Herod Agrippa II sibling Drusilla
Rise in power
On the death of king Herod of Chalcis in 48, his small Syrian realm of Chalcis was given to Agrippa, with the right of superintending the Temple in Jerusalem and appointing its high priest, but only as a tetrarch.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, namely, Iturea, Trachonitis, Batanea, Gaulanitis, Auranitis and Paneas, as well as the kingdom of Lysanias in Abila. The tetrarchy of Chalcis was subsequently in 57 given to his cousin, Aristobulus (Acts 25:13; 26:2,7). Herod Agrippa celebrated by marrying off his two sisters Mariamne and Drusilla. Flavius 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 fourteen villages near it, in Peraea.It was before Agrippa and his sister Berenice that, according to the New Testament, Paul the Apostle pleaded his case at Caesarea Maritima, probably in 59 or 60 (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 his coreligionists.
brother or sister kin