Simon Sebag Montefiore

How did it happen? Herod the Great. Herod the Great was one of the most amazing characters. He basically built the Jerusalem that we see today. He was an amazing builder. He was the second wealthiest person in the Roman Empire after Augustus. He was a brilliant player of Roman warlords. You know, his father played Caesar. He became almost a family member.

And this is the extraordinary thing about the Roman Empire is that they regarded the Jews as a sort of weird eccentricity. But because they were so old and so much themselves, they accepted them. Other cults, they didn't accept. But the Herod family, assumed this amazing position of almost the second family in the Roman Empire. And the children were sent to Augustus' home to be brought up.

And this is the extraordinary thing about the Roman Empire is that they regarded the Jews as a sort of weird eccentricity. But because they were so old and so much themselves, they accepted them. Other cults, they didn't accept. But the Herod family, assumed this amazing position of almost the second family in the Roman Empire. And the children were sent to Augustus' home to be brought up.

And this is the extraordinary thing about the Roman Empire is that they regarded the Jews as a sort of weird eccentricity. But because they were so old and so much themselves, they accepted them. Other cults, they didn't accept. But the Herod family, assumed this amazing position of almost the second family in the Roman Empire. And the children were sent to Augustus' home to be brought up.

Herod is fascinating because his father was Jewish, Idomenean, probably the son of an Idomenean, Edomite convert to Judaism during the Maccabean kingdom, when the Maccabeans vastly expanded the Jewish kingdom into Syria, into Lebanon, and across into Jordan. But his mother was a Nabataean princess, so she was an Arab.

Herod is fascinating because his father was Jewish, Idomenean, probably the son of an Idomenean, Edomite convert to Judaism during the Maccabean kingdom, when the Maccabeans vastly expanded the Jewish kingdom into Syria, into Lebanon, and across into Jordan. But his mother was a Nabataean princess, so she was an Arab.

Herod is fascinating because his father was Jewish, Idomenean, probably the son of an Idomenean, Edomite convert to Judaism during the Maccabean kingdom, when the Maccabeans vastly expanded the Jewish kingdom into Syria, into Lebanon, and across into Jordan. But his mother was a Nabataean princess, so she was an Arab.

An Arab, which is why, if you look at Herod the Great's brother, his name was Fazael, Faisal, an Arab name. So Herod the Great is our kind of ideal hero for today, for an open world, because he is half Arab, half Judean.

An Arab, which is why, if you look at Herod the Great's brother, his name was Fazael, Faisal, an Arab name. So Herod the Great is our kind of ideal hero for today, for an open world, because he is half Arab, half Judean.

An Arab, which is why, if you look at Herod the Great's brother, his name was Fazael, Faisal, an Arab name. So Herod the Great is our kind of ideal hero for today, for an open world, because he is half Arab, half Judean.

And a tyrant. And that's a whole other discussion, is how to rule the Middle East. Do we try and create democracies in the Middle East? Or do we accept... whatever systems they have and work with them. That's a whole nother discussion, which of course brings us back to George W. Bush and the neocons.

And a tyrant. And that's a whole other discussion, is how to rule the Middle East. Do we try and create democracies in the Middle East? Or do we accept... whatever systems they have and work with them. That's a whole nother discussion, which of course brings us back to George W. Bush and the neocons.

And a tyrant. And that's a whole other discussion, is how to rule the Middle East. Do we try and create democracies in the Middle East? Or do we accept... whatever systems they have and work with them. That's a whole nother discussion, which of course brings us back to George W. Bush and the neocons.

I think that for years, there have been so many Western institutions and supranational institutions geared to maintaining an intolerable situation. And I don't just mean intolerable for Israel, which constantly had to be in a state of war, really, but also intolerable for the Palestinians, too, to live in this perpetual limbo.

I think that for years, there have been so many Western institutions and supranational institutions geared to maintaining an intolerable situation. And I don't just mean intolerable for Israel, which constantly had to be in a state of war, really, but also intolerable for the Palestinians, too, to live in this perpetual limbo.

I think that for years, there have been so many Western institutions and supranational institutions geared to maintaining an intolerable situation. And I don't just mean intolerable for Israel, which constantly had to be in a state of war, really, but also intolerable for the Palestinians, too, to live in this perpetual limbo.

Yeah, I mean like all the institutions. I mean, obviously, just to step back a stage, I've never sort of subscribed to the view of ultra-Zionist, ultra... you know, extremely religious, nationalist, Zionist Israelis who say there's never been a Palestinian people. This sort of comment shows a complete lack of knowledge of how all modern nationalities were created very recently.

Yeah, I mean like all the institutions. I mean, obviously, just to step back a stage, I've never sort of subscribed to the view of ultra-Zionist, ultra... you know, extremely religious, nationalist, Zionist Israelis who say there's never been a Palestinian people. This sort of comment shows a complete lack of knowledge of how all modern nationalities were created very recently.

Yeah, I mean like all the institutions. I mean, obviously, just to step back a stage, I've never sort of subscribed to the view of ultra-Zionist, ultra... you know, extremely religious, nationalist, Zionist Israelis who say there's never been a Palestinian people. This sort of comment shows a complete lack of knowledge of how all modern nationalities were created very recently.

And, you know, the Israeli nation is a very recent creation, and it has its own characteristics, as we all know well. The Palestinian... nation, whether these people, these ultra-nationalists in Israel like it or not, now exists. It exists. And there's no point in deluding oneself that it doesn't exist. And it exists. It's not going anywhere. The Israeli nation exists. It's not going anywhere.