Herod was a man who was charged in Biblical times with ordering the slaughter of the infant Jesus; who executed thousands to wrest control of the holy city of Jerusalem; and who even killed his own wife and had her body preserved in honey.

King Herod the Great is one of history's most famous tyrants, yet he is also celebrated as a visionary, whose engineering feats include man-made mountains with cities buried inside them; the world's largest artificial harbour; and the Temple of Jerusalem, one of the largest wonders of the ancient world.

A commoner, driven by soaring ambition, who rose to become king of the Jews, Herod manipulated the warring factions of the Roman Empire to become an ally of both Mark Anthony and Octavian. Even after plunging into madness, he still held power over the divided Holy Land.