Excavating the Evidence for Jesus

Herod the Great

While the Gospel of Luke emphasizes the Romans and Augustus, the Gospel of Matthew emphasizes the local king, Herod the Great (Matthew 2:1). This Herod was crowned king of the Judeans by the Roman Senate in 40 BC as a client king under the authority of Rome, but he actually took power with the conquest of Jerusalem in 37 BC when he was able to finally defeat the previous ruling Hasmoneans.