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~· PHILONIS ALEXANDRINI LEGATIO AD GAIUM EDITED WITH AN INTRODUCTION TRANSLATION AND COMMENTARY BY \ l\ /ij E. MAR...

Author: Philo Judaeus of Alexandria | translated by E. Mary Smallwood

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PHILONIS ALEXANDRINI LEGATIO AD GAIUM EDITED WITH AN INTRODUCTION TRANSLATION AND COMMENTARY

BY

\ l\

/ij

E. MARY SMALLWOOD Lecturer in Classics in the Queen's University of Belfast

il._...

LEIDEN

E.

J.

BRILL

1961

Copyright 1961 by E. J. Brill, Leiden, Netherlands.

PRAECEPTORIBVS

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or translated in any form, by print, photo print, microfilm or any other means without written permission from the publisher.

ET

PRINTED IN THE NETHERLANDS

ADIVTORIBVS

i I I

PREFACE

I CONTENTS Preface. . . .

ix

AbbreViations .

xi

INTRODUCTION

I

A. B. C. D. E. F. G.

The situation in Alexandria The prelude to the riots . The riots . . . . . . The embassies to Gains . The settlement . . . . . Gains' attack on the temple The treatise Legatio ad Gaium Additional Notes . . . . .

3 14 19 Z4

ZJ

Synopsis of the Legatio ad Gaium

31 36 44 51

PHILO-TriE EMBASSY TO GAIUS.

53

COMMENTARY

Index . . .

I49 3Z7

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The text of Philo's Legatio ad Gaium used in this edition is that of S. Reiter, which appears in volume VI of the edition of the complete works of Philo edited by L. Cohn, P. Wendland, and S. Reiter, and published by the firm of Georg Reimer of Berlin between 1896 and 1915. I am indebted to Messrs. Walter de Gruyter and Co. of Berlin, who now incorporate the firm of Georg Reimer, for permission to reprint this text, with a few minor modifications which arc noted in the commentary . This edition is designed as a companion volume to the edition of Philo's In Flaccum by H. Box (Oxford, 1939). Since the two books are likely to be used in conjunction with one another, full discussion of matters treated at length by Box in his introduction or commentary is avoided when I am substantially in agreement with him. In my comn1entary, cross references within the Legatio are usually given simply by the number of the section, and the abbreviation Leg. is prefixed only where there might otherwise be -confusion. Philo's other works are cited by title (abbreviated) and section, preceded by Philo's name only where this is required for clarity. In consulting rabbinic sources I have used H. Dauby's English translation of the Mishnah (1933), the English translation of the Babylonian Talmud edited by I. Epstein (1935-5z), the English translation of the Midrash Rabbah edited by H. Freedman and M. Simon (1939; second edition, 1951), and M. Schwab's French translation of the Jerusalem Talmud (1871-90). My thanks are due to a number of scholars for help in the preparation of this edition: to Professor J. M. C. Toynbee of Cambridge University, who guided the first steps of my researches into the history of the Jews in the Roman empire, and who read and ·Criticized the introduction; to Professor T. A. Sinclair and Mrs. K. M. T. Atkinson of the Queen's University of Belfast, who gave me much valuable advice and help with the translation and with many historical matters respectively; and to my other colleagues in Belfast, to Dr. A. Carlebach, Rabbi of the Hebrew Congregation

X

PREFACE

in Belfast, and to Professor A. H. M. J ones and Professor W. K. C. Guthrie of Cambridge University, whom I consulted on various points. Other debts are acknowledged at the appropriate places in the commentary. For the main lines of the interpretation here put forward, however, as well as for any mistakes and errors of judgement, I take all responsibility. I am very grateful to the firm of W. Heinemann for their kindness in allowing me to see the proofs of the forthcoming volume X of the Loeb edition of Philo, which contains F. H. Colson's translation of the Legatio together with his introduction and some footnotes, and extensive indices compiled by J. Earp, and in granting me permission to include iu my introduction and commentary references to this book before its publication. I am also very grateful to the Queen's University of Belfast for a generous grant which has made the publication of this book possible. Finally I wish to record my appreciation of the patience and vigilance both of the compositors and proof-readers of the firm of E. J. Brill, and of the long-suffering friends who shared the labour of proof-reading with me.

ABBREVIATIONS AFA: Acta Fratrum Arvalium, ed. A. Pasoli (rgso). A}: Josephus, Antiquitates ]udaicae. Balsdon: J. P. V. D. Balsdon, The Emperor Gaius (1934). Balsdon, JRS: J. P. V. D. Balsdon, "Notes concerning the principate of Gaius" in ]RS xxiv (1934), 13-24. . Bell, ]. and C.: H. I. Bell, Jews and Christians in Egypt (1924). Bell, ]. und Gr.: H. I. Bell, Juden und Griechen in rOmischen Alexandria (Beiheft :mm alten Orient IX, 1926). BGU: Aegyptische Urkunden aus den kOn·iglichen lVIuseenzuBerlin. Griechische Urkunden (1895-1934). B]: Joscphus, Betlum judaicum. BMCCRE: A Catalogue of theRomanCoins in the British llduseum ..H. Mattingly, Coins of the Roman Empire (1923"50). BMCGC, Palestine (or other place name): A Catalogue of the Creel~ Coins in the British Museum. G. F. Hill, The Greek Coins of Palestine (r9q). Other countries by various editors. Box: Philonis Alexandrini In Flaccum, ed. H. Box (1939). B. T.: The Babylonian Talmud. CAl-I: The Cambridge Ancient History. Charlesworth, Trade-routes: M. P. Charlesworth, Trade-routes and Commerce of the Roman Empire (1924). CIG: Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum. Cl]: J.-B. Frey, Corpus Inscriptionum judaicarum (1936-52). CIL: Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum. Claudius, Letter: Claudius' Letter to Alexandria (P. Land. 1912), published by Bell, ]. and C. Colson: F. H. Colson's forthcoming edition of the Legatio, Loeb Philo X. C.-W.-R.: Philonis Alexandrini opera Quae Supersunt, vols. I-V ed. L. Cohn and P. Wendland, vol. VIed. Cohn and S. Reiter (1896-1915). Dahl: J. C. Dahl, Chrestomathiae Philonianae pars altera sive ... , . libelli illustres adversus Flaccum et de legatione ad Gaium (18o2). Delaunay: F. Delauuay, Philon d'Alexandrie. Ecrits :flistoriques (1867). Eru·p, Index ... : Indices to the Loeb Philo, in the forthcoming vol. X, compiled by ]. Earp. Eus. HE; Praep. Ev.; Dem. Ev.; Chron.: Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica; Praeparatio Evangelica; Demonstratio Evangelica; Chronici Canones (Jerome's Latin version). Fl.: Philo, In Flaccum. Gelzer: Gelzer's article on Gaius in P.-W. s.v. Iulius (Caligula) no. 33, coli. 381-423. Goodenough, Light; Politics; Introduction: E. R. Goodenough, By Light, Light, The lklystic Gospel of Hellenistic judaism (1935); The Politics of Philo ]udaeus (1938); An Introduction to Philo judaeus (1940). HThR: Harvard Theological Review. InAp.: Josephus, In Apionem. IGr: Inscriptiones Graecae. IGRR: R. Cagnat, Inscriptiones Graecae ad Res Romanas Pertinentes (1911~27).

XII

ABBREVIATIONS

ABBREVIATIONS

ILS: H. Dessau, Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae (r8gz-rgr6). JBL: Journal of Biblical Literature. JE: The Jewish Encyclopedia. }ones, I-Ierods: A. I-L M. Jones, The I-Ierods of Judaea (1938). JQR: Jewish Quarterly Review. JRS: journal of Roman Studies. J. T.: The Jerusalem Talmud. ]ThS: Journal of Theological Studies. Leisegang, Indices: Index volume (VII) of C. -W.- R., compiled by H. Leisegang (1930). L. and S. 11 : Lid dell and Scott's Greek Lexicon, gth edition, by H. S. Jones and R. McKonzie. M ace.: The books of Maccabees. Magie, De VocabuZis: D. Magic, .DeRomanorum Juris Publici Sacrique Vocabulis Sollemnibus in Graecum Sermonem Conver5is (1905). 1\-langey: Philonis ]udaei Opera Quae Reperiri Potuerunt Omnia, ed. T. Mangey (1742). Musurillo, AA: I-I. A. 11usurillo, S. J., The Acts of the Pagan Martyrs. Acta Alexandrinorum (1954). OGIS: VV. Dittenberger, Orientis Graeci Inscriptiones Selectae (1903-5). P. followed by a place name: Papyri. P. Oxy.: The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, ed. B. P. Grenfell, A. S. Hunt, and others (r 8g8). PG: Migno's Patrologia Graeca. PIR 1 : H. Dessau, E. Klebs, and P. von Rohden,ProsopographialmperiiRomani, 1st edition (r897-8). PIR 2 : E. Groag and A. Stein, P,rosopographia Imperii Romani, 2nd edition ). . (r933PL: Mig11e's Patrologia Latina. P.-W.: Pauly-VVissowa, Realencyclopiidie. RE: Revue Biblique. Reiter: Reiter's text of the Legatio in C.-W.-R. VI. RE]: Revue des Etudes Juives. B.oscher, Lexikon: A usfiihrlickes Lexikon der Griechischen und ROmiscken Mythologie, eel. W. H. Roscher (r884-I937). S. Aug.; Tib.; G.: Suetonius, Divus Augustus; Tiberius; Gaius. Schtirer: E. Schii.rer, Geschichte des ]iidischen Volkes im Zeitalter ]esu Christi I, 3rd and 4th edition (1901 ), II, 4th edition (1907), III, 4th edition (1909). Schwab: M. Schwab, Le Talmud de jhusale:m. Traduit .... en Franyais (r87r-go). SEG : Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum. Sen. De Bene f.; Dial. ; Ep.: Seneca, De Beneficiis; Dialogi; Epistulae. SIG: 'Vil. Dittenberger, Sylloge InscriptionumGraecarum, 3rd edition (1915-24). T. A.; H.: Tacitus, Annales; Historiae. Turnebus: Philonis Iudaei in Libros 1Vlosis . ... Eiusdem Libri Singulares, ed. A. Turnebus (1552). \Villrich: H. Willrich, "Caligula" in Klio iii (1903), Ss-rr8, 288~317, 387-470. \Volfson: H. A. \Volfson, Philo. Foundations of Religious Philosophy in ]udaism, Christianity, and Islam (1948).

XIII

PHILO'S PHILOSOPHICAL TREATISES E. R. Goodenough's abbrevations are used in this edition. The numbers in brackets give the volumes in the Loeb edition of Philo.

De Abrahamo (VI). Abr. De A eternitate M undi (IX). A et. Agr. De Agricultura (III). Cher. De Cheruqim (I!). De Confusione Linguarum (IV). Conf. De Congressu Eruditionis Gratia (IV). Gong. Cont. De Vita Contemplativa (IX). Decal. De Decalogo (VII). Det. Quod Deterius Potiori Insidiari Soleat (II). De Ebrielate (III). Ebr. De Fuga et Inventione (V). Fug. Gig. De Gigantibus (II). Heres Quis Rerum Divinarum Heres (IV). Immut. Quod Deus Sit Immutabilis (III). De .Josepho (VI) . .Jos. LA Legum Allegoria (!). Mig. De Migratione Abrahami (IV). 1\J."os. De V ita lVIosis (VI). De lVlutatione Nominum (V). M ut. De Op·ificio Mundi (I). Opif. Plant. De Plantatione (Ill). Post. De Posteritate Caini (II). Praem. De .Praemiis et Poenis (VIII). Prob. Quod Omnis Probus Liber Sit (IX). Provid. De Providentia (IX). QEI Quaestiones et Solutiones in Exodum (Supplement II). Quaestiones et Solutiones in Genesin (Supplement I). QG' Sac. De Sacrificiis Abelis et Caini (II ). Sob. De Sobrietate (III). Som. De Somniis (V). Spec. .De Specialibus Legibus (VII and VIII). Virt. De Virtutibus (VIII). 1

Extant only in Armenian.

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INTRODUCTION

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A-THE SITUATION IN ALEXANDRIA The Legatio is an invective against Gains, illustrated by various examples of that Emperor's outrageous behaviour and by episodes in which Philo maintains that he showed hostility towards the Jews. The author relates, among other things, the attacks made on the Jews in two places during Gains' principate-the anti-Jewish riots in Alexandria during the summer of 38 and Gains' attempt to dedicate the Temple in Jerusalem to the imperial cult-and the fortunes of the embassies to Gains which the former event occasioned and which gave the treatise its popular title. Save for a chronological link between the movements of the embassies and events in Palestine, the episodes in the two countries were unconnected with each other. In the Legatio Philo attributes the disturbances in Alexandria in 38 to Gains' self-deification. He says that the Jews alone refused to recognize Gains as a god and thereby incurred his anger and hostility, and that the Alexandrian Greeks, realizing this, used it as a pretext for giving expression to their own long-standing hatred for the Jews 1 • Philo arrives at this explanation of the trouble by manipulating the chronology and ante-dating Gains' demand for divine honours and his consequent hostility towards the Jews 2 • He completely ignores the events in Alexandria (related in the In Flaccum) which led up to the outbreak, and gives no account of the social and political conditions in the city which were the basic cause of the severe friction between the races. The ferocity of the Greek attack on the Jews in 38 is indeed comprehensible only on the assumption that behind it lay a deepseated resentment which had long been smouldering and was ready to bnrst into flame on the first provocation. It seems clear from Philo's various references to 7tOAL~eLx that at least one cause of the quarrel was some question concerning the Jews' civic status in 1 11

Leg. ns-zo. See the note on IIS

f1.6vou~;

y.Xp

'Iou3cdou~ Une:~A€Tte't'o.

INTRODUCTION

THE SITUATION IN ALEXANDRIA

Alexandria. At one point in the riots the prefect Flaccus is said to have taken steps to destroy the Jews' 7toJ,,~doc and so to deprive them of their political rights 1 ; the purpose of the Jews' embassy to Gains is described as a campaign about the 7tOA,~doc 2; and the envoys are made to speak of the fear that their own 7tOA,~doc will be destroyed and of a threat to the whole 7tOA,~s(oc of the Jews in general 3 . \Vhat, then, was the Jews' civic status in Alexandria, and what is the meaning of the term 7to),,~doc in these contexts? Scholars are agreed on two points. First, Alexandria was a Greek city, in which the main citizen-body was naturally composed of Greeks, although some individual Jews resident in the city obtained its citizenship. For example, Philo's brother Alexander, who held the Greek municipal office of alabarch or arabarch (customs official) under Tiberius and Gains 4, and one Demetrius who held it under Claudius 5 , must have had Greek citizenship 6 • In a passage which Box maintains refers to the Alexandrian Jews, Philo speaks of them as occasionally holding the positions of clerk of the market (&yop~ vofLo") and gymnasiarch-·both Greek municipal offices which were obviously confined to possessors of Greek citizenship 7 •

Secondly, the Jews resident in Alexandria were organized as a quasi-autonomous civic community, with a constitution similar to, but not identical with, that of the Greek municipal organization, and they thus formed a city within a city. Their organization is generally known as a 7tDAhsufLoc by modern, if not always by ancient, writers. This term, one which covered many concepts, was often used in Hellenistic times to denote "a corporation formed by members of a race or community domiciled in a foreign state" '·We have evidence for 7toA•~sOfLOCTOC of Caunians at Sidon, of Phrygians in Alexandria, and of foreigners of unknown nationality at Cos 2 • The Jews at Berenice in Cyrenaica formed a 7toA(-rsufLoc 3 , and in the document known as Aristeas to Philocrates, written in the late second or early first centnry B. C., the term 7tol.(~eUfLOC is used of the Jewish community at Alexandria 4 • Some sort of definite organization as a community was essential for the Jews of the Diaspora, if they were to retain their native customs and religion. The "leaders of the 7toA(~sUfLoc" whom Josephus, based on Aristeas, mentions as functioning in the Hellenistic period are probably to be identified with the yspoucrl<X of imperial times 5 . Strabo speaks of an

4

1

FZ. 53

't"~\l 'r'lj~ ~(-tet"tpa~ r.oA~'t'e(ac; &vcdpE:crw.

2 Leg. 349 fJ.E-rxr.e:[MpBS:ne:c; &::ywv(croccr0a~ 't'Ov ne:pt 't"1jc; n:oA~'t'dll.l; &y&voc. 3 Leg. 193-4 -ror.:; y±p f!e:y&/,mc; ~pocxia xcd -roLe; xoworc; -rOC ra~oc Urcocr't"S:Mew &.vo:yxrx:t:ov, Wv O~XOfJ.f\I(•W ~ppe:~ xat ~ noA~'t"drt. rroU yd:p 6crwv 1) 08~t~'t'OV &AAw.:; &yw\l(l,e:cr8ca, Se~xvO\I't'OCc; cbc; toyJ:v 'AAe:~avSpdc;, o!c; 0 nept 't"'ljc; xo:OoAtXw't'8po:c; noAvrdo:c;
,a

Tun1er in ]RS xliv (1954), 56; and J, Schwarz in A nnuaire de l' Inst. de Philol. et d'Hist. Orientates et Slaves xiii (1953), 595~6. On the identity of the terms arabarch and alabarch, and the functions of the office, see]. Lesquier, "L'arabarchEls d'E_gypte" in Rev. Archeol. sth series vi (1917), 95-103; L'Armt!e Romaine d'Egypte (1918), 421-7; V. Burr, Tiberius julius Alexander (1955), 87, n. 4- The last two works give the bibliography of earlier discussions. Contrast :M. I. Rostovtzeff and C. B. Welles in Yale Class. Stud. ii (1931), 49, who without discussion render &p!X~IXP'Xfl'; as ''chief of Arabs''. 0 A] xx, 147. 6 The term "Greek citizenship" is used in this edition in preference to the more usual one, "Alexandrian citizenship", since it will be shown that the Jews could be described as citizens of Alexandria, although in a specialized sense. 7 Prob. 6; Box, xxi-xxii. On the question of the possession of Greek citizenship by individual Jews cf. A. Segre, "Note sullo Status Civitatis degli Ebrei nell'Egitto tolemaico e imperiale" (in Bulletin de la Societe Royale d'ArchJologie d'Alexandrie xxviii (1933), 143·82), 163·4, 166.

5

1 I-I. S. ]ones's definition (]RS xvi {1926), 27). For a full discussion of the term noAh-eU!J.IX and its many different meanings see W. Ruppel, "Politeuma" in Philologus lxxxii (1926-7), 268-312, 433-54; cf. M. Engors, "IIoA('t'E:UtJ.a" in Mnemosyne liv (1926), 154-61. 2 OGIS 592, 658 (found at Pompeii but refen-:ing to Alexandria), and 192. ' GIG 5361. 4 Ps. -Aristeas EfJ. 310 (after the public reading of the Septuagint trans~ lation) crTOCV"t'€!; ot lepetr;; x.cd 't'&V kp[L"l)V€wv oln;pea{3thepo~ X.IXt T(;'w &rr6 't'OiJ n;oA~TeU~ fll-tTor;; ol 't'€ ~yoO!J.e:vm ToiJ nA~Elour;; .... In Joscphus' paraphrase the passage runs ~~(wa&v Te: n&ner;; 8 n tepe:U!; x.cd 't'&\1 ~P!J."IJV€wv o{ n;pea~OTepo~ x.cd 't'oiJ TioA~'t·e:6!J.IXTO<; o~ npoecrn1K6T€!; .... {A] xii, 108}. For discussions of the date of Ps.-A:risteas see H. St. J. Thackeray'stranslation (1917),xii-xiv;H. T.AndrewsinApocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament, ed. R. H. Charles (1913}, II, 85-7; M. Hadas's edition of Ps.-Aristeas (1951), 9-54. 5 Box (xxv), like Ruppel (op. cit., 28o) and L. Fuchs (Die ]udenAegyptens in ptolemaischer und rOmischer Zeit (1924), 8g), thinks that in Ps.-Aristeas Ep. 310 o~ n;pe:cr(36't"epo~ governs both ~P!J."IJ'.I€wv and 't'&v &nO 't'oiJ n;oA~TeU!J.IX't"O<; presumably in the different senses of "the oldest of the translators and the elders (in the political sense) of those belonging to the noAl't"eU!J.IX". If tills is right, the phrase o~ n;pecr~O,.epo~ 't'&v &nO 't"OiJ noA~'t'€0tJ.MOr;; may be taken as evi~ dence for the existence of a ] ewish ye:pouda in the Hellenistic period. But the passage can also, and perhaps better, be rendered "the oldest of the translators and (some of) the members of the noA(Te:U[Lo:". For the partitive genitive used as subject or object see E. Schwyzer, Griechische Grammatik II, ed. A. Debrun~ ner (1950), 101 ff.; cf. F. W. B1ass,Grammatik desneutestamentlichenGriechischs, ed. Deb1unner (1949), 78.

6

INTRODUCTION

THE SITUATION IN ALEXANDRIA

ethnarch holding the chief administrative and judicial power over the Jewish community in his own day, and that official is likely to have functioned also in Hellenistic times 1 . The existence of officials presupposes an assembly to elect them. Philo says that after the death of "the genarch" c. A. D. II a yepoucr(e< was appointed by Augustus to manage Jewish affairs 2 • This may mean only that Augustus transferred the effective power from the ethnarch to an already existing yepoucr(e<, which was alternatively known as ot &px.o·1~e' 3, and that the office of ethnarch was temporarily suspended, not abolished; for Claudius states in an edict of 41 that Augustus did not prevent the appointment of ethnarchs •. Possibly the ethnarch functioned, at least for a time after c. II, as chairman of the yepouda rather than as an independent authority. He may have been one of the npw-re8ov't'e:t:; -~~<; yspoucr(IXc; mentioned in connection with an episode in A. D. 73 6. The Jewish l
xa0lcrTctTa~

8€ x.cd

~ev&:pX'tJ<;

ath·&v,

8~; aw~x.d TE

-rO

~evos

xcd 8~oc~T0 x.p(aet.;; xcd cru(L~oAet(wv &m[le:Ae:ha~ xcd rcpoo"t'1XY[.t&:r6lV, ciJ~ &v rcoAt't'det.;; &pxwv a:U't"oTeAoDc:;. 2 Fl. 74· Genarch is apparently a synonym for ethnarch. The Roman

prefect mentioned gives the date. 3 Fl. So; cf. II7. 4 A] xix, 283. 5 B] vii, 412. 6 BGU IV, rrsr, 7-8 't"0 't"WIJ 'Iouacdcuv &pxdol.l. Contrast II3I, 14 and 22 for references to what was clearly the record-office of the Greek citizens. 7 See E. R. Goodenough, The jurisprudence of the Jewish Courts in Egypt (rgzg). . . . . . s Apud A] xiv, n7. For fuller accounts of the constltutwn of the Jewtsh 1t'oA('t"e'J(l.OC see Fuchs, op. cit., go-4; Bell, ]uden und Griech~n, 12-3; Schti.re:, III, 76-g; Box, xxvi-xxvii and note on Fl. 74; V. Tchenkover, Hellemst~c Civilization and the Jews, translated by Sh. Applebaum (1959), 296-304. Cf. Ruppel, op. cit., 280-3. 9 P. Land. 1912, published by Bell,]. and C., I-37·

7

who maintained that the Alexandrian Jews as a body had Greek citizenship, while Willrich, Wilcken, Schubart, Engers, Gelzer, and Fuchs were among those who denied this 1 . Since Bell's publication of the Letter and his discussion of the problem in the light of this new evidence, De Sanctis, Momigliano, and Lewy have been among the minority which continues to support the view that the Jews possessed Greek citizenship 2, but Bell's dictum (p. rs) that "the total effect of (Claudius') letter is decisively to disprove the idea that the Jews possessed the citizenship" has been accepted by the majority of scholars, e.g., by Reinach, H. S. ]ones, Tarn, Segre, Box, Scramuzza, and Tcherikover 3 • It would be superfluous to add to the already extensive literature on the subject by adducing and discussing all the evidence afresh. It is enough to say that, quite apart from Claudius' Letter, the evidence seems to the present writer to indicate that the Jews did not enjoy Greek citizenship; that the passages which suggest that they did are better explained as references to the Jewish l
Schii.rer, III, 122-3; Juster, II, 6-rr. Willrich, 403-7; U. Wilckcn und L. Mitteis, GrundzUg~ und Chrestomathie der Papyruskunde (1912), I, i, 24, and 63; W. Schubart, "Alexandrinischc Urkunden aus der Zeit des Augustus" (in Archiv fiir Papyrusforschung v (1913), 35-131), II9-zo; M. Engers, "Die staatsrechtliche Stellung der alexandrinischen Juden" in Kho xviii (1923), 79-90; Gelzer, 401; Fuchs, op. cit., 79-105 (published in the same year as Bell, ]. and C., but without knowledge of it). Fuchs gives the bibliography of earlier discussions in 85, n. r and 2. For Matzo's theory see below, p. 8, n. 6. 2 G. de Sanctis, "Claudio e i Giudei d' Alessandria" (in Riv. dJ Filol. Class. lii (1924), 473-513); Bell criticizes his arguments as ''ingenious rather than ·convincing" (]. und Gr., rr); A. Momigliano, The Emperor Claudius and his Achievement (1934), g6-8; H. Lewy, Phiton vonAlexandrien "Van der Machterweisen Gottes" (1935), does not argue the point, but assumes throughout that .the Jews had Greek citizenship. 3 . T. Reinach, "L'empereur Claude et les Juifs d'apres un nouveau document" (in RE] lxxix (1924), II3-44), 128; H. S. }ones, "Claudius and the Jewish question at Alexandria" (in ]RS xvi (rg26), 17-35), 26-9; W. W. Tam and G. T. Griffith, Hellenistic Civilization 2 {1952 ), zzr; Segre, op. cit., 156-So; Box, xx-xxx; M. V. Scramuzza, The Emperor Claudius (1940), 74-9; Tcheri-kover, op. cit., 309-28. Cf. Engers in Mnemosyne liv (rg26), I59i Willrich in Hermes Ix (1925), 485; M. Brticklmeier, Beitrtige zur rechtlichen Stellung der ]Uden im rOmischen Reich (1939), 13-9; Burr, op. cit., 17; I. Heinemann in P. -W. Suppl. V s.v. Antisemitismus, coiL ro-12.

8

INTRODCCTION

THE SITUATION IN ALEXANDRIA

The crucial point is that 7toA["rK can mean a member of a 'ltoA["'"fL"' as well as a member of a 7t6A,<;. It is unequivocally so used of the members of the Caunian 7toA["eufLOC at Si don 1 . The Jews in Sardis had an organization which can confidently be regarded as a noAl"
known as 7tOAL'l'oc' as well). Between the Greek citizens and the depressed, unenfranchised class ?f the native Egyptians (Aocol), who had no civic organization of their own and were subject to the Aocoypoc

1

OGIS 592. A] xiv, 25g-6r; cf. the phrase 'Iou8a'i:o~ noAhoc~ UfLtTepo~ (other MSS ~tLhe:po~) in 235. Tarn and Grif£ith (op. cit., zzr, n. g) regard noAho:~ in 259 as an interpolation. But if the word is taken to mean "members of the noA['t'EU[Lo-;'', then the whole phrase ''Jewish rroAho:~ living in our city" is an accurate description of the status of those Jcws in Sardis. (The suggestion that noA'i:"m.~ means citizens of Judaea (Briicldmeier, op. cit., I9) does not carry conviction). 3 Op. cit., 28. Cf. Bell, ]. and C., 13; Box, note on Ft. 53 't"1j~ 1JfLe:"i:poc~ 3

noA~'t"e:(oc~. 4

Strabo, however, seems to use noAo"t"doc in the sense of noAhe:UfLOC; apud A] xiv, IIJ, quoted above, p. 6, n. I. 15 P. Oxy. 706, g. ' See, e.g., P. Oxy. 271,3 (A. D. 56) and477, 14 (A. D. 132-3); D. Comparetti and G. Vitelli, Papiri Greco-Egizii Ill (I9I5), 382, 79 (A. D. 222j3); Gnomon of the Idios Logos (second half of the second century A.D.), 9, I3-5, 38-g, 45-8, 50-I (BGU V, i (1919) and ii (1934); T. Reinach, "Un code fiscal de l'Egypte romaine: Le Gnomon de l'Idiologue" in Nouvette Rev. Hist. de Droit Franyais et Etranger lxiii (rgrg), 583-636, and xliv (1920), 5-134). The dcr-roL were enrolled in demes; ephebic training was an essential prelude to domemembership, and from this training they were also known as o~ dnO 't'oU yu!J.vacr(ou (Comparettiand Vitelli, op. cit. I (1906), 79,25 (A.D. 6o); III, 382, 81). For the 8cp7j~doc see the bibliography in Bell, ]. and C., 34, note on Claudius' Letter, 53· The phrase noA~'>ELx 'AAe:!;a.v8pi:wv Waye:v~~ in an inscription from Sardis (IGRR IV, I519) implies the existence of a lower grade of Alexandrian citizenship. The less privileged citizens, who were excluded from demomembership and from the 8cp"l)·~do:, were technically known merely as' AAe:!;ocv8pei:~. The term "Alexandrian" could, however, be used to cover all citizens alike. The suggestion of B. Matzo ("La condizione giuridica dei Giudei di Alessandria sotto i Lagidi e i Romani" in Atti d. r. Accad. di Scienze di Torino

9

xl;ii.i (I9I2-3), 577-?~) that the "Alexandrian Jews" belonged to the less pnvdoged class of citizens, while the rest of the Jews of Alexandria lacked any grade of Greek citizenship, has found little general favour: see De Sanctis, op. cit., 493 f.; SegrC, op. cit., 177 ff.; Bell, ]. and C., 16, n. r. On &mo£ see Schubart, op. cit., 82-III j E. Bickennann, "Apropos des &cr-ro( dans l'Egypte gn~co-romaine" in Rev. d~ Philol., de Litt. et d'I-Iist. Anciennes liii (3rd series i, 1927), 362-8; Segre, op, mt., r49-55; cl, A. H. M. ]ones, The Greek City from Ate:mnder to Justinian (I940), r74. 224. 1 op. cit., 1II·2. Cf. Segre, op. cit., 170·3; Bell,]. and C., 13. a In Ap. ii, 35; A] xii, 8; cf. BJ ii, 487-8, where "Greeks" is apparently u~ed as a synonym for "Macedonians". Even in imperial times some Jews were still called "Macedonians"; one of two brothers mentioned in BGU IV, II5I and shown by the context to be Jews is c1:iJied a "Macedonian" in BGU IV II32 (Augustan date). ' 3 Wilcken und Mitteis, op. cit. II, ii, no. 21, 47· 4 M os. i, 35 o~ yd:p !;tvot nocp' E:!J.ot xp~-rfl 't"WV Un:o8e:/;afLEvwv ~xE-ro:~ yparpi:cr8wcrav, !J.Ihotxo~ 8e np0o:; lxi:-ro:~o:; xoct cp(Am, crne:08ov-reo:; e!.:; dcr"t"WV ~O'o't'q.t~OCV xo:l yet't'V~WV"t"e~ 1}8"1) no'A('t'oc~~. bA(ycp -rWv ctU't"ox66vwv 8~ctrpi:poV't'e:o:;. 15 H. A. Wolfson, "Philo on Jewish citizenship in Alexandria" in ]EL lxiii (1944), 165-8. Strabo xvii, r, 12, 798; B] ii, 487. 6 See below, pp. 20-1.

IO

INTRODUC'fiON

it he called the Jews ~tvo• when they were in fact x
THE SITUATION IN ALEXANDRIA

II

sense of the possession of civic rights which were equivalent in their total value, but not identical. The two races with their separate civic organizations apparently existed side by side fairly peacefully during the Ptolemaic period. Serious hostility began with the Roman annexation of Egypt, although it remained latent for over sixty years. Several times in the course of the campaigns which led to the annexation the Jews supported the Roman invaders-in 55 B. C., when Gabinius reh:tstated the banished Ptolemy Auletes 1, in 48-47 B. C., when rehef was sent to Caesar, who was besieged in Alexandria 2 , and possibly also in 30 B. C., when Octavian pursued Antony and Cleopatra to Egypt 3 • This cannot have endeared them to their Greek neighbours, who bitterly resented the degradation which their city suffered as a result. Formerly the capital of an independent kingdom, it was henceforth to be merely the port of one of her mistress's chief granaries and the residence of an imperial prefect, with one of the legions of occupation quartered just outside 4 • The Jews not only could be regarded as partly responsible for all this, but they even benefited from the annexation. For they came henceforth under the protection which it was the policy of Rome to grant to the Jews throughout the Empire 6 • Their religious liberty was safeguarded, and they were allowed to preserve intact their civic rights as a quasi-autonomous 7toAC'<
I2

INTRODUCTION

by attacking her proteges, the Jews, who were at hand and were far more vulnerable. By the thirties of our era, after some sixty years of Roman rule, there had grown up in Alexandria a party of extreme patriots or nationalists, who led this opposition to Rome and the anti-Semitism which was associated with it. Philo describes them as "demagogues like Dionysius, record-porers like Lampo, faction-leaders like Isidorus, busybodies, mischief-makers, and disturbers of cities" 1. The first of these three leaders he does not mention again. Lampo he later characterizes as a rrpoison-pen,, (x.o::Aav.ocrcp&x.'t''Y)c;), who, after surviving a maiestas trial under Tiberius, made money in his position of gymnasiarch by accepting bribes for the falsification of the records of lawsuits 2 • Isidorus "was his equal in rascality, a turbulent fellow, a demagogue, a past master in creating disorder and confusion, a foe to peace and stability, a genius at manufacturing commotions and disorders when they did not exist and at cementing and inflaming them after they had come into being" s. Such were the people into whose hands the control of affairs in Alexandria was to fall for some months in 38. A desire to attack Rome through the Jews was not, however, the only reason for the disturbances at that time. As has been seen, the trouble then arose, at least in part, over some question concerning the Jews' position in the city, and it appears that the long and peaceful coexistence of the two parallel civic organizations had broken down. The most convincing theory of the precise grounds for the increased tension between the two races, which Philo does not explain at all, is that at that time some, at any rate, of the Jews were trading on their already privileged position, and, in reliance on the security which Roman protection gave them, were seeking to improve their fortunes-that they were, in fact, agitating for admission to Greek citizenship, and that in some cases they were perhaps even usurping the privileges of that status in advance. This can be inferred from Claudius' rebuke to the Jews in his Letter in 41, where he bids them remain content with their existing position and not strive to win extra privileges •. Philo does not explicitly admit this Jewish claim, probably not wishing to mention 1 2 3

4

Ft. zo. On ypcql!J.IX't'oX6(J)UliJ see Colson's note ad lac. (Loeb Philo IX). Ft. rzS-34. Fl. 135, Box's translation. Lines 88-95 .. Cf. below, pp. 30-r.

THE SITUATION IN ALEXANDRIA

13

it after the rebuff administered by Claudius, and preferring to represent his people as the victims of unprovoked aggression. When the Jews already possessed substantial rights as members of a TCoAl~
E.g., by Scramuzza, op. cit., 77i Bell,]. und Gr., 12. Pliny,Ep. x, 5, 6, and 7· ItwasobviouslybyanoversightthatthisEgyptian had been allowed to proceed straight to Roman citizenship. Alexandrian citizenship had to be granted to him subsequently, in order to rectify the in·egularity. 3 Cf. E. G. Turner in ]RS xliv (1954), 54· 4 Cf. Matzo, op. cit., 584-5 for the religious duties involved in membership of a deme. But his only evidence is a very fragmentary papyrus of the third century B. C. 5 Cf. II lVIacc. iv, 9-15, where Antiochus Epiphanes' establishment of the lqrl)(3e:Lct in Jerusalem meant the introduction of "new customs forbidden by the Law". Herod the Great's establishment of Greek games is similarly described as a violation of national tradition (AJ xv, 267 ff.). 2

I5

INTRODUCTION

THE PRELUDE TO THE RIOTS

In view of this it seems probable that the demand for Greek citizenship was confined to a "modernist" party among the J ews-to Jews who were anxious to gain the social aud political advantages which Greek citizenship would give them, even at the price of some slackening of their religious principles-while the stricter, orthodox Jews were content with the status quo and had no wish to be put into a position in which obedience to the laws of their religion would be difficult 1 . To the liberal, "modernist" party presumably belonged those individuals who had succeeded in obtaining Greek citizenship. But most Jews of this type were probably not ready to go so far as to abandon their religion, although they would countenance some compromise. If, therefore, they coveted Greek citizenship, they may at the same time have wanted exemption from those features of municipal life in which they could not conscientiously participate. But to ask for the advantages of Greek citizenship and then to repudiate some of its obligations as incompatible with their national religion was to attempt to make the best of both worlds. It was a selfish aspiration and one which the Greeks justifiably opposed. Indeed, the Greeks would have preferred to see the Jews' privileges reduced rather than increased.

ator and the organization of the demonstration. The Greek population in general was so angry at the slur which the episode would cast on their city's good name, that at the subsequent trial, when Isidorus was publicly accused of responsibility, uproar broke out and he thought it prudent to withdraw into voluntary exile. Flaccus mistakenly supposed that this meant that trouble was at an end 1 • Although it is not recorded, Isidorus must have slipped back into Alexandria later; for in the early months of 38 he is again found stirring up trouble there. It was probably after this outburst, and in the hope of preventing any repetition of it, that Flaccus suppressed the clubs 2-presumably because they counted as collegia. Meanwhile another factor had entered into the situation. The accession of Gains had made Flaccus' position precarious. His close friendship with Tiberius did not endear him to the new Emperor, and he feared retribution for the part which he had played in the banishment of Gaius' mother a The executions, during the first year of Gains' principate, of Tiberius' grandson Gemellus and of Tiberius' friend Macro, who might have stood between Flaccus and Gaius' displeasure, reduced the prefect to despair. The fall of Macro may well have given him especial cause for alarm, since it seems likely that Isidorus had a hand in it, and Flaccus had to face the possibility that Isidorus would seek vengeance for his exile by emplaying the same tactics against himself. In his preoccupation with personal anxieties, Flaccus let his rule deteriorate •. One example of this deterioration is recorded. When Gaius' accession became known in Alexandria, the Jewish community passed a resolution in his honour. Assuming that Flaccus would not give leave for a Jewish embassy to take the resolution to Rome 5, the Jews asked him to forward it. He promised to do so, and to send a covering letter testifying to his own experience of Jewish loyalty. Well over a year later the Jews discovered that their resolution had still not reached Gaius. Philo attributes this to

B-THE PRELUDE TO THE RIOTS

It was thus to a city simmering with discontent that Aulus Avillius Flaccus went as prefect o£ Egypt late in 32 or early in 33· Philo says that for the first five of his six years there he governed excellently 2 , and this glowing testimonial, coming from an enemy, must be true in essence, even if it is somewhat exaggerated in order to make the contrast between Flaccus' early virtues and his later villainies more pointed. At some time during this period Flaccus came into conflict with the Greek nationalists. One of them, Isidorus, felt that he had lost Flaccus' confidence-Philo gives no explanation of this-and in revenge organized and paid a gang of hooligans and idlers from the rowdy clubs (6(occroL, cruvo3oL,Or l
., i

1

Fl. Fl. Fl. Fl.

135-45. 43 9 and r58. 4 ro-r6. For Isidorus' connection with the fall of Macro see the note on Leg. 59 ot'J 1toAAo:~o:; fScr't"e:pov ~f.t€pa~~. fin. 5 Although the control of egress from Egypt was less strict in Roman than in Ptolemaic times (Strabo ii, 3, 5, ror ), a. permit from the prefect was needed: see Fl. 97; P. Oxy. I27I (A. D. 246); and Gnomon of the Idios Logos 64, 66, 68 (references above, p. 8, n. 6).

'

I6

17

INTRODUCTION

THE PRELUDE TO THE RIOTS

deliberate malice on Flaccus' part, saying that he had suppressed the document in order that the Jews alone might appear to be disloyal, and the ] ews described Flaccus' action as a "plot" against them 1 • But since Philo makes no suggestion elsewhere that Flaccus showed any animosity or unfairness towards the Jews before the summer of 38, it seems probable that the Jews were making a false deduction from subsequent events, and that the real explanation of Flaccus' failure to forward the resolution was that in his personal distress at Gains' accession he pigeon-holed it and genuinely forgot about it. In the early summer of 38, when Macro's death had reduced Flaccus to complete despair, the nationalists conceived the cunning idea of using his fear and insecurity for their own purposes. Hitherto his enemies, they now posed as his friends. Their leaders, Isidorus, Lampo, and Dionysius, offered, at a price, to take the place of Gemellus and Macro in standing between Flaccus and a possible attack by Gains-although Philo does not explain at all how they proposed to do this. Their price was to be the "surrender" of the Jews to the nationalists. Flaccus yielded to this temptation and accepted the bargain which they offered 2 • Soon afterwards the nationalists sought to cement the alliance by conferring "miserable honours" on Flaccus 3 . Philo does not say why the Greeks were hostile to the Jews and wanted them "surrendered" to them, or what the Greeks proposed to do once they had the Jews at their mercy. For the riots which ensued occurred after feelings had been exarcerbated by the arrival of the Jewish king Agrippa I •, and it is not necessary to suppose that physical assault and religious persecution were in the Greeks' minds when they made their agreement with Flaccus. It has been argued above (pp. I2-4) that there was friction between the two races at the time over the question of the Jews' civic status and the

agitation of some of them for admission to full Greek citizenship. What the Greeks apparently wanted was a ruling from Flaccus which would end any Jewish hopes of the advancement of their community as a whole to full Greek citizenship and would confine it strictly to the rights officially granted by the Ptolemies or even reduce those rights. Flaccus began to keep his compact with the Greeks by showing what Philo describes as bias against the Jews in deciding lawsuits, and by refusing Jewish petitioners access to him 1 . This bias may have consisted, not of actual injustice, as Philo insinuates, but of a careful scrutiny of the legal basis of every Jewish claim and the rejection of claims based on privileges usurped by the Jews in the course of time and never legally ratified •. Flaccus' purpose was presumably to accustom the Jews gradually to a loss of preferential treatment, in the hope that later they would accept a ruling about their status without commotion. A settlement might perhaps have been reached peacefully, had not the unexpected visit of Agrippa in August, 38 caused the situation to develop on entirely different lines. Agrippa was on his way, at long last, to the kingdom in northern Palestine which Gaius had granted to him nearly eighteen months earlier, soon after his accession. He had intended to travel via Greece and the Aegean rather than by the quicker sea-route via Alexandria-no doubt in order to avoid the possibility of an embarrassing encounter with Philo's brother, Alexander the alabarch, to whom he still owed the twenty thousand drachmae borrowed some two years previously, when he had called at Alexandria in the course of his impecunious flight from his Palestinian creditors to Rome. But when the Emperor insisted that the quick sea-route was preferable and that he should wait for the etesian winds and travel that way, Agrippa politely followed his advice 3 • He succeeded in avoiding publicity when he reached Alexandria by riding at anchor off Pharos until nightfall and slipping ashore unnoticed after dark. His plan of departing equally unostentatiously, however, failed-Philo does not say why •. Somehow the Jews learned of his presence in the city. Puzzled by the change in Flaccus' attitude

1 Fl. 97-I03. Bell thinks (]. und Gr., I]-8) that the resolution was perhaps framed later, on Gaius' recovery from his illness (on which see Leg. q-2r and notes). In that case o:ne wonders why Philo does not mention the precise occasion. The general tenor of 97 _and ro3 suggests rather the beginning of Gaius' principate. The deterioration of Flaccus' rule dated from his receipt of the news of Gains' accession (Fl. g), although it became more pronounced after the deaths of Gemellus and Macro (Fl. 16). ' Fi. 18-24. Cf. Additional Note I, pp. 44-5. 3 Ft. 41. 4 For Agrippa see the note on 179.

1

Fl. 24. Box's interpretation, xl. 3 Fl. 25-6. On the sea-routes between Italy and the Levant and on the etesian winds see the notes on Leg. 250. 4 Fl. ZJ-8. 11

IS

INTRODUCTION

THE PRELUDE TO THE RIOTS

towards them, and alarmed lest they had offended Gains, they hoped that Agrippa, as a personal friend of the Emperor, might be able to help them. They told him of Flaccus' suppression of the resolution which they had passed iu Gains' honour, and gave him another copy, which he sent to Rome, together with a letter explaining its tardy arrival and a memorandum from the Jews dealing with their position in Alexandria and complaining of.the unprecedented treatment which they were receiving from Flaccus. 1 Any good effect which Agrippa's advocacy and the Jews' memorandum might have had was then nullified by an impulsive and provocative action which brought calamity in its train. Agrippa and his body -guard made an ostentatious parade through Alexandria, presumably designed to impress the Greeks and Flaccus and perhaps to overawe the latter into treating the Jews better. Whether this was the Jews' idea pressed on a reluctant Agrippa, or the king's own idea of the best way of helping his compatriots 2 , we do not know, since Philo gives no indication of what lay behind it, and indeed passes the whole episode over very rapidly, as if aware that it had made a wrong psychological approach to the situation. Had Agrippa tackled Flaccus in private, he might have secured some improvement in the Jews' position by stressing his own influence with Gains. As it was, the parade merely inflamed the Greeks' jealousy at the Jews having a king while they had been deprived of theirs, and it gave the nationalist leaders another weapon to use against Flaccus. They feigned indignation on his behalf, saying that the parade was an act of disrespect to the prefect and was aimed at overshadowing him, and they worked on his nervousness by suggesting that it was the prelude to his dismissal 3 • Flaccus believed this allegation, and while keeping up an appearance of cordiality towards Agrippa, he took secret revenge by failing to prevent the Greek counter-demonstrations. The Greek mob began by congregating in the gymnasium and chanting gibes against Agrippa composed for the occasion by writers of mimes. The fact that this insult went unpunished encouraged the mob to go further. A parody of Agrippa's procession was held. The harmless local idiot named Carabas ("Cabbage") was made to play the part of king, attired in a carpet for a cloak and a piece of bark for a

crown; he held a sceptre of papyrus and was attended by a bodyguard of young man carrying sticks for lances. He was paraded to the gymnasium, placed on the platform there, and approached by a stream of pseudo-courtiers, -litigants, and -petitioners, while the crowd hailed him as "Marin", the Aramaic word for "our king". The allusion was obvious and the insult deaclly 1• Flaccus did nothing to stop or punish this performance 2 , and by this failure in his duty he took upon himself part of the responsibility for the insult to Gains' friend and so became liable to suffer with the Greeks the unpredictable consequences of the Emperor's wrath, if Agrippa complained to him. Yet the precariousness of his personal position which had led to the original alliance with the nationalists, together with the honours which they had granted to him, prevented his breaking with them. For two or three months from this point on, Flaccus was a tool in the Greeks' hands, and the control of events largely lay with them.

1

Fl. 103 i Leg. 178-9 and notes ad lac.

'

As Box thinks (xli). Fl. 29-3r.

3

J

I

-l '1

C-THE RIOTS

I I

The Legatio picks up the story at this point. Philo's two acconnts of the riots in August, 38, supplement each other, although they do not agree in every detail. Both describe a two-fold attack made by the Greeks on the J ews-a serious infringement of their religions liberty consisting of the destruction of some of the synagogues and the desecration of others, and an attempt to undermine the Jews' civic position by the institution of a ghetto; the enforcement of the latter led to widespread rioting and anarchy, in which many Jewish lives were lost, much Jewish property destroyed, and heavy suffering inflicted. The Greek mob, emboldened by the impunity which it was enjoying after the Carabas episode, now used the prefect's impotence as an opportunity for further Jew-baiting. Bands of Greeks burnt or rased to the ground many synagogues in the parts of Alexandria where comparatively few Jews Jived, regardless of the fact that the consequent destruction of declications in honour of the Emperors which had been placed in th<em might bring trouble upon them. 1 Fl. 32~9. It was probably at this point that prudence dictated a hasty and unobtrusive departure for Agrippa. There is no reference to this, but he figures in none of the subsequent events in Alexandria. 2 Fl. 40.

INTRODt:CTION

20

The synagogues in the so-called "Jewish districts" 1 could not be treated in this way, because any attempt to do so would inevitably have been observed and resisted. These the Greeks rendered unfit for Jewish use by the much quicker method of setting up a portrait of Gains in each, perhaps with Flaccus' sanction 2 • An old fourhorse chariot from the gymnasium was dragged into the largest synagogue. Such Jewish resistance as may have occurred was ineffective, and probably few, if any, synagogues in the whole city remained intact and undesecrated 3 • During the attack on the synagogues, or more probably after it was over, the Greeks turned to the achievement of their real aiman attack on the Jews' present civic status and their claims for advancement. Feeling was running so high by this time that it was obviously unlikely that this aim could be realized without rioting. But the nationalists had to get the ruling which they wanted before any report of the Carabas episode reached Rome to prejudice Gains against the Greeks, should the quarrel be referred to him; and Flaccus, now facing not only his former personal clanger from Gains but also the possibility of being brought to book for not curbing the recent disturbances, dared not risk antagonizing the nationalists and so forfeiting their support (for what it was worth). It was therefore clearly at the nationalists' demand, although Philo does not say so, that Flaccus attacked the rights of the Jewish 1'1:oAlT
1

dx6voc~

yd:p b.J r:bt"&crcu<; (J.€v !8p0o\l't"O rCGtou. 3 Fl. 41-53; Leg. 132-7 and see the notes ad loc. For arguments to support the interpretation here given of the attack on the synagogues see Additional Note II, pp. 45·7· 4 Fl. 53-4 ~~VOIJ~ :l.cd en~Au8::xt;. 5 See above, pp. g-ro.

r 1

I I !

!I )

./ !

