The Book of Kings and Queens

Brilliant but paranoid, Herod the Great does not kill Antipas, his natural son by Malthace the Samaritan, or Jesus, his illegitimate son by Mary of Bethlehem. But these are among the few family members who escape the turbulence of his love. Herod’s problem, according to Nicolas of Damascus his court historian, is the great conundrum of all earth-bound royalty: who can he trust to succeed him on his throne? The Book of Kings and Queens is driven by history from… (more)

Brilliant but paranoid, Herod the Great does not kill Antipas, his natural son by Malthace the Samaritan, or Jesus, his illegitimate son by Mary of Bethlehem. But these are among the few family members who escape the turbulence of his love. Herod’s problem, according to Nicolas of Damascus his court historian, is the great conundrum of all earth-bound royalty: who can he trust to succeed him on his throne? The Book of Kings and Queens is driven by history from the inside: it reveals the ways in which the great figures of the Roman empire conspire, bargain, love, and fight. With the intimacy of personal knowledge Nicolas brings to life Augustus, Cleopatra, Antony, their children, Tiberius and Pontius Pilate, for he serves each of them and sees them all fall. No one in the Augustan age had a better perspective on its great figures than Nicolas of Damascus. Following Herod’s death, Nicolas recounts the parallel rise of the two brothers, Antipas, Tetrarch of Galilee, and Jesus, Galilean teacher and healer, who are brought into conflict and competition first by John the Baptist’s announcement of the End Time and then by Pontius Pilate’s insistence on the Time of Rome. Having already portrayed the grandeur and vanity of imperial power, Nicolas now presents kings and queens in dusty sandals, caught in Antipas’ scheme to counter Pilate and recover Herod’s throne. Jesus, Joanna, Mary Magdalene test Nicolas’ loyalty and imagination as he attempts to reconcile Herod’s sons before they are crushed by Rome. Jesus is a figure both uniquely real and vivid and yet also true to the mysteries of the New Testament. His vision, faith, and miracles emerge naturally from a powerful narrative surging toward its tragic end. Ultimately, Nicolas uses his connection to Pilate to ensure that Antipas is given a final chance to save Jesus. When Antipas turns his back on Jesus, Pilate takes Jesus’ life. Confronted by Rome’s supremacy, Jesus’ death, and Antipas’ failure to repossess his father’s realm, Nicolas of Damascus knows he has one more story to tell—this one about the most critical period in world history when gods and men last cohabited the earth.