King Agrippa Ii Series

Herod Agrippa II, or AGRIPPA II, officially named Marcus Julius Agrippa and sometimes shortened to Agrippa, was the last ruler from the Herodian dynasty, reigning over territories outside of Judea as a Roman client. Agrippa was overthrown by his Jewish subjects in 66 and supported the Roman side in the First Jewish–Roman War.

Born: 27 AD, Rome, Italy

Died: 100 AD, Rome, Italy

Siblings: Berenice, Drusilla, Mariamne

Parents: Herod Agrippa, Cypros

Alternate titles: Agrippa II

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Born: 27

Died: c.93

Notable Family Members:

Sister: Berenice

Role In: First Jewish Revolt

Herod Agrippa II, (born 27 CE—died c. 93), king of Chalcis in southern Lebanon from 50 CE and tetrarch of Batanaea and Trachonitis in south Syria from 53 CE, who unsuccessfully mediated with the rebels in the First Jewish Revolt (66–70 CE). He was a great-grandson of Herod I the Great.

Agrippa II was raised and educated at the imperial court in Rome. Because of his youth at the death of his father, Agrippa I, in 44, the emperor Claudius returned Judaea to the status of a province. The young prince, however, took an interest in the welfare of the Jews and helped secure them an edict of moderation. In 48 he received authority over temple affairs in Jerusalem. Two years later he became king of Chalcis, and in 53 he exchanged this land for Philip the Tetrarch’s former holdings. Nero, the new emperor, in 54 added territory near the Sea of Galilee to Agrippa’s realm. As his father had been, Agrippa II was an ardent collaborator with Rome and did all in his power to prevent the rupture between Rome and Jewry, but in vain.

Between 52 and 60, he appointed several high priests and earned the enmity [hostility] of the conflicting parties. Though he supported the rights of the Jews at Alexandria, who faced trouble from the Hellenized populace, he avoided politics in Judaea, where the Zealots [extrimests], a terrorist group, were active. In 60, when St. Paul was arrested, the procurator consulted Agrippa concerning the Apostle’s case; the Tetrarch[a] found him innocent.

[a] tetrarch – (In the Roman Empire) the governor of one of four divisions of a country or province.]

In 66 the procurator[b] Gessius Florus permitted a massacre of Jews in Jerusalem, and the Zealots there rose in revolt. When Agrippa supported Florus, urging moderation, the Zealots gained the upper hand, and the case became hopeless.

[b] procurator - an agent representing others in a court of law in countries retaining Roman civil law. A deputy, representative, delegate, agent, etc.

Trouble threatened in his own kingdom. Some troops he had sent to Jerusalem capitulated in the summer of 66, and the rebels massacred the Roman garrison. Vespasian arrived in Judaea in 67, and Agrippa assisted Roman operations. In 70 he aided Vespasian’s son Titus in the final conquest of Jerusalem itself. After the war, his territory was enlarged by Titus, and he apparently survived until 93 CE.

The emperor Claudius refused to let him succeed on account of his youth. His uncle, *Herod II of Chalcis, died in the year 48 and Agrippa received this small kingdom two years later. Agrippa's coins indicate that he reckoned his reign from the year 50. During his reign he was accorded the title "king" although at no time was he king of Judea as his father had been. In 54 his rule over Chalcis was brought to an end; he was compensated with the tetrarchy of Lysanias which consisted of Bashan-Trachonitis and Gaulanitis and with the administration of the province of Varus. From then on he was one of the most important rulers in the eastern part of the Roman Empire. During Nero's reign his borders were extended once again.

At the Jewish revolt against Rome in 66, Agrippa was in Alexandria. He hurried back to Jerusalem to try to convince the people of their helplessness against the power of Rome. His mission failed and he supported Rome in the war that ensued. He fought in Vespasian's campaign and was slightly wounded in an engagement near Gamala. In 68, on receiving the news of Nero's death, he set sail with Titus for Rome. On the way they heard of the murder of the new emperor Galba. Titus immediately returned to his father while Agrippa journeyed on to Rome. When Vespasian was proclaimed emperor, he sent word to Agrippa, who left Rome furtively and offered his services to the new emperor. Vespasian granted him new estates which appear to have been in the north. Agrippa's kingdom was populated mostly by non-Jews, but his attitude toward Judaism was different from that of his forefathers. At least while he was in Judea he showed a superficial respect for Jewish religious practices; some scholars even claim that he was the Agrippa whose attachment to Judaism was praised by the rabbis. According to the New Testament he showed an indifferent attitude toward the spread of Christianity (Acts 25–26). His promotion of Hellenistic culture is attested by a number of inscriptions. There were rumors that Agrippa had incestuous relations with his sister *Berenice (cf. Juvenal, Satires, 6:156), but this may have been merely Roman gossip based on the fact that Berenice lived for some years in her brother's house.