Salome (sister of Herod)

Also known as: Salome · Family: Jewish · Role: daughter of Antipater · First appears: Book I, Chapter 8

In Book I, Chapter 8, Salome was the daughter of Antipater and Cypros, and sister to Phasaelus, Herod, Joseph, and Pheroras: “and he had a daughter whose name was Salome.” By Chapter 22, she was married to Joseph, whom Herod trusted, but she helped damage Mariamne’s reputation. Her relationship with Alexander and Aristobulus was hostile; Alexander was her nephew, while Aristobulus was both her nephew and son-in-law, and he quarreled with her. She was also married to Costobarus and was accused of seeking a marriage with Silleus.

In Chapters 24–29, Herod pardoned Salome after accusations against her were sustained, while Alexander accused her and Pheroras of plotting. She reported Aristobulus’s warning to Herod, after which he bound and separated his sons, and she continued to tell Herod what they were doing. Bernice was her daughter, and Herod compelled Bernice to marry Alexas. Later, Antipater, son of Herod and Doris, was exposed as having plotted against Salome by forging a letter accusing her. When Herod ordered Salome and Alexas to kill imprisoned nobles after his death, they instead released them.

In Book II, Chapter 2, Salome joined those accusing Archelaus before Caesar at Rome. Caesar later made her mistress of Jamnia, Ashdod, and Phasaelis, while placing her household under Archelaus. When Salome died in Chapter 9, she bequeathed her toparchy, Jamriga, and her plantation of palm trees at Phasaelis to Julia.