On the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, where the waves constantly crash against the stone and the wind carries the smell of salt and ancient dust, stood one of the most ambitious cities of the ancient world: Caesarea Maritima.It was not an ordinary city.It was not born from an old tradition or from a tribe forgotten in history, but from the political will, from the ambition of a king and from the power of an empire that spread its shadows over half the world known.At the center of this ambition was Herod the Great, a king of paradoxes.Of Idumean origin, he did not carry in his blood the tradition of the Judean kings, but ruled over them by the will of Rome.Idumea, the land from which his family came, had been forcibly integrated into Judaism generations ago, and this origin always made him a contested character: too Roman for the Jews and too oriental for the Romans.However, Herod was not a small man.He was a builder of worlds.Under his rule, Judea experienced an unprecedented transformation.
ThriftBooks sells millions of used books at the lowest everyday prices. We personally assess every book's quality and offer rare, out-of-print treasures. We deliver the joy of reading in recyclable packaging with free standard shipping on US orders over $20. ThriftBooks.com. Read more. Spend less.