Gaius Julius Alexander Berenicianus
Encyclopedia
Gaius Julius Alexander Berenicianus was a Cilicia
n Prince and second-born son to King Gaius Julius Alexander
and Queen Julia Iotapa of Cetis. His eldest brother was Gaius Julius Agrippa
and his younger sister was Julia Iotapa
.
Surviving inscriptions on Berenicianus reveals that his family were related to important members of Asian, non-Jewish and Jewish aristocracy. Berenicianus was of Jewish
, Nabataean
, Edomite
, Greek
, Armenian
, Median
and Persian origins
. His paternal grandparents were King Tigranes VI of Armenia
and his wife Opgalli. Through Tigranes, he was a descendant of King Archelaus of Cappadocia
, King of Judea Herod the Great
and his wife Mariamne
. Agrippa along with his family and paternal relatives were among the last known descendants of the Herodian Dynasty
. He was an apostate
to Judaism
. It is unlikely that Berenicianus attempted to exert influence on Judean Politics. His name indicates that the family connections from the Herodian Dynasty
were not wholly broken. His maternal grandparents were King Antiochus IV of Commagene
and Queen Julia Iotapa.
The Kingdom of Cetis was a small client state in the Roman Empire
. Cetis was a small region in Cilicia
that was previously ruled by his Cappadocia
n royal ancestors and Antiochus IV. The city in Cilicia Elaiussa Sebaste
was a part of the Kingdom. When his parents married in Rome
in 58, then Roman Emperor
Nero
crowned his parents as monarchs and gave them that region to rule. He was born, raised and educated in Cetis.
In 94, Berenicianus along with Agrippa entered the Roman Senate
. Surviving inscriptions also reveal the career of Berenicianus. Berenicianus served as a suffect consul or as a consul ordinarius in 116. Between 132-133, he was Proconsul
of the Roman Province of Asia. While Berenicianus was Asian Proconsul, he appeared to have been a patron of the arts. During his proconsulship, the bishop and later saint Judas Cyriacus
died or was killed in a riot during a pilgrimage to the Holy Land
in 133.
A possible descendant of Berenicianus was the usurper
of the 3rd century
Jotapianus
. He married Cassia Lepida (born ca 80), daughter of Cassius Lepidus (born ca 55), paternal granddaughter of Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo
and wife Junia Lepida
. Through her mother and grandmother, Cassia was a direct descendant of Roman Emperor
Augustus
. Berenicianus and Cassia had a daughter named Julia Cassia Alexandria, born ca 105, who married Gaius Avidius Heliodorus
, born ca 100, ab epistulis under Roman Emperor Hadrian
and praefectus Aegypti
between 138 and 140, and had issue, such as the usurper Avidius Cassius
.
Cilicia
In antiquity, Cilicia was the south coastal region of Asia Minor, south of the central Anatolian plateau. It existed as a political entity from Hittite times into the Byzantine empire...
n Prince and second-born son to King Gaius Julius Alexander
Gaius Julius Alexander
Gaius Julius Alexander was a Herodian Prince that lived in the 1st century and 2nd century in the Roman Empire.Alexander was of Jewish, Nabataean, Edomite, Greek, Armenian and Persian ancestry. He was the son of the Herodian Prince, later King Tigranes VI of Armenia and his wife Opgalli...
and Queen Julia Iotapa of Cetis. His eldest brother was Gaius Julius Agrippa
Gaius Julius Agrippa
Gaius Julius Agrippa was a Cilician Prince and the first born son of King Gaius Julius Alexander and Queen Julia Iotapa of Cetis. He had two younger siblings: a brother called Gaius Julius Alexander Berenicianus and a sister called Julia Iotapa....
and his younger sister was Julia Iotapa
Iotapa
Iotapa or Iotape also known as Iotapi was the name of various queens and princesses who lived in between the 2nd century BC, 1st century BC, 1st century and 2nd century. The name Iotapa or Iotape originally derives from the name Jotapa or Jotape, which was a name of Persian origin...
.
Surviving inscriptions on Berenicianus reveals that his family were related to important members of Asian, non-Jewish and Jewish aristocracy. Berenicianus was of Jewish
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
, Nabataean
Nabataeans
Thamudi3.jpgThe Nabataeans, also Nabateans , were ancient peoples of southern Canaan and the northern part of Arabia, whose oasis settlements in the time of Josephus , gave the name of Nabatene to the borderland between Syria and Arabia, from the Euphrates to the Red Sea...
