Herod the Great - The Man of Four Cultures ... And His Amazing Projects (National Geographic)

I was just reading about Herod the Great and came upon this wonderful slideshow at National Geographic. He was the king in Palestine during the time of Jesus' birth. He ordered the slaughter of all the male babies under the age of 2 in Bethlehem.

I was reading the book "Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes" and learned some amazing things about Herod.  He was really a "quadruple-cultural" man.

1.  He was Arab ethnicity.  He had a brother named Yousef and brother named Faisal.

2.  He was Jewish in religious background.  His family, several generations before him, had been forced to convert to Judaism.

3.  He was Greek.  His primary language of communication was Greek and he sought to make Jerusalem a Greek-like city.

4.  He was politically Roman.  He served Ceasar in Rome.  He had sided with Mark Antony in his fight against Octavius (who later became Ceasar).   But when Marc Antony lost the battle Herod sought an audience with Ceasar.  He told him, "I want you to consider, not whose friend I was, but how good a friend I was".  Ceasar made him king of Palestine.