Antonius Felix
Marcus Antonius Felix was the brother of Pallas , and the latter as a freedman of Antonia Minor , he takes the name ( Flavius Josephus , calling Claudius Felix consider it enfranchised Claude , in 52.
Suetonius says he was the husband of three queens . The first Drusilla was probably daughter of Ptolemy of Mauretania and great-grand-daughter of the great Cleopatra and Mark Antony . The second was Drusilla , a Jewish princess, daughter of old King Herod Agrippa I , that Felix was a divorce to marry her, and who bore him a son named Agrippa . The third is unknown.
According to Tacitus, Felix "exercise the power of a king with the spirit of a slave, accumulating debauchery and cruelty . By 52, he leaves the violence to develop between the Samaritans , under its jurisdiction, and Galilee , under the jurisdiction of the procurator Ventidius Cumanus. As Felix and Cumanus fail to restore order with their soldiers, commissioned the Governor Claude Syria Quadratus to take action against troublemakers, and also against the irresponsible procurators. According to Tacitus, Felix Quadratus household by appointing judges, and condemns only Cumanus . Flavius Josephus gives a slightly different version: Cumanus is sent to Rome to appear before Claudius, then exiled, and then succeeds Felix as procurator of Judea .
Felix must repress brigandage rampant, and the prophets which agitate the country and threaten to create an insurrection. According to Josephus, it does pay assassins to kill the high priest Jonathan, constantly criticizing his mismanagement of Judea. After the attack, the assassins are stepping up their violent actions .
It appeared to him that Paul of Tarsus , who was arrested in Jerusalem , accused of impiety and threatened with summary execution by his opponents ; Unable to obtain a specific charge against Paul and legal who had more the quality of citizen Roman , he retained two years in prison in Caesarea , allowing him to receive visits from his family . According to the Acts of the Apostles , Felix and his wife Drusilla would have talked several times with Paul, interrupting meetings when Paul addressed issues of morality. Still according to Acts, Paul Felix would have kept to please the Jews, which can be interpreted as a preventive measure against a possible assassination or riot, and hoping to cash in his release.
In 60 , riots opposed to Caesarea Jews and Syrians, as Felix severely punishes his soldiers. A delegation of Jews in Caesarea meeting Nero and accuses Felix injustices against Jews, but it is protected by his brother Pallas, still influential. He was replaced by Porcius Festus .
Notes
- Josephus , Jewish Antiquities, Book XX, VI
- a and b Suetonius , Life of Claudius, 28
- Josephus , Jewish Antiquities, Book XX, VII, 1; Aurelius Victor , Epitome, IV
- a and b Tacitus , Histories, Book V, 9
- Josephus , Jewish Antiquities, Book XX, VII, 2
- Tacitus , Annals, Book XII, 54
- Josephus , Jewish Antiquities, Book XX, VI, VII and 2, 1
- Josephus , Jewish Antiquities, Book XX, VIII, 5
- Acts of the Apostles 23: 24-35
- Acts of the Apostles, 24: 21-27
- Josephus , Jewish Antiquities, Book XX, VIII, 7-10
References
- Emil Schrer , History of the Jewish People ( 1.89 thousand - 1891 )
- Sir WM Ramsay , St Paul the Traveller
- Carl von Weizsacker , Apostolic Age (Eng. trans., 1894)
External link
- (En) On marriage of Felix (select Ptolemies, The genealogy, Cleopatra VII, Cleopatra Selene and read note 10)
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