LUXURY VILLAS AT MASADA

A model of the cliff-side pleasure palaces at Masada

Rome watched the rulers of its provinces like a hawk. It would brook no sign of rebellion. One false move, and a petty king like Herod would be dethroned and executed without a moment's notice. So Herod took good care not to give the Romans any reason to distrust him.

But he was a man of enormous energy, and if he could not find an outlet on the battlefield he had to find it somewhere else. So he channeled his energies into one of the greatest building programs the world has ever seen.

He used architecture to impress observers with the splendor of his kingdom. Jerusalem became one of the most magnificent capitals in the eastern Roman empire. The fortress of Masada was also meant to impress - and it did.

Size did not necessarily matter - see the model above. These jewel-like buildings clung to the side of a sheer cliff at Masada, each building linked to the next by narrow stairs cut into the rock. The lowest building had a small private bathhouse, its walls covered in frescoes. Herod gloried in showing that his architects could build where no-one else would dare.

The three small palace buildings were created for nothing more than pleasure and ostentation. They were splendidly adorned, and provided living quarters for Herod and his relatives - including the lovely, tragic Queen Mariamme, a bird in a gilded cage if ever there was one.

 Archaeological excavations show remains of
the circular building on the cliff-face at Masada