Herod II

Herod II (c. 27 BC – 33/34 AD)[1][2] was the son of Herod the Great and Mariamne II, the daughter of Simon Boethus the High Priest, and the first husband of Herodias, daughter of Aristobulus IV and his wife Berenice.

[5] Herod the Great's execution of his two sons born by his Hasmonean wife Mariamne, Alexander and Aristobulus IV in 7 BC, left the latter's daughter Herodias orphaned and a minor.

Herod II lived in Rome with Herodias as a private citizen[7] and therefore survived his father's deathbed purges.

According to Josephus: Herodias took upon her to confound the laws of our country, and divorced herself from her husband while he was alive, and was married to Herod Antipas[6]According to Matthew 14:3–5 and Luke 3:18–20, it was this proposed marriage that John the Baptist opposed.

There are three princes by the name Phasael in the Herodian dynasty, all three mentioned by Josephus in "War" (BJ) and "Antiquities" (AJ):[8]