03_Biblica_Sharon_Layout 1 01/04/14 11:46 Pagina 53 53 HEROD’S AGE WHEN APPOINTED STRATEGOS OF GALILEE sibility, that it is a general observation, should be preferred. Namely, the gist of the passage — and the adverbs used seem to imply this as well — is that he was exceptionally young to fulfill the role he was given; that is, it is an issue of competence and experience, not of law. Indeed, Herod’s youth is emphasized especially in the An- tiquities narrative. Immediately following the statement of his age Josephus writes: “But his youth (h` neo,thj) in no way hindered him, and being a young man (o` neani,aj) of high spirit, he quickly found an opportunity for showing his prowess” (Ant. 14.159). In fact, an investigation of such statements in Classical literature as to some- one’s young age shows that they generally do not refer to legal lim- itations but rather to experience and competence. This is quite clearly stated in the case of Demetrius, son of Philip V of Macedo- nia, when he came to Rome to defend his father against some accu- sations in 184-183 BCE. Polybius says that the senators “saw that he [i.e., Demetrius] was still quite young (ne,on ὄnta komidh|/) and very far from being competent to face such a whirl of complica- tions” (Polybius, 23.2.2). There are numerous other cases with similar terminology regard- ing young age (e.g., Polybius, 15.7.1; Cassius Dio, 39.56.5), but, for our purposes, the most important case is found in Nicolaus, who was probably Josephus’ source for Herod’s age. In his biography of Augustus, Nicolaus reports that when Octavian was deliberating which course of action to take after he heard of Caesar’s assassina- tion, one of the suggestions was that he should join the army that was in Macedonia, take it, go to Rome, and take vengeance upon the conspirators. However, that suggestion was not adopted because it “seemed a difficult course for a very young man (avndri. komidh|/ ne,wi), and too much for his present youth and inexperience … ” (Vit. Caes. Frg. 130, 16) 14. It seems to me that precisely this is the point emphasized in our passage as well: Herod was appointed and was even successful despite his youth and inexperience. Now, if this is in fact the gist of the passage, the age of twenty- five certainly does not seem to fit the context. Three centuries ear- lier Alexander the Great took the throne at the age of twenty and within a few years conquered much of the known world; more re- cently, Pompey Magnus celebrated a triumph when he was approx- 14 FGH II, 398. Translation by C.M. Hall (1923); online at: http://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/nicolaus.html