En este fascinante video, exploramos la vida y legado de **Herodes el Grande**, el famoso **rey de Judea** que dejó una huella indeleble en la historia. Conocido por sus colosales **proyectos de construcción**, como la **reconstrucción del Segundo Templo** y la ampliación del **Muro de las Lamentaciones**, Herodes es un personaje enigmático que ha sido considerado uno de los más malvados de la **Biblia**. Acompáñanos mientras revelamos los últimos **descubrimientos arqueológicos** y utilizamos **efectos especiales 3D** para brindarte una experiencia educativa que te permitirá entender por qué se le conocía como **Herodes el Grande**. ¡No te lo pierdas!
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TVTranscript
00:00In the coast of modern Israel, in the ruins of an ancient city, a team of researchers is preparing to go underground.
00:21Okay, I think I'm ready.
00:23At the bottom of this well, there could be clues about the truth of one of the greatest villains of the Bible, King Herod.
00:39What's going on down there?
00:40Let's go!
01:10The story begins with one of the most evil characters of the Bible, King Herod, the ruler of Judea.
01:22The Bible says that shortly after the birth of Jesus, Herod was enraged to hear the prophecy of the birth of a king of the Jews.
01:31Anxious to retain power, he orders his soldiers to kill all children under the age of two.
01:38This is what is known as the killing of the innocent.
01:42If it's someone like Herod, murder can be part of politics, of course.
01:48But although the Bible describes him as a devilish villain, the history books refer to him as Herod the Great.
01:57Today, archaeologists and historians from all over the region are making new discoveries.
02:04Wow, interesting.
02:07And exploring new depths to discover the truth about King Herod.
02:14On the coast of modern Israel, there is the ancient port of Caesarea, once a great city of the Kingdom of Judea of Herod.
02:23King Herod built this metropolis in the 1st century BC.
02:30Surprisingly, giant structures still survive.
02:35Geoarchaeologist Beverly Goodman has spent her career exploring them.
02:41Caesarea is my home. It's a place that has become part of me and part of my life.
02:49And the amount of time that I've spent thinking about that place, I guess you could call it an obsession.
03:00Today, Beverly and her team embark on a mission to discover the true reach of this city during its heyday.
03:08And what the architecture that Herod left behind can reveal about the true character of the infamous king.
03:14They begin with the palace of Herod, and one of its greatest elements.
03:23This is the pool of the palace of Herod.
03:27This is part of a palace complex that would have been his residence when he built the whole city.
03:34The palace is located right on the edge of the current coast.
03:39More than 2,000 years of time and tides have made a mark on this 30-meter-long pool.
03:46But there are still signs of its original size.
03:50It's about 45 feet wide.
03:53Underneath the surface, there are gigantic stone slabs.
03:58Okay, and 250 feet long.
04:00Yes.
04:02Here, can you take a picture?
04:04And there are bases of huge columns that may have held the upper floors.
04:10There are three columns in line.
04:14The base of a column.
04:17Let's get this sorted out.
04:19The archaeologists begin to remove some of the tons of debris that fill the pool.
04:27But we'll have to work much harder to explore all the corners of this place.
04:32Even in its current state, Beverly glimpses its architectural splendor through the hay and algae.
04:41You can imagine this recreational pool with gardens,
04:45with all the luxuries that you can expect from someone with the status of Herod.
04:52This former pool was covered with exquisite mosaics.
04:57It's about 35 meters long by 18 meters wide.
05:03Columns were built around it.
05:06Pots for exotic plants.
05:09And the walls of a magnificent two-story villa.
05:16It was the jewel in the crown of Herod's creation.
05:20Caesarea Maritima.
05:23An important city with a theater.
05:26A racetrack.
05:28And a bustling port.
05:35When I think about how quickly the city was originally built,
05:40I think it's scandalous, really.
05:43Because the entire project was inaugurated in about two decades.
05:47Which might seem like a long time, but it's not if you take into account the scale of the city.
05:53In Caesarea, Herod embarked on a grand project in Judea.
06:00What prompted him to build it on such a scale?
06:04A clue could be in the surprising family history of King Herod.
