Herod The Man Who Had to be King is the
story of the conflict between Herod, Rome and the Jewish people. It is the
story of a conflict that takes the reader from the Land of Israel and Jerusalem to the
bustle of Rome and the wide, colorful thoroughfares of Alexandria, from Syria to
the heart of the Parthian empire, to Babylonia, Idumea and Antioch. It presents
a vast panorama of the Mediterranean region of some two thousand years ago,
bringing to life the great Sages, the High Priest and the Temple service, Antony
and Cleopatra, Cassius and Sextus Caesar, Alexandra, the proud Hasmonean
and her children, Aristobulus and Mariamne, and Antigonus, another
Hasmonean, contender for the throne of Judea and a bitter enemy of Herod.
The peaceful Jewish farmers of Emmaus meanwhile tend their fields, living
under the heavy burden of Roman taxation.
And Herod is always there – the devoted family man of malevolent moods
for whom no challenge is too great or bloody to reach his goal: He had to be
King.