Herod’s imminent death of a fever-related illness provoked his final attempt at cruelty, commanding his sister Salome and her husband Alexas to execute all the prominent leaders in Judea, so that someone would still mourn at his death (although not for him). Thankfully, Salome did not do it.
The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus writes that Herod was sixty-nine years old when he died from a fever-related illness. He knew full well that no one would mourn his death and as such he lured all the prominent leaders in Judea to Jericho, where he had all of them arrested. He commanded his sister Salome and her husband Alexas to execute all of them upon his death. In this way the country would indeed mourn as they would not have yet known of his passing. Salome, however, did not go through with it as she feared retaliation from the people. She set all of these prominent leaders free even before Herod’s death became publicly known.1,2
19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,