| Herod Agrippa I | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 15th century woodcut, shown in thePromptuarium Iconum Insigniorum, depicting Agrippa I | |||||
| King ofJudea,Samaria, andIdumea | |||||
| Reign | AD 41–44 | ||||
| Predecessor | Marullus (asprefect) | ||||
| Successor | Cuspius Fadus (as procurator) | ||||
| King ofGalilee andPerea | |||||
| Reign | AD 40–44 | ||||
| Predecessor | Herod Antipas (as tetrarch) | ||||
| Successor | Herod Agrippa II (indirect, not all of Galilee and Perea) | ||||
| King ofIturea,Trachonitis,Batanea,Gaulanitis,Auranitis, andPaneas | |||||
| Reign | AD 37–44 | ||||
| Predecessor | Philip the Tetrarch | ||||
| Born | c. 11 BC Caesarea Maritima | ||||
| Died | c. AD 44 (aged about 54) Caesarea Maritima | ||||
| Spouse | Cypros, daughter of Phasael II, son ofPhasael I (brother of Herod the Great) | ||||
| Issue | Herod Agrippa II Berenice Mariamne Drusilla | ||||
| |||||
| Dynasty | Herodian | ||||
| Father | Aristobulus IV | ||||
| Mother | Berenice | ||||
Herod Agrippa I (Roman name:Marcus Julius Agrippa;c. 11 BC – c. AD 44), also simply known asHerod Agrippa,Agrippa I, (Hebrew:אגריפס) orAgrippa the Great, was the last king ofJudea. He was a grandson ofHerod the Great and the father ofHerod Agrippa II, the last known king from theHerodian dynasty.[Note 1] He was an acquaintance or friend of Roman emperors and played crucial roles in internal Roman politics.
He spent his childhood and youth at the imperial court inRome where he befriended the imperial princesClaudius andDrusus. He suffered a period of disgrace following the death of Drusus which forced him to return to live in Judea. Back in Rome around 35,Tiberius made him the guardian of his grandsonTiberius Gemellus, and Agrippa approached the other designated heir,Caligula. The advent of Caligula to the throne allowed Agrippa to become king ofBatanea,Trachonitis,Gaulanitis,Auranitis,Paneas andIturea in 37 by obtaining the old tetrarchies ofPhilip andLysanias, thenGalilee andPerea in 40 following the disgrace of his uncle,Herod Antipas.
After the assassination of Caligula, he played a leading role in Rome to the accession of Claudius to becoming thehead of the empire in 41, and he was endowed with the former territories ofHerod Archelaus (Idumea, Judea andSamaria) thus ruling over a territory as vast as the kingdom of Herod the Great.
Carrying a dual Jewish and Roman identity, he played the role of intercessor on behalf of the Jews with the Roman authorities and, on the domestic level, gave hope to some of his Jewish subjects of the restoration of an independent kingdom. Pursuing the Herodian policy ofeuergetism through major works in several Greek cities of the Near East, he nevertheless alienated some of his Greek and Syrian subjects while his regional ambitions earned him the opposition ofMarsus, thelegate ofRoman Syria.
Agrippa I died suddenly— from an infestation of worms —in 44. In a Christian context, he is traditionally identified as the king simply namedHerod whose death is recounted inActs 12 (12:20–23).
Herod Agrippa was born inCaesarea Maritima around 11 BC. He was the son ofAristobulus IV, one of the children thatHerod the Great had withMariamne the Hasmonean. His mother wasBerenice, daughter ofSalome, daughter ofAntipater the Idumaean and sister of Herod the Great.[1] Herod the Great was therefore both the paternal grandfather and the maternal great-uncle of Agrippa, and Agrippa thus descends from both theHasmonean andHerodian dynasties.[1] His parents marked the Roman status of this Jewish prince by giving him the name ofMarcus Vipsanius Agrippa, a close collaborator of EmperorAugustus.[1]
Herod the Great, a ruler perceived as a ruthless usurper by his subjects, was a devoted supporter of theRoman Empire and promoted its cause throughout his kingdom.[2] His reign was characterized by violence and numerous family intrigues as he had 10 wives.[3] In 29 BC, Herod executed his wife Mariamne (Agrippa’s grandmother).[2][4] In 7 BC, when Agrippa was just three or four years old, Herod had two of his sons (Agrippa's father Aristobulus IV and his uncleAlexander) executed following more palace intrigues.[5] These events also led to the executions ofAntipater, a son Herod had with Doris, andCostobarus, Agrippa’s maternal grandfather, three years later.[6] Herod was responsible for the deaths of many members of theHasmonean dynasty and its supporters, almost wiping them out entirely.[2] However, he spared the children of Aristobulus IV (including Agrippa,Herod,Aristobulus Minor,Herodias, andMariamne).[6]
In 5 BC, two years after the condemnation of his father,[3] the young Agrippa I was sent by Herod the Great to the imperial court of Rome[4] in the company of Berenice as well as his brothers and sisters.[7] He was supported there by his mother's friendAntonia Minor (sister-in-law ofTiberius – who would become emperor in 14 – and mother of the future emperorClaudius) as well as by EmpressLivia, who was the friend of his grandmother.[5] Agrippa I grew up in Rome with the children of theimperial family, includingDrusus, the young son of Tiberius, to whom he was particularly attached, and Tiberius' nephew Claudius, who was the same age as Agrippa I.[4] He thus lived all his youth in the capital of the empire and personally knew almost all the members of the imperial family. At that time, Agrippa I's future appeared to be secured by his privileged relationship with Drusus (the heir apparent of Tiberius) and Claudius.
