Such was the letter which Gaius wrote to Petronius; but it did not reach him in the Emperor’s lifetime, the messengers entrusted with it having so slow a passage that before it arrived [Sidenote: January A.D. 41] Petronius received other letters which told him that Gaius was dead. God, as the event proved, was not to forget the risks which Petronius had run on behalf of the Jews and His own honour, but was to pay him his reward by removing Gaius, in indignation at his daring action in claiming divine worship for himself. Petronius, moreover, was supported[197] by the good-will of Rome and of all the magistrates, in particular the most eminent senators, because Gaius had treated them with unmitigated severity. The Emperor died not long after writing to Petronius the letter which was intended to be his death-warrant. The cause of his death and the manner of the plot I shall relate in the course of my work. Petronius received first the letter announcing the death of Gaius, and shortly afterwards the other with the order to put himself to death. He was delighted at the happy coincidence of Gaius’s end and marvelled at the providence of God, who instantly and without delay gave him his reward for his regard for the Temple and for his assistance to the Jews in their hour of danger. Thus easily, in a way which none would have conjectured, did Petronius escape the peril of death.—_Ant._ XVIII. 8. 2, etc. (261, 276-8, 284-6, 305-9). Footnote 193: Lit. “with bad hope.” Footnote 194: The text is uncertain in this and the next sentence. Probably some words have fallen out. Footnote 195: The phrase, “those with pretensions to virtue,” is borrowed from Thuc. II. 51. I adopt Jowett’s rendering. Footnote 196: So the Epitome and Latin VS. (παρουσίαν); the Gr. MSS have “frankness” (παρρησίαν). Footnote 197: Text doubtful. (32) Herod Agrippa’s Kingdom enlarged by Claudius Cf. Map 44 in the _Historical Atlas_ above cited. [Sidenote: A.D. 41] Claudius lost no time in discharging all suspected units of the forces. He then issued a decree, in which he confirmed to Agrippa the kingdom which he had received from Gaius and highly commended the king. Moreover, he added to his realm all the territory over which his grandfather Herod had reigned, namely Judæa and Samaria.[198] Beside these districts, which he restored to him as his hereditary due, he added from his own domain Abila, which had once belonged to Lysanias,[199] and all the mountain region of Lebanon. He ratified these gifts by a solemn treaty with Agrippa in the middle of the forum in the city of Rome.—_Ant._ XIX. 5. 1 (274 f.). Footnote 198: _B.J._ (parallel passage) adds “Trachonitis and Auranitis.” Footnote 199: Killed _c._ 34 B.C.; Lysanias of Abilene (Luke iii. 1.) was probably a descendant. (33) Death of Herod Agrippa