06:12240 kilometers south of Caesarea, in present-day Jordan,
06:17is the ancient city of Petra.
06:202,000 years ago, in the time of Herod,
06:24this was the capital of the Nabateans, neighbors of the Jews.
06:28A people who controlled trade routes through the desert.
06:33Sami al-Hasanat has guided people through the famous architecture
06:37excavated in the rock of Petra for more than 30 years.
06:42Petra is my world.
06:45And I am part of it.
06:49Sami is considered related to the Nabateans,
06:53something he shares with Herod.
06:56Herod was not a Jew.
06:59His father was a nobleman from Idumea,
07:02a people who had converted to Judaism.
07:05And on behalf of his mother, he descended from the royal family of Petra.
07:10His mother was a Nabatean princess, named Cyprus.
07:15Neither of her parents were originally from Judea.
07:19Sami wants to explore the city where Herod spent some time
07:23when he was a child, to discover the origin of his great ambitions.
07:28This is the heart of the real Petra,
07:31and the real Nabatean architecture.
07:38Many of the structures excavated in the rock of Petra
07:42are tombs of the elite of the city.
07:45The first Western explorers called this tomb
07:47the Tomb of the Urn, due to the magnificent carvings on its facade.
07:53These remarkable structures are a testimony
07:56of the wealth of the rulers of Petra.
07:59We can see that there are holes on both sides.
08:04They are facing each other.
08:06That's to show that there was another level or another floor on top of it.
08:10And if we observe, we can see all the lines of the chiseling.
08:13They scraped the sandstone walls.
08:15They sanded the whole interior,
08:18and painted it with frescoes with permanent colors.
08:22The marriage of Herod's parents
08:25helped to consolidate the relations between the neighboring peoples.
08:29When the father marries a princess from another tribe or another kingdom,
08:34he does it for political reasons, for social reasons,
08:38to establish connections,
08:41connections with the neighbors who are at the same time
08:43healthy and useful.
08:46Herod's father took advantage of these connections
08:50to earn the position of counselor of the royal house of Judea.
08:55When Herod was barely ten years old,
08:58the arrival of another people changed the course of his life.
09:06In the year 63 BC, Rome conquered Judea
09:10and appointed Herod's father as governor,
09:14although not formally recognized.
09:17Herod helped to govern part of Judea,
09:20but a disaster occurred when he turned 30 years old
09:23and an envious rival poisoned his father.
09:26For Herod, that was a time of impotence.
09:30He was not popular, nor had he been his father.
09:33His family origin made him a stranger to many Jews,
09:37despite being a practicing Jew.
09:40What legitimizes a leader is the support of his people.
09:44Therefore, when thinking of a person born in Nabatea, for example,
09:49who has ethnic origins in that part of the world,
09:53it is possible that he was not accepted.
09:55Herod was considered a mere puppet of Rome.
09:58How did he survive to surpass his father
10:01and become not only a Roman official,
10:04but also the great King Herod?
10:07In his heyday, King Herod had palaces all over Judea,
10:12including one on the spectacular top of the hill of Masada.
10:17Its steep slopes made it the perfect fortress,
10:22and its location in the south of Judea, next to the Dead Sea,
10:27was especially important for Herod.
10:31Masada is in a corner of Judea,
10:36at the intersection between Idumea and Nabatea.
10:41Basically, that was his homeland, and the place that had supported him.
10:46And I think he felt safer in that environment.
10:51Archaeologist Guy Stiebel
10:54investigates Herod's life through the thousands of objects
10:56he has excavated in the palace located on the top of Masada.
11:01He wants to find out how a foreigner became King of Judea.
11:07This coin dates from the time of Herod the Great.
11:11The pinching of coins was a way of symbolizing
11:14that he was the King of Judea, the King of the Jews.
11:18Herod's connection with Masada dates back to a time before his reign,
11:23when Masada housed a small fortress.
11:27In the year 40 B.C.,
11:31an army created by Jewish rebels
11:34besieged Jerusalem with the intention of overthrowing the Roman rulers
11:38and Herod's family.
11:41Herod withdrew with his followers to Masada's fortress,
11:45and then fled to Rome.
