Queen Cleopatra VII and Herod the Great

35 BCE

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In 35 BCE, Cleopatra visited Herod for the collection of balsam to be taken back to Egypt. According to Josephus, she made open advances at Herod. She might've well had feelings for him, but it was mostly suspected that she was laying a snare for him. Herod himself bore hatred towards Cleopatra and entertained thoughts of killing her. He took counsel with his friends who urged him not to, as he would be facing Mark Antony's wrath in the process. He dealt with her respectably but at arm's length and accompanied her on her way back to Egypt.

‍Josephus, Antiquities, 15.4.2

‍When Cleopatra had obtained thus much (from Mark Antony)… she returned back, …and passed on to Judea, where Herod met her, and farmed (for) her… the region about Jericho.

This country bears that balsam, which is the most precious drug that is there, and grows there alone… When she was there, and was very often with Herod, she endeavoured to have criminal conversation with the king;… she laid a treacherous snare for him: however, upon the whole, she seemed overcome with love to him.

Balsam (Balm of Gilead)
Jerusalem: A Medical Diagnosis Exhibition,Tower of David Museum
Deror Avi, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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Overview

Flavius Josephus, Antiquities, 15.4.2

When Cleopatra had obtained thus much (from Mark Antony)… she returned back, …and passed on to Judea, where Herod met her, and farmed (for) her… the region about Jericho.

This country bears that balsam, which is the most precious drug that is there, and grows there alone…

When she was there, and was very often with Herod, she endeavored to have criminal conversation with the king;… she laid a treacherous snare for him, by aiming to obtain such adulterous conversation from him: however, upon the whole, she seemed overcome with love to him.