ABSTRACT
We are in the fortunate position of being able to identify the convoluted series of Herod’s wills that reflected changing circumstances among his family members. The wills illustrate his sequential attempts to deal satisfactorily with the succession, so it should be no surprise that the pace of changes increased as Herod neared the end. There is, perhaps, no comparable figure from antiquity whose last wishes can be tracked with the same precision over such a lengthy period (in general, see Braund 1983, 16–57; Kosmetatou 2012). Seven wills show the problems he faced from an embarrassment of often disappointing male children.
