PHASAELUS fá sə’ lus (Φάσηλος). The Latinized form is Phasael. 1. A son of the Idumean Antipater (made governor of Judea by Caesar after the defeat of Pompey at Pharsalus, 48 b.c.) and elder brother of Herod the Great. After the victory of Antony and Cassius at Philippi (42 b.c.), Antony made the two devoted brothers joint tetrarchs, who extracted money from the Jews for their needy patron. Their rival, Antigonus, bribed Parthian forces, took Jerusalem and captured Phasaelus, Herod escaping. Phasaelus, despairing of his fortunes, committed suicide. Certain structures were named in this man’s honor, e.g., a tower in Jerusalem, later known as the “tower of David.”

2. The son of the above, who begat Kypros, wife of Agrippa I.

Bibliography C. L. McGinty, From Babylon to Bethlehem (1929), 171ff.; C. M. Grant, Between the Testaments (undated), 94f.; N. H. Snaith, The Jews from Cyrus to Herod (undated), 52f.