(35) The Fate of the Impostor Theudas, and of the Sons of Judas the Galilæan
For the relation of this passage to Acts v. 36 f., where Theudas and Judas occur in juxtaposition, see [Appendix, Note IV].
A.D. 44-(?)
Now when Fadus was procurator of Judæa, a certain impostor named Theudas persuaded the mass of the rabble to take their belongings with them and follow him to the river Jordan; for he said that he was a prophet and would by a word of command divide the river and afford them an easy passage;[[213]] and by these words he deceived many. Fadus, however, did not allow them to reap the benefit of their folly. He despatched against them a troop of horse which fell upon them unexpectedly and slew many and took many of them prisoners. They caught Theudas himself alive, cut off his head and carried it to Jerusalem. This was what befell the Jews under the procuratorship of Cuspius Fadus.
Tiberius Alexander came as successor to Fadus. He was the son of that Alexander who was Alabarch[[214]] in Alexandria, and was by birth and wealth the foremost man of his time in that city. The father excelled the son, moreover, in his pious worship of God; for the latter did not hold fast to his hereditary religion. It was under his governorship that the great famine befell Judæa, when Queen Helena purchased corn from Egypt at a great price and distributed it to the starving population, as I have already narrated.[[215]]
It was now, too, that there were brought up (for trial)[[216]] the sons of that Judas of Galilee who induced the people to revolt from the Romans when Quirinius was engaged in the assessment of Judæa, as we have narrated in a previous book.[[217]] Alexander gave orders that (the sons of Judas named) James and Simon should be crucified.—Ant. XX. 5. 1 f. (97-102).
(36) Agrippa II, Felix and Drusilla
All three characters appear in the Acts. Agrippa II (the son of Agrippa I) with his sister Bernice and Festus, the Roman governor, listened to St. Paul’s defence at Cæsarea (Acts xxv. xxvi.). Felix, the predecessor of Festus, with Drusilla his wife had a private interview with the Apostle; the circumstances of their marriage described below throw light on the governor’s terror “as” Paul “reasoned of righteousness and temperance and the judgement to come” (Acts xxiv. 24 f.).
The influence exercised by the Cypriot sorcerer, Atomos, over the Roman governor, finds a curious parallel in the relations of Elymas and Sergius Paulus (Acts xiii. 6 ff.). The Jewish magician there too resides in Cyprus, and in the “Western” text bears a name strangely similar to that of the friend of Felix (Ετ[ο]ιμας, Etoemas, ib. xiii. 8, cod. D).
The Emperor then |A.D. 52| sent Claudius Felix, the brother of Pallas,[[218]] to take over the administration of Judæa. Moreover, when he had now completed the twelfth year of his reign, |A.D. 53| he bestowed upon Agrippa the tetrarchy of Philip and (the region of) Batanæa, adding also Trachonitis, together with the former tetrarchy of Lysanias, namely Abella.[[219]] At the same time he deprived him of the kingdom of Chalcis,[[220]] which he had held for four years.