Agrippa II from Guillaume Rouillé's Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum

For other with this name, see Agrippa (disambiguation).

Agrippa II (born AD 27/28),^[1] son of Agrippa I, and like him originally named Marcus Julius Agrippa, was the seventh and last king of the family of Herod the Great, thus last of the Herodians. He was the brother of Berenice, Mariamne, and Drusilla (second wife of the Roman procurator Antonius Felix). He is sometimes also called Herod Agrippa II.^[2]

Life[link]

Agrippa was educated at the court of the emperor Claudius, and at the time of his father's death was only seventeen years old. Claudius therefore kept him at Rome, and sent Cuspius Fadus as procurator of the Roman province of Judaea. While at Rome, he voiced his support for the Jews to Claudius, and against the Samaritans and the procurator of Iudaea Province, Ventidius Cumanus, who was lately thought to have been the cause of some disturbances there.^[1] On the death of Herod of Chalcis (in 48), his small principality (Chalcis, Syria) was given to Agrippa, with the right of superintending the Temple in Jerusalem and appointing its high priest.^[3] In 53, he was deprived of that kingdom by Claudius, who made him governor over the tetrarchy of Philip and Lysanias.^[4] Agrippa celebrated by marrying off his two sisters Mariamne and Drusilla. Flavius Josephus, the Jewish historian, repeats the gossip that Agrippa lived in incestuous carnality with his sister, Berenice.

In 55, Nero added the cities of Tiberias and Taricheae in Galilee, and Julias, with fourteen villages near it, in Peraea. Agrippa expended large sums in beautifying Jerusalem and other cities, especially Berytus. His partiality for the latter rendered him unpopular amongst his own subjects, and the capricious manner in which he appointed and deposed the high priests made him disliked by the Jews. Agrippa failed to prevent his subjects from rebelling, and urged instead that they tolerate the behavior of the Roman procurator Gessius Florus. But in 66 the Jews expelled him and Berenice from the city.^[1] During the First Jewish-Roman War of 66–73, he sent 2,000 men, archers and cavalry, to support Vespasian, showing that, although a Jew in religion, he was entirely devoted to the Romans. He accompanied Titus on some campaigns,^[1] and was wounded at the siege of Gamala. After the capture of Jerusalem, he went with his sister Berenice to Rome, where he was invested with the dignity of praetor and rewarded with additional territory.

Apostle Paul On Trial by Nikolai Bodarevsky, 1875. Agrippa and Berenice are both seated on thrones.

According to Photius, Agrippa died, childless, at the age of seventy, in the third year of the reign of Trajan, that is, 100,^[5] but statements of historian Josephus, in addition to the contemporary epigraphy from his kingdom, cast this date into serious doubt. The modern scholarly consensus holds that he died before 93/94.^[1] He was the last prince of the house of the Herods.

It was before him and his sister Berenice that, according to the New Testament, Paul the Apostle pleaded his cause at Caesarea Maritima, in 59.^[6]

He lived on terms of intimacy with the historian Josephus, having supplied him with information for his history, Antiquities of the Jews. Josephus preserved two of the letters he received from him.^[7][8][9]

References[link]

Other sources[link]

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1867). "^{article name needed}". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. 
• This article incorporates text from Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897), a publication now in the public domain.
• Yohanan Aharoni & Michael Avi-Yonah, "The MacMillan Bible Atlas", Revised Edition, p. 156 (1968 & 1977 by Carta Ltd.).

External links[link]

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Agrippa, Herod, II..

• Jewish Encyclopedia: Agrippa II
• Agrippa II - Article in historical sourcebook by Mahlon H. Smith
• Livius.org: Julius Marcus Agrippa

This article is about the Roman statesman and general. For the personal name, see Agrippa (praenomen). For a list of individuals with this name, see Agrippa (disambiguation).

Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa
Bust of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa from the Forum of Gabii, currently in the Louvre, Paris
Born	23 October/November 63 BC Uncertain, possibly Istria or Asisium[1]
Died	12 BC Campania
Allegiance	Roman Empire
Years of service	45 BC – 12 BC
Rank	General
Commands held	Roman army
Battles/wars	Caesar's civil war Battle of Munda Battle of Mutina Battle of Philippi Battle of Actium

Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa (c. 23 October or November 64/63 BC – 12 BC) was a Roman statesman and general.^[2] He was a close friend, son-in-law, lieutenant and defence minister to Octavian, the future Emperor Caesar Augustus and father-in-law of the Emperor Tiberius, maternal grandfather of the Emperor Caligula, and maternal great-grandfather of the Emperor Nero. He was responsible for most of Octavian’s military victories, most notably winning the naval Battle of Actium against the forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII of Egypt.

Early life[link]

Agrippa was born between 23 October and 23 November in 64–62 BC,^[3] in an uncertain location.^[1] His father was perhaps called Lucius Vipsanius Agrippa.^[4] He had an elder brother whose name was also Lucius Vipsanius Agrippa, and a sister named Vipsania Polla. The family had not been prominent in Roman public life.^[5] However, Agrippa was about the same age as Octavian (the future emperor Augustus), and the two were educated together and became close friends. Despite Agrippa's association with the family of Julius Caesar, his elder brother chose another side in the civil wars of the 40s BC, fighting under Cato against Caesar in Africa. When Cato's forces were defeated, Agrippa's brother was taken prisoner but freed after Octavian interceded on his behalf.^[6]

It is not known whether Agrippa fought against his brother in Africa, but he probably served in Caesar's campaign of 46–45 BC against Gnaeus Pompeius, which culminated in the Battle of Munda.^[7] Caesar regarded him highly enough to send him with Octavius in 45 BC to study in Apollonia with the Macedonian legions, while Caesar consolidated his power in Rome.^[8] It was in the fourth month of their stay in Apollonia that the news of Julius Caesar's assassination in March 44 BC reached them. Agrippa and another friend, Quintus Salvidienus Rufus, advised Octavius to march on Rome with the troops from Macedonia, but Octavius decided to sail to Italy with a small retinue. After his arrival, he learnt that Caesar had adopted him as his legal heir.^[9] Octavius at this time took Caesar's name, but is referred to by modern historians as "Octavian" during this period.