11:48Herod took the Senate,
11:52and was appointed King with the support of his friend Marco Antonio.
11:57But in the year 31 B.C.,
12:00Herod lost his great sponsor
12:03when Marco Antonio was defeated by his rival,
12:06the powerful Octavio,
12:08who became the first Roman emperor,
12:11Caesar Augustus.
12:14Herod had been a loyal servant of the Roman State,
12:18and instead had been appointed King.
12:21Now his fate was in the hands of a man.
12:25How could Herod win the love of Caesar Augustus
12:29and keep his throne in Judea?
12:37In Caesarea.
12:43Beverley and her team believe that Herod's monuments
12:47may contain clues as to how he continued to be an ally of Rome.
12:50There is no doubt that Herod is known for being a great builder.
12:54In fact, most of the archaeological remains
12:57that you find from that period,
13:00almost all of which have managed to last, are his doing.
13:04They enter the bowels of Caesarea's most recognizable structure,
13:09the Roman Theater.
13:12We're under the stage now.
13:15This is the green room.
13:17One of these tunnels is not documented,
13:20but Beverley wants to find out where it goes and what it's for.
13:24We don't know where this tunnel ends.
13:28What I want is to document this passage with photographs
13:31and scan it all,
13:33get to the end and see how much we need to get to the sea.
13:39The passage is only 60 centimeters wide
13:43and there is hardly enough room to turn.
13:46I think so. I think it connects with...
13:49This part of the channel that we can access is about 13 meters.
13:54We can see that in the end,
13:57it continues to the next part over here.
14:00Okay, this is going to be very fair.
14:03Let's see.
14:06Natural light.
14:08The tunnel narrows even more.
14:11I feel a little claustrophobic.
14:13Are you okay?
14:14As you get closer to the end.
14:18Wow, it's natural light.
14:22What do you see?
14:24There's an ascending tunnel. It goes to the surface.
14:27Is it to drain some of the surface?
14:29Yes.
14:31It is clear that the tunnel was not for people, but for water.
14:35It was part of a system that drained it from the Roman street above
14:39to underground channels like this.
14:41It is most likely that the tunnel was for drainage and sewage.
14:46So it is very similar to other areas of water infrastructure,
14:50whether it is the aqueduct channels or other channels throughout Caesarea.
14:55And this is very useful information for us to continue forward.
15:03The public buildings and the scale of the Caesarea of Herodes were Roman,
15:08like the theater and the racetrack.
15:09But Beverly's work reveals that the project of new construction of Herodes
15:14was not limited to imitating the Roman aspect,
15:17but built a place to live, a functional Roman city,
15:22with all the amenities, including sewage and water supply.
15:26Herodes had in mind a prefabricated Roman city,
15:30so he made sure that the city had all the standard features of a Roman city.
15:36Beverly believes that Herodes' desire to expand the infrastructure of Judea
15:41following the Roman model was part of a master plan
15:45directed to the Roman emperor, Caesar Augustus.
15:49Herodes named it Caesarea in honor of Caesar Augustus.
15:53He wanted to pay tribute to him.
15:55The city, which has a theater, a racetrack, a palace and a harbor,
15:59is a small replica of Rome in honor of Caesar Augustus.
16:06Rome had placed Herodes in a position of power,
16:10but without the support of Caesar Augustus, he could lose his throne.
16:15The writers of the time say that Herodes was so pleased with Rome
16:20that he came to desecrate the Temple of Jerusalem.
16:29In the capital, Herodes expanded the mountain surrounding the temple
16:33with thousands of huge blocks of limestone.
16:39He covered the inner sanctuary with gold,
16:42and that was done by priests trained instead of artisans
16:46to preserve the sanctity of the sanctuary.
16:49But later accounts say that he also violated the sacred Jewish law
16:53by placing an imperial Roman eagle at the entrance of the temple.
16:58Some enraged Jewish activists shot down the eagle
17:01and Herodes ordered them to burn them alive in the amphitheater of Jericho.
17:12History shows Herodes eliminating the threats to his power
17:16with the same violence as in the infamous killing of the innocents of the Bible.
