into the Herodian Tetrarchy.
Herod and Mariamne is a 1671 tragedy by the English writer Samuel Pordage. It was first performed by the Duke's Company at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre in London shortly before they moved to the Dorset Gardens Theatre. It was the company's attempt to respond to the great success of John Dryden's heroic drama The Conquest of Granada by the rival King's Company. It is inspired by the accounts of Josephus portraying the reign of Herod II.
Margaret Osborne or Osborn was an English stage actress of the seventeenth century She was a long-standing member of the Duke's Company from 1671, acting at Lincoln's Inn Fields and the Dorset Garden Theatre. She went to Dublin to work at the Smock Alley Theatre in 1677, but returned to the Duke's Company around two years later She subsequently joined the merged United Company in 1682 and was still acting in the 1690s.