Rise in power[link]

After Octavian's return to Rome, he and his supporters realised they needed the support of legions. Agrippa helped Octavian to levy troops in Campania.^[10] Once Octavian had his legions, he made a pact with Mark Antony and Lepidus, legally established in 43 BC as the Second Triumvirate. Octavian and his consular colleague Quintus Pedius arranged for Caesar's assassins to be prosecuted in their absence, and Agrippa was entrusted with the case against Gaius Cassius Longinus.^[11] It may have been in the same year that Agrippa began his political career, holding the position of Tribune of the Plebs, which granted him entry to the Senate.^[12]

Bust of Agrippa, Pushkin Museum

In 42 BC, Agrippa probably fought alongside Octavian and Antony in the Battle of Philippi.^[13] After their return to Rome, he played a major role in Octavian's war against Lucius Antonius and Fulvia Antonia, respectively the brother and wife of Mark Antony, which began in 41 BC and ended in the capture of Perusia in 40 BC. However, Salvidienus remained Octavian's main general at this time.^[14] After the Perusine war, Octavian departed for Gaul, leaving Agrippa as urban praetor in Rome with instructions to defend Italy against Sextus Pompeius, an opponent of the Triumvirate who was now occupying Sicily. In July 40, while Agrippa was occupied with the Ludi Apollinares that were the praetor's responsibility, Sextus began a raid in southern Italy. Agrippa advanced on him, forcing him to withdraw.^[15] However, the Triumvirate proved unstable, and in August 40 both Sextus and Antony invaded Italy (but not in an organized alliance). Agrippa's success in retaking Sipontum from Antony helped bring an end to the conflict.^[16] Agrippa was among the intermediaries through whom Antony and Octavian agreed once more upon peace. During the discussions Octavian learned that Salvidienus had offered to betray him to Antony, with the result that Salvidienus was prosecuted and either executed or committed suicide. Agrippa was now Octavian's leading general.^[17]

Agrippa depicted in a relief of the "Altar of Peace," the Ara Pacis.

In 39 or 38 BC, Octavian appointed Agrippa governor of Transalpine Gaul, where in 38 he put down a rising of the Aquitanians. He also fought the Germanic tribes, becoming the next Roman general to cross the Rhine after Julius Caesar.^[18] He was summoned back to Rome by Octavian to assume the consulship for 37 BC. He was well below the usual minimum age of 43, but Octavian had suffered a humiliating naval defeat against Sextus Pompey and needed his friend to oversee the preparations for further warfare. Agrippa refused the offer of a triumph for his exploits in Gaul – on the grounds, says Dio, that he thought it improper to celebrate during a time of trouble for Octavian.^[19] Since Sextus Pompeius had command of the sea on the coasts of Italy, Agrippa's first care was to provide a safe harbour for his ships. He accomplished this by cutting through the strips of land which separated the Lacus Lucrinus from the sea, thus forming an outer harbour, while joining the lake Avernus to the Lucrinus to serve as an inner harbor.^[20] The new harbor-complex was named Portus Julius in Octavian's honour.^[21] Agrippa was also responsible for technological improvements, including larger ships and an improved form of grappling hook.^[22] About this time, he married Caecilia Pomponia Attica, daughter of Cicero's friend Titus Pomponius Atticus.^[23]

In 36 BC, Octavian and Agrippa set sail against Sextus. The fleet was badly damaged by storms and had to withdraw; Agrippa was left in charge of the second attempt. Thanks to superior technology and training, Agrippa and his men won decisive victories at Mylae and Naulochus, destroying all but seventeen of Sextus' ships and compelling most of his forces to surrender. Octavian, with his power increased, forced the triumvir Lepidus into retirement and entered Rome in triumph.^[24] Agrippa received the unprecedented honour of a naval crown decorated with the beaks of ships; as Dio remarks, this was "a decoration given to nobody before or since".^[25]

Life in public service[link]

Hadrian's Pantheon was built to replace the previous temple that had been built during Agrippa's rule. Hadrian retained the legend M·AGRIPPA·L·F·COS·TERTIVM·FECIT, which means Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, Consul for the third time, built this

Agrippa participated in smaller military campaigns in 35 and 34 BC, but by the autumn of 34 he had returned to Rome.^[26] He rapidly set out on a campaign of public repairs and improvements, including renovation of the aqueduct known as the Aqua Marcia and an extension of its pipes to cover more of the city. Through his actions after being elected in 33 BC as one of the aediles (officials responsible for Rome's buildings and festivals), the streets were repaired and the sewers were cleaned out, while lavish public spectacles were put on.^[27] Agrippa signalled his tenure of office by effecting great improvements in the city of Rome, restoring and building aqueducts, enlarging and cleansing the Cloaca Maxima, constructing baths and porticos, and laying out gardens. He also gave a stimulus to the public exhibition of works of art. It was unusual for an ex-consul to hold the lower-ranking position of aedile,^[28] but Agrippa's success bore out this break with tradition. As emperor, Augustus would later boast that "he had found the city of brick but left it of marble", thanks in part to the great services provided by Agrippa under his reign.