17:21And although he was supposed to be a Jewish practitioner,
17:25Beverly believes that his reasons to renovate the temple were not entirely pure.
17:30Herodes was building a Roman temple for Caesar Augustus
17:34while at the same time he was building a temple for the Jews.
17:38So having two different temples was also a way
17:42that Herod could be king in both kingdoms.
17:47Herodes was a smart politician who also built great things for his people.
17:54So why did he become synonymous with a supreme villain?
18:00The Temple of Masada
18:03The palace located on the top of the hill of Masada
18:07is a great source of Herodian findings.
18:11In his laboratory, Guy travels through the warehouses
18:15in search of clues that may reveal what Herodes did with all his real power
18:19once he had Judea under his control.
18:24One of the good things about Masada
18:26is that you don't have to imagine anything.
18:29You can see the artifacts.
18:31And one of the finest examples of Herodes the Great's contribution
18:35is the introduction of new materials and new technologies.
18:40Here you can see stone slabs that in Latin were called opus sectile,
18:45a typical flooring technique of that time,
18:48that of Augustus,
18:50but that in Judea is only found in the palaces of Herod.
18:54The luxurious flooring was not something reserved for a small inner sanctuary,
19:00but it covered the floor of a large bathroom.
19:05Herodes even made sure that the expensive flooring had a unique design.
19:12What is really interesting is that this triangle is only characteristic of Herodes,
19:18so it is like a marker that can be identified with Herodes.
19:22Herodes cared about both engineering and the Roman style.
19:28If I turn it around, you can see an engulfing material.
19:32It is cement, what we call opus cementicum.
19:36This is the first time we have found this Italian or Roman innovation in Judea.
19:43It was brought from Naples and allowed people to do almost anything.
19:52The Romans were master builders.
19:55It was the beginning of an era of emperors
19:59who boasted luxury and incredible architecture in the great imperial villages of all of Italy.
20:08Herodes created a palace that rivaled any of them,
20:13bringing the latest innovations in construction to the most hostile environments.
20:18It's amazing.
20:21Herodes was so up-to-date with new technologies,
20:25and he was the first ambassador who brought this tradition over.
20:30We have a spa in the middle of the desert,
20:34and again, we are in the desert of Judea.
20:38It is scorching hot, and yet there are three bathhouses.
20:42Masada had witnessed a very dangerous time during the rise of Herodes to power.
20:49Now, he was a symbol of commodity and opulence,
20:53and he announced total control of his kingdom.
20:57He created something new.
21:00He created a paradise-like island,
21:03and I think this is another good demonstration of Herodes' ability
21:06to take advantage of and use architecture
21:10with the aim of making a political statement.
21:13I am the king.
21:15Herodes ruled in everything he saw.
21:18His palaces were as beautiful as those of any king.
21:22Could his buildings be more ambitious?
21:27Caesarea
21:30Beverly Hills
21:33Beverly is preparing to go underground
21:36in his mission to continue delineating the great creation of Herodes.
21:40Here, buried in the weeds, is the mouth of a well.
21:46This would have been the original city.
21:49So, 2,000 years ago, this area was filled up
21:53with the Roman features, the hippodrome, the temple, the harbor.
21:57Beverly plans to go down more than 10 meters into the past,
22:01to the very roots of Caesarea.
22:05In the structure and in the intact ground at the bottom,
22:09he is looking for clues that could date this well
22:12to the reign of Herodes.
22:14There is always emotion, expectation, and hope.
22:17We don't know how long it will take us,
22:20but in this well, we should see 2,000 years
22:23of the history of Caesarea.
22:26Okay, I think I'm ready.
22:29I'll bring you the oxygen bottle,
22:32and you'll check the oxygen level.
22:36Beverly faces various dangers.
22:39During the descent, he must measure the air quality
22:43to make sure there is enough oxygen to breathe.
22:47The well is a little deep, okay?
22:50If the rope doesn't reach the ground, tell me.
22:53And also, he doesn't know if the bottom floor is safe.
23:04In Caesarea, Beverly approaches the bottom of the well
23:08in search of more information about the city of Herodes the Great.
23:13It's cooler down here.
