Herod Agrippa I

Background

Herod Agrippa was born in 10 BC.

Career

After Agrippa’s father, Aristobulus IV, was executed by his own father, the suspicious Herod, Agrippa was sent to Rome for education and safety. There he grew up in company with the emperor Tiberius’s son Drusus. After his mother’s death he quickly spent his family’s wealth and acquired serious debts. When Drusus died in 23 ce, Agrippa left Rome, settling near Beersheba, in Palestine. An appeal to his uncle Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee, won him a minor official post, but he soon vacated it.

In 36, having raised a sizable loan in Alexandria, Agrippa returned to Rome, where the emperor Tiberius received him but refused to allow him to stay at the court until his debt was paid. A new loan covered the obligation, and he secured a post as tutor to Tiberius’s grandson. Agrippa also became a friend of Caligula, Tiberius’s heir. An intemperate remark about Tiberius, overheard by a servant, landed Agrippa in prison, but Caligula remained his friend. Within a year Tiberius was dead, and Agrippa’s fortunes were reversed.

In 37 Caligula made him king of the former realm of his uncle Philip the Tetrarch and of an adjoining region. Antipas attempted to stop his rise by denouncing him to Caligula; Agrippa made counteraccusations. The confrontation before Caligula ended with Antipas’s banishment, and Agrippa acquired his territory as well. About 41 ce Agrippa, on the advice of the governor of Syria, dissuaded Caligula from introducing emperor worship at Jerusalem. Later Caligula decided to restore Agrippa to his grandfather’s throne but was assassinated in 41 before he could effect that plan. In the delicate question of the imperial succession, Agrippa supported Claudius, who emerged successful and added Judaea and Samaria to Agrippa’s kingdom.

In Judaea, Agrippa zealously pursued orthodox Jewish policies, earning the friendship of the Jews and vigorously repressing the Jewish Christians. According to the New Testament of the Bible (Acts of the Apostles, where he is called Herod), he imprisoned Peter the Apostle and executed James, son of Zebedee. Nonetheless, mindful of maintaining Roman friendship, he contributed public buildings to Beirut in Lebanon, struck coins in emulation of Rome, and in the spring of 44 was host at a spectacular series of games at Caesarea to honour Claudius. There he died, prematurely terminating the compromise he had striven to achieve between Roman authority and Jewish autonomy.

Achievements

• Herod Agrippa I was a clever diplomat who through his friendship with the Roman imperial family obtained the kingdom of his grandfather, Herod I the Great. He displayed great acumen in conciliating the Romans and Jews.

Politics

In Judaea, Agrippa zealously pursued orthodox Jewish policies, earning the friendship of the Jews and vigorously repressing the Jewish Christians.

Personality

The description of Herod Agrippa as a cruel, heartless king who persecuted the Jerusalem church, having James son of Zebedee killed and imprisoning Peter, stands in contrast with Josephus' account of a kindly man. According to Josephus, he was a milder ruler than his grandfather Herod the Great, and Josephus records him as talking with and then forgiving a law student accused of political rabble rousing, rather than punishing him as his grandfather and some other Herods would have done. Christian scholars argue that the biblical account makes sense given that Agrippa had been raised with a strong Jewish identity. Agrippa would resent a movement begun during his absence from Judæa that tried to declare a man as divine.

Connections

Father:

Aristobulus IV

(31–7 BC)

Wife:

Kipros

Daughter:

Berenice

Daughter:

Mariamna

Daughter:

Drusilla

Son:

Agrippa II

was the eighth and last client ruler of Rome from the Herodian dynasty, the fifth (after Herod the Great, Agrippa I, Herod of Chalcis and Aristobulus of Chalcis) bearing the title of King.

Son:

Drus

References

• The Antiquities of the Jews: Complete and Unabridged
• A New Classical Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography, Mythology and Geography
• The War of the Jews: The History of the Destruction of Jerusalem (complete edition, 7 books)
• The Jewish War: Revised Edition (Penguin Classics)