Roman client king of Judea (37-4 BCE) — one of antiquity's greatest builders (Second Temple, Masada, Caesarea Maritima) and one of its most paranoid rulers (killing his own sons and wife).
Herod as the archetype of the building tyrant: his architectural achievements are extraordinary — the expansion of the Second Temple in Jerusalem (one of antiquity's most ambitious building projects), the fortress palace at Masada, the port city of Caesarea Maritima built from scratch. Each project was technically audacious and politically strategic. His paranoia: he executed two sons and his beloved wife Mariamne on suspicion of conspiracy, and allegedly ordered the Massacre of the Innocents. Augustus's remark — 'I would rather be Herod's pig than his son' — captures the paradox of a ruler who built magnificently while destroying his own family.
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