King Herod: A Persecuted Persecutor A Case Study in Psychohistory and Psychobiography By Arieh Kasher in Collaboration with Eliezer Witztum From the Foreword The original impetus for writing this book came from teaching the Herodian saga in university, largely because it offers an excellent example of divergent opinions in modern historiography - in this case, concerning one of the more prominent and fascinating figures in the history of the Second Temple period. One need only examine the well-known study by the late Professor Abraham Schalit, Konig Herodes, der Mann und sein Werk (originally written in Hebrew as: הורדוס המלך, האיש ופעלו), to become aware of his concerns and his ultimate conclusions with respect to Herod.[…] In his criticism of the Jewish scholars, Schalit argued that their thinking was distorted by national and religious sentiment.[…] Schalit sought a "counterweight" in the scholarly work of Walter Otto, of which he wrote: "All of the attributes of an academic composition are to be found in this study".[…] The goal that we have set for ourselves in this work is to shed light on Herod's personality and his emotional state and to propose the thesis that he suffered from significant mental disorders.[…] In addition, as we will attempt to demonstrate, his condition subsequently deteriorated into what is known in modern psychiatric terminology as Delusional Disorder.[…] At times, these were compounded by depressive states that exacerbated his condition […] Since we believe that, to a large extent, personality determines destiny, it is our opinion that the relative abundance of historical sources regarding Herod make it possible to sketch the behavioral profile of an individual who suffered from these disorders and, further, that these illnesses had significant reciprocal affects. An interpretation of this sort can, in our view, help provide a better understanding of his behavior and his achievements, and concomitantly, also shed light on new aspects of his actions. In other words, we will be making use of psychological and psychiatric insights in the belief that these can illuminate historical questions that have heretofore been shrouded in fog, and can aid us in resolving long-standing enigmas from a perspective that departs from the traditional historiographical methods.[…]