The Memoirs of Herod Agrippa II

Chapter SEVEN - Malatha

They ended up in an old castle in a nondescript village called Malatha just outside Beersheba. It wasn't even in Idumaea, being just across its southern border beyond the point that the rocky Judaean hills drop down towards the parched desert of Sinai. You have to imagine what this must have felt like to a man like my father who had grown accustomed to the urban, indeed urbane luxuries of Rome. Naturally enough, living on this impoverished desert rock in the middle of nowhere, Agrippa began to get depressed. His hopes seem to have died along with Postumus and Drusus. His life at court was over and he was no longer a youth with prospects and saw no possible way of reviving his fortunes. The story goes (although it may have been put about by Kypros later on) that he became suicidal and threatened to jump off one of the castle walls. I don't suppose that it took much to dissuade him but clearly he was at the nadir of his fortunes. And things didn't get much better.

Kypros, however, had the strength of character to keep him from quite ruining the family. It was she who looked around at the local landscape to see what might be done. When King Herod had died, none of his brothers were still alive. Of that generation only his sister, Salomé survived. Knowing that Augustus would never tolerate so large a kingdom under any other control, his will divided it up between his children. His elder son, Archelaus, the son of Malthake, was made king of Judaea, Samaria and Idumaea which was the heart of the old kingdom and his other son, Antipas, became Tetrarch of Galilee with Peraea, the land which lay to the east of Galilee across the Jordan. Their half-brother, Philip whose mother was the Jerusalem Jewess, Cleopatra, became Tetrarch of the north eastern lands of the old kingdom, that is, Bataneae, Trachonitis and Auranitis, the lands at the foot of Mount Hermon. Old Salomé was now in safe retirement as mistress of Jamnia and Azotus, on the southern coast and Phasaelis in the valley of the Jordan, lands which were administered by Archelaus. Kypros' gaze now turned towards Galilee and Antipas who was both her husband's uncle and his brother-in-law by virtue of his marriage to Herodias. This Herodias had married Antipas after divorcing her uncle, Herod Philip. Although this was by now perfectly acceptable behaviour in Rome, it was not so in the east and the pair were hardly popular. They made a strange couple, as he was a typical Herodian, of middle height, slim and rather delicate with a gentle if dull face, full head of hear and carefully tended beard. A self-conscious and timid man. Herodias was a dark haired and dark eyed beauty who towered above her husband in more ways than one. She was much to jealous of her power and guarded it jealously and with much more concern than her husband who was now quietly easing into middle age and felt ready to enjoy it in peace.

Kypros and Herodias were not friends but needs must, so she wrote to Herodias carefully burnishing her ego.

Dear Herodias, she wrote. Blessings be upon you and upon your house. You may not be surprised to receive this as you must know by now that Agrippa and I are in need. Nothing stays quiet for long even in these remote stretches of desert. Our debts forced us out of Rome too soon after our marriage there. We have nothing but debts to our names and my dear husband is having his black moods again and threatening all sorts of things. He needs to put his active mind to some task or it dwells too much in the dark and there is great danger in that. Your dear husband must have need of people like him in the many activities of government for which he has such great responsibility. I ask only that you request some employment for Agrippa so as to keep him from doing something desperate. If you and Antipas can find some way to help both he and I will keep it in our hearts forever. All blessing from you sister-in-law.

This letter cost her a great deal and she sent it in secret, saying nothing to Agrippa who would have burnt it. Herodias took some pleasure in sending her answer and graciously agreeing to have the couple at their court where she could enjoy lording it over them. The letter I no longer have but they were invited to Galilee and made their way there as soon as possible, glad to escape their desert confines.