The Life of Jesus in Harmony | Index

Herodias' daughter

SALOME

The daughter of Herodias by her first husband, Herod Philip (Josephus Ant. 18.5.4). She is the "daughter of Herodias," mentioned in (Mt 14:6) as dancing before Herod Antipas and securing, at her mother's instigation, the death of John the Baptist.

To do honor to the day and to the company Salome broke through the rule of strict seclusion from the other sex and condescended, though a princess and the daughter of kings, to dance before Antipas and his guests. One scholar said:

"The dancing then in vogue in both Rome and the provinces, from its popularity under Augustus, was very like that of our modern ballet. The dancer did not speak, but acted some story by gestures, movements, and attitudes, to the sound of music. Masks were used in all cases to conceal the features, but all other parts of the body, especially the hands and arms, were called into action, and a skillful pantomimist could express feelings, passions, and acts with surprising effect. The dress of the performer was planned to show the beauty of the figure to the greatest advantage, though it varied with the characters represented" (Geikie, Life of Christ, p. 300).

Salome was married first to Philip, tetrarch of Trachonitis, her paternal uncle, who died childless; and, second, to her cousin Aristobulus, son of Herod, king of Chalcis, by whom she had three sons.