The Hasmoneans XNUMX - Who are you, Agrippa I, King of Judah? - A fugitive criminal, manipulator, megalomaniac, rebel, a tragic figure born of circumstances?!

And he failed to see the terrible danger inherent in the attempts of the descendants of the Hasmoneans to revolt Judah against the Romans. It is true that he actively worked to remove the decrees that were intended to fall on the Jews. But as mentioned, the subject of the Hasmonean rebellion was not in front of his eyes.

We thought that during this period, which was distinguished by the degree of Hasmonean-rebellious calmness, Judah would reach days of peace and quiet. So we thought. Agrippa I, the king of Judea under the protection of the Romans, was more involved in the affairs of Rome, and indirectly in his personal affairs, and his head was therefore occupied with other issues and was unable to see the terrible danger inherent in the attempts of the descendants of the Hasmoneans to revolt Judah against the Romans. It is true that he actively worked to remove the decrees that were intended to fall on the Jews. But as mentioned, the subject of the Hasmonean rebellion was not in front of his eyes.

Did not stand? maybe the other way around. It is possible that at some point he was influenced by the rebellious Hasmoneans and decided to take action. Revolt in Rome? Maybe? And we will discuss that later.

Agrippa was one of the three sons of Aristobulus, the son of Miriam and Herodos and his Greek name had an agricultural meaning - settler, owner of land, tiller of the land. Aristobulus was executed by strangulation along with his brother Alexander in the winter of 7 BC at the ruling of their father Herod on charges of attempted rebellion and assassination.

In 36 CE, Agrippa appears in Rome to meet with the emperor Tiberius, one year before his death.
What did Agrippa do in Rome? Well, not too long after his father Aristobulus was killed, Agrippa went to Rome on Herod's orders. Did Herod fear a deadly plot was brewing against him? Did Herod seek to distance Agrippa as much as possible from the political scene in Jerusalem? Did he expect, as happened to him and his predecessors, that the stay in Rome would make Agrippa a Roman in his language, culture and lifestyle? There is no telling. In any case, his stay in Rome fostered a great friendship between him and Drusus, the son of the emperor Tiberius, and from this he forged friendships with the emperor himself.

After Drusus passed away in 23 AD, Agrippa returned ("escaped") to Judea, neck deep in debt after distributing many valuable gifts in Rome and spending his fortune on bribes for his political advancement, and Josephus testifies that Agrippa even considered ending his life. It could be, by the way, that before his eyes stood the unofficial title that his grandfather Herod had won, i.e. "megalopsyche" by the famous emperor Augustus, we had a great and charitable soul and he, Agrippa, sought to imitate this. His financial downfall, it should be noted, was due to the death of his mother Berniki. This is probably an abysmal despair on the background of the mother's death and especially on the background of the fact of the great friendship that prevailed between Bernice and Antonia, the wife of Drusus, the emperor's son. When he came to Judea, disappointed and discouraged, he received a lot of support from his uncle, Herod Antipas, son of Herod, the tetrarch, the governor of Galilee, who invited him to live in Tiberias, equipped him with a reasonable amount of money and appointed him to be "aguranomus" meaning - in charge of the central market in Tiberias, in other words, Minister of Finance Zota. It should be noted that his rescue resulted from connections between his wife Cyprus and Herod's wife Antipas, who "happened" to be Agrippa's sister.

Agrippa was not ready to settle for that, since in Rome before his economic downfall he was among the city's richest. And after quarreling with Antipas, Agrippa went to Syria in 33 CE in order to meet with Flaccus, the Roman commissioner, who had been his friend since long ago in the city of Rome. Flaccus happily hosted Agrippa, but it got involved in a bribery case there, when officials in Damascus fought with the Sidonians about the borders between them and they recruited Agrippa for their benefit, for a lot of money, due to his acquaintance with Flaccus. The affair became known to Flaccus and in response he removed him from the trust of his circle of friends, and Agrippa in response was forced to leave Syria.

Agrippa sailed to Alexandria in a non-road way after he was prevented from entering Birkenhead through its port due to his heavy debts to the emperor's treasury. And the truth of the matter was that Agrippa was supposed to be arrested for this by order of the Roman commissioner, and only his keen senses brought him to the conclusion that he had to escape from the place, and indeed in the dead of night like a thief in the underground, Agrippa escaped by the skin of his teeth to Alexandria, Egypt. There, in Alexandria of Roman Egypt, Agrippa thought that through his wife Cyprus he would get the money for his debts, but this receipt was only part of the amount, and from whom? from the head of the Jewish community in Alexandria and fled to Judea with her children when she heard that Agrippa intended to sail to Rome.

