The Army of Herod the Great

by Rocca, Samuel; Hook, Christa

• ISBN13: 9781846032066
• ISBN10: 1846032067
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-11-24
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing

Summary

Herod was Rome's most important and powerful ally at the end of the Republic and during the first years of Augustus' principate. He has entered posterity as a ruthless ruler against both his own family and, according to the gospel of Matthew, as the instigator of the slaughter of the innocents. However, he was also an able administrator who developed a powerful army. At its peak, Herod's army could field approximately 40,000 men. This book offers a fascinating look at the ancient army of Herod the Great, using the latest Israeli archaeological reports and finds, including weapons and armor fragments.

Author Biography

Samuel Rocco was born in Milan, Italy but now lives in Jerusalem with his wife and three sons. He served with the Israeli Defense Forces, and has worked as a teacher and a curator at the Bible Lands Museum, Jerusalem. Having studied biblical and classical archaeology at undergraduate level at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, he went on to complete his MA there, before researching his PhD on Herodian Judaea at Bar-Ilan University. Samuel has given papers at numerous international conventions, and written articles for several academic journals. This is his first book for Osprey Publishing. The author lives in Jerusalem.

Table of Contents

Introduction & Chronology	p. 3
Herod and his Army	p. 4
The King of the Jews - the status of the army
Strength and Composition	p. 11
Army strengths: the civil war - the First Nabataean War - at Herod's death
Ethnic compositon
Supreme and senior command
Engineers and artillery
Herod's bodyguard
The Field Army	p. 21
Cavalry
Infantry
Reserves - the military colonies
Equipment
Fortifications
Campaigns	p. 24
The conquest of the kingdom and siege of Jerusalem, 40-37 BC
The First Nabataean War, 32-31 BC
Aelius Gallus' expedition to Arabia, 25 BC
The Second Nabataean War, 9 BC
The army after Herod
Select Bibliography	p. 43
Plate Commentaries	p. 43
Index	p. 48
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