THE RIOTS

2I

much that a second section of the city also was largely, although probably not exclusively, populated by Jews and known as "Jewish", while smaller numbers of Jews lived scattered throughout the other three sections as well. The Jews were now to lose the privilege acquired in the course of time, but never legally granted to them, of residing in all parts of the city, and were to be restricted to the one original Jewish section, which thus became the first ghetto in the Roman world 1 . It was left to the Greeks, or they took it upon themselves, to put this ruling into effect. The more prudent Jews living outside the new ghetto probably withdrew to it at once, but an anti-Jewish riot was nevertheless soon in full swing. For the Greeks proceeded to drive into the ghetto many of the Jews whom they found elsewhere, and tortured and massacred others. Obviously the ghetto was too small to accommodate the whole Jewish community, and many Jews were forced to "overflow" outside the city on to the beaches in the neighbourhood of the municipal rubbish-heaps and of the cemeteries. The Greeks meanwhile looted the Jewish shops which were still closed in mourning for Gains' sister, Drusilla, and plundered over four hundred abandoned Jewish homes outside the ghetto 2 • The Jews in the ghetto were reduced to poverty, because they were unable to carry on their ordinary trades and professions, and food supplies soon ran short there. This shortage, combined with severe overcrowding and the exposure from which those on the beaches suffered, led to the outbreak of an epidemic. When the threat of starvation forced some Jews to venture out of the ghetto to the city markets in search of provisions, they were lynched by the Greeks in numerous ingeniously disgusting ways. Even Jewish traders arriving at the port were robbed of their merchandise and murdered 3 • The narrative in the Legatio goes no further than this, and for the end, as for the beginning, of the story of the disturbances in the summer of 38 we depend on the In Flaccum. At some point during the riots Flaccus held a conference with the Jewish leaders, apparent1 Fl. 55; Leg. 124. It is wrong to speak, as do, e.g., Willrich (4o6), Wilcken (in Wilcken und Mitteis, op. cit. I, i, 24), and Balsdon (132-3) of the Ptolemaic Jewish district as a "ghetto". A special residence had been granted to the early Jewish settlers as a privilege. Their descendants had not hitherto been confined to it as a disability. Cf. Box, xliv, n. 5· ' PI. 943 Fl. 55-72; Leg. I2I-3L

INTRODUCTION

ly in the hope of finding a way out of the prevailing anarchy-but without success'· 1l1e final outburst of fanatical hatred occurred on Gains' birthday, srst August, with a demonstration which Flaccus himself was at least partly responsible for organizing. Some time before that date he had arrested thirty-eight members of the Jewish yepoucr(oc. Philo implies that this was a gratuitous assault on innocent people, but the fact that it was Flaccus and not the Greeks who made the arrest suggests that there were some grounds for it. The offence of the Jewish elders is a matter of conjecture. It is conceivable that they had instigated some sort 'of return-attack upon the Greeks; for other Jews also were in Flaccus' custody and were punished with them. Their punishment was made a public spectacle for the amusement of the Greeks on Gains' birthday. The thirty-eight elders were marched through the streets to the theatre and there scourged, so severely that some died as a result. Other Jews were also tortured and hanged in the same place, and the entertainment was then continued with music, mimes, and dancing 2 • To judge from the order of Philo's narrative, it was after this that Flaccus had the Jews' homes searched for weapons, but found none 3 • In the course of the search a number of women were arrested, including some gentiles (Box suggests gentile wives of Jewish husbands), who were immediately released. Pork was offered to the Jewesses to eat, and some ate it in order to avoid the tortures inflicted on those who refused •. After this the persecution seems to have died down, although the elders who survived the scourging were kept in prison and although by a month or more later, in mid-October, the Jews had not yet sufficiently recovered in spirits 1 2

Fl. 76; no details are given. Ft. 73-85. Philo explains that scourging was a punishment to which the

unenfranchised Egyptians were liable, while the Jews had hitherto shared with the Greeks the privilege of being beaten with the flat of the sword instead. Box interprets this incident to n1ean that this, like the right to reside in all parts of Alexandria, was a privilege which had long been allowed to the Jews in practice, but had never been theirs by legal right. As the ] ews were by Flaccus' proclamation reduced to the bare rights formally granted to them, they now lost that privilege (xliv, xlvi~xlvii). 8 Fl. 86-94. On the unsuccessful search for weapons see Box, lx-lxii. 4 Fl. 95-6 a11d Box's note ad toe. Ho includes "the forcible eating of pork by Jewesses" among the entertainments of 31st August (xlvii). It is possible that Philo's narrative is somewhat confused; the search for weapons may have occurred before that date, and the thirty-eight elders and the other Jews may have been arrested in connection \Yith it.

r H

I I IL

I I

II

r!

1

I I I I

THE RIOTS

23

or in material circumstances to be able to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles 1 . At that point a detachment of soldiers arrived from Rome with a warrant for Flaccus' arrest, and the Jews immediately broke into hymns of praise for their deliverance 2 • We are not told whether Flaccus was charged with maladministration and his failure to prevent the riots, or whether he had to face political accusati~ns connected with his earlier relations with Gains' enemies. Gams must have decided on the arrest some time in September, probably after receiving Agrippa's letter from Alexandria explaining Flaccus' suppression of the resolution passed by the Jews in Gains' honour eighteen months earlier, and the accompanying memorandum on Flaccus' treatment of the Jews during the weeks before the riots "· Flaccus reached Rome to find Isidorus and Lampo among his accusers •-an indication of the value of their promise of protection. He was found guilty of whatever charges were preferred against him and banished to Andros. The last quarter of the In Flaccum recounts his journey into exile, his misery and remorse, and his execution. Although Philo does not admit it, the Jews must have been allowed to return to their homes after Flaccus' arrest. Apart from the improbability that the whole community could have lived in the small ghetto and on the seashore for some two years and a half, until Claudius re-established their rights, the fact that a year after the riots the Jews were in a position to offer a hetacomb for sacrifice suggests a fairly speedy return to normal conditions 5• At the same time, as feelings cooled, they probably quietly resumed possession of the synagogues, repairing and reconsecrating them 6 • 1 Fl. n6-8. Bell refers Philo's account of an attempt by an unnamed prefect of Egypt to forbid Sabbath-observance (So~. _ii, 123-9) .to ~laccus and the disturbances of 38 (]. und Gr.,_2I}. But th1s mterpretatton 1s by no means certain; see Colson's note in the Loeb Philo V, 6og. 2 Fl. 104-24. 8 See above, pp. rs~r8. Goodenough, however, thinks that Flaccus was attacked for having belonge~ to the faction supporting Gemellus (Introduction, 74). If Isidorus had assisted in Macro's ove~'t~rrow (above, p. 15), his accusations against Flaccus may also have been pohtlcal, and unconnected with the Alexandrian situation. 4 Fl. 125-7. 1> Leg. 356 and note X(%--rct -r~v !Arrtaoc ~1jo::;~repf1ocv~x1}o::; vb~.'l)o::;. Cf. Goodenough, l.c. 6 Cf. the note on 370 rco't'ocn~ y!t.'Jot't'' &v ~ xp(a~o::;. Schiirer (1, 500) and Bell (]. und Gr., 22-3), however, think that the synagogues remained closed. -

24

INTRODUCTION

D-TI-IE EMBASSIES TO GAIUS Whether Gaius already knew about the riots or not when he had Flaccus arrested, it was obvious that information could not be long delayed in reaching him. The Jews and the Greeks, aware of this, took steps to send embassies to the Emperor, the latter to try to exculpate themselves for the recent upheavals and to secure a ruling which would keep the Jews in the inferior position to which they had been relegated, and the former to complain of, and seek redress for, the wrongs which the Greeks had inflicted on them. The embassies were apparently not able to sail until a year later, in the winter of 39-40, quite possibly because Flaccus' successor, Vitrasius Pallia, conducted a lengthy investigation into the quarrel before issuing the necessary exit-permits 1. Our knowledge of the embassies is derived almost entirely from the Legatio, since the meagre paragraph which J osephus devotes to them 2 adds little. Philo himself led the .Jewish delegation of five members, while the Greek delegation included the anti-Semitic writer Apion, Isidorus, and perhaps Lampo 3 . The two parties probably arrived in Italy in the early months of 40, while Gaius was still away on his northern campaign. While waiting for an audience they employed their time profitably in trying to secure powerful friends at court. The Greeks were the more successful in this. By bribery and promises of favours they won the ear of the Egyptian (or more probably Alexandrian) freedman Helicon, Gains' chamberlain, who had great influence over the Emperor and used the opportunities which his intimacy gave him to indulge in anti-Semitic propaganda. The .Jews' counter-efforts to bring him over to their side failed completely '1• The .Jews then decided to draw up a memorandum about "their sufferings and their claims", and this they submitted to Gaius either at or before their first hearing 5 . It dealt, no doubt, principally with the two matters which it was the object of the embassy to lay before the Emperor-that of the

r u

I I '

j

'·

.j

I

I I

I

THE EMBASSIES TO GAIUS

Greek attack on the Alexandrian synagogues 1, which raised the whole question of the Jews' religions liberty and their exemption from participation in the imperial cult, and that of their civic rights and position in Alexandria, which Flaccus' proclamation had undermined 2 • But the Jews' "claims" may have comprised more than merely a plea for a return to the situation before the riots, to be effected by the abolition of the ghetto, by the restoration of the Jews' status as x&~ooxoo and hence the reinstatement of their 7toA[~eufLoc, and by the reaffirmation of their privilege of religious liberty. Their envoys may also have been commissioned to voice the opinions of those Alexandrian Jews who wanted full Greek citizenship to be thrown open to them as a community, and the "claims" may have included a statement of the case for an improvement in the Jews' position by admission to Greek citizenship 3 • But if so, this matter was probably regarded as less important than the regaining of the rights previously held and now lost. If such a claim for increased privileges was made, it was bound to be opposed by the Greeks, even if they grudgingly conceded the claim for a return to the status quo ante on the grounds of precedent. When Gains returned to Italy in the spring of 40, he did not enter Rome, but remained technically outside the city tmtil his ovation on 31st August. He granted the .Jews a brief preliminary audience on the right bank of the Tiber, outside the pomoerium, probably towards the end of May, when he is known to have been in the vicinity of Rome. He received them graciously and dismissed them almost immediately with a promise to listen to their case when he had time. We are not told whether the Greeks were among the other embassies received on the same occasion, but it is probable that they were. The bystanders and Philo's four companions regarded Gains' attitude towards the Jews as portending success for their cause, but Philo himself could not help suspecting that this Leg. I9I n-e:p~ n-pocre:uxWv. Leg. 193~4; 349 [l.E't'ot7tE[l.cpBEv,;e:c; &ywv(aota6ot~ ,;Ov 7te:pt ,;~c; n'oA~"t'docc; &yWva. 3 The reason why this request, if it was made, would have to be laid before the Emperor, and could not be decided locally even under peaceful conditions, was the fact, made clear by, e.g., the case of Pliny's doctor (above, p. 13), a sentence in Claudius' Letter (53~7), and an inscription of the early third century A. D. from. Sardis (IGRR IV, 1519), that the Emperor controlled ad~ missions to Greek citizenship in Alexandria. Cf. In Ap. ii, 41, 72. Anyone introducing an unqualified person into the citizen-body was tried before the prefect (Gnomon of the I dios Logos 40; references above, p. 8, n. 6), 1 2

1 See Additional Note Ill, pp. 47-50, for discussion of the date of the embassies' voyages. 11 A] xviii, 257-60. 3 A], l.c.; note on Leg. 172 't'&\1 'AAe:~ocv8pSrov oE Tt'pfcr~e:~~. 4 Leg. r66-78. Philo seems to suggest that Helicon had tried to turn Gaius against the Jews from the beginning of h:s principate; but see the note on r68 vi:£P ae:crn-6"n· 5 Leg. 178-g.

25

r., 26

INTRODUCTION

THE EMBASSIES TO GAIUS

singling out of his embassy for a speedy answer meant that the decision was to be given against them 1. When, shortly after this, Gains went down to Campania to pass the summer there until his ovation, the Jews, and presumably the Greeks also, followed him, and spent their time formulating their case, in constant expectation of the promised longer hearing. While they were waiting there, the news of Gains' order for the conversion of the Temple in J erusalem into a temple of the imperial cult reached them, and this clear indication of Gains' hostility towards Judaism made them realize that the chances of their getting favourable answers to the questions referred to him were now greatly reduced 2 • The second hearing of the Jewish and Greek embassies did not occur until after Gains' ovation, and was held in the gardens of Lamia and Maecenas on the Esquiline. Philo represents the whole interview as a farce. Gains was having alterations and decorations done to a mansion in the gardens, and the interview was punctuated by tours of inspection of the buildings, discussions of fittings, and the giving of instructions to the contractors. There must be a good deal of truth in this description, but the interview was nevertheless rather more serious than Philo tries to make out. For he has to admit that Gains listened to some of the Jews' arguments about their political position 3• The actual question of the desecration of the Alexandrian synagogues was not explicitly raised at all, but there was some indecisive discussion of the wider issue of the Jews' exemption from participation in the imperial cult in general. For when Gains answered the Jews' greeting with a sneer about their refusal to acknowledge his divinity, which the Greeks took as a clear indication that the decision would be given in their favour, Isidorus seized this opportunity of trying to prejudice the issue by alleging that the Jews alone among Gains' subjects had omitted to offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving for his recovery from his illness-an omission which was tantamount to disloyalty. This was a false allegation, as the Jews were quick to point out. They reminded Gains that they had sacrificed hecatombs not only on that occasion but also at his accession and in anticipation of a victory over the Germans. Gains retorted with perfect truth that these had been sacrifices for him

and were not the same as sacrifices to him, which was what he wanted: i.e., he resented the Jews' privilege of exemption from participation in the imperial cult. Leaving unsettled the question of whether they should retain that privilege, Gains next sought to satisfy his curiosity on a matter which amused and puzzled the gentiles-the reason for the Jews' abstention from pork. He apparently found their simple answer that dietary laws varied from people to people adequate, for he then turned to the second of the questions under discussion, that of the political position of the Alexandrian Jews, asking the envoys to explain what rights they had in the city. But he soon wearied of their (no doubt detailed) exposition, and as they talked he wandered round the buildings, paying more attention to matters of glazing and interior decorating than to the patient orators who trailed behind him. The interview ended, however, on a better note than the Jews by this time dared to hope. Gains dismissed them with nothing worse than the condescending remark that he thought them lunatics rather than criminals for refusing to recognize his godhead 1 • After this interview the envoys waited in fear and suspense for the Emperor's decision on the questions submitted to him 2 • What decision, if any, Gains eventually gave neither Philo nor Josephus indicates. Probably he gave none at all. For the questions were still open when Claudius acceded, and it is very likely that at that time the two embassies were still waiting ineffectively in Rome. E-THE SETTLEMENT The Alexandrian Jews greeted the news of Gains' death with a retaliatory attack on their persecutors the Greeks, having spent the time since the riots of 38 in procuring the weapons which they had lacked previously 3 and apparently also in calling in their compatriots from Syria and Egypt as allies •. The prefect restored order on instructions from Claudius 5• Meanwhile in Rome the new Emperor had begun to deal with the Jewish question in Alexandria by the issue of an edict aimed at giving an immediate, and perhaps only provisional, answer to a 1

Leg. 35r-68. Leg. 368-72. a A} xix, 278 bJ 81tAw; -ljv. 4 An inference from Claudius• prohibition in his Letter (96-8). & A] xix, 279. Legatio ad Gaium 2

1 2 3

Leg. rSr-4. Leg. 185-96. See below, pp. Leg. 364.

31

££.

l !

28

29

INTRODUCTION

THE SETTLEMENT

pressing problem. His final and considered opinion was to be given some months later in his Letter to Alexandria (published there in November, 41), after the dispute had been laid before him by fresh deputations. The edict restored to the Jews the rights which they had enjoyed in Alexandria before the principate of Gains, including the right of religious liberty 1• It thus reinstated the 7toAh·eull"' and safeguarded the synagogues. It said nothing, however, about the qnestion of a possible improvement in the Jews' civic status. Shortly afterwards, presumably in the hope of forestalling any repetition of the Alexandrian incidents, Claudius addressed a similar edict to the rest of the empire, confirming for the Jews everywhere the same general privileges 2 • Referring in his Letter to the edict addressed to Alexandria, Claudius says that he has confirmed the Jewish rights there "after hearing both sides" 3 • Some time in the spring or summer of 41 the

Greeks in Alexandria sent a second embassy, numbering eleven or twelve men 1 , to Rome with the ostensible primary purpose of congratulating Claudius on his accession, but with the important subsidiary purposes of making various requests and of trying to get from the new Emperor the ruling on the Jewish question which the earlier embassy had failed to get from Gains; the recent recurrence of violence in the city also needed explaining. The Jews, as was to be expected, sent a counter-embassy-or rather two embassies 2 • These deputations can hardly have been the representatives of the two sides whose views Claudius heard before issuing his edict. For they can no more have reached Rome by March, 41, the apparent terminus ante quem for the framing of that edict, than the

A] xix, zSo-5. A] xix, z86-gi. In the preamble to the second edict Claudius' titles include consul designatus II, which is absent from the edict addressed to Alexandria. In the early empire the consuls for the following year were chosen at the March elections, if those for the current year were to hold office for the whole of it (Mommsen,ROmisches Staatsrecht P (r887), 588-g). There is no record of suffects having replaced Cn. Sentius Saturninus, Gaius' colleague as consul ordinarius for 41, or Q. Pomponius Socundus, who took Gaius' place after a few days (see, however, P.-VV. s.vv, Sentitts rz, col. 1535, and Pompanius 72, call. 2349-50). Moreover, Agrippa I and his brother Herod, whom Claudius had just appointed king of Chalcis, had a hand in the issue of both edicts (A] xix, 279, z88), and the former left Rome for Palestine immediately afterwards (A] xix, 292). He is more likely to have sailed soon after the March elections than after those in October. It therefore seems probable (assuming that Josephus has reproduced the documents accurately} that the edict addressed to Alexandria was framed before, and the other after, March, 41. Josephus' statement that the Jews attacked the Greeks in Alexandria "when Gains died" must mean "when they heard the news of Gains' death". The normal sea-route from Rome to Syria was via Alexandria, and the news is likely to have been brought by the messengers who took it to the legate of Syria; these had a "good voyage" (BJ ii, 203), but this probably means well over a month in the winter. (Cf. the bibliography in the note on L8g. 199 na('oc-rtElYJX't'IX~ vUv.) It is therefore very unlikely that the Jewish attack began before March, or that information about it reached Rome before April or May. In that case an edict issued before March cannot have been aimed, as J osephus implies that it was, at checking the recrudescence of violence in Alexandria, but was issued in ignorance of it. Cf. Balsdon, 144, n. I. 3 Lines 87-8. H. S. Jones takes the discrepancy between this and Josephus' attribution of both edicts to the influence of the Jewish princes to mean that in his Letter Claudius is not referring to the edict quoted by J osephus (]RS xvi, (1926), 25). But the corollary of this is the unlikely hypothesis that Claudius sent two edicts, substm1tially similar in content, to Alexandria within a few 1

2

.I

months. It is much more probable that the two statements are to be taken as complementary-that the J cwish princes urged Claudius to hold an inquiry into the quarrel and to attempt to settle it, and that Claudius tactfully omitted to mention this when writing to Alexandria, where Agrippa was not persona grata. 1 Letter, 16-zo. On the number see Bell, .J. and C., 30, note on line 19; H. S. Jonosin ]RS xvi (rgz6), r8. In]. und Gr., 25 Bell states without argument that there wore probably twelve Greeks. 2 Letter, 90-2. See H. Willrich, "Zum Brief des Kaisers Claudius an die Alexandriner" in Hermes lx (r925), 482~9. In]. undGr., z6-7 Bell accepts this correction of]. and C., 18, where he postulates only one Jewish embassy. What cleavage within the Jewish community these two embassies represented is a matter of conjecture. The most convincing suggestion seems to the present writer to be that of Willrich, namely that one embassy represented Je-ws who wanted admission to Greek citizenship (i.e., Hellonized, "modernist" Jews), while the other represented those who repudiated any claim to Greek citizenship as being incompatible with their religion (i.e., the orthodox) and who were asking the Emperor merely for the preservation of their former privileges ("A us dem neugefundenen Brief des Kaisers Claudius" in Wiener Bliitter fUr die Freunde der Antike iv (1926), 31-5). Box, who holds that the Jews as a community wanted Greek citizenship, interprets the less precise formulation of Wilh1.ch's theory in Hermes lx as meaning that "some Je-ws of Alexandria, feeling a repugnance towards the ephebic training, owing to the exhibition of the nude male form, may have sent a separate embassy to Claudius to represent their views and presumably to petition for some special arrangement in their case" (xxix). But it has ah·eady been argued (pp. 13~4-) that it is unlikely that the whole Jewish community wanted Greek citizenship, and furthermore the ~tflYJ~doc was appmently not open to all Greek citizens but only to a certain section of them (see above, p. 8, n. 6). Balsdon puts forward the alternative theory (14-4) that the two embassies were representatives respectively of the minority of Alexandriau Jews who possessed Greek citizenship, and of the great mass of Jews who did not. But were the former numerous enough to send a separate embassy, and would they have wished to advertise their nationality by so doing? Having obtained the coveted Greek citizenship, they would surely have felt themselves adequately represented by the Greelc delegation.

30

I:NTRODUCTION

i nformation about the recurrence of violence in Alexandria which greeted the news of Gains' death can have done 1 . Balsdon's suggestion 2 that the two parties heard were the embassies of Philo and Isidorus which were still waiting in Rome is entirely plausible. For the fact that neither Isidorus' nor Apion's name appears in the list of the members of the congratulatory delegation suggests that they had not yet returned to Alexandria when the latter delegation was chosen and set out 3 • If by January, 4r, the delegations of Philo and Isidorus had obtained no answer from Gains to the appeals which they had made to him some months earlier, it was only natural for them to ask the new Emperor for a hearing, in the hope of getting from him the decision which they had failed to get from his predecessor. Some time later Claudius gave a hearing to the Greek congratulatory delegation and its Jewish antagonists, and tried to discover from their presentations of their respective cases where lay the ultimate responsibility for the disturbances of recent years; but without success 4 • When, therefore, in his Letter to Alexandria, which dealt with all the matters laid before him by the Greeks, he came to the Jewish question, he had to content himself with a rebuke for the disturbances and a warning against any repetition of them, addressed to both sides impartially ', before stating the conclusions which he had finally reached on that question. These were that the Jews were old-established residents in Alexandria, and as such were to be allowed to retain the religious liberty which Rome had guaranteed to them since the annexation of Egypt and which his recent

See above, p. z8, n. 2. a 143· 3 Cf. the note on Leg. 172 -r&v 'AAe~ocv3pkwv o~ 7tplcr~e~<;. The names of the members of the two Jewish delegations sent to Claudius are not recorded. St. Jemme mentions Philo's membership of the embassy to Gaius and then a second journey of his to Rome to visit Claudius, adding that in Rome he met St. Peter {De V iris I! lust. xi=PL. XXIII, 658-g). Eusebius records a similar tradition and says that during his visit in Claudius' principate Philo read "his account of Gaius' impiety" to the senate (HE ii, 17, r, and r8, 8). The meeting with St. Peter and the reading in the senate are certainly apocryphal, but there may be some truth in the story of the visit to Claudius. If so, it probably does not mean, as Goodenough thinks (Light, 79, n. so), that Philo actually made a secondjourneyto Rome; itisratherareferencetohiscontinued presence there at the time of Claudius' accession. 4 Letter, 73~7. 5 Letter, 77 ~82. 1

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THE SETTLEMENT

3I

edict had restored 1, but that they were to remain content with their existing position and extensive advantages in a city to which they did not really belong, and were not to try either to get their rights extended or to usurp privileges which were not legally theirs 2• In other words, the Jews were to be content with the status and rights of their 7toA(~eU[LG<, and were to cease irritating the Greeks either by agitating for legal admission to Greek citizenship or by trying to acquire it by irregular means. Thus the restoration of the Jews' noA(T
Letter,

82~8.

2 Letter, 88-95. Whether the phrase €mcmrx~P,~~~~ (? tTie:Lcrrtcdew} YUfJ.Vr:>:
nasiarchs and cosmetae" or "to force their way into the elections for the offices of ...." (see Bell,]. and C., 37), the general sense of the prohibition is the same: the Jews are not to exercise privileges belonging only to Greek citizens. 8 For fuller studies of Claudius' treatment of the Jewish problem in Alexan~ dria see Bell,]. and C., ro-2I;}. und Gr., 24-7; H. S. Jones, "Claudius and the Jewish question at Alexandria" in JRS xvi (1926), 17~35; T. Reinach, "L'empereur Claude et les Juifs d'apres un nouveau document" in RE] lxxix (1924), 11

3~44·

4

Leg. 184-348; A] xviii, z6r-31o; BJ ii, 184-203; T. H. v, g. For the bibliography and for arguments in favour of the chronological scheme adopted in this edition see the present writer, "The chronology of Gaius' attempt to desecrate the Temple" in Latomus xvi (1957), 3-17; also the notes on Leg. 199 ff. 6

32

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INTRODUCTION

GAIUS' ATTACK ON THE TEMPLE

Philo is, in the present writer's opinion, to be preferred to J oscphus as an authority for the incident. First, although he was not a Palestinian, he was a contemporary of the events which he is describing and to some extent a participant in them; for Gains' attack on the Temple was linked in its chronology with the movements of Philo's embassy by the fact that information about it reached that embassy in Italy, and Philo was almost certainly in touch with Agrippa I there at the time of the latter's successful intercession on behalf of the Temple 1• Therefore, although the Legatio does not comprise a straightforward history, the indications of chronology in it are likely to be more reliable than those of Josephus, who was writing some fifty years later. Secondly, Josephus' account includes "fairy-tale" elements, the presence of which tells against the credibility of the whole-rain from a cloudless sky 2 , a sumptuous banquet followed by the offer of a boon 3 , and an order to commit suicide, delayed in transit until it was invalid •. Thirdly, the fact that the chronological indications which Josephus gives for the opening of the episode are not acceptable 6 throws doubt on the reliability of the rest of his narrative. For these reasons, in thp account of the general course of events here given Philo's version is followed in preference to that of J osephus, where the two seem to be irreconcilable. During the winter of 39-40 the Jews in J amnia destroyed an altar which had been built by the Greek minority resident in the town for the express purpose, according to Philo, of annoying their fellow-townsmen. The Greeks reported the destruction to Herennius Capito, the procurator of the imperial estate in which J amnia lay, who informed Gains. During the spring Gains, egged on by his anti-Semitic courtiers, Helicon and the Ascalonite actor Apelles, decided that, as a punishment for the Jewish outrage, a colossal gilded statue of himself in the guise of Zeus should be made and erected in the Temple, thus converting it into a shrine of the imperial

cult'· He instructed P. Petronius, the legate of Syria, to have a statue made and to take two of the four legions comprising the garrison of his province with him when he went to Jerusalem to set the statue in position, in order to crush any resistance which the Jews might offer 2 . Petronius, realizing the folly of Gains' decision and fearing that the Jews of the eastern Diaspora would join in the opposition which the Jews of Palestine would inevitably offer to the desecration of the Temple, began to carry out his orders without enthusiasm. The fact that the statue was not sent out from Rome ready-made but had to be constructed locally gave him time to consider how best to proceed. He wrote to Gains, merely acknowledging his order formally and notifying him of his plan of action 3 . After making arrangements for the construction of the statue in Sidon, at a safe distance from Palestine, he summoned the Jewish leaders, probably to his headquarters at Antioch, for the purpose of informing t)lem of the Emperor's command and of urging them to try to persuade the rest of the population to submit to the desecration quietly. He can hardly have been surprised when his suggestion met with a flat refusal; the Jewish leaders said that they would rather die than witness such an outrage •. Stiff opposition was clearly to be expected as soon as the Jews at large heard the news, and Petronius therefore immediately collected two legions and marched south to Ptolemais in Phoenicia, just north of the Palestinian frontier. It was by now about May, 40, and the grain harvest was at its height 5 when at Ptolemais Petronius was confronted by a vast concourse of Jewsmen, women, and children-who had streamed out from their province to stage mass demonstrations before him. Their repeated protestations that they would rather be killed or commit suicide than suffer the defilement of the Temple made Petronius realize that, if he insisted on carrying out Gains' command, aJewishrevolt would result 6 • He refused the permission for which the Jews asked

Leg. rgg-zo6. Leg. 207-8; A] xviii, z6r; B] ii, r8s. ~ · a A] xviii, 262. 4 Leg. 209-24. On the place of Petronius' conference with the Jewish leaders see the note on 222 v.e't'ocn€:[L1t'E't'OCL. 6 Leg. 249· 6 Leg. 225-44; A} xviii, z6z-g; BJ ii, 187, rgz. Tacitus' statement that the Jews took up arms (H. v. g) is discussed in the note on Leg. 226. 1

1

See the note on Leg. 276. 2 A] xviii, zBs. 3 A] xviii, z89-3oo. 4 A} xviii, 303-ro; BJ ii, 203; discussed in the note on Leg. 259 kr::oo:wWv

ctU-rOv. 5·

A] xviii, z6r, discussed in the note on Leg.

"'~.:;; I:up(a.:;; &:r::&o"t;c; U7t&pxcp.

207

xe:Ae:Oe:~ y~p

Ile't'fH'ilV(CJl

't'Cf)

2

r 34

35

INTRODUCTION

GAIUS' ATTACK ON THE TEMPLE

to send an embassy to plead their case before Gaius ', and, leaving some of his troops at Ptolemais, he hurried with the rest 2 and with his personal staff to Ti.berias to investigate the state of affairs in the province itself. There further appeals were made and further mass demonstrations occurred, this time of considerable duration. During the course of them Petronius conferred with a number of the Jewish leaders, who begged him to write to Gaius on their behalf. Their pleas, together with the obvious earnestness of the common people, who reiterated the assurance given by the demonstrators at Ptolemais that they would willingly die in the defence of the sanctity of the Temple, confirmed Petronius' conviction that a revolt was imminent and decided him to write to Gaius, even at the risk of bringing the imperial wrath down on his own head 3 . In his letter he apologized for the fact that the statue had not yet been set up in the Temple, and blamed the delay partly on the time taken over its construction and partly on Jewish opposition. The Jews, he explained, had conscientious objections to the scheme, so strong that they were neglecting the agricultural operations of the season, and he was afraid lest they might deliberately destroy the standing corn in the fields, and perhaps even sabotage the fruitcrop in the autumn; the famine which was likely to result would be inconvenient when Gains travelled, as he intended to do in the near future, to Alexandria via the coasts of Syria and Palestine. He mentioned the impending danger of a Jewish revolt and the loss of revenue which this would entail, and finally openly suggested that the project should be dropped'· At the same time he sought to gain further delay by instructing the craftsmen employed on the statue to work as slowly and carefully as possible 5 . Petronius' letter annoyed Gaius greatly, but in his reply he concealed the irritation which he felt at the legate's presumption in pleading the Jews' cause and in offering him advice-for he realized that a provincial governor with an army behind him was a dangerous person to provoke-and he merely instructed him to proceed with the dedication of the statue as quickly as possible, since the harvest was bound to be in by the time his reply arrived 6 •

It was late August or early September by the time this letter reached Petronius, who had remained at Ptolemais with his troops while awaiting it in order to keep an eye on the situation in Palestine 1 • Even after its arrival he still managed to find some excuse, unknown to us, for continuing to postpone the execution of Gains' instructions for a further month or more. Then unexpected news came. Shortly before Petronius had made Gaius' order known to the Jewish leaders, Agrippa I had left his kingdom for Italy, perhaps with the intention of being present at Gaius' ovation on 31st August. He arrived there in complete ignorance of the whole affair some time in August, soon after Gaius had dispatched his reply to Petronius' letter 2 • Gaius was still fuming with rage at the contents of Petronius' letter, and realized that Agrippa was noticing that there was something amiss. One day in September, when they were back in Rome after the ovation, he told Agrippa about his order for the desecration of the Temple and about the attitude which the Jews had taken up. The shock of this totally unexpected disclosure was so great that Agrippa was seized with a stroke and collapsed. When he had recovered sufficiently from the illness which followed, he wrote Gaius a lengthy, reasoned, and well-documented letter, begging him to follow the example of his imperial predecessors and their subordinates, who had always shown toleration and even favour towards the Jews, and not to violate the sanctity of the Temple. This made more impression on Gaius than Petronius' letter had done, and out of consideration for his friendship with Agrippa he agreed to cancel his order 3 • He accordingly wrote to Petronius, instructing him to abandon the whole project and dismiss his army. The Jews in their turn, he said, were to repay the consideration which he thus showed for their feelings by refraining from molesting any attempts made by gentile residents to introduce the imperial cult outside Jerusalem •. Petronius' relief must have been great when in October, 40, or later he received this letter and was able to set the Jews free from fear and to take his army back to Antioch. According to Philo, after rescinding his order at Agrippa's re-

1 2 3

••

4 5 6

Leg. 239-41, 247. Inferred from B J ii, ;rgz together with A] xviii, 279. A} xviii, 269-83; BJ ii, I93-20r i Leg. 248 and the note Leg. 248-54; A] xviii, 287, 3oz; BJ ii, zoz. Leg. 246 and note. Leg. 254-60.

1

€rw1-rifAAe:~v.

See the note on Leg. 248 €ma't'~AAEw.

Leg. z6r. 3 Leg. z6I-333· 4 Leg. 333-4. On Josephus• version of Gaius' letter to Petronius (A] xviii, JOO-I) see the note on Leg. 333 [.L7')3rl:v E:rd 'L"qi !e:p(]) -r:&v 'Iou3alwv M·n ve:W't'e:poiJ xwe:rv. 2

INTRODUCTION

THE TREATISE LEGATIO AD GAIUM

quest, Gains later went back on his word and reissued it, but with the difference that he now proposed to have the statue made in Rome, to take it with him on his forthcoming eastern tour, and to have it erected in the Temple without warning the Jews in advance of his purpose. This change of mind, if it is historical, must belong to the last few months of Gains' life 1 • But no attempt was ever made to implement the decision, for on 24th January, 41, the Emperor was assassinated. Had such an attempt been made, a largescale Jewish revolt would undoubtedly have followed. The timely daggers of Cassius Chaerea and his associates thus prevented the disastrous events of 66-70 from being ante-dated by twenty-five years.

mistakes in spelling, accentuation, and the division of words. The MSS of the Legatio clearly fall into two groups, one reading being frequently common to CGO, which derive from a common archetype, and a different one to MAI-l, as the apparatus criticus of any page of Reiter's edition shows. The former group tends to be the more reliable, but many correct readings are preserved by the latter. The codices of Philo are fully discussed by Cohn in C. -W.-R. I and IV Prolegomena. For those used for the text of the Legatio see especially I, iv-xvii, xxxi-xxxv, IV, i-ii, and VI, xxxviii. These codices are discussed by Reiter with reference to details of the text of the Legatio in VI, lviii-lxxii. On the editions of Turnebus, Mangey, and others see I, lxx-lxxxii, and VI, lxxii-lxxvi. Our knowledge of the title of the treatise now generally referred to as Legatio ad Gaium and of the structure of Philo's historical works in general depends on the evidence of the titles given in the codices and on allusions to the treatise in later writers, of which those of Eusebius are the most numerous and the most important. Philo makes no cross reference from the Legatio to the In Flaccum or vice versa. CGOM give as the title lAwvo.; &pe~&v & (& omitted by M) a &rm ~~- e
G-THE TREATISE LEGATIO AD GAIUM Seven codices were used by Reiter for his text of the Legatio, namely: Parisinus Graecus 435, eleventh century (C) Laurentianus X 20, early thirteenth century (M) Monacensis Graecus 459, thirteenth century (A) Venetus Graecus 40, fourteenth century (H) Vaticano-Palatinus Graecus 248, fourteenth century (G) Bononiensis Graecus 3568, fourteenth-fifteenth century (0) Parisinus Graecus 433, sixteenth century (L)

2

Of these L and C were used by Turnebus for the Legatio in his editio princeps (1552), and M and A in addition by Mangey (1742). On A and H depend families of codices not used individually by Reiter. M, although not a member of the A family, is closely connected with A in that both are derived, through different channels, from the same archetype. L is a member of the H family, but it holds a unique place therein, in that it has been corrected from the fourteenth century codex Vaticanus 379, and that two treatises, absent from the H family, have been added to it from the same codex. For the text of Philo no one MS is consistently superior. C, although the oldest, is not textually the best, since it contains many 1

Leg. 337-8 and notes. The greater part of this codex is occupied by Josephus' treatise of Philo is included. 2

37

'lou3odou icr"Top(oc n&vu XP~mp.oc;; xcd 6J
The second part of this last title is no more than a quotation from the last section of the treatise as we have it. Eusebius makes five references to Philo's historical works relevant to the present discussion. (r) In HE ii, 5, r he says that Philo "has related in five books what happened to the Jews in the time of Gains; in this single work 1 he describes Gains' insanity, telling how he declared himself a god and perpetrated innumerable outrageous acts during his principate, and the sufferings of the Jews in his time, and the embassy on which he himself was sent to the city of Rome on behalf of his compatriots in Alexandria, and the story of how, when he appeared before Gains on behalf of his ancestral laws, he received nothing but laughter and ridicule, and almost endangered his life". This summarizes the contents of our Legatio. (2) After

BJ. No other 1

O[J.oti.

11

!}[TRODUCTION

THE TREATISE LEGATIO AD GAIUM

quoting verbatim J osephus' account of• the Alexandrian riots and the embassies to Gaius (HE ii, 5, Z-5=A] xviii, 257-60), Eusebius goes on "In the Legatio which he composed Philo himself relates accurately the details of what he did at that time. Most of this I shall pass over, mentioning only those points which give my readers a clear picture of the events which happened to the Jews both then and not long afterwards as a result of the crimes against Christ"; he then mentions as topics dealt with by Philo in this work the anti-Jewish policy of Sejanus (in terms which recall Leg. r6o), an attack by Pilate on the Temple 1, and the very serious injuries inflicted on the Jews by Gains. To illustrate the last point he quotes Leg. 346 verbatim. The next sentence runs "The same writer relates countless other indescribable atrocities, perpetrated on the Jews in Alexandria under the aforesaid Emperor, in the second of the books entitled On the Virtues" 2 (HE ii, 5, 6-6, 3). This could be a reference to the In Flaccum or to the Legatio, as both include descriptions of the Alexandrian riots. (3) In HE ii, r8, 8, at the end of his catalogue of Philo's works, Eusebius mentions "his account of Gains' impiety, which he entitled, in mockery 3 and irony, On the Virtues". (4) In the Chronicle Eusebius says that Philo described Sejanus' anti-Jewish policy in Iibra Legationis secunda (Tib. XXI). (5) A little further on in the same work he says that Philo recorded the attack on the Alexandrian Jews in eo libro cui "Flaccus" inscribitur (Gains I-II). Ioannes Damascenus quotes in the Sacra Parallela from works entitled -rd:. xoc-rd:. (or rcpOr;) $A&xxo"Y, and "Cb (or 't'd:.) npbr; r&wv or ~ npOr; rchov npecr~det: 4 • Photius mentions A6yor; oi3 ~ E:rnyparp~ l'choc;; ~ey6fJ.~woc;; xat cDA&xxoc;; ~ <1>)\tfxxcuv ~sy6fJ.evoc;;, a phrase on which Schiirer comments "also zwei A6ym" 5• From these passages two conclusions can be drawn about the structure of Philo's historical works. First, the distinction which Eusebius (Chronicle) and the later writers make between Philo's

work on Flaccus and his other work suggests that our In Flaccum and our Legatio are to be regarded as separate works and not as parts of the same work. Secondly, the first four passages of Eusebius, taken together, indicate that Philo wrote a work in five books dealing with Jewish fortunes under Gains and alternatively entitled llept 'Ape~wv and 'H IIpeer~ete< (Legatio). Of this work our Legatio formed the whole or a part. The most puzzling remark of Eusebins is the last sentence of the second passage. The accepted text, €v 8eu'Tepcp cruyyp&.fJ.fJ.IX'r~ (j) bcei'P"~ev IIept 'Ape~wv, can only be translated "in the second treatise entitled On the Virtues". With this reading the words ~eu~epov cruyype
1 On the discrepancy between Leg. 299-305 and Eusebius' summary of Philo's account of Pilate here, see the note on Leg. 299 EmxpUcrouo:;; &crrd3a.; .... 't'&v &r:'Y)yopeur.dvuw. z The reading of the last six words is discussed below. 3 For ~Eloc; in the sense of "mockery" or "irony" see W. Kroll in Philologus lxxv (1918), 73-4· 4 References in Schiirer, III, 677, n. uS; C.-W.-R. VI, xi, I, Iix. On the compilation itself see C.-VV.-R. I, lxiii-lxvii. 5 B-ibliotheca cod. 105. Schtirer, III, 677.

39

Politics, g-ro. See Kirsopp Lakfl's edition (Loeb), notes ad lac.; Colson in his Introduction, xviii, note c. Cf. Schlirer, III, 68r -2, with L. Cohn's comment in "Einleitung und Chronologie der Schriften Philos" (in Philologus Suppl. VII (1899), 389-436), 424. s Colson, however, thinks this interpretation not completely impossible (see his Introduction, xiv~xv). M. L. Massebieau regarded the title as an ironical reference to the &pe::•o:~ (Leg. Sr, gr, g8) of the deities with whom Gaius 1

2

II

I

11

I' '

INTRODUCTION

THE TREATISE LEGATIO AD GAIUM

used in the specifically Jewish sense of &pn~=Bda 31\v"IL's· This sense of the word is found in the Septuagint and in the New Testament. The title, perhaps originally made more precise in the form IIepL 'ApE;--:& \I Gh:oiJ, would mean ''the manifestation of God's power in the defence of His chosen people" 1• The theme underlying this treatise and the In Flaccum is the belief that the vengeance of God is bound to descend on the persecutors of the Jews, whose rights are thereby vindicated 2 • Schiirer, like most students of the problem of Philo's work in five books, supposed that a good deal of his historical writings had been lost besides the section at the beginning of the In Flaccum on Sejanus' anti-Jewish policy, which is presupposed by the opening words of the treatise as extant 3 , and the missing palinode promised at the end of the Legatio. He thought that the In Flaccum and the Legatio were both parts of the treatise IIept 'Ape~wv in five books, since Eusebius' catalogue of Philo'o works iu HE ii, 18, otherwise fairly complete, mentions no other historical work. I-Ie suggested that the first of the five books was introductory, the second covered the attacks of Sejanus and Pilate, the third was our In Flaccum, the fourth our Legatio, which he regarded as complete in itself, and the last the palinode 4 • This theory is now rejected by many scholars 5• For it disregards both the clear distinction drawn by

Eusebius and others between Philo's work on Flaccus and his other work, and the fact that the MSS give the treatises separately and under distinct titles; and Schiirer's attempt to reconcile Eusebius' statement that the Jewish troubles in Alexandria were described &v Ssu~l:p

equated himself; "Le classement des oeuvres de Philon" (in Bibliotheque de l'iicole des Hautes Etudes; Sciences Religieuses i (r8gg}, 1-91), 77, n. 2. 1 Isaiah xlii, 8 and IZ; xliii, 21; lxiii, 7; I Peter ii, 9; II Peter i, 3· See further S. Reiter, '"ApET~ und der Titel van Philos Legatio" in 'Em-n)!J.~Wv H. Swoboda dargebracht (1927}, 228-37; Box, xxxviii; Colson in his Introduction, xv-xvi; cf. W. Weber in Hermes l (1915}, 72-5. Other suggestions have been made: e.g., Delaunay thought that the reference was to the Jews' courage in withstanding Gaius' attack on the Temple (88); H. Leisegang developed this thesis and suggested that the theme of the treatise was the "virtue" which the Je·ws were driven by Gaius to display in their opposition to his claim to divinity ("Philons Schrift iiber die Gesandtschaft der alexandrinischen J uden und den Kaiser Gaius Caligula" in JBL lvii (1938), 377-405). 2 See the account of Flaccus' punishment with which the In Flaccum ends; cf. the note on Leg. 373 -r~v r::ocAwcpalocv. a See Box, xxxiii ff. 4 III, 677-83; cf. I, 501, n. 174. The view expressed in the fourth edition is substantially the same as that in the second (r886), 855-60, and is not greatly modified as a result of his acquaintance with the work of Massebieau and Cohn (see below). 5 It is, however, accepted by Bell,]. and C., r6; H. S. ]ones in ]RS xvi (I926), 22; H. Lewy, Philan van Alexandrien "Van der iVfachterweisen Gattes" (I935), 7•

1 2

op. cit., 72-8. op. cit., 421-4.

3 Delaunay had previously observed "la transition est ici peu indiquee" (274, n. 2). 4 See Reiter, appar. crit. p. r89, I. 5 See Reiter, appar. crit. p. 2I9, 5· Cf. Delaunay, 38r, n. 2. 6 See Reiter, appar. crit. p. 208, 20. Cf. Colson's note ad lac. Delaunay suggested (325, n. 2) that there was a lacuna between 161 and 162, but later scholars have not followed him, and none is marked at that point by Reiter.

I I ),

INTRODUCTION

THE TREATISE LEGATIO AD GAIUM

was introductory, containing the first chapter of our Legatio (r-7) and an account of the dispatch of the embassies. Book II dealt with the persecutions of Scjanns and Pilate (Ens. Chron. Tib. XXI; HE ii, 5, 7) and the Jewish snfferings in Alexandria under Gains (HE ii, 6, 3) ', and included our Leg. 8-177. Book Ill comprised Leg. 178-348, and covered Gains' attempt to set up his statne in the Temple. Book IV comprised Leg. 349-73, the story of the envoys' second hearing. Book V was the palinode. This theory that onr Legatio is an abridgement or mutilation of a work in five books is accepted by Juster, Goodenough, Rciter, and Box, who discusses the whole problem 2• Balsdon 3 expresses no preference as between the theories of Schiirer and Massebieau-Cohn. More recently Colson 4 has prodnced a different theory abont the "five books", based on two main points. First, on the evidence of Eusebius, HE ii, 5, 6-7 earlier scholars assnmed that Philo devoted a whole book, or a large part of one, to Jewish sufferings at the hands of Sejanus and Pilate. But, Colson argues, in that passage Eusebius is not giving a list of Philo's works but is merely concerned to show that Jewish sufferings dated from the Crucifixion, and the passages about Sejanus and Pilate in our Legatio (r59-6r; 299-305), although short, are adequate to illustrate his thesis. There is no need to postulate a fuller, lost account of the activities of either. Indeed, the statement in HE ii, 5, r that the "five books" were concerned with Gaius' principate does not support the idea that a full description of persecutions under Tiberius was included. Secondly, Colson denies Massebieau's and Cohn's contention that there are serious lacunae in the Legatio as we have it 5• He maintains, with Schi\rer 6 , that the work is not a historical treatise giving a straightforward account of the dispatch and fortunes of the Jewish embassy, as its popnlar title misleadingly suggests, but an invective

against Gains, the embassy being introduced merely when Philo relates his personal experiences as illnstrations of his main theme; and that in such a work sndden transitions are not ont of place. In effect, then, Colson has reverted to Schiirer's belief that, apart from the missing palinode, the Legatio as we have it is complete, although he differs widely from him in his conception of its relation to the "five books". For he suggests that our Legatio in itself constitnted four of the five books (the fifth being the palinode), distributed as follows. Book I, consisting of Leg. r-rr3, dealt with Gaius' general degeneration. Book II comprised Leg. II4-6r, covering the Alexandrian riots and the contrast which they offered to the previous treatment of the J cws under Roman rnle; it thus contained both the topics which Eusebius places in the "second book" -the Alexandrian riots (HE ii, 6, 3) and Sejanus' anti-Jewish policy (Chron. Tib. XXI). Book III comprised L"eg. 162-348 and covered events outside Alexandria-the envoys' first hearing and Gains' attack on the Temple. Book IV, consisting of Leg. 349 to the end, described the envoys' second hearing. Colson argues that the shortness of book IV is no obstacle to his theory. Schiirer, Massebieau, and Calm agree in regarding the missing palinodc as the last of the "five books". Eusebius says that in his five books Philo related "what happened to the J cws in the time of Gains". There is no great difficulty in supposing that this phrase was used loosely to cover the events immediately after his death as well, if they were the subject of the palinode 1 . A greater difficulty lies in the fact that Eusebius' summary of the contents of the five books (HE ii, 5, r) ends with a reference to Gains' hearing of the embassies and does not mention the subject-matter of the palinode. This strongly suggests that the five books ended with the end of our Legatio and that the palinode was a projected sixth book which death prevented Philo from writing. To meet this difficulty Colson offers a possible alternative division of our treatise into five books, his "inordinately long" book III being subdivided between sections z6o and z6r. But this, he comments, "would not be very logical, as the story of the statue is a continuous whole which does not admit of any real break".' The problem of the strncture of Philo's historical works and his "five books" is one for which a certain solution is probably unattainable.

1 On the interpretation of HE ii, 6, 3 see above, p. 39· If Goodenough's interpretation of it is accepted, it does not invalidate the Massebieau-Cohn theory, or that of Colson (below) about the division of the material into five books, since those theodes coincide in regarding the In Ftaccum as a separate work. It merely removes one piece of corroborative evidence for the details of the division. 2 Juster, I, 6, n. z; Goodenough, Politics, g; Reiter, lx; Box, xxxii-xxxvii. 3

4

zzr-z.

In his Introduction, xvi-xxvi. 5 See especially his comments on the generally accepted lacuna after section 7 (Introduction, xx-xxi). 6 I, 501, n. I74·

1

See the note on Leg. 373

'\'~\'

TC&:Awcp8l&:v.

