What do we really know about Herod the Great? The Bible gives us a clear picture, but history fills in even more detail. Writers like Josephus and Strabo record the brutal, volatile, and complex life of Herod, and remarkably, he is one of the few figures to have been called “the Great” during his lifetime, an honor shared with Ramses the Great, Cyrus the Great, Alexander the Great, and Constantine the Great. But why was Herod called great? He was a great politician, a great builder, a great arch