Compliant youngest son of
Antipater
who became notorious for his part in family intrigues. Not known
for his own initiatives, Pheroras dutifully carried out tasks
given him by others. Following
Herod's
order, he supervised the rebuilding of the fortress called
Alexandrium. After
the death of Marc
Antony (30 BCE),
Herod entrusted him with custody of his Hasmonean wife (Mariamne)
& mother-in-law while he went to Rome to offer his support to
Octavian.
Pheroras himself may not have been directly involved in the
rumor mill that made Herod execute both women on his return. But
he became an active accomplice of his sister (Salome)
& nephew (Antipater
III) in spreading lies that eventually led Herod to kill his
own Hasmonean sons (7
BCE).
Herod was so confident of Pheroras' support that he even
convinced the emperor to make him tetrarch of
Perea.
The only times Pheroras
mustered courage to defy his brother was in the case of his own
marriage. He was
so in love with the slave girl whom he married that twice he
turned down being married to one of Herod's own daughters. The
second rebuff so infuriated Herod that Pheroras was told to
leave Jerusalem. Pheroras complied with this order, swearing he
would not return until he heard Herod was dead. But he died
first, allegedly from poison that Antipater had intended for
Herod. The revelation of that plot led Herod to order the
execution of his oldest son & co-ruler just days before his own
death.
References:
Josephus, Antiquities
14.122,
15.363,
16.194-228,
17.12-19,
32-67.
______,
War
1.203,
325, 342,
483-487,
498, 504-508,
567-573,
578-598.
Other resources on
line:
Perspective
on the World of Jesus 