43

ADDITIONAL NOTES

ADDITIONAL NOTES I (see p. r6 and the note on Leg. 355 6 'Icr£8oopo.:;)

P. Oxy. ro8g records an apparently clandestine meeting between Flaccus and the nationalists Isidorus and Dionysius in the temple of Sarapis. The meeting has sometimes been connected with the agreement made between the two parties early in 38 for the "surrender" of the Jews. A. S. Hunt suggested in his original publication of the papyrus that the "elder" who figures in the scene was a member of the Jewish yepoucr(oc (The Oxyrhynchus Papyri VIII (1grr), n6). A. von Premerstein, who re-edited the text, followed up this suggestion by interpreting the papyrus as a description of an episode, not recorded by Philo, in the negotiations ofthenationalists with Flaccus in the early summer of 38. Restoring g[xl7tAo]o<; in the lacuna in lines 56-7, he held that the nationalists were asking for an exit-permit for a journey to Rome (cf. above, p. 15, n. 5), and that Flaccus was demanding the high bribe of five talents for it ("Zu den sogenannten alexandrinischen Martyrerakten" in Philologus Suppl. XVI, Heft ii (1923), 4-14). Box accepted von Premerstein's restoration and interpretation (lvi-lvii). Bell placed the episode somewhat later, thinking that it might refer to the time after the riots, before the ,dispatch of the embassies to Gains (f.
45

attractive, but it cannot be based on this passage". In his treatment of the document Musurillo is much more cautious than von Prcmcrstein, who was apt to build fanciful interpretations on drastic restorations. He concludes that, if we leave aside all conjecture, we can be certain only that Flaccus is represented as conducting some underhand business with the Greeks. Although the large sum of money mentioned may have been Flaccus' price for conniving at the .T ewish persecution, there is no proof that the negotiations had any connection at all with that event. Musurillo suggests that the document may represent the prefect engaging in usury. In any case, even if the interpretation of the document were secure, it is doubtful whether it should be regarded as fully historical or as merely as piece of historical fiction. It is therefore wiser to leave it out of any attempt at reconstructing what went on behind the scenes in Alexandria during 38. II (see pp. rg ff. and Leg. I32-7)

In the In Flaccum Philo mentions only the desecration of the synagogues by the introduction of portraits of Gains, while in the much fuller account in the Legatio he describes also the destruction of many by arson and demolition. In the In Flaccum the attack on the synagogues precedes that on the Jews' civic rights, while in the Legatio the order of events is reversed. Several scholars, accepting the order of events in the In Flaccum, have interpreted the attack on the synagogues as meaning that, when the excitement of the Carabas episode had died down, the Greeks realized that they were in danger of suffering reprisals from Agrippa's friend Gains when it was reported to him, and so attempted to distract his attention by a specious display of loyalty: they would place the Emperor's portraits in the synagogues. So, e.g., Bell, f. and C., 16; f. und Gr., rg; and in JRS xxxi (1941), 6-7; H. S. Jones in JRS xvi (1926), 23; S. Tracy, Philo Judaeus and the Roman Principate (1933), 27-8; Box, xlii-xliii. This is certainly a very attractive theory in itself, and it provides a reason for the outbreak of violence against the Jewish community, which must otherwise be attributed to wanton viciousness on the part of the Greeks. But apart from the fact that there is no definite statement of this

1

.I INTRODUCTION

motivation in either of Philo's accounts, two considerations tell against this interpretation of the episode. First, it would have been risky (as Box admits, l.c.) for the Greeks to try to atone for an insult to Agrippa by an onslaught on the religion of his nationals, which it had hitherto been the policy of Rome to protect. The second and more important point is that in the account in the Legatio Philo says, after speaking of the burning and demolition of many of the synagogues, "the synagogues which (the Greeks) could not destroy either by fire or by demolition, because large numbers of Jews lived crowded together close by, they outraged in a different way, which involved the overthrow of our laws and customs. They placed portraits of Gains in all of them ... " (Leg. 134). It seems clear from this significant passage that the Greeks' primary aim was to deprive the Jews of their places of worship by destroying them. Desecration was resorted to only as a second-best in cases where wholesale destruction proved impracticable. Erecting an effigy of Gains and performing an act of worship before it could be done more quickly and unobtrusively than destroying a building or burning it down, and therefore this method of rendering the synagogues unfit for Jewish worship was adopted in areas sufficiently thickly populated by Jews for attempts at demolition or arson to be observed and resisted. The placing of portraits of Gains in the synagogues was, as Philo says in Leg. 137, merely a means to the end of injuring the Jews, and not an end in itself. Indeed, had the Greeks really wanted to honour Gains, they would not have incidentally brought about the destruction of the dedications made in honour of the Emperors by the Jews in the synagogues (Leg. 133). On the whole, therefore, it seems most probable that the Greek mob, excited by the success of the Carabas episode, simply lost control of itself and acted completely recklessly in disregard of possible consequences, and that the motive behind its behaviour was not self-protection but mere jealousy and hatred of the Jews. If the motivation suggested by Bell and others for the attack on the synagogues is rejected, there is then no necessity to suppose that this attack preceded that on the Jews' civic rights and the accompanying riots. It is quite possible that the attack on the synagogues occurred while the riots were in progress. But if a choice must be made between the order of events in the two treatises, that given in the In Flaccum seems preferable. When Philo says that desecration was effected in areas where "large numbers of Jews

ADDITIONAL NOTES

47

lived crowded together" (Leg. 134), he seems to be describing parts of Alexandria before the institution of the ghetto rather than the ghetto itself. If this interpretation is correct, the phrase supports the order of events given in the In Flaccum. Furthermore, from the Greek point of view the attack on the Jews' civic rights was a more serious thing than the attack on their religion, and the latter can have been regarded as a prelude to the achievement of the formertheir real aim. I'rom the Jewish point of view, however, the attack on their religion was the more serious offence, and Box makes the convincing suggestion that in the Legatio, where wider issues than merely the Alexandrian situation are under discussion, "to have mentioned the Alexandrian pogrom after dwelling on the significance of the innovation in Jewish religious law would have been an anti-climax" (lviii-lix). Philo does not say that the Jews resisted the Greek attack on the synagogues, but Box maintains that this is a "necessary deduction" from his account (lix), and Bell says "ohne Frage leisteten die J uden Widerstand" (]. und Gr., 20). The argument that the damage done to some of the synagogues was the result of Jewish resistance to the Greek attempt to place portraits of Gains in them depends on the interpretation of the motive behind the Greek attack as self-defence, and this has. by implication already been answered. But Box makes the point that Philo's remark that Flaccus used his authority to "fan the discord" in Alexandria and thus "filled almost the whole world with civil war", since there was danger that other cities might follow the example of Alexandria in attacking the synagogues (Fl. 44-5), would be pointless, had not a situation which could be described as civil war actually resulted from the Alexandrian attack (lix-lx). It is in any case inherently improbable that the Jews would have stood by and watched the destruction and desecration of their synagogues without lifting a finger in their defence. Even if, as Box argues, Philo is right in saying that the Jews were unarmed at the time (Fl. 86 ff.; Box, lx-lxii), a fanatical crowd can offer considerable resistance with improvised weapons such as stones.

rrr (see p. 24 and Leg. rgo}

The Jewish envoys sent to Gaius made their voyage to Italy in the middle of winter-x<~f'WVo<; [Ltcrou 3omA
I

;I

11,,

il I

,!li

l,,i lr

!'.

l

~ ,

..

49

INTRODUCTION

ADDITIONAL NOTES

Presumably the Greek envoys did also. Neither party would have wished to run the risk of letting the other get in first with its version of the events of August, 38. Whether the winter in question was that of 38-9 or that of 39-40 the chronological indications in Philo do not show conclusively. Modern opinion is divided on the subject, Schlirer (I, sor, n. 174) and Balsdou (JRS, 21-4) having argued in favour of the later year, which seems the more probable to the present writer. At first sight it would appear that 38-9 is the obvious date for the voyage, and that the envoys set out almost immediately after the arrest of Flaccus. But one serious obiection can be raised to that dating on general grounds. The embassies were given two hearings by Gains, the second of which certainly took place in September, 40, or later (see the notes on Leg. r88 and J5I). The first must have taken place either in the spring or summer of 39, before Gains left Rome for his northern campaign, or m the early summer of 40 after his return from the North. If the envoys sailed in 38-9, then either they were kept waiting in Italy for their first hearing for over a year, or, assuming that they were granted their first hearing in 39, there was a gap of over a year between it and their second hearing. It is not impossible that one of these things happened, but Philo's account gives no indication that an unreasonably long delay occurred at any point, and this suggests that the voyage was made in 39-40. Two details in the Legatio support the later of the two possible dates for the first hearing and thus indirectly the later year for the voyage. First, at the time when the Jews were received by Gains, many other embassies from all parts of the world were also waiting for audiences (Leg. r8z). This suggests that the elate was soon after Gains' return from the North, the embassies having accumulated in Italy during his absence. Secondly. in the interval between the arrival of the embassies in Italy and the first hearing, the Greeks discussed with Helicon Gains' plan for visiting Alexandria "soon" (Leg. IJ2). In the spring and summer of 39 this visit could hardly have been described as likely to take place "soon" -if indeed it was mooted at all so early-since plans were then already afoot for the northern campaigns, which were to occupy the following winter (see the note on Leg. 356 xoc~
40, for the Palestinian harvest that Gains was expected to make his journey m the late summer of that year (Leg. 249-53 and notes); this could have been desclibed as "soon" during the spring. A small point supporting 39-40 as the year of the voyage is the fact that the first hearing was held outside the pomoerium. Although this is no proof that it was held at the end of May, 40, it is compatible with this dating, since Gains did not cross the pomoer-ium on his return from the North at that time, but stayed outside Rome until his ovation (see the note on r8r g.,U)(E 31: tx ~wv I-'7J"P
On the other hand, at or just before the first hearing the Jews gave Gains a memorandum which was an epitome of the oue sent via Agrippa I "a short time before" (1tpo OAiyou, Leg. IJ9). The elate of the earlier memorandum is fixed as August, 38, when Agrippa was in Alexandria. If the first hearing was held in May, 40, the earlier memorandum had been sent nearly two years previously, whereas if the hearing was held in the spring or summer of 39, it had been sent less than one year previously. The phrase 7tp6 OAiyou could more easily cover the shorter period than the longer one, and thus is evidence for placing the first hearing in 39 and the voyage in the preceding winter. But it is not impossible that it could cover the longer period, and its use does not preclude the date May, 40, for the first hearing. Bell takes the fact that Isidorus (named as one of the Greek envoys) and Lampo appeared among Flaccus' accusers in Rome late in 38 as proof that the Greeks had by then already sent an embassy (J. und Gr., 22). But it is possible that Isidorus (and perhaps Lampo also) travelled to Rome in 38 and again in 39· There are difficulties involved in dating the voyage to the winter of 39-40, but they are not insuperable. First, that dating makes the rival parties in Alexandria wait for over a year after the riots before attempting to put their cases to Gains. This delay can, however, be accounted for. The prefect's permission was needed for any delegation to go to Rome (above, p. I5, n. 5), and there may have been a hiatus between the arrest of Flaccus and the arrival of his successor, C. Vitrasius Pollio, during which there was no prefect to give this permission. The earliest Egyptian document mentioning Pollio by name as prefect is elated 28th April, 39 (ILS 8899). A document referrmg to an anonymous prefect is dated hy A. Stein to 2oth October, 38, and taken as evidence that Pollio

m Ii

I

INTRODUCTION

11

took up residence very soon after Flaccus' arrest (Die Priifekten van Aegypten in der romischen Kaiserzeit (r95o), 26-7). But if this is correct, there is still no certainty that Pollio let the embassies sail at once. For it is probable that he held an investigation into the quarrel first, and that may have taken a considerable time. The second difficulty is perhaps more serious. Why should the envoys have risked the dangers and discomforts of a winter voyage in 39-40, when they knew that Gains was out of reach at the time, instead of waiting until the spring? (The Jews' sacrifice of a hecatomb "in anticipation of a victory over the Germans" (Leg. 356) shows that Gains' campaign was well known in the East.) For the undertaking of a sea-journey in winter, when travelling was avoided as far as possible and essential travelling was done by preference along the slower but safer land-routes, presupposes urgency. But it is compatible with human nature to suppose that the delegations rushed off as soon as Pollio had finished his inquiries and given them their exit-permits, in order to be ready to meet Gains immediately he returned; and they could not be sure how soon that would be.

SYNOPSIS OF THE LEGATIO AD GAIUM I- 7· 8- I3. I4- 2I. 22- 7374-IIZ. II4-II9. I20-I3I. I32-I37· I38-I40. I4I-I42. I43-I53· I54-I58. I59-I6I. r62-r65. r66-r7r. I72-I77· I78-I79· r8o-r83. r84-I96. I97-206. 207-224. 225-242. 243-253· 254-260. 26r-275. 276-329·

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Introduction. Gaius' accession. Gaius' illness. The deaths of Gemellus, Macro, and Silanus. Gains' sell-deification. Gaius' attitude towards the Jews. The anti-J cwish riots in Alexandria; the ghetto. The Greek attack on the synagogues in Alexandria. The previous immunity of the synagogues from attack. Eulogy on Tiberius. Eulogy on Angustns. Augustus' treatment of the Jews. Tiberius' treatment of the Jews. The attitude of the Alexandrian Greeks to the deification of Gains. The influence of Helicon on Gains. The negotiations of the Greek and Jewish embassies with Helicon. The Jews' memorandum to Gains. The first hearing of the Jewish embassy. Gaius' order for the desecration of the Temple. The incident at Jamnia. Petronius' receipt of Gains' order and his preparations for carrying it out. The Jews' mass demonstrations of protest. Petronius' reaction and his letter to Gains. Gaius' receipt of Petronius' letter, and his reply. Agrippa I's. collapse on hearing of Gains' order for the desecration of the Temple. Agrippa's memorandum to Gains :-the position of J erusalem and the attitude of the Jews towards the city (278-289); the respect shown by M. Vipsanius Agrippa and others for the Temple (290-298); Tiberius' prohibition of Pontius Pilate's introduction of votive shields into Jerusalem (299-305); the sanctity of the Holy of

I

SYNOPSIS OF THE LEGATIO AD GAIUM

Holies (306-308); Augustus' protection of Jewish religious · liberty (309-318); Livia's gifts to the Temple (319-320); an appeal to precedent (321-322); Gaius' former kindness to Agrippa (323-329). 330-338. The cancellation and subsequent re-issue of Gaius' order. 339-348. Gaius' inconsistency. 349-367. The second hearing of the Jewish and Greek embassies. 368-372- The despair of the Jewish envoys. Conclusion. 373·

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1 How long are we old men to go on being children? Physically we are greybeards because of the lapse of time, but mentally we are mere babes in our stupidity, regarding Chance, which is the most unstable of things, as the most reliable, and Nature, which is the most steadfast, as the least secure. For we change and transpose our actions as in games of draughts, looking upon the things of Chance as more lasting than the things of Nature, and upon the order of Nature as less secure than the things of Chance. The reason is that we judge the present without any forethought for the future, using the erring senses in preference to the unerring intellect. For the eyes take in only the visible present, whereas the reason reaches right out to the invisible future. Yet we obscure the vision of our reason, which is sharper than the vision of our physical eyes, confusing it by drunkenness and gluttony in some cases and in others by the greatest evil of all, ignorance. However, even though some people have become sceptical about God's providential care for all mankind, and especially for "the race of suppliants" which is the particular concern of the Father and King of the world, the Origin of all things, yet surely the present critical time and the many important questions now being settled should serve to convince them of it. This race is called Israel in the Chaldaeau language, or, if the name is translated into Greek, "seeing God". In my opinion this faculty is the most valuable of all possessions, whether individual or communal. For if the sight of elders or teachers or rulers or parents rouses the beholders to respect, orderly behaviour, and a desire for a life of self-control, how strong a foundation for goodness and nobility may we expect to find in souls which have looked beyond all that is created and been trained to contemplate the uncreated and the divine, the prime Good and Beautiful and Happy and Blessed, or, if the truth must be told, that which is better than the Good, more beautiful than the Beautiful, more blessed than Blessedness, happier than Happiness itself, and indeed, anything which is more perfect than the qualities just mentioned? For the reason does not manage to ascend to the entirely inaccessible and impalpable God, but it sinks and falls back through its inability to find the right words to use as steps to describe, I do not say Reality-for not even if the whole heaven became an articulate voice would it command words accurate and appropriate for that-but the Powers which are its body-guard. These are the Creative Power, the Ruling Power, the Foreseeing

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among the beneficial ones, not only because they form part of laws and ordinances (for law is bound to be made np of two elements, the rewarding of the good and the punishment of the wicked), but because even punishment acts as a deterrent and a sobering influence, often even on wrong-doers, or, failing that, at any rate on their associates. For ordinary people are reformed by punishments inflicted on others, as they are afraid of suffering in a similar way themselves. 2 l'or after Tiberius Caesar's death Gains inherited an empire over the whole earth. and sea, which was at peace with itself, under good laws, and experiencing complete harmony between all its regions, North, South, East, and West: barbarian was at one with Greek and Greek with barbarian, the soldiery with the civil authorities and the civilians with the men on active service, sharing and enjoying peace together. Surely everyone who saw this was amazed and astounded at his extraordinary and indescribable prosperity? He had succeeded to a huge accumulated fortune in ready money: abundant treasuries; silver and gold, some in bullion, some in coined money, and some in articles of luxury such as drinking -cups and other vessels produced for exhibition; abundant infantry, cavalry, and naval forces; revenues pouring in as if frmn inexhaustible springs; and an empire not merely consisting of most of the most essential parts of the world-although, of course, one might legitimately describe these parts as a world bounded by the two rivers, the Euphrates and the Rhine, the latter forming a frontier with Germany and the more barbarous tribes, while the Euphrates forms a frontier with Parthia and the Sarmatian and Scythian tribes which are no less savage than the Germans-but, as I have already said, an empire stretching from the sunrise to the sunset and comprising lands both within and beyond the Ocean. At all this the Roman people, the whole of Italy, and the nations of both Asia and Europe rejoiced. For they were all delighted with him as they had been with no previous Emperor, not because they were looking forward to obtaining and enjoying benefits as individuals or communities, but because they believed that they now possessed a consummation of good fortune, with happiness attending it. At any rate, there was nothing to be seen throughout the cities but altars, victims, sacrifices, people in white clothes, garlanded and cheerful, showing their goodwill by their happy faces, banquets, religious assemblies, n1usical competitions, horseraces, revels, night-celebrations to the music of flutes and the lyre, enjoyment, recreation, holidays, and every kind of pleasure appealing to every sense. At that time the rich had no advantage over the poor, nor the nobility over the common people, nor creditors over their debtors, and masters were no better off than their slaves; for this period gave people political equality, so that

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the "age of Cronos" described by the poets ceased to be regarded as a poetic fiction, because of the prosperity and plenty, the freedom from grief and fear, and the festivities which went on by clay and night, in private houses and in public places alike, and 14 continued without a break for the first seven months. But in the eighth month a serious illness attacked Gaius, who had exchanged the more moderate, and therefore healthier, mode of life which he had followed hitherto, during Tiberius' lifetime, for a life of luxury. Heavy drinking and a taste for delicacies, an appetite insatiable even on a swollen stomach, hot baths at the wrong time, emetics followed immediately by further drinking and the gluttony which goes with it, indecent behaviour with boys and women, and all the vices which destroy soul and body and the bonds which unite them attacked him simultaneously. The wages of self-control are health and strength, while those of a lack of self-control are weakness and an illness which may prove fatal. 15 3 The news of Gaius' illness spread widely, as the seas were still open-it was the early autumn, the time when seafarers make their last voyage and return from their trading -stations all over the world to their own ports and havens, especially those who are trying to avoid wintering abroad. People then gave up their lives of luxury and went about with long faces; every house and every city became anxious and dejected; their recent joy wavered, r6 counter-balanced by a grief equally keen. All parts of the habitable world were ill with Gaius; but they were suffering from a more serious illness than that which had seized him. For his illness was merely physical, whereas theirs was universal, affecting their mental health, their peace, their hopes, and their participation in 17 and enjoyment of good things. They began to discuss again the many serious evils which anarchy breeds-famine, war, devastation, ravaging of fields, loss of property, arrests, and the desperate fear of slavery or death; this fear no doctor could cure, and the only r8 remedy lay in the recovery of Gaius. When therefore his disease began to abate, even people at the ends of the earth soon heard of it-for nothing is swifter than rumour-and every city was in suspense, constantly thirsting for better news, until the good tidings of his complete return to health was brought by travellers. At this every continent and every island turned back afresh to the rg same jubilations, regarding Gaius' preservation as its own. Never within living memory had any single land or single nation felt such joy at the preservation and restoration of a ruler as the whole world felt at Gains' accession and again at his recovery from his zo illness. People rejoiced as if they were now just beginning to change from a nomadic, savage life to a gregarious, communal life, to move from the desert and from pens on the mountain -sides to walled cities, and to give up an existence without a guardian for an organized life under a guardian, a sort of herdsman or shepherd of the domesticated flock. But they had no conception of the real sit-

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nation. For the human mind is blind to the appreciation of its true interests, since it is more capable of making guesses and coni ectures than of really knowing. 4 Now in this case, within a short time Gaius, who had been regarded as a saviour and benefactor who would pour fresh streams of blessings on Asia and Europe to the lasting happiness of each man individually and everyone communally, began to play his master card, as the saying is, changing to brutality, or rather, openly displaying the savagery which he had concealed under a cloak of hypocrisy. He murdered his cousin, who had been left joint heir to the empire and was a closer heir than he was himself, since he was Tiberius' grandson by adoption, whereas the other was his grandson by birth. He alleged that he was guilty of conspiracy, although his age did not admit of such an accusation; for the poor lad was only just passing from childhood to adolescence. According to some people, if Tiberius had lived a little longer, Gaius would have been got rid of, as he had become the object of very grave suspicions, and the genuine grandson would then have been declared sole princeps and sole heir to his grandfather's empire. But Tiberius was carried off by Fate before bringing his plans to fulfilment. Galus, however, thought that he would avoid the unpopularity which would result from overstepping his rights vis-a-vis his partner by outmanoeuvring him. His trick was as follows: he convened the officials and said, "In accordance with the intention of the late Tiberius, it is my will that this boy, who is my cousin by birth but my brother in affection, shall share the imperial power. But you can see for yourselves that he is still quite a child, and needs guardians, teachers, and attendants. What greater advantage could there be than for one single mind and body not to bear the heavy burden of the principate, but to have someone who will be able to lighten it and help to bear its weight? So in view of my superiority to attendants, teachers, and guardians, I here and now declare myself his father and him my son." 5 With this speech he deceived both his audience and the boy. For the adoption was a bait, consisting not of the principate for which the boy hoped, but of the removal of what he already had. Gaius then began to plot against his co-heir and lawful partner with complete security and in disregard of everybody. For in Roman law a father has absolute power over his son, quite apart from the fact that imperial authority is answerable to no-one, since no-one has the courage or the power to call an emperor to account for any of his actions. So he took him on as a competitor who had drawn a "bye" in a match, and without any pity for their joint upbringing, their relationship, or the other's youth threw him to the groundan ill-fated boy, doomed to an early death, his eo-emperor and coheir, who had once even been expected to be sole emperor because he was most closely related to Tiberius. (Grandsons are generally counted as sons by their grandfathers if their fathers die.) The

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story is that the boy was actually told to commit suicide. Acenturion and a military tribune were standing beside him, under orders not to take part in the crime, on the grounds that it was not permissible for the grandsons of emperors to be killed at other people's hands. (For Gaius gave heed to legality in the midst of illegality, and to holiness in the midst of unholiness, and thus mocked at the very nature of truth.) He did not know what to do, since he had never seen anyone killed, and had not yet been drilled in the military exercises which comprise the training and preparation of boys who are being educated as rulers because of the constant threat of war. So first he stretched out his neck and asked the officers present to kill him. They could not bring themselves to do this. So he took the sword and inquired in his ignorance and inexperience where the most vital place was, in order to end his doomed life with a welldirected blow. They gave their instructions as teachers of misery, and showed him the spot where he had to drive the sword home. He learnt his first and last lesson, and under compulsion became his own executioner-poor lad! 6 When Gaius had completed this his first and most difficult contest, and no partner in the principate was still left around whom any disaffected people or suspects could rally, he immediately entered the arena for a second combat. This was with Macro, who had co-operated with him in all the affairs of state, not only after his accession-for it is a mark of flattery to pay court to successbut before that as well, with a view to his securing the principate. For Tiberius was a man of profound common-sense and the cleverest of all his contemporaries at knowing a person's secret intentions, and he surpassed them as much in sagacity as in rank. He often suspected that Gaius was ill-disposed towards the whole Claudian house and devoted only to his mother's family-which made him afraid that his grandson would perish, if left alpne while still a child-and that he was unsuited for the high position of emperor because of his unsociable and unco-operative disposition and the inconsistency of his character. For eccentricity and crazy tendencies were appearing, and he preserved no logicality in either his words or his actions. Macro did his best, as far as lay within his competence, to cure these faults, allaying Tiberius' suspicions particularly on occasions when his mind seemed to be tortured by continual fear for his grandson. He represented Gaius as friendly and obedient and so deeply devoted to his cousin that out of affection for him he would be prepared to give up his claim to the throne in his sole favour. He added that modesty was a disadvantage to many people, and that because of his modesty Gaius, who was of an ingenuous disposition, was believed to be crafty. When these plausible arguments failed to convince Tiberius, Macro gave him a firm pledge, saying, "I guarantee it to you. I deserve to be be· lieved. I have given plenty of proofs of my exceptional loyalty to the imperial house and to Tiberius by taking charge of the

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38 attack on Sejanus which led to his downfall." On the whole, he succeeded in his praises of Gains--if we are justified in describing as "praises" the speeches of defence made against the accusations born of suspicion and the veiled, obscure charges. For on the whole, Macro gave Tiberius eulogies of Gains as glowing as those generally 39 reserved for brothers or legitimate sons, or even more so. According to the most widespread gossip, the reason for this was not only that Macro, who had the greatest, or indeed the whole, power in the government, was being courted by Gains in return, but also that Macro's wife, for a reason which was not stated, was encouraging her husband and egging him on every day not to relax in any way his efforts to help the young Gaius. A wife, particularly a wanton one, is a very clever creature at paralysing and perverting her husband's judgement; for her knowledge of her own guilt makes 40 her fawn on him all the more. Macro, however, did not realize that his marriage and his home were being broken, and regarded her fawning as the purest goodwill. So he was deceived and did not see that as a result of her manoeuvres he was accepting his bitterest enemies as his dearest friends. 41 7 Accordingly, in the knowledge that he had saved Gains countless times when he was on the brink of destruction, he began to give him advice directly and frankly. Like a good craftsman, he wanted his own handiwork to survive intact, and not to be destroy42 ed by itself or by any other agent. So whenever he saw Gains asleep at a dinner-party, he would wake him up, in the interests both of propriety and of his safety, since a sleeping man is an easy prey for conspirators. Or whenever he saw him watching dancers with wild excitement or occasionally joining in the dance, or roaring with laughter like a schoolboy at comedians who indulged in obscenities and ribaldry instead of smiling at them in a dignified way, or carried away by the music of lyre-players or choirs, and sometimes even joining in the songs, he would nudge him as he sat or reclined 43 next to him, and try to restrain him. Often he would lean over and whisper a gentle warning in his ear, in order that no-one else should hear, and say, "You ought not to be like any of the people here, or indeed like any other human being, when you are watching or listening or using any of your other senses, but in every activity of life you ought to excel in proportion as your rank is more elevated. 44 It is wrong for the princeps who rules land and sea to be overcome by a song or a dance or a scurrilous joke or anything of that sort. Rather, he should always remember, wherever he is, that he is the princeps, a kind of shepherd and herdsman, who takes from any source whatever, whether word or deed, improving lessons and ap45 plies them to himself." Then another time he would say, "When you attend shows in the theatre or gymnasium or circus, pay attention not to the actions performed but to the moral achievement 46 in those actions. Argue with yourself as follows: If some people work as hard as this at things which are of no value to human life

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but simply provide delight and pleasure for the spectators, so that they are praised and admired and receive presents and honours and garlands when their names are proclaimed, what ought the expert in the highest and greatest art to do? The greatest and best art of all is that of government. We owe it to this that all the fertile, deep land on plains and hills is farmed, and that merchant-ships safely navigate every sea to exchange the goods which countries offer to each other in their desire to associate, receiving what they need and sending their surplus products away in return. Jealousy has never got control of the whole habitable world, or even of large sections of it such as the whole of Europe or Asia; but like a poisonous snake, it hides by creeping into small places such as a single individual or a single house, or, if it is feeling very bold, a single city. It does not approach the larger circle of a nation or country, particularly since the family of you Augusti began its effective rule over the world at large. For your family has banished all the evils which used to flourish and be found in our midst over the frontiers to the ends of the earth and the depths of Tartarus, while it has brought those benefits and blessings which had been, as it were, in exile back from the limits of earth and sea to the world which we inhabit. All these things have been committed to your hand alone to govern. Seeing, then, that K ature has escorted you to a lofty position in the stern and put the helm into your hand, steer the common ship of mankind safely, making it your chief delight and pleasure to do good to your subjects. Different individuals have different contributions which they are under obligation to make in their own cities. The ruler's peculiar contribution is the introduction of wise proposals for his subjects, the correct execution of these proposals, and the lavish bestowal of benefits with a generous hand and heart, with the single exception of those benefits which it is proper to hold back in view of the uncertainty of the future." 8 The unfortunate man used arguments like these as a charm to improve Gaius. But Gaius was a quarrelsome and cantankerous person, and turned his mind in the opposite direction, as if that was what he had been encouraged to do. He had the audacity to snub his mentor outright, and sometimes when he saw him approaching in the distance, he would say to the bystanders, "Here comes the schoolmaster of one who no longer needs to learn, the tutor of one who is no longer a child, and the adviser of one wiser than himself. He thinks that an Emperor should obey his subject, and sets himself up as an expert and an instructor in the science of ruling, although I have no idea where he learnt the principles of government. Right from my cradle I have had thonsands of teachers-parents, brothers, uncles, cousins, grandfathers, ancestors right back to the fonnders of the family, all the relations on both my father's and my mother's sides who acqnired independent power-quite apart from the fact that even their actual conception embodied some royal potentialities for government. Forjust as phys-

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ical and mental resemblances as regards appearance, attitudes, movements, plans, and actions are preserved within the seminal Logoi, so it is likely that some resemblance to a capacity for government will also be roughly sketched out within the same Logoi. 56 What is more, I was fashioned to be an Emperor even before my birth, in Nature's workship, my mother's womb. Does anyone dare to instruct me? Does the ignorant dare to instruct the learned I ·where do people who were recently mere private individuals get the right to pry into the deliberations of the heart of a princeps? But they have such bare-faced audacity that they dare to play the hierophant and perform the rites of government, although they could 57 hardly pass the tests to be admitted as onlookers." After this he began taking pains to alienate himself gradually from Macro and trumping up false but credible and convincing charges against him. For quick-witted aud masterful natures are clever at inventing 58 plausible arguments. These were the kind of statements that he ascribed to Macro: "Gains is my handiwork, the work of Macro. I played a greater part in his birth than his parents did, or at least no less a part. Not just once, but three times he would have been removed when Tiberius thirsted for his blood, had it not been for me and my pleas. What is more, since I had the military forces under my command when Tiberius died, I immediately brought them over to his side, pointing out that a single individual was needed; and so the principate remains complete and undivided." 59 Some people were convinced of the truth of these allegations, unaware of the deceptive ways of the speaker. For the falsity and complexity of his character were not yet apparent. But only a few clays later the unhappy Macro was got rid of with his wife, and thus paid the ultimate penalty as a reward for his excessive good6o will. Such is the gratitude one gets for kindness to the ungrateful. In return for the help they have received, they visit the severest punishments on their benefactors. Macro, for instance, had in truth gone about all his business with intense zeal and earnest endeavour, first to save Gains and then to ensure that he alone inherited the 6r principate. Yet these were his wages. The story is that the unfortunate man was forced to commit suicide, and that his wife suffered the same fate, although she was believed once to have been intimate with Gains. But they say that no pledges of love are reliable, because love is a passion quickly satiated. 6z 9 After Macro and his family had been sacrificed, Gaius set to work on a third, and even more horrible, piece of treachery. His father-in-law had been Marcus Silanus, a man of considerable spirit and distinguished family. After his daughter's untimely death Silanus continued to pay attention to Gains, showing the affection of an actual father rather than that of a father-in-law. He supposed that by thus turning his son-in-law into a son he would receive affection in return according to the law of equality. He was quite 63 unaware that he was completely and utterly mistaken. For he kept

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on maldng the sort of remarks that guardians make, omitting nothing which might serve to improve and help Gains' character, life, and government. He regarded his own very high birth and their relationship by marriage as giving him an excellent startingpoint for speaking freely. For his daughter had not died long enough before that the rights of her relations had been weakened; on the contrary, she was still almost breathing, and the last traces of physical life still survived and lingered in her body. Gains, however, took Silanus' advice as impudence, because he looked upon himself as the most sensible and intelligent, and also the most courageous and virtuous, of all men, and hated his instructors more than his avowed enemies. So, regarding Silanus also as a nuisance who would restrain the violence of his impulses, he bade a final farewell to his dead wife's spirit, quite happy to remove her father who had become his father-in-law, and treacherously murdered him. 10 By this time the successive murders of prominent people had made the matter notorious, so that everyone was discussing these irreparable crimes, not openly (for they were afraid) but in whispers. Then the tune changed; for a crowd is inconsistent in every respect, in purpose, word, and deed. People could not believe that Gains, who had previously been regarded as good, kind, fair, and public-spirited, had undergone such a complete transformation; so they looked for excuses for him, and after some searching they found them. This was the sort of thing that they said about his cousin and co-heir: "Sovereignty cannot be shared. Nature's ordinance on this point is unchangeable. Gains, being the stronger, anticipated what he would otherwise have suffered at the hands of the weaker. This is self-defence, not murder. Perhaps it is even providential and for the good of the whole human race that the lad has been got rid of. For people were taking sides, some with the one and some with the other~the sort of situation that gives rise to riots, civil wars, and foreign wars. What is better than peace? Peace springs from right government. The only right government is one which avoids quarrels and intrigues, and this sets everything else right." About Macro they said, "He had far too high an opinion of himself. He did not take in the Delphic motto, 'Know thyself'. People say that knowledge causes happiness and ignorance unhappiness. What was the matter with Macro, that he changed places and set himself, the subject, in the position of ruler, and Gains, the Emperor, in the subject's place? It is the business of the princeps to command, which is what Macro did, and the business of the subject to obey, which he thought Gains ought to submit to." Thus without investigation they called advice commands and the counsellor the ruler, because they were either too stupid to understand or so obsequious that they gave a completely fresh meaning to words and the things which they denoted alike. About Silanus they said, "Silanus made a fool of himself by thinking that a father-in-law has as much influence over a son-in-law as a real

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father has over his son. Yet even fathers stand aside if they remain private citizens while their sons obtain high magistracies and positions of authority, gladly taking second place. But this fool, who was no longer even Gaius' father-in-law, interfered in things which lay outside his sphere, without understanding that their relationship by marriage had died with .the death of his daughter. Marriages form a bond between unconnected families, which brings strangers together into relationship. But when this bond has been broken, the partnership is broken too, especially when the bond has been broken by the irreparable event of the death of the woman given in marriage to the unrelated family." This was the sort of chatter that went on in every gathering, with the desire that the Emperor should not appear cruel playing the largest part in it. For since people had hoped that goodness and kindness such as no previous Emperor had shown dwelt in Gaius' soul, they found it entirely incredible that he should have undergone such a violent and complete reversal of character. 11 When therefore Gaius had won the three contests just described with the three most important sections of the community, two of them sections of the state, namely the senatorial and equestrian orders, and the third his own family, he assumed that by getting the better of the most powerful and influential people he had inspired the most terrible fear in all the others-in the senators by the murder of Silanus, who had been second to no-one in the senate, in the equites by the murder of Macro, who had been a sort of chorus-leader among them and held the first place in honour and glory, and in all his family by the murder of his cousin and co-heir. He then no longer consented to remain within the bounds of human nature, but he soared above them and aspired to being regarded as a god. People say that at the beginning of this mental derangement he used the following argument: "The keepers of animals, oxherds, goatherds, and shepherds, are not themselves oxen or goats or sheep, but human beings, who have been given a higher destiny and condition; in the same way one must suppose that I, who am the herdsman of the noblest herd, the human race, am a superior being, above the human plane and endowed with a higher and more divine destiny." Having impressed this idea on his mind, the fool began to carry a fantasy about with him, believing it to be an absolute truth. Then, when once his courage had risen and he had risked introducing this blasphemous deification of himself to the masses, he tried to act in an appropriate and consistent way and advanced little by little to the top as if up a ladder. He began to equate himself first with the so-called demi-gods, Dionysus, Heracles, and the Dioscuri, making a mockery of Trophonius, Amphiareus, Amphilochus, and the rest, oracles, rites and all, when he compared their powers with his own. Then, as in a theatre, he put first one costume and then another, sometimes a lion-skin and club, both gilded, when he was arrayed as Heracles, and sometimes a cap on his head, when he

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dressed up as the Dioscuri; at other times he dressed up as Dionysus So with ivy, thyrsus, and fawn-skins. He resolved to differ from the demi-gods in that, whereas each of them had his own honours and did not lay claim to those which the others shared, his jealous greed appropriated the honours of all of them alike, or rather, appropriated the demi-gods themselves. He did not change into triple-bodied Geryon in order to mislead those who saw him by the number of his bodies, but he performed the incredible feat of transforming and remodelling the substance of his single body into a multitude of different shapes, like the Egyptian Proteus, whom Homer represented as undergoing changes of every kind, into the elements and Sr into the animals and plants which spring from them. Yet what need had you, Gains, of the emblems with which the images of the deities just mentioned are usually adorned? You should have emulated their virtues. Heracles purged land and sea, and undertook labours which were indispensible and beneficial for all mankind, in order to remove what was harmful and destructive in each of these Sz elements. Dionysus cultivated the vine and extracted from it the drink which is the most delicious and at the same time the most beneficial to mind and body alike. He makes the mind content, forgetful of its troubles, and optimistic, and renders the body S3 healthier, stronger, and more active; in private life he improves the individual; he enables large families and clans to exchange an austere and laborious existence for a relaxed and gay mode of life; and for every city, both Greek and foreign, he provides a succession of festivities, celebrations, feasts, and banquets. For undiluted wine S4 is responsible for all these things which I have mentioned. Again, legend has it that the Dioscuri shared their immortality. For since one was mortal and the other immortal, the one who was thought worthy of the higher destiny did not consider it right to act selfishly S5 instead of showing affection for his brother. l-Ie drew a mental picture of eternity, and argued that he himself would live for ever while his brother would be dead for ever, and that he would receive with his immortality grief which would be immortal for his brother. So he contrived an amazing exchange, giving himself a mixture of mortality and his brother a mixture of immortality, and thus caused inequality, the origin of wrong, to disappear in equality, which is the source of right. S6 12 All these demi-gods, Gains, were, and still are, admired for the good works which they initiated, and were deemed worthy of worship and of the highest honours. Tell us yourself now, what similar achievement have you about which to boast and swell with pride? S7 To begin with the Dioscuri-Did you imitate them in brotherly love? No, you ruthlessly murdered your brother and co-heir in the bloom of his youth, you iron-hearted, pitiless creature, and later on you banished your sisters. Did they too perhaps make you afraid that SS you would be deposed? Did you imitate Dionysus? Have you discovered new blessings, as he did? Did you fill the world with

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THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

8g joy? Are Europe and Asia too small to contain your gifts? You certainly invented new arts and sciences, but you did so as a universal destroyer and murderer. With them you change pleasure and joy into pain and grief and a life which is no life for all men everywhere. Your insatiable and incessant greed appropriates all the valuables and treasures of other people, from East and West and other parts of the world, all that lies to the South and to the North. In return you give or send to them the products of your own bitterness, and all the harm and injury which arc the usual offspring of accursed and poisonous souls. Has this made you appear to us as the go new Dionysus? Or did you emulate Heracles by your unwearied toil and unflagging courage? Did you fill continents and islands with order, justice, prosperity, plenty, and an abundance of the other blessings which profound peace creates ?-you ignoble wretch, you utter coward, you who have emptied the cities of all that makes for stability and happiness, and filled them with all that gr makes for riot and tumult and the deepest misery! Tell me, GainsIs it on these contributions which you have made to our destruction that you base your claim for a share of immortality, in order to render these miseries everlasting instead of short-lived and ephemeral? No. I consider that even if you had seemed to have become a god, your wicked practices would have changed you back completely into a mortal. For if virtues make a man immortal, vices destroy 92 him completely. So do not enrol yourself among the Dioscuri, the most devoted pair of brothers, after murdering and ruining your own brother and sisters. And do not share the honour paid to Heracles and Dionysus, the benefactors of human life, after ill-treating and destroying their work. 13 Gains' madness, his wild and frenzied insanity, reached such 93 a pitch that he went beyond the demi-gods and began to climb higher and to go in for the worship paid to the greater gods, Hermes, Apollo, and Ares, who are supposed to be of divine parentage on 94 both sides. It was the worship due to Hermes first. He dressed up with herald's staff, sandals, and cloak, displaying order amid disorder, consistency amid confusion, and reason amid mental de95 rangement. Then, when he saw fit, he discarded these attributes and changed his appearance and dress to those of Apollo. He wore a radiate crown, grasped a bow and arrows in his left hand, and held out the Graces in his right hand, as if it were correct to have good things ready at hand to proffer and to let them hold the superior position, on the right, while subordinating punishments and assigng6 ing the inferior position, on the left, to them. Well-trained choirs at once took up their positions, singing paeans to him-choirs which had shortly before been calling him Bacchus, Evaeus, and Lyaeus, and chanting hymns in his honour, when he assumed the 97 costume of Dionysus. Often he would put on a breastplate and march forth sword in hand with helmet and shield, and be hailed as Ares. On either side of him marched the attendants of this new

ii>IA!'!NO:E APETON riPOTON

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Ares, a rabble of murderers and executioners, who would undertake despicable services for him when he was in a murderous frame of 98 mind and thirsted for human blood. Then people who witnessed this were amazed at the illogicality of it all, and wondered how a man whose actions were the opposite of those of the gods to whose honours he laid claim could fail to realize that he should cultivate their virtues, although he dressed up in the insignia of each of them in turn. Yet these ornaments and decorations are attached to the images and statues of the gods as symbols signifying the help which 99 the gods thus revered bestow on the human race. Hermes wears sandals with outstretched wings. Why? Surely it is because it is right that the interpreter and prophet of divine matters, the functions from which Hermes takes his name, should be very swiftfooted and practically fly in his urgent haste when bringing good news. (For not only a god but even a sensible man shrinks from carrying bad news.) People ought to be in a hurry to bring good and profitable news, just as they ought to be dilatory in bringing unwelcome news-if indeed permission is not given for it to be 100 hushed up. Again, Hermes takes a herald's staff to symbolize treaties of friendship. Armistices occur and hostilities are ended by means of hemlds who negotiate peace. Wars conducted without heralds cause endless suffering to aggressors and defenders alike. 101 For what purpose did Gaius take Hermes' sandals? Was it in order that he might lose no time in broadcasting his universally notorious deeds of shame and horror, which should have been hushed up? Yet what need was there of rapid movement? Why, even by staying where he was he showered untold evils on top of evils on all parts 102 of the world, as if from inexhaustible springs. What need was there of a herald's staff for one who never said or did anything conducive to peace, but filled every house and city, in Greece and in foreign lands alike, with civil wars? Let him lay aside his r6le of Hermes and make atonement for having assumed an unsuitable title and falsely borne his name. 103 14 Which of Apollo's characteristics does he reproduce? He wears a radiate crown, and the craftsman has represented the sun's rays quite well. But is the sun or the light in general welcome to him? Does he not rather welcome night and darkness and anything that is gloomier than darkness for the perpetration of his lawless deeds? Good deeds need the light of mid-day to show them off, but shameful deeds, they say, need the depths of Tartarus, into which they should be herded to be hidden there as they deserve 104 to be. Let him transpose the things in his two hands and not falsify their relative positions. Let him carry the bows and arrows prominently in his right hand; for he knows how to hurl weapons and shoot arrows with good aim at men, women, whole families, 105 and populous cities so as to destroy them utterly. Let him either discard the Graces at once or keep them in the shade in his left hand. For he defiled their beauty by casting covetous and greedy glances at

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large fortunes in order to confiscate them arbitrarily-and then on top of that their owners were murdered, ruined because of their prosperity. Again, he remodelled Apollo's medical skill quite well. Apollo discovered life-giving drugs for healing people, and took it upon himself to cure the diseases inflicted by others, because he was by nature and habit an exceptionally humane god. Gaius, on the other hand, brought disease upon the healthy, mutilation upon the sound, and in general unnatural, premature, and cruel deaths npon the living. Regardless of expense he devised every possible method of destruction whereby he would have destroyed the most distinguished element in every city by this time, had he not been carried off by Justice first. His devices were ready to use against public officials and wealthy men, especially those in Rome and Italy, who had such vast treasures of gold 'md silver that, if all the wealth of all the rest of the world were collected together from its very boundaries, it would be found to amount to much less. Therefore this enemy of his city, this devourer of his people, this bane and destructive pest began to cast out of his country everything condncive to peace, as if he were at his wits' end. It is said that Apollo is not only a good doctor bnt also a good prophet, foretelling the future through his oracles for the good of mankind, in order that a man may not be in the dark about the unknown future and so, unseeingly like a blind man, run headlong and stumble into blunders under the impression that they are the most profitable course, but instead may have foreknowledge of the future as if it were already present, and look at it with his mind just as he looks at things in front of him with his physical eyes, and so be on his guard to avoid any irreparable disaster. Is it right to compare with these oracles the sinister oracles of Gains, which foretold want, disgrace, exile, and death for people in public offices and prominent positions everywhere? What common ground is there between Apollo and a man whose conduct has not suggested any kinship or relationship? Let this pseudo-Paean cease from copying the real Paean; for the form of a god does not come into being as easily as counterfeit money. 15 One might expect absolutely anything rather than that a body and mind such as Gaius had, both of them effeminate and enervated, could ever have resembled Ares' physical and mental prowess. But Gaius kept on changing his various masks as on a stage, and so misled his audience by his deceptive appearances. Well then, let us not examine any of his physical or mental characteristics, since all his attitudes and movements are completely different from those of the god in question. We know, do we not, that the might of Ares-not the Ares of fable but the Ares who belongs to the Logos in Nature, whose province is courage-averts evil and helps and defends the injured, as his very name shows? For I imagine that the name of Ares, who ends wars and creates peace, is derived from &p~yew, to help. The other was the enemy of peace and

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THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

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the comrade of war, who transformed the settled order into nproar and faction. 16 Have we learnt, then, from this stndy so far that Gains ought not to be compared to any of the gods or demi-gods, since he does not possess the same nature or substance or even purpose? But lust is apparently a blind thing, especially when it is accompanied by conceit and ambition coupled with the supreme power. This ruined us Jews, who had formerly enjoyed good fortune. It was only of the Jews that Gains was suspicious, on the grounds that they were the only people who deliberately opposed him and had been taught from their very cradles, as it were, hy their parents, tutors, and teachers, and-more than that-by their holy Laws and even hy their unwritten customs, to believe that the Father and Creator of the universe is one God. All other men, women, cities, nations, countries, and regions of the world-I can almost say the whole inhabited earth-although they deplored what was happening, flattered Gaius none the less, glorifying him more than was reasonable, and so increasing his vanity. Some people even introclncecl into Italy the barbaric cnstom of proskynesis, and thus debased the nobility of Roman freedom. But one single race, the chosen people of the Jews, was suspected of being likely to resist, since it was used to accepting death as willingly as if it were immortality in order not to allow any of their ancestral traditions, even the smallest, to be abrogated; for, as in the case of buildings, the removal of a single part causes even those parts which still seem to be standing firmly to crack and subside and crash clown with it into the gap. But the change being effected was not a small one but an absolutely fundamental one, namely the apparent transformation of the created, destructible nature of man into the uncreated, indestructible nature of God, wbich the Jewish nation judged to be the most horrible of blasphemies; for God would change into man sooner than man into God. This was quite apart from the acceptance of the other supreme evils of unbelief in, and ingratitude towards, the Benefactor of the whole world, Who by His own might gives good things in lavish abundance to all parts of the universe. 17 Accordingly, total and truceless war was waged against the Jewish nation. What heavier burden conld a slave have than a hostile owner? Subjects are the slaves of an Emperor, and even if this was not the case under any of Gaius' predecessors, because they ruled reasonably and legally, yet it was the case under Gaius, who had cut all humanity out of his heart and made a cult of illegality; for he regarded himself as the law, and broke the laws of the lawgivers of every country as if they were empty words. So we were enrolled not simply as slaves but as the lowest of slaves, when the Emperor turned into a tyrant. 18 When the promiscuous and unruly Alexandrian mob discovered this, it supposed that a most opportune moment had come its way and attacked us. It unmasked the hatred which had long

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been smouldering and threw everything into chaos and confusion. As if we had been surrendered by the Emperor to sufferings admitted to be of the severest kind or had been defeated in war, they attacked us with insane and bestial fury. They invaded onr homes and drove the householders out, wives and children and all, so as 122 to leave the houses unoccupied. They no longer waited for the darkness of night in fear of arrest, like burglars, to steal our furniture and treasures, but they carried them off openly in broad daylight, and displayed them to those they met, as people do who have inherited things or bought them from their owners. If several people agreed to join forces to plunder, they divided out their loot in the middle of the market-place, often before the eyes of its real owners, 123 jeering and laughing at them as they did so. This was terrible in itself, of course. Wealthy men became paupers and well-to-do people penniless, suddenly deprived of hearth and home although they were innocent of any crime, and driven out of their own houses as exiles, to live in the open air day and night and die either of sun124 stroke or of exposure by night. Yet this is easier reading than what follows. For the Greeks joined in drivh1g many thousands of men, women, and children out of the whole city into a very small part of it, like sheep or cattle into a pen. They supposed that within a few days they would find piles of bodies of Jews, who had died either of starvation through lack of necessities of life, since they had had no forewarning of this sudden calamity to enable them to make suitable provision against it, or of overcrowding and suffocation. 125 Their quarters were extremely cramped, and moreover the surrounding air became foul and surrendered its life-giving qualities to the respirations or, to be quite exact, the gasps, of the dying. Inflamed by these, and in a sense suffering from an attack of fever itself, it sent a hot, noxious breath into people's nostrils and mouths, 126 adding fire to fire, as the proverb has it. For the natural property of the internal organs is great heat, and when reasonably cool external breezes blow upon them, the respiratory organs are kept healthy by the mild temperature. But when the breezes become hotter, they are bound to become unhealthy, because fire is heaped on fire. 127 19 So, no longer able to stand the lack of space, the Jews overflowed on to the desert, the shores, and the cemeteries, longing to breathe pure, healthy air. Any who had already been caught in other parts of the city, or who visited it from the country in ignorance of the calamities which had descended on us, experienced sufferings of every kind. They were stoned, or wounded with tiles, or battered to death with branches of ilex or oak on the most vulrz8 nerable parts of their bodies, especially their heads. Some of Alexandria's habitual idlers and loafers lay in a circle round the Jews who had been driven out and huddled together, as I have said, into a confined space on the edge of the city, and watched them as though they were under siege, to prevent any of them from slipping 121

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away unobserved. In fact, because of the scarcity of necessities quite a number were sure to slip out regardless of their own safety, in fear lest they and their whole families should die of starvation. It was for these people's excursions that the loafers waited and watched, and any whom they caught they immediately killed, 129 submitting them to every kind of indignity in the process. Another group was blockading the harbours of the river, in order to seize the Jews who put in there and the goods which they were conveying for trading purposes. They boarded their ships and carried off the cargo under the eyes of its owners, and then tied their arms behind their backs and burnt them alive, using the rudders, 130 helms, punt-poles, and the planks of the decks as fuel. But the Jews burnt in the middle of the city suffered the most pitiful deaths. Sometimes for lack of timber the Greeks collected brushwood, set it on fire, and threw it on top of the unfortunate Jews, who for the most part were killed by the smoke rather th'm by the fire while still only half burnt, since brushwood produces a weak and smoky fire and goes out very quickly, while it is too light to be burnt to 131 cinders. They bound many Jews, still alive, with straps and ropes, tied their ankles together, and dragged them through the middle of the market-place, jumping on them and not sparing even their dead bodies. IYiore cruel and savage than wild animals, they tore them limb from limb, trampled on them, and destroyed their every form, so that nothing was left which could be given burial. 20 The prefect of the country, who could have put an end to 132 this mob-rule single-handed in an hour had he chosen to, pretended not to see and hear what he did see and hear, but allowed the Greeks to make war without restraint and so shattered the peace of the city. They consequently became still more excited and rushed headlong into outrageous plots of even greater audacity. Assembling enormous hordes together, they attacked the synagogues, of which there are many in each section of the city. Some they smashed, some they rased to the ground, and others they set on fire and burned, giving no thought even to the adjacent houses in their madness and frenzied insanity. For nothing is swifter than fire 133 when it gets plenty of fuel. I say nothing about the simultaneous destruction and burning of the objects set up in honour of the Emperors-gilded shields and crowns, monuments, and inscriptions -which should have made the Greeks keep their hands off everything else also. But they derived confidence from the fact that they had no punishment to fear from Gains, who, as they well knew, felt an indescribable hatred for the Jews; they therefore supposed that no-one could give him greater pleasure than by inflicting every I34 type of suffering on their race. Then they decided to subject us to insults for which there was absolutely no risk of being brought to book, because they were at the same time currying favour with him by novel flattery. So what did they do? The synagogues which they could not destroy either by fire or by demolition, because large

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numbers of Jews lived crowded together close by, they outraged in a different way, which involved the overthrow of our Laws and customs. They placed portraits of Gains in all of them, and in the largest and most famous they also placed a bronze statue riding in a four-horse chariot. So great was their haste and the intensity of their enthusiasm that, since they had no new four-horse chariot available, they took a very old one out of the gymnasium. It was very rusty, and the ears, tails, hooves, and a good many other parts were broken off. According to some people, it had heen dedicated in honour of a woman, the earlier Cleopatra, great-grandmother of the last one. It is clear to everyone what a serious charge this action in itself brought against the dedicators. What if it had been a recent dedication in honour of a woman? What if it had been an old one in honour of a man? What if it had been absolutely anything which had been dedicated to someone else? Surely the people who made a dedication of this kind in the Emperor's honour should have been on their guard lest information about it reached the ears of one who took everything concerning himself very seriously? But these people entertained extravagant hopes of being praised and of enjoying even greater and more conspicuous rewards for having cleclicatecl the synagogues to Gains as new precincts, although they had clone this not for his honour but in order to take their fill in every way of the sufferings of the Jewish race. There are clear proofs of this. The first is taken from the kings. There were about ten, or even more, kings in succession in three hundred years, and yet the Alexanclrians did not dedicate a single portrait or statue of them in the synagogues, although the kings whom they regarded, described, and spoke of as gods were of the same race and species as themselves. When they deify clogs, wolves, lions, crocodiles, and many other animals of the land, the sea, and the air, and establish altars, temples, shrines, and sacred precincts to them throughout the whole of Egypt, what reason was there against so treating those who were at least human beings? 21 Perhaps people will say now, although they would not have said it at the time-for it is their habit to flatter the rulers' successes rather than the rulers themselves-that the Emperors are greater in prestige and fortune than the Ptolemies and so deserve to receive greater honours too. In that case, you simple-minded fools (to avoid calling you by any really rude name!), why did you not consider Gains' predecessor, Tiberius, who was responsible for his accession, worthy of a similar honour? He held sway over land and sea for twenty-three years without allowing any spark of war to smoulder in Greek or barbarian lands, and he gave peace and the blessings of peace to the end of his life with ungruclging bounty of hand and heart. Was he inferior in birth? No, he was of the noblest ancestry on both sides. Was he inferior in education? Who among those who reached the height of their powers in his time surpassed him in wisdom or eloquence? Was he inferior in age?