As young men, Agrippa I and his friends Claudius and Drusus had a reputation for immorality and excess.[8] Agrippa I went into debt as a result of this sumptuous life[4] and received significant financial assistance from his uncleHerod Antipas.[9] But Agrippa I's future darkened with the death of Drusus in 23,[10] isolating him and leaving him helpless in the face of his creditors,[11] especially since Berenice probably died at the same time.[8] After the death of his son, the distraught Tiberius reacted by removing Agrippa I and Claudius from his court.[12]
Agrippa I squandered the rest of his fortune trying to win the favor of thefreedmen of Tiberius,[13] and he hastily left Rome for theprovince of Judaea.[11] In Judaea he experienced various adventures and scandals linked to the need to ensure his lifestyle without enjoying the corresponding income.[10]
Around 26, Agrippa married his cousinCypros (daughter of Phasael, son of the tetrarchPhasael)[11] who gave him a son namedHerod Agrippa II.[14] Agrippa I and Cypros lived in a fortress in Malatha ofIdumea where they led a modest existence, far from the splendor of the imperial court.[12]
Cypros got along well withHerodias, the wife of Herod Antipas,[12] who encouraged Antipas to continue to help Agrippa I. Antipas provided him with money, offered to settle Agrippa I and his family inTiberias, and appointed him as theagoranomos (organizer of theagora) of the city, which provided him with a regular income.[11] However, this situation was short-lived. Agrippa I accepted at first, but he soon gave the impression of not being satisfied with what was given to him.[11] He quickly found this burden boring in a small provincial town devoid of the amenities of the Roman civilization which he had become accustomed. He quarreled with Antipas during a banquet inTyre and then went toSyria, of which his friendLucius Pomponius Flaccus was the legate.[12] Shortly after, he was disgraced following an intervention by his brotherAristobulus Minor, who denounced him to Flaccus for having received a bribe to defend the interests ofDamascus againstSidon in a border dispute brought before his legate friend.[12] Agrippa I then decided to attempt a return to Rome where Tiberius might agree to receive his son's old friends again.[15]
Agrippa I borrowed the sum of 20,000drachmas[16] to embark atAnthedon forAlexandria,[15] after having been reminded by the Roman governor ofYavne, Herennius Capiton, for the debts contracted vis-à-vis the treasury of the empire.[15] Herennius sent him the troop, but taking advantage of the night, Agrippa I embarked and managed to reach Alexandria where he obtained new funding from thealabarchAlexander Lysimachus, brother ofPhilo and head of the Jewish community of Alexandria.[11] This senior official, belonging to a Jewish family of Roman citizens, was a large landowner and, like Agrippa I, a friend of Claudius. Lysimachus refused to lend the money directly to Agrippa I, whose reputation for profligacy was well established. It was with his capital of 200,000 drachmas[16] that Agrippa embarked for Italy in the spring of 36.[1]
Tiberius, retired toCapri, received Agrippa I and gave his son's former companion a warm welcome, which was soon tempered by a letter from the governor of Yavne about his debts.[15] ButAntonia Minor helped Agrippa I to get out of this new embarrassment by advancing him the totality of the sum due[17]—300,000 drachmas[16]—and Agrippa I regained imperial favour.[15] All these details are found in the second work ofJosephus, theAntiquities of the Jews, published around 93/94, during the reign ofDomitian,[18] but in book II ofThe Jewish War, his first account, published between 75–79,[19] Josephus was more direct. It was "to accuse the tetrarch"[20] Herod Antipas, that Agrippa I decided to go "to Tiberius",[20] in order to try to take his domain,[21] and it was because Agrippa I had been ousted from his pretensions to obtain the tetrarchy of Antipas that he would have started plotting against the emperor.[21] Like other information about Agrippa, these are not found in the Judaic texts, whereas Josephus expands much on the subject.
