From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Contents 1 Life 1.1 Time in Rome 1.2 Under Caligula and Claudius 1.3 Agrippa in Josephus 1.4 Agrippa in Acts 12 1.5 Agrippa's death 2 In literature 3 References 4 External links

Agrippa I also called the Great (10 BC - 44 AD), King of the Jews, was 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 Antipas, Tetrarch of Galilee and Perea, who was Agrippa's uncle and 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 I had held, then of the tetrarchy of Lysanias, with the title of "king". In 39 AD, Agrippa returned to Rome, and brought about the banishment of Antipas, whose tetrarchy he then was granted.

On the assassination of Caligula in 41, Agrippa's advice helped to secure Claudius' accession 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 Chalkis 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 equaling 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. After Passover in 44, Agrippa went to Caesarea, where he had games performed in honour of Claudius. According to Josephus, 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 says that he experienced heart pains and a pain in his abdomen, and died after five days (Antiquities 19.346-350).

In Acts 12 of the New Testament, about the time of the Passover in 44, Saint James the Greater, son of Zebedee, was seized by Agrippa's order and put to death by beheading. 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 that Passover, Agrippa went to Caesarea, where 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 AD.

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. At the time of his death, Agrippa's only legitimate successor was his adolescent son of the same name; therefore, the Roman Emperor Claudius decided to return Iudaea Province to the rule of Roman procurators.

• Herod Agrippa is a major figure in Robert Graves' novel Claudius the God, as well as the BBC television adaptation I, Claudius, (wherein he was portrayed by James Faulkner). He is depicted as one of Claudius' closest life-long friends.

• 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.).

• Jewish Encyclopedia: Agrippa I.
• Agrippa I, article in historical sourcebook by Mahlon H. Smith
• Sergey E. Rysev. Herod and Agrippa