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THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

What other king or emperor enjoyed a happier old age? Why, even when he was still young, he was called "the elder" out of respect for his perspicacity. Such was the fine character of the man whom you overlooked and brushed aside. Then again: What about 143 the E1nperor whose every virtue outshone hu1nan nature, who through the greatness of his imperial rule and of his valour alike became the first to bear the name "Augustus", who did not receive the title by inheritance from his family as part of a legacy, but was himsell the source of the reverence paid to his successors also? What about the man who pitted himself against the general conI44 fusion and chaos as soon as he took charge of public affairs? For islands were struggling for supremacy against continents and continents against islands, with the Romans of the greatest distinction in pnblic life as their generals and leaders. Again, large parts of the world were battling for the mastery of the empire, Asia against Europe and Europe against Asia; European and Asian nations from the ends of the earth had risen up and were engaged in grim warfare, lighting with armies and fleets on every land and sea, so that almost the whole human race would have been destroyed in internecine conflicts and disappeared completely, had it not been for one man, one princeps, Augustus, who deserves the title of 145 "Averter of evil". This is the Caesar who lulled the storms which were crashing everywhere, who healed the sicknesses common to Greeks and barbarians alike, which descended from the South and East and swept across to the West and North, sowing misery in the lands and seas in between. This is he who not. merely loosened but broke the fetters which had confined and oppressed the world. This is he who ended both the wars which were before everyone's eyes and those which were going on out of sight as a result of the attacks of pirates. This is he who cleared the sea of pirate-ships and I47 filled it with merchant-ships. This is he who set every city again at liberty, who reduced disorder to order, who civilized all the unfriendly, savage tribes and brought them into harmony with each other, who enlarged Greece with many other Greek lands, and who Hellenized the most important parts of the barbarian world. This is he who safeguarded peace, gave each man his due, distributed his favours widely without stint, and never in his whole life kept any blessing or advantage back. 22 During the forty-three years of this wonderfnl benefactor's rule over Egypt, the Alexandrians neglected him and did not make a single dedication on his behalf in the synagogues-neither a statue 149 nor a wooden image nor a painting. Yet if new and exceptional honours should have been voted to anyone, it was appropriate in his case. This was not merely because he founded and originated the Augustan dynasty, nor because he was the first and greatest universal benefactor, who ended the rule of many by handing the ship of state over to a single helmsman, namely himself with his remarkable grasp of the science of government, to steer. (The saying

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THB BMBASS Y TO GAIUS

"the rule of many is not good" is very true, since a multitude of votes causes manifold evils.) It was because the whole world voted him r5o honours equal to those of the Olympians. Temples, gateways, vestibules, and colonnades bear witness to this, so that the imposing buildings erected in any city, new or old, are surpassed by the beauty and size of the temples of Caesar, especially in our own 151 Alexandria. There is no other precinct like our so-called "Augusteum", the temple of Caesar, the protector of sailors. It is situated high up, opposite the sheltered harbours, and is very large and conspicuous; it is filled with dedications on a unique scale, and is. surrounded on all sides by paintings, statues, and objects of gold , and silver. The extensive precinct is furnished with colonnades, libraries, banqueting-halls, groves, gateways, open spaces, unroofed enclosures, and everything that makes for lavish decoration. It gives hope of safety to sailors when they set out to sea and when they return. rsz : 23 So although the Greeks had these powerful incentives, and knew that all the nations of the world felt as they did, they nevertheless made no changes in regard to the synagogues, but maintained our Law in every particular. Does this mean that they were omitting any mark of reverence due to Caesar? Who in his senses would say that? Why, then, did they deprive him of this honour? I will 153 explain fully. They knew that he was very careful and cared as much for the preservation of the customs of the various nations as for the preservation of Roman ones, and that he received honours not for doing away with the practices of a particular people as an act of self-deception, but in accordance with the dignity of his great empire, which was bound to win respect for itself by these means. 154 The clearest proof that he was never elated or made vain by extravagant honours lies in his refusal ever to be addressed as a god, in his annoyance if anyone so addressed him, and in his approval of the Jews, who, as he knew very well, eschewed all such language 155 on religious grounds. How then did he show his approval? He knew that the large district of Rome beyond the river Tiber was owned and inhabited by Jews. The majority of them were Roman freedmen . They had been brought to Italy as prisoners of war and manumitted by their owners, and had not been made to alter any of their r56 IJational customs. Augustus therefore knew that they had synagogues and met in them, especially on the Sabbath, when they receive public instruction in their national philosophy. He also knew that they collected sacred money from their "first-fruits" and sent i ·it up.' to Jerusalem by the hand of envoys who would offer the 157 sacrifices. But despite this he did not expel them from Rome or deprive them of their Roman citizenship because they remembered their Jewish nationality also. He introduced no changes into their syi1agogues, he did not prevent them from meeting for the exp6sition 'of the Law, and he raised no objection to their offering of the "first-fruits". On the contrary, he showed such reverence for

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our traditions that he and almost all his family enriched our Temple with expensive dedications. He gave orders for regular sacrifices of holocausts to be made daily in perpetuity at his own expense, as an offering to the Most High God. These sacrifices continue to this day, and will continue always, as a proof of his truly imperial character. r58 Moreover, at the monthly distributions in Rome, when all the people in turn receive money or food, he never deprived the Jews of this bounty, but if the distribution happened to be made on the Sabbath, when it is forbidden to receive or give anything or to do any of the ordinary things of life in general, especially commercial life, he instructed the distributors to reserve the Jews' share of the universallargesse until the next day. I59 24 Consequently the whole population of the empire, even if not instinctively well-disposed towards the Jews, was afraid to tamper with any Jewish practice in the hope of destroying it. It was the same under Tiberius, although there was an upheaval in r6o Italy when Sejanus was contriving his attack. For Tiberius realized immediately after his death that the charges brought against the Jews living in Rome were unfounded slanders, fabricated by Sejanus, who wanted to destroy that race completely, because he knew that, should the Emperor be in danger of being betrayed, it would offer in· his defence the only, or the keenest, r6r resistence to treacherous schemes and actions. He issued instructions to the governors in office throughout the empire to reassure the members of the Jewish race resident in their cities with the information that punishment was not falling on all but only on the guilty-and they were few in number-and to change nothing already sanctioned by custom, but to regard as a sacred trust both the Jews themselves, since they were of a peaceful disposition, and their Laws, since they were conducive to public order. r6z 25 But Gains swelled with pride, not merely saying but actually thinking that he was a god. Then he found no-one, either Greek or non-Greek, better suited than the Alexandrians to confirm his inordinate ambition, which went beyond the limits of human nature. For they are good at flattery, deceit, and hypocrisy, and they are well equipped with fawning speeches, although they throw everything into confusion with their careless and unrestrained chatter. r63 The name of "god" is so sacred among them that they let the ibises and poisonous asps of their country and many other wild animals share it. So naturally, when they make indiscriminate use of the forms of address applicable to god, they deceive unintelligent people who know nothing of Egyptian godlessness, although they are found out by those who are acquainted with their crass stupidity, r64 or rather with their impiety. Gains knew nothing of this, and so supposed that he was really regarded as a god among the Alexandrians, because they quite openly, and not just by implication, made extravagant use of all the names by which other people normally r65 call the gods. Then he thought that the innovation in connection

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with the synagogues had sprung from a clear conscience and genuine· respect for him. This was partly because he paid attention to the daily reports which some people were sending to him from Alexandria-for he found these very pleasant reading, so that he regarded the compositions of other writers and poets as thoroughly unpleasant in comparison vvith the charm of these reports-and partly through the influence of some of his household who were · continually laughing and joking with him. r66 26 Most of these were Egyptians, a worthless breed, whose souls were infected with the poison and bad temper alike of the crocodiles and asps of their country. The leader of this whole Egyptian danceband was one Helicon, a damnable and abominable slave who had wormed his way into the imperial household. He had been given a smattering of general education because of the ambition of his r67 former master, who had presented him to Tiberius Caesar. Now at that time he did not enjoy any privileged position, since Tiberius detested childish jokes; he had been inclined to seriousness and r68 austerity almost from boyhood. But when he died and Gains inherited the empire, Helicon attended his new master, who was relaxing into loose living and sensual luxury of every kind, and said to himself, ''Now is your chance, Helicon. Rouse yourself. You have the best possible audience and spectator for showing off. You are naturally intelligent. You can joke and jest better than other people. You know frivolous and amusing games and pastimes. Your education in non-academic subjects has been just as good as your regular r6g schooling. You can also make pleasant conversation. If you put some slightly malicious sting into your mockery, so as to arouse bitterness based on suspicion as well as laughter, then you have your master completely in your power and favourably disposed to hearing accusations combined with joking. For, as you know, his ears are open and pricked up to listen to people who have made it 170 their business to weave slander and denunciation together; Don't look for unnecessary material. You have the false charges made against the Jews and Jewish customs, charges among which you grew up; you learnt them right from your cradle, not from a single individual but from the most garrulous section of the Alexanclrian population. Show off your learning." 171 · 27 After exciting and egging himself on by these illogical and damnable arguments, he got a hold over Gains and courted him, never leaving his side by night or clay, but staying with him everywhere, in order to use his times of solitude and leisure to bring charges against our race. The rascal aroused in him the pleasure which spiteful jokes produce, in order that his slanders might strike home. For he did not admit who our real accuser was-nor indeed could he have clone so__.:_but his tortuous methods and his cunning made him a more dangerous and troublesome enemy thari those 172 who had declared their hostility to us openly. It is said that the ' · Alexandrian envoys knew this and had therefore bribed him heavily

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in secret, not merely with money but also with the prospect of honours which they hinted that they would bestow on him quite 173 soon, when Gains visited Alexandria. So Helicon dreamt of the time when he would be honoured by the greatest and most famous city of all in the presence of his master and of practically the whole world with him, and promised the Greeks everything. (It was quite obvious that the most distinguished people, the cream of other cities, would come from the ends of the earth and flock to pay 174 homage to Gains.) For a time, then, we did not know about the enemy lurking on our midst, and so were on our guard against outside enemies only. Bnt when we became aware of him, we looked around and explored every possible avenue, to see if we could in any way soothe and mollify the man who was using every means and opportunity of shooting arrows and other weapons at us with ac175 curate aim. For he played ball with Gains, exercised with him, bathed with him, had meals with him, and was with him when he was going to bed, as he had been appointed to the position of chamberlain and captain of the body-guard in the palace (a higher position than anyone else held), with the result that he alone had the Emperor's ear when he was at leisure or resting, released from external distractions and so able to listen to what he most wanted to 176 hear. He mixed ridicule with his accusations, in order to amuse him with the former while doing us the greatest possible harm. For the ridicule, which appeared to be the principal matter, was subsidiary in his eyes, whereas the apparently subsidiary matter, the accusa177 tions, was the only matter of primary importance. So, like sailors with a favourable wind astern, he slackened every rope and was carried along with billowing sails and a following breeze, devising and stringing together one charge after another. Gains' mind was monlded more firmly, so that the accusations were indelibly fixed in his memory. 178 28 So we were in despair and at our wits' ends when, after leaving no stone unturned in our efforts to appease Helicon, we found no way of achieving our purpose. No-one dared to address or approach him, because of his arrogant and overbearing behaviour to everyone, and at the same time because we did not know whether it was by reason of some personal antipathy for the Jewish people that he was continually inciting and egging his master on against our nation. So we gave up our efforts on these lines and concentrated on the more essential task, our decision to present Gains with a memorandum containing a summary of our sufferings and of our 179 claims. This was more or less an epitome of the longer petition which we had sent shortly before via king Agrippa, who had happened to be staying in Alexandria before sailing to Syria to take up 180 the kingdom which had been granted to him. But we had, quite unconsciously, again been deceiving ourselves; indeed, we had clone so before also, when we first set off on our voyage on the assumption that we were going to appear before a judge in the hope

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of obtaining our rights. But Gains was an irreconcilable enemy, v,,rho ensnared us, as far as appearances went, by his beaming r8r glances and gracious words. For he greeted us first in the plain beside the Tiber-he happened to be coming out of his mother's gardens. He returned our salutation, waved his right hand as an indication of his favour, and then sent the official in charge of embassies, one Homilns, to us with the remark, "I will listen to your case in person when I am free." At this the bystanders all congratulated us as if we had already won our case, and so did those of our r8z own number who were taken in by superficial appearances. I, however, was, it seems, more experienced by reason of my age and previous training, and so took up a more cautious attitude towards what had pleased the rest. Arousing my reasoning faculties I said, "Now why, when there are so many embassies here from almost the whole world, did Gains say just now that he would listen to us only? What was his idea? He knew perfectly well that we were Jews, who r83 would be content to be treated no woroe than anyone else. Perhaps it would almost be madness to expect to receive preferential treatment at the hands of a ruler who is at once a gentile, a young man, and the possessor of supreme power? No, he seems to be inclining to the party of the other Alexanclrians, to whom he was granting preferential treatment when he promised a quick decision, unless indeed he is going to cease listening fairly and impartially and transform himself from a judge into their advocate and our antagonist." 184 29 Reasoning thus with myself I was in an agony of mind and conlcl not rest by clay or night. While I was in despair and was hiding my anxiety-for it was not safe to mention it-another shattering and unexpected blow suddenly fell upon us, involving clanger for the whole Jewish nation collectively and not just for r85 one section of it. We had travelled from Rome to Dicaearchia in attendance on Gains; he had gone clown to the sea and was staying by the bay, going from one to another of his numerous luxuriously r86 appointed country-houses. While we were considering our case, expecting at any moment to be summoned into his presence, a man came up to us completely out of breath, his eyes bloodshot and troubled. He drew us aside a little way from the others-there were a few people standing near-and said, "Have you heard the news?" r87 Then before he could tell us he broke off in floods of tears. He beganl again, but broke off a second and a third time. When we saw this, we were alarmed and begged him to tell us the business on which he said he had come. "For", we said, "you surely have not come just to Jet us witness your weeping. If your news is worthy of tears, do not indulge in grief on your own. We are used to disasters r88. by this time." With difficulty and still sobbing he managed to say in a .choked voice, "Our Temple is gone! Gains has given orders for a colossal statue to be set up right inside the shrine; named after 189 Zeus himself." We were amazed at what he said and remained rooted to the ground in horror, unable to move. We stood dumb

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and helpless and on the point of collapse, our whole bodies unnerved. 190 Meanwhile other people arrived with the same painful story. Then we all shut ourselves up together, bewailed both our individual and our communal misfortunes, and discussed the other thoughts which came into our minds-for people chatter most in adversity. "Let us struggle", we said, "to avoid being utterly abandoned to incorrigible licence. We sailed in the middle of the winter storms, without knowing what a storm awaited us on land, far worse than a storm at sea. For Nature, which regulates the seasons, is responsible for the latter, and Nature is a saviour. For the fanner, however, a human being devoid of human feeling is responsible, a young man with new-fangled ideas and possessed of universal power for which noone can call him to account. Youth invested with absolute power and a prey to ungovernable impulses is an evil hard to combat. rg1 Shall we be allowed to approach the desecrator of the holiest place or to open our mouths on the subject of the synagogues to him? It is obvious that a man who insults the famous and glorious Temple, which shines everywhere like the sun and receives the admiration of East and West, will pay no attention to less conspicuous and less rgz deeply revered places. Even if we were free to approach him, what have we to expect but death against which there can be no appeal? Well, let that be; we shall die anyhow. A glorious death met in the defence of the Law is a kind of life. But if no advantage will be derived from our death, will it not be madness to perish, particularly when we are supposed to be ambassadors, and so to bring calamity on those who sent us rather than on us who undergo it? 193 What is more, the natural enemies of wickedness among our fellowcountrymen will accuse us of impiety in that we selfishly thought about a matter of our own concern when the interests of the nation were in the utmost peril. It is essential that we subordinate minor matters to important ones, and the interests of a few to those of the whole nation, since the loss of the latter means the overthrow of 194 our civic position. How can it be right and proper to struggle vainly to prove that we are Alexandrians, when over our heads hangs the danger threatening the whole civic position of the Jews at large? For besides the destruction of the Temple, there is a fear that this megalomaniac with his new-fangled ideas will order the rg5 abolition of the name common to the whole nation as well. If, therefore, both the causes which we were sent to defend are lost, someone may say, 'Why, did they not know how to negotiate their safe return?' I should answer him, 'Either you lack the proper feelings of a well-born man, or you were not brought up and trained in the Scriptures. Truly well-born people are optimists, and the Laws create sound hopes in those who bestow more than a merely superrg6 ficial study on them.' Perhaps these troubles are sent to test the present generation and see how brave it is and whether it has been trained to bear misfortune reasonably and without faltering, and not to succumb at the first moment. All human aid vanishes; let it

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vanish. But let our hope in God our Saviour, Who has many times saved His people from hopeless and impossible situations, remain indestructible in our souls." 30 These were our arguments as we mourned over our unexpected calamities and at the same time encouraged each other with the hope of the return of calmer conditions. After a short pause we said to the messengers, "Why are you sitting in silence after merely planting in our ears sparks which have kindled us and set us on fire? You ought to go on and tell us what prompted Gains to this action." They replied, "You know his first and most important motive; the whole world knows it. He wants to be regarded as a god, and he has assumed that the Jews alone will refuse to acquiesce and that he could not inflict any greater wrong on them than the desecration of their holy Temple. He has been informed that it is the most beautiful temple in the world, and that it has been adorned from time immemorial by a constant stream of generous gifts. His quarrelsome and spiteful nature is set on appropriating it. He is more excited now than before by a letter sent by Capita. Capita is the collector of the revenues of Judaea, and he has a grudge against its inhabitants. He arrived a poor man, but by robbery and embezzlement he amassed a large and varied fortune. Then he became afraid of being impeached, and so worked out a scheme for evading accusations by slandering those whom he had wronged. The following incident gave him a starting-point for achieving his purpose. ]amnia, one of the largest cities in Judaea, has a mixed population, the majority being Jews and the rest gentiles who have wormed their way in from neighbouring countries. These settlers cause trouble and annoyance to those who may be described as the natives of the place by continually violating some one or other of the Jews' traditions. These gentiles learnt from travellers how enthusiastic Gaius was about his own deification and how hostile he was towards the whole Jewish race. So, assuming that a suitable opportunity for an attack had come their way, they built a rough and ready altar of the most shoddy material, namely clay bricks, for the sole purpose of plotting against their fellow-townsmen. For they knew that they would refuse to tolerate the violation of their customs, which was precisely what happened. For when the Jews saw the altar and were greatly incensed at the effectual destruction of the sanctity of the Holy Land, they gathered together and pulled it down. The Greeks promptly went to Capita, who had engineered the whole performance. He thought that he had now got the god-sent opportunity which he had long been seeking, and sent a grossly exaggerated account of the affair to Gains. On reading it Gaius gave orders that in place of the brick altar erected in J amnia as an insult, something richer and more pretentious, namely a gilded statue of superhuman size, should be set up in the Temple in the capital. The counsellors whose advice he followed were the best and wisest possible-Helicon, the slave aristocrat, an

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old hand at gossip, and a certain Apelles, a tragic actor, who is reputed to have traded with his youth during his adolescence and to have gone on to the stage when he became too old for that. Those who go on to the stage and do business with audiences and theatres are surely devotees of decency and modesty, and not of extreme forms of shamelessness and licence? For this reason Apelles was promoted to the rank of counsellor, in order that Gains might take counsel from the one adviser about how to joke and from the other about how to sing, while he gave up all thought for the affairs of state and for the preservation of peace and order throughout the empire. So the scorpion-like slave Helicon injected his Egyptian poison into the Jews, and Apelles his poison from Ascalon. He came from Ascalon, and its inhabitants cherish an implacable and irreconcilable hatred for the Jews who live in the Holy Land and with whom they have a common frontier." As we listened to this story our souls were wounded by every verb and every noun. (Actually those fine advocates of fine deeds received the wages of their sacrilege shortly afterwards. Apelles was thrown into chains by Gains on other charges, and was tortured and put on the wheel alternately-rather like the attacks of a recurrent fever-while Helicon was executed by Claudius Germanicus Caesar for the other crimes which the lunatic had perpetrated. But this happened later on.) 31 The letter about the dedication of the statue was written, and did not just give a simple command but laid clown all the precautions which were to be taken for safety's sake. For Gains told Petronius, the legate of all Syria, to whom he had addressed the letter, to tal<e half of the Euphrates army, which was on guard against any possible crossing by kings or tribes from the East, into J udaea to accompany the statue, not in order to lend dignity to the dedication, but in order to put to death at once anyone who opposed it. What do you say, master? Is it because you are sure that the Jews will not tolerate this but will take up arms in defence of the Law and die for the sake of their traditions that you declare war? It looks as if it was not in ignorance of the probable results of your attempted innovation in connection with the Temple, but because yon conlcl foresee the future as accurately as if it were already present and coming events as accurately as if they were already at hand, that you instructed Petronius to bring his army. You intended that the first offerings with which the statue was consecrated should be unholy ones, the blood of innocent men and women alike. Now Petronius was gravely perplexed when he read his orders. He could not oppose Gains because he was afraid-for he knew that he was ruthless not only to people who did not carry out his commands but even to those who failed to do so instantly; yet he could not set to work with an easy mind either, knowing as he did that the Jews would be prepared to undergo countless deaths, if it were possible, instead of a single death, rather than allow any

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forbidden action to be performed. All peoples are tenacious of their own customs, but the Jewish nation is particularly so. For 'as they maintain that their Laws are God-given oracles and have been educated in this doctrine from their childhood, they bear im2II ages of the Commandments imprinted on their souls. Accordingly, as they contemplate the clear shapes and forms of the Commandments, they meditate on them with constant admiration. Gentiles who hold them in honour they welcome on a level with their own citizens; but gentiles who either violate or jeer at them they detest as their bitterest enemies. They stand in such a we of each of the Commandments that they would never accept all the prosperity .or happiness (call it what you will) of this life in exchange for an 212 infringement of even the least of them. But more outstanding and noteworthy is the respect which they all show for the Temple. The strongest proof of this is the fact that death against which there can be no appeal is decreed for any gentiles who go into the inner courts. (They admit everyone from all over the world to the 213 onter courts.) Bearing all this in mind, Petronius was dilatory in setting to work, while he considered the magnitude and the audacity of the undertaking. He summoned a sort of council of all the reasoning faculties of his mind and asked each its opinion .. He found that they all agreed, from considerations first of natural justice and piety and secondly of the danger threatening not only from God but from the affronted Jews as well, that he should not disturb any of the traditions which had been held sacred from of old. 214 He also had in mind the vast numerical size of the Jewish nation, which is not confined, as every other nation is, within the borders of the one country assigned for its sole occupation, but occupies almost the whole world. For it has overflowed across every continent and island, so that it scarcely seems to be outnumbered by the 215 native inhabitants. Would it not be highly dangerous to turn these vast hordes of enemies against himself? Heaven forbid that the Jews everywhere should unanimously come to the defence! That would produce an impossible military situation-quite apart from the fact that the Jews living in Judaea are infinitely numerous, physically strong, and mentally courageous, and prefer to die for their traditions in a spirit which some of their traducers would call 216 barbaric but which is in actual fact free and noble. The forces beyond the Euphrates were also causing Petronius alarm. He knew, from experience and not merely from hearsay, that Babylon and many other satrapies contained Jewish settlements; for every year sacred envoys are sent to take to the Temple the large quantity of gold and silver collected from the "first-fruits", and these men traverse difficult, unfrequented, interminable roads, regarding them as fine high2I7 ways becanse they believe that they lead to the service of God. So he was naturally very much afraid that, when these Jews heard ofthe proposed new dedication, they would suddenly invade and encircle him, some from one side and some from th~ other, and then join 210

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forces and maltreat those whom they had surrounded. These were the arguments on which he based his delay. Then he was drawn in the other direction by the opposite arguments. He said, "This is the order of a ruler who is still young and who holds that whatever he wants is good and that what he has once decided upon is already virtually done, even though it may be completely useless and full of contentiousness and ostentation. He has overstepped human limits and is already enrolling himself among the gods. My life is in danger whether I oppose Gains or give way to him; but if I give way, the danger is one of war and is perhaps an uncertain danger which will not necessarily materialize, whereas if I oppose, the danger comes from Gains and is una voidable and can be taken for 219 granted." Many of the Romans on Petronius' administrative staff in Syria were of this opinion also, knowing that they too would be immediate victims of Gains' wrath and vengeance for their joint responsibility in preventing his orders from being carried out. 220 The construction of the statue provided a breathing-space for more detailed consideration. Gains did not have one sent out from Rome -in my opinion through the providence of God, Who was invisibly protecting His wronged people-nor did he tell Petronius to transfer whichever statue was reputed to be the most beautiful in Syria; for in that case the very speed with which the Law was trans221 gressed would speedily have kindled a war. Petronius thus had an opportunity to consider what would be his best course of action. (Sudden simultaneous crises cripple the reason.) He gave orders for the work to be carried out in one of the neighbouring countries. 222 He sent for the most intelligent craftsmen in Phoenicia, and gave them the materials. They set to work in Sidon. He then sent for the Jewish religious and civil authorities also, intending to tell them about Gains' letter and at the same time to advise them to submit to the orders of their master and to keep before their eyes the dangers facing them. For the pick of the military forces in Syria was 223 ready and would deal death throughout the whole country. He thought that if he calmed them first, he would be able through them to induce the rest of the population also not to resist. But, as one might expect, he was mistaken. It is said that the Jewish leaders were aghast at his very first words and stood rooted to the ground at this story of unprecedented evil. Dumb with horror, they let the fountains of their tears flow without restraint. Then they 224 tore their beards and hair and commented thus :-"In the time of our great prosperity we have made many contributions towards a happy old age, only to behold now what none of our forefathers ever saw. But with what eyes shall we behold it? Our eyes shall be torn out together with our unhappy souls and our pain-filled lives, before they see such an evil, a sight not fit to be seen, which it would be wrong even to hear or think about." 225 32 Such were their lamentations. But when the people in the Holy City and the rest of the country discovered what was afoot,

218

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they gathered as if at a single signal, the signal given by their common calamity, and came out in a body, abandoning their cities, villages and homes, and at a single impulse hurried to Phoenicia, where Petronius happened to be. When some of Petronius' staff saw a vast crowd sweeping towards them, they ran and warned him, so that he might take precautions, as they expected war. While they were still describing the scene, and Petronius was without a guard, the multitude of Jews suddenly descended like a cloud and covered the whole of Phoenicia, to the consternation of those who did not realize how numerous the nation was. At first there arose such a tremendous sh.out and such weeping and beating of breasts, that the ears of the bystanders could not take in its magnitude. For it did not cease when the Jews ceased, but echoed back even after they were silent. Then the Jews approached and made appeals such as the occasions suggested. For calamities arc themselves the teachers of the moment. They were divided into six groups-old men, young men, and boys, and then again elderly women, women in their prime, and girls. When Petronius appeared from a distance, all the groups fell to the ground as though at a command and uttered a funereal wail and cries of supplication. When he urged them to stand up and come nearer, they stood up reluctantly, pouring quantities of dust on their heads, and weeping copiously, and approached him holding their hands behind their hacks as if they were tied. Then the group of elderly men stood up and spoke as follows: "We arc unarmed, as you see, and yet smne people accuse us of coming as enemies. The limbs with which nature has endowed each of us for our defence, our hands, we have put behind us, where they can do nothing, and thus we offer our own bodies as targets for the unerring missiles of those who want to kill us. We have brought our wives and children and families to you, and in kneeling to you we have knelt to Gains. We have left no-oneathome, in order that you Romans may either deliver us all or kill us all without exception. Petronius, we are peace-loving people by nature and by choice, and the industry instilled in us by our upbringing has taught us this way of life from the beginning. When Gains succeeded to the principate, we Jews were the first of all the people in Syria to join in the rejoicings. Vitellius, your predecessor in office, was in J erusalem at the time, and received a dispatch about it, and it was from our city that the good news spread to the others. Was our Temple the first to accept sacrifices on behalf of Gains' rule in order that it might be the first, or even the only one, to be deprived of its traditional ways of worship? We are leaving our cities and abandoning our homes and estates, and we will willingly hand over our furniture, our money, our treasures, and all our flocks and herds as well; we shall feel that we are receiving them and not giving them away. We ask one thing in return for all this, that no change shall be made in the Temple but that it shall be preserved just as we inherited it from our grandfathers and ancestors. If we fail

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to persuade you, we hand ourselves over to be killed, in order that we may not live to see an evil worse than death. We know that cavalry and infantry forces have been prepared against us in case we should oppose the dedication. No-one is so senseless as to oppose his master when he is himself only a slave. We readily and gladly offer our throats. Let them kill us, let them sacrifice us, let them divide our flesh without our fighting or causing bloodshed; let them do all the deeds of victors. \Vhat need is there of an army? We ourselves shall do very well as priests to begin the sacrifices. We will bring our wives to the Temple to slay them with our own hands; as fratricides we will bring our brothers and sisters, as infanticides our sons and daughters-innocent children! (Those who endure the calamities of tragedy neecl the language of tragedy.) Then as we stand in the midst bathed in the blood of our kinsfolkfor such are the ablutions of those who purify themselves for Hades-we will mingle our blood with theirs by killing ourselves upon their bodies. When we are dead let this be our epitaph: Even God would not reproach us for having striven to attain two ends-respect for the Emperor and obedience to our hallowed Laws; and this will come to pass if we give up in contempt a life which is not worth living. We have heard an old legend, handed down without variation by Greek story-tellers, to the effect that the Gorgon's head had the power of immediately turning those who looked at it into stones and rocks. This seems to be a mythical invention, but great, unwelcome, and irremediable events give it some truth. The anger of a tyrant causes death, or something very like death. Do you think that if-which may Heaven forfend!-any of our people were to see the statue being ceremoniously carried into the Temple, they would not be turned to stone, with their joints and eyes rigid and unable to move, and the natural movements of their whole bodies changed in each of their component parts? Our final plea, Petronius, will be an entirely reasonable one. We are not saying that you should not carry out your orders, but we are adding to our prayers a plea for a postponement, in order that we may choose and dispatch an embassy to our master. Perhaps if we send an embassy we shall persuade him by arguing at length either about the honour of God, or about the preservation of our inviolable Laws, or about our not receiving worse treatment than all other nations, even those at the ends of the earth, whose traditions have been safeguarded, or about the enactments of his grandfather and great-grandfather, in which they very carefully confirmed our customs. Perhaps when he hears this his heart will soften. The resolutions of the great are unstable, and resolutions made in anger weaken most quickly. We have been accused falsely. Allow us to refute those accusations. It is har'd to be condemned without a trial. If, however, we fail to persuade Gains, what will there be to prevent you from carrying out your present plan? Until we have sent our embassy, do not cut short the highest hopes

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of this countless throng, whose concern is not for personal gain but for religion. No, we were wrong to say that; for what gain could profit mankind more than holiness?" 33 They made this appeal panting under the stress of intense and agonized emotion; their voices were choked, sweat poured over all their limbs, and their tears fell unceasingly. As a result their hearers began to sympathize, and Petronius, who was naturally kind and gentle, was carried away by the arguments and by the sight confronting him. For he considered that the axguments were entirely reasonable, and the intense emotion of those confronting him filled him with pity. He withdrew with his advisers and deliberated on the best course of action. He saw that those who had recently been entirely opposed to the Jews were wavering, while those who hac\ previously hesitated were now for the most part inclining to mercy. He was pleased at this, although he knew the disposition of his superior and the implacability of his wrath. He hac\ himself, apparently, some glimmerings of Jewish philosophy and religion. He may have studied it in the past because of his interest in culture, or after his appointment as governor of those countries which have large numbers of Jews in all their cities, namely Asia and Syria; or his mind may have been so disposed through some voluntary, instinctive, and spontaneous inclination of its own towards things worthy of serious attention. It seems that God puts into good men's hearts good resolutions, through which they will benefit themselves while conferring benefits on otherswhich is what happened to Petronius. What, then, were his resolutions? Not to hurry the workmen but to tell them to bring the statue to a high state of artistic perfection by aiming, as far as possible, at reaching the stanclarcl of the famous sculptures which were their models, however long it took, since rough and ready things can be finished quickly, whereas things involving labour and skill need a long time. He also resolved not to authorize the embassy for which the Jews asked, as that would not be safe; not to oppose the party anxious to refer the matter to the princeps and master of the world; not to give a definite answer, Yes or No, to the multitude, as either answer would be dangerous; but to send Gaius a letter in which he would neither accuse the Jews of anything nor give an accurate description of their appeals and prayers, but would lay the blame for the delay over the dedication partly on the fact that the work required a considerable time and partly on the season of the year, which was providing serious and reasonable grounds for delay, which even Gains himself could of necessity not fail to appreciate. For the harvest of wheat and other cereals was ripe, and he was afraid that the Jews, despairing of their traditions and despising life, would either ravage their fields or set fire to their corn-lands in the hills and on the plains; he needed a garrison to secure the safe gathering in of the harvests-the harvest from the fruit-trees as well as that from the fields. For, according to rumour, Gains had

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decided to make a voyage to Alexandria in Egypt. But such a great j>rinceps would not think it advisable to sail over the open sea, because of the dangers involved and the magnitude of the escorting fleet and also out of regard for his physical comfort. All these difficulties would easily be met by making the round journey via Asia and Syria. He would then be able both to sail and to go ashore every day, especially if most of his fleet consisted of warships in· stead of merchantmen, since a coasting voyage is more convenient for warships, just as a voyage over the open sea is for cargo ships. In that case it would be necessary to provide fodder for the animals and generous supplies of food in all the Syrian cities, particularly those on the coast. For a vast crowd would arrive by land and sea, not only people who had travelled from Rome itself and Italy, but also people from the line of provinces right round to Syria who had joined Gains' train; there would be a crowd of officials, another of soldiers-infantry, cavalry, and marines-and another of household retainers, who wonld be qnite as numerous as the soldiers. Supplies would be needed, calculated to provide not only essentials but also the extravagant abundance which Gains demanded. If Gains receives this letter, Petronius thought, he will perhaps not only feel no anger but will approve of my foresight in having caused this delay not to please the Jews but in order to safeguard the gathering of the harvest. 34 As Petronius' advisers approved of his plan, he had the letter written and chose some energetic men who were used to cutting down the time they spent on journeys to take it to Gains. When they arrived they delivered the letter. Gains got red in the face before he had finished reading, and was filled with anger as he noted each point. When he reached the end he clapped his hands and said, "Excellent, Petronius; you have not learnt to obey the Emperor. Your successive magistracies have gone to yonr head. Up to now, apparently, you have not discovered even by hearsay what Gains is like; before long you shall find out by experience. You are concerned about the laws of the Jews, a race which I detest, and yet you disregard the sovereign commands of your ruler. You were afraid of the Jewish mob; had you then not got your military forces, which have inspired terror in the peoples of the East and in their Parthian rulers? But you pitied the Jews; so you paid more heed to feelings of pity than you did to Galus? You are making an excuse now of the harvest; before long you will receive on your own head a harvest for which no excuses can be offered. You blame the gathering of the crops and the preparations for my visit; well, even if J udaea became completely barren, could not the great and prosperous countries on her borders manage to snpply what was needed and make up the deficiency of that one country? But why am I talking instead of acting? Why do people know my decisions in advance? The man who is going to enjoy his wages, let him be the first to learn of it from his own experience.

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I will say no more, but I shall continue to think about the matter." After a short pause he dictated his reply to Petronius to one of his secretaries. On the surface he complimented him for his forethought and detailed consideration for the future. For he was very much afraid of the provincial governors, since he saw that they held in their hands the means to rebel, especially the governors of large districts who commanded large armies, such as the Euphrates army in Syria. So he was polite to Petronius in the phrasing of his letter, and despite his anger he concealed his wrath until a suitable time. Then at the end of his letter he told him to put the speedy dedication of the statue before everything else, since the harvest, which had served as a pretext, whether true or merely plausible, could by that time have been gathered. 35 Now not long afterwards king Agrippa arrived to pay his respects to Gains in the usual way. He knew absolutely nothing about Petronius' letter or about Gains' first and second letters to him. Nevertheless he deduced from Gains' irregular movements and the excitement in his eyes that there was auger smouldering there; so he puzzled and racked his brains, pondering over every incident, great or small, that had occurred, in case he had said or done anything wrong. On finding nothing whatsoever, he then made the obvious guess that Gains was annoyed with some other people. But when he noticed that he was looking askance at him and keeping his eyes fixed on him alone and on no-one else in the room, he began to be afraid. He often intended to ask Gains but he refrained, arguing oh these lines: "Perhaps I shall bring upon myself the threat which is hanging over other people, if I give the impression of being officious, rash, and presumptuous." So when Gains noticed that he was worried and perplexed-he was clever at divining a man's hidden wishes and feelings from his visible expression-he said, "Are you perplexed, Agrippa? I will put an end to your perplexity. When you have spent such a long time with me, do you not know that I speak not only with my voice but also with my eyes, making my meaning clear as much, if not more, with them? Y ourfine, noble countrymen, the only people in the whole world who do not acknowledge Gains as a god, are now apparently actually courting death by disobedience. When I gave orders for a statue of Zeus to be set up in the Temple, they all collected in a body and trooped out of Jerusalem and the whole country, allegedly in order to make a petition, but in actual fact in order to oppose my commands." Before Gains had time to add more, Agrippa's anguish of mind made him change colour in every possible way; in one moment he became flushed, pale, and livid. He was already shivering from head to foot. Trembling and shuddering convulsed every limb and part of his body. His sinews became limp and slack, and he staggered and finally collapsed and would have fallen, had not some of the bystanders caught him. They carried him home as they were instructed. He was in a coma and conscious of none of the mass of troubles

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268 which had descended upon hlm. As a result Gains was even more exasperated, and intensified his hatred for the Jews. He said, "If my closest and dearest friend, Agrippa, who is under great obligations to me, is such a slave of his national customs that he cannot bear to hear a word spoken against them but faints and even almost dies, what must one expect of the other Jews, who have no powerful 269 incentive for acting otherwise?" Agrippa lay sunk in a deep coma for the first day and most of the second, conscious of nothing around him. But late in the afternoon he raised his head a little and just managed to open his heavy eyes slightly. He looked at the people round his bed with blurred and misty vision, not yet able to dis270 tinguish their individual forms clearly. Then he went to sleep again and remained quite still. His general condition was now better than before, to judge from his breathing and the state of his body. 271 Later on he awoke and asked, ""Where am I now? Surely not with 272 Gains? Surely my lord is not here too?" They replied, "It is all right. You are in your own house. Gains is not here. You had a good rest when you went to sleep. Now turn round and raise yourself and lean on your elbow. Look at the people here. They are all your own people, the most respected of your friends, freedmen, and servants, 273 and those who most respect you.'' By now Agrippa was beginning to recover his senses, and he recognized the sympathy in every face. The doctors then told most of them to go away, in. order to restore 274 the sick man's body with ointments and suitable food. But Agrippa said, "Must you really bother about a special diet for me? Will it not do for me in my miserable state to satisfy my hunger by simply using the bare necessities of life, which will be very cheap? Indeed, I should refuse even those, were it not for the final service which I 275 am dreaming of rendering to my ill-fated people." Then, in tears, he ate some food under protest without any seasoning and refused even diluted wine when it was offered to him, saying after taking a sip of water, "My poor stomach has now received the loan it asked for. What have I to do but to appeal to Gains about the present situation?" 276 36 He took a tablet and wrote the following letter: "My lord, fear and modesty prevent me from pleading with you face to face. Fear seeks to avoid your threats, while modesty makes me alarmed at the magnitude of the dignity surrounding you. This letter will bring you my request, which I am presenting instead of the sup277 pliant's olive branch. Emperor, everyone naturally loves his homeland and accepts the laws of his own country. There is no need to instruct you on this point, as you yourself are passionately patriotic and passionately admire your native traditions. All people regard the customs of their own country as excellent, even if in reality they are not, because they judge them with feelings of affection 278 rather than with their reason. I was born, as you know, a Jew. Jerusalem is my home, where stands the holy Temple of the Most High God. My grandfathers and ancestors were kings. Most of them

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ask for my native city, if not Roman citizenship, at least freedom or exemption from taxation. But I have not dared to make any such request. Instead I make a very trifling request, a favour which it will cost you nothing to give, but which will be of the greatest value for my city to receive. For what greater blessing could your 288 subjects receive than the goodwill of their princeps? It was in Jerusalem, Emperor, that your longed-for accession was first proclaimed, and from the Holy City the report spread to the adjacent countries. For this reason also Jerusalem deserves preferential 289 treatment at your hands. For just as in families the eldest sons receive special prerogatives because they were the first to call their parents ''father" and "n1other", so in the same way, since this city was the first in the Orient to call you "Emperor", it deserves to receive extra blessings, or, if not that, at least equal ones with other 290 cities. Having thus pleaded the cause of my city and made my requests for it, I will turn at last to my request about the Temple. My lord Gains, this Temple has never from the beginning admitted any man-made image, because it is the dwelling-place of the true God. The works of painters and sculptors are copies of gods perceived by the senses. But the making of any picture or sculpture of the invisible God was considered by our forefathers to be blasphe291 mous. Agrippa, your grandfather, respected the Temple, and so did Augustus, by giving written instructions for the "first-fruits" from all over the empire to be sent thither, and by his provision for regular sacrifices. And so did your great-grandmother ..... . 292 As a result no-one, either Greek, barbarian, satrap, king, or bitter enemy, and no revolution, war, capture, sack, or anything else at all ever caused such a violation of the Temple as the introduction 293 of a statue, an image, or any man-made work of art into it. For even if they were our enemies and hated the inhabitants of our country, yet shame or fear prevented them from putting an end to any of our immemorial practices in honour of the Creator and Father of the universe. For they knew that from these and similar actions sprang the irreparable disasters of divine punishment. For this reason they were chary of sowing seeds of impiety, lest they should be compelled to reap a harvest of utter destruction. 37 But why should I call foreign witnesses when I can present 294 you with many from your own family? When Marcus Agrippa, your maternal grandfather, was in Judaea during the reign of my grandfather Herod, he immediately decided to travel up from the 295 coast to the capital, which lies inland. When he had gazed on the Temple and the dignity of the priests and the piety of the native population, he was filled with admiration and considered that he had seen something very solemn and quite indescribable. His only topic of conversation with the friends who were with him at the time was praise for the Temple and everything connected with it. 296 At any rate, every day during the stay which he made in Jerusalem to please Herod, he visited the Temple court, enjoying the spectacle

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officials saw this, and realized that Pilate was regretting what he had done, although he did not wish to show it, they wrote a letter to Tiberius, pleading their case as forcibly as they could. What words, what threats Tiberius uttered against Pilatc when he read it! It would be superfluous to describe his anger, although he was not easily moved to anger, since his reaction speaks for itself. For immediately, without even waiting until the next clay, he wrote to Pilate, reproaching and rebuking him a thousand times for his new-fangled audacity and telling him to remove the shields at once and have them taken from the capital to the coastal city of Caesarea (the city named Se baste after your great-grandfather), to be dedicated in the temple of Augustus. This was duly done. In this way both the honour of the Emperor and the traditional policy regarding Jerusalem were alike preserved. 39 Now on that occasion it was a question of shields bearing no representation of any living creature; this time it is a colossal statue. On that occasion the dedication was made in the residence of the procurators; this time the proposed dedication is to be made, we are told, right inside the Temple, in the actual shrine, which the High Priest enters only once a year, on the so-called Fast Day, to burn incense and to offer the traditional prayers for blessings in abundance and plenty and peace for all men. If anyone else-I do not mean any Jewish layman, but even any one of the priests, and not merely one of the junior priests but one of those next in rank to the High Priest-enters it alone, or even with the High Priest, or indeed if the High Priest himself goes into it on two clays of the year) or even three or four times on the same Fast Day, he faces a death against which there can be no appeal. This is the elaborate protection for the shrine laid down by our lawgiver, who wanted this one part of the Temple alone to be kept untroclclen and untouched. How many deaths, then, do you think people who have respected the sanctity of the shrine would gladly undergo, if they saw the statue being taken into it? I believe that they would kill their whole families, wives and children and all, and finally sacrifice themselves on top of the bodies of their kinsfolk. Tiberius knew this. Now what about your great-grandfather, the best of all the Emperors who have ever lived, who was the first to be called Augustus because of his goodness and position, and who spread peace everywhere by land and sea to the ends of the earth? Wben he was told about our Temple and heard that no man-made image, no visible representation of the invisible Being, was to be found in it, did he not marvel and worship? He had had more than a merely superficial taste of philosophy but had feasted on it deeply and continued to do so almost daily, partly by recalling things which his mind had stored up as a result of its former philosophical studies, and partly by conversing with the literary men who were constantly with him. For at dinner-parties most of the time was devoted to listening to cultured men, in

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order that the mind as well as the body might be £eel on appropriate food. 40 I could demonstrate the intentions of Augustus, your greatgrandfather, by countless proofs, but I will content myself with two. First, when he discovered that the sacred "first-fruits" were being neglected, he instructed the governors of the provinces in Asta to grant to the Jews alone the right of meeting in the synagogues. He said that these were not meetings which had their origin in drunkenness and disorderliness likely to disturb the peace, but were schools of sobriety and justice for people who practised virtue and contributed their annual "first-fruits", which they used to pay for sacrifices, sending sacred envoys to take the money to the Temple in Jerusalem. Secondly, he gave orders that no-one should hinder the Jews from meeting, making their contributions, and communicating with Jerusalem as their custom was. This was the 9ist of his instructions, at any rate, even if they were not expressed m these words. I append one letter in order to convince you, my lord-a letter from Gains Nor ban us Flaccus in which he made public what Caesar had written to him. Here is a transcript of the letter: 'Gains Norbanus Flaccus the proconsul greets the magistrates of Ephesus. Caesar has written to me saying that it is a native traditional custom of the Jews, wherever they live, to meet regularly and contribute money, which they send to Jerusalem. He does not wish them to be prevented from doing this. I am therefore writing to you ~o that you may know that these are his instructions.' Surely this IS a clear proof, Emperor, of the policy which Caesar followed with regard to the respect clue to our Temple? He did not want the Jews' assemblies, which are held for the collection of the "first-fruits" and for other religious purposes, to be swept away in the same way as the clubs were. We have another equally conclusive proof of Augustus' intentions. He gave orders for regular sacrifices of holocausts to be offered every clay at his expense to the Most High God. These sacrifices continue to this clay. Two lambs and a bull form the offerings with which Caesar glorified the altar, because he knew quite well that there was no image, visible or concealed, there. The argument in the mind of this great princeps, who was second to none as a philosopher, was, indeed, that it was essential for a special place consecrated to the invisible God to be set apart in the earthly regions, and for it to contain no visible representation to help people to share in fair hopes and enjoy perfect blessings. Again, your great-grandmother, J ulia Augusta, who had in August us a fine instructor in piety, enriched the Temple with gold bowls and cups and a number of other costly offerings. What made her do thts, when there was no image there? For women's intellects are so':lewhat weak and cannot grasp any mental concept but only obJects of sense. But she surpassed all her sex in this as in other matters. She excelled in natural ability and in practice as a result of the purity of her education, and she resembled a man in her

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intellect, which had become so keen that she grasped mental concepts better than objects of sense, and regarded the latter as shadows of the former. 321 41 Therefore, my lord, since you have these striking precedents for a gentler policy than your own, all closely connected with the family from which you were descended and born and in which you have taken such pride, preserve what each of them has preserved. 322 As Emperors they plead the cause of the laws to you as Emperor, as Augusti to you as Augustus, as your grandfathers and ancestors to you as their descendant, as many people to you who are but one, and they say in effect, 'Do not abolish customs which have been maintained at our express wish up to the present day. For even if nothing sinister were to befall you as a result of their abolition, yet the uncertainty of the future is not entirely without terror even for 323 the boldest, unless they despise the things of God.' If I give you a list of your favours to me, it will take me more than the whole day; and besides that, it is inappropriate for the principal matter to be subordinated to another story. Yet if I pass them over in 324 silence, the facts themselves shout and cry aloud. You set me free when I was fettered with iron chains; everyone knows that. Do not fetter me now with more painful chains, Emperor. For the chains which you loosed encircled a part of my body, whereas those which I now foresee are chains for the soul, which will crush my whole 325 soul utterly. You took away the dread of death which was perpetually hanging over me; you quickened me when I was dead with fear and raised me again as if to a second life. Continue with this favour, Emperor, lest your Agrippa give up life completely. For it will look as if I was released, not in order to live, but ratherin order 326 to suffer heavier calamities and die more conspicuously. You bestowed on me the most lofty and glorious lot that can fall to mena kingdom. It consisted at first of a single country but later of another larger one as well, when you added the so-called Trachonitis and Galilee to my domains. When you have granted me favours beyond my needs, my lord, do not take from me the necessities of life; and when you have brought me into the most brilliant light, 327 do not cast me back afresh in to the deepest darkness. But I relinquish those splendours; I do not object to returning to my former condition; I give up everything in exchange for one thing, the preservation of our native traditions unchanged. Otherwise what would be my reputation among my fellow Jews or among all the gentiles? Of necessity I should be regarded as one of two things-either as a traitor to my people or as one who had forfeited your friendship. 328 What greater evil could there be than these? For if I continue to be numbered among your friends, I shall have a reputation for treachery, unless my homeland is kept safe from all evil and the Temple is kept inviolate, since you great men protect the interests of your friends and of people who have taken refuge in the mani329 festations of your imperial power. If, however, any hostility lurks