The emperor asked Agrippa I to take charge of Drusus' son, his grandsonTiberius Gemellus, then a teenager and one of the two designated heirs of Tiberius[1] with his grand-nephewCaius Caligula, grandson of the protector of Agrippa I, Antonia.[15] Antonia undertook to win the favors and friendship of Caius, imitated in this by another prince without a kingdom,Antiochos of Commagene,[13] and managed to contract a loan of one million drachmas from a Samaritan freedman of the emperor to carry out his project with the rising star of Rome. Although the conditions are unknown under which the friendship between the two men was forged, it must have been worth such an investment.[17]
A flattery from Agrippa I to Caligula however caused him trouble: wishing in a conversation that the death of Tiberius would not be delayed any longer so that the young prince could succeed him, this remark was reported to Tiberius who ordered the arrest of Agrippa I.[15] Agrippa I enjoyed a comfortable captivity and was released by Caligula shortly after the death of Tiberius on 16 March 37,[17] whenPontius Pilate arrived in Rome.[22]
The accession to the throne of his friend began Agrippa I's fortune. Caligula offered Agrippa I a gold chain "of the same weight as the chain of his captivity".[22] He granted him, in addition to the title of king and thediadem which was its sign, the territories ofPhilip, who had died shortly before,[15] tetrarch ofIturea,Trachonitis,Batanea,Gaulanitis,Auranitis andPaneas,[11] located northeast of thelake of Tiberias. Caligula also conferred on him the praetorian ornaments, a dignity which allows certain non-senators to sit among them during public celebrations.[23] "This completely exceptional reversal of the situation seems to have greatly impressed Agrippa's contemporaries."[22]
According to Josephus, after he placed the royal diadem on the head of Agrippa I, Caligula sentMarullus as "hipparch (ἱππάρχης) of Judea" to replace Pontius Pilate, who had been dismissed byLucius Vitellius and had just arrived in Rome.[24] Agrippa I showed no eagerness to take charge of the affairs of his kingdom, and it was only in the summer of 38 that he went to Batanea for a short stay.[17]
During his stay in Rome, several events took place in Judaea which created a very tense situation. Since 35, the Romans and the legate of SyriaLucius Vitellius were engaged in a decisive confrontation against theParthians and their kingArtabanus III about the control of theKingdom of Armenia.[25] In 36,[Note 2] the armies of two kings who were clients of the Romans,Aretas IV and Herod Antipas, clashed around the territory ofGamla, causing a crushing defeat for Antipas.[26] According toMovses Khorenatsi, as well as several sources in Syriac and Armenian, KingAbgar V ofEdessa provided auxiliary forces to Aretas.[27][28] However, the historicity of this mention is disputed by Jean-Pierre Mahé. It is possible that Aretas took advantage of Antipas' participation in the great conference on the Euphrates, to conceal peace and the Roman victory over Artabanus (autumn 36), to launch his offensive.[29] The territorial claim of theNabataeans was revived by Antipas' will to repudiate Phasaélis, the daughter of Aretas,[30][31] to marryHerodias, the sister of Agrippa I.[32] Antipas' goal was dynastic.[26] It is a question of consolidating his position to be named by the emperor at the head of the tetrarchy of Philip who has just died[31] or to be named king.[26] At some point in this conflict, probably between 29 and 35,[33][34][35] Antipas attempted to silence his opposition by executingJohn the Baptist.This execution seems to have had important repercussions on the political situation in the region for several years. Thus the defeat of Antipas is considered within the Jewish population as a divine revenge against Antipas to punish him for having put John to death[26] and of which Aretas would have been only the instrument.[26]
According toSimon Claude Mimouni, the governorship ofPontius Pilate was one of the five high points of the troubles that Judea experienced between the death of Herod the Great and the outbreak of theGreat Jewish Revolt, punctuated by no less than six major incidents, to which must be added thecrucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth and possibly the sedition ofJesus Bar Abbas, whose popularity is reported in theSynoptic Gospels.[36] However, for some historians, the two Jesuses are one, the evangelists using a literary device to describe two faces of Jesus, while exempting the Romans from their responsibility in this execution, so that the Gospels cannot be suspected of containing the slightest criticism of the authorities in power.[37][38][39]