Antony and Cleopatra[link]

Statue of Agrippa at the Archaeological Museum of Venice

Agrippa was again called away to take command of the fleet when the war with Antony and Cleopatra broke out. He captured the strategically important city of Methone at the southwest of the Peloponnese, then sailed north, raiding the Greek coast and capturing Corcyra (modern Corfu). Octavian then brought his forces to Corcyra, occupying it as a naval base.^[29] Antony drew up his ships and troops at Actium, where Octavian moved to meet him. Agrippa meanwhile defeated Antony's supporter Quintus Nasidius in a naval battle at Patrae.^[30] Dio relates that as Agrippa moved to join Octavian near Actium, he encountered Gaius Sosius, one of Antony's lieutenants, who was making a surprise attack on the squadron of Lucius Tarius, a supporter of Octavian. Agrippa's unexpected arrival turned the battle around.^[31]

As the decisive battle approached, according to Dio, Octavian received intelligence that Antony and Cleopatra planned to break past his naval blockade and escape. At first he wished to allow the flagships past, arguing that he could overtake them with his lighter vessels and that the other opposing ships would surrender when they saw their leaders' cowardice. Agrippa objected that Antony's ships, although larger, could outrun Octavian's if they hoisted sails, and that Octavian ought to fight now because Antony's fleet had just been struck by storms. Octavian followed his friend's advice.^[32]

On September 2 31 BC, the Battle of Actium was fought. Octavian's victory, which gave him the mastery of Rome and the empire, was mainly due to Agrippa.^[33] As a token of signal regard, Octavian bestowed upon him the hand of his niece Claudia Marcella Major in 28 BC. He also served a second consulship with Octavian the same year. In 27 BC, Agrippa held a third consulship with Octavian, and in that year, the senate also bestowed upon Octavian the imperial title of Augustus.

In commemoration of the Battle of Actium, Agrippa built and dedicated the building that served as the Roman Pantheon before its destruction in 80. Emperor Hadrian used Agrippa's design to build his own Pantheon, which survives in Rome. The inscription of the later building, which was built around 125, preserves the text of the inscription from Agrippa's building during his third consulship. The years following his third consulship, Agrippa spent in Gaul, reforming the provincial administration and taxation system, along with building an effective road system and aqueducts.

Late life[link]

The theatre at Merida, Spain; it was promoted by Agrippa, built between 16 and 15 BC.

Agrippa's friendship with Augustus seems to have been clouded by the jealousy of Augustus' nephew Marcus Claudius Marcellus, which was probably fomented by the intrigues of Livia, the third wife of Augustus, who feared his influence over her husband.^[34] Traditionally it is said the result of such jealousy was that Agrippa left Rome, ostensibly to take over the governorship of eastern provinces – a sort of honourable exile, but he only sent his legate to Syria, while he himself remained at Lesbos and governed by proxy,^[34] though he may have been on a secret mission to negotiate with the Parthians about the return of the Roman legions standards which they held.^[35] On the death of Marcellus, which took place within a year of his exile, he was recalled to Rome by Augustus, who found he could not dispense with his services. However, if one places the events in the context of the crisis in 23 BC it seems unlikely that, when facing significant opposition and about to make a major political climb down, the emperor Augustus would place a man in exile in charge of the largest body of Roman troops. What is far more likely is that Agrippa's 'exile' was actually the careful political positioning of a loyal lieutenant in command of a significant army as a backup plan in case the settlement plans of 23 BC failed and Augustus needed military support.

It is said that Maecenas advised Augustus to attach Agrippa still more closely to him by making him his son-in-law.^[36] He accordingly induced him to divorce Marcella and marry his daughter Julia the Elder by 21 BC, the widow of Marcellus,^[37] equally celebrated for her beauty, abilities, and her shameless profligacy. In 19 BC, Agrippa was employed in putting down a rising of the Cantabrians in Hispania (Cantabrian Wars).^[34] He was appointed governor of the eastern provinces a second time in 17 BC, where his just and prudent administration won him the respect and good-will of the provincials, especially from the Jewish population.^[34] Agrippa also restored effective Roman control over the Cimmerian Chersonnese (modern-day Crimea) during his governorship.

Agrippa’s last public service was his beginning of the conquest of the upper Danube River region, which would become the Roman province of Pannonia in 13 BC.^[38] He died at Campania in 12 BC at the age of 51. His posthumous son, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa Postumus, was named in his honor. Augustus honoured his memory by a magnificent funeral and spent over a month in mourning. Augustus personally oversaw all of Agrippa's children’s educations. Although Agrippa had built a tomb for himself, Augustus had Agrippa's remains placed in Augustus' own mausoleum.^[39]

Legacy[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

The Maison Carrée at Nîmes, modern France, built in 19 BC; Agrippa was its patron.

Agrippa was also known as a writer, especially on the subject of geography.^[34] Under his supervision, Julius Caesar's dream of having a complete survey of the Empire made was carried out. Agrippa constructed a circular chart, which was later engraved on marble by Augustus, and afterwards placed in the colonnade built by his sister Polla.^[34] Amongst his writings, an autobiography, now lost, is referenced.^[34]

Marriages and issue[link]

Agrippa had several children through his three marriages:

• By his first wife, Caecilia Attica, he had a daughter, Vipsania Agrippina, who was to be the first wife of the Emperor Tiberius, and who gave birth to a son, Drusus the Younger.
• By his second wife, Claudia Marcella Major, he may have had a daughter, whose existence remains unclear, but this hypothetical figure is referred to as "Vipsania Marcella"
• By his third wife, Julia the Elder (daughter of Augustus), he had five children: Gaius Caesar, Julia the Younger, Lucius Caesar, Agrippina the Elder (wife of Germanicus, mother of the Emperor Caligula and Empress Agrippina the Younger), and Agrippa Postumus (a posthumous son).

