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A. K. MARSHAK , THE MANY FACES OF HEROD THE GREAT. Grand Rapids/Cambridge: W. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2015. Pp. xxix + 400, illus. isbn 9780802866059. £23.99/US$35.00.
In this book, Adam Kolman Marshak synthesizes an admirable array of both primary sources and current scholarship on Herod the Great with a light enough touch to be accessible even to the uninitiated. In contrast to studies that emphasize Herod's brutality, or in other ways treat him as an aberration from the norms of his context, M.’s main thesis is that Herod succeeded because he was adept in presenting a public persona that fulfilled the cultural expectations of a king in his position. Herod was a ‘political chameleon’ who knew how to appeal to multiple audiences (312, 334). The opening chapters define these audience expectations under the three rubrics of Roman client kingship, Hellenistic monarchical virtues and the combination of Judean royal and priestly traditions in Hasmonean political ideology (chs 1–3). The next three chapters illustrate Herod's skill in these three modes of ‘self-presentation’ by tracing his success in negotiating political rivalries up to the Augustan period (chs 4–6). The following chapters are case studies in M.’s main thesis, such as the expression of Herod's public persona in the education...