The Memoirs of Herod Agrippa II

Chapter SIX - Agrippa Marries

Chapter SIX Agrippa marries

With Postumus gone, Agrippa turned his attention to Drusus who was, if anything, worse than Postumus and my father was now getting deeper and deeper into debt.

In the midst of all this, Agrippa got married. His father had chosen a bride from within his own family. She was Kypros (which means the flower of the Henna) and came trailing a splendid Herodian pedigree. And this from both sides of her family. In one line she was descended from Herod himself through Salampsio, the daughter of his wife, Mariamme I who had been the sister of Aristobulus. She was thus closely linked to the man who should later have been king had he not been ignominiously drowned by Herod in his last crazy moments. On the other side, she was Agrippa's first cousin. Herod had evidently always said that it was better to keep things in the family so all to the good. She now came to him to be wed in Rome.

Agrippa was waiting at the quayside at Ostia as her boat pulled in. He saw her from the jetty standing in the prow of the small vessel that had brought her from Rhodes and immediately hired a lighter which took him out to her, weaving its way among the mêlée of shipping and shouting of the harbour. Once alongside, he grappled his way up the boarding ladder and stood there on the deck looking at the back of her veiled head for a moment. Even though she was wearing a rough traveling cloak to keep out the cold and spray he could note her regal way of moving and the black hair of all her tribe. She must have sensed his gaze for she turned to face him as he made his way towards her along the deck and reaching her, lifting her veil before she could prevent it, gazed for a long moment into her eyes and raising her face with his hand under her chin, gave her a kiss. She moved her head aside but was not displeased at what she saw. They would make a good couple. She was, like so many of the family, a beauty and one look at her was enough to convince Agrippa. In any event he had no desire to refuse his father and he knew a good match when he saw one. She had all the vivacity and instinct for survival of her family and had inherited a stronger spine than her mercurial husband, a backbone that was to stand them in good stead over the difficult years ahead.

Herod had sent her to Rome for the ceremony which was performed under the choopa, the canopy always used for Jewish weddings, Herod being a stickler for following all religion regulations to the letter wherever possible, especially the more public ones. Agrippa invited a great many guests some from outside the capital and some from Rome itself. There was, of course, a large Jewish community in Rome near the Porta Capena which had been given some rights by Augustus but was still frowned upon by some. News got around and many who had not been invited joined the crowd in the street outside our palace. Luckily this was for the most part a peaceful enough gathering. Inside, the wedding was celebrated in the usual way and the new pair then made their way onto the balcony to satisfy the curiosity of the crowd in the street below. The celebrations went on a little to long for Jewish propriety. The following day they had a round of parties which Herod would have been less pleased to have witnessed. There was another party at the villa and visits to his Roman friends. He spent most of the day boasting that he was from thenceforth a new man and would be behaving more like a husband than a reckless bachelor. I suppose he hoped that his creditors might be impressed by his new promises to control his finances. This was a convenient moment anyway to pull in his horns, as such profligacy was no longer an option. Kypros knew this and made him know it. I never knew whether Zhirach, to whom he owed the bulk of his money, was convinced. looking back on it, probably not.

As much as he may have wanted to be rid of his huge debts, the debts were not yet ready leave him alone. He was now beginning to look a little isolated. Postumus was banished and out of favour and then Drusus died mysteriously of the shivers after one of Agrippa's overindulgent banquets.