Herod Agrippa I.

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Herod Agrippa I, coin from Caesarea Maritima

Herod Agrippa I (actually Marcus Iulius Agrippa ; * 10 BC ; † 44 AD ) was during the reign of the Roman Emperor Caligula from 37 AD Tetrarch of Iturea , Gaulanitis and Trachonitis and under Caligula's successor Claudius King of Judea and Samaria from AD 41 until his death .

The Roman Empire in the time of Emperor Tiberius (14–37 AD)

origin

Herod Agrippa was the son of the Jewish prince Aristobulus and his wife Berenike and a grandson of King Herod the Great of Judea. One of his brothers was Herod of Chalkis , who later ruled the Kingdom of Chalkis. His other brother was Aristobulus , who was married to Jotape , daughter of King Sampsigeramos II of Emesa .

Life

Herodes Agrippa grew up in Rome , where after the death of Herod the Great his mother Berenike also settled permanently, and was brought up together with Drusus the Younger , the son of Tiberius , and the later Emperor Claudius . In this way he was able to establish and maintain influential contacts with the imperial court early on.

As long as his mother Berenike was still alive, Agrippa still had to rein in his exaggerated generosity in order not to anger her, but after her death (before 23 AD) he indulged in a lavish to lavish lifestyle without restrictions, which made him high Amassed debts. When his believers could not be calmed down, he finally had to leave Rome.

He then stayed (always in need of money) in Idumea , Antioch and Alexandria . As the Jewish historian Flavius ​​Josephus reports, Agrippa even thought of suicide in his desperation. However, his wife Kypros, a granddaughter of Herod the Great, managed to avert this by requesting support from her relatives (including Herod Antipas and his wife Herodias ). With this help in need Agrippa had mixed experiences, his brother Aristobulus even worked against him. Only thanks to the financial help of the wealthy Jew Tiberius Iulius Alexander was he able to return to Rome in AD 35/36, where he received further support from Antonia the Younger , a close friend of his deceased mother.

After the deposition of Pontius Pilate as Prefect of Judea by the Syrian governor and legate Vitellius in 36/37 AD and the death of Emperor Tiberius shortly afterwards, Agrippa opened up, who finally got from his good contacts to the leading personalities in Rome, new perspectives: Emperor Caligula appointed him king of the tetrarchy of Philip, who died in AD 34, and two years later also for the territory of the tetrarch Herod Antipas, who was exiled to southern Gaul, and he helped to depose him through blackening and false rumors would have. In AD 41, the kingdom of Agrippa was enlarged by Claudius to include the earlier territories of Herod Archelaus , who was deposed in AD 6 . So his sphere of influence included the original territory of Herod the Great. He also succeeded through his intercession with Emperor Claudius, for his brother Herod of Chalkis , with whom he had always got on well, to obtain the transfer of a territory, combined with the dignity of king. His brother Aristobulus remained a private citizen.

King Agrippa's attempt to expand and reinforce the city walls of Jerusalem after the restoration of the Kingdom of Judea was reported to Rome by the newly appointed Roman governor of Syria, Vibius Marsus , and stopped on the orders of the emperor. In terms of foreign policy, Agrippa sought good understanding with its regional neighbors. Probably 42 AD he gathered the other client kings of the region who were dependent on Rome in Tiberias, the capital of the earlier tetrarchy of Herod Antipas, in which he mostly stayed. The following came together as participants: his brother Herod of Chalkis, Polemon II of Pontus, Kotys of Lesser Armenia, Antiochus IV of Commagene and Sampsigeramos of Emesa, the father-in-law of his brother Aristobulus. Apparently not invited to this conference but surprisingly appeared during the meeting of the kings in Tiberias, Marsus felt that the good relations of so many princes were not in the interests of Rome and sent messengers to the royal guests asking them to return to their homeland. The host Agrippa felt this undiplomatic behavior as an affront. His relationship with Marsus was permanently clouded by the incident and Agrippa wrote several times - albeit unsuccessfully - to send a new Syrian governor in his place.