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in your heart, do not imprison me, as Tiberius did, but destroy my anticipation of a second imprisonment by ordering me to be got rid of at once. For what good would it be to me to live, when my only hope of deliverance lay in your goodwill?" 42 Agrippa wrote this letter, sealed it, and sent it to Gaius. Then he shut himself up iu his house and waited in an agony of confused feelings, wondering greatly how it would strike Gains. For it was no trifling danger but a danger of expulsion, enslavement, and complete destruction which had been brought not only upon the inhabitants of the Holy Land but upon the Jews everywhere else in the worlc1 as well. When Gains received the letter and read it, he was angered at each of the points, since his purpose was not prospering; but at the same time he was moved by the mixture of arguments and pleas. He partly approved of what Agrippa said, and partly disapproved. He objected to his excessive obsequiousness towards his compatriots, who were the only people to disobey him and to repudiate his deification, but he approved of the way in which he did not disguise or conceal any of his feelings, and said that this gave proof of a very independent and noble spirit. So he pretended to be appeased and decided to write Agrippa a fairly pleasant reply, granting him his first and most important request, that the dedication should not take place. He gave orders for a letter to be written to Publius Petronius, the legate of Syria, to the effect that he was to attempt no further innovations with regard to the Jewish Temple. But although he granted this favour, he did not grant it outright, but tempered it with a very cruel fear. For he added in his letter, "If, however, any people in the surrounding districts, outside the capital itself, wish to establish altars or sacrifices or images or statues on behalf of me or my family and are prevented from doing so, you are either to punish those responsible for the hindrance on the spot or to send them to me." This was nothing but a source for risings and civil wars, and a sort of indirect cancellation of the gift which he appeared to be granting outright. For it meant that some people, out of hostility towards the Jews rather than loyalty to Gaius, would fill the whole country with dedications, while the Jews, seeing their traditions overthrown before their very eyes, would not be able to endure it, even though they were the most even-tempered of men, and Gains would visit the heaviest possible punishment on the victims of the provocation and then renew his order for the erection of the statue in the Temple. But by the providence and care of God, Who oversees and controls all things righteously, not a single one of the neighbouring peoples gave any provocation, so that no occasion arose for the Jews to meet a disaster from which there was no escape instead of a comparatively mild rebuke. "But what was the good of this?" someone may ask. Even though other people kept quiet, Gains did not. He was already regretting his generosity and was fanning his former passion into flame. He gave orders for the construction of a

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second colossal statue of gilded bronze in Rome. He left the one in Sidon where it was, in order not to cause a popular rising by having it moved, but proposed to bring the second statue secretly by sea, while the Jews were peaceful and unsuspecting after a long respite, and to have it erected suddenly without the knowledge of the multitude. 338 43 He planned to do this when he sailed past in the course of his visit to Egypt. He had an indescribable passion for Alexandria, and was extremely anxious to visit it and to stay for a very long time when he got there. He believed that this city alone had originated the deification of which he dreamed and would foster it, and that by reason of its great size and commanding position in the world it had provided other cities with an example of how he should be worshipped, since inferior men and cities try to emulate the actions 339 of great ones. Gains was, however, naturally unreliable in every other respect as well, so that if he ever happened to do anything good, he immediately regretted it and looked for a way of undoing 340 it which would cause greater distress and harm. This is the sort of thing I mean: he freed some prisoners for no reason at all and then imprisoned them again, thus inflicting on them heavier suffering 341 than before, the suffering born of despair. Another time he imposed a sentence of banishment on some people who expected to be put to death, not because they were aware of having committed any offence deserving death or indeed any milder punishment, but because the judge's excessive ferocity robbed them of auy hope of being let off. To them exile was a boon, and as good as a return from exile, when they considered that they had escaped from the 342 supreme clanger which was threatening their lives. But only a short time afterwards, although nothing new had happened, he sent some of his troops and put to death in a body those fine, noble exiles who were already making homes of the islands in which they were living, and were bearing their misfortunes most cheerfully. Thus he brought poignant and unexpected grief to the families of Rome's 343 leading citizens. If he gave people a gift of money, he would demand it back, not as if it were a loan on which he required simple or compound interest, but as if it were a theft for which the recipients had to pay the heaviest penalty. For it was not enough for the poor wretches to return what had been given to them; they would hand over as well the whole of the fortunes which they had either inheritecl from parents, relations, or friends, or amassed by them344 selves by commercial undertakings. The laticlavi, who thought themselves highly distinguished, were injured in another way, which amused him and involved a pretence at friendliness. They would spend vast sums on his ill-advised, disorderly, and unexpected visits, and vast sums on entertaining him. They would spend their whole fortunes on providing a single banquet, so that they actually had 345 to borrow, so great were their expenses. Consequently people tried to avoid receiving favours at his hands, on the grounds that, far

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THE EMBASSY TO GAWS

from being an advantage, they were a snare and a delusion, en346 tailing heavier loss than they couldbear. Such was the inconsistency of his behaviour towards everyone. Bnt it was particularly marked towards the Jewish race. Because of his bitter hatred for it he appropriated the synagogues in every city, starting with those in Alexandria, and filled them with images and statues of himself. (For in allowing others to make dedications, he l'(as virtually setting up the statues himself.) Then he proceededto adapt and alter the Temple in the Holy City, which still remained unmolested and was regarded as completely inviolable, into a shrine of his own, to be 347 called that of "Gains, the New Zeus made Manifest". What do yon say? Do you, a mere human being, seek to annex sky and heaven as well, because you are not satisfied with the multitude of great continents, islands, peoples, and regions over which you hold sway? Do you consider God unworthy to possess a single land or city in this world of ours? Are you determined to rob Him even of this area, tiny as it is, which had been dedicated and consecrated to Him by oracles and divine prophecies, in order that within the whole circuit of this great world no trace and no reminder may be left of 348 the honour and reverence due to the true and living God? Fine hopes you sketch out for mankind! Do you not know that you are opening up copious fountains of evil by these new-fangled acts of megalomania which it is a sin to commit or even to think about? 349

44 I must now report what we both saw and heard when we were sent to conduct our campaign about our civic position. As soon as we came into Gaius' presence, we realized from his appearance and gestures that we were standing not before a judge but before an ac350 cuser more hostile to us than our actual opponents. For the duties of a judge were as follows: to sit with assessors chosen on their merits during the investigation of a vital question affecting many thousands of Alexandrian Jews, which had not been raised for four hundred years and was now being brought up in court for the first time; to let the opposing parties stand on either side of him; to listen first to the accusation and then to the defence for the allotted time; and finally to retire and discuss with his assessors what would be the fairest judgement to pronounce. His actual conduct, however, was that of an implacableJyrant with a scowl on his des35I potic brow. For apart from doing none of the things which I have just mentioned, he sent for the procurators of the two gardens of Maecenas and Lamia. (These·gardens are near to each other and to Rome, and he had been spending the previous three or four days there; it was there that the drama concerning all our people was to be staged, with us as the principal_ actors.) He told them to have the mansions all opened up for him, as he wanted to inspect each of 352 them in detail. We were brought into Gains' presence, and as soon as we saw him we bowed low to the ground with the greatest reverence and punctiliousness, and greeted him with the title "Augustus

APETIJN IIPO'tO:N

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Imperator". His reply was so polite andldnd that we despaired not 353 only for onr case bnt also for our lives. For with a sneering grin he said, "So you arc the god-haters, the people who do not believe that I am a god-I, who am acknowledged as a god among all other nations by this time but am denied that title by you?" And raising his hands to heaven he uttered a Name which it is a sin even to 354 hear, let alone to pronounce. How overjoyed the envoys from the other party were at this, imagining that Gains' first remark meant that their mission had already succeeded! They waved their arms about, danced up and down, and called him by the titles of all the gods. 45 The spiteful sycophant Isidorus observed that Gains enjoyed 355 being given superhuman titles and said, "My lord, you will hate these Jews here, and the rest of their compatriots too, even more when you learn of their ill-will and disloyalty towards you. When everyone else was offering sacrifices of thanksgiving for yonr recovery, these people alone could not bring themselves to sacrifice. 356 When I say 'these', I include the other Jews as well." At that we cried out unanimously, "Lord Gains, we are being maligned. We did sacrifice, and hecatombs at that. And we did not just sprinkle the blood on the altar and take the meat home to use for feasting and merry-making, as some people normally do, but we allowed the whole offering to be consumed in the sacred flame. And it is not only once but three times already that we have done this: the first time was at your accession, the second was on your recovery from that serious illness from which the whole world suffered at the same time, and the third was in anticipation of yonr victory in 357 Germany." "Granted", said Gains, "that this is true and that you have offered sacrifices. But it was to another God, even if it was on my behalf. What is the good of that? You have not sacrificed to me." Violent trembling seized us immediately we heard this remark following on his earlier one, and it affected us all over so 358 that there was no concealing it. While saying this he was going over the mansions, inspecting the men's quarters, the wmnen's quarters, the ground floor, the upper storeys, and everything, criticizing some of the fittings as inadequate, and suggesting andordering. 359 other more expensive ones himself. Then we were driven along and followed him upstairs and downstairs, while our opponents mocked and railed at us just as in farces on the stage. Indeed, the whole affair was a farce. The judge had taken upon himself the r6le of accuser, and our accusers that of a corrupt judge who has an eye 360 to hostility and not to the facts of the case. When it is the judge himself, and a judge possessed of such great power too, who accuses the person on trial, the only thing to do is to say nothing. Silence is a kind of defence, particularly in the case of people who could not answer any of the questions or demands, because their customs and Laws bridled their tongues and closed and sewed up their mouths. 361 After giving some of his instructions about the buildings, he asked

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us an important and solemn question: "Why do you not eat pork?" At this inquiry our opponents again burst into such violent peals of laughter, partly because they were really amused and partly because they made it their business as flatterers to let his remark seem witty and entertaining, that one of the servants attending Gaius was annoyed at the scant respect being shown to the Emperor, in whose presence it was not safe for people who were not his intimate friends even to smile quietly. We replied by saying, "Different people have different customs, and we are forbidden to use some things, just as our adversaries are forbidden to use others." Someone then said, "For instance, many people do not eat lamb, which is a very ordinary kind of food." At that Gains laughed and said, "Quite right too. It is not nice." While they fooled and joked at our expense in this way, we were at our wits' end. Then after some time Gaius said mockingly, "We should like to know what political rights you enjoy." We began to give an explanation, but as soon as Gaius had had a taste of our pleading and realized that it was cogent, even before we had produced our strongest arguments, he cut us short, rnshed on ahead into the large room, went round it, and gave orders for its windows all round to be filled again with transparent stones rather like colourless glass, which let the light through but keep out the wind and the heat of the sun. Then he walked on slowly ana asked us more calmly, "What are you saying?" But when we began to marshal our next arguments, he ran back into another room and gave orders for some old paintings to be hung there. In this way our rights were rent asunder, dismembered, and almost completely broken up and shattered. As a result we were in despair and quite exhausted, and all the time expected nothing but death. Our souls were no longer within our bodies, but in our anguish they had left us to pray to the true God to restrain the fury of the man who falsely called himself god. God took pity on us and turned Gains' heart to mercy. He became gentler and merely said, "I think that these men are not so much criminals as lunatics in not believing that I have been given a divine nature." With that he left us and told us to go away too. 46 So we escaped from a place more like a cross between .a theatre and a prison than a lawcourt. For as in a theatre we had been hooted at, hissed, mocked, and jeered at outrageously, while as in a jail our feelings had been wounded, we had been tortured, and our whole souls had been racked both by the blasphemies against the Deity and by the threats uttered by an Emperor possessed of great power and bearing malice not on someone else's account, which he conld easily have given up, but on acconnt of himself and his passion for deification, which he assumed that the Jews alone did not assent to and could not subscribe to. We then gradually recovered our breath. It was not that our love of life made us cower at the thought of death, which we would gladly have chosen as if it were immortality, if that would have restored a single one of

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our Laws, but that we knew that we should throw our lives away with great ignominy and achieve nothing by it. For the sufferings of envoys recoil on those who have sent them. With all this in mind we were able to raise our heads for a little while. But. other circumstances terrified us, and we were in a great state of agitation and anxiety, wondering what decision Gains would reach and give, and what sentence he would pronounce. For had he really heard our case, when he had taken no notice of some of the facts? Was it not hard that the future of all the Jews everywhere should be at stake in the persons of us five envoys? If Gains were to give in to our enemies, what other city would remain quiet? What city would refrain from attacking the Jews living in it? What synagogue would be left unmolested? What political right belonging to those who order their lives according to Jewish traditions would not be overthrown? Both the specifically Jewish Laws and their general rights vis-a-vis each individual city would be overthrown, shipwrecked, and sent to the bottom of the sea. Arguments of this kind overwhelmed us and dragged us down into the depths. People who had hitherto apparently been supporting us failed us. At any rate, when we summoned them they did not stand their ground, although they were at home, but slunk away fearfully, knowing full well Gains' desire to be regarded as a god. Thus I have set forth quite briefly the reason for Gains' hatred for the whole Jewish nation. I must now proceed to the palinode.

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COMMENTARY I

1 In the opening paragraph of the treatise (r-7) Philo begins to discuss politics from the point of view of general philosophical principles. The argument in I-2 runs: men are unable to get a true picture of the world and of events, because they depend on their senses and give all their attention to Chance, which is utterly nnreliable, instead of using their intellects in an attempt to grasp the reliable facts of Nature; because of ignorance or preoccupation with sensual pleasures, their view of the world is empirical rather than teleological. Ol)(pt -,[vo<;. A. G. Roos suggests (in Mnemosyne, 3rd series ii (1935), 242) reading Ol)(pt -,ovo<; (for which ftt)(pt 'l'tvo<; in 174 and Fl. 10 is parallel) and thus making the opening sentence of the treatise a statement instead of a rhetorical question-"Up to a certain point we old men are still children"; the next sentence, introduced by y&p, then gives grounds for this assertion. ~f'd<; ol ytpov-,e<;. Philo implies here that he was elderly at the time of writing, and in r82 (St' ~Atxlcw) that he was the oldest member of the Jewish delegation sent to Gains. Little information can be gleaned from his writings about his life (but see the note on 174). His two historical treatises, however, appear to be his last extant works, as they contain the latest indications of date. The terminus post quem for the composition, or at least for the completion, of both is 41: in Fl. r8o Gains is referred to in the past tense; in Leg. 107 his death is mentioned; and in 206 there is a reference to an execution by Claudius. The general attack on Gains in the Legatio could, moreover, hardly have been published in his lifetime. "~" 'I'U'J.YJV. The definition of 'I'U)(YJ as "t"l" &SYJAo<; &v6pomlvn Ste
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THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

Chance, which has the effect of denying the stability of Nature. Or he may have in mind the worship of Toz"IJ as a goddess. 2 ~P"'~eoecv. An extension of the familiar use of this verb in the sense of 11 Umpire". Mangey, whom Dahl characterir-ed as 11 praeceps

coniecturarum venator" (note, p. 255), suggested altering to 0epe<Tis0s~v.

&xp>h
TaU 7tp0 1IOE~\J -rO Oe:tov cl:;~8pcfntwv. The transition of thought is abrupt between 2 and 3, but Philo seems to mean "here that the first great fact of Nature, to be apprehended by the intellect, is God's providential care for mankind and especially for the Jews. If the interpretation of 0 ne
COMMENTARY ON

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I-4

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53

lusions, however, to Chaldaean astrology and to Abraham's migration from Chaldaea to Canaan a clear distinction is preserved between that race and the Hebrews: e.g., Mig. 177-87; Heres g6-g; andAbr. 67-77. For other examples see Earp, Index of Names s.v. Chaldaea. op&v 6e6v. Philo believes that names have symbolic meanings, and accordingly gives etymologies, some fairly correct but others (like that of Israel) incorrect, for many Hebrew ones. See, e.g., M ut. passim; other references are given by Leisegang and by Earp, op. cit., s.vv. the individual names. Cf. the derivations of Hermes and Ares from OW"IJVSU<; and &p~ye•v (gg, II3). His use of allegorical etymologies is one of the Stoic elements in his work. Although the Stoics did not originate the practice of attributing to words, and especially to proper nouns, derivations from assonant words frequently connected with their functions-the earliest example is in Odyssey xix, 562-7, on which see W. B. Stanford's note in his edition (1948)-they developed it extensively, rationalizing the myths by means of it, explaining away the objectionable features in them and interpreting them as allegories of the principles of their own philosophical system. See further P. B. R. Forbes in The Oxford Classical Dictionary s.v. Etymology; cf. P. Earth, Die Stoa", ed. A. Gildeckemeyer (rg46), index s.v. Etymologie; M. Pohlenz, Die Stoa (1948) I, 41-3. Philo uses the false etymology Israel= "seeing God", "the one who sees", or Hthe race which sees,, frequently to support his theological doctrine of the place of Israel in the world, and applies it both to the individual Jacobjisrael and to the Hebrew race: e.g., LA ii, 34; Immut. 144; Conf. r46; Gong. 5r; Fug. 2o8; Mut. 8r; Som. i, r2g, IJI, andii, 44, 173,279 ;Abr. 57; andPraem. 44· For many other references see Earp, op. cit. s.v. Israel. In Philo's mystical interpretation of Jewish history, Jacob became "the man who sees God" through his wrestling with the angel. Philo allegorizes this contest as the last stage of his struggle to attain virtue by the subjection of his lower human nature; the reward of his success was the vision of reality or of the existence of God, Whom hitherto he had contemplated only through His works. See further Goodenough, Light, IJ7-9· This etymology was well-known, occurring also in a lost Jewish apocryphon (Origen In ]oh. ii, Z5=PG XIV, r68-g; cf. E. Stein in Monatsschrift fur Geschichte und Wissenschaft des judentums lxxxi (1937), z8o-6), in Syriac (see Thesaurus Syriacus ed. R. Payne

I

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l I

54

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

COMMENTARY ON

Smith (r879) I, 163), and in the Church Fathers-e.g., Hippolytus (Contra Haer. Noeti 5=PG X, 8og-rz; In Genes. fr. r6=Die Griechischen Christlichen Schrijtsteller Hipp. II, 58), Origen (In Num. xvi, 7=PG XII, 6gg; In Ram. vii, I4 and viii, 7=PG XIV, II4I and II77; cf. In ]oh. fr. 27=GCS Origen IV, 505), Eusebius (Praep. Ev. vii, 8, z8; xi, 6, 31), and Jerome (Lib. de Nomin. Hebr., Exodus=PL XXIII, 832, with the comment in Lib. Hebr. Quaest. in Gen. xxxii= PL XXIII, 1039). Cf. F. Wutz, Onomastica Sacra in Texte und Untersuchungen ed. A. von Harnack and C. Schmidt XLI, I (1914), 88-go, 526-7. It was probably part of the stock-in-trade of the Church Fathers rather than a borrowing from Philo, although his works were known to some of them: see the references to him in Eusebius, especially in Praep. Ev. (cf. Introduction, pp. 37-8), Jerome (Lib. deNomin. Hebr., praef.), and Origen (ContraCels. iv, 51; vi, zr; In Matt. xv, 3=PG XIII, rz6o; the footnotesinGCSOrigen VI and VII point out many unacknowledged borrowings from Philo). This etymology for Israel presumably arose from a supposition that the letters ':>l!"!o/~ (Israel) either were a contraction of':>~ l'1~11Zi't;~, "a man saw God", or were the equivalent of':>~.,~: (from the rare verb "1111!, to "see"), "he will see God", which would involve different pointing but no elimination of letters. The last syllable of ?~"!o/~ is certainly ':>!!, "God", and the first two seem to be the imperfect of a verb. But according to the laws of the formation of Hebrew and Semitic names, the noun ':>!! is the subject and not the object of the verb; see JVI. Noth, Die Israelitischen Personennamen im Rahmen der Gemeinsemitischen Namengebung (rg28), 207-8. The verb is now generally supposed to be fl1~~ to persevere" or fight"; see Brown, Driver, and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1907) s.v. l'11f!'; Kohler and Baumgartner, Lexicon 11

11

in Veteris Testamenti Libros (r953) s.v. ':>!l"!i!':. The name would then mean "May God fight" or "God will fight". For detailed discussion of the possible derivations of the name see G. A. Danell, Studies in the Name Israel in the Old Testament (1946), rs-z8, who, however, favours the derivation from the verbs "11Zi' or "11ZiN, the basic meaning -T

-T

of which is "to be ~onsistent, reliable, successful, happy". (The writer's thanks are due to Professor D. Win ton Thomas and Dr. ]. Teicher of Cambridge University and to Professor R. ]. Wilson of Assembly's College, Belfast, for help on this point.)

§§ 4-6

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55

Whether Philo knew Hebrew or not is disputed. His nse of Hebrew etymologies and some other features of his works suggest a familiarity with the language but do not prove it, since he may be indebted to the works of Hebrew-speaking Jews. For discuss.ion see I. Heinemann, Philons griechische und jiidische Bildung (1932 ), 524-7; Wolfson, I, 88-go; S. Sandmel in Hebrew Union College Annual xxv (1954), zrg-zr. Cf. S. Belkin, Philo and the Oral Law (1940), zg-48. 5 -rO &ytvYJ't'0\1 xcd 0e'Lov. For discussions of Philo's conception of God see J. Drummond, Philo ]udaeus or the Jewish Alexandrian Philosophy (r888) II, r-64; Goodenough, Light, II ff.; Introduction, 127 ff.; E. Brehier, Les Idees Philosophiques et Religieuses de Philon d'Alexandrie' (rgso), 6g-8z. ~o npw~ov olyoc0ov .... Philo attempts to define God in Platonic terms; cf. the similar phraseology in, e.g., Gig. 45, Decal. 81, Spec. i, 277, and ii, 53. '1'6 xpd-r-rov ~-t€v &ye<SoU, .... Cf., e.g., Praem. 40 and Cont. 2. God, although the prime Good, is better than the Good in the sense that He transcends any good which the human mind can conceive. He is beyond all qualities and the only thing which can really be predicated of Him is His existence (Immut. 6z). b ~o.v &tj;ocucnov xoct &voccpij mi.n71 Oe6v. Although Philo's philosophical system owed much to the Stoics, their conception of God as material and immanent in the world was entirely unacceptable to Philo, to whom, as a Jew, God was a wholly transcendent and immatcrial Being. 8m~&Opqc. The reading of the Sacra Parallela is 8m~&Opoco,, which has in its favour the fact that the word is used as the predicate of the plural bv61"'""'" (Reiter, appar. crit. and Prolegomena, xliv). The use of this word suggests an oblique reference to Philo's belief in a kind of ladder of mystical experience; as a man progresses up its rungs, he penetrates deeper into the mystery of reality, and his vision and conception of God and His activity change. See further Goodenough, Light, 63-4, 95-6, 173-4, 235 ff. The argument in 4-7 is that what the unaided human intellect (A6yo,) fails to attain, the Jew with his special insight (4) can attain through a mystical experience. eilcrx6rt:wv. Here clearly "of sure aim". When applied to Artemis in Odyssey xi, rg8 and to Apollo in Herodotus v, 6r it could equally well mean "keen-sighted". ~wv Sopucp6pwv wl~ou Suvol(LEWv. To Philo God is pure Being, Legatio ad Gaium

Il

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

distinct from the universe and yet at the same time responsible for its creation. This belief ·raises the philosophical problem of bringing Him into relation with His material world-a problem foreign to native Judaism with its belief that God has direct contact with His creation. Philo's answer is an elaborate theory of intermediaries bridging the gap between God and the world, namely the Logos of God and His Powers. Just as rays flow from the sun, so the Logos emanates from God. The Logos is God's thought, a projection of and radiation from Him, at work in the material universe (a different conception from that of the Stoics, by whom the Logos was identified with God, immanent in the world). It is differentiated into the various Powers of God, occasionally identified with the Platonic Ideas. The Powers distinguish the various aspects of the Logos, and so of God Himself, and the Logos is in itself the sum total of the Powers. Just as an oriental king lives in remote isolation unseen by his subjects and rules through representatives whom he sends out, so the remote and inaccessible God has contact with the universe through the Powers which emanate from Him to control His creation. Although God Himself is not within the grasp of the human intellect, the Powers through which He manifests Himself are, according to some other passages in Philo, comprehensible by man. But on this point Philo does not seem to have finally made up his mind. For here his argument seems to be that, although the Powers are beyond the grasp of the ordinary human intellect, they are the object of the vision of Israel, the race which "sees God" (4). In describing the Powers as God's bodyguard Philo has in mind the comparison of God to an oriental king. The same metaphor is found in Immut. 109, Sac. 59, Abr. rzz, Spec. i, 45, and QE ii, 67. In the fourth of these passages the Powers forming the bodyguard are identified with the "glory" of God referred to in the Old Testament. For fuller discussion of Philo's theory of the Powers and for documentation see J. Drnmmond, op. cit. II, 65-155; Goodenough, Light, 22-47; Introduction, 130-46; A. Meyer, op. cit., z8; Wolfson, I, 217-94, 325 ff.; II, 138-49; Brehier, op. cit., 136-51. Cf. E. Bevan's essay on Hellenistic ]udaism in The Legacy of Israel (1928), 57-60. xocrttoTio~'l)"C'LX~~ 't'E: xat ~amAm~~· Chief among the Powers are the Creative Power (usually called 1to'~"'"~) and the Ruling Power, the two most frequently mentioned by Philo. These are the primary manifestations of God's activity into which the Logos is

COMMENTARY ON

§§ 6-8

I

57

differentiated, and represent his aspects as Creator and Ruler. npovo~"'"'ij' xod TWV &J.:Awv. Here and in Immut. 77-8 and Plant. 50 Philo speaks of the Powers as numerous. More commonly he visualizes them as only four--the Creative, the Ruling, the Merciful, and the Legislative Powers. sUspyt,na&c;; -re xd x.oAacn~pto~. Subsidiary to the Creative Power and issuing from it is the Power of Mercy, often called the Benefactor, while the Legislative Power, often called the Punisher, stands in exactly the same relationship to the Ruling Power. But besides references to these specific Powers, a general division of all the Powers into two groups, beneficent and punitive, recurs elsewhere in Philo's writings, although, as is made clear in 7, there is no fundamental difference between the two groups. 7 d xoct ""' xolloccrTwlou,. Mangey follows A in reading et f'~ xoct .... But this would be appropriate only if the previous words had contrasted the beneficent and the punitive Powers. The two types of Power have, in fact, been identified, and Philo is now proceeding to justify the identification. Colson compares Con]. 171 (note ad loc. ). 't'oOc;; n:A'l)at&~ov-rac;;. Or perhaps ((those who are near to sinning", as H. Leisegang translates it in ]BL lvii (1938), 383. 8 2 yap. With the exception of Colson, scholars generally consider that a passage, possibly of some length, has been lost between 7 and 8; the philosophical discussion breaks off abruptly, and the yb.p which introduces 8 appears to have no logical connection with what precedes. Goodenough thinks that in the lost passage Philo elaborated on the position of the Jews as a "suppliant race" mediating God's providential care to the rest of mankind (3 and note), thus approaching from a more philosophical angle the thesis of the In Flaccum that those who molested the race which stood in this peculiarly intimate relationship with God came to a bad end (Politics, 12-3). Massebieau and Cohn suggest that the dispatch of the two embassies to Gains was recounted here. Leisegang's theory is that the lost passage applied the principle enunciated in 7-that punishments inflicted by God are to be regarded as blessings and as manifestations of His providence-to the case of the Jews under Gains: their sufferings, which appeared to be divine punishments, were, if regarded as the workings of <poa,,, the law of Nature, and not as the caprices of TOf.1J, blessings sent by God which their virtues merited (op. cit., 383-4; see Introduction, p. 40, n. I for his interpretation of the title IIept 'ApeTwv). Colson,

I

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THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

on the other hand, who denies that there is a lacuna, argues (in his Introduction, xxi) that, after a rambling digression in 4-7, Philo here picks up from his main point, God's care for Israel, and that it is quite in his manner to do so with a logical connection which ignores the parenthetic digression. &.crro:crb.:cr'Tov. Either frce from faction within itself' or "which had passed to Gains without civil war" (cf. Colson's "gained not by faction"). Leisegang (op. cit., 391) says of 8-13 "die Ausdriicke, die (Philo) braucht, sind die des 'hellenistischen religios gefiirbten Hofsti!s' wie W. Bousset (Die Religion des Judentums im spiithellenistischen Zeitalter' (1926), 226) die Ausdrucksformen dieser Eschatologie treffend genannt hat". With the general tenor of 8-10 cf. the inscription of z B. C. or later from Halicarnassus which says that as a result of Augustus' rule dp"t)VE:Uoucn ~ev yelp yrj xat O&Ac.t'T'TIX, n6Ae:Lt:; ae 11

&.vOoUow :::Uvo[J.L~ b(.Lo\loLCf TB xcd e:Ue:riJplq:;, &xtJ.~ 't'e: xcd {()opd: n&v-roc; €cr1'LV &.yaOoU, €AnL3wv (.LE:V XP1JC5't'iJJ'I TCp(u; 't'O fL&AAov, e:UOu[.LLac; ae de; -rO no:pOv --rWv &vSpWn<.Uv Eve:ne:nA·~crpJvcv'V (sic) &.y&mv xcd &.ydA[J.ocmv 0ucr[~cc; ~< xo:t 6[L•Iocc; .... (Ancient Greek Inscriptions in the lJ.M., 894).

Philo is not hostile to Roman rule as such but is ready to recognize its good points and to acknowledge the blessings brought by the pax Romana. (Cf. the rabbinical attitude, illustrated by H. Loewe, Render unto Caesar (1940), z8-9.) rre
COMMENTARY ON

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159

~ou p.S'>' cr-rpC<'t'~UJ't'~xoiJ . . . . Philo may here be contrasting the peaceful transfer of power to Gaius with the mutinies of the Rhine and Danube armies which had greeted the news of Augustus' death (T. A. i, r6-5z). H1aUt-tacre xcd xa-renA&y"t] -r1js . . . . eU7tpaytoc<;. 0cwp.&~U) with the genitive is fairly common, but the accusative 'md dative are the only cases recognized by L. and S. 9 with ""'""'"A~O'O'Of'"''· 9 >«>
r&cov (8). "'"'f'"A'I)8dc; 8'1)cr"'upouc; XP'IJ(LOC~ow. This is corroborated by S. G. 37

and Dio lix, 2, 5-6. Tiberius' careful and economical policy had kept the imperial finances in a flourishing condition. For discussion see M. P. Charlesworth in CAH X, 647-8; F. B Marsh, The Reign of Tiberius (1931), 126-g; cf. 227; T. Frank, An Economic Survey of Ancient Rome V (1940), 36-9. 7tpox6cr[L'I)f'"'· Mangey's emendation for the meaningless 7tpo~6m<'I)(LOL of the MSS. ~,· tx7tw(LOCTWV. Llc& is used with the genitive in Hellenistic Greek for the material out of which a thing is made (L. and S. 9 s.v. a,& A, III, 2); the usage here is similar. ne~&A:;, Lrcrnxc1;, vct:u'nx&~. The military establishment of the en1pire under Tiberius consisted of twenty-five legions (T. A. iv, 5, where their distribution in A. D. 23 is given), together with auxiliary units which probably comprised about the same total number of men. The fleet, organized on a permanent basis for the first time by Augustus, was comparatively insignificant, and by no means on a level with the land forces, as Philo's words perhaps suggest. For recent discussion of the problem of the number of Augnstus' legions (now generally believed to have been twenty-eight, of which three were lost by Varus and not replaced) see E. Ritterling in P.-W. s.v. Legio, coli. 1216-7; H. M. D. Parker, The Roman Legions (1928), 78-92; R. Syme in ]RS xxiii (1933), 14-33. On the auxilia see G. L. Cheesman, The Auxilia of the Roman Imperial Army (19r4), 7-56. Cf. in general G. H. Stevenson in CAH X, 218-38. 7tpocr63ouc; .... Philo gives the provincial's view of the taxation imposed by Rome. Yet there had been no increase in taxation under Tiberius, and little extortion (T. ·A. iv, 6-7). Even if the provincials themselves regarded their taxes as heavy, it is doubtful whether the revenues from the provinces normally exceeded the expenditure on them to any great extent, and it was only by rigid

16o

THE EMBASSY TO GA!US

COMMENTARY ON

economy that a surplus could be accumulated. The reference here may cover not only the revenues which fed the state treasuriesprovincial tributum, the vectigalia, and the death duties and taxes on sales which supplied the aerarium militare-but also the Emperor's patrimonium, the huge income which he drew personally from Egypt and from the many properties which had come into his hands by bequest or confiscation. (On Augustus' private wealth see Frank, op. cit., 12 ff.). ro

-riiw nAdcr-rwv xcd &vr~.yxcuoT&-rwv.

Colson suggests that Philo's

idiom of 7tAElcr~o<; followed by another superlative is "a curious way of expressing 'most of the wealthiest, greatest', etc." (note on Fl. 46; Loeb Philo IX). ~~<; otxoo(ltV'I)<;. The belief of ancient thinkers and geographers that the earth was a globe originated with the Pythagoreans. By the time of Aristotle the theory was established that the globe was divided into five zones, of which the two polar ones were cold and uninhabitable, while the two zones lying between these and the torrid equatorial zone were habitable. Philo accepts this theory: :'For equality of magnitude, I-Ie gave us the parallel circles in heaven. those of the equinox in spring and autumn, and those of the solstice in summer and winter, while on earth there are the zones, two of which are equal to each other, namely those which adjoin the poles, frigid and therefore uninhabited, and two which are bordered by the last named and the torrid zone, these two habitable, as we are told, because of their temperate climate, oue of them on the south side aud the other on the north" (Heres 147, Colson's translation; Loeb Philo IV). Cf. Ovicl M etam. i, 45-51. The known inhabited worlc1 was generally believed to occupy part of the east-west extension of the northern habitable zone and to overlap to some extant southwards into the torrid zone. The possibility that the southern habitable zone and the portion of the northern extending westwards from Spain round to S.E. Asia (which was known to Rome by Augustus' clay) were in fact inhabited was a subject of philosophical speculation. For convenient summaries of ancient geographical theories see J. 0. Thomson in JRS xliii (1953), 47-8; Geographica Vergiliana (1954; a published lecture to the Virgil Society). For fuller treatment see the same author, A History of Ancient Geography (1948). Elsewhere in the Legatio Philo frequently uses ~ of.xouf'.V'IJ to mean the Roman empire; cf. the usage in St. Luke ii, r.

II

§§ 9-II

161

Eoq>pol~YJ ~, xOlt P~v7to't'e: ye:'Jot-tbu.uv o:.0't'oxpoc't'6phlv. Philo forgets that the dynasty of the Caesars was only recently established. Gt7tOlV~E<; -ljyolcr8'1)cr"'v. Cf. T. A. vi, 50, 7 et multo gratantum concursu ad capienda imperii primordia Gaius Caesar egrediebatur; S. G. 13-14, 1. Inscriptions testify to the reception accorded to the news of Gains' accession in the East. The xoov6v of central Greece voted him statues so numerous that even Gains thought them excessive (ILS 8792). A decree of Assos states that the news caused unbounded joy and that every city and nation hastened to see the new "god" (SIG 797). Cyzicus hailed him as 6 vto<; "HAoo<; Poloo<; KOlccrOlp (SIG 798,=IGRR IV, 145) and cities in central Greece as a "new god" (IGr. VII, 27II, 60-1); for this use of vso<; see the note on 89 6 vto<; Ll.o6vucro<;. In Alexandria, to which Philo' s account of extravagant rejoicings (12) probably refers, coins were struck showing on the obverse a bust of Gains with a radiate crown, clearly equating him with the Sun-god (J. Vogt, Die alexandrinischen Miinzen (1924) I, 22, and II,4). None ofthe extant examples of this series, admittedly, is dated earlier than Gains' second year, which by Egyptian reckoning ran from the end of August, 37, but the preparation of the dies is bound to have taken some time. The Alexanclrian Jews offered such honours as their Law countenanced (Fl. 97). The references to Gains as a god were made in accordance with eastern convention, which called even Augustus a god in his lifetime (V. Ehrenberg and A. H. M. Jones, Documents Illustrating the Reigns of Augustus and Tiberius (1949), nos. 106-9, IIS-6), and did not necessarily imply any exceptional enthusiasm for him

'' !

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THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

personally. Indeed, the enthusiasm which greeted his accession seems to have been based on little more than the fact that he was the son of Germanicus (A] xviii, 206; T. A. vi, 46, I; S. G. I3; Dio lviii, 8, z; Aurelins Victor, Lib. de Caes. 3, 3-5), whose posthumous popularity stood very high (AJ xix, 223; T. A. xi, IZ, I; xii, 2, 3; xiv, 7, 5), coupled with a natural reaction against the severity and austerity of Tiberius and perhaps with a hope of favours to come from a new Emperor. It cannot have been based on any knowledge of Gains' capabilities as a leader or administrator, since, apart from his quaestorship in 33 (Dio lviii, 23, I), he had been given no experience of public affairs. ta1)<;. The sense apparently required for t
COMMENTARY ON§§

II-I3

present unhappier and more toilsome life sub love: e.g., Plato (Polit. 27Ic-272d), Vergil (Georg. i, I21-59; ii, 536-40; Aen. viii, 3I9-27), Tibullus (i, 3, 35-50), and Ovid (Metarn. xv, 96-no, a passage with an unusual twist; A mores iii, 8, 35-56). Many of the numerous briefer allusions in Greek and Latin writers to the Golden Age or Age of Cronos are conveniently assembled by A. 0. Lovejay and G. Boas, A Documentary History of Primitivism and Related Ideas (I935), 23-IOZ, 155-68. (For the contradictory though simultaneously current idea that man had risen from primitive barbarity, see the note on 20 kx \lofL&3oc; ~(o.u .... ) The age of bliss was not visualized as only a thing of the past. The astronomical idea of a "great year", at the end of which all the heavenly bodies would have returned to their original positions in relation to each other (see, e.g., Plato Tim. 39d; Cicero De RejJ. vi, 22 (24); De Nat. Deomm ii, 20, 5I-3; cf. J. B. Mayor's edition (r883), note ad lac.), together with the Stoic theory of periodic conflagrations of the universe, developed into the belief that time (historical events) as well as celestial phenomena, would repeat itself exactly (Servius on Verg. Eel. iv, 4). Hence the belief in a future repetition of the Golden Age. The idea was current in the late first century B. C. that one world-cycle was approaching completion and that the Golden Age was due to return soon (Verg. Eel. iv; A en. vi, 792-5; Oracula Sibyllina iii, 367-80). For fuller studies of the Golden Age and the "great year" see K. F. Smith, Ages of the World (Greel1 and Roman) in Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics I, I92-2oo; T. A. Sinclair's edition of Hesiod Op. et Dies (I932), note on Iog ff.; Lovejay and Boas, op. cit.; I-I. J. Rose, The Eclogues of Virgil (I942), I7I-87; B. L. van der Waerden, "Das grosse Jahr und die ewige Wiederkehr" in Hermes lxxx (I952 ), I29-55; W. K. C. Guthrie, In the Beginning (I957), 63-79. For the vast bibliography on the late republican expectation of the imminent return of the Golden Age, with special reference to Eclogue iv, see W. W. Tarn, '"Alexander Helios and the Golden Age" in JRS xxii (I932), I35-6o; Rose, I.e.; J. Carcopino, Virgile et le Mystere de la IVe Eglogue' (1943). Philo's stress on the disappearance of poverty, on social justice, and on equality and freedom from fear as characterizing the epoch ushered in by Gains' accession recalls two accounts of the Golden Age in particular-Aratus' ethical conception of that era as one in which justice ruled, rather than as one in which, according to

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poetic commonplace, the necessities of life were obtained abundantly and without effort, and the prophecy in Oracula Sibyllina iii that the coming era would see not only material prosperity but also the replacement of poverty, anger, strife, and other moral ills by the reign of love, justice, and concord on earth. There is a hint also of the concord and plenty of Iambulus' Utopia on the "Sun Islands" (Diodorus Siculus ii, 55-60). 14 ~0 31: 6yM
§§ I3-I8

I65

Greek see W. Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament translated by W. F. Arndt and F. W. Gingrich (r957). Y"'""POf'"'P'Y["''· Cf. Suetonius' allegation that on Capri Gaius ganeas et adulteria ... obiret (G. rr). Aocyve:~<X~ aLa noc£8wv xcd yuvocLx&':!v. Cf. s. G. 24, 36, 41; Dio lix, 28, 9· Gaius apparently had a reputation for immorality as early as 32, since in that year a senator, Sextus Vistilius, was driven to suicide seu composuerat quaedam in Gaium Caesarem ut impudicum, sett ficto habita fides (T. A. vi, 9). It is unlikely that Gains was entirely free from the prevalent sins of his clay before his accession, even if they did not reach scandalous proportions until later. 3 3'"'yysl\dcr1J~· In Hellenistic Greek the aorist passive of &yI5 yol\l\w is normally ~yyOA'IJV. ~,n nAo't~J.WV 6v-rwv. I'he sailing season lasted from roth March to nth November (Vegetius iv, 39). f'B8tf'
r66

IHE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

Quarterly new series iii (1935), ro5), is used by Thucydides in his description of the plague of Athens (ii, 49, 4). Our authorities give no definite indication of the length of Gaius' illness, but the order of Dio's narmtive implies that he recovered before the end of 37· The deaths of Gemellus, Silanus, and Macro occurred after his recovery, and they are probably to be dated to the first half of 38; see the notes on 31 and 32 (k{rrepov. cp~p:tjc; yO:p oU3€:v WxU-re:po'J. Cf. Vergil Aen. iv, r84. If Dio's indication of the duration of Gaius' illness is correct, the news of his recovery spread before the opening of the sailing season in March, during the months when voyages were undertaken only in cases of urgency (Dio Chrysostom xxxii, rr; A] xviii, 305; B] ii, 203), and when even land-travel was avoided as far as possible (Vegetius iv, 39). The news may have been considered important enough to warrant the risk of sending it by sea; or it may have reached the East by the slower, but in the winter more reliable, land-route. The normal land-route from Rome at this time was via Brundisium, the short sea-passage across the Adriatic, the Via Egnatia, and Asia Minor. (The longer, entirely overland, route via Aquileia, Sirmium, and Byzantium apparently did not come into regular official use until about a century later.) A courier travelling overland by the curstts publicus is likely to have taken about two months to get from Rome to Alexandria. Private individuals (r&v httcpoL't'
COMMENTARY ON

§§ 18-22

167

to cities; and from a haphazard existence to an ordered one under a monarchy. Earlier attempts to reconstruct the development of human society on evolutionary lives are found in Aeschylus (PV 455-522), Plato (Protag. 320c-323a; Laws iii, 676 ff.), Diodorus Siculus i, 8 (a passage probably based on Epicurus), Lucretins (v, 925-end), and Horace (Sat. i, 3, 99-106). Cf. Vergil Aen. viii, 314 ff. and Ovid Fasti ii, 289-300. (Dicaearchus visualized man as proceeding from vo[Loo3•x6~ to Y•"'PY'"IJ~ ~[o~, but, unlike Philo, he regarded this as a retrograde step, the nomadic life itself being a degeneration from the Golden Age; reference in the note on 13 Kpov.xilv ~[ov.) For other passages and for discussion of the Greek and l'?.oman conception of primitive man's progress see Lovejay and Boas, op. cit., rgz-259, 368-88; G. Thomson's edition of Aeschylus' PV (1932), note on lines 452-87; Guthrie, op. cit., 80-94. Philo may have in mind here, not only this quasi-anthropological Greek theory, but also the account in the Pentatench of the settlement of the Israelites in Canaan after their period of nomadic life in the wilderness under Moses. VOfl
r68

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

s.v. &.q/ topii~), Sophron (fr. 127; G. Kaibel, Comicorum Graecorum Fragmenta (1899), 174), Theocritus (vi, 18), Menander (fr. 269; T. Kock, Comicorum Atticorum Fragmenta Ill (1888), 77), and Plutarch (M or. 783b; 975a; 1rr6e); cf. Plato Laws v, 739a. It is listed by Diogenianus (iii, 36; T. Gaisford, Paroemiographi Graeci (1836); E. L. von Leutsch and F. G. Schneidewiu, Corpus Paroemiographorum Graecorum I (1839), and in Hesychius' Lexicon. The proverb was taken from the game of 7tEcrcro[ (draughts). The squared draughtsboard was divided by a central line known as ·~ top
COMMENTARY ON

§§

22-23

169

Gains went mad, and attribute this to a love-philtre administered byhis wife Caesonia (A] xix, 193; G. 50, z); cf. Juvenal vi, 615-7. Th1s would date the beginning of his degeneration to 39, Dio's date for the marriage (lix, 23, 7). The distinction which Suetonius draws between Gains' actions as princeps and as monstrum (G. 22, r) is not a chronological distinction; he is following his usual practice of listing first the good points of a reign and then its bad, and does not necessarily mean that Gains' good acts all preceded the dose of love-philtre. [lii:AAov al: ' ' .. &veIBASSY TO GAIUS

intended that the succession should ultimately pass, through Germanicus, to his own direct descendants, the sons of his grand-daughter Agrippina by Germanicus. The death of Germanicus in Ig, however, meant that the succession was likely to revert to Tiberius' son, D,rusus, since Germanicus' three sons were still young. Drusus was accordingly marked out as heir by the grant of tribunicia potestas in 22 (T. A. iii, 56, r), renewed in 23 (see coins dated by his second trib. pot.; BNICCRE I, I33-4, nos. 95-ror). Meanwhile, the birth of his twin sons had made the succession possible in the direct line. The baby princes were hononred in the provinces (SEG IV, 515; IGRR Ill, 997), and in 23 their heads appeared on the Roman coinage (BMCCRE, I.e.). But there was still a strong party in the state which looked for the succession of a son of Germanicus and Agrippina (T. A. ii, 84, 3), and it was perhaps in deference to this party as well as to Augustus' wishes that Tiberius allowed Germanicus' eldest son, Nero, to be marked out for the succession in 20 by being granted permission to enter public life below the legal age (T. A. iii, zg). March (op. cit., r6r) interprets Drusus' kindness to Germanicus' sons (T. A. iv, 4, 2-3; cf. 8, 6) as meaning that he accepted the idea that he should succeed as a mere "locum tenens" and should make them his heirs. The death of Drusus in 23 (T. A. iv, 8-II; Dio lvii, 22) meant that Tiberius now had to look for an immediate successor among the sons of Germanicus, since his surviving grandson Gemellus was little more than a baby, and this suited the party of Agrippina well (T. A. iv, I2, r-3; cf. 17). Dnring the next few years, however, Sejanus intrigued to remove the sons of Germanicus, in the hope that he would then be nominated as Tiberius' heir, either as Emperor-regent for Gemellus (the view of Marsh, op. cit., r68 ff., 304 ff., and of Charlesworth inCAH X, 636), or as Emperor in his own right (the view of Balsdon, g). He disposed of Agrippina herself and her two elder sons, while Gains is said to have snrvived only because Sejanus fell before putting his scheme against him into operation (T. A. vi, 3, 4; cf. S. Tib. 6I, r). Six years later, therefore, at the end of his life, Tiberius had two possible successors-Gains, who was twenty-four, and Gemellus, who was by then an adolescent. His nephew Claudius was barely considered as a candidate for the throne (T. A. vi, 46, 2). In using the term ch:o/.wp6eno:, Philo accepts the view that Tiberius had the right to "bequeath" the empire in the sense of definitely appointing his successor. Similarly, Tacitus mentions Ti-

COMMENTARY ON

§ 23

!JI

berius' uncertainty de tradenda republica (A. vi, 46, r); Josephus describes his deliberations about the "bequest" of the empire (A] xviii, 2II-24); and Dio says that he "bequeathed" the empire to Gains and Gemellus (lix, r, I). Suetonius merely says that Tiberius made the two princes heirs in equal parts, i.e., to his personal estate (Tib. 76 eo testamento heredes aequis partibus reliquit Gaimn exGermanico et Tiberium ex Druso nepotes; cf. G. 14, r). But the principle was already established "that, when an Emperor named his heir, he was considered at the same time to name his successor. · It might therefore be thought from the terms of the will that Tiberius wished his grandsons to govern jointly after his death. This view was held by the partisans of Gemellus .... " (Balsdon, I6-7). Of Gemellus' partisans, whose point of view Philo reflects, the only one known to us is the then prefect of Egypt, A. Avillius Flaccus (Fl. g.rr). otxec6npov 8o&8ozov. In describing Gemellus as a closer heir to Tiberius than Gains, Philo is looking at the matter in an oversimplified way, from the viewpoint of Gemellus' partisans, and ignoring the fact that Gains' direct descent from Augustus gave him a considerable claim to the throne. Quite apart :from any question of Gemellus' youth, his chances of succeeding were, in fact, poor. Gains had the support of the party in the state which had throughout Tiberius' principate looked for a son of Germanicus as the next Emperor, and it was generally taken for granted that he would succeed (T. A. vi, 48, 3-4; A] xviii, r68 and 187). Some minor honours had been bestowed on him during Tiberius' later years (ILS 6396-7), though none such is recorded for Gemellus. If Tiberius really suspected, as is alleged, that Gemellus was not Drusus' son but a bastard of Sejanus (S. Tib. 62, 3; Dio lvii, 22, 4b; lviii, 23, 2), his chances of succeeding were presumably much less than his partisans believed. Tiberius "must have known that (Gains) was almost certain to mount the throne if no steps were taken to prevent it, and he took none" (Marsh, op. cit., 2I7)· 6ecrec u[wvo,. By Tiberius' adoption of Gains' father. Gains and Gemellus are referred to together as nepotes in T. A. vi, 46, I and 8; S. Tib. 54, I, and 76; and S. G. 14, I. 7tpO'Jlo:
!2

I7Z

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

Gains suspected of being an antidote taken as a precaution against being poisoned by himself (G. Z3, 3; zg, r). Suetonius does not make it clear why this was considered to be an adequate reason for the execution of Gemellus, but presumably Gains' argument was that Gemellus' fear of being poisoned betrayed similar intentions of his own against Gains. Dio has a much more credible story: Gemellus was executed on the accusation of having prayed and expected that Gaius would die during his illness (lix, 8, r-3). Such a prayer could be regarded as an act of maiestas, as had been the Jewish prince Agrippa's expression of the hope that Tiberius would die, for which he had been punished by imprisonment (note on I79). J.1or maiestas under Gaius see the note on 17 cr't'cp~cre~c; XP"IJ!J-&:n.uv ·- ..• It is possible that Gemellus was not as innocent as Philo and Suetonius make out, but that he was involved in, or was the focus of, smne incipient conspiracy which our sources have suppressed in order to blacken Gaius. Cf. the note on ZJ, fin. ~x 7t~~awv de; ~e~pocx.~ov. Tacitus' date for the birth of the twins, A. D. Ig, would make Gemellus seventeen or eighteen when Tiberius died. The words, however, which Philo applies to him here and in z6 (v~7tLov .... r;e
COMMENTARY ON

§§ 23-ZS

173

fear lest Gains would harm Gemellus after Tiberius' death (a fear mentioned also in Leg. 33, 3S; T. A. vi, 46, 8; A] xviii, zrs-z3; Dio lviii, 23, 3). The fear may be historical (pace M. P. Charlesworth in CAH X, 642); for whichever of the two grandsons succeeded would be likely to see in the other a dangerous rival whose removal would be desirable. yv~crLO<;. Here and in 62 and 71 yv~crLo<; is used, not in the normal sense of "legitimate" (38) as opposed to v66o<;, bnt in the sense of "actual". Cf. Colson's note on Prob. 87 (Loeb Philo IX). {h6Vo<; ~ye{h&lv. See A] xviii, zn-g and S. G. Ig, 3 for other statements that Tiberius would have preferred Gemellus to succeed him; cf. Leg. 29 '1'0\J et..ntcr6€:v-ra 7t0T~ xoc1 !J.6Vov ~0-roxp&::-ropa. This belief, which its appearance in three writers suggests was fairly widespread, may have emanated from the circle of Gemellus' supporters, who exaggerated his chances of nomination. But the fact that Gemellus was kept in the background tells against it. For if Tiberius had seriously intended him to be sole (or even joint) Emperor, he would surely have granted him the toga virilis, for which he must have reached at least the minimum age by 37. C±. Willrich, ro8-g. 25 UnO '1'-Yj~ dttap!J.€:V1)~· Cf. IOJ npoo:.voctpe:Sd<; OnO 't'~c;; atx1)c;, also meaning "died". Philo rejects the Greek conception of a Fate superior to the gods as incompatible with his belief in divine Providence. (See further A. Meyer, Vorsehungsglaube und Schiclesalsidee in ihrem Verhiiltnis bei Philo von Alexandria (1939).) "Still, following his general method of making use of popular terms and expressions in some changed meaning, he does not hesitate to use the word 'fate' in the sense of the unalterable laws of natnre, provided it is under·· stood that these laws depend upon God as their ultimate cause" (Wolfson, I, 329; he cites other comparable expressions). There is no implication here or in Josephus' reference to Tiberius' death (A] xviii, 224) that it was hastened by Gaius or that he died otherwise than naturally. Seneca's account of his death, as reported by Suetonius (Tib. 73, z), need not be taken to imply foul play. Later writers, however, allege that Tiberius, already on his deathbed, was murdered by Macro in league with Gains, or by Gains himself, by either suffocation (the commonest version of the story), or starvation, or poison, or strangulation (T. A. vi, so, g; S. Tib. 73, z; G. I2, z; Dio lviii, 28, 3). Apart from the improbability that Gaius would have troubled to hasten the death of a man whose

174

COMMENTARY ON

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

doctors gave him only a few more days to live, Phi!o's silence is strong evidence for Gaius' innocence. He is writing to blacken Gaius, and had he known any rumour that he murdered Tiberius, he would hardly have failed to repeat it. (Cf. the notes on 14 "~' 7tp0 IUY.po'l 8(ocOTOC,, e,. ~~') T.~i:poo<; and 92.) The stories of murder are almost certainly of later growth, slanders invented by "those who wished to contemplate the 'madman' Gaius beginning badly" (M. P. Charlesworth in CAH X, 642); cf. Balsdon, 22. 26 't'oDc; Sv 't'E:.AeL. This phrase, normally meaning "the magistrates" in Greek contexts, is used in ro8, no, and I44 of the Roman magistrates, in Fl. 4 of those of Alexandria, and in 222 and 300 probably of the Jewish Sanhedrin. Here, however, it probably means Gaius' consilium; cf. J. A. Crook, Consilium Principis (I955), 39. The legal process by which Gemellus was adopted (27) was that of adoptaiio (adoptio), not that of adrogatio. (On the two processes see Aulus Gellius v, I9 and Gaius, Instit. i, 97-107.) The latter process, involving a form of legislation by the Comitia Curiata, which, represented by thirty lictors, apparently functioned even under the empire for this purpose (T. H. I, I5, I; cf. A. xii, 26, r), could be used only in the case of a person sui iuris, a paterfamilias. Gemellus, still a minor, was a person alieni iuris. The adopiatio of a minor was normally carried out ap"d praetorem. But the analogy of Augustus' adoption of Gaius and Lucius Caesar domi (S. A"g. 64, r) suggests that Gaius' adoption of Gemellus was also carried out privately and that ot €v --rfAe:1 who witnessed it were his amici, i.e., his consili"m. The phrase seems to have a similar meaning in 252. On the formalities and legal aspects of adoption see further W. W. Bucklancl, A Text-book of Roman Law' (I932), Izr-8; H. F. Jolowicz, Historical Introd"ction to the St"dy of Roman Law 2 (Ig5z), ng-2o; E. Poste and E. A. Wbittuck's edition of Gaius' Institutiones 3 (rgo4), note on i, 97-I07. xmvo1~paye:~v 't'Yjc; ~u-roxpoc-roG<; ~~oucrLrxc;. Philo makes Gains pretend that his adoption of Gemellus implemented the wish implicit in the terms of Tiberius' will, by associating his cousin with himself in the government (cf. 27 l:7teAoc
§§ 25-27

IJ5

knkTp61t'wv. 'E7tL't'po7to<; ("guardian" in, e.g., Thucydides ii, So, 6 and Galatians iv, 2) translates the Latin t"tor, the legal guardian required for a boy under the age of puberty (generally reckoned as fourteen). See further Bucldancl, op. cit., 142-73. Gaius' argument here is sophistical, since he proceeds forthwith to declare Gemellus to be above the age for needing t"tores by granting him the toga virilis on the same clay (S. G. I5, 2). The use of l:7tl'l'po7to<; in the sense of "governor", etc. is discussed in the note on 132 't"oG 3€: ~7tL't"p67toU 't"'fi<; X~ptX<;.