, Edomite
Edom
Edom or Idumea was a historical region of the Southern Levant located south of Judea and the Dead Sea. It is mentioned in biblical records as a 1st millennium BC Iron Age kingdom of Edom, and in classical antiquity the cognate name Idumea was used to refer to a smaller area in the same region...
, Greek
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
, Armenian
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
, Median
Medes
The MedesThe Medes...
and Persian origins
Persian people
The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...
. His paternal grandparents were King Tigranes VI of Armenia
Tigranes VI of Armenia
Tigranes VI, also known as Tigran VI or by his Roman name Gaius Julius Tigranes was a Herodian Prince and served as a Roman Client King of Armenia in the 1st century....
and his wife Opgalli. Through Tigranes, he was a descendant of King Archelaus of Cappadocia
Archelaus of Cappadocia
-Family & Early Life:Archelaus was a Cappadocian Greek nobleman, possibly of Macedonian descent. His full name was Archelaus Sisines. He was the first born son, namesake of the Roman Client and High Priest Ruler Archelaus, of the temple state of Comana, Cappadocia and Glaphyra. Archelaus’ father...
, King of Judea Herod the Great
Herod the Great
Herod , also known as Herod the Great , was a Roman client king of Judea. His epithet of "the Great" is widely disputed as he is described as "a madman who murdered his own family and a great many rabbis." He is also known for his colossal building projects in Jerusalem and elsewhere, including his...
and his wife Mariamne
Mariamne (second wife of Herod)
Mariamne I, also called Mariamne the Hasmonean was the second wife of Herod the Great. She was known for her great beauty, as was her brother Aristobulus...
. Agrippa along with his family and paternal relatives were among the last known descendants of the Herodian Dynasty
Herodian Dynasty
The Herodian Dynasty was a Jewish dynasty of Idumean descent, client Kings of Roman Judaea Province between 37 BCE and 92 CE.- Origin :During the time of the Hasmonean ruler John Hyrcanus 134-104 BCE, Israel conquered Edom and forced the Edomites to convert to Judaism.The Edomites were integrated...
. He was an apostate
Apostasy
Apostasy , 'a defection or revolt', from ἀπό, apo, 'away, apart', στάσις, stasis, 'stand, 'standing') is the formal disaffiliation from or abandonment or renunciation of a religion by a person. One who commits apostasy is known as an apostate. These terms have a pejorative implication in everyday...
to Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
. It is unlikely that Berenicianus attempted to exert influence on Judean Politics. His name indicates that the family connections from the Herodian Dynasty
Herodian Dynasty
The Herodian Dynasty was a Jewish dynasty of Idumean descent, client Kings of Roman Judaea Province between 37 BCE and 92 CE.- Origin :During the time of the Hasmonean ruler John Hyrcanus 134-104 BCE, Israel conquered Edom and forced the Edomites to convert to Judaism.The Edomites were integrated...
were not wholly broken. His maternal grandparents were King Antiochus IV of Commagene
Antiochus IV of Commagene
Gaius Julius Antiochus IV Epiphanes , the last king of Commagene, reigned between 38-72 as a client king to the Roman Empire.-Life:Antiochus was a prince and son of Antiochus III of Commagene and his mother was Queen Iotapa of Commagene. The parents of Antiochus IV were full-blooded siblings, who...
and Queen Julia Iotapa.
The Kingdom of Cetis was a small client state in the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. Cetis was a small region in Cilicia
Cilicia
In antiquity, Cilicia was the south coastal region of Asia Minor, south of the central Anatolian plateau. It existed as a political entity from Hittite times into the Byzantine empire...
that was previously ruled by his Cappadocia
Cappadocia
Cappadocia is a historical region in Central Anatolia, largely in Nevşehir Province.In the time of Herodotus, the Cappadocians were reported as occupying the whole region from Mount Taurus to the vicinity of the Euxine...
n royal ancestors and Antiochus IV. The city in Cilicia Elaiussa Sebaste
Elaiussa Sebaste
Elaiussa Sebaste or Elaeousa Sebaste was an ancient Roman town located from Mersin in the direction of Silifke in Cilicia on the southern coast of Anatolia . Elaiussa, meaning olive, was founded in the 2nd century B.C...
was a part of the Kingdom. When his parents married in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
in 58, then Roman Emperor
Roman Emperor
The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor...
Nero
Nero
Nero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death....
crowned his parents as monarchs and gave them that region to rule. He was born, raised and educated in Cetis.