Agrippa therefore sailed to Rome to meet with the emperor Tiberius and even wrote him a letter on the matter. The emperor, who spent that time vacationing in Capri, invited him willingly. But in the meantime a bill was received at the emperor's residence detailing Agrippa's heavy debts and how he tried to evade their payment. While the emperor demands to punish Agrippa for his wrongdoings, Agrippa raised the sum of his debts, through Antonia, the mother of Claudius (who would later become emperor in Rome) and was forgiven by the emperor.

In Rome, Agrippa connected with Gaius Caligula, the grandson of Tiberius and forged deep friendships with him, which is reminiscent of the political moves of his father, King Herod. Word came to you that Agrippa was secretly inciting his grandson against the very leadership of his grandfather, the Roman emperor. When Tiberius learned of this, he ordered Agrippa to be banned immediately, but a short time later, in 37 AD, he died and his grandson Gaius Caligula rose under him, of course to Agrippa's great joy.
Agrippa received from Gaius Caligula the tetrarchy of Philip the son of Herod, as well as a royal title, a gold chain that weighed as much as the weight of his chains and another large estate in the north - Abel (Abila) and Chalkis in Lebanon, located northwest of Damascus. Agrippa sailed to Judea in the year 39/38 CE, with a royal crown on his head on behalf of Caligula, in terms of the analogy of Herod's coronation in his time, although Josephus ben Mattathieu disagrees with this by saying about him, about Agrippa, because Caligula appointed him, "who was nothing but a private citizen " (Jewish Wars, 182. 239), because Herod's kingship was supposed to go to his son Herod Antipas. And in his compilation The Jewish Antiquities (XNUMX, XNUMX), Josephus Joseph ben Matthiyahu did not separate his tribe from him by saying: "...and he (Agrippa) came (her name) (to Judah) and appeared over all mankind as a king without fail, and proved the great power of luck in the lives of the children of Adam to the people who thoughtfully observed his former life and wealth at that time, some of them considered him happy that his hopes were not disappointed, and some of them could not believe what happened."
At the same time, Herod Antipas arrived in Rome with the claim of usurping his inheritance, while Agrippa sent to Rome by one of his agents, a freed slave named Fortunatus (a name, incidentally, related to his mission and the character of his master) and in his possession gifts to the emperor and fees defaming Herod Antipas and accusing him of anti-imperial conspiracies. All this to strengthen his position. Caligula was convinced and accepted Agrippa's position in all his claims.
At the same time Judah found itself in a difficult situation in the form of Caligula's order, after being influenced by the anti-Jewish arguments of Appion of Alexandria, to place his "divine" statue in the Temple in Jerusalem. The decree was annulled thanks to the involvement of Agrippa with his friend the emperor who particularly impressed him with Agrippa's great financial extravagance, and more so due to the fear that grain taxes would not reach Rome from Judea for any protest measures taken by the Jews.

At the end of his meeting with Caesar, Agrippa confessed to him as follows: "My lord, since you consider me in your affection worthy of your gifts, I will not ask for any of the things that cause wealth, because I excel to a great extent in what you have already given me (referring to the royal title and the large estates beyond the Galilee). However, (I will ask you) something that will bring you a good name as a Hasidic and will arouse God to be your ally in whatever you ask, even cause me glory with (everyone) who hears, in my opinion that under your rule I will always have everything that I need" (Kadamonyot HaYudaim 297, 296 -XNUMX). Agrippa enlists God in his persuasion campaign to remove the evil of Caligula's decree, while at the same time approving his flattery. Agrippa, as a gambler, endangered himself and his position when on the one hand he magnified the power of the god and on the other hand, if only by implication, somewhat dwarfed the power of the Roman Jupiter.

