AGRIPPA II (Marcus Iulius; or ERODE AGRIPPA). — Son of the preceding, born in A.D. 27–28, died probably between 92 and 93. Educated at the imperial court, he was still in Rome when his father died; being seventeen years old, he was unable to inherit the kingdom. In 49 he obtained from Claudius the kingdom of Chalcis; in 53, in place of this, the tetrarchies of Philip and Lysanias; and in 55, from Nero, the cities of Tiberias, Tarichea, and Iulius (Livias), with 14 toparchies, as well as Abila. He supplied troops to the Romans in the Parthian war. From Claudius he received supervision of the Temple and the privilege of appointing the high priests. He appointed six, and deposed Ananus for having stoned James, “the brother of the Lord.” He was unable to have the wall demolished that the priests had built to prevent him from seeing the sacred ceremonies. He embellished Caesarea Philippi, calling it Neroniad, and especially Berytus. In an inscription at Baalbek he is designated “Patronus col(oniae).” Having come with his sister Berenice to Caesarea to greet the new procurator Porcius Festus, he acknowledged Paul’s innocence, confessing to him that ἐν ὀλίγῳ (in a little while?) he would have persuaded him to become a Christian (Act. 25, 13–26, 32).
Returning from Alexandria in 66, he urged the people of Jerusalem to desist from rebellion against the Romans. Then he sent 3000 cavalrymen to suppress II. He took part in Cestius Gallus’s expedition with 3000 infantrymen and about 2000 cavalrymen, and in that of Vespasian and Titus with the entire army, being wounded during the siege of Gamala. From 67 onward he regained possession of his kingdom. In 68 he sailed with Titus on warships for Rome, to greet the new emperor Galba. He returned to the East as soon as he learned of Vespasian’s proclamation. In 70 he celebrated the victory over the Jews with Titus at Caesarea Philippi. In 75 he was again in Rome, where he obtained the praetorian insignia and further enlargements of his kingdom. He wrote 62 letters in support of Flavius Josephus’s history of the Jewish war. For some time he had as his secretary the historian Justus of Tiberias. There is no evidence that he had a wife; he was accused of living incestuously with Berenice. He was an able and cultivated ruler. His pro-Roman sympathies are attested by the coins and inscriptions, for example that of Baalbek: “(rex) magnus Ag(rip)pa Pius Philocaesar et Philoromaeus.”