Overview: The Romans appointed King Herod as King of Judea in 37 BC. Historians agree that, in many respects Herod had a hugely successful reign. King Herod an ethnically Arab but practicing Jew increased the land he governed from Palestine to parts of modern Jordan, Lebanon and Syria constructing fortresses, aqueducts and amphitheatres and earned him the title 'Herodes Magnus', Herod the Great.