What else? Amazing! In his compilation The Wars of the Jews, Josephus completely omits Agrippa's involvement in the annulment of the emperor's decree, and attributes it to Petronius, the Roman commissioner in Syria, who, in view of the people's angry reaction to the decree, Petronius summoned leading figures in the Jewish public, we do not know who they are, and certainly does not remember Agrippa is among them, and understands, pragmatic, logical and as someone who is close to the public enslaved to him, at least geographically, and as someone who is responsible for the safety and prosperity of the Roman Empire, decided in an extraordinary way to send Caligula a panic letter, explaining in it the nature of the problem and its complexity and asking the emperor to remove the decree from his agenda. Petronius realized how much he was risking by actually not fulfilling the imperial order, which amounted to treason and was punishable by crucifixion or beheading.
The emperor was of course enraged and ordered Petronius to commit suicide, but "fate would have it" and the emperor's egret lingered in a stormy sea full of crises and 27 days before "arriving in Israel" Petronius learned of the emperor's death by the sword of assassins, and this after a term of 3 years and 8 months.

Rome was in turmoil and stood on the eve of a revolution and a military regime, and especially in light of the fact that Caligula did not appoint an heir but rather more than those who were not in her name came in her name. The Roman Senate was enraged, wanting to declare physical resistance in Claudius and lead an aristocratic regime in Rome, as was customary until the time of the emperors.
Agrippa, who was in Rome at the time and whose opinions were wooed by Claudius on one side and the Senate on the other, got caught up in this entanglement. and why? First - Agrippa is considered and was a quasi-objective factor; Second - Agrippa stayed in Rome longer than in Judea and was well acquainted with its problems;; Thirdly - Agrippa was close to Caligula and from that many of his contacts were in the imperial palace; Fourth - Agrippa was a wise man with very sharp political senses.
Agrippa first offended Claudius by assuming that he was indeed a reigning emperor, and Claudius' arguments he later brought to the attention of the Senate. The Senate refused Claudius's position and Agrippa once again set out to compromise between the parties. The compromise was finally reached and Claudius, as a tribute and tribute to Agrippa, gave him all the territories of his father Herod's kingdom and further annexed the districts in the north-east of Galilee - the Trachon and Horan and approved the giving of Caligula's inheritance - the property of Abel (Avila).

At that time there was a serious dispute between the Jews living in Alexandria and the Alexandrian Hellenistic community regarding the civil and political rights of the Jews. This dispute soon escalated into armed confrontations. This problematic exchange between the parties led Agrippa on the other hand and Herod Antipas on the other hand to turn to Caesar Claudius and ask for his intervention in the matter. Claudius immediately sent a letter to Alexandria in which he demanded that the rights of the Jews in the city not be harmed, while emphasizing his dearest friends, in his own words, Agrippa and Herod.

Agrippa returned to Jerusalem, performed a male exchange in the high priesthood, as his father Herod often did, and this to ensure her dependence on him. When he learned that the people of the city of Dar were harassing the Jews of the place, he turned to Petronius the commissioner and he, the commissioner, ordered the residents of Dar to immediately stop their wicked, provocative ways.

Slightly intoxicated with his power and abilities, Agrippa decided to significantly strengthen the walls of Jerusalem facing the new city, the so-called third wall, both in thickness and height. This move was stolen to the emperor's ears through Marsus, the Roman commissioner in Syria, and the emperor unequivocally ordered it to stop, while misleading, because what is implied by this project is an intention of anti-Roman rebellion, since in any case Agrippa had to receive official, imperial permission to carry out the project .

Agrippa was not stupid and opaque to understand that such a physical move - strengthening the walls of Jerusalem and without obtaining permission from the Romans could encounter an angry Roman reaction. So what and why? Maybe he was drunk with his power and abilities? Maybe he drew encouragement from the people's expectations of him? Perhaps he was influenced by rebellious Hasmonean ideas, and let's not forget that he himself was a scion of the Hasmonean family? And perhaps he thought to himself that his ties with the Romans would overshadow his actions?

Josephus adds interesting details in his composition The Jewish Antiquities, which do not appear in his work The Wars of the Jews. After he sails about Agrippa's generosity towards both the Jews and the Hellenistic population. He kept in purity the laws of the ancestors, was careful about the work of the sacrifices in the temple.
One day Agrippa visited Tiberias to watch a theater performance and a Jew named Shimon organized a protest against him and claimed that he had no right to enter the temple due to his origin, and according to Josephus ben Mattathias: "He is not a Hasidic and according to the law he should be prevented from entering the temple, which is due (only) To the people of the people" (Ancestors of the Jews 332 XNUMX). The claim was twofold - overt and covert. The hidden - that he is not one of the Jewish people due to his being the son of Miriam the Hasmonean on the one hand and Herod the Edomite on the other (and this despite the fact that Herod's grandfather was converted by the instruction of Yochanan Hyrcanus the Hasmonean at the time). The postcard - that Agrippa's actions do not correspond to the Jewish spirit.
Agrippa invited them to sit next to him in the theater and proved that there is no violation of Jewish law in going to the theater. Shimon was confused and apologized to Agrippa. Yosef ben Matthiyahu here praises the king's moderation and long-suffering, both in his response and in the gift he gave to Shimon.
It is interesting, by the way, that a similar affair was conducted between an extremist group and Herod, and even then in connection with Caesarea, although it is a battle between gladiators. This affair ended quite similarly.

