Herodium
According to Josephus, Herodium was built on the spot where Herod won a victory over his Hasmonean and Parthian enemies in 40 BCE. (Antiquities XIV, 352-360) To commemorate the event, the king built a fortress and a palace there, which he named after himself. He also built, in the plain below the hill, an administrative center for the region, which had not been previously settled. Here, at Herodium, he also had a royal tomb built for himself; Josephus describes (War I, 33, 8; Antiquities XVII, 196-199) the king's funeral procession and burial at Herodium.
Herodium, together with Machaerus (in today's Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan) and Masada near the Dead Sea, were the last three fortresses held by Jewish fighters after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE. Herodium was conquered and destroyed by the Romans in 71 CE. (War VII, 6, 1)
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