In 36, Pontius Pilate quickly suppressed a gathering ofSamaritans onMount Gerizim.[40] The gathering had a messianic connotation whose leader—whom Josephus avoids naming—sought to appear as the eschatological prophet similar toMoses,[41] one of the three messianic figures found in theDead Sea Scrolls.[42] A figure that has also been attributed to John the Baptist andJesus the Nazorean.[42] CertainChurch Fathers, as well as theMandaean tradition and in particular one of their writings, theHaran-Gawaita, provide indications according to which it could beDositheos of Samaria who succeeded to the head of the movement of John the Baptist after his execution, for he was one of his disciples. Pilate crucified their leaders and the most prominent personalities that he managed to capture.[43] At the end of 36, Vitellius used the complaints of the Council of Samaritans about this incident as a pretext to dismiss Pilate at the end of a ten-year term[44][43] so that he explains to the emperor what the Jews are accusing him of.[45] On the following Passover, he came in person to Jerusalem to dismiss the high priestCaiaphas, who was too closely linked to Pilate, and restored to the priests of the temple the supervision of the ceremonies of the Jewish worship festivals.[45] When the death of Tiberius was announced atPentecost in 37, Vitellius, reluctant to support Antipas with his troops,[46] interrupted the march of his two legions against Aretas, considering that he could no longer wage war without orders from the new emperor.[47] He made the people swear loyalty to Caligula[26][5] and once again dismissed the high priest whom he had appointed 50 days earlier.[48]
Agrippa I returned to his territories in the summer of 38. Josephus does not recount the conditions under which the Nabataean troops withdrew from the former tetrarchy of Philip, which constituted the bulk of the territories attributed to Agrippa I. In an agreement between Aretas and Caligula,[49]Damascus was transferred to Nabathean control.[50]
On the way to his new kingdom, Agrippa I passed throughAlexandria around July 38 where he probably lodged with thealabarchAlexander Lysimachus, the brother ofPhilo of Alexandria and the father ofTiberius Alexander.[51] whose daughterBerenice would marry the sonMarcus Alexander a few years later.[52] There was then an anti-Jewish atmosphere in the city that had lasted for some time.[53] During festivities, Agrippa was the target of a popular anti-Jewish masquerade featuring an "idiot" nicknamed Karabas,[Note 3] foreshadowing the Jewish-Alexandrian conflict that agitated the city from 38 to 41.[54] These troubles led the two parties—Jews and AlexandrianGreeks—to each send three delegates to the emperor to settle the deeper conflict between the two communities. Philo was one of the Jewish delegation.[55]
The return of Agrippa I excited the jealousy of his sister Herodias who urged her husband Antipas to claim for himself the title of king in Rome.[22] In 39, Antipas resolved to meet Caligula to try to obtain this imperial favor, which precipitated his loss. Informed of this trip, Agrippa dispatched his most faithful freedman to Rome, bearing a letter for the emperor, followed soon after by Agrippa I himself.[Note 4] In the letter he accuses Antipas of fomenting a plot with the Parthians and of having accumulated, without informing the emperor, stocks of arms in his arsenals in Tiberias, probably with the intention of preparing his revenge against Aretas who had defeated him a few years earlier. While the second accusation is probably true, the first is doubtful. As a result of the letter, Caligula exiled Antipas to the south ofGaul[22] and Herodias followed.[56] As for Agrippa I, he received the territories of Antipas—Galilee andPeraea—as well as all the property confiscated from Antipas and Herodias.[22]