Agrippa, as befits a king in a distinctly Hellenistic style, like Herod his father, sent huge sums to the polis cities in the region, such as to Byrotus in Syria (today Beirut), and in exchange for them, an impressively beautiful theater was built in Byrottus, a magnificent amphitheater where battles between gladiators were conducted and sometimes huge shows such as simultaneous wrestling Among 700 pairs of gladiators, and similar to his father Herod brought to the arena 700 criminals who were condemned to death "in any case" and also allocated large donations to music performances and musical and poetry competitions in that city.
Joseph ben Matthiyahu recounts an interesting event in his composition The Antiquities of the Jews, which was omitted in his work The Wars of the Jews, and perhaps we will also understand later why.
After giving the allowances and gifts to the city of Brytus, a number of regional leaders met with Agrippa: Antiochus, King of Komagini, Shamshigramus, King of Hamath, Cutis, King of Lesser Armenia, Polemon, ruler of Pontus, and Herod, his brother who ruled Chalcis. The meeting was cordial and matter-of-fact, not to mention secret and mysterious, in which Agrippa showed those present his philanthropic-Hellenistic virtues.
Marsus, the Roman commissioner of Syria, heard about the meeting and immediately suspected that it was a conspiracy of a rebellious nature, and even that it was nothing more than a "unity of opinion among so many rulers, which is not useful to the Romans" as Josephus ben Mattheya put it (Antecedents of the Jews 341, XNUMX), and this is a very diplomatic, except that it harbors typical Roman suspicion within it and certainly such meetings were avoided by order of the Romans from any ruler who was under their control and protection. The commissioner therefore hurried to dismantle this quasi-rebellious framework, ordering each of the assembled rulers to return to their home, to their property. This move angered Agrippa, but he chose to remain silent.
This episode recalls, with almost similar features, the meeting that took place between Hezekiah, king of Judah, and anti-Assyrian elements in the region, just before the Assyrian rebellion.

Not long after, Agrippa graced the Caesarea Games with his presence, wearing a garment made of silver, which made him look like the sun's rays falling on him like a god in the eyes of the spectators. And when the cries of astonishment increased among the spectators, mixed with a kind of fear at the size of his clothes, Agrippa did not stop them and did not correct himself as receiving the reactions of the spectators comparing him to a god. "But when we straightened up a short time later, he saw the fireman sitting on some kind of rope above his head. He immediately understood that it was an angel (bringing) evil, after he had once been an angel (bringing) good things, and he felt a pain in his heart. He also immediately felt a sensation in his intestines, which started strongly" (Kedmoniot Ha'Yudeim, 348, 347-XNUMX).
Was Agrippa poisoned? And if so, by whom and on whose initiative? Is there a connection between the alleged attempt to rebel in Rome and the poisoning? Was he poisoned after comparing himself to God and perhaps promoting shows in Caesarea? Is it because he acted as a Hellenistic king? And perhaps because he minted coins on which his image is stamped with an inscription in Greek - "King Agrippa", and on other coins - a royal canopy, and he went beyond this, which none of his predecessors dared to do - to stamp the portrait of the emperor Gaius Caligula on his coins, and on another coin the head of the emperor Claudius was emblazoned And on the back of the coin King Agrippa is seen sitting in a chariot drawn by four horses. On another coin appears the front of a temple with two columns and a triangular roof (gable). Another coin shows the head of Agrippa with an inscription around it - King Agrippa and the back of the coin shows the Greek goddess Tychi supporting the oar of a ship and holding a palm palm in her left. On another coin Agrippa is seen sacrificing in a bowl over a small altar. It sounds illogical on the face of it, but a coin is an authentic historical item, and you have the image of Agrippa and all that is associated with him, which disappeared, or disappeared in the writings of Joseph Ben Matthew and certainly in the literature of the Sages.

Agrippa died almost immediately after the incident in Caesarea, having "locked" behind him 11 years of rule and his character, as mentioned, is still controversial.