Gaius Julius Agrippa

Gaius Julius Agrippa (Greek: ο Γαίος Ιούλιος Άγρίππας, about 72-before 150) was a Cilician Prince and first-born son to King Gaius Julius Alexander and Queen Julia Iotapa of Cetis. His younger brother was prince Gaius Julius Alexander Berenicianus.

Surviving inscriptions on Agrippa reveals that his family were related to important members of Asian, non-Jewish and Jewish aristocracy. Agrippa was of Jewish, Armenian, Nabataean, Edomite, Greek and Medes descent. His paternal grandfather was Armenian King Julius Tigranes. Through Tigranes, he was a descendant of King Archelaus of Cappadocia, King of Judea Herod the Great and Queen Mariamne I. Agrippa with his father and brother were among the last known descendants of the Herodian Dynasty.

Agrippa through his mother, was a descendant of the Kingdom of Commagene. His maternal grandparents were King Antiochus IV of Commagene and Queen Julia Iotapa. They were descendants from the Greek Syrian Kingdom the Seleucid Empire and the Greek Egyptian Kingdom the Ptolemaic dynasty.

The Kingdom of Cetis was a small client state under the Roman Empire. Cetis was a small distinct in Cilicia that was previously ruled by Antiochus IV and his royal ancestors from Commagene. The Roman city in Cilicia Elaiussa Sebaste was apart of the Kingdom. When Agrippa’s parents married in Rome in 58, then Emperor Nero crowned his parents as monarchs and gave them that distinct to rule.

Agrippa was born, raised and educated in Cetis. Agrippa like his brother and father was an Apostasy to Judaism. However, his name indicates that the family connections from the Herodian Dynasty were not wholly broken. It is unlikely that Agrippa attempted to exert influence on Judean Politics. 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. A possible descendant of Agrippa or his brother was the usurper of the 3rd century Jotapianus.

ources

*http://www.roman-emperors.org/philarab.htm
* [http://books.google.com.au/books?id=N7MfAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA137&lpg=PA137&dq=Josephus+and+Judaeans&source=web&ots=SEyM2xsmUF&sig=cnUmwXLFJReya8TtjcLsGbNoKes&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result]
* [http://books.google.com.au/books?id=QHrQoDLNBUIC&pg=PT19&lpg=PT19&dq=Iotape+of+Commagene&source=web&ots=aZ3hKg3uDr&sig=Y_zdZhNP-qNZE6WIDNivPPm-Urg&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=8&ct=result]