Why did herod the head of John the Baptist?

A:John the Baptist held high ethical values and was a man of great courage, willing to risk his life by publicly criticising the marriage of Herod Antipas to his own brother's former wife. For these qualities, he was much admired by the Jews. The Jewish historian, Joephus tells us that when King Aretas attacked and defeated Antipas in 36 CE, the Jews saw this as divine retribution for his execution of John the previous year.