Editing Herod Agrippa (section)

===Death of Caligula and installation of Claudius===
[[Image:Claudius (M.A.N. Madrid) 01.jpg|thumb|Bronze bust of Claudius.]]
On January 24, 41,<ref>Major, A., ''Was He Pushed or Did He Leap? Claudius' Ascent to Power'', ''Ancient History'', 22 (1992), {{p.|25–31}}.</ref> Caligula was assassinated by a large-scale conspiracy, notably involving the [[Praetorian Guard|praetorian]] commander [[Cassius Chaerea]] as well as several senators. The conspirators intended to return to a republic.<ref name="Hadas-Lebel 2009, p.85">{{harvsp|Hadas-Lebel|2009|p=85}}.</ref> Yet it was Claudius, Caligula's uncle, who was pushed to imperial power by the anti-republicans under curious conditions<ref name="Lémonon 190"/> at the center of which Agrippa I gravitated. Claudius was certainly erudite but nevertheless excessively shy, afflicted with a physical handicap and without particular ambition.<ref name="Hadas-Lebel 2009, p.85"/> The support of his childhood friend,<ref name="Schwentzel 2011, p.230">{{harvsp|Schwentzel|2011|p=230}}.</ref> as well as his maneuvers, seem to have been decisive in his ascent to power.

Josephus and Roman historian [[Cassius Dio]]<ref name="Hadas-Lebel 2009, p.85"/> both state that Agrippa I indeed played a significant role in the choice of the new emperor.<ref name="Schwentzel 2011, p.230"/> It was he who led a squad of the [[Praetorian Guard]] to the palace in search of Claudius, who had hidden there for fear of being assassinated.<ref name="Schwentzel 2011, p.230"/> It was also at his instigation that the praetorians proclaimed Claudius emperor because without a sovereign, the guard lost its ''raison d'être''.<ref name="Goodman 2009, p.114">{{harvsp|Goodman|2009|p=114}}.</ref> He then went to the [[Capitoline Hill|Capitol]] where the senators met in conclave<ref name="Goodman 2009, p.114"/> and acted as intermediaries between them and Claudius.<ref name="Schwentzel 2011, p.230"/> He inspired Claudius with a response to the senators, "in conformity with the dignity of his power,"<ref>Flavius Josephus, ''AJ'' XIX, 245, quoted by Mireille Hadas-Lebel, op. cit. p. 85.</ref> and he persuaded them to wisely abandon their idea of a republic, arguing that a new emperor has been proclaimed by the praetorians—of whom he pointed out that 'they surround the meeting"—and expected nothing but their enthusiastic support.<ref name="Goodman 2009, p.114"/> The senators proclaimed Claudius emperor, and Agrippa I recommended that Claudius be lenient vis-à-vis the conspirators, except for the regicides Cassius Chaerea and Lupus.<ref name="Hadas-Lebel 2009, p.85"/>[[File:Royaume Agrippa Ier.svg|thumb|upright=1.5|Evolution of the Kingdom of Agrippa I.]]

If these stories are to be believed, this episode made Claudius obligated by his childhood friend,<ref name="Hadas-Lebel 2009, p.85" /> and this devotion earned him a sizeable reward: Agrippa I saw his possessions increased by most of the ancient kingdom of [[Herod Archelaus]]—[[Judea]], [[Idumea]] and [[Samaria]]—but also the city of [[Abila Lysaniou|Abila]] in [[Anti-Lebanon Mountains|Anti-Lebanon]] so that he reigned over a territory as vast as that of his grandfather Herod the Great.<ref name="Goodman 2009, p.114" /> According to Cassius Dio, Claudius also granted his friend [[Roman consul|consular]] rank and authorized him "to appear in the senate and express his gratitude in Greek". To mark the considerable status of Agrippa I, a treaty was ratified with the Senate and the people of Rome on the Forum,<ref name="Goodman 2009, p.115">{{harvsp|Goodman|2009|p=115}}.</ref> which took up the old treaties of friendship and Judeo-Roman alliance.<ref name="Hadas-Lebel 2009, p.85" /> Agrippa I was declared there ''rex amicus et socius Populi Romani''—as his grandfather had been in 40 BC.—and the text is preserved on bronze tablets in the temple of [[Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus|Jupiter Capitolinus]].<ref name="Schwentzel 2011, p.231">{{harvsp|Schwentzel|2011|p=231}}.</ref>

Soon after his inauguration, Agrippa I embarked for Judaea.<ref name="Goodman 2009, p.115" /> It was the same year that Berenice, daughter of Agrippa I, united under the patronage of the emperor<ref name="Schwentzel 2011, p.231" /> to [[Marcus Julius Alexander|Marcus]], the son of the [[alabarch]] of Alexandria, [[Alexander the Alabarch|Alexander Lysimachus]] whom Claudius had freed from the captivity to which the reduced Caligula.<ref name="Hadas-Lebel 2009, p.85" /> Claudius' accession to the throne also marked the restoration of several other kingdoms in Asia Minor. Agrippa I's brother [[Herod of Chalcis]] received a royal title, was granted the principality of [[Anjar, Lebanon|Chalcis]] (previously attached to the kingdom of [[Iturea]]<ref name="Mimouni 2012, p.409">{{harvsp|Mimouni|2012|p=409}}.</ref>) and was honored in Rome with the title of praetor.<ref name="Goodman 2009, p.115" /> He would marry his niece, Bérénice, after the premature death of her young husband.<ref name="Hadas-Lebel 2009, p.85" />