Herod was the king of Judea, scowering Judea for the real King, despite Augustus being quite vocal about the difference between King and Client King.
The moral of the story is that you can be a true believer in Jesus the King of Kings, as Herod was, and still an asshole.
I'm guessing that Herod thought that the baby was going to be a Prophet and not God himself. It was so funny at the end of Omen III when Sam Neil was killing all the Babies in the world to counter prophecy of the second coming only to be screwed over as Jesus turns up as a fully grown pissed off adult spoiling for a beat down.
While I only meant to suggest that their arrangement is most likely just like ours, save that one specialized appendage (the mucilage would have to be used very creatively otherwise), your response was a very helpful and instructive lesson for this beginner, Teacake. If I am to survive, nay even keep my head above water amongst this crowd, I am going to have step up my game BIG TIME!!!!