Indeed, Jewish Jerusalem was united in its hatred of King Herod. Herod was a cruel ruler who employed spies and informants, foreign officials and customs agents. There were boundaries, however, that Herod refrained from crossing: he did not enter the Temple Mount precinct, nor placed foreign idols in the Temple, nor performed pagan sacrifices in the city. Jerusalem was Herod's showcase and he invited powerful individuals from Rome to view its splendor. Jerusalem did indeed make the desired impression and Roman historian Pliny the Elder described her as: