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Into History.

com. It's the summer of 36 B.C. E. inside the walls of a new fortress at Masada, a rocky plateau high above the Judean desert.

King Herod, a large bearded man in his mid-30s, strides around D foundations that will one day support two great palaces overlooking the Dead Sea.

Herod is flanked by Roman guards, there to protect him from the slaves carrying out the construction work.

For the past two years King Herod has been the ruler of Judea, a mountainous vassal state of the Roman Empire.

But his position is not a birthright.

Herod was appointed as King of the Jews by the Roman Senate.

He's been tasked with keeping order over the Jewish people from Jerusalem the capital of

Judea some 60 miles north of Masada. Herod has taken to his new position with a

brutal glee inflicting high taxes on his people and killing any who defied him.

But his own actions have made Herod paranoid.

Knowing how the people of Judea despise him, Herod has made plans to keep himself and his family safe.

He's rebuilding an ancient mountaintop fortification at Masada and turning it into an

impenetrable stronghold. The summer sun beats down on the king's head and the wind whips across the

open plateau. As Herod watches his people work, an enslaved man dares to glance up

at the king.

At once, one of the guards removes a whip from his belt and cracks it across the man's shoulders.

A struck slave falls to his knees in agony.

A child, barely ten, runs up to comfort him. It's the enslaved man's son

...