27

u[/,, 81: I:Y.d,ov. For the adoption see also Dio lix I 3 · 8 I· S. G. 15, 2. Philo elates it to after Gaius' illness and imn~ediat~ly,be: fore the murder of Gemellus (30-I). Dio, however, implies that it preceded, whereas the murder followed, Gaius' illness. He links the adoption with the senate's declaration, immediately after Tiberius' death, that his will was null and void, since he must have been of unsound mind to leave his estate (and by implication the empire also) to two heirs, one of whom was a minor (cf. S. G. I4, r). Suetonius gives a similar elate by including the adoption among the honours conferred on members of Gaius' family soon after his accession. Further, he pnts the adoption among Gaius' actions as princeps and the murder among his actions as monstr"m (G. 23, 3; 29, r), and although this is not necessarily a chronological distinction, his separation of Gemellus' downfall into two phases is significant. Probably Philo has placed the adoption too late, and it was closely connected with the senate's decision that Gemellus should have no share in the government. Adoptions were made frequently in the late republic and the empire for political reasons, and the "father" was not necessarily mnch older than his "son". Gaius' action in adopting a youth only about ten years his junior was not remarkable or abnormal in the period. Despite the adoption, it was not Gemellus whom Gaius named as his heir and successor when he fell ill in the autumn of 37, but his favourite sister, Drusilla (S. G. 24, I)-perhaps, as Wi!lrich plausibly suggests (290-I), with the intention that the throne should actually pass to her husband, Aemilius Lepiclus, on whom see the note on 87 1:&<; 8' &8eA
THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

7tpO'fl<X
rruvTpo'{l(o:<;. On Capri during the last years of Tiberius' life. Gaius was summoned thither from Rome in 3I (S. G. ro). It is clear from all the accounts of Tiberius' last months that Gemellus was there also at that time, but it is not known how early he began his residence on the island; it may have been soon after the execution of his mother Livilla in 3I (Dio lviii, n, 7). Zv utWv -r&.!;e:t. In A] xviii, 213 Tiberius is called Gains' nc<;--r~p. 30 wlToXELp(q<. Philo alone makes clear the manner of Gemellus' death-enforced suicide. Suetonius' repenteimmisso tribuna militum (G. 23, 2) could be interpreted as execution. v6tJ.
COMMENTARY ON

§§ 27-32

I77

before receiving the toga virilis. Gemellus is unlikely to have reached the age of seventeen at his death (note on 23/:x 7to:(3wv E(<; ("ecp&xwv). The bestowal of the title Princeps I uventutis on him is not inconsistent with Philo's statement here, since it was conferred on three other J ulio-Claudian princes before they were of the age for military service-on C. and L. Caesar both at the age of fifteen, in 5 and z B.C. respectively (Res Gestae eh. r4), and on Nero in 5I at the age of thirteen (T. A. xii, 4r, r). ct.~ !J-EA~'!<X~ . . . . Cf. the note on 28 1t'O~/Y't"eA~<; €~oucrLa. 3I The exact date of Gemellus' death is unknown. Dio places it among the last events of 37 (lix, 8, I), but the fact that successors were not chosen to fill his place and that of Silanus, whose death Philo relates in 62-5, in the college of the Arval Brethren until 24th May, 38 (AFA, p. rr2), points rather to a date in the early months of 38 for both their deaths. With Gemellus died his relationship of son to Gaius. In the minutes of the Arvals and on his tombstone (CIL VI, 8gz) he is simply Drusi Caesaris filius. "The public peace was consulted when a possible rival of the Emperor was removed; but that does not excuse the act or its author" (Balsdon, 37); cf. the removal of Agrippa Postumus by Tiberius and that of Britannicus by N ero. If the case of Flaccus, prefect of Egypt, is typical (Fl. ro-II, 22), it seems that the death of Gemellus engendered despair in his supporters. This suggests that as long as Gemellus had lived, it had mattered little to have supported him, but that once he was thought dangerous enough to be removed, his adherents could be deemed to have supported a traitor; Gaius would then have no compunction about taking reprisals on them for any wrongs (real or fancied) which they had done to him in the past. 32 6 ·1"~3ev6<; gT, Aemol"evou. Although Philo is writing under Claudius, who, as the events of January, 4r, showed, could be a rallyingpoint if necessary, he completely overlooks him here. <xowwvou>. Supplied by Cohn. Mangey suggested altering ~ye p.ovLo::<; to auyyevda<; or ~ye(J-ovL8o.; otxou.

1:6el\oxo:xo6vTwv. Here connoting deliberate malice, as in Fl. 40; cf. Box's note. Se6npov. Actually the third? Dio and Suetonius link the death of Gemellus with that of Silanus (lix, 8; G. 23, 3), and this is corroborated by the AFA (above). Dio places Macro's death later (lix, ro, 6). Suetonius mentions it separately from the others (G. 26, r),

178

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

but as his material is not arranged chronologically, this means little. The three executions will probably all have occurred within a fairly short period. Cf. the note on 59 oo 7tOAAocl:, 5crTepov ~fLepoct,. txovleTo. Philo continues the metaphor from wrestling introduced in zg. M
COMMENTARY ON

34

35

36

37

§§ 32-37

I79

months in the Egyptian calendar after members of his family (evidence collected by K. Scott in Yale Class. Stud. ii(rg3r), 245-257). (For his later relations with his sisters, however, see the note on 87 't'. Supplied by Mangey. The word perhaps fell out by haplography. &.~t6zpec1<; dfL' 7tpo, 7tlcr-rtv. Tiberius' complete confidence in Macro is shown by the fact that, even after his bitter experience of Sejanus' misuse of the sole prefecture of the praetorians, he nevertheless let Macro hold the same position from October, 31, until his death. And Macro did not betray his trust. -r~v hlOecrtv. 'E1tl0ecrtv is Mangey's correction of the MSS 07t66omv, which other editors before Reiter accepted. Macro was Tiberius' agent in the plot which overthrew Sejanus. After being appointed praetorian prefect secretly, he was sent to Rome with Tiberius' verbosa et grandis epistula for the senate, and was responsible for throwing Sejanus off his guard by confirming to him the rumour that Tiberius proposed to grant him the tribunicia potestas. He then assumed command of the praetorians while the letter was read in the senate and Sejanus denounced (Dio lviii, g-r2; cf. A] xviii, r8r-2; T. A. vi, 48, 4; Juvenal x, 56ff.; S. Tib. 65). For a recent

I

r8o

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

study of the fall of Sejanus see E. Kostermann, "Der Sturz Sejans" in Hermes lxxxiii (1955), 350-73, especially 364, n. r on Macro. 38 &~Lw~ &7-w.(vou,. The lv!SS give &~("'' t7tdvou, which editors before Mangey accepted. 'E7tcc(vou' is Mangey's emendation and &~("'' Reiter's. &crwp.L,. Turnebus' correction of the MSS ""''f'
cd-dcxv. The reason is given in 40 and 6r. xo::t cruvexp6-rs:1 -rOv &v3pcx. In S. G. 26, I Macro and Ennia

together are called adiutores imperii. 3ecvov .... 7tG
COMMENTARY ON

§§ 37-43

r8r

initiative with Gains rather than with Ennia (lviii, 28, 4; cf. lix, ro, 6). &yvo&iv. Philo makes Macro "a Claudius before his time in ' ignorance of the whole affair" (Balsdon, 21). 4I 7 [J.Upcc\xc-;. Tp(-; in 58, 7to:\Mxc, in Fl. 12. Cf. the note on 24 txrco8Wv tyey€\11)'t'O. &vu7toUAoc,. Used by Philo also in Praem. 163. The only other writer whom L. and S. 9 mention as using the word is the sixth century rhetorician Choricius. i:xp~-ro ""'' vouOecr(G
,r r8z

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

COMMENTARY ON

advice, although good, was tactlessly giveu and served merely to irritate Gaius, may well be largely correct, Goodenough maintains that the Legatio is addressee! to the new Emperor Claudius, under whom it was written (note on I ~I'-d<; o[ yepovn<;), and consists of a treatise, in veiled form, on the proper functions of a ruler, with special reference to his treatment of the Jews (Politics, rg-zo; Introduction, 75-6). He suggests that in 43-51 Philo is expounding his own philosophy of kingship and using Macro as the mouthpiece for his thoughts, which it would have been impertinent for him fo voice in his own person (Politics, 103-5). Philo's political ideal seems to have been the Eoman government as he himself had experienced it during the earlier part of his lifethe carefully disguised and benevolent rule of a monarch over a so-called "democracy" (ibid., 86 ff.). In making Macro into the philosophical adviser whom philosophers recommended kings to follow, Philo gives an idealized portrait of him, utterly different from that of Tacitus, to whom he is a villain (A. vi, 48, 4). ch·o7tOV. Originally "strange"; in Hellenistic Greek "wicked". 44 1CO~!J-8VIX O:."(EJ\i')c;. ' '" Cf . 20 VO!J.EI..- 'rWL X.O::~' 'IX)'E:AOCPX'() '' ' 'T~VO:.' X.O::~' 'E:7t'1IT't'(Xi';'I)V and 76. 45 -r~v E:v -ro!:-:; b-wri)Sdl!J-IXcrL x.e<:-r6p0wmv. Colson takes this in the Stoic sense of the moral state which produces ""'~op66>1'-"'~"'• i.e., 1'0: xa-r' &pe:-r~v E:ve:py~(LO::ra" and suggests that the virtue achieved which made these performances worth looking at was &vSpde< (note ad loc.). 47 In 47-9 Philo is probably thinking in particular of the governments of Augustus and Tiberius and of their restoration and maintenance of the pax Romana, which had allowed the resumption of agriculture and commerce after the chaos of the civil wars. On the safety of the seas see the note on 146. xo::tO: -rO:c; &v-nS6cre:~c;. For a study of commerce within the empire see Charlesworth, Trade-routes. &v~ex~ovo\icrov. L. and S.' and A. Bailly, Dictionnaire GrecFran9ais, cite Philo only as using this verb. The meaning given, "repay", is appropriate in Heres 104, Jas. 267, Mos. ii, 7, and Decal. II7, but not here. 48 <)u»AEOeo. This verb is used also in LA i, 71, and iii, 6 and II4, Spec. i, 215, and Aet. 86. t~·~.,&;~eTo. Although this verb sometimes occurs in Philo in its 49 usual classical sense of "scrutinize", in the passive it far more fre11

§§ 43-55

quently bears comparatively colourless meanings such as "prove to be", "take one's place among" (cf. the similar meaning "to be . counted among" occasionally found in classical Greek: e.g., Andocides iv, 2; Demosthenes xviii, 217, and xix, zgr; and Dionysius of Halicarnassus vi, 59, 3), and "be found in": e.g., LA iii, 246; Heres II4; M ut. 65 aud 267; Spec. iii, 172; Praern. 56 and gr; and other references in Leisegang s.v. &~et'&.~ecr6o-:L. 50 'Tb x.oLvOv &v8p
n COMMENTARY ON

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

responsible for preserving the identity and perpetuity of the species by transmitting its permanent characteristics to one generation after another. This was the Stoic explanation of the observed fact of the hereditary transmission of mental and physical characteristics. See the passa.ge from Origen, In }oh. xx, 5 (PL XIV, 584) quoted by J. von (ab) Arnim, Stoicorum Veterum Fragmenta II (rgo3), p. zrz, no. 747· The ancient world had some conception of the laws of heredity. H.udimentary genetic theories were developed by the Pythagoreans (whose theory was tied up with number mysticism), by Empedocles, and by Plato, whose regulations for eugenic breeding in the ideal state imply a genetic theory as their basis (Rep. v, 457b-46re). See further R. S. Brumbaugh in ]ourn. of Hered-ity xlii (rgsr), 3or-3; xliii (r952), 86-8; xlv (1954), rgr-s. Cf. Aristotle De Gener. Anim. iv, 3, 767b-76gb; Hist. Anim. vii, 6, 585b-586a; Lucretius iv, rzog-32, with the notes in C. Bailey's edition (1947) Ill. For fuller discussion of the seminal Logos see H. Meyer, Geschichte der Lehre van den Keimkriijten (rgr4), 7-75, especially 26-46 on Philo; M. Heinze, Die Lehre vom Logos (r87z), ro7-25; M. Pohlenz, Die Stoa (rg48) I, 78-g; J. Drummond, Philo }udaeus or the Jewish Alexandrian Philosophy (r888) I, 102-7; Wolfson, I, 342-3. 56 tv ~0 ~~s C(D<'<"'s tpyacrrr,plfL
§§ 55-59

r85

sacred dramas enacted),~"- 3eoxvUfL
-rpk See the note on 41 fLUpoc\xo<;. S"hhdb C. e a een SUVC cl" , "it had been prevented", or the like. This common ellipse, discussed by Reiter, Prolegomena, lxx, occurs again in I44· Examples from classical Greek are Thucyclidcs ii, r8, 4, Aristophanes Vesp. 558, Plato Gorg. 5r6e, and Demosthenes xix, 74, and xxiii, r8o. 8t

\~)!\

~"/)

oL

\.ll I E:flE XOCL\Tao:; !:;fLOC.:; 7t'<XfJ'IJYOPLtXc;.

-re:Ae:uT~ao::V't'oc;.

'i

iI

! I i

Se. 't'oU TL~ep(ou.

D"t'po:.·-ntJYnx!.Xc; Suv&:p.e:Lc;.

The praetorians, whose allegiance was of primary importance. Balsdon suggests (25) that Jli!acro secured the loyalty of the naval garrison at Misenum, where Tiberius died, also. €v0c;. Cf. the note on 32 e:k 't'6 't'UX,e~v -r~c; ~ye:f..toV~c.a;;, fin. &p~tos xal 7tA~P'YJs· I.e., by the rejection of the idea of the joint sovereignty of Gains and Gemellus. 59 cp/;vaxa. /;vo:~, here an adjective, is used as a noun in all the examples cited by L. and S. 9• od""' yil.p .... tfLcp"vk The reference is presumably to Gains. Philo here contradicts his statements in zz (cf. the notes), 67, and 73 that Gains' character underwent a sudden change for the worse immediately after his illness, from which he had recovered some months before Macro's death. ou >
'

.,·I

186

1HE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

The sacrifice was a sign of respect, such as marked the birthdays of Augustus, Germanicus, Livia, Agrippina, and Tiberius also posthumously (AFA, pp. 13-4, 1II-3), and does not mean that she was living at that date. It was repeated in 39 (AFA, p. 13). Before his death Macro had been appointed prefect of Egypt (Dio, l.c.) in succession to Avillius Flaccus, although he never took up the post. Balsdon suggests (39) that the appointment was made in order to put him off his guard before the blow fell, just as Sejanus had been deceived by hints that the tribunician power was to be given to him. Another instance of a transfer from the prefecture of the praetorians to that of Egypt is that of Seius Strabo, Sejanus' father, in r6 or 17 (Dio lvii, rg, 6; cf. PIR 1 III, 192, no. 246), and this was clearly a promotion in his case (cf. P.-W. s.v. Seius no. r5). vVillrich, on the other hand, regards Macro's new appointment as a degradation, the first step in his downfall (z88), and it is possible that since the prefecture of the praetorians had been given to one man instead of to two, it now ranked above instead of below the prefecture of Egypt. It certainly formed the pinnacle of the equestrian career at the end of the first century and during the second, when several men are known to have proceeded from the prefecture of Egypt to that of the praetorians. But probably the equestrian cursus honorum was not rigidly fixed as early as the first half of the first century. H. I. Bell's convincing supplement to P. Land. 2785, I, 14-Ne<]tuwv ~""'P'J.ov A1yu7t"'ou-gives the Alexandrian nationalistleader, Isidorus (forwhom see Introduction, pp. 12ff., and the note on 355 6 'Ial3wpo~), a hand in Macro's overthrow (Archiv fur Papyrusforschung x (1932), 5-r6; cf. Musurillo, AA, 136); but no other evidence snpports this. Macro was probably replaced by two praetorian prefects; see Balsdon, 39-40. "'~' ''"P'"'"'~<; ei>v6o1X<;. In 59-60 Philo makes Macro's actions entirely disinterested. But they could be interpreted as an attempt to wield the effective sovereignty himself, using Gains merely as a pawn. Balsdon suggests that there may have been "some suspicion of concrete disloyalty on Macro's part", which provided the immediate cause for his execution (38). But if so, our sources have effectively suppressed it in order to blacken Gains. Willrich, who accepts the non-Philonian tradition of Ennia's intrigue with Gaius (note on 40 TI)v 3oa
CoMMENTARY

ON

§§ 59-65

U7tep 'C'OiJ cr&mx;~ r&r.ov. See the note on 24 €xnoS~v tyey€V1)'t'O. e"'O)(eoplql. Dio says that the enforced suicide of Macro and Ennia was followed by the execution of many other people-Gelzer describes them as "eine ganzc Hofpartei" (394 )-on various pretexts (lix, ro, 6-8). But this may well be an exaggeration from one or two genuine cases; cf. M. P. Charlesworth in Cambridge Hist. ]ourn, iv (1932), 109-rr. aU't'i{). Reiter suggests adding <-r(i) roctcp>. 62 9 1tavo~xr.oc;. Only Ennia, unless Dio's anonymous victims are historical and included relatives of Macro. "'pl'L'q>. Actually the second? See the note on 32 3eo"'epov. Silanus' death is not mentioned in the In Flaccum. 7tev0epoc; &yeyov~"'o "i>"'<;i M&pxoc; };of-"'vk M. Junius Silanus (PJRl II, 247, no. 551; P.-W. s.v. lunius no. 174, coli. 1097-8), suffect consul in A.D. 15. His daughter, Junia Claudia or Claudilla, was married to Gains some time before his accession-Tacitus says in 33 (A. vi, zo, r), and Dio in 35 (lviii, 25, 2), while Suetonius seems to imply that the marriage took place soon after Gains went to live on Capri in 31 (G. 10-12). Dio, probably in error, makes Gains apply to this Silanus the epithet "golden sheep" (lix, 8, 5) which Tacitus says he applied to another member of the gens (A. xiii, r, r). yi:veo A1Xf.mp6,. For other members of the old and distinguished gens of the Junii Silani see P.-W. s.v. Iunius, coli. 1085 ff. <1xufL6pou "'ij<; 0uy1X"'plic; &.7to01XVO\JC!1)<;. In childbirth (S. G. rz, 2 ). Tacitus also refers to her death (A. vi, 45, 5). Dio's statement that Gains divorced her (lix, 8, 7) can be disregarded. yv~cr[ou. See the note on this word in 24. e~c; ~e:A-rLooow. Cf. 52 &a-re ~e::A-nOOcrar. 't'0v r&wv, of Macro's efforts. Silanus may well have been following his lead. oU npO rcoAA&v 8't'e8'll~xe:r. x_p6v(J)v. Presumably some time in 36, since Ennia's intrigue with Gains, which began after her death, was well under way by January, 37 (T., l.c.). &AA& tt6vov oUx . ... -rip ad>[L<X:n. Colson's translation, which makes "the rights of her kinsfolk" the subject of this last part of the sentence, is far from convincing. 7te
6o 61

Legatio ad Gaium

13

.!

' I I,

'! 1,1

i

I88

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

8eol 3al[Love,, and &yoc6ol 3oclfLove, are frequently used in this sense: e.g., Lucian Luct. 24 and De M orte Per. 36-7; CIG 4232; and SIG I246. Cf. P.-W. s.v. Daimon, coil. 20II-2. 3oAo<povel. Gains' first move against Silanus was to dishonour him by depriving him of the right to vote first in the senate (Dio lix, 8, 6; cf. the note on 75 o63evo, ~&v i:v auy>
COMMENTARY ON

&6p6a"V Zvd€dex-rcH 't'pon~v.

68

§§ 65-6g

r8g

See the notes on 22.

6eafLO'
Logos emanating from God (discussed in the note on 6 ~&iv 3opu
!m:' &3uvoc~w~tpou. The sophistic argument that might is right. The reading (mo 3uvcx~w~tpou is found in MAIP and was read by Mangey with the comment "omnino ad sensum melius". It would give the sense " ... what Gains would have suffered at Gemellus' hands, had the latter been the more powerful". OlfLUVCX ~oil~' ~cr~cv, oox &v3po<pov(oc. The principle that killing in self-defence is permissible was recognized in Roman law, in the Twelve Tables and later: Digest I, i, 3; IX, ii, 4 and 5; ii, 45, 4 (Lex Aquilia); XLIII, xvi, I, 27; XLVIII, viii, g (Lex Cornelia de Sicariis). npocrxAYJpOU!J.€:vo.w. Ilpocrx.AYjpbo[.Lo:t occurs in the same sense as here in Acts xvii, 4· Mangey proposed emending in both passages to 7rpoaxo/-A&ofLocc, a verb used metaphorically in the Septuagint (Genes. i, 24; Levit. xix, 3I) and the New Testament (St. Matt. xix, 5; St. Mark x, 7; Eph. v. 31). Dahlrejected this, expressing surprise that Mangey did not suggest the same alteration in 27g. tfLaxw="reacl through". Mangey read the former here, the latter in 209. In 203

I

11

I

190

71

72

73

74

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

COMMENTARY ON

and 304 the MSS all give a,ocyvoo,, but Reiter follows Mangey in emending to a,avayvoo,. Other examples of ~L<xy•yv
75

§§ 69-75

191

for many of the maiestas-trials under Tiberius (Dio lix, 16). On his relations with the senate see further Balsdon, 48-5o, 63, 96-7, 156, 214. oUa:::vOc; -r&v E:v auyxA~-rcp ae:UTepoc;. Dio says that the consuls all accorded Silanus the right to vote first in the senate ~.ti T~v ~A•xlav xat ~·li TO &~lWfL<X (lix, 8, 6). After Sulla's reforms, the honorary position of princeps senatus (described in a fragment of Dio vi, preserved in Zonaras vii, 19; Loeb Dio I, p. 182), apparently lapsed until it was held by Augustus; from Sulla's time "a body of consulares holds the first place, and from these the presiding magistrate--at least the consul who opens the business of the house-chooses his first adviser, according to no settled rules, but with clue regard to seniority or personal distinction" (A. H. J. Greenidge, Roman Public Life (1901), z6g, citing Aulus Gellius xiv, 7, g, and Cicero Att. i, 13, 2; cf. 375). See also P.-W. Suppl. VI, call. 699 f., 766; T. Mommsen, Riimisches Staatsrecht IIP, 969-71; cf. IP, 894-6. Nothing is known of Silanus' career before his suffect consulship in A. D. 15. But if he was one of the most senior senators in 37-8, he presuma.bly held that office at well above the minimum age (thirty-two in the early empire; see R Syme, The Roman Revolution (1939), 369). Mommsen's suggestion (cited in P.-W. s.v. bmius no. 174, col. 1097) that Silanus was a contemporary of Germanicus (born 15 B. C.), because the imposter wbo impersonated the latter's son in 31 gave out after his exposure that he was a son of M. Silanus (T. A. v, ro), would make Silanus only about fifty-five at the time of his death, which seems much too young to harmonize with Dio lix, 8, 6. To deduce a father's age fron1 his son's is precarious in any case. Tor:, brmxoc~. In fact, relations between Gaius and the equites as a body seem to have been fairly amicable throughout his principate. He attended to the recruitment of the order, which Tiberius had neglected (S. Tib. 41), and his revision of the list included the removal of unworthy members (Dio lix, 9, 5; S. G. 16, 2). In 40, when he and the senate were at daggers drawn, he regarded the equites as his friends (S. G. 49, 2). Cf. Balsdon, 156-7. 0so, vofL[~zcr0ocL With Leg. 75-II4 cf. the accounts of Gains' selfdeification in S. G. 22 and Dio lix, 26, 5-28, 8; also references inS. G. 33 and 52; Sen. Dial. iii, 20, 8-9; A] xviii, 256, and xix, 4 and II; and Aurelius Victor Lib. de Caes. 3, 10. Philo by implication dates the beginning of Gains' claim to divinity to the first half of 38, by narrating it before the Alexandrian riots, which are securely dated to August

192

THE E>!BASSY TO GAIUS

of that year (note on 120 l:rrtes~o ~11-cv); but this is probably too early. J osephus makes Gains first claim divinity after two years of good government, i.e., in 39· Dio, who says that at first Gains forbade the worship of himself (lix, 4, 4), refers to his impersonations of the gods under the year 40, although he remarks that he had claimed divinity xo:l 7tp6~spov (lix, 26, 5). The introduction of proskynesis, which was closely connected with Gains' assumption of divinity, apparently occurred in 39 (note on n6 ~~v 7tpocrxov1)crw). In the eastern Mediterranean, especially in Egypt, the deification of the living rnler had been an accepted convention since the time of Alexander the Great, and the idea of the divinity of the Roman Emperor was as long established there as the empire itself. But in the West the idea of the divinity of the living rnler had not previously assumed so blatant a form as it did under Gains. His own equation of himself with specific members of the pantheon was a far more drastic step than the establishment of the cult of Roma et Augustus, which was by this time a regular feature of the religion even of the western provinces, and his demand for divine honours in Italy was a different matter from the spontaneous ascription of divinity to him at his accession by the eastern provinces (note on I I &.n:o:v't'ec;; ~y
COMMENTARY ON

§§ 75-78

193

panegyric on the splendour of the Temple of Augustus and its images is entirely ludicrous" (SomeH eUenisticElements inPrimitiveChristianity (1944), 48-9). This is an interesting theory, but the use of &Oecv~&~1)V to describe Gains' self-deification (77) goes far to invalidate it. Gains' demands were blasphemous from the Jewish point of view, but they would hardly have been so described by a gentile. Seneca goes further than any other extant gentile writer in denouncing Gaius' self-deification, but he only calls it dementia (Dial. iii, 20, g). It seems rather that Philo is himself quoting what others said-cpacrtv aU't'Ov .... , the subject of cp&aw being presumably people to whom he talked on his visit to Rome-and that he brings in the criticism &Oscv~<X~1)V to demonstrate his own very different attitude to the matter. Goodenough assumes that the passage is original to Philo, and says of 98 ff. that he understands the symbolism of pagan iconography and its meaning so thoroughly that he feels Gains' appropriation of the symbols of the gods to be a real desecration (Light, 257). ~owo~

i.

,I

iI

J' '

"

'·'

,,

I

--------

I

!

I94

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

COMMENTARY ON

he was normally excluded. His mother, most probably originally an earth-goddess, was only in later Theban legend transformed into a mortal (see E. R. Doclds' edition of Euripides' Bacchae (1944), note on lines 6-Iz). L'l.cocrY.OIJpm<;. Gains treated the Dioscuri with even scantier respect later in his life: in 40 he had an approach made to his palace on the Palatine through their temple, so that their statues might act as his doorkeepers (Dio lix, 28, 5; S. G. 22, z). On the commemorative coins struck by Gaius in 37 and again in 40 for his dead brothers Drusus and Nero (BMCCRE I, I 54, no. 44; I57-8, nos. 70-I) the princes are represented, according to C. Seltman, as the Dioscuri (CAH Plates IV, zoo-I, q; inCAH X, 624, n. I, where the reference to the volume of plates is given incorrectly, the coins are erroneously referred to Tiberius' son Drusus and his cousin Germanicus). Mattingly, however, thinks that the youths are represented as Principes Iuventutis (BMCCRE I, cxlvi; but cf. P.-W. s.v. Princeps Juventutis, col. 2302), and this is more likely, as the figures arc not wearing the characteristic head-dress of the Dioscuri (see below).

79

crxeu~v

&AAo-rz &AAo(ry;v &vc:A&[.!~cxve.

Gaius was fond of dressing

up, quite apart from his impersonations of deities. For his procession across the bay of Baiae on the bridge of boats he wore, &<; ye gAeye, the breastplate of Alexander the Great (Dio lix, I7, 3), and he is said to have dressed as a woman to celebrate the Mysteries (Suiclas Lexicon s.v. I'&.w<;; A] xix, 30). Suetonius makes him wear the breastplate more than once and dress as a triumphator, and he gives details of some of the other exotic clothing which he affected (G. 52). a~C<XOO"!J-OOp.E:VOc; de; 'Hpo:xA&a. Cf. Fl. 38 a~exe:x6cr!-l'Y)'t'O de; ~amA€a. The sense of aciXY.OcrftkW required in both places is not recognized by L. and S. 9• 7t(Aou<;. A. G. R.oos suggests emending to the singular (in Mnemosyne 3rd series ii (I935), 243); but the plural can stand, meaning that Gains wore different 7ttAoc at different times. The 7ttAo<;, a pointed, egg-shaped hat, was one of the most noticeable features of .the Dioscuri when portrayed in art. It is to be distinguished from the Phrygian cap in which they were also sometimes portrayed after their identification with the Cabiri of probably Phrygian origin; see F. Chapouthier, Les Dioscures au Service d'une Deesse (I935), II4, z8o, 290, 295, and Farnell, op. cit., I88 ff. So This ''sentence" contains no main verb.

8I

8z

83

84

§§ 78-84

195

r')pU6V')V. The defeat of this monster and his attendants on the far western island of Erytheia and the removal of his cattle constituted Heracles' tenth labour. Ilpw·dw<;. Philo, like Vergil (G. iv, 387 ff.), follows Homer who made Proteus a minor sea-god with miraculous powers (Od. iv, 385 ff.), and not the less common tradition found in Herodotus (ii, rrz ff.) and Euripides (H elen4), which made him a king of Egypt. "Oft'Jpo<;. Other references to episodes in the Homeric poems are to be found in Philo, e.g., in Som. ii, 50, and Cont. 9 and 40. An enigmatic word which occurs in rabbinic writings has been understood by some scholars to be a transliteration of "Homer". S. Lieberman, who discusses the passages, says that "the only Greek author whom the Rabbis mention by his name is Homer", but he points out that familiarity with Homer does not necessarily presuppose direct study of his works, since many of his myths and phrases were common-places in the Greek-speakingworld (Hellenism in Jewish Palestine (1950), I05·I4)· Cf. S. Krauss, Griechische und Lateinische Lehnworter im Talmud, Midrasch und Targums II (I8gg), 230, s.v. 0,,~~; L. Ginzberg in JBL xli (Igzz), IZ6 ff.; R Gorclis in ]QR xxxviii (1947-8), 359-68. Contrast A. M. I-Ioneyman in JQR xxxviii, I5I·5. &crxeccrOIXL. Reiter adopts Mangey's emendation (approved by Dahl) for the MSS &pxdcrO~Xc, which previous editors had accepted. O&A"'~~"'v. In his reference to the twelve labours of Heracles Philo here lets his rhetoric run away with him. None of them involved the destruction of sea-beasts. The nearest approach to such was the Lernaean hydra, which lived in a swamp. The Cretan bull, father of the Minotaur, had originated in the sea, sent by Poseiclon at Minos' request, but it was on dry land when it received attention from I-Ieracles. ~f'epc1cra<; &ft7t8Aov. For the development of Dionysus from a general vegetation god into a god specifically associated with the vine see M. P. Nilsson, Geschichte der griechischen Religion J2 (r955), 582-go. &vSpcilnwv ~e:A,dovoc. MSS ocO't'&v ~cA-r(ovcc Mangey considered the emendation of wl~wv to &v0pc1nwv preferable to the retention of au~wv with the emendation to ~o\Anov (scil. crwfLIX, from 8z). L'l.cocrxoupoe<;. In Odyssey xi, 298 ff. the twins Castor and Polydeuces are both the sons of Tyndareus; in Iliad iii, 237 ff. and Hesiod fragment 94 (eel. A. Rzach (I9I3)) also it is implied that

ji

I96

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

they are mortal. In two Homeric Hymns (xvii and xxxiii) they are called both sons of Tyndareus and sons of Zeus. The scholiast on Pindar Nem. x, ISO says that Hesiod (fr. 9I) made Zeus their father, and the same is implied by the name Dioscuri. Philo adopts the popular compromise, found, e.g., in Pindar Nem. x, So ff., which made Castor the son of Tyndareus and therefore mortal, and Polydences the son of Zeus and therefore immortal. For a full study see Farnell, op. cit., I75 ff. 85 &fJ.:Aoilpncr•v &nl3om". Philo alludes to this legend in Decal. 56 and perhaps also in Som. i, I5o. On the death of Castor and the question, not considered by Philo, whether the Dioscuri were continually together, both in heaven one day and in Hades the next, or perpetually separated, see H. J. Rose, A Handbook of Greek Mythology (I928), 23I and 248-9, n. 4· &"w6rr,~oc. . . . . Cf. Spec. ii, 204 ~ fl.l:" y
COMMENTARY ON

§§ 84-87

1 97

-rd:c;; 3' &3eAq:j(Xc;; Ucr-repov &:cpuy&3e:ucra:c;. Drusilla, Gaius' favourite sister, died in June, 38, and Philo is not concerned with her here. In the autumn of 39 the other two sisters, Agrippina and Julia, were banished to Pontia for their part in the conspiracy of Aemilius Lepidus and Cn. Cornelius Lentulus Gaetulicus, legate of Upper Germany since 30, against Gains' life, while the two leaders were executed (Dio lix, 22, 5-23, I, where, however, the execution of Gaetulicus is not explicitly connected with Lepidus' conspiracy; S. G. 24, 3, and Claudius 9, I; cf. G. 29, I, and 39, r; Sen. Ep. iv, 7). Lepidus, a first cousin of Gains and one of his favourites, became Drnsilla's second husband early in Gains' principate (Dio lix, rr, I) and, as Gains was childless, was marked out as his successor (Dio lix, 22, 6-7). Meanwhile the affection which Gains had shown for his sisters at his accession was waning towards J ulia and Agrippina: the coins struck in honour of the three sisters jointly (BMCCRE I, I 52, nos. 36-40) cease after the first year, i.e., probably after Drusilla's death, and the episode of the naming of Agrippina's baby son in December, 37, indicates a rift (S. Nero 6, 2). After Drusilla's death Agrippina and Ju!ia, or, according toT. A. xiv, 2, 4, Agrippina alone, maintained improper relations with Lepidus. Tacitus is probably right here, for Dio makes Gains treat Agrippina alone as Lepidus' paramour by forcing her to carry his ashes back to Rome, although Suetonius says that at the trial of Lepidus after the detection of the plot documentary evidence was produced implicating both sisters. Agrippina no doubt acted spe dominationis, as Tacitus says, in her intrigue with the Emperor's marked successor, but marriage with a princess would have strengthened Lepidus' position also (cf. the note on 27, fin.; Willrich, 92). TI1e birth of a child, even though a girl, to Gains in the summer of 39lessened Lepidus' chances of becoming Emperor, and may have precipitated the conspiracy, the purpose of which was clearly to replace Gains by his expected successor with the support of Gaetulicus' troops. In his reconstruction of the conspiracy and its suppression Balsdon suggests (66-76) that the plan was to murder Gains on his arrival in the North for his German campaign, but that when information about it reached the Emperor, he left Rome hurriedly without advertising his destination and proceeded to forced marches (S. G. 43), in the hope of forestalling the conspirators' plans by arriving before he was expected; in this he succeeded and the ringleaders were immediately pnnished. For another suggestion see

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THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

M. P. Charlesworth in Cambridge Hist. ]ourn. iv (I932), II3-4· Dio insinuates that Gains exaggerated his danger in the report which he sent to the senate, and that the donative given to the troops was undeserved. But the Arval Brethren sacrificed on 27th October, 39 ob detecta nefaria con[silia in C. Caes. Aug. Germani]cum Cn. Lentuli Gaet[ulici (AFA, p. I3)-although "this proves no more than that Gains reported that he had escaped from conspiracy. That it was in fact a serious conspiracy is suggested by the language of S. Claudius g, I, and Vespasianus z, 3" (Balsdon, 83, n. I). Suetonius and Dio record the dedication of three swords destined for Gains' assassination in the temple of Mars Ultor. After Gains' death his sisters were recalled from exile and, rather surprisingly, paid the last honours to his body (S. G. 59, I; Dio lx, 4, I). Julia fell a victim to Messalina (Dio lx, 8, 5). Agrippina survived to be murdered by her son Nero (T. A. xiv, I-IJ). 8g AU!J-EG>V. On this word see the note on 92. 6 v"o' Ll.t6vucro,. Similarly, when Gains decided to set up his statue in the Temple in Jerusalem, the dedication of the Temple was to be to "Gains, the New Zeus Epiphanes" (346). Presumably when impersonating each of the various deities Gains took the title "the New So-and-So". In the East it had for many years been a common practice for deified rulers and members of their families to be given the name of a god, sometimes alone and sometimes qualified by ,,,o,, and the same convention was followed in designating some members of the Roman imperial family. E.g., at Ephesus Tiberius' twin grandsons were called the "New Dioscuri" (SEG IV, 5I5), and Gains was hailed as the "New Sun" at Cyzicus after his accession (SIG 798=TGRR IV, I45)· A. D. Node argues that, although the idea that the monarch is the incarnation of the god whose name he bears may be present, it is more probable that the word v.o,, "conjoined with the name of a god, describes a man as reproducing his qualities or achievements, just as Julius Caesar or Augustus might be called a second Ramulus"; v"o' also connotes youth and freshness ("Notes on ruler-cult, II" in ]ourn. Hellenic Stud. xlviii (Igz8), 30-8). go 'Hp~xMcc In Prob. g8-I04 Philo uses Heracles as an illustration of the principle that virtue confers freedom on its possessor. ~usi'lvLcx~ -re xcd ~u~'TIJpLoo;. Synonymous. !J-Ecr~oc' ..... &.vo:tp+,v~~. Philo is presumably alluding here, and also in I02, IOJ, and II3, primarily to the troubles which befell the Jews

COMMENTARY ON

§§ 87-93

I99

during Gains' principate in Alexandria and in Palestine. Yet for the Alexandrian riots Philo is probably wrong in attributing to Gains even indirect responsibility (note on II5 !J-6vou, y<Xp 'IouS~lou<; !nte~AI:rre~o ). The sufferings of the Jews are naturally in the forefront of his thoughts, but he magnifies them into a picture of civic commotion throughout the empire, for which he holds Gains personally responsible. Elsewhere the empire was in fact largely at peace under Gains, save for the rising of Aedemon in Mauretania. The Emperor could ·perhaps be held responsible for this, since it resulted from his deposition of the client king and his annexation of the country (Pliny NH v, II; cf. Dio lx, g, I). Bnt did Philo know of it? gi &.Oo:vo:~[~oucrw &.pe·mL The deification of mortals probably originated in gratitude for outstanding services which they had rendered to mankind. Cf. 1\1!. P. Charlesworth in HThR xxviii (I935), 8 ff. 92 6 crcpaye:U~ xo:1 Au~e:Wv -r&v &~eAcpWv. Gemellus had been murdered (23-3I) and Agrippina and Julia banished (87). Au!J-e
200

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

used metaphorically by Philo in Ebr. 22 and by Plutarch iu M or. 788d and 1kfarc. 3, z. The derivative meaning "set to work on" or "get down to" is found in Aristophanes Lys. 615. G'fL\n8aAwv. This adjective is commonly used to denote a child "with both parents living". Philo uses it twice elsewhere, apparently in the sense of "highly connected on both sides" (Gong. 132; Prob. 10). Here the word presumably means "of divine descent on both sides", and distinguishes the great gods of the pantheon from the demi-gods of partly buman parentage. Cf. C0lson's note in Loeb Philo IX, 5ro. -roe, o·E~IXO'fLok Although Gaius aspired to receive worship, inscriptions aud coins provide no evidence that his wish was officially gratified in Italy. Even the latest coins of his principate contain no trace of deification, just as Domitian's coins do not recognize his claim to the title dominus et deus. 'EptJ-oU xcd 'An6AAwvoc., xcd ''Ape:wc;. Dio does not restrict Gaius to a few gods but makes him impersonate them all, and some goddesses as well (lix, z6, 6; cf. S. G. 52); on the goddesses see Balsdon, r68. It is remarkable that Philo is silent in 93- II3 about the matter most stressed by other authorities, namely Gaius' equation of himself with Jupiter. To this he merely refers without comment, when he talks later of Gaius' decision to turn the Temple in Jerusalem into a temple dedicated to "Gaius, the New Zeus Epiphanes" (346). 94 xwuxdoc, xd TCE8i),oc, ""' X),IXfLUO'CV. "Where art made (Hermes) into a fully anthropomorphic figure, it is most commonly as the divine wayfarer that he appears, with wings, generally bnt not always on his sandals, staff (caduceus) in hand and broad-brimmed traveller's hat" (W. K. C. Guthrie, The Greeks and their Gods (rg5o), go). The herald's staff was one of his attributes because, as a somewhat subordinate god, he played the part of messenger for Zeus. Hence his patronage of human heralds, which gave them inviolability. See further P.-W. s.vv. Hermes, col!. 78r-3; Kerykeion; and Keryx; L. R. Farnell, The Cults of the Greek States V (rgog), 20-2. -r&i;cv TE &v chcxl;i'f . . . . . . Philo presumably means that Gaius adopted the dress and insignia of one god at a time in its entirety. 95 crTECf"i.voc, &x-rcvoEcStcrc. Apollo, although probably not originally a sun-god but a god of herdsmen, was apparently identified with the sun as early as the fifth century B.C.; see Farnell, op. cit. IV (rgoJ), 136-44. Philo may well have in mind here the Alexandrian coins of

COMMENTARY ON

§§ 93-97

201

Gains bearing on the obverse a bust of the Emperor with a radiate crown (note on II ~TCCXVT«; ~y&crO~crcxv). A radiate head of Gaius also appears on undated coins of Magnesia (BMCGC, Lydia, r45). -r6i;ov So ...... TCpo-rdvwv. Gaius dressed up to represent the archaic statue of Apollo at Delos described by Plutarch (Mor. rr36a) and Pausanias (ix, 35, 3). Plutarch says that the three figures of the Graces carried by Apollo held respectively a.lyre, a flute, and a pipe. He places them in Apollo's left hand and the bow in his right. But Philo is supported by Athenian coins which show the Graces in the god's right hand and the bow in his left and which probably represent a copy of the Delian statue at Athens, by Macrobius who speaks of Apollinis simulacra having the Graces in the right hand and a bow in the left (Saturn. i, I], r3), and by a scholiast on Pindar OZ. xiv, 16 who mentions a statue at Delphi, perhaps a copy of the Delian one, with the Graces in the right hand. See further J. G. Frazer's edition of Pausanias (r8g8), note on l.c. g6 TCIXciXvcxs. The term paean, an epithet of Apollo as physician (cf. rro), is very frequent also in the sense of song or hymn. Although associated primarily with Apollo and perhaps consisting originally of songs of healing, paeans were from very early times sung in honour of other gods also and used on many occasions, military, convivial, etc. For fuller discussion see Eisele in Roscher, Lexikon s.v. Paian; P.-W. s.v. Paian; M. P. Nilsson, Geschichte der griechischen Religion I' (r955), r5g, 543· Eo~cov xcxl Auacov. The former of these cult-titles of Dionysus was derived from the cry
,,'

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202

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

retained, should it not be v€ou, the one more likely to be associated with the name of a god in such a context (cf. the note on 89 6 vto<; b.•6vucro.;)? 8ope<7tWTe
COMMENTARY ON§§

I03

105

ro6

107

ro8

97-108

203

name of civil war. Cf. the note on go 0scr-r~c;; &.vo:,cp~vac.,. 14 vu~ <xe. The addition of xoct crx6To~ was suggested by C. F. Matthaei in his collation of a codex of Philo (1808; an unpublished MS, on which sec C.-W.-R. I, Prolegomena xvii, n. and Ill, Prolegomena, xxi). The pair of words occurs in 122. With this Mangey's suggested alteration of crx6~ou.; to vuxT6<; is unnecessary. Although Philo is clearly speaking metaphorically, there may be an oblique reference to Gains' alleged nocturnal pranks (S. G. 54, 2). To:pTtXpou. Cf. the note on 235 d.; qf3ou. Te<'1)<;. Cf. similar personifications of Justice in Fl. 104 and 107, and the phrase "carried off by Fate" in Leg. 25. On Philo's predilection for personification see J. Drummond, Philo judaeus or the] ewish Alexandrian Philosophy (r888) II, 123-6. 't'oUc;; Ev 't'fAe~. Named examples of men in official positions exe~ cuted by Gains are Macro, the two Betilieni (quaestor and procuraLegatio ad Gaium

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THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

tor; Dio lix, 25, 6; Sen. Dial. v, r8, 3), Calvisius Sabinus (ex-legate of Pannonia; Dio lix, r8, 4; cf. PIR 2 II, 85, no. 354), and Junius Priscus (praetor; Dio lix, r8, 5). But cf. the note on 97 'f'OVwvn xod a~~w'rn &.vepwndo'J a'CtJ-o!;--ro.:;.

&'f' tsp&,. This proverb is discussed in the note on 22. A different translation, however, sccn1s appropriate here. "'"~wv. Reiter's emendation of the MSS ~&v. Colson is inclined to expunge the word, as did Mangey and other editors. no ~± 7t<XAlf.''f'1if.'"' l\6yw.. Such remarks as the celebrated "Would that the Roman people had a single neck!" (Sen. Dial. v, rg, z; Dio lix, 30, re; S. G. 30, 2), and others recorded by Suetonius (G. 29-33).

109

r.~Xv-r,.;xoU.

Cohn suggested inserting 3ox.~fLWT
on the analogy of 144 't'oUc;; Ev ··r€M1 3ox~~(i)-rohouc;. lh,~v. Besides being an epithet of Apollo in his aspect of physician-god, Paean was also a separate but somewhat shadowy deity of healing. For works dealing with the relationship between the two see the bibliography given in the note on "'"'"fv=hymn in g6; also Farnell, op. cit. IV, 234-5. ""'p&xo[LIL"'· I.e., it is more difficult for a man to attain diviuity, a status which does uot belong to him, than for him to strike counterfeit money. nr 15 <[L&l-Aov>. Supplied by Turnebus and accepted by all subsequent editors. ~owu'\'ov O'Wf.'<X xoot tuz~v. Gains' physical appearance and bodily weakness are described inS. G. 50. On his character see the notes on 22 and 34· l:~o(Lo,w8~v"''· Or perhaps "be compared", the sense in which the verb is used in II4. 'f'OlV~M(a,<;. Philo's use of this word in the sense of an "impression made on the senses", occurring again in r8r, is discussed by Box, note on Fl. 124. II2 ~ou 31: l:v ~?i 'f0crs' A6you. Philo here attempts, apparently, to explain a figure of mythology in terms of the Stoic system, treating Ares as a personification of a cosmic principle of courage. IIJ &p~ys,v. Another erroneous derivation, like that of Hermes (gg). There may be a hint of the same derivation in the invocation of Ares as cruvapwyl: 0-'f''cr~o<; in the Homeric Hymn to Ares (viii, 4). For other ancient guesses at the etymology of the name, still uncertain, see P.-W. s.v. Ares, col. 66o. Cf. M. P. Nilsson, Geschichte der griechischen Religion I' (r955), 518.

