Tristan Hughes

So who was the real Herod?

The powerful ancient ruler who crossed paths with great names such as Julius Caesar, Cleopatra and Mark Antony?

And how did he defy all odds to become king?

This is the rise of Herod.

Herod was born in 72 BC into a Judean kingdom that was struggling to assert its authority, surrounded by superpowers.

That's Dr. Benedict Eckhart, professor of the history of the ancient Mediterranean world at Edinburgh University, and an expert on ancient Judea at the time of Herod.

Judea itself was ruled by the Hasmonean dynasty.

And at the time of Herod's birth, the figurehead of that dynasty was Queen Salome Alexandra.

Having wrestled back control of Judea from the Seleucids, the Hasmonean dynasty had ruled the kingdom of Judea for almost a hundred years by the time that Herod was born.

And Herod's family had a long, albeit checkered, history with the regime.

They hailed from the region of Idumea, or Edom, south of Judea.

It's now that we introduce our second expert, Dr. Helen Bond, Professor of Christian Origins at Edinburgh University.

The Nabataeans were an ancient people who lived in present-day Jordan.

They are best remembered for their wondrous capital, Petra, and its hundreds of rock-cut tombs.

Herod's mother, Kypros, may well have grown up in Petra.

Leading this family was Herod's ambitious father Antipater.

Skillfully, Antipater had cemented himself near the heart of the Hasmonean regime.

He became one of the most influential and powerful figures in the kingdom.

And yet…

His gaze was also fixed on a rapidly changing world.