Herodias
Herod's legal wife was incensed and fled to her father, Aretas, who led the Nabataeans against Herod to avenge his daughter. When that dreadful woman, Herodias, made Antipas kill John the Baptist, she did it at a birthday party of Herod Antipas, a big wild party at which her stupid daughter Salome, danced like a whore. The sensuality pleased Antipas so much that he gave Salome an oath to ask of anything she wanted. Upon asking her mother Herodias what she should ask for, the answer was the head of John the Baptist. Salome hurried back to the king and asked for the head of John the Baptist on a platter. Herodias' weakling of a husband had a good man killed so as to not lose face and John was beheaded in prison. He had met John and had rather respected that fearless wild man and the people regarded John as a prophet. Tradition tells us that Herodias ordered the headless trunk to be flung out over the battlements for dogs and vultures to devour, only later to be recovered by his disciples and buried. On her at any rate, swift vengeance fell. [322, 331, 373, Matthew 14, Mark 6.]
Herodias was the wife of Herod Antipas. On a journey to Rome Antipas met Herodias. She had been married to Philip, a half brother to Antipas. Herod became infatuated with her, and she with him, her striking beauty had caused Antipas to propose marriage. Herodias left Philip, taking her teen-age daughter, Salome, to marry the ruler of Galilee and went to live with Herod Antipas. Divorcing her ambitious husband, the new tetrarch in the north, and marrying his brother had incensed the Jews because their laws forbade a man marrying his brother's wife while he lived. Such a marriage was also illegal if the woman had borne a child of the first brother.
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