1. Aretasat DorTnniCJi^.— This Aretas (the fourth Aretas in the line of Nabatiean kings, on which dyna-sty see Schurer, HJP I. ii. 348 ff.) reigned within the rough limits B.C. 9- A.D. 40 ; the e.\act dates are unknown, but it is certain (a) that he reigned over 47 years, inscriptions being extant of his 48th ; (|3) that he died somewhere between the death of Tiberius— which brought to a close operations begun against him at that emperor's order by the legate of Syria, Vitellius (Ant. xvill. V. 1, 3)— and the middle of the reign of Claudius, when his successor Abias is found waging war on Izates of Adiabene (about A.D. 48 ; Ant. XX. iv. 1). But Damascus did not belong to Nabataja, and was certainly under direct Roman administration in A.D. 33-34, and in A.D. 62-63, for Damascene coins of these years are extant and bear the heads of Tiberius and Nero respectively, without any such allusion to the local prince as was invariable in the coins of client states. It must have come, then, into the hands of Aretas after A.D. 33-34 ; if by force, the empire would hardly have suffered the Nabatffian line to reign unmolested till A.D. 106 ; if by grant, the donor must almost certainly have been, not Tiberius, whose quarrel with Aretas has just been mentioned, but Caligula, who, unlike Tiberius (see the instance of Uerod Philip in tlie next section), encouraged the dependent prince- lings of the East. [Tlie silence of Tacitus will then admit of easy explanation, the Annals being defective throughout Caligula's reign.] In this case, St. Paul's escape from the ethuarch of the city must be placed not earlier than the middle ot A.D. 37 ; in any case not earlier than A.D. 34.
2. Reign and Death of Herod Aqrippa /.—The tetrarchy of Herod Philip (Lk 3') was on his
death, about A.D. 33-34. incorporated by Tibenus into the province of Syria, but 'not many days after the accession of Gaius (March 16, A.D. 37) was conferred with the title of king on Herod Agrippa, son of Aristobulus, and grandson of Herod the Great, who was then living in Kome ; and to this territory the tetrarchy of Antipas was added in A.D. 39-40, and Judsa, Samaria, and Abilene on Claudius' accession, early in A.D. 41. Agrippa reigned altogether, according to BJ, three years over the whole kingdom, and three years over the tetrarchies, according to Ant., four years under Gaius,— three over Philip's tetrarchy and the fourth over Antipas' as well,— and three imder Claudius over all Pal., the year of his death being ' the 7th of his reign and 54th of his life.' The dis- crepancy concerns Gaius' reign only (Ant., the later and fuller work, appears the more accurate), and ' three years ' under Claudius are common to both accounts. But Ant., as has just been said, also speaks of 'the 7th year,' which (reckoned from the spring of A.D. 37) suggests A.D. 43-44 rather than 44 simply. Against this, however, may be set the evidence of Agrippa's coinage, which appar- ently goes on to a 9th year ; * for even if, as la likely enough, the Jewish kings commenced a fresh year on the 1st of Nlsan following their accession,t the 9th year cannot possibly have begun before Nisan 1, A.D. 44, and even then only if the original grant from Caligula preceded Nisan 1, A.D. 37, so that Agrippa's second year may have begun on that day. flie comage reck- oning by itself would suggest rather A.D. 45 than 44 ; Josephus would be compatible with the latter part of A.D. 43 ; the two in combination are most easily reconciled by a date in A.D. 44 after Nisan [BJ II. xi. 6 ; Ant. XVUI. iv. 6, vi. 10, vu. 2, XIX. V. 1, viii. 2). „ . . .
3. The Famine under Claudius.— On Agnppaa death Juda-a is made again into a procuratorship under Cuspius Fadus. He intervenes in a quarrel between the Jews of Persa and the "ty of Pliiladelphia, seizes and executes the brigand leader Tholomaus, and from that time forward keeps Judiea clear of similar disturbances ; then (rim) enters on a dispute with the authorities at Jerus. over the custody of the high - priestly robes.J 'About this time,' Kara roxhov rbv Koapov, Helena, queen of Adiabene, and her son Izates become con- verts to Judaism ; the story and antecedent circum- stances are related at length, and it is added that Helena, seeing that their kingdom was at peace and her son envied even by foreigners for the divine pro- tection he enjoyed, desired to go up to the temple at Jerus., while Izates made great preparations ot gifts to be offered there. Her arrival was pecu- liarly well-timed, for famine was raofing ' at that moment,' (card rbv naipiv iKc'ti'ov. But Josephus does not say that all this happened under badus. On the contrary, having digressed to relate what
• See Madden, Coins of the Jews. ed. 2 (1881), p. 130. Th« ascription of these coins to Herod Agrippa li. is impossible, dc Saulcv, however, thinks them Jewish rorgeries, and Madden speaks hesiUtingly, not having seen the coins themselves. But if'^the electrotjTes may be trusted, the figure is <4Uite cert^n and there appears no reason except the chronolo^cal djthculty