Following the clashes between Jews and Greeks in Alexandria, for confused reasons the delegation led by Philo of Alexandria to Caligula learned "with horror" of the emperor's project to erect his own statue in theTemple of Jerusalem in gold under the guise of Zeus. According to Josephus, it is possible that the emperor was sensitive to the arguments of the delegation of Greeks from Alexandria led byApion who, in the conflict between the two parties, complained of the "privileges" granted to the Jews. For the Jewish historianGoodman, Caligula intended to develop theimperial cult and to place himself above the politics of mortals in his lifetime and had the idea of imposing his divine status on the empire, whatever the political consequences.[57]
Caligula's initiative horrified the Jewish subjects of the empire and caused unrest in the diaspora in Rome as well as inAlexandria,Thessaloniki,Antioch and inJudea,[Note 5] particularly inGalilee.[58] Caligula enjoined theproconsul of Syria,Publius Petronius, to place the statue willingly or by force in the "Holy of Holies" of theTemple of Jerusalem,[59] violating Judaicaniconism in the holiest place of this religion. Petronius disposes necessary armed troops—two Roman legions and auxiliaries—which he barracks atPtolemais in Phoenicia in the event of an uprising,[60] and his mission was to accompany the procession of the statue—being made inSidon—through Judea.[61] The population rushed in numbers to Ptolemais, supported by the Jewish religious authorities, then toTiberias where the troubles continued for about 40 days.[62] Petronius met withAristobulus brother of Agrippa I (Agrippa I was in Rome at the time) in the presence and under the pressure of the crowd. Convinced of the imminence of a major revolt, Petronius tempered with the emperor by an exchange of letters[63] exposing—at the risk of his life[57]—the difficulties of the situation:[64] the inhabitants of Galilee were close to a revolt,[59] and the Judeans were at risk of setting fire to the crops just before harvesting,[62] while preparing for war.[61] The emperor's first response was fairly moderate, but some sources report a “furious” response from Caligula to Petronius, not considering any compromise.[57]
While Agrippa I was in Rome[Note 6] it is possible he learned of the affair from Caligula,[62] which plunged him into a conflict between his two identities, Jewish and Roman.[57] After a few days of reflection, he took the side of his Jewish compatriots in the defense of the Temple threatened with desecration:[65] for Josephus, it was a discussion during a banquet;[66] for Philo, it was a request addressed to the emperor, the content of which he reports, although in terms that reveal a certain exaggeration of the role of Agrippa.[67] Agrippa I pleaded "that the ancestral institutions are not disturbed. For what of my reputation among my countrymen and other men? Either I must be considered a traitor to myself or I must cease to be counted among your friends; there is no other choice…”.[68]
At first, Caligula seemed to give in to his friend's pleas and instructed Petronius to suspend his action towards Jerusalem, while warning the Jewish populations not to take any action against the shrines, statues and altars erected in his honor,[62] as a reproduction of Caligula's letter by Josephus[69] seems to attest. But the emperor seemed[67] to reconsider his decision[70] and it was the murder of Caligula that seemed to put a definitive end to the enterprise and put an end to the desire for a popular uprising. Josephus recounts how the emperor, suspecting Petronius of having been bribed to break his orders, ordered him to commit suicide, but this letter arrived after the announcement of Caligula's death, in which Josephus saw an effect of Providence.[62] This temporary success of Agrippa I testifies to the close relations which bound him with the most important personalities of the Roman world, which was confirmed during the succession of the assassinated emperor.[67]
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On January 24, 41,[71] Caligula was assassinated by a large-scale conspiracy, notably involving thepraetorian commanderCassius Chaerea as well as several senators. The conspirators intended to return to a republic.[72] Yet it was Claudius, Caligula's uncle, who was pushed to imperial power by the anti-republicans under curious conditions[53] at the center of which Agrippa I gravitated. Claudius was certainly erudite but nevertheless excessively shy, afflicted with a physical handicap and without particular ambition.[72] The support of his childhood friend,[73] as well as his maneuvers, seem to have been decisive in his ascent to power.