Descendants[link]

Through his numerous children, Agrippa would become ancestor to many subsequent members of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, whose position he helped to attain, as well as many other reputed Romans.

(by Caecilia Attica)

1. Vipsania Agrippina I, 36 BC-20 AD, had at least 6 children by 2 husbands (1 by Tiberius, at least 5 by Gaius Asinius Gallus)

A. Drusus Julius Caesar, 13 BC-23 AD, had 3 children

I. Julia Caesaris, 5 AD-43 AD, had at least 1 child

a. Rubellius Plautus, 33 AD-62 AD, may have had several children

II. Tiberius Julius Caesar (?Nero) 'Gemellus', 19 AD-37 AD or 38 AD, died without issue

III. Germanicus Julius Caesar (?Nero) II 'Gemellus', 19 AD-23 AD, died young

B. Gaius Asinius Pollio, died 45 AD, children unknown

C. Marcus Asinius Agrippa, died 26 AD

D. (?Gnaeus) Asinius Saloninus, died 22 AD^[40]

E. Servius Asinius Celer,^[41][42] died before mid-47 AD, had 1 child

a. Asinia Agrippina

F. (?Lucius) Asinius Gallus^[43]

(by Julia Caesaris)

2. Gaius Julius Caesar, 20 BC – AD 4, died without issue

3. Vipsania Julia (Julia the Younger), 19 BC – AD 28, had two children;

A. Aemilia Lepida (fiancee of Claudius), 4 BC – AD 53, had five children;

I. Marcus Junius Silanus Torquatus, 14 – 54, had one child;

a. Lucius Junius Silanus Torquatus the younger, 50–66, died young

II. Junia Calvina, 15–79, died without issue

III. Decimus Junius Silanus Torquatus, d. 64 without issue

IV. Lucius Junius Silanus Torquatus the elder, d. 49 without issue

V. Junia Lepida, ca 18–65, issue unknown

B. Unnamed illegitimate son (by Decimus Junius Silanus), d. AD 8 (ordered to be exposed by Augustus)

4. Lucius Julius Caesar, 17 BC – AD 2, died without issue

5. Vipsania Agrippina II (Agrippina the Elder), 14 BC – AD 33, had nine children, of whom three died young;

A. Nero Julius Caesar, 6–30, died without issue

B. Drusus Julius Caesar, 7–33, died without issue

C. Gaius Julius Caesar, bef. AD 12 – bef. AD 12^[44]

D. Gaius Julius Caesar (Caligula), 12–41, had one child;

I. Julia Drusilla, 39–41, died young

E. Julia Agrippina, 15–59, had one child;

I. Nero Claudius Caesar (Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus), 37–68, had one child;

a. Claudia Augusta, Jan. 63 – April 63; died young

F. Julia Drusilla, 16–38, died without issue

G. Julia Livilla, 18–42, died without issue

H. Tiberius Julius Caesar, ? – ? (either born before Nero Caesar, between Drusus Caesar and Gaius Caesar (Caligula) or between Gaius Caesar (Caligula) and Julia Agrippina)^[45]

?I. Son (name unknown), ? – ?^[46]

6. Agrippa Postumus, 12 BC – AD 14, died without issue

There have been some attempts to assign further descendants to a number of the aforementioned figures, including two lines of Asinii descended from Gaius Asinius Pollio and Marcus Asinius Agrippa respectively. A daughter (and further descendants) named Rubellia Bassa to Julia, who may have been a daughter of Gaius Rubellius Blandus by an earlier marriage. And, finally, a series of descendants from Junia Lepida and her husband, Gaius Cassius Longinus. However, it must be noted that all of these lines of descent are extremely hypothetical and lack any evidence to support a connection to the descendants of Agrippa.^{[citation needed]}

Agrippa in popular culture[link]

Drama[link]

Marcus Agrippa, a highly fictional character based on Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa's early life, is part of the BBC-HBO-RAI television series Rome. He is played by Allen Leech. The series creates a romantic relationship between Agrippa and Octavian's sister Octavia Minor, for which there is no historical evidence.

A fictional version of Agrippa in his later life played a prominent role in the 1976 BBC Television series I, Claudius. Agrippa was portrayed as a much older man, though he would have only been 39 years old at the time of the first episode (24/23 BC). He was played by John Paul. Agrippa is also one of the principal characters in the British/Italian joint project Imperium: Augustus featuring flashbacks between Augustus and Julia about Agrippa, which shows him in his youth on serving in Caesar's army up until his victory at Actium and the defeat of Cleopatra. He is portrayed by Ken Duken.

Agrippa appears in several of the Cleopatra films. He is normally portrayed as an old man rather than a young one. Among the people to portray him are Philip Locke, Alan Rowe and Andrew Keir.

Agrippa appears as a pivotal character in the novel 'Hand of Isis' by Jo Graham.

Literature[link]

Agrippa is a character in William Shakespeare's play Antony and Cleopatra and also a main character in the early part of Robert Graves novel I, Claudius. He is a main character in the later two novels of Colleen McCullough's Masters of Rome series. He is a featured character of prominence and importance in the historical fiction novel Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran. He also features prominently in John Edward Williams' historical novel Augustus.

See also[link]

• Julio-Claudian family tree

Notes[link]

References[link]

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Agrippa, Marcus Vipsanius.

