importance), as well as in the richness and splendour of its buildings. With a decided Roman taste, Antipas (B.C. 4–A.D. 39) had lavished upon it vast sums of money to make it a perfect city. Here, close by the warm springs, and bathed by the blue waters of the lake, this luxurious and worldly Herod, the murderer of John the Baptist, had built magnificent Grecian colonnades, Roman gates, splendid public buildings, including his palace, and adorned the city with marble statues, and sought to appease