 Josephus further writes that Herod the Great captured it in the power struggle that followed the death of his father Antipater.It survived the siege of the last Hasmonean king Antigonus II Mattathias, who ruled with Parthian support.According to Josephus, between 37 and 31 BCE, Herod the Great built a large fortress on the plateau as a refuge for himself in the event of a revolt, and erected there two palaces.