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ON THE COVER: Rising from the plain 8 miles south of Jerusalem, the fortified mountain palace called Herodium was just one of King Herod’s (ruled 37 B.C.-4 A.D.) numerous architectural achievements, as well as his final resting place. In “Herod’s Roman Temple,” David Jacobson examines the strong influence of Roman architectural styles on Herod’s building projects, including the Second Temple. Then, in “Herod’s Horrid Death,” Nikos Kokkinos, with the help of a London physician and the first-century A.D. historian Josephus, lays the question of what killed the Judean monarch to rest. (And to learn more about the decades-old controversy over where exactly Herod himself was laid to rest—on top of Herodium or below it—see “Where Is Herod Buried?”).