imagination, it's easy to visualize how beautiful these places would've been, because what we're looking at now are the bones of the structure. but imagine that we are in a palace where the walls are decorated with lavish frescoes in brilliant colors. there would've possibly been gilding, mosaics. water is one of the principal features of a roman palace. it also demonstrates a command of resources. that's pretty impressive, and it's meant to impress. [ soft organ music plays ] >> herod the great, appointed as king of the jews by the roman senate, ruled judaea and much of palestine from 37 to 4 b.c. >> he built caesarea maritima. he rebuilt the second temple, made it much larger, much more lavish. he redid and improved the water systems in jerusalem. he built the fortress palace on top of masada, and he built