Josephus and Roman historianCassius Dio[72] both state that Agrippa I indeed played a significant role in the choice of the new emperor.[73] It was he who led a squad of thePraetorian Guard to the palace in search of Claudius, who had hidden there for fear of being assassinated.[73] It was also at his instigation that the praetorians proclaimed Claudius emperor because without a sovereign, the guard lost itsraison d'être.[74] He then went to theCapitol where the senators met in conclave[74] and acted as intermediaries between them and Claudius.[73] He inspired Claudius with a response to the senators, "in conformity with the dignity of his power,"[75] and he persuaded them to wisely abandon their idea of a republic, arguing that a new emperor has been proclaimed by the praetorians—of whom he pointed out that 'they surround the meeting"—and expected nothing but their enthusiastic support.[74] The senators proclaimed Claudius emperor, and Agrippa I recommended that Claudius be lenient vis-à-vis the conspirators, except for the regicides Cassius Chaerea and Lupus.[72]
If these stories are to be believed, this episode made Claudius obligated by his childhood friend,[72] and this devotion earned him a sizeable reward: Agrippa I saw his possessions increased by most of the ancient kingdom ofHerod Archelaus—Judea,Idumea andSamaria—but also the city ofAbila inAnti-Lebanon so that he reigned over a territory as vast as that of his grandfather Herod the Great.[74] According to Cassius Dio, Claudius also granted his friendconsular rank and authorized him "to appear in the senate and express his gratitude in Greek". To mark the considerable status of Agrippa I, a treaty was ratified with the Senate and the people of Rome on the Forum,[76] which took up the old treaties of friendship and Judeo-Roman alliance.[72] Agrippa I was declared thererex amicus et socius Populi Romani—as his grandfather had been in 40 BC.—and the text is preserved on bronze tablets in the temple ofJupiter Capitolinus.[77]
Soon after his inauguration, Agrippa I embarked for Judaea.[76] It was the same year that Berenice, daughter of Agrippa I, united under the patronage of the emperor[77] toMarcus, the son of thealabarch of Alexandria,Alexander Lysimachus whom Claudius had freed from the captivity to which the reduced Caligula.[72] Claudius' accession to the throne also marked the restoration of several other kingdoms in Asia Minor. Agrippa I's brotherHerod of Chalcis received a royal title, was granted the principality ofChalcis (previously attached to the kingdom ofIturea[78]) and was honored in Rome with the title of praetor.[76] He would marry his niece, Bérénice, after the premature death of her young husband.[72]
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An edict by Claudius recalls the privileges granted to Alexandrian Jews who lived according to their laws,[79] and a second edict extended the Alexandrian privileges to the Jews of the diaspora throughout the whole empire.[80] Agrippa I and his brother Herod of Chalcis played the role of intercessor in favor of the Jews with the emperor.[80] These favors also extended to all the Jewish communities of the empire. They also had the status of censors of Jewish morals: they ensured respect for the Torah by the communities of thediaspora.[80]
A few months after the murder of Caligula, inhabitants of the Phoenician city ofDôra (south ofMount Carmel)[81] introduced a statue of Claudius into the mainsynagogue of the city.[80] For all those who stood up against Caligula's plan to erect his statue in the Temple of Jerusalem, it was a real provocation.[80] Agrippa I intervened immediately and asked for the application of the decree of Claudius.[82] He acted here as anethnarch of the Jews, since Dora was not located on his territory. Petronius, theproconsul ofSyria immediately ordered the magistrates of Dora to remove the statue, referring to the edict of Claudius.[82] However, this openness must be put into perspective, which is also reflected in the measures to limit worship against the Jews of Rome, as Cassius Dio reports (History, 60, 6, 6–7),[83] perhaps in reaction to the agitation resulting from the rapid development of the movement of the followers ofJesus and which would be evoked by the Letter of Claudius to the Alexandrians.[84] ForFrançois Blanchetière, the writing of Philo Legation to Caïus "constitutes an apology forAugustus, to be read a contrario as a criticism of the Judeophobic policy of Claudius (Legation to Caius 155–158)".[83]
Claudius probably saw in the appointment of Agrippa I—heir to the Herodians and the Hasmoneans but also attached to the Julio-Claudians by personal relations—a factor of stability which could rid the imperial administration of the management of a province with endemic troubles.[78]
Agrippa I clearly inherited his grandfather's splendor and his desire for recognition beyond his borders.[85] Internally, he tried to satisfy both his Jewish and pagan subjects and was divided between his religious capital, Jerusalem, and his "little Rome",Caesarea.[85] He also undertook the major project of raising the ramparts of his historic capital[85] and extending it to the northern district[76] thanks to funding from the Temple treasury, which gave some of his Jewish subjects hope for the restoration of an independent kingdom. or at least a rediscovered form of sovereignty.[86] He continued the policy ofeuergetism external to Judea of Herod the Great[78] by financing the construction of prestigious works (theatre, amphitheater and baths) in liberalities which mainly benefited the Roman colony ofBerytus,[85] without forgetting however the cities of Phoenicia and Syria.[78] He also offered shows and games, notably withgladiators, even if this contravened Jewish prescriptions, which he got accepted by using condemned criminals.[78]
On a religious level, as soon as he arrived, Agrippa I forged the reputation of a pious man, as attested by theMishnah, which recounts an orchestrated ceremony where the king was acclaimed and obtained the legitimacy of the priests in the Temple of Jerusalem[1] while his grandfather Herod had never been admitted to the third court of the Temple. However, through his grandmother,Mariamne the Hasmonean, Agrippa I belonged to a priestly family, which Herod did not. He was thus the first Herodo-Hasmonean to participate in a Temple office since the dismissal of theAntigonus II Mattathias, although he did not offer sacrifices.[87]
The Mishnah explains how the Jews of theSecond Temple era interpreted the requirement ofDeuteronomy 31:10–13 that the king should read the Torah to the people. At the conclusion of the first day ofSukkot immediately after the conclusion of the seventh year in the cycle, they erected a wooden dais in the Temple court, upon which the king sat. The synagogue attendant took a Torah scroll and handed it to the synagogue president, who handed it to theHigh Priest's deputy, who handed it to the High Priest, who handed it to the king. The king stood and received it, and was to read while seated. King Agrippa stood and received it and read standing, and the sages praised him for doing so. When Agrippa I reached the commandment ofDeuteronomy 17:15 that "you may not put a foreigner over you" as king, his eyes ran with tears, but they said to him, "Don't fear, Agrippa, you are our brother, you are our brother!"[88] The king read fromDeuteronomy 1:1 up through theshema (Deuteronomy 6:4–9), and thenDeuteronomy 11:13–21, the portion regarding tithes (Deuteronomy 14:22–29), the portion of the king (Deuteronomy 17:14–20), and the blessings and curses (Deuteronomy 27–28). The king would recite the same blessings as the High Priest, except that the king would substitute a blessing for thefestivals instead of one for the forgiveness of sin. (Mishnah Sotah 7:8;Babylonian Talmud Sotah 41a.)
