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Hasmonean dynasty, and mariamne knows that herod is only marrying her for political purposes. but she also fears that he's going to begin getting rid of her relatives, killing all hasmonean heirs to the jewish throne. and he's got so many roman troops with him that this shouldn't be that difficult. >> with 40,000 roman soldiers under his command, herod sets his sights on jerusalem, intent on forcing the jewish people to accept him as their king. >> announcer: "jerusalem: city of faith and fury," brought to you by -- be to blame. inflammation: time for ache and burn! over the counter eye drops ...

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. >> harkanis, the hasmonean leader, is mariamne's uncle. but herod only cares about claiming his prize. >> he takes jerusalem, and he declares himself king of judea. then he sets about making himself the most successful king, not just of judaea but of the whole mediterranean. >> herod is not alone in his

>> it's been 900 years since solomon's death, and the world has undergone a dramatic transformation. >> the previous centuries have seen the growth of these empires that just try to swallow as much land around them as possible. >> in 39 b.c., there were two great powers in the world. there's the roman republic, which is now controlling much of the mediterranean. and there is the partian empire, a huge empire that controls everything from the borders of syria and iraq all the way to the borders of india. >> the partians were the descendants of the asian persians. >> when you look at a map, the ...

Himself up on the throne of david. >> he understands that the key to the crown of judaea, to the throne of jerusalem, is rome. >> the romans want to control the entire mediterranean. >> and they need an ally. they need a client king in jerusalem. >> herod's has friends in rome. his classmates were the students who later on grew to -- caesar's. so he was really well versed in political intrigue, and his alliances helped to advance his position and his career. >> and the romans are extremely arrogant, and they think they can appoint anyone they like king of anywhere, not unlike certain other gre...

The state of israel is seen as a miracle. and of course for the palestinians, it's a great disaster. >> the history of jerusalem, a 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. ♪