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materially contributed to establish Claudius upon the throne to which he had been elevated by the soldiery. Although his conduct on this occasion by no means redounded to his honour, for while he professed to be in the interests of the senate, he secretly advised Claudius not to abandon his own fortune, yet he greatly aggrandized his own consequence and power. The grateful emperor bestowed upon him all the provinces which had formerly constituted the dominions of Herod the Great, and after having been a fugitive and an exile, he became one of the most powerful potentates of the East.

Describe the administration of Agrippa.

When Agrippa returned to his kingdom, his administration gave high satisfaction to the Jews. hung up in the temple the golden chain which had been given to him by Caligula, as a memorial at once of the instability of human affairs, and of the protecting providence of God. He manifested great mildness and clemency upon some irritating occasions, he proved himself to be zealous for the religious institutions of the Jews, and appears to have been sincerely desirous of promoting the happiness of his people. He increased and strengthened the fortifications of Terusalem, and would have rendered the city impreghad it not been for the jealousy of Vibius Marprefect of Syria. But though his influence t, that five kings attended him at Tiberias, magene, the king of Lesser Armenia, otus, the king of Emesa, and Herod ng of Chalcis, he had by no means ty and was a monarch only in occasion, though he paid to intrude upon the company

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number of the Christians had surprisingly increased, not only in Judæa but in various provinces of the Roman empire. Agrippa, to gratify the inveterate malignity of the Jews and to signalise his own attachment to the superseded institutions of his country, attempted to arrest the progress and to annihilate the existence of the supposed sectaries by that most senseless of all foolish expedients, a violent persecution. James, the brother of the evangelist John, in this persecution sealed the profession of his faith by an honourable martyrdom, and the apostle Peter would have shared his fate had he not been delivered from a prison by the miraculous interposition of an angel of God.

Give an account of a persecution of the Jews in Mesopotamia.

Josephus has given a romantic history of A. D. 32. two Mesopotamian Jews, Asinai and Anilai, brothers and orphans, who from a situation of obscurity, rose into notoriety at the head of a band of robbers. The governor of Babylon found it necessary to march a body of troops against them, and on the Sabbath the attack was made in the expectation that the Jews, from their reverence for that day, would fall an easy prey to the assailants. But the Parthians were mistaken, they were defeated by the gallant brothers with great slaughter, and such was the reputation which the Jews obtained by their victory, that Artabanus, the Parthian monarch, condescended to offer them terms of accommodation. The terms were ac cepted; Asinai and Anilai repaired to his court; the gallantry and personal endowments of the young Jews recommended them to the royal favour, and Asinai was speedily elevated to the supreme authority in Babylonia. But in power he became a profligate; his career was short; he was poisoned by a Parthian woman he had seduced, and whose husband he had slain. Anilai succeeded him in his dignity. Retaining the desperate habits of a robber chieftain, he attacked the country of Mithridates, one of the principal satraps of the country; the early successes of Anilai were followed by fatal reverses; and though even in defeat he made himself terrible, and his resources appeared to be exhaustless, he was at length surprised, and with

all his companions he was slain. The outrages of Anilai and Asinai excited the indignation of the Babylonians against all their brethren, and in every quarter they rose upon them with murderous fury. In Selencia above fifty thousand Jews were slain, and the gleam of grandeur which brightened upon them during the prosperity of Anilai and Asinai, for ever passed away.

How did the reign of Agrippa terminate?

A. D, 44.

Melancholy was the termination of the life and reign of Agrippa. Celebrating some magnificent games at Cæsarea in honour of the emperor Claudius, he entered the assembly in a gorgeous robe which glittered in the sun-beams and excited the admiration of the multitude. The deputies of Tyre and Sidon, who had been sent to solicit the cessation of some disputes with him, appeared before his throne, and Agrippa delivered to them an oration explanatory of his intentions. "It is the voice of a God, and not of a man," loudly exclaimed the sycophantic courtiers, and the ridiculous acclamation was reiterated by the multitude. The king, intoxicated with vanity, greedily received the applause, but the hand of God was upon him, he was struck with a horrible disease, he was carried to his palace, and at the end of five days, racked with tormenting pains and eaten up with worms, he expired. Such is the pageantry of royalty, such is the glory of a throne, bubbles that burst in the grasp, shadows that vanish in a moment, fleeting visions that disappear in the midst of their splen dour.

What remarkable circumstance is related in connexion with this event?

The Jewish historian relates a curious narrative in connexion with this event. He says that during the time of Agrippa's imprisonment in Rome, an owl came and perched over his head. A German, who was confined with him in the same dungeon, told him that the appearance of the bird augured his future happiness and glory, but he added that when the bird came again, it would be ominous of his death within five days. When Agrippa was listening to the applauses of the assen

at Cæsarea, he saw an owl again over his head upon a rope. His heart was instantly struck with the most melancholy forebodings, and he said, "Your god will soon suffer the common lot of mortality." The prediction we have seen was verified.

What was the duration of Agrippa's reign, and what was his family?

Agrippa had reigned seven years, when he died in the fifty-fourth year of his age. He left a son of the same name then seventeen years of age, and three daughters, Berenice, married to Herod king of Chalcis, and Mariamne and Drusilla both young and unmarried. The name of the latter will again appear in this history.

SECTION II.

ADMINISTRATION OF THE ROMAN GOVERNORS.

DESCRIBE the manner in which after the death of Agrippa Judæa again became a Roman province.

UPON the death of Agrippa, the emperor Claudius was about to bestow the kingdom upon his son, but he was dissuaded from his intention by his counsellors who thought that he was too young to be intrusted with the reins of government. Judæa therefore again became a Roman province.

Who was the first Roman governor of Judæa after the death of Agrippa?

Cuspius Fadus was the first governor of Judæa. He was commanded, immediately upon his arrival in Judæa, to send away the legions in Sebaste and Cæsarea into Pontus, and to replace them by other troops. These soldiers had disgraced themselves by offering the grossest indignities to the memory of the late king. Unhappily Fadus did not execute his orders, and the continued stay of these legions in Judæa produced the worst consequences. When Fadus commenced his administration, the country was distressed

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