Category:Herod Agrippa II (subject)
Herod Agrippa II was a member of the Herodian family.
Biography
Herod Agrippa II was the son of Herod Agrippa and Cypros, and the brother of Berenice, Mariamne, and Drusilla).
He was educated at Rome. When his father died in 44 CE, he was only seventeen, too young to succeed to the throne. By 50, the Emperor Claudius gave him the small territories of his deceased uncle, Herod of Chalcis and in 53, the rule over the former tetrarchy of Herod Philip. Herod Agrippa II retained important rights at Jerusalem including the appointment of the High Priest.
Emperor Nero added parts of Galilee and Perea, and Agrippa in his honor renamed Neronia the capital Caesarea Philippi.
Agrippa's sister, Berenice, who had been the wife of Herod of Chalcis, came to live with his brother after her husband's death. The two siblings lived together ever since. Rumors spread of an incestuous relation, in spite of her brief marriage to Polemon of Cilicia and her affair with Emperor Titus.
The Acts of the Apostles shows Herod Agrippa II and Berenice as a royal couple visiting Caesarea Maritima in the year 60 to welcome the new Roman governor Festus.
Herod Agrippa II, Berenice, and Drusilla (who had married the Roman governor Felix) remained the most loyal allies of the Romans in the region, before, during and after the Jewish War. In 66, after unsuccessfully using their influence to forestall the revolt, they unwaveringly sided with the Romans. In 69 CE, the Year of the Four Emperors, Herod Agrippa II and Berenice supported Vespasian's rise to imperial power (Tacitus, Historiae II.81).
Herod Agrippa II befriended Titus and supported the love affair between his sister and the heir to the Roman throne.
Herod Agrippa II in ancient sources
The writings of Flavius Josephus are the major source of information for the life and deeds of King Herod Agrippa II. He is also mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles.
Josephus, Jewish Antiquities
Ant XVIII 5, 4 -- Agrippa had by Cypros two sons and three daughters, which daughters were named Berenice, Mariamne, and Drusilla; but the names of the sons were [Herod] Agrippa [II] and Drusus, of which Drusus died before he came to the years of puberty.
=Acts of the Apostles
"Berenice and Agrippa arrived at Caesarea to welcome [the new Roman governor] Festus (Acts 25:13). Since they were staying there several day, Festus laid Paul's case before the king (25:14)... On the next day Agrippa and Berenice came with great pomp, and they entered the audience hall with the military tribunes and the prominent men of the city. Then, at the command of Festus, Paul was brought in" (25:23). After listening to Paul's speech "the king rose, and the governor and Berenice and those who were sitting with them; and as they were leaving they said to one another, This man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment" (26:30-31).
Herod Agrippa II in Scholarship
Herod Agrippa II in Fiction
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