Marullus

Who is Marullus?

Marullus was Roman Prefect of Judea AD 38-41 under Caligula, AD 37 – 41. He was the seventh governor of this province.

He was appointed by the emperor following the recall of Pontius Pilate and the temporary oversight of Marcellus. The period of his prefecture was a stirring and dangerous time due to Caligula's determination to turn the temple at Jerusalem into an imperial shrine with an enormous statue of himself in the guise of Jupiter and the Jews equal determination to accept no such thing, but nothing is recorded of Marcellus' part because the important decisions and negotiations were necessarily taken over by The Syrian Governor Publius Petronius.

With the statue being constructed in Sidon and two legions of Roman troops waiting on the border of Galilee to enforce the imperial order, war was eventually avoided by the intervention of Agrippa I who dissuaded his friend from such provocation. Soon afterwards Caligula was assassinated and Agrippa was appointed to take Marcellus' place, but with the appellation of "king."