Agrippa arrived in Italy in the midst of the statue crisis. Through ei-
theraletter(Legat.261–334) or a banquet (Ant.18.289-301), Agrippa suc-
cessfully persuaded Gaius to forgo his plans for the statue, at least tempo-
rarily. However, both Philo and Josephus describe Gaius reneging on his
promise not to place the statue in the Temple, and only the emperor’s as-
sassination saved the Jews from open conflict with Rome (Legat.337–38;
J.W.2.202-3;Ant.18.302-9). This incident only increased tensions between
Rome and Judea.
Shortly before the assassination of Gaius, Agrippa returned to Rome,
and after the emperor’s murder, Agrippa was a crucial advisor to his suc-
cessor, Claudius, and helped to secure his accession as emperor (J.W.
2.204-13;Ant.18.236-67). As a reward for his services, Claudius appointed
Agrippa king over the territory once ruled by his grandfather. Claudius
also appointed Agrippa’s brother Herod as ruler of Chalcis in Lebanon
(J.W.2.215-17;Ant.18.274-77).
Herod Agrippa returned to Judea and governed it for the next three
years (41-44c.e.). He sought to further enhance the prestige of Judea. To
this end, he initiated a building program around the Levant that, while not
equaling his grandfather’s, still enabled him to enhance his status and that
of his kingdom. Among other projects, he built a theater in Berytus and a
new city wall in Jerusalem across the northern edge of the city that en-
closed the suburb of Bezetha. This wall, however, was not completed dur-
ing Agrippa’s reign because the governor of Syria, Vibius Marsus, was sus-
picious of Agrippa’s intentions and persuaded Claudius to prohibit its
completion. Jewish rebels hastily completed this wall after the outbreak of
revolt in 66c.e.
As part of this campaign to aggrandize his position within the eastern
Mediterranean, Herod Agrippa called together a meeting of the region’s
rulers at Tiberias, including the kings of Commagene, Emesa, Armenia
Minor, and Pontus, as well as his brother, the ruler of Chalcis. Although
Marsus feared that Agrippa was planning a revolution at this meeting, this
is extremely unlikely. More likely, Agrippa was seeking to establish himself
as the preeminent client king of the Roman East. His efforts, therefore,
were directed more toward his neighbors than toward Claudius.
During Passover in 44c.e., Agrippa traveled to Caesarea to attend the
games being held there in honor of Claudius. According to Josephus, in the
midst of the festival, Agrippa fell ill with violent pains and died five days
later (Ant.19.343-52; Acts 12). At the time of his death, Agrippa’s heir and
namesake, Herod Agrippa II, was approximately seventeen. Because of the55Jewish History from Alexander to HadrianEERDMANS -- Early Judaism (Collins and Harlow) final text
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