Agrippa I used his prerogative to appoint the high priests of the Temple three times during his short reign, choosing alternately from the priestly dynasties of theAnan and theBoethos. His short administration was thus placed under the domination of Rome, of which he was an instrument of control, and the marks of honor given as sovereign by the Jews to the Temple testify to the "generalized clientelism in which personal friendships administrative relations throughout the empire.[89]
Gaius Vibius Marsus, the governor of Syria who succeeded Petronius, was much less favorable to Agrippa I.[81] He sent a series of letters to Claudius to express his fears of Agrippa I's rising power, reflecting the jealousy of the prince's Roman compatriots in the region.[76] For his part, Agrippa I repeatedly asked the emperor to dismiss Marsus.[90]
Marsus interrupted, on the orders of Claudius,[76] the fortification of Jerusalem and tempered the regional diplomatic ambitions of Agrippa I. Indeed, Agrippa I invited to Tiberias Herod of Chalcis as well as three princes who had been his companions in Rome,Antiochos of Commagene,Cotys of Lesser Armenia andPolemon,king of Pontus.[81] Marsus argued the possibility of a conspiracy. Although it is unlikely that Agrippa I considered breaking with his close Roman protectors and familiars,[76] the kings were enjoined to return to their respective kingdoms without delay.[91]
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Agrippa I died unexpectedly in 44, after only three years of reign over Judaea, during the games of Caesarea in honor of the emperor. Patronizing the games, he appeared there in dazzling silver finery in front of the crowd who acclaimed him and compared him to a god, a blasphemous remark for a Jew against which the king did not then protest. Some of his contemporaries read as a divine punishment for this blasphemy the cause of his death which occurred shortly after:[89] according to theActs of the Apostles which appears in theNew Testament, an angel, come at the time of the declarations of the people who compared him to a god, struck him, and he was devoured by worms (Acts 12:20–23).[92][1][93] Two days later, he was seized with violent abdominal pains and died after five days of agony, at age 53.[91] According to Josephus, before he died he scolded his friends for flattering him, and he accepted his imminent death in a state ofteshuva.[94] The precise causes of his death are unknown, but from that time on rumors of poisoning circulated.[91] Several researchers believe that the poisoning by the Romans worried about his excessive political ambitions is likely,[78] even that it was a personal initiative of Marsus to attenuate the hostility of the neighboring Syrian populations.[91]
The reign of Agrippa I thus did not last long enough to be able to significantly outline its political orientation.[78] Nevertheless, the hopes of regained sovereignty aroused among the Jews of Judea by his accession did not disappear with his death and were probably part of the causes that led to theJewish revolt which broke out some 20 years later.[95]
The death of Agrippa I was celebrated by the pagan populations of the kingdom, in particular in Caesarea andSebaste, which the sovereign had nevertheless largely favored. The hostility of the Syrian population was also evident in attacks by Syrian auxiliaries on statues of the king's daughters adorning the palace of Caesarea.[90]
Rather than entrusting Agrippa I's kingdom to his sonAgrippa II—an inexperienced young man who grew up at the imperial court, protected by the emperor[78]—Claudius made it aRoman province[96] withCuspius Fadus as procurator.[91] This decision, along with the unruly conduct of the Syrian auxiliaries, generated renewed unrest in Caesarea and elsewhere.[90] The appointment of the priests and the control of the Temple of Jerusalem passed toHerod of Chalcis,[78] who also became the foremost intermediary between the Jews and the Romans until his death in 48.[97] For the Jews, these events marked the end of hopes for even a symbolic Jewish independence, and it was then that intransigent factious movements with messianic and anti-Roman connotations appeared.[97]
From his union with Cypros, Agrippa I had four children reaching adulthood: a son, Agrippa II, and three daughters,Berenice,Mariamne andDrusilla.[98] Another son, Drusus, died in infancy.[99]
