HERODIANS (`Hpcp&avoi) mentioned in the Gospels as taking up a hostile attitude to Jesus (once in Galilee and again in Jerusalem) ; cf. Mark iii. 6, xii. 13 ; Matt. xxii. 16; cf. also Mail viii. 15. In every case they are coupled with the Pharisees. The formation of the word (cf. "Caesariani" and "Pompeiani") favours the view that what is meant is a party among the Jews who favoured the Herodian dynasty, and were its political par tisans. Another view is that they represented a religious party known in Rabbinical Literature as "Boethusians" i.e., adherents of the family of Boethus, whose daughter Mariamne was one of the wives of Herod the Great, and whose sons were raised by him to the High Priesthood.