Agrippa I
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Agrippa I also called the Great (10 BCE - 44 CE), King of the Jews, the grandson of Herod the Great, and son of Aristobulus IV and Berenice. His original name was Marcus Julius Agrippa, and he is the king named Herod in the Acts of the Apostles, in the Bible, 'Herod (Agrippa)'.
Josephus informs us that, after the murder of his father, young Agrippa was sent by Herod the Great to the imperial court in Rome. There, Tiberius conceived a great affection for him, and placed him near his son Drusus, who also befriended him. On the death of Drusus, Agrippa, who had been recklessly extravagant, was obliged to leave Rome. After a brief seclusion, Herod the Tetrarch, his uncle, who had married his sister Herodias, made Agrippa agoranomos (Overseer of Markets) of Tiberias, and gave him a large sum of money. However, his uncle was unwilling to continue his support, and Agrippa was forced to leave Judea, going first to Antioch, and afterwards returning to Rome, where he was welcomed by Tiberius and became the constant companion of Caligula, then a popular favourite. Agrippa being one day overheard by his freedman Eutyches, to express a wish for Tiberius' death and the advancement of Caligula, was betrayed to the emperor and cast into prison.
Following Tiberius' death and the ascension of Agrippa's friend Caligula, Agrippa was made governor first of the territories of Batanaea and Trachonitis that his cousin Herod Philip had held, then of the tetrarchy of Lysanias, with the title of 'king'. In 39 CE, Agrippa returned to Rome, and brought about the banishment of Herod Antipas, whose tetrarchy he then was granted.
On the assassination of Caligula in 41, Agrippa's advice helped to secure Claudius' ascension as emperor, while he made a show of being in the interest of the senate. As a reward for his assistance, Claudius gave Agrippa the government of Judea, while the kingdom of Chalcis in Lebanon was at his request given to his brother Herod III. Thus Agrippa became one of the greatest princes of the east; the territory he possessed equalling in extent that held by his grandfather Herod the Great. He returned to Judea and governed it to the great satisfaction of the Jews. His zeal, private and public, for Judaism is recorded by Josephus and the rabbis; and the narrative of Acts 12 gives a typical example of it. About the time of the Passover in 44, Saint James the Great, the son of Zebedee and brother of John the Apostle, was seized by Agrippa's order and put to death. Agrippa proceeded also to lay hands on Peter, and imprisoned him. But God, according to Acts, sent an angel, and the angel released Peter from prison. After the Passover, Agrippa went to Caesarea, where he had games performed in honour of Claudius, and the inhabitants of Tyre and Sidon waited on him to sue for peace.
According to the story in Acts, Agrippa, gorgeously arrayed, received them in the stadium, and addressed them from a throne, while the audience cried out that his was 'the voice of a god, not a man'. But "the angel of the Lord smote him," and shortly afterwards he died, "eaten of worms." in 44. The story in Acts differs slightly from that in Josephus, who describes how in the midst of his elation Agrippa saw an owl perched over his head. During his imprisonment by Tiberius a similar omen had been interpreted as portending his speedy release, with the warning that should he behold the same sight again, he would die within five days. He was immediately smitten with violent pains, and after a few days died. Josephus omits the detail of his being "eaten of worms", and instead says that he experienced heart pains and a pain in his abdomen, and died after five days (Antiquities 19.346-350). A third account omits all the miraculous elements in the story and says that Agrippa was assassinated by the Romans, who objected to his growing power.
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[edit] Aftermath of Agrippa's death
At the time of his death, Agrippa's only legitimate successor was an adolescent son; therefore, the Roman Emperor Claudius decided to return Iudaea Province to the rule of Roman procurators.
[edit] In literature
Agrippa is a major figure in Robert Graves' novels I, Claudius and Claudius the God, and the TV adaptation of them as Claudius' friend.
| House of Herod | ||
|---|---|---|
| Vacant Direct Roman control Title last held by Herod Archelaus |
King of Iudaea 41 – 44 |
Vacant Direct Roman control Title next held by Agrippa II |
[edit] References
- This entry incorporates text from the public domain Easton's Bible Dictionary, originally published in 1897.
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
- Yohanan Aharoni & Michael Avi-Yonah, "The MacMillan Bible Atlas", Revised Edition, p. 156 (1968 & 1977, by Carta Ltd.).
[edit] External links