Half a century after Agrippa I's sudden death, Josephus evokes the sovereign in these terms: "Agrippa's character was gentle and his benevolence was equal for all. He was full of humanity for people of foreign races and also showed them his liberality, but he was also helpful for his compatriots and showed them even more sympathy".[100] Josephus gives Agrippa a positive legacy and relates that he was known in his time as "Agrippa the Great".[101] In the rabbinical sources, Agrippa is presented as a pious man, and his reign is described positively.[102] Conversely, the pagan inhabitants of Caesarea and Sebaste organized rejoicings at his death.[91]
A significant number of critics follow the Christian tradition to identify Agrippa I with "Herod the king" who, in the Acts of the Apostles, persecutes the community of Jesus' disciples in Jerusalem, then who hasJames the Great killed "with the sword" while the apostlePeter, later arrested, owes his salvation only to the help of "an angel" who comes by night to help him escape from his prison.[103] However, the Acts of the Apostles, composed in the 80s and 90s from several sources, "have been the subject of devastating criticism for several decades, to the point of being denied by some, in whole or in part, any historical value"[104] due to the "editorial activity" of its three successive authors.[105] Thus, the entire Petrine document (hypothetical document) to which these episodes would have belonged seems to have been placed at the beginning of Acts by its first writer, following this account by the "Gesture of Paul" and it is the next writer—perhapsLuke the Evangelist—which would have been inserted between the two "Gestures" of Peter and Paul, the account of the death of Agrippa[106] which gives the impression that all that precedes is dated before 44 and all that follows is later, adding a coming of Paul to Jerusalem which does not appear anywhere in Paul's accounts inhis epistles. It is therefore possible that "Herod the king" does not designate Agrippa I, but his son Agrippa II. Indeed, in addition to these editorial elements, the chronological inconsistencies of the Acts have been well known for more than a century, in particular the speech ofGamaliel, delivered seven chapters before the account of the death of Agrippa I to defend the apostles during a previous arrest, speaks of the death ofTheudas intervened under the procurator Cuspius Fadus (44–46) and in the Gesture of Peter, the murder of James the Great, then the arrest and escape of Peter are later of five chapters to this speech[107][108] and precedes the account of the death of Agrippa I. This account of the death of Agrippa I, probably inserted by the second redactor of the Acts of the Apostles[106] diverges from that of Josephus[78] but otherwise agrees with him on the divine origin of his mortal illness, occasioned by his impious refusal to reject the deification of which he is the object by the people, perhaps testifying to the use of a common Jewish source.[109]
Herod Agrippa I is the protagonist of the Italian operaL’Agrippa tetrarca di Gerusalemme with music byGiuseppe Maria Buini and libretto by Claudio Nicola Stampa, first performed August 28, 1724 at the Teatro Ducale ofMilan.[110] Agrippa I is a major figure in theRobert Graves novelClaudius the God, as well as the BBC television adaptationI, Claudius, portrayed byJames Faulkner as an adult and Michael Clements as a child. As Graves depicts Herod, he is a lifelong friend of Claudius, his most lasting and trustworthy advisor. Herod ultimately betrays their trust, raising a rebellion against Rome as the prophesiedMessiah, much to the dismay of Claudius. Herod is struck down by unexplained illness, sending a final letter to Claudius seeking forgiveness.
M. Brann (1901–1906)."Agrippa I.". InSinger, Isidore; et al. (eds.).The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.Herod Agrippa Born: 11 BC Died: AD 44 | ||
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Vacant Title last held by TetrarchPhilip | King of Batanaea AD 37 – 41 | Vacant Title next held by KingHerod Agrippa II |
| Vacant Title last held by TetrarchHerod Antipas | King of Galilee AD 40 – 41 | Title extinct |
| Vacant governed byPrefect Title last held by KingHerod the Great | King of Judaea AD 41 – 44 | Title extinct |