• Badian, E. (1981). "Notes on the Laudatio of Agrippa". Classical Journal 76: 97–109. 
• Buchan, J. (1937). Augustus. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. 
• Evans, H.B. (1982). "Agrippa's Water Plan". American Journal of Archeology 86 (3): 401–411. DOI:10.2307/504429. 
• Firth, J.B. (1903). Augustus Caesar and the Organization of the Empire of Rome. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. http://books.google.com/books?id=f5agAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover. 
• Gray, E.W. (1970). "The Imperium of M. Agrippa: A Note on P. Colon. Inv. No. 4701". Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 6: 227–238. 
• Lendering, Jona. "Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa". Livius. http://www.livius.org/vi-vr/vipsanius/agrippa.html. Retrieved 2007-04-22. 
• McKechnie, P. (October 1981). "Cassius Dio's Speech of Agrippa: A Realistic Alternative to Imperial Government?". Greece and Rome 28 (02): 150–155. DOI:10.1017/S0017383500033258. 
• Metello, Manuel Dejante Pinto de Magalhães Arnao; and João Carlos Metello de Nápoles (1998) (in Portuguese). Metellos de Portugal, Brasil e Roma. Lisboa: Edição Nova Arrancada. ISBN 972-8369-18-2. 
• Reinhold, Meyer (1933). Marcus Agrippa: A Biography. Geneva: W. F. Humphrey Press. 
• Roddaz, Jean-Michel (1984) (in French). Marcus Agrippa. Rome: École Française de Rome. ISBN [[Special:BookSources/2-7283-0000-0|2-7283-0000-0]]. 
• Shipley, Frederick W. (1933). Agrippa's Building Activities in Rome. St. Louis: Washington University. 

Further reading[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa

• Geoffrey Mottershead, The Constructions of Marcus Agrippa in the West, University of Melbourne, 2005
• Augustus' Funeral Oration for Agrippa
• Marcus Agrippa, article in historical sourcebook by Mahlon H. Smith

John Dee
A 16th-century portrait by an unknown artist.[1]
Born	(1527-07-13)13 July 1527 Tower Ward, London, England
Died	December 1608 or March 1609 Mortlake, Surrey, England
Residence	England
Nationality	English
Fields	Mathematics, alchemy, astrology, Hermeticism, navigation
Institutions	Christ's College, Manchester, St John's College, Cambridge
Alma mater	University of Cambridge Louvain University
Doctoral advisor	Gemma Frisius, Gerardus Mercator[2]
Doctoral students	Thomas Digges[3]
Known for	Advisor to Queen Elizabeth I

John Dee (13 July 1527–1608 or 1609) was an English mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, occultist, navigator, imperialist^[4] and consultant to Queen Elizabeth I. He devoted much of his life to the study of alchemy, divination and Hermetic philosophy.

Dee straddled the worlds of science and magic just as they were becoming distinguishable. One of the most learned men of his age, he had been invited to lecture on advanced algebra at the University of Paris while still in his early twenties. Dee was an ardent promoter of mathematics and a respected astronomer, as well as a leading expert in navigation, having trained many of those who would conduct England's voyages of discovery.

Simultaneously with these efforts, Dee immersed himself in the worlds of magic, astrology and Hermetic philosophy. He devoted much time and effort in the last thirty years or so of his life to attempting to commune with angels in order to learn the universal language of creation and bring about the pre-apocalyptic unity of mankind. A student of the Renaissance Neo-Platonism of Marsilio Ficino, Dee did not draw distinctions between his mathematical research and his investigations into Hermetic magic, angel summoning and divination. Instead he considered all of his activities to constitute different facets of the same quest: the search for a transcendent understanding of the divine forms which underlie the visible world, which Dee called "pure verities".

In his lifetime Dee amassed one of the largest libraries in England. His high status as a scholar also allowed him to play a role in Elizabethan politics. He served as an occasional adviser and tutor to Elizabeth I and nurtured relationships with her ministers Francis Walsingham and William Cecil. Dee also tutored and enjoyed patronage relationships with Sir Philip Sidney, his uncle Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, and Edward Dyer. He also enjoyed patronage from Sir Christopher Hatton.

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Dee was born in Tower Ward, London, to a Welsh family. He was the only child of his parents: Rowland, who was a mercer and minor courtier, and Joan, who was the daughter of William Wild.^[4]

Dee attended the Chelmsford Catholic School from 1535 (now King Edward VI Grammar School (Chelmsford)), then – from November 1542 to 1546 – St. John's College, Cambridge.^[5] His great abilities were recognised, and he was made a founding fellow of Trinity College, where the clever stage effects he produced for a production of Aristophanes' Peace procured him the reputation of being a magician that clung to him through life. In the late 1540s and early 1550s, he travelled in Europe, studying at Leuven (1548) and Brussels and lecturing in Paris on Euclid. He studied with Gemma Frisius and became a close friend of the cartographer Gerardus Mercator, returning to England with an important collection of mathematical and astronomical instruments. In 1552, he met Gerolamo Cardano in London: during their acquaintance they investigated a perpetual motion machine as well as a gem purported to have magical properties.^[6]

Rector at Upton-upon-Severn from 1553, Dee was offered a readership in mathematics at Oxford in 1554, which he declined; he was occupied with writing and perhaps hoped for a better position at court.^[7] In 1555, Dee became a member of the Worshipful Company of Mercers, as his father had, through the company's system of patrimony.^[8]

That same year, 1555, he was arrested and charged with "calculating" for having cast horoscopes of Queen Mary and Princess Elizabeth; the charges were expanded to treason against Mary.^[7][9] Dee appeared in the Star Chamber and exonerated himself, but was turned over to the Catholic Bishop Bonner for religious examination. His strong and lifelong penchant for secrecy perhaps worsening matters, this entire episode was only the most dramatic in a series of attacks and slanders that would dog Dee throughout his life. Clearing his name yet again, he soon became a close associate of Bonner.^[7]

Dee presented Queen Mary with a visionary plan for the preservation of old books, manuscripts and records and the founding of a national library, in 1556, but his proposal was not taken up.^[7] Instead, he expanded his personal library at his house in Mortlake, tirelessly acquiring books and manuscripts in England and on the European Continent. Dee's library, a center of learning outside the universities, became the greatest in England and attracted many scholars.^[10]

Dee's glyph, whose meaning he explained in Monas Hieroglyphica.

