Description
Herod I is one of the Bible’s most complex figures. A brilliant politician and the greatest builder in Jewish history, he was also a paranoid madman who ruthlessly executed anyone he deemed a threat to his absolute power, whether legitimate rivals, family members, or innocent babies. Crowned King of the Jews by the Roman Senate, Herod ruled from 40 BC until his disease-ridden death 36 years later. A prodigious builder, Herod expanded the Second Temple in Jerusalem, of which only the famed Western Wall remains. He constructed fortresses at Masada, Antonia, and Herodium; the port city of Caesarea; the huge edifice atop the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron; and massive fortifications around Jerusalem, as well as three towers at the city’s entrance.
