To dress the actors who play the parts of Pharisees in the production, costumers Zaltzman and Kanner followed the descriptions of clothes left by the ancient military historian Josefus. According to Zaltzman, "The Jewish costume of the period consisted generally of a tunic, a mantle, a simple girdle and a pouch which was carried when traveling. The scholars and the richer people wore longer robes. In those days people kept the same clothes for years and a mantle could last a man a lifetime."

"For the robe of Herodias, Herod's wife," Zaltzman noted, "we made an exact copy of a Greek woman's robe of the time. This was a very Hellenistic period and the silk robe Herodias wears in the film is just what the real person would have worn."