Among the civil buildings that dominated Jerusalem in the time of Jesus, Herod’s Palace was one of the most impressive. It stood on an artificial platform measuring approximately 330 metres long by 130 metres wide, a structure that still survives today, and was protected by formidable fortifications. During Jesus’ lifetime, the palace served as the praetorium—the residence of the Roman prefects whenever they were in Jerusalem. Since the administrative capital of the province was Caesarea Maritima, their stays in the city were only occasional.
Model of Jerusalem in the time of Jesus.
Herod’s Palace According to Flavius Josephus
The first-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus describes the palace as an extraordinary complex. Besides its massive defensive walls and towers, it contained spacious banquet halls, luxurious reception rooms, and numerous guest chambers. The ceilings were richly decorated, while the courtyards featured landscaped gardens with trees, shrubs, ponds, and flowing streams. During the Jewish revolt against Rome, the palace was set on fire in AD 66 and was ultimately destroyed when Jerusalem fell to the Romans in AD 70.
Having seen the palace with his own eyes, Flavius Josephus left this remarkable description:
“The royal palace defies all description (…) No other building surpassed it either in extravagant luxury or in its appointments. It was entirely surrounded by walls thirty cubits high, with ornamental towers set at regular intervals, immense halls, and guest quarters furnished with a hundred beds. The variety of stones used in its construction was beyond description, including many rare kinds found nowhere else. Its roofs were remarkable for the size of their beams and the splendour of their decoration. There was also a great variety of rooms, each with a different design and all lavishly furnished, most of their furnishings being made of silver and gold. Porticoes encircled the courtyards one after another, each distinguished by columns of a different style. The courtyards themselves were filled with greenery, planted with every kind of vegetation. Broad walkways ran among deep canals and ponds adorned with bronze statues from which water flowed, while numerous dovecotes lined the waterways.” (The Jewish War, V, 176–182).
The palace complex was flanked by three magnificent towers. Herod named one of them Hippicus in memory of a close friend who had died. Rising to about thirty-five metres, part of this tower still survives today within what is commonly known as the Tower of David.
The other two towers, even more imposing because of their height, elegant porticoes, and luxurious chambers, were named Phasael, after Herod’s brother, and Mariamne, after the wife he deeply loved—yet ultimately ordered to be executed.
By Francisco Varo Pineda, priest