Gaius Julius Agrippa

Gaius Julius Agrippa
senator, quaestor of Asia, (suffect) consul
Bornc. 72
Diedbefore 150
SpouseFabia
IssueGaius Julius Agrippa
Lucius Julius Gainius Fabius Agrippa
DynastyHerodian dynasty
FatherGaius Julius Alexander
MotherJulia Iotapa (daughter of Antiochus IV)

Gaius Julius Agrippa (about 72 – before 150) was a Cilician Prince and the first-born son of King Gaius Julius Alexander and Queen Julia Iotapa of Cetis. He had two younger siblings: a brother called Gaius Julius Alexander Berenicianus and a sister called Julia Iotapa.

Surviving inscriptions on his family reveal that his family were related to important members of Asian, non-Jewish and Jewish aristocracy. He was of Jewish, Nabataean, Edomite, Greek, Armenian, Medes and Persian origins. His paternal grandparents were King Tigranes VI of Armenia and his wife Opgalli. Through Tigranes, he was a descendant of King Archelaus of Cappadocia, King of Judea Herod the Great and his wife Mariamne. Agrippa along with his family and paternal relatives were among the last known descendants of the Herodian Dynasty. He was an apostate to Judaism. It is unlikely that Agrippa attempted to exert influence on Judean Politics. His name indicates that the family connections from the Herodian Dynasty were not wholly broken. His maternal grandparents were King Antiochus IV of Commagene and Queen Julia Iotapa.

The Kingdom of Cetis was a small client state in the Roman Empire. Cetis was a small region in Cilicia that was previously ruled by his Cappadocian royal ancestors and Antiochus IV. The city in Cilicia Elaiussa Sebaste was a part of the Kingdom. When his parents married in Rome in 58, then Roman Emperor Nero crowned his parents as monarchs and gave them that region to rule. He was born, raised and educated in Cetis.

There is an honorific inscription dedicated to him as a ‘son of King Alexander’. In 94, Agrippa along with his brother Berenicianus entered the Roman Senate. Surviving inscriptions also reveal the career of Agrippa. Agrippa became and served as a Quaestor for the Roman Province of Asia. Before 109, Agrippa served as a Praetorian Guard, before his father reached and served as a consul or suffect consul.

Agrippa married a Roman woman who belonged or was related to the Fabia gens. From this marriage Agrippa had two sons, a younger Gaius Julius Agrippa and Lucius Julius Gainius Fabius Agrippa. A possible descendant from his family was the usurper of the 3rd century Jotapianus.

Family tree of the Herodian dynasty

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There are three princes by the name Phasael in the Herodian dynasty, all three mentioned by Josephus in "War" (BJ) and "Antiquities" (AJ):[1]

  • Phasael I, son of Antipater and Cypros (BJ 1.181; AJ 14.121)[1]
  • Phasael II, son of Phasael I (BJ 1.266; AJ 17.196)[1]
  • Phasael III, son of Herod the Great (BJ 1.181; AJ 14.121)[1] and father of Cypros/Kypros, wife of Agrippa I[2]
Antipater the Idumaean
procurator of Judea
1.Doris
2.Mariamne I
3.Mariamne II
4.Malthace
Herod I the Great
king of Judea
5.Cleopatra of Jerusalem
6.Pallas
7.Phaidra
8.Elpis
Phasael
governor of Jerusalem
(1) Antipater
heir of Judaea
(2) Alexander I
prince of Judea
(2) Aristobulus IV
prince of Judea
(3) Herod II Philip
prince of Judea
(4) Herod Archelaus
ethnarch of Judea, Idumea
(4) Herod Antipas
tetrarch of Galilea & Perea
(5) Philip the Tetrarch
of Iturea & Trachonitis
Tigranes V of ArmeniaAlexander II
prince of Judea
Herod Agrippa I
king of Judea
Herod V
ruler of Chalcis
Aristobulus Minor
Tigranes VI of ArmeniaHerod Agrippa II
king of Judea
Aristobulus
ruler of Chalcis
Gaius Julius Alexander
ruler of Cilicia
Gaius Julius Agrippa
quaestor of Asia
Gaius Julius Alexander Berenicianus
proconsul of Asia
Lucius Julius Gainius Fabius Agrippa
gymnasiarch
  1. ^ a b c d Norris, Jérôme (26 April 2017). "A woman's Hismaic inscription from the Wādī Ramm desert: AMJ 2/J.14202 (Amman Museum)". Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy. 28 (1): 90–109. doi:10.1111/aae.12086. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  2. ^ "Phasaelus". The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible. 26 April 2017. pp. 90–109. Retrieved 24 April 2024 – via BibleGateway.com.