When Elizabeth took the throne in 1558, Dee became her trusted advisor on astrological and scientific matters, choosing Elizabeth's coronation date himself.^[11][12] From the 1550s through the 1570s, he served as an advisor to England's voyages of discovery, providing technical assistance in navigation and ideological backing in the creation of a "British Empire", a term that he was the first to use.^[13] Dee wrote a letter to William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley in October 1574 seeking patronage. He claimed to have occult knowledge of treasure on the Welsh Marches, and of ancient valuable manuscripts kept at Wigmore Castle, knowing that the Lord Treasurer's ancestors came from this area.^[14] In 1577, Dee published General and Rare Memorials pertayning to the Perfect Arte of Navigation, a work that set out his vision of a maritime empire and asserted English territorial claims on the New World. Dee was acquainted with Humphrey Gilbert and was close to Sir Philip Sidney and his circle.^[13]

In 1564, Dee wrote the Hermetic work Monas Hieroglyphica ("The Hieroglyphic Monad"), an exhaustive Cabalistic interpretation of a glyph of his own design, meant to express the mystical unity of all creation. He travelled to Hungary to present a copy personally to Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor. This work was highly valued by many of Dee's contemporaries, but the loss of the secret oral tradition of Dee's milieu makes the work difficult to interpret today.^[15]

He published a "Mathematical Preface" to Henry Billingsley's English translation of Euclid's Elements in 1570, arguing the central importance of mathematics and outlining mathematics' influence on the other arts and sciences.^[16] Intended for an audience outside the universities, it proved to be Dee's most widely influential and frequently reprinted work.^[17]

Later life[link]

The "Seal of God", British Museum (see below)

By the early 1580s, Dee was growing dissatisfied with his progress in learning the secrets of nature and with his own lack of influence and recognition. He began to turn towards the supernatural as a means to acquire knowledge. Specifically, he sought to contact angels through the use of a "scryer" or crystal-gazer, who would act as an intermediary between Dee and the angels.^[18]

Dee's first attempts were not satisfactory, but, in 1582, he met Edward Kelley (then going under the name of Edward Talbot), who impressed him greatly with his abilities.^[19] Dee took Kelley into his service and began to devote all his energies to his supernatural pursuits.^[19] These "spiritual conferences" or "actions" were conducted with an air of intense Christian piety, always after periods of purification, prayer and fasting.^[19] Dee was convinced of the benefits they could bring to mankind. (The character of Kelley is harder to assess: some have concluded that he acted with complete cynicism, but delusion or self-deception are not out of the question.^[20] Kelley's "output" is remarkable for its sheer mass, its intricacy and its vividness.) Dee maintained that the angels laboriously dictated several books to him this way, some in a special angelic or Enochian language.^[21][22]

In 1583, Dee met the visiting Polish nobleman Albert Łaski, who invited Dee to accompany him on his return to Poland.^[9] With some prompting by the angels, Dee was persuaded to go. Dee, Kelley and their families left for the Continent in September 1583, but Łaski proved to be bankrupt and out of favour in his own country.^[23] Dee and Kelley began a nomadic life in Central Europe, but they continued their spiritual conferences, which Dee recorded meticulously.^[21][22] He had audiences with Emperor Rudolf II in Prague Castle and King Stefan Batory of Poland and attempted to convince them of the importance of his angelic communications. His meeting with the Polish King Stefan Batory took place at the royal castle at Niepołomice (near Kraków, then the capital of Poland) and was later widely analysed by Polish historians (Ryszard Zieliński, Roman Żelewski, Roman Bugaj) and writers (Waldemar Łysiak). While generally they accepted him as being a man of wide and deep knowledge they also pointed out his connections with the English monarch Elizabeth. This prompted them to conclude that the meeting could have hidden political goals. Nevertheless, the Polish King who, being a devout Catholic, was very cautious of any supernatural media, started the meeting with a statement that all prophetic revelations were finalised with the mission of Jesus Christ. He also stressed that he would take part in the event provided that there would be nothing against the teaching of the Holy Catholic Church.

During a spiritual conference in Bohemia, in 1587, Kelley told Dee that the angel Uriel had ordered that the two men should share their wives. Kelley, who by that time was becoming a prominent alchemist and was much more sought-after than Dee, may have wished to use this as a way to end the spiritual conferences.^[23] The order caused Dee great anguish, but he did not doubt its genuineness and apparently allowed it to go forward, but broke off the conferences immediately afterwards and did not see Kelley again. Dee returned to England in 1589.^[23][24]

Final years[link]

Dee's obsidian Aztec "Scrying Mirror" (see below)

Dee returned to Mortlake after six years to find his library ruined and many of his prized books and instruments stolen.^[10][23] He sought support from Elizabeth, who finally made him Warden of Christ's College, Manchester, in 1595.^[25] This former College of Priests had been re-established as a Protestant institution by a Royal Charter of 1578.^[26]

However, he could not exert much control over the Fellows, who despised or cheated him.^[7] Early in his tenure, he was consulted on the demonic possession of seven children, but took little interest in the matter, although he did allow those involved to consult his still extensive library.^[7]

