HEROD THE GREAT 508 HERPES all, when it becomes strangulated, it is apt to terminate in gangrene and death. HEROD THE GREAT, King of the Jews, an Idumaean by birth, made king by the triumvirs in 40 B. C. He is famed in history for his cruelty; and one of his latest acts was the massacre of the In- nocents, which he ordered in the hope of killing him who (the Magi had told him) v/as "born king of the Jews." He died in 2 A. D. HEROD AGRIPPA I., son of Aristo- bulus by Berenice, daughter of Herod the Great. From his attachment to Caligula he was imprisoned by Tiberius, but on the accession of Caligula (a. d. 37) he received the government of part of Pal- estine, and latterly all the dominions of Herod the Great. To please the Jews, with whom his rule was very popular, he caused St. James to be put to death, and imprisoned St. Peter. He died in the circumstances related in Acts xii., in . D. 44. HEROD AGRIPPA II., a Jewish prince; son of Herod Agrippa I.; born about A. D, 27. On his father's death, he being too young to govern, Judea was reduced to a Roman province. He sub- sequently received the kingdom of Chal- cis, and obtained the superintendency of the temple at Jerusalem, where, with his sister, Berenice, he heard the defense of Paul before Festus. Being driven from Jerusalem by the revolt of the Jews he joined Cestius, and later on Vespasian, and during the siege of Jerusalem was very serviceable to Titus. After its re- duction (A. D. 70) he and Berenice re- turned to Rome. He is supposed to have died there, A. D. 94. HEROD ANTIPAS, son of Herod the Great, by his fifth wife, Cleopatra, was appointed tetrarch of Galilee on his death (4 B. c). This was the Herod who put to death St. John the Baptist, in compli- ment to his wife Herodias in revenge for his reproaches of their incestuous union. Having visited Rome he was ac- cused of having been concerned in the conspiracy of Sejanus, and was stripj)ed of his dominions, and sent (a. d. 39) with his wife into exile at Lugdunum (Lyons) , or, as some say, to Spain, where he died. HERODIAS, a granddaughter of Herod the Great and Mariamne, daugh- ter of Aristobulus and sister of Herod Agrippa I. She was first married to her uncle Herod Philip, but afterward aban- doned him and connected herself with his brother Herod Antipas. It was 6y her artifice that Herod was persuaded to cause to be put to death John the Bap- tist, who had boldly denounced the in- cestuous connection which subsisted be- tween her and Herod. HERODOTUS (-rod'o-tus), a Greek historian, surnamed "the Father of His- tory"; born in Halicarnassus, Asia Mi- nor, probably about 484 B. c. Disgusted with the government of Lygdamis, the grandson of Artemisia, who was tyrant of his native city, he retired for a time to the island of Samos, whence he ac- quired the Ionic dialect, in which he afterward composed his history. To col- lect the necessary materials for his great work, he entered in early manhood on a course of patient and observant travel, visiting almost every part of Greece and its dependencies, and many other coun- tries. On his return from his travels, he took a prominent part in delivering his country from the tyranny of Lygda- mis. But the expulsion of the tyrant did not bring tranquillity to Halicarnassus, and Herodotus, having himself become an object of dislike, again quitted his na- tive city, and settled at Thurii, in the S. of Italy, B. c. 443. Here he virrote the work which has immortalized his name. His history consists of nine books, which bear the names of the nine Muses. He died in Thurii, Italy, probably about 424 B. c. HERON, the common name of birds of the genus Ardea, constituting with the bitterns the family Ardeid^, type of what is now commonly regarded as a sep- arate order of birds, the Herodiones. The herons are very numerous, and almost universally spread over the globe. They are distinguished by having a long bill cleft beneath the eyes, a compressed body, long slender legs naked above the tarsal joint, three toes in front, the two outer united by a membrane, and by moderate wings. The tail is short, rounded, and composed of 10 or 12 feathers. The common heron {A. cinerea) is about three feet in length from the point of the bill to the end of the tail, builds its nest in high trees, many being sometimes on one tree. Its food consists of fish, frogs, mollusks, mice, moles, and similar small animals. The great heron (A. herodias) is an inhabitant of America, and is called also great blue heron; the great white heron or egret (A. or Herodias alba) belongs to Europe; and the green heron (A. virescens) , the flesh of which is much esteemed, is a native of North America. HERPES, a skin affection, composed of vesicles grouped on an inflamed sur- face, as in the lip (herpes labialis) in pneumonia, or as shingles (herpes zoster) where they form a belt round half the body. Duration, from 16 to 20 days.