Outwardly, Herod Agrippa maintained the style of government of an oriental, Hellenistic ruler. Domestically, he tried to bring the influential conservative circles of Judaism to his side by strictly adhering to Jewish laws. For this reason he probably instigated a persecution of the young Christian community in Jerusalem, during which the apostle James the Elder (one of the two sons of Zebedee) was murdered and Simon Peter was taken prisoner.

death

Herod Agrippa I died in AD 44. His death is described in the biblical book of Acts . Therefore, it plays an important role in the chronology of the New Testament events:

“But when it was day there was no small dismay among the soldiers about what had become of Peter. But when Herod asked for him and could not find him, he called the guards to the investigation and ordered them to be led away; and he went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there. But he was very bitter against the Tyrians and Sidonians . But they came to him with one accord, and after persuading Blastus, the king's chamberlain, they asked for peace, because their country was nourished by the royal land. On a appointed day, however, Herod, after putting on royal clothes and sitting on the throne, made a public speech to them. But the people called out to him: The voice of one God and not one of man! But immediately an angel of the Lord struck him for not giving glory to God; and eaten by worms, he passed away. But the word of God grew and multiplied. "

- ( Acts 12 : 18-24  EU )

A similar report, which corresponds in many details with the Bible, can also be found in Flavius ​​Josephus :  

"Three years had elapsed for him (Herod Agrippa) now in possession of the whole of Judea, when he went to Caesarea, which had formerly been called Stratonsturm. Here he gave plays in honor of the emperor because he knew that a religious one was for his salvation A great crowd of great and mighty people from all over the province gathered at this festival. On the second day at dawn he went to the theater in a dress made entirely of silver with wonderful art. Here it appeared Silver that was struck by the first rays of the sun in a wonderful shine, so that the eye had to turn back, blinded and shuddered. At the same time, his flatterers called to him from all sides, called him God and said: 'Have mercy on us! If We have also respected you as a human being, but from now on we want to worship something higher than a mortal being in you. <The king did not reproach them for this and rejected their gods blasphemous flattery does not return; but when he turned his gaze upwards soon afterwards, he saw the eagle owl, well known to him, sitting on a rope above his head. He knew that the one who had previously prophesied his happiness was now signaling him a bad misfortune, and therefore he felt bitter remorse. Not long, however, before his bowels were torn with terrible pain, which began at once with unheard of violence. . . He was therefore quickly brought to his apartment, and it was soon known everywhere that he was on his last legs. . . After having endured the agony in his bowels for five days, he finally passed away in the 54th year of his life and in the seventh of his reign. "(Josephus, Jüdische Altertümer, XIX.8.2)

progeny

Herod Agrippa had a son from his marriage to his wife Cyprus, Herod Agrippa II , who was too young at the death of his father in 44 AD to succeed him as ruler of troubled Judea. The kingdom of Agrippas I was therefore made a Roman province and ruled by Roman procurators. Agrippa II, who had also been brought up in Rome and had excellent relations with the imperial family, was later named King of Chalkis as the successor of his uncle Herod of Chalkis after his death in AD 48 as compensation.

Agrippa I also had three daughters: Berenike , who became the wife of Markus Iulius Alexander, then her uncle Herod of Chalkis and then Polemon , and later the mistress of the Roman emperor Titus ; Mariamme, who was married to Julius Archelaus and the Alexandrian Demetrius, and Drusilla , who later became the wife of the Procurator of Judea, Marcus Antonius Felix .

See also

swell

  • Flavius ​​Josephus: Jewish antiquities . Fourier Verlag, Wiesbaden o. J.
  • Flavius ​​Josephus: The Jewish War . Wilhelm Goldmann Verlag, Munich, 2nd edition 1982.
  • Flavius ​​Josephus: From my life . ( Vita ). Verlag JCB Mohr (Paul Siebeck), Tübingen 2001.

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Herod Agrippa I.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION King of Judea
DATE OF BIRTH 10 BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 44