History records many evil men. You would be able to compile a list of their names as easily as I can, and your list would probably have some of the same names; Hitler, Osama Bin Laden, Sadam Hussein, Mussolini, Stalin and Herod, just to name a few. All of these men were mass murders. Herod as you will see was one of the worst because children were his victims.
In 43 BC Herod’s father was assassinated by a threatened family member, and Herod and his brother were captured. After being captured, the brother committed suicide, but Herod managed to escape and flee to Rome. Then in 37 BC the Roman Senate appointed him “King of the Jews.” So, Herod returned to Palestine, raised up an army, and defeated his father’s assassin in battle. Herod’s rule of 33 years was a turbulent one.
Herod was an extremely jealous ruler and his paranoia was legendary. One of his ten wives had a brother who was the high priest. Herod felt threatened by this brother-in-law of his, so he murdered him. Then he killed his wife, too. At one point, he was afraid of a plot against him by two of his sons, so he murdered both of them. He was a brutal, merciless man. So, it’s no wonder that Matthew tells us that Herod was “deeply disturbed” when he learned that a child had been born who was being called “King of the Jews.”