Editing Herod Agrippa II (section)

==Rise in power==
[[File:Palestine in the time of Agrippa II (Smith, 1915).jpg|thumb|Map of Judea in the time of Agrippa II]]
[[File:The Herods of the Bible.svg|thumb|Schematic family tree showing the ''Herods'' of the Bible]]
On the death of king [[Herod of Chalcis]] in 48, his small Syrian realm of [[Chalcis (ancient state)|Chalcis]] was given to Agrippa, with the right of superintending the [[Temple in Jerusalem]] and appointing its high priest, but only as a [[Herodian tetrarchy|tetrarch]].<ref>{{Cite JE1906| url= http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=913&letter=A&search=Agrippa%20II |title= Agrippa II}}: "In the year 50, without regard to the rights of the heir to the throne, he had himself appointed… to the kingdom of Chalcis by the emperor, and also to the supervisorship of the Temple at Jerusalem, which carried with it the right of nominating the high priest."</ref><ref>[https://www.livius.org/articles/person/herod-agrippa-ii/ Herod Agrippa II] at Livius.org</ref>

In 53, Agrippa was forced to give up the tetrarchy of Chalcis, but in exchange Claudius made him ruler with the title of king over the territories previously governed by [[Philip the Tetrarch|Philip]]—[[Iturea]], [[Lajat|Trachonitis]], [[Batanea]], [[Gaulanitis]], [[Auranitis]] and [[Paneas]]—as well as the kingdom of [[Lysanias]] in [[Abila Lysaniou|Abila]].<ref>[[Josephus]], ''[[Antiquities of the Jews|Antiquities]]'' (book 20, chapter 7, verse 1); Josephus, ''[[Wars of the Jews]]'' (book 2, chapter 12, verse 8).</ref><ref name=Hoehner1980>{{Cite book |last= Hoehner |first=Harold W.|author-link=Harold Hoehner|title=Herod Antipas |page= 108 |publisher= Zondervan |series= Contemporary evangelical perspectives: biblical history | volume = 17 |year=1980|orig-year= 1972 |isbn= 978-0-31042251-8 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Aw00tXpMSpIC&pg=PA108|access-date=2016-09-10}}</ref><ref name= Orr2018>{{Cite book |editor-last =Orr | editor-first = James|editor-link=James Orr (theologian)|title=The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia|publisher=Delmarva|page=6669|year=2018|orig-year= 1939 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=zSDsCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT6669 |access-date= 2016-09-16}}</ref> The tetrarchy of Chalcis was subsequently in 57 given to his cousin [[Aristobulus of Chalcis|Aristobulus]] ({{bibleverse|Acts 25:13; 26:2,7|multi=yes}}). Agrippa celebrated by marrying off his two sisters Mariamne and Drusilla. [[Josephus]], the Jewish historian, repeats the gossip that Agrippa lived in an incestuous relationship with his sister Berenice.

In 55, the Emperor [[Nero]] added to Agrippa's realm the cities of [[Tiberias]] and [[Taricheae]] in [[Galilee]], and [[Livias]] (Iulias), with 14 villages near it, in [[Perea (region)|Peraea]]. It was before Agrippa and Berenice that, according to the [[New Testament]], [[Paul the Apostle]] pleaded his case at [[Caesarea Maritima]], probably in 59 or 60 ({{bibleverse|Acts|26}}).

Agrippa expended large sums in beautifying [[Jerusalem]] and other cities, especially [[Berytus]] (ancient Beirut), a Hellenised city in Phoenicia. His partiality for the latter rendered him unpopular amongst his own subjects, and the capricious manner in which he appointed and deposed the high priests made him disliked by the Jews.

[[File:Nikolai Bodarevsky 001.jpg|thumb|right|270px|[[Nikolai Bodarevsky]], 1875, ''Apostle Paul on Trial''. Agrippa and [[Berenice (daughter of Herod Agrippa I)|Berenice]] are both seated on thrones.]]