Jewish Quarterly Review

In this article I explore the manner in which Herod expressed his Jewish self-identity and how he used it to rule his own people. Evidence from Herodian intermarriage, ritual baths in Herod's palaces, and speeches by Herod and Nicolaus are interpreted as representations of Herod's commitment to the Jewish ethos, namely, traces of Herod's preservation of or reflection on his own Jewish identity. My aim is therefore to understand how Herod perceived — or rather, wanted his Jewish subjects to perceive — his Jewishness, and how he reflected — or wanted others to reflect — on his combination of the Jewish and Greco-Roman ways of life