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Hello and welcome to a very special episode of the ancients, one that has been in the works for quite some time and I'm now really excited to share with you. We are covering the rise of the ancients, one that has been in the works for quite some time, and I'm now really excited

to share with you. We are covering the rise of one of ancient history's most infamous figures,

King Herod, the villain of the nativity story, and yet at the same time, at least in my opinion,

one of the most extraordinary rulers from antiquity. We are going to be taking you

from Hebrid's beginnings to how he ultimately became king of Judea. It is an action-packed story

full of twists and turns, and we've moulded it into an epic narrative, featuring three great

experts from the University of Edinburgh,

Professor Benedict Eckhart, Dr. Kimberly Chikovsky, and Professor Helen Bond.

Now, this originally came out as a history hit documentary, which you can go and watch

on History Hit. But because it is such a great story,

I also really wants to turn it into a special Ancient episode too,

just for you.

I really do hope you enjoy.

Let's go.

Yeah. I think most people remember Herod today or know Herod today as essentially the baby killer, thinking about the New Testament tradition and the massacre of the innocence.

It remains the one go-to idea that people

...