In 94, Berenicianus along with Agrippa entered the Roman Senate
Roman Senate
The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...
. Surviving inscriptions also reveal the career of Berenicianus. Berenicianus served as a suffect consul or as a consul ordinarius in 116. Between 132-133, he was Proconsul
Proconsul
A proconsul was a governor of a province in the Roman Republic appointed for one year by the senate. In modern usage, the title has been used for a person from one country ruling another country or bluntly interfering in another country's internal affairs.-Ancient Rome:In the Roman Republic, a...
of the Roman Province of Asia. While Berenicianus was Asian Proconsul, he appeared to have been a patron of the arts. During his proconsulship, the bishop and later saint Judas Cyriacus
Judas Cyriacus
Judas Cyriacus is the patron saint of Ancona, Italy. His feast day is celebrated in the Catholic Church on May 4.-Judas Cyriacus, Bishop of Ancona:...
died or was killed in a riot during a pilgrimage to the Holy Land
Holy Land
The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
in 133.
A possible descendant of Berenicianus was the usurper
Usurper
Usurper is a derogatory term used to describe either an illegitimate or controversial claimant to the power; often, but not always in a monarchy, or a person who succeeds in establishing himself as a monarch without inheriting the throne, or any other person exercising authority unconstitutionally...
of the 3rd century
3rd century
The 3rd century was the period from 201 to 300 in the Christian/Common Era.In this century, the Roman Empire saw a crisis, marking the beginning of Late Antiquity. In Persia, the Parthian Empire was succeeded by the Sassanid Empire....
Jotapianus
Jotapianus
Marcus Fulvius Rufus Jotapianus or Jotapian, he was also known as Iotapianus or Iotapian. Jotapianus was an usurper in the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire during the reign of Emperor Philip the Arab, around 249...
. He married Cassia Lepida (born ca 80), daughter of Cassius Lepidus (born ca 55), paternal granddaughter of Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo
Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo
Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo was a Roman general and a brother-in-law of the emperor Caligula.-Descent:Corbulo was born in Italy into a senatorial family...
and wife Junia Lepida
Junia Lepida
Junia Lepida was a Roman noble woman that lived during the Roman Empire in the 1st century. Lepida was the second born daughter and was among the children born of Aemilia Lepida and Marcus Junius Silanus Torquatus, a member of the Junii Silani, a family of Ancient Rome...
. Through her mother and grandmother, Cassia was a direct descendant of Roman Emperor
Roman Emperor
The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor...
Augustus
Augustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
. Berenicianus and Cassia had a daughter named Julia Cassia Alexandria, born ca 105, who married Gaius Avidius Heliodorus
Gaius Avidius Heliodorus
Gaius Avidius Heliodorus was a Roman politician and a noted Orator.He was of Greek origin and became Secretarius ab epistolis under Hadrian and Praefectus of Egypt between 137 and 142 or between 138 and 140....
, born ca 100, ab epistulis under Roman Emperor Hadrian
Hadrian
Hadrian , was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. He is best known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain. In Rome, he re-built the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma. In addition to being emperor, Hadrian was a humanist and was philhellene in...
and praefectus Aegypti
Aegyptus (Roman province)
The Roman province of Egypt was established in 30 BC after Octavian defeated his rival Mark Antony, deposed his lover Queen Cleopatra VII and annexed the Ptolemaic kingdom of Egypt to the Roman Empire. The province encompassed most of modern-day Egypt except for the Sinai Peninsula...
between 138 and 140, and had issue, such as the usurper Avidius Cassius
Avidius Cassius
Gaius Avidius Cassius was a Roman general and usurper who briefly ruled Egypt and Syria in 175.-Origins:He was the son of Gaius Avidius Heliodorus, a noted orator who was Prefect of Egypt from 137 to 142 under Hadrian, and wife Junia Cassia Alexandra...
.
Sources
- acsearch.info ancient coin search engine: Kings of Armenia
- Christian SettipaniChristian SettipaniChristian Settipani is the Technical Director of an IT company in Paris and a genealogist and historian.He has a Master of Advanced Studies degree from the Paris-Sorbonne University and is currently preparing his doctoral thesis, while he often gives lectures to students undergraduates at the...
, Continuite Gentilice et Continuite Familiale Dans Les Familles Senatoriales Romaines, A L'Epoque Imperiale, Mythe et Realite. Linacre, UK: Prosopographica et Genealogica, 2000. ILL. NYPL ASY (Rome) 03-983.