Herod Agrippa I

18.161–167

Now when Agrippa arrived at Puteoli, he wrote a letter to Tiberius Caesar, who was then living in Capreae, informing him that he had come so far in order to pay a visit and minister to him and that he desired permission to cross over to Caprein. So Tiberius, without hesitation, responded cordially that he was glad for his safe return and desired that he come to Capreae. When Agrippa arrived, he did not fail to treat him as kindly as he had promised him in his letter. But the following day, a letter to Caesar arrived from Herennius Capito informing him that Agrippa had borrowed three hundred thousand drachmae and had allowed the time allotted for payment to lapse, and that when the money was demanded of him, he had run away like a fugitive from the territory under [Capito’s] authority, which rendered [Capito] powerless to recover the money. When Caesar read this letter, he was quite disturbed by it, and he issued an order that Agrippa be cut off from his presence until he had paid off the debt. But [Agrippa] was undaunted by Caesar’s anger and entreated Antonia, the mother of Germanicus and Claudius (who would later become emperor), to lend him the three hundred thousand drachmae so that he would not lose Tiberius’ friendship. And so, out of respect for the memory of his mother Berenice—for those two women were quite close with each other—and out of respect for his and Claudius’ having been brought up together, she lent him the money. Having repaid the debt in full, there was nothing standing in the way of his friendship with Tiberius.

After this, Tiberius Caesar recommended his grandson to him and ordered that he always accompany him when he went abroad. But after Agrippa was received as a friend by Antonia, he resolved himself to minister to Gaius, who was her grandson and held in very high esteem on account of the goodwill extended to his father. Now there was another, a Samaritan, a freedman of Caesar, from whom Agrippa had borrowed a million drachmae and thereafter repaid the debt he owed to Antonia, and by spending the rest of the money paying court to Gaius, he rose to greater prominence with him. [ . . . ]

19.343–361

After the third year of his reign over all Judaea, Agrippa came to the city of Caesarea, which was formerly called Strato’s Tower. He was hosting shows in honor of Caesar, since he knew that there was [traditionally] a festival on behalf of the emperor’s safety. At this festival, there gathered a great multitude of men holding government offices who had advanced to prominent positions throughout his province. On the second day of the shows, having put on a garment made entirely of silver, of a truly marvelous texture, he came into the theater at the break of day. At that hour, the silver of his garment being illuminated by the fresh reflection of the sun’s rays on it, it shined brilliantly and was so radiant as to spread fear over those who looked intently on him. Immediately, his flatterers began raising their voices from one direction to another—although by no means for the sake of his welfare—saying that he was a god, and they added, “Be merciful to us, and if we have until now feared you only as a man, from this time forward we confess that you are superior to the nature of mortals.” The king neither rebuked these people nor rejected their impious flattery. But after a brief moment, he looked up and saw an owl sitting on a certain rope above his head, and he immediately perceived that this bird was the messenger of evil tidings, just as it had once been the messenger to him of favorable tidings, and he felt a pain stabbing at his heart. A severe pain also arose in his belly, one quite violent right from the beginning. He therefore leapt up and said to his friends, “I, whom you regard as a God, am commanded at present to depart this life. Providence thus reproves the words you just spoke falsely of me, and I, who was called an immortal by you, am now to be carried away by death. But I am bound to accept what Providence allots, as God has decided it, for I have by no means lived a common life but have rather lived in the magnificent manner that is deemed happiness.” While saying these things, he was increasingly overcome by the severity of his pain. He was therefore carried away with haste to the palace, and the report spread quickly to everyone that he would certainly die in a short time. Now the crowd, along with the women and children, presently sat in sackcloth, according to their ancestral law, and offered supplication to God on behalf of the king. Every place was full of wailing and lamentation. Now the king, as he rested in a high chamber and watched those below lying prostrate on the ground, could not himself hold back tears. When he was quite worn out by the pain in his belly for five straight days, he departed this life, at the age of fifty-four and in the seventh year of his reign. For he reigned four years under Gaius Caesar—three were over Philip’s tetrarchy only, and on the fourth he had that of Herod added to it—and in addition to those, three years under the reign of Claudius Caesar, in which time he reigned over the aforementioned countries and also had Judaea added to them as well as Samaria and Caesarea. The revenues that he received from them were very great, no less than twelve million drachmae. Yet he borrowed great sums from others, for he was so very lavish that his expenses exceeded his income, and his ambition was unsparing with regard to costs.

While the masses were yet unaware of Agrippa’s death, Herod, who was the ruler of Chalcis, and Helcias, the prefect and friend of the king, conspired together and sent Ariston, one of the king’s most faithful servants, to slay Silas, who had been their enemy, under the pretense that the king had ordered this himself.

In this manner, King Agrippa departed this life. He left behind a son, seventeen years of age, and three daughters, one of whom, Berenice, who was sixteen years of age, had given herself in marriage to Herod, his father’s brother, while the other two, Mariamme and Drusilla, were still virgins; the former was ten years old and Drusilla six. Now these daughters had been promised in marriage by their father: Mariamme to Julius Archelaus Epiphanes, the son of Antiochus, the son of Chelcias, and Drusilla to the king of Commagena. But when it became known that Agrippa had departed this life, the inhabitants of Caesarea and of Sebaste, not recalling the benevolence he had bestowed on them, acted as the most bitter of enemies. They began casting such slander upon the deceased as is unfit to be spoken of, and those of them who were then soldiers—which was a great number—went to his house and hastily carried off the statues of the king’s daughters, immediately carrying them into the brothel houses. When they had set them on the roofs of those houses, they abused them to the utmost of their power and performed such acts to them as are too indecent to be related. They also laid themselves down in public places and celebrated general feasts, with garlands on their heads and with ointments and libations to Charon, drinking to one another for joy that the king was dead. In this way, they were not only unmindful of Agrippa, who had extended his generosity to them in abundance, but also of his grandfather Herod, who had rebuilt their cities and had erected harbors and temples for them at great cost.

Now Agrippa, the son of the deceased, was at Rome and brought up with Claudius Caesar. When Caesar was informed that Agrippa was dead and that the inhabitants of Sebaste and Caesarea had abused him, he was sorry for the first news and was displeased with the ingratitude of those cities.

Translated by William Whiston, adapted byAaron Samuels.