Herod ordered the killing of children (commonly referred to as the "Massacre of the Innocents") after realising that the wise men, who had been instructed to report back to him about the location of the newborn "King of the Jews," had not returned. They had been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod and took a different route home. This angered Herod and prompted him to order the killing of all male children two years old and under in Bethlehem and the surrounding areas.