Salome Scheming for Mariamme’s Death

Josephus reports that Herod’s meeting with Octavian at Rhodes was ex­tremely successful (Ant. 15.187-196) and that the king was soon counted as one of Octavian’s most loyal friends (15.199). Once again Herod’s suc­cessful rule contrasts sharply with the severe problems in his family.^{[517] [518] The section of Ant. 15.202-251, which focuses upon the two Hasmonean wom­en in Herod’s family, his wife Mariamme (202-239) and his mother-in-law Alexandra (202-251), starts as follows:}

Yet, when he came to the kingdom that time, he found on his arrival that his family was in disorder (τΕταραγμένην...τήν οικίαν) and his wife Mariamme and her mother Alex­andra were angry (χαλεπώς- εχουσα?). For they believed, as was to be suspected, that they were brought under in that estate [i.e., Alexandreion] not for their personal safety, but for being held in custody, without having any authority over anybody, neither over others nor over themselves, which they were taking badly (χαλεπώ? εφερον). (Ant.

15.202- 203)

It is easily to imagine that such an isolated situation in the fortress of Al- exandreion aggravated Mariamme and Alexandra, who were probably used to a prima donna role at Herod’s court.

Josephus depicts how Mariamme and her mother worked on winning Soemus over “in a rather slick way (XmapeoTepov),^{[522] [523] [524] with words as well as gifts” (Ant. 15.205). Soemus yielded, and the motivation for doing that hints, in Josephus’s presentation, at a change to Hasmonean rule (15.205­207). Like Joseph before him Soemus revealed Herod’s secret order to kill Mariamme as well as Alexandra (15.205). When Herod returned from his journey to Octavian (15.209-210), Mariamme openly confronted her hus­band with his secret command:}

When he reported to her about his success, she did not happen to be glad but rather took it badly (yaAcHMs ^rpriv), nor could she conceal her feelings. On the contrary, she groaned in response to his embrace out of disdain (dSo^ias) and her superior nobility (EuyEvrias). (Ant. 15.210)

Josephus next switches to Herod’s feelings and describes how the king was deeply grieved about his wife’s hatred, but also how he was not capable of punishing her. Herod was utterly confused, torn between extreme feelings of passion and the wish to punish Mariamme’s arrogant and unloving be­havior (15.211-212; see also 15.214, 222-223). Salome and Cyprus, how­ever, took advantage of this situation.

Salome and Cyprus tried to provoke Herod and kept talking slanderous things about Mariamme in order to incite his hatred and jealousy (Ant. 15.213). Ant. 15.221 notes that this slander went on for a year, but Mari- amme for her part reviled Salome and Cyprus and scorned their low birth.^{[525] [526] The jealousy motif in Ant. 15.213 reminds the readers of “the Jo- 71 seph affair” and can easily be associated with accusations of adultery. The reference to Herod’s hatred (pioos) of Mariamme suggests that the relationship between Mariamme and him was deteriorating, as the con­tinuation of the narrative shows more and more clearly.[527] Nevertheless, Mariamme still managed to have Soemus appointed governor of a district by Herod (15.216-217). Interestingly, in the section according to which Salome and Cyprus were undermining Mariamme’s position by feeding Herod’s suspicion of Mariamme’s unfaithfulness with their slander, Jose­phus drops a narrative comment that states that Mariamme had remained faithful to Herod (15.219).[528]}

Josephus tells that Salome cooked up a wicked scheme that would make Mariamme’s assumed crimes obvious. She approached Herod’s cup-bearer and persuaded him to bring Herod a love potion that supposedly was pre­pared by Mariamme. The cup-bearer had to point out that he did not know the power of the potion, which could easily be taken as a hint that the po­tion was actually a poison (Ant. 15.223-225). Salome had the man go to Herod after Mariamme had refused to lie down with the king and had ac­cused him of murdering her father and brother, which Herod took badly (15.223).

The king cried out aloud and said that Soemus, who was at least at all other times most faithful to him and the monarchy, would never have utterly betrayed his orders if he had not advanced too far in his contact with Mariamme (περαιτέρω προεληλύθει της- προ? την Μαριαμμην κοινωνία?). (Ant. 15.228).

The word κοινωνία (“fellowship,” “contact”) sometimes presupposes a sexual relationship.^[530] The word also occurs in the episode about Joseph and Mariamme (Ant. 15.87), where the sexual connotation is obvious be­cause of Salome’s accusation of Joseph’s adultery with Mariamme (15.81). In Ant. 15.228 the sexual connotation is also highly plausible because of the context. Herod had Soemus immediately executed and decided to give Mariamme a trial (15.229). Josephus elsewhere suggests that such a trial was mostly a means to execute someone whom Herod wanted to eliminate legitimately.^[531] Here, Josephus notes that Herod zealously pursued Mari- amme’s accusation and came to the decision that she had to be executed, being too angry to control himself (15.229), but also that he changed his mind after the court had advised him to execute Mariamme and considered transferring her to one of his fortresses (15.230).^[532] At this stage of the nar­rative Josephus writes:

Salome and her female associates (τα!? περί την Σαλώμην)”^{[533] [534]} zealously endeavored to get the poor woman out of the way and more and more prevailed upon the king, advis­ing him to be on his guard against disturbances of the masses if she happened to remain alive.

Apparently, there was a discussion at Mariamme’s trial, during which Sa­lome and her associates prevailed and ultimately persuaded Herod that Ma­riamme had to be executed. Their motive, the danger of political disturb­ances if Mariamme would stay alive, has not been mentioned explicitly before in connection with Mariamme. However, such a danger is obvious in connection with what Josephus writes about other members of the Hasmonean family, especially Alexandra and her son Aristoboulus III.^[535] Josephus seems to hint at Salome’s faction’s fear that Mariamme’s deten­tion would arouse the protest of many Judeans because she was a member of the Hasmonean house. Readers may also conclude on the basis of other information about Salome in the Antiquities that she aimed at the execution of Mariamme as part of a strategy to eliminate all remaining members of the Hasmonean family.^[536]

The final note in 15.231 (“So Mariamme was led to her execution in this way”) suggests that the narrative about Mariamme’s death comes to a conclusion here, but, as a matter of fact, Josephus continues with a diptych (15.232-239) in which he contrasts Alexandra’s histrionic attempt to save herself at the expense of her daughter with a description of Mariamme’s calm and dignified death and a short characterization of the queen.

D.