fled to Rome, where, with the approval of Antony and Octavian, the Roman senate named him king of the Jews. Roman forces soon expelled the Parthians from Syria and executed the Hasmonean rulers of Judea. In 37 B.C. the Idumean Herod became in fact, as in name, king of the Jews. Herod “the Great” ruled Israel from 37 to 4 B.C. After David, he was probably the most powerful ruler Israel had known. The early years of Herod’s reign were marked by efforts to consolidate his authority, and he often did