by
Damien F. Mackey
Well, could it be that, as I believe, Herod
Agrippa and Emperor Hadrian were,
in fact, contemporaneous, and that Herod was
Hadrian’s second?
In this case, it was not a matter of Herod
building “a wall without gates” and Hadrian building “gates without a wall”,
but the combined Herod and Hadrian building a wall with gates.
Professor
Gunnar Heinsohn wrote in October 2022:
Jerusalem’s First Millennium AD:
1000 years long or only 300?
….
The official story became
more puzzling after the conquest of Jerusalem, in 70 AD, with the help of
Nabataean Arab soldiers in Titus' Legio X Fretensis.
Although these soldiers
continued to occupy Jerusalem for a very long time after 70 AD, they are said
to have meticulously dismantled the walls and transported them away, rather
than repairing them for their own protection. This must have been an enormous
feat of engineering that required the efforts of countless workers.
But it got even more
adventurous.
While Herod Agrippa and the
rebels may have built a wall without gates, Emperor Hadrian (119-138 AD)
decided in the 130s AD to build gates without a wall.
Damien Mackey’s comment: There is so much
historical confusion to be rectified.
In an article:
Herod and Hadrian
we were
informed that: “Building-wise,
in Jerusalem, it is apparently difficult to separate Herod from Hadrian”.
‘Why is it so?’, to quote US physicist professor Julius
Sumner Miller (d. 1987).
Well, could it be that, as I believe, Herod
Agrippa and Emperor Hadrian were, in fact, contemporaneous, and that Herod was
Hadrian’s second?
In this case, it was not a matter of Herod
building “a wall without gates” and Hadrian building “gates without a wall”, but
the combined Herod and Hadrian building a wall with gates.
A similar, related case involves Rome’s Pantheon,
thought to have been built originally by Augustus’s right-hand man, Marcus
Agrippa, but later re-built (ostensibly after a fire, and, then again later, by
a lightning strike) by Hadrian, who obligingly - out of humility, they say - left
on it the name of M.Agrippa.
My revised historical explanation, based upon my
article:
Herod, the emperor’s signet right-hand man
(2) Herod, the
emperor's signet right-hand man
requires
an:
Excursus:
Explaining the Parthenon
The Parthenon is rather puzzling. Sightseer, Natalie,
explains her reaction to it (2020): The Meaning of the
Inscription on the Pantheon - An American in Rome
The Meaning of the Inscription on the Pantheon
Walking through Rome and suddenly stepping onto
Piazza della Rotonda to see the Pantheon in all its ancient glory is an
unforgettable experience. First, you will note the domed ceiling, then the
columns, and near the top of the Pantheon you will see some old writing. There
is some complex history around the Latin words on the monument but they are
simple to translate. The inscription on the Pantheon says “Marcus Agrippa, the
son of Lucius, three times consul, built this.”
Latin on the Pantheon
In Latin, the writing on the Pantheon says
“M.AGRIPPA.L.F.COS.TERTIUM.FECIT.”
The Latin is succinct but it translates to mean
that Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, built this when he was consul for the third
time. (Consuls were the chief diplomats in Rome – comparable to a Prime
Minister or a President).
The inscription on the Pantheon is true because
Marcus Agrippa DID build the first Pantheon. However, he did NOT build the
Pantheon as we know it now. The first building here was commissioned by Marcus
Agrippa in or around 27 AD. The temple was dedicated to the victory of the
emperor Augustus over Antony and Cleopatra. Augustus was Marcus Agrippa’s
father-in-law.
This original building was completely destroyed by
a fire.
Domitian restored the Pantheon in 80 AD, but it
was struck by lightning in 110 AD and burned to the ground once more. The
building was dedicated to the gods (pan being the Greek word for
“all” and theon meaning “gods), but the back-to-back
destruction of the temple suggested that the gods were NOT happy with it.
The Emperor Really Behind the Pantheon Inscription
It wasn’t until Hadrian became emperor that the Pantheon
was completely redesigned and rebuilt. A great lover of Greek influences,
Hadrian likely wanted to recreate the building to honor the emperor Augustus –
for whom the first Pantheon was built.
Historians aren’t sure why Hadrian put Agrippa’s
name back on the facade of the building. He may have added the inscription to
the Pantheon as a sign of humility. On the other hand, it could simply be there
to reinforce the connection between the building and the emperor Augustus.
In any case, the Latin writing confused academics
for years because it didn’t seem like a building Agrippa could have made
himself. However, the inscription adds to the ancient allure of the Pantheon –
and now you know exactly what it means.
[End of quote]
A good story, well told, but way off the mark I
think!
Where to start?
Well, for one, the emperor Hadrian (“a sign of
humility”) would not have known humility if it had jumped up and bitten him –
which it virtually did in the course of his agonising death as the dreadful
Seleucid Greek tyrant, Antiochus ‘Epiphanes’.
For that is who the Grecophilic Hadrian was,
according to my article:
Antiochus ‘Epiphanes’ and Emperor Hadrian
(3) Antiochus
‘Epiphanes’ and Emperor Hadrian
and, also according to a Rabbinic tradition:
A Jewish tradition has Antiochus
‘Epiphanes’ as Emperor Hadrian
(3) A Jewish
tradition has Antiochus ‘Epiphanes’ as Emperor Hadrian
In these
articles we shall read of Hadrian as ‘a mirror-image’ of king Antiochus.
Antiochus
‘Epiphanes’, far from being humble, was the prophet Ezekiel’s god-aspiring:
The Fallen King of Tyre
Did not his alter ego, Hadrian, venerate Tyre,
a Metropolis, as the “Great City”, the Mother of other cities?
The king came to a most dreadful end, both
biblically (as Antiochus) and historically.
But how does all of this - Antiochus; King of
Tyre; Hadrian; connect up with Augustus and Marcus Agrippa, and with Herod?
I have suggested a way through my article:
Time to consider Hadrian, that ‘mirror-image’
of Antiochus Epiphanes, as also the census emperor Augustus
The
ramifications of this, relevant to the present article, are that the mighty historical
combination of Caesar Augustus and his second, Marcus Agrippa (who is none
other than Herod Agrippa - see “Herod, the emperor’s signet right-hand man” article
above) - is to be encountered again in Antiochus ‘Epiphanes’ and his second,
Philip (like Herod, the King of Jerusalem), and, again, in Hadrian and his
Herod, Herodes Atticus.
What that
boils down to is not that the emperor Hadrian: “A great lover of Greek influences [because
he was a Greek] … likely wanted to recreate the building to honor the emperor
Augustus – for whom the first Pantheon was built”, but that Hadrian, as this
very Augustus for whom the Pantheon was built, chose to honour its builder,
his great friend, Marcus (Herod/Herodes) Agrippa, by allowing him to place his
name on the famous building.
Having Agrippa and Hadrian as contemporaries at
once serves to solve the conundrum of ‘the wall without gates, gates without a wall’
and the mysteries of the Parthenon.
No comments:
Post a Comment