23:16The air deposited in the well could contain dangerous levels
23:20of gases such as methane.
23:21What's down there?
23:23Wait a second.
23:25Is everything okay? What's the oxygen level?
23:27The oxygen is fine.
23:33Little by little,
23:35Beverly reaches the bottom with an extra rope.
23:42Check the depth of the deposits under his feet.
23:47I think we're touching wood here.
23:49Do you hear that deafening sound?
23:52When you touch stone, it should be a little...
23:55That could be stone.
23:57We're at the bottom of some kind,
23:59so I'm going to take a sample from there.
24:03I'm trying to take a sample of the sediment
24:06that has built up inside the well.
24:09This will give me some parts to get the dates on it.
24:13So, as you examine the walls of the well,
24:16you notice something.
24:18Oh, wow.
24:20This is pretty wild.
24:22So, we did this gap.
24:24In an old masonry,
24:26over which dozens of tons of stone are supported,
24:29there is a horizontal hole
24:31that runs through the entire perimeter of the well.
24:34The question is whether it is a hole in the construction,
24:38which is quite difficult.
24:39Or it could be if there had been an earthquake
24:42that shifted the slabs down like that.
24:45Here we have some pretty amazing layers,
24:48which I guess may correspond
24:50to an earlier phase of construction.
24:55It's as if the entire lower section
24:58of the structure of the well
25:00had fallen about eight centimetres.
25:03Good job.
25:05It was fun.
25:07Wow.
25:09Well...
25:12It was incredible.
25:14It was really incredible.
25:16The team will wrap up the samples
25:19and then analyse them
25:21to determine the age of the sediment.
25:24This is a very important step
25:26in determining the age of the sediment.
25:28The team will wrap up the samples
25:30and then analyse them
25:32to determine the age of the sediment.
25:35For Beverly,
25:37the most important finding
25:39is the structural damage to the bottom of the well.
25:42It's a little bit curious
25:44because you can see the changes
25:46in the types of construction.
25:48So, the top is the most recent
25:50and then there is another sequence
25:52where the shape of the stones change a little bit
25:55and then the stones get much bigger,
25:56which is the representation
25:58of some of the first phases.
26:00The biggest and most majestic blocks of stone
26:02correspond to the construction of the city
26:05by Herod.
26:07Beverly is looking for the origins
26:09of the Caesarea of Herod
26:11but she has come across signs
26:13of a strange event
26:15that occurred after the construction of the city.
26:17Archaeologically speaking,
26:19we have a lot of work to do.
26:21We are going to have a lot of layers
26:23and a lot of history
26:24as we excavate in the same area.
26:27The strange gaps in the erodic layers
26:29suggest a huge natural disaster.
26:32What does that mean
26:34for the great mega project of Herod?
26:39The descent to the bottom of the well
26:41reminds Beverly of another disconcerting feature
26:43of Caesarea,
26:45its steep beach.
26:47This area is right between
26:49the racetrack and the port
26:51and there is a whole complex
26:52that was used as warehouses.
26:54They turned into shops
26:56but there is a theory that says
26:58that this is actually the area
27:00of the covers for the ships.
27:03Ships were pulled out of the sea
27:05when they were not used
27:07and dragged to covers
27:09located on long and shallow beaches
27:11that protected the boats
27:13from the plagues
27:15that fed on wood in the water.
27:17But how were they able to bring
27:19the ships from there to here
27:20if what we have here today
27:22is a cliff?
27:24You can clearly see
27:26that this beach is very narrow
27:28and how much further down
27:30the sea level is.
27:32So it's a very difficult
27:34to get the ships up.
27:37For the crews
27:39it would have been almost impossible
27:41to get ships 10 meters long
27:43out of the water
27:45and then pass them
27:47over the uneven beach.
27:49To understand
27:51what could have happened
27:53The notebook is secured.
27:55Beverly gets into the water.
27:58One of the main objectives
28:00of my research
28:02is to inspect and monitor
28:04different points along the coast
28:06and find evidence
28:08of where the coast was in the past.
28:13Beverly and her colleague Jeremy
28:15descend under the agitated waves.
28:18The couple advances with difficulty
28:20due to the poor visibility
28:22as they move away from the coast.
