CALIGULA.
Herod Agrippa was the son of Aristobulus, one of the unfortunate sons of Mariamne, who, like their unhappy mother, had perished by the cruelty of Herod the Great. He had, therefore, Jewish blood in his veins; and when, by the favour of a succeeding emperor, Judea and Samaria were added to his dominions, he made efforts to win to himself the affections of the people whom he governed. He began to encompass Jerusalem with a magnificent wall, which he deemed would render it impregnable—thus emulating the noble work of Nehemiah, although influenced by a very different spirit.
The greatness and prosperity of this king inflamed the ambition of his uncle. “Why should Herod Agrippa enjoy the regal title, while Herod Antipas remains but a tetrarch?” such were the envious reflections of the tyrant. His partner, the detestable Herodias, more than shared his ambition. She urged Herod Antipas to go in person to the emperor at Rome, assuring him that it was only because he had not appeared before Cæsar (such was the title then common to the Roman despots) that he was destitute of royal dignity.
It was meet that Herodias, who had been Herod’s tempter to crime, should be also his tempter to ruin, and then share the misery which she had wrought.
Herod Antipas sailed for Rome. Herod Agrippa followed his uncle, not to befriend, but to accuse. The emperor lent a willing ear to his favourite. The tetrarch of Galilee was not suffered to return to the land which he had stained with innocent blood. He was banished to Spain, and his dominions were bestowed on Herod Agrippa.
Herodias followed the tetrarch to the place of his banishment. There he who had slain the Baptist, and mocked the Baptist’s Lord, died an exile from his country.
The fate of Pilate was yet more striking. After ruling over Judea for ten years, he was deprived of his office for his malpractices, involved in various calamities, and banished to Vienne in Gaul. There despair overwhelmed this miserable man, deprived of that favour to retain which he had sacrificed his conscience and his soul. Pilate put an end to his own life by that hand from which he had once vainly attempted to wash the stain of the blood of the Messiah.
In the year 44 a.d., Herod Agrippa the king, in order to win the favour of the Jews, openly joined the persecutors of the Church. James, one of the apostles, was put to death by the tyrant; and Peter would have shared the same fate, had he not been delivered from prison at night by the intervention of an angel.