He left Manchester in 1605 to return to London;^[27] however, he remained Warden until his death.^[28] By that time, Elizabeth was dead, and James I, unsympathetic to anything related to the supernatural, provided no help. Dee spent his final years in poverty at Mortlake, forced to sell off various of his possessions to support himself and his daughter, Katherine, who cared for him until the end.^[27] He died in Mortlake late in 1608 or early 1609 aged 82 (there are no extant records of the exact date as both the parish registers and Dee's gravestone are missing). According to Aubrey he had forecast precisely the date of his death.^[7][29]

Personal life[link]

Dee was married twice and had eight children. Details of his first marriage are sketchy, but is likely to have been from 1565 to his wife's death in around 1576. From 1577 to 1601 Dee kept a meticulous diary.^[8] In 1578 he married the 23-year-old Jane Fromond (Dee was fifty-one at the time). She was to be the wife that Kelley claimed Uriel had demanded that he and Dee share, and although Dee complied for a while this eventually caused the two men to part company.^[8] Jane died during the plague in Manchester and was buried in March 1604,^[30] along with a number of his children: Theodore is known to have died in Manchester, but although no records exist for his daughters Madinia, Frances and Margaret after this time, Dee had by this time ceased keeping his diary.^[7] His eldest son was Arthur Dee, about whom Dee wrote a letter to his headmaster at Westminster School which echoes the worries of boarding school parents in every century; Arthur was also an alchemist and hermetic author.^[7] The antiquary John Aubrey^[31] gives the following description of John Dee: "He was tall and slender. He wore a gown like an artist's gown, with hanging sleeves, and a slit.... A very fair, clear sanguine complexion... a long beard as white as milk. A very handsome man."^[29]

Achievements[link]

Thought[link]

Dee was an intensely pious Christian, but his Christianity was deeply influenced by the Hermetic and Platonic-Pythagorean doctrines that were pervasive in the Renaissance.^[32] He believed that numbers were the basis of all things and the key to knowledge, that God's creation was an act of numbering.^[11] From Hermeticism, he drew the belief that man had the potential for divine power, and he believed this divine power could be exercised through mathematics. His cabalistic angel magic (which was heavily numerological) and his work on practical mathematics (navigation, for example) were simply the exalted and mundane ends of the same spectrum, not the antithetical activities many would see them as today.^[17] His ultimate goal was to help bring forth a unified world religion through the healing of the breach of the Catholic and Protestant churches and the recapture of the pure theology of the ancients.^[11]

Advocacy of English expansion[link]

From 1570 Dee advocated a policy of political and economic strengthening of England and imperial expansion into the New World.^[4] In his manuscript, Brytannicae reipublicae synopsis (1570), he outlined the current state of the Elizabethan Realm^[33] and was concerned with trade, ethics and national strength.^[4]

His 1576 General and rare memorials pertayning to the Perfect Arte of Navigation, was the first volume in an unfinished series planned to advocate the rise of imperial expansion.^[34] In the highly symbolic frontispiece, Dee included a figure of Britannia kneeling by the shore beseeching Elizabeth I, to protect her empire by strengthening her navy.^[35] Dee used Geoffrey's inclusion of Ireland in Arthur's imperial conquests to argue that Arthur had established a ‘British empire’ abroad.^[36] He further argued that England exploit new lands through colonisation and that this vision could become reality through maritime supremacy.^[37][38] Dee has been credited with the coining of the term British Empire,^[39] however, Humphrey Llwyd has also been credited with the first use of the term in his Commentarioli Britannicae Descriptionis Fragmentum, published eight years earlier in 1568.^[40]

Dee posited a formal claim to North America on the back of a map drawn in 1577–80;^[41] he noted Circa 1494 Mr Robert Thorn his father, and Mr Eliot of Bristow, discovered Newfound Land.^[42] In his Title Royal of 1580, he invented the claim that Madog ab Owain Gwynedd had discovered America with Dee intending to prove that England's claim to the New World was stronger than that of Spain.^[43] He further asserted that Brutus of Britain and King Arthur as well as Madog had conquered lands in the Americas and therefore their heir Elizabeth I of England had a priority claim there.^[44][45]

Reputation and significance[link]

About ten years after Dee's death, the antiquarian Robert Cotton purchased land around Dee's house and began digging in search of papers and artifacts. He discovered several manuscripts, mainly records of Dee's angelic communications. Cotton's son gave these manuscripts to the scholar Méric Casaubon, who published them in 1659, together with a long introduction critical of their author, as A True & Faithful Relation of What passed for many Yeers between Dr. John Dee (A Mathematician of Great Fame in Q. Eliz. and King James their Reignes) and some spirits.^[21] As the first public revelation of Dee's spiritual conferences, the book was extremely popular and sold quickly. Casaubon, who believed in the reality of spirits, argued in his introduction that Dee was acting as the unwitting tool of evil spirits when he believed he was communicating with angels. This book is largely responsible for the image, prevalent for the following two and a half centuries, of Dee as a dupe and deluded fanatic.^[32]

Around the same time the True and Faithful Relation was published, members of the Rosicrucian movement claimed Dee as one of their number.^[46] There is doubt, however, that an organised Rosicrucian movement existed during Dee's lifetime, and no evidence that he ever belonged to any secret fraternity.^[19] Dee's reputation as a magician and the vivid story of his association with Edward Kelley have made him a seemingly irresistible figure to fabulists, writers of horror stories and latter-day magicians. The accretion of false and often fanciful information about Dee often obscures the facts of his life, remarkable as they are in themselves.^[47]

A re-evaluation of Dee's character and significance came in the 20th century, largely as a result of the work of the historian Frances Yates, who brought a new focus on the role of magic in the Renaissance and the development of modern science. As a result of this re-evaluation, Dee is now viewed as a serious scholar and appreciated as one of the most learned men of his day.^[32][48]

