47 Facts About Herod Agrippa

Herod Agrippa was a grandson of Herod the Great and the father of Herod Agrippa II, the last known king from the Herodian dynasty.

Herod Agrippa was acquaintance or friend of Roman emperors and even played crucial roles in internal Roman politics.

Herod Agrippa spent his childhood and youth at the imperial court in Ancient Rome where he befriended the imperial princes Claudius and Drusus, the son of Tiberius.

Herod Agrippa 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 grandson Tiberius Gemellus and Agrippa approached the other designated heir, Caligula.

Herod Agrippa was born in Caesarea, around the year 11 BC.

Herod Agrippa was the son of Aristobulus IV, one of the children that Herod the Great, king of Judea had with Mariamne the Hasmonean.

Herod Agrippa the Great, a ruler perceived as a ruthless usurper by his subjects, was a devoted supporter of the Roman Empire and promoted its cause throughout his kingdom.

Herod Agrippa's reign was characterized by violence and numerous family intrigues as he had ten wives.

In 29 BC, Herod executed his wife Mariamne, Agrippa's grandmother, out of jealousy.

In 7 BC, when Agrippa was just three or four years old, Herod had Agrippa's father and uncle Alexander executed following palace intrigues.

Herod Agrippa was responsible for the deaths of numerous members of the Hasmonean dynasty and its supporters, almost wiping them out entirely.

Herod Agrippa was brought up there with the children of the imperial family, including Claudius, who was the same age as him, as well as Drusus, the young son of Tiberius, to whom he was particularly attached.

Herod Agrippa thus lived all his youth in the capital of the empire and personally knew almost all the members of the imperial family.

Herod Agrippa squandered the rest of his fortune trying to win the favor of the freedmen of Tiberius and he hastily left Rome for the province of Judea.

Herod Agrippa finds himself in a fort in Malatha of Idumea, in the company of his wife Cypros.

Herod Agrippa probably married around 26 this cousin, daughter of Phasael, son of Tetrarch Phasael, brother of Herod the Great, who gave him a first son named Agrippa.

Herod Agrippa leads a modest existence far from the splendor of the imperial court and even thinks about suicide.

Herod Agrippa accepts at first, but he soon gives the impression of not being satisfied with what is given to him.

Herod Agrippa quickly finds this burden boring in a small provincial town devoid of the amenities of the Roman civilization that saw him grow up.

Herod Agrippa then decided to attempt a return to Rome where Tiberius, who must have mourned the death of Drusus, might agree to receive his son's old friends again.

Herod Agrippa borrowed the sum of twenty thousand drachmas to embark at Anthedon for Alexandria, not without having been reminded by the Roman governor of Yavne, Herennius Capiton, for the debts contracted vis-a-vis the treasury of the Empire.

The latter sent him the troop but, taking advantage of the night, Herod Agrippa embarked and managed to reach Alexandria where he obtained new funding from the alabarch Alexander Lysimachus, brother of Philo and head of the Jewish community of Alexandria.

The emperor asks Herod Agrippa to take charge of Drusus' son, his grandson Tiberius Gemellus, then a teenager and one of the two designated heirs of Tiberius with his grand-nephew Caius Caligula, grandson of the protector of Herod Agrippa, Antonia.

In 36, the armies of two kings who were clients of the Romans, Aretas IV and Herod Agrippa Antipas, clashed around the territory of Gamla, causing a crushing defeat for the latter.

Herod Agrippa returned to his territories in the summer of 38, after the situation had been clarified on the spot by Lucius Vitellius, probably assisted by Marullus, the new prefect of Judea.

The return of Agrippa I crowned with a royal title excites the jealousy of his sister Herodias who urges her husband Antipas to claim for himself the title of king in Rome.

Herod Agrippa accuses Antipas of fomenting a plot with the Parthians and of having accumulated, without telling the Emperor, stocks of arms in his arsenals in Tiberias, probably with the intention of preparing his revenge against King Aretas IV who had defeated him a few years earlier.

Herod Agrippa then went to the Capitol where the senators met in conclave and acted as intermediaries between them and Claudius.

The senators proclaimed Claudius emperor, and Herod Agrippa recommended that Claudius be lenient vis-a-vis the conspirators, except for the regicides Cassius Chaerea and Lupus.

Herod Agrippa is declared there rex amicus et socius Populi Romani - as his grandfather had been in 40 BC.

Herod Agrippa would marry his niece, Berenice, after the premature death of her young husband.

Herod Agrippa intervenes immediately and asks for the application of the decree of Claudius.

Herod Agrippa clearly inherited his grandfather's splendor and his desire for recognition beyond his borders.

Herod Agrippa undertook the major project of raising the ramparts of his historic capital and extending it to the new northern district thanks to funding from the Temple treasury, which gave some of his Jewish subjects hope for the restoration of an independent kingdom.

Herod Agrippa continued the policy of euergetism external to Judea of Herod the Great by financing the construction of prestigious works in liberalities which mainly benefited the Roman colony of Berytus, without forgetting however the cities of Phoenicia and Syria.

Herod Agrippa offered shows and games, notably with gladiators, even if this contravened Jewish prescriptions, which he got accepted by using condemned criminals.

Herod Agrippa is thus the first Herodo-Hasmonean to participate in a Temple office since the dismissal of the Hasmonean Antigonus II Mattathias, even if he does not sacrifice himself.

King Herod Agrippa stood and received it and read standing, and the sages praised him for doing so.

Herod Agrippa used his prerogative to appoint the high priests of the Temple three times during his short reign, choosing alternately from the priestly dynasties of the Anan and the Boethos.

Herod Agrippa's reign did not last long enough to determine its political direction in any meaningful way.

Herod Agrippa sent a series of letters to Claudius to express his fears of Agrippa's rising power, reflecting the jealousy of the prince's Roman compatriots in the region.

Herod Agrippa died unexpectedly in the year 44, after only three years of reign over Judea, during the Games of Caesarea in honor of the emperor.

The death of Herod Agrippa is the pretext for the pagan populations of the kingdom to celebrations and rejoicings, in particular in Caesarea and Sebaste, which the sovereign had nevertheless largely favored.

From his union with Cypros, Herod Agrippa has four children reaching adulthood, a son Herod Agrippa, and three daughters, Berenice, Mariamne and Drusilla.

The unions of Herod Agrippa's daughters are part of a matrimonial strategy consisting in allying with the most fortunate party possible which is not exempt from competition between the sisters.

Herod Agrippa finally becomes the famous mistress of Titus who dismisses her before he reaches the imperial office.