AGRIPPA II (Marcus Iulius; or Herod Agrippa)
— Son of the preceding, born in 27–28 AD, died probably between 92 and 93. Educated at the imperial court, he was still in Rome at the death of his father, whose kingdom he could not inherit as he was only seventeen.
In 49 he obtained from Claudius the kingdom of Chalcis; in 53, instead of this, the tetrarchies of Philip and Lysanias, and in 55 from Nero the cities of Tiberias, Tarichea, Iulias (Livias) with fourteen toparchies, and Abila. He supplied troops to the Romans in the Jewish War. From Claudius he received oversight of the Temple and the privilege of appointing the high priests. He appointed six of them and deposed Ananus for having stoned James “the brother of the Lord.” He failed to have demolished the wall built by the priests to prevent his view of the sacred rites. He embellished Caesarea Philippi, renaming it Neronias, and Beirut in particular. An inscription at Baalbek styles him “Patronus col(oniae).”
When he came with his sister Berenice to greet the new procurator Porcius Festus at Caesarea, he acknowledged Paul’s innocence, confessing that it was “only a little” (Acts 25:13–26:32) that he had almost persuaded him to become a Christian.
Returning from Alexandria in 66, he urged the people of Jerusalem to desist from rebellion against the Romans, then sent 3,000 cavalry to suppress II. He took part in the expedition of Cestius Gallus with 3,000 infantry and about 2,000 cavalry, and in that of Vespasian and Titus with the whole army, being wounded in the siege of Gamala. From 67 he was restored to his kingdom. In 68 he sailed with Titus in warships to Rome to greet the new emperor Galba. As soon as he learned of Vespasian’s proclamation, he returned to the East. In 70 he celebrated with Titus at Caesarea Philippi the victory over the Jews. In 75 he was again in Rome, where he received the praetorian insignia and further territorial additions to his kingdom. He wrote sixty-two letters in support of the history of the Jewish War by Flavius Josephus. For a time his secretary was the historian Justus of Tiberias. He is not known to have had a wife; he was accused of living incestuously with Berenice. He was an able and cultivated ruler. His pro-Roman stance is evidenced by coins and inscriptions, for example that at Baalbek: “(rex) magnus Ag(rip)pa Pius Philocaeas er Philoromaeus.”