His personal library at Mortlake was the largest in the country, and was considered one of the finest in Europe, perhaps second only to that of de Thou. As well as being an astrological and scientific advisor to Elizabeth and her court, he was an early advocate of the colonisation of North America and a visionary of a British Empire stretching across the North Atlantic.^[13]

Dee promoted the sciences of navigation and cartography. He studied closely with Gerardus Mercator, and he owned an important collection of maps, globes and astronomical instruments. He developed new instruments as well as special navigational techniques for use in polar regions. Dee served as an advisor to the English voyages of discovery, and personally selected pilots and trained them in navigation.^[7][13]

He believed that mathematics (which he understood mystically) was central to the progress of human learning. The centrality of mathematics to Dee's vision makes him to that extent more modern than Francis Bacon, though some scholars believe Bacon purposely downplayed mathematics in the anti-occult atmosphere of the reign of James I.^[49] It should be noted, though, that Dee's understanding of the role of mathematics is radically different from our contemporary view.^[17][47][50]

Dee's promotion of mathematics outside the universities was an enduring practical achievement. His "Mathematical Preface" to Euclid was meant to promote the study and application of mathematics by those without a university education, and was very popular and influential among the "mecanicians": the new and growing class of technical craftsmen and artisans. Dee's preface included demonstrations of mathematical principles that readers could perform themselves.^[17]

Dee was a friend of Tycho Brahe and was familiar with the work of Copernicus.^[7] Many of his astronomical calculations were based on Copernican assumptions, but he never openly espoused the heliocentric theory. Dee applied Copernican theory to the problem of calendar reform. His sound recommendations were not accepted, however, for political reasons.^[11]

He has often been associated with the Voynich Manuscript.^[19][51] Wilfrid M. Voynich, who bought the manuscript in 1912, suggested that Dee may have owned the manuscript and sold it to Rudolph II. Dee's contacts with Rudolph were far less extensive than had previously been thought, however, and Dee's diaries show no evidence of the sale. Dee was, however, known to have possessed a copy of the Book of Soyga, another enciphered book.^[52]

At Elizabeth I's request Dee embraced the old Welsh 'Prince Madog' myth to lay claim to North America. The well known story was of a young Welsh prince who discovered America in 1170, over three hundred years before Christopher Columbus's voyage in 1492. The fact was that Elizabeth I had little interest in the New World and Dee's hopes were premature.^[53]

Artifacts[link]

Objects used by Dee in his magic, now in the British Museum.

The British Museum holds several items once owned by Dee and associated with the spiritual conferences:^[54]

• Dee's Speculum or Mirror (an obsidian Aztec cult object in the shape of a hand-mirror, brought to Europe in the late 1520s), which was once owned by Horace Walpole.^[55]
• The small wax seals used to support the legs of Dee's "table of practice" (the table at which the scrying was performed).
• The large, elaborately decorated wax "Seal of God", used to support the "shew-stone", the crystal ball used for scrying.
• A gold amulet engraved with a representation of one of Kelley's visions.
• A crystal globe, six centimetres in diameter. This item remained unnoticed for many years in the mineral collection; possibly the one owned by Dee, but the provenance of this object is less certain than that of the others.^[56]

In December 2004, both a shew stone (a stone used for scrying) formerly belonging to Dee and a mid-17th century explanation of its use written by Nicholas Culpeper were stolen from the Science Museum in London; they were recovered shortly afterwards.^[57]

Literary and cultural references[link]

Dee was a popular figure in literary works written by his own contemporaries, and he has continued to feature in popular culture ever since, particularly in fiction or fantasy set during his lifetime or that deals with magic or the occult.

16th and 17th centuries

• Edmund Spenser may refer to Dee in The Faerie Queene (1596).^[58]
• William Shakespeare may have modelled the character of Prospero in The Tempest (1610–11) on Dee.^[19]

20th century

• The four novel set Ægypt (1987–2007) by John Crowley features John Dee.
• Dee figures prominently in the mystical-occult mythology created for the concept album Imaginos (1988) by the American rock band Blue Oyster Cult.
• Dee is the main protagonist of Peter Ackroyd's novel The House of Doctor Dee (1993).
• Dee is an antagonist, though depicted somewhat sympathetically, in Patricia Wrede's novel-length retelling of a traditional fairy tale, Snow White and Rose Red (1989).

21st century

• The "Swords of Albion" Series by Mark Chadbourn prominently features Dr Dee as the source of England's magical defences against "the Enemy."
• The series The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott casts John Dee as a villain surviving in modern times.
• The play Burn Your Bookes (2010), by Richard Byrne, examines the relationship between John Dee, Edward Kelley and Edward Dyer.^[59]
• The novel Here, There Be Dragons set Dee as a (bad) Caretaker of the Imaginum Geographica.
• On the Iron Maiden album The Final Frontier, the fifth track "The Alchemist" talks about him.
• The opera Dr Dee: An English Opera, written by Damon Albarn, explores Dee's life and work. It was premiered at the Palace Theatre in Manchester on 1 July 2011^[60] and will open at the London Coliseum as part of the London 2012 Festival for the Cultural Olympiad in June 2012.^[61][62]
• The "Stoneheart" Series by Charlie Fletcher portrays Dee as an oath breaker.
• The PS3 game Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception frequently mentions Dee as part of its plot.
• Phillipa Gregory's The Queen's Fool portrays John Dee as the friend and mentor of Hannah, the main character.
• Phil Rickman casts John Dee as the main detective, investigating the disappearance of the bones of King Arthur during the reign of Elizabeth I in the historical mystery The Bones of Avalon.
• John Dee is a supporting character in the The Kronos Chronicles by Marie Rutkoski.

Notes[link]