But before I do, please, if you will, indulge a word for posterity from Herod the Great: Rome's Protector in the East, Vanquisher of the Hasmoneans, Ensnarer of Cleopatra, Rebuilder of Jerusalem, this, that and the other. My mind may be unsound but it's still sounder than any man in Judea and most of the prostitutes. You once held me in your hearts with terror, please find just a bit of room in your hearts for he who used to be so close to you.
This place I have left, built according to my design, is the most important place on earth. Not Rome, not Alexandria, not Athens, this small blight of desert and scrubland is the seat of world power, and all who sit in faraway places forever orient themselves to capture this land that cannot be captured. What matters in the world is power, and though Israel may seem subjugated, it is the most powerful land in all the world, and will remain so for all time. All foreigners continue to long for it, all rulers long to conquer it, all who have seen it long to go back. Cross Israel and you encounter not Israel but the world: Africa, Asia, Europa. Study the literature of any nation yet known and there is a definite origin point or a definite end: Israel's literature begins at creation's dawn and continues to this very day. To dominate the world entire, the first step is to dominate Israel. Israel is, has, and will be the most dynamic place on earth, and therefore always the most dangerous.
Posterity will remember me as Israel's great villain for all time. It is my pleasure that they do. I was formed by Israel, my life was raised by Israel even after my life was destroyed by her, I then avenged myself upon Israel even as Israel avenged itself upon me. I use the term "Israel" rather than "Judea" because it is Israel with whom I wrestled. Judea is this mere nub of the Jordan's west bank which no non-Jew could possibly want or contest. Israel is the prize: the center meeting point of land toward which all men aspire and all men fall short, and I, Herod, son of a penniless Palestinian, held it in my hands for thirty-four years! Only illness could part me from her as half a dozen giants of the earth never could. Control Israel, you control the world, and I, Herod the Great, ruled the world, not Rome.
Augustus is worshipped as a hero and god, but one day he will be a mere nub of history: a name who means nothing except a man who was once incredibly powerful for fifty years. Cleopatra is hated and loved, and thanks to many efforts on behalf of her vanity, this ugly witch will be synonymous with erotic love. Antony, that drunken wastrel, will be misremembered as Caesar's capable assistant. Only I, this Palestinian from nothing, will be remembered among this false drama for exactly as I am: villain among villainy, evil among evildoers.
I am that I am, I have presented myself as I have chosen to present myself, and whatever happens in my wake, I will forever be Herod, my life written upon all of yours.
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