28:24But they soon find
28:26what appear to be
28:28artificial blocks
28:30at the bottom of the sea.
28:35100 meters from the coast of Caesarea
28:38Beverly and Jeremy
28:40discover signs
28:42of ancient submerged buildings.
28:46Then,
28:48in the moment
28:50between the turbid waters
28:54appear stone columns.
28:57Beverly and her colleague
28:59take pictures
29:01and point to the dimensions
29:04before returning to the surface.
29:07The columns are solid evidence
29:09that this area
29:11very far from the current coast
29:13used to be dry land.
29:16We have been able to see
29:18some of these buildings
29:20that are at least 75 or 100 meters
29:22from the coast today.
29:24Their findings under the water
29:26clear any doubt
29:28in Beverly's mind.
29:30It is impossible that this area
29:32could be underwater.
29:34There is nothing there
29:36that is part of the harbor.
29:38She believes that such a big change
29:40on the coast of the city
29:42indicates an enormously destructive force.
29:44It could be caused
29:46by a rapid phenomenon
29:48or it could be caused
29:50by a slow process.
29:52But most likely
29:54it is a combination of both.
29:56One of the things
29:58that we have learned
30:00in the last two decades
30:02is the extent and magnitude
30:04of the changes
30:06that a tsunami can generate
30:08on the coast.
30:10A tsunami could have been
30:12quite strong enough
30:14to create unevenness
30:16on the coast
30:18as described by a very different
30:20Caesarea in the time of Herodotus.
30:22If what we see is true
30:24and the coast of Caesarea
30:26is bigger,
30:28it means that there are many areas
30:30that are now lost
30:32or only partially preserved.
30:34But the most important thing
30:36is that it means that the city
30:38had a very different look,
30:40that there were huge areas
30:42that were between the hippodrome
30:44and the water,
30:46and next to the harbor
30:48there were areas
30:50that had been lost in the waves.
30:52Beverly's work has revealed
30:54that in the time of Herodotus
30:56the city was much bigger than it is today.
30:59Next to the hippodrome
31:01the land extended
31:03another 100 meters to the sea.
31:05This created easy access
31:07to the decks of the ships
31:09and space for more buildings.
31:11In general,
31:13Caesarea may have been
31:15twice as large
31:16as previously believed.
31:18And the three huge ports
31:20that extend along 14 hectares
31:22could have been built
31:24within the old coastline,
31:26which makes it
31:28one of the largest ports
31:30of the Roman Empire.
31:36Beverly returns
31:38to the decks of the ships
31:40and discovers that the new data
31:42completely change
31:44her vision of the city of Herodotus.
31:46If there is more coast
31:48we can have the correct distance
31:50and slope
31:52to make it more realistic
31:54that this area was used
31:56for decks for ships.
31:58In this place
32:00that has helped Beverly
32:02understand the true reach of Caesarea
32:04was where she began her career
32:06more than 20 years ago.
32:08I would say
32:10that this is where I was born
32:12as an archaeologist.
32:14This is where I worked
32:16as a volunteer
32:18in my first excavation.
32:20At that time,
32:22I didn't realize
32:24the significance it had.
32:26For almost 2,000 years,
32:28Herodotus' greatest architectural legacy
32:30remained semi-hidden
32:32under the waves.
32:34With this new information,
32:36the scale and ambition
32:38of Herodotus' incredible megaproject
32:40become even more impressive.
32:43Creating a huge port
32:44of deep waters
32:46where there was no natural bay.
32:52Herodotus ordered his engineers
32:54to dig a huge hole
32:56up to the roof of a rock.
32:58A hole big enough
33:00to house several hundred
33:02of Jumbo aircraft.
33:04They built a huge ring
33:06of wood and concrete
33:08to hold a pier
33:10and a solid breakwater
33:12before letting it
33:14sink.
33:16After Herodotus built
33:18a military pier
33:20where the Roman warships
33:22were ready to watch
33:24their port,
33:26he built a huge temple
33:28dedicated to Augustus and Rome
33:30to show his loyalty
33:32to the empire
33:34and consolidate his power
33:36in the region.
