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Comes with the news, i've taken aqaba. i've won this incredible victory. this is going to swing the entire war in favor of the british. >> but more importantly, when he gets to cairo, a new british commander in chief has taken over, allenby. >> general allenby was not a typical british general of the time. he didn't come from a family of generals. >> he was an aggressive cavalry officer. he commanded great personal loyalty because of his integrity, his courage. >> he had a tremendous vision and perhaps the static claustrophobic trench warfare did not suit his mind. but as a cavalryman, he coul...

Its future is always uncertain. >> jerusalem will remain in this tenuous state for the next 19 years until 1967 when tensions explode one against, throwing the entire region back into another devastating war. jerusalem is the universal city, the chosen city, the holy city. that's its blessing, but it also gives it its danger and its ugliness too, because it means that people believe that they must possess it absolutely.

>> we are the only people in the world -- >> for israelis, the creation of the state of israel is seen as a miracle. and of course, for the palestinians, it is a great disaster. >> the history of jerusalem. very complicated story, and if you don't know it in its complexity, it's very hard to understand what's going on there today. >> the past is never dead and if there is a city in the world to which that applies, it's jerusalem.

>> there is a political tradition that when you take a city, you would take the king and you would allow them to live. you would exile them. herod the great, however, isn't your typical noble king. he's ruthless and he's paranoid, and so when he takes the city, he begins executing all of his potential rivals, including the former hasmonean leader. >> the hasmonean ruler is marian's uncle but herod only cares about claiming his prize. >> he takes jerusalem and he declares himself king of judaea. and then, he sets about making himself the most successful king not just of judaea but of the

Ruler that she is -- she says, okay, i'll play nice. i will go up and visit herod the great and i will show you how we can spend time together. so, cleopatra travels to jerusalem, and publicly declares that this is a peace journey. that, she is going to make peace with herod. but what she secretly wants is for herod to die. >> herod has a wide network of spies, and he quickly discovers the truth of cleopatra's intentions. >> so of course, herod the great now knows that cleopatra is out to get him. >> cleopatra and herod are very deadly frenemies.