In the homily at church today (It is Epiphany Sunday -- Three Kings Sunday), the priest said that Herod was such a jealous, insecure guy that not only did he order the murder of the baby boys under 2, he was later in life so worried that people would rejoice at his death, he ordered a stadium to be filled with people to be slaughtered on his death day, so they would feel sadness that day. I had never heard the story so came home and did some research. Here is what I found at Smithsonian.com:

"In a final act of depravity, Herod imprisoned all the notables of Judea, ordering that they be executed on the day of his death so the country would be plunged into mourning. But when Herod died, in Jericho at about age 69—probably of kidney failure exacerbated by a genital infection, according to Aryeh Kasher's recent biography "King Herod: A Persecuted Persecutor"—the prisoners were released. Instead of mourning, rejoicing filled the land."

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