Mariamne I

Mariamne I, also called Mariamne the Hasmonean, was a Hasmonean princess and the second wife of Herod the Great. Her parents, Alexandra Maccabeus and Alexander of Judaea, were cousins who both descended from Alexander Jannaeus. She was known for her great beauty, as was her brother Aristobulus III. Herod's fear of his Hasmonean rivals led him to execute all of the prominent members of the family, including Mariamne. Her name is spelled Μαριάμη (Mariame) by Josephus, but in some editions of his work the second m is doubled (Mariamme). In later copies of those editions the spelling was dissimilated to its now most common form, Mariamne. In Hebrew, Mariamne is known as , (Miriam), as in the traditional, Biblical name (see Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron). Life Mariamne was the daughter of the Hasmonean Alexandros, also known as Alexander of Judaea, and thus one of the last heirs to the Hasmonean dynasty of Judea. Mariamne's only sibling was Aristobulus III. Her father, Alexander of Judaea, the son of Aristobulus II, married his cousin Alexandra, daughter of his uncle Hyrcanus II, in order to cement the line of inheritance from Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, but the inheritance soon continued the blood feud of previous generations, and eventually led to the downfall of the Hasmonean line. By virtue of her parents' union, Mariamne claimed Hasmonean royalty on both sides of her family lineage.