33:38When Herodotus finished
33:40the construction of the port
33:42in the year 15 BC,
33:44he built a temple
33:46in the city of Judea.
33:48The taxes he generated
33:50brought him
33:52an amazing wealth.
33:54What could topple it?
33:59The arid palace of Masada,
34:01located on top of a hill,
34:03holds a treasure
34:05of objects
34:07belonging to Herod the Great.
34:09Gai believes that
34:11some of these objects
34:12could shed light
34:14on the level of decadence
34:16and opulence
34:18achieved by Herod's luxurious life.
34:20This amphora in particular
34:22contained something more than wine.
34:24Here you can see
34:26an inscribed M
34:28which means Mala,
34:30Mala Cumana,
34:32which are apples from Kumas
34:34in southern Italy,
34:36north of Naples.
34:38And here you can see
34:40a beta,
34:42which in Greek
34:44means king.
34:46So it is a remnant
34:48of several dozen
34:50apples from Kumas.
34:52Collected only at midnight
34:54and with a full moon,
34:56and then sent
34:582,400 km away,
35:00they were considered
35:02the best apples
35:04that could be bought.
35:06The apples were preserved
35:08in wine with honey
35:10and spices,
35:12to show
35:14how marvellous they were.
35:16Expensive imported goods
35:18like this
35:20would have adorned
35:22the table of the most distinguished guests
35:24of the oasis of the hill of Herod.
35:26So just imagine,
35:28we can actually
35:30demonstrate that the table
35:32of King Herod the Great
35:34contained the best dessert
35:36in the Roman world,
35:38imported from Italy
35:40to Masada,
35:42and the best wine
35:44of all time,
35:46and why it was good to be king,
35:48as Mel Brooks once said.
35:50Although Herod did not care about
35:52Roman architecture,
35:54culture and gastronomy,
35:56he made sure that a good part
35:58of his great wealth
36:00flowed in the other direction.
36:02He never forgot who was in charge.
36:04From a Roman point of view,
36:06he developed the eastern end
36:08of the Mediterranean,
36:10built the port
36:12with goods from the east
36:14and the south,
36:16and so the economy flourished.
36:18He paid taxes,
36:20but he also used his money
36:22to support Augustus
36:24and to build a temple
36:26in honour of Augustus
36:28in Caesarea
36:30and other places in Judea.
36:32Herod had his kingdom under control,
36:34but the calculations
36:36and the cruelty
36:38that brought him to power
36:39turned him into paranoia
36:41and horror
36:43in his old age.
36:45In the biblical accounts,
36:47Herod orders the murder
36:49of the children of his subjects,
36:51but in reality
36:53he was the one
36:55who killed his own.
36:57Convinced that his own children
36:59conspired against him,
37:01the old man Herod
37:03accused them of treason
37:05and sentenced them to death.
37:07He ordered that after his death,
37:09they should kill the high-ranking Jews
37:11so that it would seem
37:13that his people were mourning for him.
37:18Herod would not be
37:20the chosen father of the year.
37:23Decades later,
37:25they quoted Augustus saying
37:27that one would do better
37:29being the son of Herod
37:31than one of his sons.
37:37When Herod died,
37:39a military procession
37:41took his body
37:43from Jericho to Jerusalem,
37:45but the national duel
37:47was settled.
37:51With the death of Herod,
37:53it became clear
37:55who the real authority
37:57in Judea was.
37:59Augustus intervened
38:01to divide the kingdom of Herod
38:03and finally,
38:05Rome assumed
38:07direct control of everything.
38:09Why does Herod
38:11appear in the Bible
38:13as the villain par excellence?
38:17In Caesarea,
38:19Beverly heads inland
38:21to explore the areas
38:23of the city that survived
38:25a devastating tsunami.
38:27She is in the temple of Augustus
38:29to find evidence
38:31of what happened to the city of Herod
38:33and its legacy
38:35once the greatest villain
38:37in the Bible disappeared.
38:39Herod's was the temple.
38:41According to the descriptions
38:43of this temple,
38:45it was really grandiose.
38:47It had enormous columns,
38:49so we know that in fact
38:51a very large and impressive
38:53temple stood here.
