Why was Herod the Great considered the greatest builder of ancient times in the Land of Israel?

Answer 1

The so called temple of Herod was a rebuilding of the Second Temple in Jerusalem on a more magnificent scale. Herod built four walls to expand the plateau of Temple Mount and create a flat platform on which the temple was built.

The hippodrome/amphitheatre in Jerusalem was in honour of Augustus, not Caesar.

The drainage tunnel or sewer in Jerusalem is called he Jerusalem water channel

In addition to the above Herod the Great also built:

In Jerusalem

• The Western Wall
• The Western Wall Tunnel (an underground tunnel adjacent to the Western Wall and is under buildings of the Old City
• The Western Stone (a monolithic stone block forming part of the lower level of the Western Wall)
• Robinson's Arch (a monumental staircase carried by an extremely wide stone arch, at the south-western corner of the Temple Mount.
• The Antonia Fortress (military barracks)
• The Royal Stoa (a basilica; i.e. public building. It was Herod's most magnificent secular building and a monumental architectural feat.
• The monumental reconstruction of at least part of the Pool of Siloam ) ( a rock-cut pool on the southern slope of the city of David, the original site of Jerusalem, outside the walls of the Old City to the southeast.

Outside Jerusalem

• The city of Caesarea Maritima and its port. This city grew rapidly and became Judea's most important commercial centre and port. In 6 A.. it became seat of the Roman government in Judea. Josephus said that the port was as big as the main port of Athens at Piraeus.
• A hippodrome (Chariot Racing stadium) and theatre (not amphitheatre) in Jericho
• Three Winter Palaces in Jericho
• Three temples dedicated to Augustus at Sebaste, Caesarea, and Panias.
• The Mamre (a Canaanite cultic shrine dedicated to the supreme, sky god of the Canaanite pantheon, El) half way between Halhul and Hebron;
• A large rectangular enclosure over the Cave of the Patriarchs, also known as the Cave of Machpelah (cave of the double tombs). This cave was a series of subterranean chambers located in the heart of the old city of Hebron which, according to the tradition, together with the adjoining field were bought by Abraham as a burial plot. The Hebrew name of the complex reflects the tradition of the double tombs of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah, who were considered the Patriarchs and Matriarchs of the Jewish people. They are all believed to be buried there. the only fully surviving Herodian structure. The site is located beneath a Saladin-era mosque. Saladin converted it into a mosque, adding a minaret at each corner and the minbar (pulpit).

Answer 2

The size, grandeur, and stability remain still today. Herod the Great built the following structures:

1. Temple of Herod
2. fortresses in the Judean Desert, such as Masada and Herodion (also called Herodium).
   
3. traditional Roman public entertainment areas
   
4. public baths
5. sewage disposal areas
6. a theater and amphitheater/hippodrome in Jerusalem in honor of Caesar
   
7. etc.