COMMENTARY ON

§§ I08-II4

go;;epo,. As Colson points out (note ad lac.), the imperfect tense indicates that "the other" is Gains, and not the "Ares of mythology". d~ ~apocxac;; xoct cr-r&cre:tc;;. Cf. the note on go t-te:cr't'cb; ..... &.vo:.qJ~ve
I

zo6

THE Eli'IBASSY TO GAIUS

cisely dated (AJ xiv, Z4I-6, 256-64; cf. R. Mm·cus's notes ad lace., Loeb edition). Although Philo does not mention Julius Caesar, he implies in r56 that the Jews' rights of assembly and of sending money to Jerusalem were pre-Augustan. In A] xvi, r6z-5 the rights enjoyed by the Jews under Hyrcanus (i.e., between his reinstatement in 47 B. C. and his capture by the Parthians in 40) and confirmed by Augustus include also the sacrosanctity of their sacred books and exemption from being called to law on the Sabbath. Probably contemporary was the Roman continuation of the privilege granted to the Jews by the Seleucicls of receiving money in lieu of the oil distributed by the gymnasiarchs, since the use of gentile oil was prohibited for them (A] xii, rzo; cf. Vita 74; B] ii, 591; Mishnah Abodah Zarah ii, 6; B. T. Abodah Zarah 35b-36b). Augustus' continuation of Caesar's Jewish policy is seen in his attitude towards the Jews in Rome (r55-8 ancl notes), in the sympathetic treatment which M. Vipsanius Agrippa gave in 14 B.C. (note on 240 6 mhmo~) and which Augnstus himself gave a few years later to complaints made by the Jews of Asia Minor and N. Africa about gentile infringements of their religious liberty (A] xvi, 160-1; cf. Leg. 3II-6), and in the cnactments made in defence of that liberty at various dates by Augustus and his subordinates (A] xvi, 162-73; Leg. 314-5). Over the question of the imperial cult Augustus showed a sensible respect for Jewish religious scruples (note on Leg. 157 Oucrlo.<;). For discussion of the problems raised by the official documents quoted by J osephus see B. Niese, "Bemerkungen i.\ber die Urkunclen bei Josephus Archaeologie, B. XIII, XIV, XVI" in Hermes xi (1876), 466-88; H. Willrich, ]udaica (r9oo), 40-51; Juster I, 13258; R. Laqueur, Der jiidische Historilwr Flavius ]osephus (1920), 221-30; A. Momigliano, "Ricerche sull' organizzazione clella Giuclea sotto il clominio Romano, 63-70" in Anna.li del/a Scuola Normale di Pisa, zncl series iii (1934), 193-4. [.L6vou~ yap 'Iou3cdouc;; Ur.e:~A~rre:To. In 115-20 Philo insinuates that II5 Gains' self-deification was responsible for the sufferings of the Jews in Alexandria which he is about to describe, in the sense that the Jews incurred his hostility by alone refusing to acknowledge his godhead, and that the Alexanclrian Greeks used that hostility as a pretext (II9 oilv) for attacking the Jews in their city, whom they already hated on their own account. Cf. 133, where the Greeks are said to have expected impunity in their desecration of the syna-

COMMENTARY ON

§§ II4-II5

Z07

gogues because of Gaius' hatred for the Jews. In the In Flaccum, where Flaccus is the object of Philo's attack, there is no suggestion that any blame for the riots attached to the Emperor. As far as possible the blame is there laid on the prefect (Fl. 41, 44, 53; cf. the note on 134 dx6vo:c;; y
208

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

COMMENTARY ON §§ II5-II6

~&v !
kOnigl. siichsischen Gesellschajt der Wissensch., phil.-hist. Kl. xx, i (1903), 16-8). Wolfson, however, follows others who maintain that, although Pbilo often uses "unwritten law" in the Greek sense to denote the fundamental law underlying the Mosaic code, in some places in his works there are references to the oral law (I, 188-94; cf. II, 180-1); e.g., in Spec. iv, 149-50 ~611 in which children have been reared and with which they have lived from the cradle (similar phraseology to Leg. II5) are described as unwritten laws. (His arguments are criticized by S. Sandmel in Hebrew Union College Annual xxv (1954), 225-8.) Leg. II5, although not cited by Wolfson, seems to contain a reference to the oral law. ~-voc VO!J-L~e:LV 't'bv noc-r€:pa xoci 7tOL"t}'T~V 't'oU x.6a~ou Se6v. Based on the Shema, the confession of Jewish faith. This consisted of the passages Deut. vi, 4-9, xi, 13-21, and Numbers xv, 37-41. The title, meaning "Hear", is the initial word of Deut. vi, 4, which epitomizes Jewish monotheism. The Shema was repeated morning and evening by all Jews, and was included in the liturgy. For discussion see J. H. Hertz, The Pentateuch and Haftorahs V, Deuteronomy (1936), 100II1; cf. ]E s.v. Shema. Trouble was caused for the Jews not so much by the fact that they were monotheists as by the nature of their monotheism; for whereas pagan monotheism often took the form of syncretism, which regarded all gods as manifestations of a single god, Jewish monotheism consisted of flatly denying that any gods but their own existed at all-a claim both arrogant and discourteous in gentile eyes. rr6

209

't'0v -rUcpov. This could mean his ((delusion'', i.e., that he was divine, as well as his ((vanity". ~~v 7tporrxOV1JrrLV. An act of obeisance, consisting basically of prostrating oneself on the ground. (The action of kissing the hand towards an object of worship (Apuleius Met. iv, z8; Pliny NH xxviii, 25) may have been a later form of proskynesis.) Proskynesis was performed before the Assyrian kings, in whose documents there are references to vassals prostrating themselves and kissing the king's feet (for examples see J. B. Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts relating to the Old Testament' (1955), 275 ff.). The practice was followed in the court of the Achaemenids also. The action was merely a piece of court ceremonial, a sign of respect offered by an inferior to a superior (cf. I-Ierodotus i, 134, 1), and did not imply worship. It is now generally accepted that the Persian kings were not regarded as divine. To the Greeks, however, prostration was

2IO

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

primarily an act of worship offered to a god, although it could also occasionally he an act of supplication addressed to a man (Sophocles OT 327). When Alexander the Great attempted to introduce proskynesis at Bactra in 327, he was apparently thereby asking the Greeks and Macedonians for recognition as a god. Their opposition caused him to drop the project. For fuller discussion see W. W. Tarn, Alexander the Great (rg48) I, 77-80, and II, 359-69, where references to earlier works are given; J. P. V. D. Balsdon, "The 'Divinity' of Alexander" (in Historia i (rgso), 363-88), 37r-8z. The introduction of proskynesis into Rome is attributed to L. Vitellius on his return from his province of Syria (S. ViteUi
COMMENTARY ON

§§ II6-II7

ZII

should connote worship; for its introduction was clearly connected with his assumption of divinity. II7 &xourrlou<; 6e
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THE EMBASSY TO GA1US

recent scholars, however, regard the tradition as merely an exaggeration of the prohibition of circnmcision; e.g., M. Simon, Verus Israel (1948), 127; cf. Schiirer I, 702. Whichever interpretation is right, it is significant that a group of rabbis of the time decided that, if martyrdom were the only alternative, all the Jewish laws might be broken except those against idolatry, incest, and murder (B.T. Sank. 74a; J.T. Shebiith 4, 2, Schwab II, 356). There are, however, records of martyrdoms suffered by some rab his for the continued practice of their religious customs (B.T. Abodah Zarah 17b-18a; JJeralwth 61b; Sanh. 14a). &G~vacr(ocv. A belief in survival after death was a part of Hebrew religion from the earliest times, although ideas about the precise nature of the afterlife were vague and indefinite. From this primitive doctrine there had grown up among the Jews by the immediately pre-Christian period, mainly as a development within J udaism but partly through external influences such as Greek philosophy, a definite concept of a personal afterlife and of reward and punishment after death. Among Palestinian Jews this generally took the form of belief in some sort of resurrection rather than belief in the immortality of the soul. The latter belief, deriving largely from Greek thought, found more favour among Hellenistic Jews such as Philo. Scriptural and other passages on the afterlife are collected and discussed by ]. Ross, The ] ewish Conception of Immortality and the Life Hereafter (1948). For further discussion see E. F. Sutcliffe, The Old Testament and the Future Life (1946); also, e.g., R. H. Charles, Religious Development between the Old and the New Testaments (1914), 96-133; A. Lads, Israel, translated by S. H. Hooke (1932), 218-30; T. Walker, Hebrew Religion between the Testaments (1937), 127-44;]£ s.vv. Immortality, and Resurrection. For Philo's philosophical approach to the question of immortality see Wolfson, I, 395-413. ~po:zt\~~~ov. According to Jewish belief, the Torah as an entity was older than the world and was eternal. Not merely its contents but its very letters were believed to have come directly from God. A special class of scholars devoted their lives to the preservation of the text. Its letters were counted, and it was believed that no single one would perish. Cf. St. Matt. v, r8; St. Luke xvi, 17. See further ]E s.v. Torah. rr8 &v8p6JTCou .... 0EOTIAo:cr'\'ijcroct. The distinction drawn in Jewish thought between created man and the utterly transcendent Creator

COMMENTARY ON§§ II7-120

213

God was an incomparably greater one than that between man and the gods in Greek and Roman thought. Among the Greeks, who saw the gods as more powerful but sometimes morally inferior copies of man, the line of demarcation was frequently blurred, and their idea that a man's virtues or his services to his fellows might carry him over the border and make him a god spread to the Roman world. 6tpovev. I.e., the Jewish nation. Mangey suggested altering to xp(vw.

d<; &v0pomov 0eov .... f'<~oc~a/-/-e,v. In Greek legends gods never became men; they merely masqueraded on the earth as men, taking the appearance of men but foregoing none of their powers in the process. Too<; f"tpecr' 1tiim.

While the Jews believed that they had a special claim ou the mercy and providence of God, they also conceived of Him, from very early times, as the Lord of the whole world. rrg 17 7t6A
well as to the more recent outbreak of violence which occurred at the time of his accession (A] xix, 278-9); cf. Bell, ]. and C., 18. v6~-tov yd-:p ~yo6!-Levoo:;; E:o:.u't'Ov. Cf. Louis XIV, uL' etat, c' est moi". Tpt7tovTo<;. The sense is here clearly intransitive; hence Wendland's conjecture Tpo:7ttVTO<;. d<; ~e<m6~1JV. Augustus and Tiberius would not allow the terms dominus and ~Ecr7t6~1J<; to be applied to them (S. Aug. 53, I; Tib. 27; Dio lv, 12, 2). In most places where Philo uses ~m7t6T1J<; in the Legatio it bears its primary meaning of "master", but here and in 237, and possibly also in 208, the derivative meaning "tyrant" is clearly indicated. 120 18 81tep. Gains' self-deification and the hostility which Philo has just alleged that he felt in consequence towards the Jews at this time. i-''Yil<; ""'t 7tEtpOP1Ji-'tvo<; 8z!-o<;. The same phrase occurs in Ebr. II3 and 198. Philo quite often joins 1-''YOC<; to crtlyx/-u<;, an adjective of similar meaning: e.g., Fl. 4 (cf. Box's note); LA iii, 187; Ebr. 36; and Spec. iii, 79· The meaning of i-''YOC<; seems to be merely "chaotic" or "promiscuous", and the word does not here denote any mixture

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2I4

121

COMMENTARY ON

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

of races within the Greek citizen-body. The Alexandrian mob was notorious for its versatility in insulting the Roman prefects (Sen. Dial. xii, Ig, 6 loquax et in contumelias praefectorum ingeniosa provincia); an example is given in Fl. 136-9 (cf. Introduction, p. I4). C. Petronius, one of the earliest prefects, was even subjected to physical violence (Strabo xvii, I, 53, 8I9 fin.). Emperors also were occasionally abused, e.g., Vespasian in 70 (Dio lxv (lxvi), 8, 2-7) and Caracalla after his murder of Geta (Dio lxxviii (lxxvii), 22, I; Herodian iv, 9, 2-3). According to the "Letter of I-Iaclrian to Servianus", which stigmatizes the Alexanclrians as genus hominum seditiosissim~tm, vanissimum, iniuriosissimum, rude ren1arks were made about Hadrian's "son, Verus", and his favourite Antinous (Scriptores HistoriaeAugustae, VitaeFirmi, etc. 8). B. W. Henderson argues (The Life and PrincijJate of the Emperor Hadrian (r923), 228-3I) that the letter is certainly a forgery; but its subjectmatter may contain some truth. On the general frivolity and disorderliness of the Alexandrians see Dio Chrysostom xxxii, passim. bdGoTo -~f'LV. With the description of the Greek attack on the Jews in 120-37 cf. the longer account in Fl. 41-96. Philo here plunges in medias res, omitting all the local events which were the prelude to the attack (see Introduction, pp. I4-I9), in order to link it as closely as he dares with Gains' claim to divinity. The date of the attack, not indicated in this treatise, is fixed as August, 38 hy the following three statements elsewhere: Agrippa I stayed in Rome until the second year of Gains' principate (A] xviii, 238); he sailed for Alexandria, where his arrival precipitated the outbreak of violence, at the time of the etesian winds (Fl. 26; cf. Box's note ad lac. and the note on Leg. 250 """*Y"); and the riots were in progress on Gains' birthday, 31st August (Fl. 83). TO TU
§§ I20-I24

2I5

some took refuge outside the city; meanwhile the empty premises of evicted Jews were looted. In Fl. 94 the number of houses from which the Jews were evicted is given as "over four hundred". I22 crx6To~. Reiter accepts the reading of A against the crx6Tov of the other MSS, since the word is a third declension neuter elsewhere in Philo, e.g., in Fl. I67 and Leg. 326 (Prolegomena, lxvii). gx'A<mov. Not only Jewish houses but also Jewish shops, which were closed for the period of mourning for Gains' sister Drusilla, who had died in June, were broken into and plundered (Fl. 56). I23 7ttv~TOl~ l:x 7tAoucrlwv. Cf. Fl. 57, where Philo explains that the poverty of the Jews was clue not only to the losses which they sustained as a result of the looting, hut also to their inability to carry on their normal means of livelihood. See, however, the note on rz8

a~a crn&v~v

6no:.L0po~.

-r&v &.vocyxocLwv. Evicted ] ews for whom there was no accmnrnodation

in the ghetto. Cf. I27. 7tepo~o~zm. Literally "shivering". 124

auveAOCcrav-rec;.

/(The sense 'joined in driving' is not recognized

in lexica for classical Greek" (Box, note on Fl. 37). TOO'OlOTOl~ f.lUpo&30l<;. An exaggeration, if the houses from which Jews were evicted numbered only "over four hundred" (Fl. 94) ? For some discussion of the size of the Jewish community in Alexandria see Box, note on Fl. 43 ("Upoc\3wv txO
i :I ! I

l

I

'I

i

J

''i

! 'I

II

2I6

THE E}!BASSY TO GAIUS

which they had not hitherto been confined, thus became a compulsory ghetto, the first known to us in the Roman world, and the Jews were restricted to it as a disability. In the Legatio mob violence alone is made responsible for this. Bnt according to Fl. 53-4, the institntion of the ghetto was preceded by a proclamation in which Flaccus, with intent to injure the Jews, "called them by the unpleasant name of aliens and foreigners" (~~vou~ xo:.i e-r~~AuOe<<; ~~&<; &7108x&I.Ec). In other words, he said in effect that the Jews had no

right of domicile in Alexandria save in the district originally allotted to them. This gave a semblance of legality to its conversion into a ghetto and to the insistence that the Jews must reside nowhere else. Cf. Introduction, pp. 20-21. The locations of the five districts of Alexandria are not all known, but the original Jewish one was near the palace, on a harbourless coastline (In Ap. ii, 33-6), i.e., east of the promontory of Lochias, which formed the eastern boundary of the Great Harbour and on which stood the palace (Strabo xvii, I, 9, 794); see further the bibliography given by Box, note on Fl. 55. cjl~6~cr~>:v. This insinuation is not found in the In Flaccum, which contains no reference to the epidemic described in Leg. 125-6. 125 &tpo<;. In this and the following section Philo adopts the view commonly held in the ancient world that some natural phenomena, notably the stars and the winds, were responsible for diseases. ~omdJV. Se. 7tVEUf""'· Philo here seems to be using a physiological term of Erasistratus, a physician who worked in Alexandria during the first half of the third century B. C., and who founded a school which flourished until the second century A. D. Developing the idea of Empedocles that the 7tVEUf'"' (a word used for both "air" and "breath") was distributed through the body by the blood-vessels, Erasistratus supposed that "blood and two kinds of pneuma are the sources of nourishment and movement. Blood is carried by the veins, which take it to the heart. Air is taken in by the lungs and passing thence to the heart becomes changed into the first pneuma, the vital spirit (7tVEUf'l>: ~omx6v), which is sent to the parts of the body by the arteries. Carried by these to the brain, it is there changed to the second pneuma, the animal spirit (7tVEUf'"' ~uxcx6v), and distributed to the parts through the nerves, which are hollow" (A. J. D. Porteous in The Oxford Classical Dictionary s.v. Anatomy and Physiology 8). For fuller study of Erasistratus see J. F. Dobson, "Erasistratus" in Proc. Royal Soc. Medicine xx, 2 (1927), 825-32;

COMMENTARY ON§§

124-127

2I7

for the similar Galenic physiological scheme see C. Singer and C. Rabin, A Prelude to Modern Science (I946), xxxvii-xl; for the general concept of 'ltveup.~>: in physiology see M. Wellman, "Die pneumatische Schule" in Philologische Untersuchungen xiv (I895), I3I ff. dt7to~e:A6vTo<;, which seems to have little meaning here. rcUp €n~qJ€pwv nupL The proverb rcUp nupl (or E:rd rcupt) cp~petv, by Zenobius (v, 6g) and

h~eta
Diogenianus (vi, 71); see T. Gaisford, Paroemiographi Graeci (1836), and E. L. von Leutsch and F. G. Schncidewin, Corpus ParoemiographorumGraecorum I (I839). It is used in various forms by Aristophanes (fr. 453; Oxford Classical Texts, vol. II), Euripides (fr. 432; eel. A. Nauck Ill (186g), n3), Plato (Leg. 666a), Aristotle (Probl. 88oa, 28), and Plutarch (M or. 6ra). Cf. Ovic!Amores iii, 2, 34· 126 'jlAoyw3ecrT&T~. A reference to the innate heat of the body (OEpflOV fp.'flUTOV, 6ePf'6T~<; ~UXCX~ Or 'flUcrlX~), which ancient physiologists located in the heart and blood. For the many references in Aristotle De Gener. Anim. see A. L. Peck's edition, index s.v. Heat. eUoae:t:, ducro8eLv. Some codices give these readings, others eU(t)de'i: and 3ucrw3dv. Turnebus and Dahl print eoo3eo and 3ucro3Ecv, Mangey Ellw(ki: and 3uaw3d'J, but com1nents in his note "Scribe e:Uo3oL (sic; for e:UodeL?) et rnox ducrodd\1". npOt:; 'TO Se:pp.6't'e:pov. According to ancient medical theory, hot weather aggravated the innate heat of the body and caused fevers. See, e.g., Hippocrates, Airs, Waters, Places eh. 10. 127 19 The phraseology of I27-3I recalls that of Fl. 65-71. E:p'l)tJ.~~X~ xcd o:lyw:AoUc; xcd [.LV~p.otTct.. In Fl. 56 Philo adds xcd xo7tpl~>:<;, "rubbish-heaps". The main.necropolis of Alexandria lay outside the western boundary of the city (Strabo xvii, I, ro, 795). Excavation, however, has revealed the existence of other cemeteries dating from Ptolemaic times outside the eastern boundary (E. Breccia, Alexandrea ad Aegyptum (I922), 82-3 and maps; for greater detail see Breccia, Catalogue General des Antiquites Egyptiennes; La Necropoti di Sciatbi (I9I2), vii ff.). It was presumably in that area that the Jews took refuge, if the ghetto was situated in the eastern part of the city (note on 124 p.o<pav &A~>:XLcrT~v). Dio Chrysostom complains of the filthy and evil-smelling canals of Alexandria (xxxii, I5). Breccia argues that a branch of the main

I

"

;

f

--,

218

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

canal flowed through the eastern part of the city, and the neighbouring country was divided by a network of smaller canals (Alexandrea ad Aegyptum, 78-8o). Was the epidemic perhaps caused by a contaminated water-supply? rr;pox.oc'tc:A~cp8'Y)cr<Xv ~v -ro~c; &AAo~c, f.Ltpzcr~ 1'1jc; rr:6Aewc.,. Jews previously domiciled in parts of Alexandria other than the ghetto, who were caught before having time to escape to it. Cf. the note on 130. &yp68ov. Jews from other parts of Egypt, ~ )(Olpe<, who were not members of the Alexandrian community. &ni:M.uov. The only meanings given by lexica for this verb are "enjoy" "profit from", and occasionally "make fun of". Either Philo is using the verb ironically here, in 187, and in 299, or its meaning had faded in Hellenistic Greek to a neutral "experience" or the like. XGT6v x.o:.~p~<.G-roc't'ov -r6rr;ov in Leg. 3I. In Fl. 66 Philo drags out the Jews' agonies with the phrase otlx eil8u~. rz8 -rW 1 &pye:Lv xcd axoArYXe~v dw86Twv. These people were very probably the same as the "touts and bawlers" who had created disturbances in the city some years previously (Fl. 136-g). tcrX"'"'ii~ ~pe<)(U n y.l:pc;;. The ghetto probably lay in the eastern coastal part of the city (note on 124 fLOLpe
1

COMMENTARY ON§§

127-132

219

habitually plundering ships which because of errors of navigation or bad weather were forced to put in at Alexandria (BC iii, II2). On the trade which passed through that port see Dio Chrysostom xxxii, 36; Charlesworth, Trade-routes, 27-34; E. I-I. Warmington, The Commerce between the Roman Empire and India (rg28), references passim. 130 TOL~ 31: l:v y.ocrn T~ n6AEL ><e
...

TtEOw, and ~n:t't'po7t~ are used by Philo as Roman constitutional terms in several senses: in a general sense to denote governor, without reference to any specific office (24-5, 3II; cf. Som. ii, 43 for a similar use in a non- Roman context) ; and in special senses to denote legate (231, 333), procurator (zgg, 306, 351; the commonest meaning of the word outside Philo), and the prefect of Egypt (here and in Fl. z, 43, 74, 163). (A totally different usage occurs in Leg. 26.) The commonest Greek term for prefect is g1te-~6ek &pq; fLL~. Philo here minimizes the serLegatio ad Gaium

15

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

220

iousness of the riots in order to emphasize Flaccus' culpability in not attempting to put them down. But the Greek mob was clearly out of control at this stage, and the restoration of order would have required the intervention of the Roman troops stationed in Egypt, at that time two legions and a number of auxiliaries. Legio XXII Deiotariana had been stationed at Nicopolis since early in the Roman occupation; legio III Cyrenaica was moved from somewhere in -0 xwpO< to join it early in the principate, but it is not certain whether before or after 38. (Nicopolis, two or three miles east of Alexandria (BJ iv, 659; Strabo xvii, I, ro, 795), counted as little more than a suburb of the city, and the army is sometimes said to be quartered in the city itself: e.g., Strabo xvii, I, rz, 797; B] ii, 387, 494·) See further Kubitschek in P.-W. s.v. Legio, col!. 1506-7, 1791-3; H. M. D. Parker, The Roman Legions (1928), 194-6; Lesquier, L'Armee Romaine d'Egypte (r9r8), 58-6o, 127-8; Box, notes on Fl. 5 To.l:, .... 3uvci.[J.ecr•v and III crTpO
. '

o:7to:.O'IX~c;

, ,, ,

[J-EV

~opuo\l't'O

r ·' l . o:~ou

&v:x~ax.U'trouc; xod 8pet:cru·dpo:c; bc~~ouAckc;.

Here Philo n1akes the Greek attack on the synagogue which he is about to describe follow that on the Jews' persons, property, and civic rights, whereas in the In Flaccum the order is reversed. Here he implies that the attack on the Jews' religion was a more serious matter than the attack on their civic rights (which it may well have been in Jewish eyes, if not in Greek), whereas there is no such suggestion in the other treatise. For discussion of these differences between the two accounts see Additional Note II, pp. 45-7. x0<6' gxO
COMMENTARY ON

§§ 132-133

22I

temple-precincts in which they could express gratitude to benefactors, they showed their loyalty to the house of Augustus in the synagogues. Expressions of gratitude to benefactors could take two forms. (1) A synagogue or part of one could be dedicated to a benefactor. Several examples of such dedications on behalf of (!mtp) members of the Ptolemaic dynasty are known, although none is known for the Julio-Claudians: at Athribis a synagogue and later an exedra (possibly a hall, but more probably a bench, perhaps that of the leader of the community, in the opinion of E. R. Goodenough, Jewish Symbols in the Greco-Roman Period II (1953), 85) added to it (CIJ 1443-4); at Xenephyris the gateway or vestibule of a synagogue (Cl] 1441); and synagogues at Nitriae (CIJ 1442), Shedia (Cif 1440), and Alexandria (CIJ 1432). Cf. the observations of A. N. Modona in Aegyptus ii (1921), 264-70. Much later a synagogue was dedicated in Palestine for the safety of Septimius Severus and his family (CIJ 972). The bibliographies of these inscriptions are given in Cl], ad lace. (2) Inscriptions or other objects in honour of benefactors could be placed in synagogues. In the second century B.C. a golden crown was set up in honour of a Jewish official at Leontopolis (although in this case the dedication was perhaps made in the temple of Onias and not in a synagogue; see T. Reinach in RE] xl (1900), 50-4). The Jews of Berenice in Cyrenaica honoured a Roman commander, M. Titius Sextus, with crowns (CIG 5361; cf. Juster I, 437, n. 2). A fragmentary inscription of A.D. 3/4 from Alexandria may record some Jewish dedication connected with a synagogue (IGRR I, 1077). Cf. B] vii, 44 (Antioch) and the general reference to dedications by the Diaspora in Leg. 280. When the Jews of Alexandria voted to Gaius at his accession all the TI[J.OLl allowed by their Law (FI. 97), dedications in some synagogues were probably included. In admitting honorific inscriptions and emblems into the synagogues the Jews of the Diaspora showed an understandably more liberal attitude than did those of Jerusalem, where Pilate's introduction even of aniconic votive shields aroused strong protest (299-305). -rWv &.AAwv Gi
See the note on 115 tJ.6vouc;; yr.Xp 'IouarxLou..:;; 07te:-

! !

'I

i

1.

I

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

222

134

On this section see Additional Note II, pp. 45-7. xoAcx:xdo:.t:;. I.e., flattery not offered to previous rulers (138 ff.). noAAoOc; xal &6p6ouc; nAiJcr~ov o~xzZv 'Iou3odouc;. In areas thickly populated with Jews, the two "Jewish" sections of the city, any attempt at the burning or demolition of the synagogues would have been resisted. Attacks of this kind must therefore have occurred in the other parts of Alexandria. dx6vC{c; yOCp Ev Cm&:crcuc; tJ.€v WpOov'C'o f\xtou. I.e., the Greeks turned the synagogues into shrines of the imperial cult. Colson queries Box's translation of Fl. 41, which implies that the Greeks asked Flaccus' permission to place portraits of Gaius in them (Loeb Philo IX, note ad lac.). But in Fl. 44 and 53 some direct responsibility for the sacrilege is laid on Flaccus, when he is accused of having been hand-in-glove with the Greeks and of having "seized the synagogues" himself. These statements could, however, be merely exaggerations from his failure to stop the Greek attack. In Leg. 346 the blame is laid on Gaius, although in a different way. "'TI f'
11

COMMENTARY ON §§ 134-136

223

elsewhere. Transliterations of Greek architectural terms-~e
224

THE E11BASSY TO GAIUS

an insult, and the fact that it had originally been set up in honour of a woman made matters worse. ex r.oAAoU TOU n:ep~6'Y':'Oc;. Colson says that this is a favourite exI37 pression of Philo's for "equalling with plenty to spare", and that he often uses it to "intensify an action or create a superlative" (notes on Cont. 63 and Fl. rz6, Loeb Philo IX). TE!-/.fV7J. Goodenough infers from the use here of 't'fttevoc;, a word describing an enclosed grove or open court, as a synonym for n:poaeuz~

that the majority of the synagogues of Alexandria were courtlike structures rather than basilicas (op. cit. II, 87). oUz ~ve:xo:. TttJ.'lJc; 't'~C de; exe:~V0 11. Cf. Fl. 42, where the Greeks are said to have used the Emperor's name "as a screen" for the desecration of the synagogues. Philo is probably right in thinking that the Greeks, who resented Roman rule (see Introduction, pp. rr-rz), felt no genuine desire to honour Gains, but were offering him specious flattery merely as a means of insulting the Jews. Cf. Additional Note II, pp. 45-7· At the end of this section Philo drifts away from the subject of the Alexandrian riots and does not return to it. In this treatise he relates only those sufferings of the Jews for which the Greek mob was responsible. He makes no mention at all of the other sufferings which in the In Flaccum he attributes to the initiative of the prefect whom that work is designed to attack-the arrest and torturing of members of the Jewish yepoucrlC<, the spectacle of the torturing and execution of other Jews provided for the entertainment of the Greeks on Gaius' birthday, and the unsuccessful search for weapons in Jewish homes (Fl. 73-96). See further Introduction, pp. 21-2. 138 MxC< 11:ou . , .. yevo[L.\vwv. The Lagid dynasty (the Ptolemies) ruled Egypt from 304, when the Macedonian satrap of Egypt declared himself king as Ptolemy I Soter, until the fall of the country to Rome in 30 B.C. Eleven Ptolemies reigned in their own right from 304 until the death of Auletes in 51 (or twelve, if the rule of Ptolemy Neos Philopator for a few months in 144 is counted). The last three Ptolemies, two of them brothers of Cleopatra VII, the last queen, and the third her son Caesarian, were all children who died at the ages of fifteen to seventeen, and were at various times joint-rulers with Cleopatra, generally under orders from Rome. For a convenient account of the dynasty see Bevan, op. cit. Jewish religious liberty was apparently protected by the Ptolemies: the dedication of synagogues to them implies that they were regarded as bene-

COMMENTARY ON

§§ !36-139

225

factors (note on 133 ~'[Le\<;), and a Ptolemy Euergetes granted the right of asylum to a synagogue (Cl] 1449). &v&Oecnv ..... hto~~crocv't'o. Philo's argument in 138-52 is that if the Greeks had sincerely believed that respect for their rulers, whether Ptolemies or Emperors, required them to dedicate statues in their honour in the synagogues, they would have made such dedications before A.D. 38, even in the face of Jewish opposition. The postponement of this demonstration of loyalty until A.D. 38 suggested that its occurrence then was due to ulterior motives. The forcing of distasteful dedications to rulers on the synagogues by the gentiles would have been a totally different matter from the voluntary dedication there by Jews of honorific emblems compatible with their Law (133). 6e01\<;. Ruler-cult in the form of the worship of the living king and queen was established in Egypt by Ptolemy II, who associated it with the worship of Alexander and of his predecessor, Ptolemy I (see Theocritus xvii). For discussion see W. S. Ferguson in CAH VII, 13 ff., especially 17, and Bevan, op. cit., r27-3r. 139 In this section and in r63, inaccurately and no doubt with intent to insult and not out of ignorance, Philo attributes Egyptian animal-worship to the Alexandrial1S, who were Greeks, not Egyptians, and who moreover despised the depressed Egyptian peasantry. Cf. his reference in Fl. 29 to the "malicious Egyptian character" in connection with the Alexandrians; also Fl. I7 and Box's note; H. Willrich, Ju.daica (r9oo), rzS-30. H. I. Bell summarizes Egyptian religion thus: "Many gods, probably because they developed out of fetish worship, were represented in the form of animals or other objects .... But it was not the animals that were gods; rather the gods manifested the1nselves, or were embodied, in animal fonn, and from an early period it became usual to represent such deities as human beings with animal heads . . . . Contrasted with these deities are such animals as the Apis, Mnevis, or Buchis bulls which seem to have been worshipped individually as the manifestation of a particular god" (Cults and Creeds in Graeco-Roman Egypt (r953), ro). He quotes S. A. B. Mercer, The Religion of Ancient Egypt (1949), 229: "It was possible in ancient Egypt to interpret or understand any animal or thing, religiously, in three different ways, first, as the symbol of a deity, secondly, as the abode of a deity, and thirdly, as the actual and objective manifestation of a deity. All three, or

zz6

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

any two, of these interpretations could be, and probably were, held often in a confused way by the same person, and one interpretation could easily pass or shade into another." The best known cult in which a dog (or jackal) figured was that of Anubis. Another deity, Upuaut (Wepwawet), worshipped in the same district as Anubis, had a jackal or wolf as his cult-animal, a fact reflected in the Greek name for the town where the cults were centred, Lycopolis. The lion, or rather lioness, appeared as various goddesses at different times and places. The crocodile-god was Sebek (Greek Such os). The cults of the ibis and the asp are mentioned in Leg. 163. Many other animal-, fish-, and bird-gods are mentioned in Decal. 76-9 and Herodotus ii, 65-76. For modern studies of Egyptian animal-cults see J. Cerny, Ancient Egyptian Religion (1952), 19-25; Mercer, op. cit., 227-47 and passim; A. Erman, A Handbook of Egyptian Religion (translated by A. S. Griffith, 1907), 17 ff., 176 ff.; Die Religion der Aegypter (1934), 8 f., 152 f., 322 ff., 333 ff., 396 f.; F. Petrie, Religious Life in Ancient Egypt (1924), 9-16, 78-86. For representations of animal-gods on coins see J. Vogt, Die alexandrinischen Mi
COMMENTARYON

§§ 139-143

227

of the Exodus, with which the numbering of the months began. The New Year, however, began with the seventh month, Tishri (October), and the regnal years of foreign kings were reckoned from that date. See Mishnah, Rash H a-Shanah I, I and the notes ad lac. in H. Danby's translation (1933). ft'IJ3e <mtpft<>: 7tOAtftou . • • . To eliminate the mixed metaphor Mangey suggested ~omupov or tft7tDpeufto: as an emendation for <mtpft<>:. With this section cf. the rosy picture drawn in 8-10 of the state of the empire at Tiberius' death. In fact, in addition to the troubles in the East (note on 8), Tiberius' principate saw Germanicns' campaigns in Germany, the risings of Tacfarinas in Africa and of J ulius Florus and J ulins Sacrovir in Gaul, the reassertion of the independence of the Frisii, and trouble in the client kingdom of Thrace--incidents which all involved military operations. 142 ~o yfvo<;. On Tiberius' ancestry see S. Tib. r-3. ~~v 7to:L3
7to:pecrDp'IJ. Also used in r68 and 363. The translation given in L. and S. 9 for the verb here, "ridiculed", seems inappropriate; the Alexandrian Greeks, although apt at insulting authority (note on 120 f'Ly
. I

I

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

on Octavian in 27 as "signifying that he was more than human" (Dio liii, r6, 8). It was his X<XAoxe
COMMENTARY ON

146

I47

I48

149

§§ I43-I49

229

(r933), 298). For a discussion of Claudius' use of v6cro<; in his Letter (roo) see W. Seston in Rev. d' Hist. et de Philos. Religieuses xi (rg3r) 284 ff. &7tb -rWv [.LE0'1)!J.~p~vwv xoc.t e~wv. Presumably a reference to the war with Cleopatra. ""P"~cx&v crwxrp&v. Piracy, endemic in the Mediterranean from Minoan times, recrudesced soon after Pompeis dramatic sweeping of the seas in 67: see, e.g., Cicero Pro Fl. I3, 3I, and Att. xvi, I; Dio xxxix, 59, 2; Caesar BC iii, rro; and A] xiv, 43· After the death of Julius Caesar pirates as well as fugitives from the proscriptions found a rallying-point in Sextus Pompeius, and his pirate squadrons (for such they amounted to, despite his official position as governor of Sicily, Sardinia, and the Peloponnese) formed a serious menace until his defeat in 36. A recurrence of piracy in the Adriatic was one of the reasons for Octavian's campaigns in Illyria in 35-4. But it was not so much isolated victories as Augustus' later establishment of a permanent fleet able to patrol the Mediterranean regularly that kept the seas almost completely free from pirates for some two hundred years. For a full study see H. A. Ormerod, Piracy in the Ancient World (rg24). d.; &Awfh::pLxv ~~e:A6[-tevoc;. 'E~cupdcrBoc.L or &cpoc.Lpe:LaOocL de; &AeuOe:pLocv was a technical term in Athenian law, denoting the process of establishing the free status of a person claimed as a slave. See Daremberg-Saglio s.v. Aphairesis eis Eleutherian; cf. P.-W. s.v. 'E~<Xcpe crscuc; L\b{;l'). ~!J.e:pci>cnxc; x.cd O:p!.!ocr&:ttzvo.:;. Presumably a reference to Augustus' annexation of new provinces and their consequent Rornanization. 'EAMac noMa:c' 1t<Xp<Xu~~"""''· Not literally; Augustus added no Greek-speaking lands to the empire. The reference is presumably, as it is in the next clause, to the general diffusion of Greek culture under the pax Romana. 22 -rpLcrt x.cd -re:crmxp&.xov't'oc. &\nocu-ro'i:c;. In Egypt Augustus' firsi. regnal year was counted from the New Year's Day (2gth August) which fell a few days after Cleopatra's death. (For a discussion of the exact chronology of that period see T. C. Skeat, "The last days of Cleopatra" in]RS xliii (r953), g8-roo). His death on rgth August occurred just before the end of his forty-third year by this reckoning. Cf. the note on qr ~p("' npo, -roe, •'(xocrcv g'"">'l· -roil Lz~M~oil .... "">'IY~· Philo can hardly have regarded Augustus' foundation of a dynasty as a blessing during Gaius' tyranny.

230

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

This remark may reflect the relief felt at Claudius' accession. '!0 xmv0\1 crx&.cpo.:;.

Cf.

50

-rO xmvOv &vOphl7tulV crx&tpo.:; and note.

8oxufLoxd'Jl T~V ~'(EfLoVLx~v bncrT'trfL''IV· No other example of the use of an accusative of respect with 8oxufL&<no<; or 0"'ufLa
(Iliad ii, 204-5, quoted in full in Con]. IJO). "Too many cooks .... " This aphorism is used twice by Aristotle (1\1etaph. xii, ID, 14, IOJ6a; Polit. iv, 4, 4, I292a). Gains applied the second half of it to himself (S. G. 22, I). Philo's works contain a number of other quotations from Homer (e.g., Conf. 4; Cont. IJ; Aet. 37, I32), and many echoes of and references to Homeric expressions; for references see Leisegang, Index Nominum and Earp, Index of Names and Index to Translators' Notes, s.v. Homer. Other Greek writers mentioned or quoted by him are Euripides (most frequently), Hesiod, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Menander, and Xenophon; reminiscences of Herodotus, Thucydides, and Demosthenes have also been noted; for references see Leisegang and Earp, opp. cif. 1tiimx ~ olxou[LtV'I) . . . . . This implies that the imperial cult was of spontaneous growth throughout the empire. Only in the East, where ruler-worship was of long standing, was this in fact the case. But it is not surprising that Philo seems unaware that in some western provinces the cult had been deliberately created and instituted as an official act of policy. For discussion see A. D. Node in CAH X, 48r-g, and L. R. Taylor, The Di11inity of the Roman Emperor (I93I), 205-23. ~ v
COMMENTARY ON §§ I49·I5I

231

ro-r4; and for a more detailed treatment, using the description and drawings in a recently discovered MS of the fifteenth century Cyriac of Ancona, see B. Ashmole, "Cyriac of Ancona and the temple of Hadrian at Cyzicus" in J ourn. Warburg and Courtauld Instit. xix (rg56), 179-9I. In I50-I Philo accepts the existence of temples of Augustus without voicing any protest against the worship of a human being, although logically he should condemn him as strongly as he condemns Gains for accepting divine honours. But Augustus, as a champion of Jewish religious liberty, can do no wrong in Philo's eyes. Cf. Willrich, 439-40. W. L. Knox's interpretation of this passage is discussed in the note on 76. I5I 2:e~O(O'T8LOV. Augusteum. Suidas says that the temple begun by Cleopatra in honour of Antony (cf. the reference in Dio li, I5, 5 to Antyllus, Antony's son, fleeing to his father's shrine) was completed in honour of Augustus (Lexicon s.v. ~~.(epyov). The inscription on the bronze base of one of the two fifteenth century B.C. obelisks ("Cleopatra's Needles"), which were brought from the temple at Heliopolis and set up in the enclosure of the Augusteum (Pliny NH xxxvi, 69), gives the date I3/I2 B.C. (CJL III, 6588). Pliny (I.e.) and Strabo (xvii, I, 9, 794) call the building a "temple of Caesar". It is clear from Leg. I5D-I that in Alexandria the terms KoccmxpEcov and :Ee~oxcrTdov were synonymous, while Claudius' Letter (6o-I) supports Suidas and shows that the dedication was to Augustus and not to Julius. Cf. Bell,]. and C., 35· hc~"'~1Jp(ou Kdcroxpo<;. C. D. Yonge in his translation of Philo (1854-5), vol. IV, renders this phrase as "the temple erected in honour of the clisembarcation of Caesar" (i.e., in Alexandria). Colson gives "a temple of Caesar on shipboard", with the comment "~·.e., commemorating the voyage of Augustus which led to the surrender of Alexandria on rst August, 30 B. C.". Pfister interprets the word &m~<XT'I)p(ou similarly in P.-W. Supp. IV, col.303. Mommsen renders Philo's phrase as "Caesar Appulsor", using it as evidence that the temple was dedicated to Julius (notes on CIL, l.c., and Ephemeris Epigraphica iv (I88I), 34). Gelenius, however, translates the phrase as "Caesaris navigantium praesidis" (Philonis Iudaei .... Lucubrationes Omnes . ... Latinae exGraecis Factae (I555), 846; also printed in Philonis Iudaei Omnia Quae Extant Opera, ed. A. Turnebus et D. Hoeschelius (I6r3), 784). Delaunay similarly gives "protecteur de la navigation" (32I), and H. I. Bell "patron of mariners" (in Journ.

232

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Egypt. Archaeol. xm (rgz7), 175). A. C. Merriam points ont that im~"~~pto<; and the cognate adjectives ~'"~'H~pto<;, iiL~"'~~p•o<;, and ix- or &.7to~o:~~pto<;, which are all connected with travelling, especially by water, are used in the neuter plural to denote the sacrifices offered on embarking or disembarking, and are applied also to the gods to whom these sacrifices are offered, the gods who protect sailors and travellers. Therefore in this context "Caesar l:m~"~~pto<; means the deity to whom the i7n~x~~P'"'· the sacrifices at embarking and disembarking, were offered, who rules the sea, and protects all sailors, exactly as the old Latin translator viewed it." He compares Vergil's reference to Augustus as a god of the sea in Georg. i, 29-31 ("The Caesareum at Alexandria" in Trans. Amer. Philol. Assoc. xiv (r883), 5-35, especially zo-6). &v't"mpU 't"Wv e:Uop~J-oT&'TWV A~!J-tvwv. The temple. of Augustus was near the shore of the Great Harbour, between the temple of Poseidon and the Emporium (Strabo, I.e.; cf. H. S. ]ones's map, Loeb Strabo VIII). It is the only Alexandrian temple of which the exact location is known, its two obelisks having been in situ until the nineteenth century, when one was removed to London and the other to New York. Cf. E. Breccia, Alexandrea ad Aegyptum (rg22), 92-3. [iv] ypo:Cf<XL<;. Reiter brackets iv. Mangey's suggestion &.v
ve:<.~.:r-re:po7to~~o::v,

zo8 ve:w"C'Ep~a~J.oU, and 333 \lE:~'n::pov mvdv.

icr-.ep'l)cro:v. This has been suspected of being corrupt. Mangey conjectured lxnep'l)cra.v, "lagged behind". Wendland proposed the insertion of -.c[J.~<; before icr-.tp'l) ?" (note ad lac.). 153 --;{;)v 7tcxp €x0Ca"C'o~.; 7twrp(wv. Augustus continued the republican policy of not interfering with the religious practices of subject peoples, provided that they were not believed to be either morally undesirable or politically dangerous (as were the Bacchic cult in r86 B. C. and Druidism in the first century A.D.). No attempt was made to impose religious uniformity on the empire. J osephus pays tribute to this feature of Roman rule-magnanimitatemmediocritatemque Romanorum, quonia"} subiectos non cogunt patria iura transcendere (In Ap. ii, 73). 1

§§ I5I-I55

233

~ow 'PwfLOllxwv. A reference to Augustus' attempted religious restoration in Italy. 't'(i} ~J-eyE:Oe:~ 't''f)<; 't'ooTdrr1J<; ~YE~J-ovLa.; bt6!J-e:vo~. Augustus' ahn in officially instituting the worship of Ram a et A ugustus was to increase the prestige of Rome and to foster the loyalty of her subjects by providing them with a common worship transcending the boundaries of local native cults. The fundamental character of ruler-cult was political rather than religious. As A. D. Node puts it, "in general, the ruler had no interest in the cult of himself except as a factor in the cohesion and organization of the State ... , Between him and his subjects the issue was one of loyalty: he desired to be assured of it, to receive what soon became the standard form of homage, and they to express it" (CAH X, 482). t7t0lp8~vo:•. Wendland's conjecture for the clearly corrupt a.e~'"' I 54 of the MSS. Similar suggestions are ~•ape~'"'' (Cohn) and the simple &.pe~'"' (Colson). Mangey suggested ot~"'e~'"''· TO !J-'I'J3&m't'E Oe:Ov fcxu't'~W €0d:rjacu 7tpoaeme'iv. Cf. Claudius' deprecation of divine honours in his Letter (47-51). Augustus allowed temples to be erected to himself in the provinces only if they were dedicated to Ram a also, and refused to have any temple in Rome itself (S. Aug. 52). For to'his fellow-countrymen he was, officially, not a god during his lifetime. Only his ge1!ius received worship. But the line between the worship of Augustus' genius and the worship of the man himself was a very fine one, and in practice the Emperor himself was virtually the object of worship. Occasional references, e.g., in Horace (Carm. i, 2, 41-5; iii, 3, II-12 (if bibit is correct); iii,,5, 2-3; iv, 5, 31-5; Epist. ii, r, 15-7) and in Propertius (iii, 4, r), show that he was popularly regarded as divine before his death even in Italy. In the East he was worshipped as a god as the Hellenistic kings had been, and, whatever his views were on being addressed as a god, official documents sometimes so designated him (e.g., V. Ehrenberg and A. H. M. ]ones, Documents Illustrating the Reigns of Augustus and Tiberius (1949), nos. ro6-g, IIS-6). 155 In 155-61 Philo appeals in detail to the protection which Augustus and Tiberius had given to the Jews' religious liberty as a precedent justifying the continued exemption of their synagogues from molestation. 1t&<; oi5v &7te3€xe:To; Reiter punctuates 1t&<; oi5v &7te3€:xe:-ro 't'~v 7t'e:po:.v ..... 0:.7tOTO!J-1)V, • . 'Y)V oux 'Y)yvoe:~ . . . . . The punctuatiOn here adopted, with the removal of the ~v of the MSS, is that of Mangey, I

,,

•

'

I

I

234

·COMMENTARY ON

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

which is followed by Colson. The latter comments on Reiter's punctuation that "there is little or no point in the question 'How did he approve of the section beyond the Tiber ?' By the very small change involved in expelling ~v after &7toTo[h~V, the course of the argument is clearly shown" (note ad lac.). 710 kpocv Tou 1\~kpsw, 7tOTOt[hoil. Apparently the only Jewish settlement in Rome known to Philo was that on the right bank of the Tiber in the district now called Trastevere. The deduction which ' drawn from this-that the Trastevere settlement was the may be original one-is confirmed by the fact that the Jewish catacomb of Monteverde on the Via Portuensis in that area appears from its brickstamps, the earliest of which belong to the first century B. C., to be the oldest of the six Jewish catacombs so far discovered in Rome, as well as being the largest. The Jewish colony in Rome dates back to the second centnry B. C. at least, if there is any truth in the tradition recorded in the epitomes of Valerius Maximns (i, 3, 3) that the Jews were expelled from Rome in 139 B.C. for practices which sound like proselytism. For discussions of this tradition see, e.g., F. Cumont in Comptes Rendues de l'Acad. des Inscr. (1906), 66-7, and "Apropos de Sabazius et du Judaisme" in Le Musee Belge xiv (1910), 55-6o; H. Vogelstein, A History of the Jews in Rome (1940), ro-15. The large size of the Jewish colony in Rome at the time of Augustus is indicated by the tradition that over eight thousand Jews supported a Palestinian deputation which appealed to him in A. D. 4 (AJ xvii, 300; B] ii, So). The Jewish communities on the left bank of the Tibcr known to us from inscriptions and from the discovery of Jewish catacombs on the Via Appia, Via Nomentana, and Via Labicana, probably developed from the first century A.D., the period to which the brick-stamps of those catacombs belong. For fuller treatment of the Jewish settlements in Rome see Cif I, lxviii-lxxxi, and, for the brick-stamps, 10-n, 51, 55, 2II-27; S. Collon, "Remarques sur les quartiers juifs de la Rome antique" in Melanges d'Archtol. et d'Hist. (Ecole Franyaise de Rome) lvii (1940), 72-94. (PC.U[LG<~O~ ae ~crO'.\J ot rc/\douc; &rce:Ae:uBe:p<08€v-re:c;. There is epigraphic evidence for a "synagogue of the Vernaculi" in Rome (Cif I, 31S, 3S3, 39S, 494), although ].-B. Frey thinks that the term Vernaculi may have been used in this connection to mean Jews born in Rome rather than Jewish slaves born in their masters' homes (Cif I, lxxvii). Philo's reference to freedmen may cover the sons of freed-

§ 155

235

men as well as actual ex-slaves, as E. T. Merrill thinks that Tacitus' libertini gmeris (A. ii, S5, 5) does (Classical Philology xiv (1919), 366-8). Formal manumission conferred Roman citizenship on its recipient. So-called "informal" manumission conferred no political rights until the Lex Junia (a law of uncertain date, probably passed nnder Augustus before A.D. 4) gave to slaves freed in this way rights similar to those formerly enjoyed by the Latin colonies. The Lex Aelia Sentia of A.D. 4 gave the same status to slaves manumitted under the age of thirty. To these freedmen various avenues to the attainment of full Roman citizenship were open. See further A. M. Duff, Freedmen in the Early Roman Empire (1928), 50-2; 75-S5; H. Last in CAH X, 429-34. Philo may well be using the terms ('Roman" here and ({Roman citizenship" in 157 loosely to cover Jewish freedmen with Latinitas J uniana as well as those with full Roman rights. The proportion of the two types of Jewish 'freedmen is impossible to estimate, but the reference in 15S to Jews receiving free corn suggests that by Augustus' time many o'f them had acquired the full franchise. (The Jews whom Cicero mentions in a speech of 59 B. C. as attending contiones (Pro Fl. 28, 66-7) did not necessarily possess full citizenship, since non -citizens were admitted to these gatherings.) octxlh&i-wToo. The origin of the Jewish colony in Rome is not known, but traders probably formed its nucleus. It is unlikely that Jewish prisoners-of-war reached Italy before the first Roman campaigns on Jewish soil, those which culminated in Pomp.ey's capture of Jerusalem in 63 B. C. The many thousands of prisoners captured during Pompey's eastern campaigns included Jews (A] xiv, 71; BJ i, 154), who presumably accompanied their king Aristobulus to Rome for Pompey's triumph in September, 61 (Plutarch Pomp. 45, 4; Appian Mith. n6-7); for other references and for the epigraphic record see E. Pais, Fasti Triumphales Populi Romani (1920), 252-66, and A. Degrassi, Inscr. Italiae XIII, i, 566. The so-called "synagogue of the Libertini" in Jerusalem (Acts vi, 9) is believed to be connected with Pompey's captives, later mannmitted, or their descendants; see L.-H. Vincent, "Decouverte de la 'Synagogue des Affranchis' a Jerusalem" inRB XXX (1921), 247-77, especially 25S ff. Jewish captives may have found their way to Rome in 53 B.C., when large numbers were enslaved as a reprisal for a rebellion (A] xiv, 120; BJ i, 1So; the figure thirty thousand is, however, probably an exaggeration). After the capture of Jerusalem in 37 Legatio ad Gaium

I6

! I.