38:55Now, there is nothing
38:57but ruins here,
38:59but Beverly believes
39:01that there is still a lot
39:03to discover from the remains.
39:05The different phases of building
39:07can tell us what happened
39:09to the buildings,
39:11their shape and their stones,
39:13but also through the material
39:15that was used to connect them.
39:17In fact, we can see
39:19large amounts of shells
39:21and research has shown
39:23that these specific species
39:25come from the high seas
39:27and are dragged to the coast
39:29during the tsunamis.
39:31The materials that drag the tsunamis
39:33like the sea shells
39:35are mixed with this cement.
39:37This means that the wall
39:39was built long after Herod's.
39:41It is not the temple of Herod's
39:43but a much more recent structure.
39:45Within this cement
39:47we have a story
39:49of the history of this coastline.
39:51With games at the racetrack,
39:53public baths,
39:55and an amphitheater,
39:57Herod had created
39:59an ideal of Roman life,
40:01but it did not last.
40:03On December 13,
40:05115 AD,
40:07a catastrophic tsunami
40:09ravaged the city.
40:15Further inland,
40:17it seems that Herod's architectural legacy
40:19suffered a different attack.
40:21This great structure
40:23covers the original temple,
40:25completely overwriting
40:27Herod's great tribute
40:29to Caesar Augustus.
40:31In reality,
40:33this great wall
40:35is part of the foundations
40:37of a church
40:39and a temple.
40:41In the centuries
40:43following the supposed
40:45killing of the innocent,
40:47when the Bible states
40:49that Herod tried to kill
40:51the child Jesus,
40:53Christianity grew
40:55and was established.
40:57In 313 AD,
40:59the first Christian emperor of Rome
41:01legalized religion
41:03and revolutionized the empire.
41:07Basically,
41:09when the temple is built
41:11in this place,
41:13it becomes the sacred place
41:15of Caesarea.
41:17So, after the conversion
41:19of Rome to Christianity,
41:21the temple is dismantled
41:23and a church is built.
41:25This was a land
41:27that Herod the Great
41:29had ruled with an iron hand,
41:31and the writers of the Gospels
41:33used the memory
41:35of his violent reign
41:37to bring drama
41:39to the people.
41:41The fact that Christianity
41:43sees Herod as the killer
41:45of the innocent
41:47is a natural connection,
41:49since he was not always
41:51very popular,
41:53at least not inside
41:55or outside the church.
41:57Herod had been
41:59one of the most loyal
42:01and effective servants
42:03of Rome.
42:05But for the 50 million
42:07citizens of the empire,
42:09he was the son of Christ.
42:11In the end,
42:13I think it has more to do
42:15with the religion
42:17that had just been born,
42:19Christianity,
42:21which created a mythology
42:23that chose the supreme villain,
42:25so to speak,
42:27which is Herod,
42:29and hence the tradition
42:31with which we are familiar.
42:33Now, new archaeological
42:35discoveries carried out
42:37throughout the region
42:39of Herod the Great.
42:42We love the great heroes
42:44and the great villains.
42:46His ability,
42:48his pragmatism,
42:50and the fact that he was a juggler,
42:52the fact that he managed
42:54to overcome all the internal
42:56and external obstacles.
42:58In ancient times,
43:00someone referred to him
43:02as a fox and a lion
43:04in one person,
43:06and you can decide
43:08who he was.
43:10He defeated the local opposition
43:12and juggled with the interests
43:14of his nation
43:16on the margins of a
43:18conquering superpower.
43:20He built great temples
43:22and incredible palaces
43:24and transformed the cultural landscape.
43:26By promoting the arts
43:28and the Roman games,
43:30he established a huge port
43:32to increase trade
43:34and his kingdom flourished
43:35under his control.
43:38But he also ruled
43:40with ruthless violence
43:42immortalized in the
43:44stories of the Bible.
43:46The legends about
43:48the cruelty of Herod
43:50have survived even
43:52his greatest monuments,
43:54darkening his legacy
43:56and allowing one of the
43:58most complex and successful
44:00rulers of his time
44:02to be remembered
44:03by another person.