''

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

B. C., C. Sosius struck coins in Zacynthus portraying on the reverse a captive Jew and Jewess mourning at the foot of a trophy (H. A. Grueber, Coins of the Roman Republic in the B. M. (rgro) II, 508, no. I46,=E. A. Sydenham, The Coinage of the Roman Republic' (revised by Haines, Farrer, and Hersch, 1952), rgg, no. 1272); and his triumph in 35 (Pais, op. cit., 302) presupposes the display of Jewish prisoners. On the numismatic evidence of this period see further H. St. J. Hart in ]ThS new series iii (r952), r76-8o. ~7tlcr~rx~o. To say that Augustus "knew .... " implies that Jewish religious liberty had been protected by Rome before his time. The formulation of Rome's policy towards the Jews had been largely the work of Julius Caesar, whose lead Augustus followed. Philo, however, idealizes Augustus throughout this treatise, and here he goes as far as he dares in representing him as the author of the Jews' security by making no direct mention of Caesar or his work. 7tpocre:uxrX~ gxov-;ac.,. For Caesar's authorization of the synagogues see the note on rr4. During the chaos of the civil wars the collegia once more became troublesome, and the problem had to be tackled again by Augustus: collegia praeter antiqua et legitim a dissolvit (S. Aug. 32, r). Whether the Lex Julia de Collegiis mentioned in ILS 4966 was that of Caesar or that of Augustus is uncertain; 1\!Iommsen thinks the latter (Romisches Strajrecht (r8gg), 876). The situation may well have demanded fresh legislation rather than the mere re-enforcement of a law which had fallen into abeyance. C. Hiilsen inferred from CIL VI, 10299 together with VI, r48 that the era of the collegium fabrorum tignariorum began in 7 B.C. This has been accepted as the probable date of Augustus' measure by, e.g., Kornemann in P.-iV. s.v. collegium, col. 408. It would fit in with Augustus' censorial activity in 8-7 B.C. (Res Gestae eh. 8). C. Pietrangeli, however, argues for a later date for the era of the collegium Jabrorwn tignariorum ("Frammento dei fasti del collegio Romano dei fabri tignarii" in Bull. della Commissione Archeol. del Govern. di Roma lxvii (r939), ror-7), and Hiilsen himself later abandoned the date 7 B.C. (CIL VI, 30703). A. 1\!Iomigliano, taking 7 B. C. as the year of Augustus' measure, suggests that the oldest synagogues in Rome took their names at this time, when their continued existence was again officially sanctioned ('~I nomi delle prime Sinagoghe' Romane" in La Rassegna Mensile di Israel vi, no. 7 (1931), 3-rz). He argues that the only Volumnius who is known to have been involved in Jewish 1

COMMENTARY ON

§§ I 55- I 56

237

affairs and after whom the synagogue of the Volumnesii can therefore have been named, was the man who, as procurator (not legate, as 1\!Iomigliano says) of Syria during the governorship of Sentius Saturninus (c. g-6 B.C.), had considerable dealings with Herod the Great c. 7 B. C. (A] xvi, 277-369; BJ i, 538-42), and that the synagogue must have been named at about that time, since Volumnius had no importance for the Jews later. The coincidence of date would be very close. His thesis is less convincing in the case of the synagogue of the Agrippesii, whose patron he identifies with M. Vipsanius Agrippa, since it involves supposing that the community took his name some five years after his death. But it is conceivable that this was done in memory of his kindness towards the Jews (Leg. zgr ff.). 't'~V n&-rpLov 7t<XLde:Uo~rroct cptAocrocp(ocv. Cf. M'os. ii, zr6 q:nAoaocpoUcn 't'r.t.!:c., €~d6p.cnc., 'Ioudcdot -r~v tt&:'t'ptov qnAoaocp(oc.v -rOv xp6vov ~xeYvov &v
is applied to the Jewish scriptures also in Opij. rz8, Spec. ii, 6r, and Cont. 28 (concerning the Therapeutae). Philo is speaking of the exposition of the Torah by the rabbis and elders at the synagogue services (r57 ~<X<; ~&v v6flwv O~'>'IY~""''). Cf. numerous references in the Gospels to Christ "teaching in the synagogues". For specimens of the type of exposition given see His sermon at Nazareth (St. Luke iv, r6-28) and the 1\!Iidrash passim, which embodies homilies of the kind delivered in the synagogues. Philo describes the synagogue service in a lost work quoted by Eusebius (Praep. Ev. viii, 7, 12-3) and the service of the Essenes in Prob. 8r-2. For a fuller study see Hastings, A Dictionary of the Bible s.v. Synagogue, 640-2; I. Elbogen, Der jiidische Gottesdienst in seiner geschichtlichen Entwicklung (rg3r), ro7 ff., especially 194-8. XP~t.ta-ra cruv&.yov-re<;~ &7t0 'T&v &mxpzOOv tEpa. The word &:rr:apx~ was used not only in the sense of literal "first-fruits", payable only by an agricultural and pastoral people and confined to the land of Israel (Exod. xxiii, rg; xxxiv, 26; Deut. xxvi, 2-rr; Spec. i, 152-3), but also to denote other offerings to a deity (Juster I, 378, n. 4; see, e.g., Romans xi, r6, and Philo's use towards the end of r57). On the various dues payable by the Jews to the Temple and its officials see Schiirer II, 297-317. Of these the most important payable by the Diaspora, who were subject to fewer than were the Jews of Palestine, was the annual money-tax of a half (at one time, apparently, a third) of a shekel, or its equivalent, two Attic drach-

:::,

.••.

I,

'

I

I(.I!'· I'

!

li :i

I I· i

'11

j:

ii' i:

!I,, •I

1] I-X[LOV) or two Roman denarii, levied on all Jewish men over the age of twenty, and also on freed slaves and proselytes, for the upkeep of the Temple and its services (Exod. XXX, II-5; xxxviii, zs-6; Nehem. X, 32·3; MishnahShekalim passim; Me!?ilta, tractate Bahodesh I (J. Z. Lauterbach's translation (1933) II, p. 194); St. Matt. xvii, 24; A] xviii, 312; B] vii, zr8; Philo Heres r86; Dio lxv (lxvi), 7, z). The term &"'"'PX~ is used for this tax by Philo in Spec. i, 77, and there is little doubt that it is mainly to it that Leg. r56-7 and other passages in Philo and Josephus dealing with the &"'"'PX<Xl and "sacred money" of the Diaspora refer (Leg. zr6, 291, 3II-6; A] xvi, r6o-73). Josephus refers to other dues paid by the Babylonian Diaspora in A] xviii, 312. It was the duty of collecting taxes for Jerusalem which made it essential for the Diaspora communities to havc the right of keeping a common fund. ml[L7tOVTIX<; zk 'Izpocr6AU[Le<. The proceeds of the 3l3pe
COMMENTARY ON

§§ I56·I57

239

theft of the sacred money is declared to be an act of sacrilege. I

57

I'j·l

!I',,

o\.he l~cf>x~crE -r~~ ~pwfJ-1)<; txdvouc; ..... o6""C"e: Exci>Aucre auv&ye:crBat.

Dio says that in 4I Claudius removed the Jews' right of assembly, and that this course was taken because the Jews were too numerous to expel, presumably from Rome; he does not state the Jews' offence (lx, 6, 6). St. Luke (Acts xviii, 2) and Suetonius (Claudius 25, 4), however, both refer to an actual expulsion of the Jews from Rome by Claudius; and Orosius, who quotes and discusses the sentence of Suetonius, also alleges that Josephus mentions an expulsion and dates it to 49 (vii, 6, I5). There is no such reference in Josephus' works as extant, but if this date is accepted on Orosius' authority, there were presumably two occasions on which Claudius took measures against the Jews in Rome, the second occurring almost certainly after Philo's death. In that case, the wording of Dio's notice of the measure passed in 4I may mean that at that time Claudius at first proposed to expel the Jews and then changed his mind and took a less drastic action against them. Many scholars, however, consider that only one measure of Claudius is in question; see H. Janne, "Impulsore Chresto" in Annuaire de l'Institut de Philol. ii (1934), 53I·53 and works cited in 533, n. 7 (where the reference to Juster should read "I, 4II, and II, r7r"). The problem is then its elate. Orosius' chronology and statements are unreliable, and Janne argues in favour of accepting Dio's date, 41, in preference to that of Orosius. He maintains that the Jews were expelled, as the other authorities say, He cites T. Zielinski's suggestion that Dio's notice is an interpretation of his sources and means in effect, "I find in my sources that Claudius expelled the riotous Jews from Rome. But this seems to me unlikely in view of their numbers. I think rather that he merely removed their right of assembly" (in Rev. de l'Universite de Bruxelles xxxii (r926-7), r43, n. z). Whether Claudius had to take action against the Jews in 4I only or some years later also, it is very probable that Philo's remark about Augustus here, in a work written in or soon after 4I (note on r ~[Ld<; ot yepovnc;), is connected with Claudius' action in that year. Without saying anything to give offence to Claudius, he voices an implicit protest by recalling the more lenient attitude of his predecessor and model towards the Jews. W. Seston's objection (in Rev. d'Hist. et de Philos. Religieuses xi (rg3r), 300-r) that Philo could not have written this passage if Claudius had just removed the Jews' right of assembly, and that Dio's date for his measure

r'

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

against the Jews therefore cannot be correct, does not seem valid. o~--;e 'T~V (P(JJ[.LC(6{;~V cdrr&\l &cpdAe:"t'o 7toAt"t'detv. If the suggestion made in the preceding note is correct, it is quite possible that Augustus' attitude to the possession of Roman citizenship by Jews is similarly cited here as a precedent for Claudius to follow in settling the question of the civic status of the Jews in Afexandria: they should be allowed to regain their rights as a rcoAt1'~gustus carried out in other provinces. Philo's use of rcpocr1'a~oc<; here and a,e1'a~0<1'o in 317 implies that the initiative in instituting the sacrifices lay with Augustus and

COMMENTARY ON

§ 157

not with the Jews. He also says in both places that the sacrifices were offered at Augustus' own expense. A. Momigliano finds these statements incompatible: "Had Augustus ordered it, obviously he would not have felt bound to pay for it." He thinks that Herod the Great instituted the sacrifices and that Philo's assertion that they were ordered by Augustus is due to "his interest in proving that Augustus recognized the Jewish worship" (CAH X, 329). Josephus, however, says that the sacrifices were offered at the expense of the whole Jewish community (In Ap. ii, 77). Can this perhaps be reconciled with Philo by supposing that the institution of the sacrifices (for the precise date of which there is no evidence) occurred when the country became a province in A. D. 6, the natural time for the introduction of the imperial cult, and that the expense was met out of the taxes then paid by the province into the Emperor's treasury? The daily sacrifice consisted of two lambs and a bull (317). From a statement of Josephus that the Jews sacrificed twice daily for the Emperor (B] ii, 197) "we may infer that the ... sacrifice ... was offered partly at the morning, partly at the evening service" (H. St. J. Thackeray, note ad lac., Loeb). £v"t'£Ae:xc::~<;. The nouns ~v'Tet..exe~(J.. and tv3eAS:xe:Lcx were frequently confused in antiquity; see Lucian Judic. Vac. ro and]. E. King's note on Cicero Tusc. i, 22 (Loeb). 'EvaeA<X~<;, "in perpetuity", is frequently written tvT
i:

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

The refusal of the Jews to continue the sacrifices for the Emperor in A. D. 66 is regarded by Josephus as one of the causes of the war (BJ ii, 409). rs8 ~~- ""~pi3o,. This has been suspected and an emendation to <mupi3o,, sportulae, proposed by l\:Iendelssohn. Colson thinks 7te<-rpi3o, logical here, since the word is applied to a city, Jerusalem, in 278, and "it is an essential part of the argument that Augustus' favour was shown to the Jews in his own city" (note ad lac.). &py!Jpoov ~ criTov. When C. Gracchus enacted that corn should be sold at a fixed and reasonable price, it was probably open to all citizens to buy it at that price. But after the cheap sale of corn had degenerated through the agency of Clodius into a free monthly dole, the number of recipients was apparently restricted by J ulius Caesar and later by Augustus. It is thought by some scholars that the dole, for which senators and equites were in any case ineligible, was then confined to the poorer classes of citizens domiciled in Rome. il.~f'O' here seems to be used as the equivalent o! plebs urbana. For fuller discussion of the corn-doles sees D. van Berchem, Les Distributions de Blr! et d'Argent a la Plebe Romaine sous /'Empire (1939), especially IS-31. Philo implies that Roman citizens received regular money-doles also. He may have derived this mistaken notion from the occasional gifts of money made to citizens-the cong1:aria of Caesar, Angustus, Tiberius, and Gaius, and the legacies of the first three: see, e.g., S. Julius 38, r, and 83, 2; Aug. ror, 2; Tib. 20 and 76; G. 17, 2; Appian BC ii, 102 and 143; Res Ges.ae eh. IS; T. A. ii, 42, r, and iii, 29 3; Velleius Paterculus ii, rzg, 3; and many references in Dio. Cf. van Berchem, op. cif., especially 141 ff., and Balsdon, 183. oUM7to"C'E -roUe; 'loudcdou~ ~A&-r't'wcre; ,..~~ x.
COMMENTARY ON

rsg

§§ IS7-IS9

243

24 ol 1t<XVTG<XOU mxvn,. The Jews' privileges were empire-wide (note on II4)· ~1JLG
'i

j

• I

.,

·)

244

THE EMBASSY TO GAltJS

of those accounts that Sejanus had any hand in the expulsion; and the statement that his proposed attack was frustrated by his death makes no sense if the reference is to an expulsion actually carried out tvvelve years earlier. If the designs against the Jews which Philo attributes to Sejanus were distinct from Tiberius' expulsion of the Roman Jewish community in 19, it appears that Philo ignores that expulsion completely in this treatise, mentioning it neither in 159-61 nor in his eulogy of Tiberius in 141-2, nor again in 2gr-322, where he deals further with Augustus' and Tiberius' treatment of the Jews. l-Ie implies here that in the years of Tiberius' principate before Sejanus' attack the Jews had enjoyed the same religious liberty and protection as they had done under Augustus. E. T. Merrill suggests a convincing reason for Philo's doing this: he is concerned in this section to show Claudius that, except for Gaius, his predecessors had always treated the Jews with favour, and therefore he does not want to record a repressive action for which Tiberius would have to be held responsible ("The expulsion of the Jews from Rome under Tiberius" in Classical Philology xiv (1919), 365-72). For a fuller study of the expulsion and of Leg. 159-61 see the present writer, "Some notes on the Jews under Tiberius" in Latomus xv (1956), 314-29. On Philo's supposed writings on Sejanus' antiJewish activity cf. Introduction, pp. 38 ff. 160 -c~v 'PwfL'I)V. There is no indication of how long the expulsion order of 19 remained in force. The Jews may have been able to return to their homes quite soon. ~euBec<; ~crew Bce<~ot.cd. The trumping up of false and malicious charges against the Jews in Rome was presumably to be the prelude to some physical attack, which Sejanus' death forestalled. &vr~~·~cr6[lE\IO\I ..... cdrroxp&'t'opo~. A puzzling remark. Would the Jews have been eager in 30-1 to protect the Emperor who had expelled the members of the Roman community from their homes some twelve years previously I And would they have had any opportunity of doing so, when he was in closely-guarded isolation on Capri? Or if their alleged readiness to defend Tiberius is attributed to the period before the expulsion, the remark is equally obscure, since Sejanus showed no signs of treachery at that early date. But Philo is writing as a propagandist, and he is probably here concerned to make a point even at the expense of historical credibility. r6r 07tc\pzo•<;. Used here and in 299 as a general term to cover

COMMENTARY ON §§ 159-163

245

provincial governors of all ranks. In 207 it is used for legate. ""P'IJrop'ijcre<'ij<; &Ge6~'1)~o<;. Philo alludes to the "atheism" of the Egyptians on several other occasions.: LA iii, 212; Post. 2; Heres 203; and M os. ii, 193 and 196. In Fug. 180 he defines it by

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

saying that Moses described "the Egyptian character as atheistical in its preference for earth above heaven, for the things which live on the ground above those that dwell on high, and the body above the soul" (Whitaker's translation, Loeb Philo V). The second item in this indictment clearly refers to animal worship. Philo's use of "atheism" to denote Egyptian polytheism is discussed by Wolfson, I, 32. ~1-•0•6-r~-ro:. The same word is used of Egyptian animal worship in spec. i, 79· 164 -rij\ 6vn. The use of this phrase suggests that Philo did not believe that the Alexandrians took their own deifications entirely seriously. 165 -rou cruvo.36-ra,. See the note on this word in 39· aLE7t~!J.TI'OV't"6 ":'tVE~. Who sent the reports to Gains? The· obvious person to keep in close touch with the Emperor was the prefect. But his reports would surely have minimized the disturbances which he was patently failing in his duty to put down. otxtTw;. This word, though frequently synonymous with 3out-o,, can be used also for the free-born members of a household. Presumably Gains' courtiers are meant here, but this word is chosen deliberately with its connotation of "slaves" in mind, since the courtiers included such creatures as Helicon (166). "'"'e&.~one<<; &d xo:t z!-eu&.~ono:,. Se. "about the Alexandrian situation''? 166 26 Aty6""''"'· Strictly speaking this should mean the depressed native classes of Egypt, and not include the Alexandrian Greeks, although possibly Philo uses the term here contemptuously to denote people who were in fact Greeks; cf. the note on 139, init. Goodenough (Politics, 15) and Box (note on Fl. 23) suppose that Helicon was an Alexandrian. 7tOV1Jpll crn:fp!J.O:To:.. Cohn conjectured 1toV1JpoU crn:fp~J.o:.-ro:., a phrase which occurs in Demosthenes xxv, 48. &.ve
COMMENTARY ON

§§ 163-170

247

freedman and that Philo calls him a slave out of contempt. -r&v €yxuxA(wv. Se. ·1t'o:Lae:uv-&-rwv. General, all-round education: see Plutarch Mor. Jc, II35d; Alex. 7, r; Athenaeus Deipnos. iv, r84b; Strabo i, I, 22; Vitruvius vi, praef. 4; and Lucian Amores 45· This comprised grammar, mathematics, music, and rhetoric (Philo Cher. 105). H. I. l\:Iarrou defines the term as covering both "the general culture of the educated gentleman" (the sense in which it is used here and in r68), and "the basic learning, the 'propaedeutic', the "Po""''3eo!L""'"' that prepared the mind for the more advanced stages of education and culture" (A History of Education in Antiquity, translated by G. Lamb (1956), 177). Cf. Quintilian i, ro, I. Philo held that the study of the encyclicals should precede the study of philosophy (Ebr. 49). In his view, as the encyclicals were the handmaid of philosophy, so philosophy was the handmaid of true wisdom, a propaedeutic for the study of the Law (Gong. 7r-8o). For discussion see Wolfson, I, 145-6, 149-51; Goodenough, Light, 239-41, 247-9; Introduction, 179-80. Our authorities all portray Tiberius as morose, gloomy, and r67 capable of sardonic humour and cutting remarks. r68 vecp 3scrn6-rn. Helicon presumably passed into Gains' possession under Tiberius' will. If Philo is dealing throughout r68-7r with the period immediately after Gains' accession, he is most probably antedating Helicon's anti-Semitic propaganda, in the same way as he ante-dates Gains' hostility towards the Jews in rr5-20, 133, and 346. But since by 172 he has slipped almost imperceptibly into a discussion of the events of the last year of Gains' life, he may be talking in r68-7r as well as in 176-7 about attempts made by Helicon at that time to prejudice Gains against the Jews. "'"P""'ecrup{L~""''· Cf. the note on 142 nocpeaop~. L. and S. 9 translate the participle as "mocking" here-a meaning suitable for the verb as used in 363. But "amusing" surely given more appropriate sense here. 7tE1te<(3eucre<• -r&. &.z6peu-re<. Colson suggests (note ad loc.) that this may be a reminiscence of Plato Laws 654a, where o &ne<(3su-ro<; is described as &z6psu-ro,. In that case Philo's phrase is an oxymoron, and perhaps has as strong a meaning as "education in vice". I70 -r<Xc;; XO:.'Til 'Iouao:Lwv xo:.l 't'&V 'louao:.Lx&v E6&v aLa~oA&~. The absurd, slanderous, and utterly inaccurate accounts of the Jews' early history and of their religious practices which were produced from the third century B. C. until the first century A. D. in Alexandria by

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

such writers as Manetho, Chaeremon, Lysimachus, and Apion (In Ap. i, 227 ff., z88 ff., 304 ff.; ii, I ff.), and in Asia Minor by Mnaseas, Posidonius of Apamea, and Apollonius Molon, whom Josephus names as Apion's sources (In Ap. ii, r6, 79, rrz, I45). The widespread credence which this malicious nonsense enjoyed is shown by the fact that J osephus felt the need to devote a treatise to its refutation, while some of it was set down even in the pages of the sober Tacitus (H. v, 3-5). IJI TIN yap bt' .ood"~ lW.T~yopov. Presumably the real accuser of the Jews was the Greek population of Alexandria, and Helicon was merely acting as its mouth-piece. tmyoypOl(J.(J.tvwv. Editors before Reiter accepted the MSS &noYEYP"I"I"evwv. 'Emyoypap.p.tvwv is a conjecture of Matfhaei (on whose work see the note on ro3). Colson queries the need for emending, despite the frequency of bnyp&rpw in Philo (note ad loc.), and the difference in meaning between the two verbs is not great. 172 Twv 'Al\o~Olvapewv ol npecr~ot,. The casual introduction of the Greek embassy into the narrative here and of the Jewish one in I74 is one of the features of the Legatio which suggested to Massebieau and Cohn that the treatise as we have it is incomplete. Cf. Introduction, pp. 4I-Z. J osephus says that three envoys were sent by each side (A] xviii, 257). But in the case of the Jews the testimony of Philo is to be preferred when he gives the number as five (370). It is quite likely that J osephus is wrong about the number of the Greeks also; they would hardly have sent a weaker delegation than their opponents did. The Greek delegation included Isidorus, one of the three leaders of the nationalist anti-Semitic party (Fl. 20), who acts as the spokesman in 355 and is the only member named by Philo, and the anti-Semitic writer Apion (A], l.c.). For Isidorus' relations with Flaccus, the prefect of Egypt, and the nationalist intrigues which preceded the disturbances of 38 see Introduction, pp. I4 ff. Towards the end of 38 Isidorus appeared among Flaccus' accusers at his trial in Rome (Fl. rz5-7). If therefore the voyages of the two delegations from Alexandria took place in the winter of 38-g, Isidorus must be presumed to have received orders while in Rome to join the Greeks there; he can hardly have returned to Alexandria to be chosen as a delegate and thus have done the journey between Alexandria and Rome three times in one winter. If, however, as is argued in Additional Note III, pp. 47-50, the

COMMENTARY ON

§§ I70-I72

249

delegations sailed in the winter of 39-40, there was time for Isidorus to return home after the trial of Flaccus and to sail again to Rome with the other envoys. It is quite possible, although definite evidence is lacking, that another of the nationalist leaders, Lampo, was also among the Greek envoys. He was in Rome with Isidorus for Flaccus' trial, and his name, like those of Isidorus and Apion, is absent from the list of the members of the Greek delegation sent to congratulate Claudius on his accession, which it is inferred left Alexandria before the delegations sent to Gains had returned (c.f. Introdnction, pp. 29-30). On the other hand, if the C. Julius Dionysius of the congratulatory delegation, or its spokesman, Dionysius the son of Theon, with whom he is probably to be identified, was the third nationalist leader of Fl. 20, as Bell (]. and C., notes on Letter, r7 and 76) thinks (cf. Musurillo, AA, ro4), then the last-named Dionysius was not a member of the embassy to Gains, but remained in Alexandria and so was available to be chosen as a member of the later delegation. ata XP~(J.<XTwv. How did Philo know that the Greeks administered bribes to Helicon? The statement may be merely malicious, although it is quite credible. Twv tn( Tt(J.""i:' tl\nWwv. A construction analogous with the Hellenistic use of E:Ard~e::tv bd, found, e.g., in Romans xv, rz. oUx. de; 11-axp&v. Gaius' intention seems to have been to visit Alexandria in the latter part of the summer of 40. For here, when the envoys discuss the proposed tour with Helicon in the spring of that year, it is expected to take place "soon"; and in May or June the legate of Syria is said to have expressed fear lest the disturbances then going on in Palestine should cause a food -shortage, which would be embarrassing when the Emperor touched at the Syrian and Palestinian coasts en route for Egypt (249-53 and notes). It seems, however, that during the summer of 40 Gains changed his plans. He held an ovation in Rome on 3Ist August (S. G. 49, 2), and as it was then too late in the season to set out on a long tour, the visit was postponed. By the autumn of 40 Gains was proposing to travel to the East in the following spring or summer (337-8; A] xix, 8r). Suetonius' use of commigrare in connection with Gains' proposed journey (l.c.) suggests that the Emperor was believed to be contemplating a permanent removal to Alexandria. Balsdon (97) regards this as a malicious interpretation put on Gains' plan by his

J ·11

i!l ·.1

250

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

enemies, comparable with the declaration of Julius Caesar's enemies that he hoped to transfer the capital to Tray or Alexandria (S. ]ulius 79, 3). 173 ~~c<;. Colson explains that "the 'eye of the city' is those through whom it sees what it needs .... Or perhaps simply 'the choicest part' .... " (note ad lac.). A different English metaphor conveys the latter idea. 174 The use of the first person plural is the only introduction which the Jewish delegation receives. Philo was its leader (A] xviii, 159) and apparently its oldest member (Leg. 182). Goodenough argues convincingly that the mere fact that he was chosen to go on a delicate and important mission proves that he was not the philosophical recluse which he is usually mpposed to have been, but a man experienced in administration, diplomacy, and public affairs generally. J osephus' description of him as Ta "&.niX ~v3o~o<; (l.c.) also suggests that his fame did not rest on his philosophical works alone. Furthermore, in Spec. iii, 1-6 Philo himself says that his mystical meditations had been interrupted by an unwelcome and compulsory entry into politics, which robbed him of his powers of philosophic detachment, and he then mentions briefly the general character of the works which he had composed since that time. These few words accurately describe most of his extant writings. As these cannot all belong to the few years of life which remained for him after 40, it would appear that the interruption was not his membership of the embassy to Gaius at the end of his life (his only known incursion into politics), but some much earlier, unrecorded event, and that, as a member of a prominent Jewish family, he was called upon in his early manhood to hold some office in the TCOALTEU[LIX ("Philo and public life" in jou1·n. Egypt. Archaeol. xii (1926), 77-9; cf. Introduction, 4-8). The passage in Fug. 36 in which Philo argues that practical participation in politics should precede the adoption of a contemplative life points in the same direction. Neither Philo nor Josephus gives any indication of the identity of the other four Jewish delegates. E. G. Turner suggests (in }RS xliv (1954), 58) that one may have been Philo's brother, Alexander the alabarch (on whom cf. Introduction, p. 4); he was imprisoned by Gains, apparently in Rome, and released by Claudius soon after his accession (A] xix, 276). Goodenough argues that he was younger than Philo (Introduction, 9-10). Cf. J. Schwarz in Annuaire de l'Inst. de Philol. et d'Hist. Orientates et Slaves xiii (1953), 598-g.

COMMENTARY ON §§ n2-179

251

T6v ~fL'JlWAEOov~"' ~v3ov TCOAt[LWV. Although the anti-Semitic Apelles of Ascalon (203-6) is not mentioned here, his presence with Helicon at Gains' court is not likely to have improved the Jews' chances of succeeding in their appeal. [LOCA6ti~occ ""'( ·n6Meilrr1Xc. If here and in 178 Philo is delicately hinting that the Jews also stooped to bribery, their money was less well spent than was that of the Greeks. 176 ~pyov, TColpepyov. The same play on words occurs in 323. I77 TOU ae. Gains. Reiter thinks that the name r!X!ou may have dropped out here. 178 28 -roilTo ~6 [LOpo<;. In Hellenistic Greek [LOpo<; often loses its sense of "part" and becomes a weak work like XP~fLIX, meaning mereiy matter''. YP"'fLfLOC~ecov. Philo does not make it clear whether the Jews sent their memorandum to Gains before the interview described in 181 or whether they presented it to him on that occasion. iLv -re ~TCol6o[L
Legatio ad Gaium

17

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

(A] xviii, r43-236). Gains released him soon after his accession and gave him a small kingdom consisting of the former tetrarchy of Philip in northern Transjordan (Auranitis, Trachonitis, Batanaea, Gaulonitis, and Paneas), which after Philip's death in 34 had been temporarily attached to Syria, together with Abilene, a part of the dismembered Ituraean principality (A] xviii, ro6-8, 237; cf. Fl. 25; Dio lix, 8, z). The date of the death of Lysanias, tetrarch of Abilene, who was ruling c. 28 (St. Luke iii, r), is not known. In 39 (after the events alluded to in this section) Agrippa's kingdom was enlarged by the addition of Galilee and Peraea, the tetrarchy of Antipas, for whose dethronement and exile Agrippa was himself partly responsible (A] xviii, 240-55; BJ ii, r8r-3; Leg. 326 and note), and in 4I it was further extended by the addition of Judaea and Samaria, the procuratorial province (A] xix, 274). For modern biographies of Agrippa see H. Willrich, DasH aus des Her odes zwischen]erusalem undRom (r929), I47-56; M. P. Charlesworth, Five Men (rg36), 5-30; Jones, Herods, r84-2r6; S. Perowne, The Later Herods (r958), 58-83. Agrippa did not leave Rome to take possession of his kingdom immediately, but remained in Rome until the miclclle of 38 (A] xviii, 238), and then, at Gains' suggestion, he travelled via Alexandria (Fl. 26). For his reception there in August and the demonstrations which his brief visit provoked see Introduction, pp. IJ-I9. From Alexandria he sent to Gains a copy of the congratulatory resolution passed by the Jews there at the Emperor's accession and suppressed by Flaccus, together with a covering letter explaining its belateclness (Fl. 97-I03). The memorandum dealing with the Jews' position in Alexandria mentioned by Philo in Leg. I79 presumably accompanied those other two documents to Rome. The absence of any reference in either the In Flaccum or the Legatio to the presence of Agrippa in Alexandria during the riots suggests that he had left the city before they began. In that case the "sufferings" of the Alexandrian Jews which Philo implies were mentioned in the petition sent by Agrippa to Gains from Alexandria cannot have been those inflicted during the riots, which no doubt were the main subject of the memorandum submitted to Gains by the envoys. The earlier petition presumably dealt with the discrimination shown against the Jews in lawsuits by Flaccus before the riots (Fl. 24; cf. Introduction, p. IJ). The envoys' memorandum must have included complaints about this discrimination also, if it embodied a summary of the earlier one; but it cannot, as Philo

COMMENTARY ON

§§ I79-I8I

253

suggests, have consisted solely of that summary. Similarly, the "claims" made in the petition sent by Agrippa cannot have included a plea for redress for the losses incurred by the Jews during the riots, although such a plea is likely to have been included in the envoys' memorandum. Both documents may have mentioned the protection granted to the Jews by Rome before the time of Gains, which figured prominently in Agrippa's later appeal to the Emperor; cf. the note on 276. The significance of rcpo bAiyou here is discussed in Additional Note III, p. 49· Reiter, following Colm, marks a lacuna between I79 and r8o. The first person plural in I79 denotes the Alexandrian Jews as a whole, while in the second sentence of r8o, and probably in the first also, it denotes Philo's embassy. This change suggests that something has been lost. ox6po<; &crrcov3o.;. By the time with which Philo is now concerned, r8o the last year of Gains' life, this description of the Emperor was probably correct. See the note on II5 f'6vou.; yap 'Iou3odou.; lnto~J.irce:-ro.

r8r

't'0 7tpWTov. The embassies' second, and much longer, interview with Gains is recounted in 349-67. The purpose of the first meeting seems to have been merely to introduce the envoys formally and acquaint the Emperor briefly with their requests. ~-ruxe 3€ &x 'l'&v !1-"IJTPc9wv &;~cbv x~nwv. The gardens laid out by Gains' mother Agrippina, or perhaps by Germanicus (CIL VI, 4346), were situated on the right bank of the Tiber, with a terrace and portico at the waterside (Sen. Dial. v, r8, 4), and contained the circus of Gains and Nero, also known as the circus Vaticanus (Pliny NH xvi, zor; xxxvi, 74; cf. T. A. xiv, I4, 4; xv, 44, 7). Balsdon suggests (96) that the purpose of Gains' visit to the gardens was to inspect the work clone in his absence on this new building. The long accepted belief, expressed, e.g., by S. B. Platner and T. Ashby (A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome (r929), II3), that the south side of Constantine's basilica of St. Peter was built on top of the demolished north walls of the (presumably eastwest orientated) circus has been disproved by the recent excavations under the cathedral, which have revealed no trace of the circus but have shown that the south wall of old St. Peter's rested on bedrock. The southward orientation of the pagan necropolis under the south aisle of the cathedral indicates the existence of a road running east-

,I

254

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

west along the southern foot of the Vatican hill. This road quite possibly formed the northern boundary of the gardens of Agrippina, which therefore will not have extended up the Vatican hill over the site of the cathedral (as held by Platner and Ashby, op. cit., 264), but have been confined to the flatter ground to the sonth of it. Summaries and discussions of the relevant portion of the Vatican report on the excavations are given by ]. M. C. Toynbee, "The shrine of St. Peter and its setting" in ]RS xliii (1953), 8-12, and Toynbee and J. B. Ward Perkins, The Shrine of St. Peter (1956), 5-12. If the envoys travelled to Italy in the winter of 39-40, the preliminary hearing probably occurred towards the end of May, 40, when Gains is known to have been in the neighbourhood of Rome. A fragment oftheAFA (p. 14) shows that he was present on 1st June at a sacrifice at the shrine of the Dea Dia, and provides a terminus ante quem for his return from his German expedition; but he may have been back in Italy some weeks earlier. Suetonius' statement that he "entered the city" at his ovation on 31st August (G. 49, z) is interpreted as meaning that he remained outside the pomoerium between his return from the North and that date, and this is borne out by the AFA for 24th May and a day early in June (I.e.), which show that he was not present at sacrifices on the Capitol ou those dates. The shrine of the Dea Dia (at the fifth milestone along the Via Campana) and the gardens of Agrippina both lay well outside the pomoerium (for the line of which at this time see M. Labrousse, "Le pomoerium de la Rome imperiale" in Melanges d'Archiot. et eNlist. (Ecole Fran~aise de Rome) liv (1937), 165-99). Balsdon (I.e. and]RS, 21) makes the acceptable suggestion that Gains passed the months June-August in Campania (Leg. 185, Puteoli). TOV bd TW'I rtpoa~oc&v. The Latin title was presumably a legationibus. That precise title is not listed by Magie, De Vocabulis, hut similar ones are found (71). "Of"cl.ov. Otherwise unknown. "o:DT6<;" ~'i'~ . . . . Hardly the remark of an implacable enemy of the Jews. It is clear even from Philo's prejudiced account that Gains did not reject the Jews' suit out of hand. cruvf;3ocr6ocL. Here "congratulate". Cf. R. C. J ebb's note on the verb in his edition of Sophocles' OC (188g), line 1398. 'fi<XVToccr[Olc<;. See the note on this word in rrr. 182 T~v lf.),),~v rt"c3docv. Does Philo mean here the practical training

COMMENTARY ON

§§ 181-184

255

given him by his previous political career (note on 174) rather than his philosophical training? 't'ocroD't'wv ..... &qnytJ.S:Vw\1. During Gaius' absence on his expedition to the North, embassies had accumulated in Italy. Tl ~oul.6fl<e~oc<; (204) to mean omit", ((pass over". 184 29 &vlo:v. Mangey's conjecture for the &yvocO
THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

COMMENTARY ON

oUae yap &ve:vzyxdv &mpo:).€c; ·~v.

Philo does not explain why it was unsafe to share his anxiety with his fellow envoys. frzpov .... xiY.x6v. Gaius proposal to desecrate the Te1nple narrated iu 188 ff. oox 1:vl ("tpEL ... , The Jews of the Diaspora would be as deeply affected by the desecration as the Jews of Palestine, since, as Philo explains in z81, Jerusalem and the Temple formed the focus of the religion of all Jews throughout the world. 185 L'lLxa•&pxow;v. Puteoli. btwlA
1

rgo

§§ 184-193

257

phanes" (346) refers to the whole of Gaius' project, and not merely to the re-issue of his order shortly before his death (337-8 and notes). &ywv~&awtJ.zV ...... &cpz61jvocL Reiterreinstates &ywv~&ac:utJ.zV, the reading of five of the MSS, in place of &.yoovLe<~6fCEVOL, the emendation of Turnebus which editors before him had accepted. The MSS vary between d.:; &7tocv T2<<; dc; &7t1Y.V't'oct:;, and de; &rw.v 't'IY.'i:t:;. Most editors give s1s &7te
I

'

:!

1

191

192 193

I:

11

,:1 I

:r 11

258

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

Colson points out (note ad loc.) that tatou refers to the interests of the Alexandrian Jewish community, and not merely to the safety of the envoys. ~ 7toAc-cdiY.. I.e. the rights of the Jewish 7toAlTEU(L"' in Alexandria, the sense in which the word is used in 349, 363, and Fl. 53 also. See Introduction, 4 ff., especially 8-9. The second matter to be referred to Gains was the question whether the Jews were to be restored to the privileged position which they had enjoyed before the summer of 38 as members of a 7toAlTEU(LIY. with the right of residence in Alexandria or were to remain in the inferior position to which they had been degraded and to continue to be confined to the ghetto. 194 6l.; tcr(Lev 'AAE~"'vap
COMMENTARY ON

§§ 193-198

259

and Purim (The Authorized Daily Prayer Book of the United Hebrew Congregations of the British Empire, translated by S. Singer). rg8 30 n&:·rrwv tep&v -r&v TCCI.VTCI.XoG x.&J. . A~cr't"oV. Cf. Spec. i, 72, "The Temple in the very centre" (i.e. of the whole complex of buildings of the Temple hill) "baffles all description", and B. T. Baba Bathra 4a, "It used to be said: He who has not seen the Temple of Herod has never seen a beautiful building. Of what did he build it? Rabbah said: Of yellow and white marble. Some say, of blue, yellow and white marble. Alternate rows of the stones projected, so as to leave a place for cement. He originally intended to cover it with gold, but the Rabbis advised him not to, since it was more beautiful as it was, looking like the waves of the sea" (repeated almost exactly in B.T. Sukkah 5rb). But the Jews' patriotism seems to bave prejudiced them in the favour of a building which must have been, structurally at least, distinctly odd. Herod the Great, determined to replace the rather poor post-exilic Temple by a much grander building, insisted on following, as far as was practicable, the traditional dimensions of Solomon's Temple (A] xv, 382-7; II Chron. iii-iv; cf. different figures in I Kings vi, 2-3), and produced, if Josephus' figures are reliable (1:1] v, 207-24), a very tall, badlyproportioned, T -shaped edifice with a huge, flat, square fa9ade rising sheer from the ground. Cf. Philo's reference to the height of the Temple in Spec. i, 73. The measurements given in the Mishnah (Middoth iv), which was codified over a century after the destruction of the Temple, do not all tally with those given by J osephus, but the general picture of the building is the same. Herod was hampered less by Jewish tradition and the example of Solomon in designing the less "'creel complex of building surrounding the Temple proper-the Court of the Israelites, the Court of the Women, and the vast outer enclosure known as the Court of the Gentiles, which he greatly enlarged. These buildings, which were on a monumental scale, seem to have followed more or less orthodox Greek architectural lines, with pillared porticoes and gates on the scale of propylaea, and, as in the Temple itself, much marble and precious metal was used (A] xv, 396-420; Bj v, rgo-2o6; Spec. i, 73). For more detailed descriptions of the Temple and its surrounding buildings, and plans, see Hastings, A Dictionary of the Bible s.v. Temple, 7II-ff.; ]E s.v. Temple; Jones, Herods, ro6-ro (where the "rzo cubits" given for the height of the Temple should be altered to "roo" in the lightofB] v, 207 and 22r, and MishnahMiddothiv,

I''I' ,,'I

I :1

I

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

COMMENTARY ON §§ I98-199

6); S. Perowne, The Life and Times of Herod the Great (1956), 129-40;

resultant order came to the Jewish envoys. This remark of themessengers with its definite vilv would have been made more appropriately immediately after the arrival of Capita's report and the dispatch of Gaius' order to Petronius than some months later, and it provides one of the strongest points in support of Balsdon's suggestion that the report arrived and the order was issued in June from Campania (]RS, 20). But it does not rule out the chronology adopted in this edition. For rumour is notoriously inaccurate, and it is possible that when the news leaked out some time during the summer and was passed from person to person, people eager to be thought the bearers of "hot" news represented the arrival of Capita's report and the issue of Gaius' order as more recent than they really

z6o

at p. 177 he reproduces C. J. M. de Vogue's reconstruction of the Temple in Le Temple de jirusalem (1864), PI. XVI. The Mishnaic account is studied by L.-H. Vincent, "Le Temple Herodien d'apres la Mishnah" in RB lxi (1954), 5-35, 398-418. ~~ &rcdp(t)v xp6vwv. In about 30 A.D. it was remarked that the Temple had taken forty years to build (St. John ii, 20). Josephus, however, says that it was not completed until A. D. 64 (A] xx, 219). Presumably therefore it was only its main structure which was finished in eighteen months during Herod's lifetime (A] xv, 421), while work on the ornamentation continued, if only spasmodically, long after that. 199 ""'P"'"iG~Y.Txc SI: vilv. The details of the chronology of Gaius' attack on the Temple have been discussed by a number of scholars. For the bibliography and for arguments in favour of the chronological scheme adopted in this edition see the present writer, "The chronology of Gaius' attempt to desecrate the Temple" in Latomus xvi (1957), 3-17, where the evidence in reconsidered. Arguments from that article are incorporated in sections of this commentary. The news of Gaius' plan for the desecration of the Temple reached the Jewish envoys while they were in Campania, i.e., probably during the months J une-August, 40. If the protests of the Palestinian Jews against it occurred in May-June, 40 (note on 249 l:v &xfl'ii ..... 5croc crn;oopT&), and if Gains' order therefore reached Petronius, the legate of Syria, who was to put it into effect, by April (note on 222 f'ETOC7ttfL7tE'\'occ), theu the report from Capita which inspired Gaius to issue his order must have reached the Emperor by March at the latest. An average of about a month must be allowed for the voyages of dispatches between Syria or Palestine and Rome during the period of secura navigatio in the summer, and somewhat longer in the spring and autumn; see W. M. Ramsay in Hastings, A Dictionary of the Bible V, 378-83; Charlesworth, Trade-routes, 23, 44, and notes. Gaius may have received the report when he returned to Italy from his German expedition in the spring of 40 (note on 18r ~Tuy._e SI: &x '\'WV fl~Tp<j>wv t~cwv x~7twv, fin.). But it is equally possible that it was sent to him while he was still in the North and that his order to Petronius was issued from there (earlier, of course, than if issued from Italy). I.e., according to this chronology, Gaius had been "excited" by Capita's report some three months, and perhaps longer, before the information about his

261

were.
-r~.:; 'Iou3ocLa:c;. An estate consisting of J amnia (zoo) together with Azotus, Phasaclis, Archelais and its palm-groves, and a palace at Ascalon, had belonged to Salome, sister of Herod the Great (A] xvii, 189, 321; BJ ii, g8), who had bequeathed it to Livia on her death c. A. D. 10 (A] xviii, 31; B] ii, 167). It hadsubsequentlypassed to Tiberius and then to Gaius. As the personal property of members of the imperial family, it was managed by an imperial procurator, with its revenues kept separate from those of the province in which it lay. C. Herennius Capita held this appointment under all three imperial owners (L'Annee Epigraphique 1941, no. 105, with 1947, no. 39). (The procurator Tiberius Julius Mellon, a freedman of Augustus, mentioned on a fragment of a sarcophagus found near ]amnia (L'Annee Epig. 1948, no. 141), was perhaps an earlier procurator appointed by Livia.) In 35 or 36 Capita tried to impede the progress of Agrippa I to Rome on account of a debt of the latter to the fiscus incurred before 23 and still outstanding (AJ xviii, 158-63). The description of him here as "collector of the revenues of Judaea" is certainly an error. There is no suggestion in Josephus' narratives of the period that he ever held the position of procuratorial governor of the province. (On the procurator of Judaea during Gaius' principate see the note , ' ' IT ETpWyLcp '!!{> T'Y)<; ..uUpLocc; Cl7t0C0'1)c; e e 'I OUOOCLO:.t:;, , ' Oll 207 XE/\EU€~ )'O:.f> U7tapxc.p. found in all the MSS, is probably an error for 'Iocftvdoc<; which crept into the text as a very early stage. ~X" l:yx6Tw<;. This is not necessarily true. The entirely justifiable annoyance which Capita may be presumed to have felt towards Agrippa, and his letter to Tiberius on the subject of Agrippa's unpaid 1

,.,

.....

""'

1

1

1

)

I

~~-------,

!

z6z

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

debt, may have been construed into a belief that he was hostile to the Jews in general. 200 &cpopf'~V. The episode which, according to Philo, provoked the issue of Gains' order, is not recorded by J osephns. The disturbances at J amnia probably occurred in the winter of 39-40 (cf. Balsdon in }RS, r9), if Capita's letter about them reached Gains by March or earlier. r~v 'Iti[Lv<'O<'I. In Hebrew Jabneh (II Chron. xxvi, 6 and rabbinic writings), a town near the coast, between Joppa and Ascalon. For its history see Schiirer II, r26-8; ]E s.v. jabneh; P.-W. s.v. ]amnia; cf. references in A. H. lVI. ]ones, Cities of the Eastern Roman Provinces (r937), 254, 259, ZJI-5, 28r. l:v ~oz, fLtXALcrToo. Reiter reinstates the ~oz, of the MSS in place of the emendation ~ooz~ of previous editors, arguing (Prolegomena, lxxiii) that the phrase tv ~oc~ (neuter) intensifies the superlative and is used adverbially elsewhere linked to a feminine (Spec. i, rsr; Thucydides iii, IJ, r; 82, r) or to a masculine (Fl. 148; Abr. 6g; Spec. i, IJ3, 324). r.ol-uocv8pw"o'. Strabo, although describing J amnia as a Xfu[L1J, says that together with its surrounding district it could produce forty thousand soldiers (xvi, 2, 28, 759). f''y&az,. It was trouble in another Palestinian city with a mixed population, Caesarea, in 64-6 which was the immediate cause of the outbreal< of the great Jewish revolt (A] xx, r73-84; BJ ii, z66-7o, 284 ff.). ol T:Adou,. J amnia was not an old Jewish town but was one of those of Philistine origin on the Phoenician coastal strip conquered by the Hasmonaeans in the second century B. C. and thoroughly J uclaized. It must indeed have been a predominantly Jewish town by the first century A.D., since it was thither that the centre of rabbinic Judaism was moved after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70. On this event see, e.g., G. F. Moore, Judaism I (r927), 83-92. wl8Lyevl:cnv. The Jews were by this time so firmly established in Jamnia and in such numbers that the historical situation was reversed: the Jews counted as the natives and the gentiles as the infiltrators. [LI:ToLXOL Philo here borrows an Athenian constitutional term to describe the gentiles resident in what he regards as a Jewish town. In the Septuagint the synonym T:tXpoLxo, translates the Hebrew tenn for 11 resident alien' 1 1 by which in Tannaitic law was meant an

COMMENTARY ON

§§ I99-202

uncircumcised gentile who had given up idolatry. But it is clear from the last six words of this section that the [LhoLxoL in J amnia were heathen. See further Wolfson, II, 365-g, who, however, displaces -rp67t'ov 'twa when he translates o~ -ro'L<; .... !J.S't"o~xoL as ('who are in a Inanner residents among the original native inhabitants". For the use of 7rtXpocxo, to designate Jews resident in gentile cities see Juster, II, r, n. 4· The similar word x&~ocxo, is applied to the Alexandrian Jews in Fl. I72. 20I ~x8ewcrcv. As in the case of the Alexandrian riots, Philo makes Gaius' self-deification the cause of the outbreak of trouble in Palestine, and so holds him indirectly responsible for it. But with more justification. Gaius' claim to divinity certainly ante-dated the J amnia episode, although it did not ante-elate the riots in Alexandria. &Alco~p•ci>~O
THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

QE ii, 5). And indeed, it was essential for the safety of the Diaspora communities that they should be restrained from expressing their scorn for paganism by attacks on the cults of the gentiles among whom they lived. Cf. E. R. Goodenough, The jurisprudence of the Jewish Courts in Egypt (r929), 47-8, 245; S. Belkin, Philo and the Oral Law (r940), 24; and the note on "Religious Tolerance" in ]. H. Hertz, The Pentateuch and Flaftorahs V, Deuteronomy (r936), 54-5· The Jews' destruction of the J amnian altar was an act of provocation and intolerance deserving punishment. It was presumably this sort of thing which Claudius had in mind when, in his edict addressed to the Jews of Alexandria, he forbade them 1:
See the note on r88 ~~Oc; bdxA'Y)cr~v o:.U-ro\1. - ' ' ' ' Cf • 20 6 XCX11.(J)V •- 7tpO:.c.,EWV '" 11 xo:.Aol crU~~ouAm. For other occurrences of m)!J-~ouAoc;= member of o ''

0'\J{-LI-'OUAO~<; 1'0L<; e<:p~O'TOLc; XO'.L crOqJW'TCX:"t"oLc;.

the imperial consilium" see Magie, De Vocabulis, 70. The "curious rubbing in hy Philo of the word crOfL~OuAo<;, especially the crUfL~oul-ou -r&~w (204), which suggests ironically some kind of formal status, is his way of driving home the point that Gains took no notice of any but court favourites and sycophants, instead of sober statesmen" (J. A. Crook, Consilium Principis (r955), 40). 'EI-oxwvo. See the note on him in r66. nepo-rplfLfL~TL. Literally a "thing worn smooth by rubbing". In Demosthenes xviii, 127 it means "hack". In Aristophanes Nub. 447 the idea of cunning is perhaps included; cf. TPLfLfL" in Nub. 260 and Aves 431 in the sense of "an old hand at". 'Artel-1-'fl '"''" "P"'Y'J'Siji. A native of Ascalon (205) and a wellknown actor despite Philo's scornful '"'"'· Cf. S. Vespasianus 19, I. Gains took a keen interest in the theatre (cf. the note on 42 ~ "'""' txfLC
COMMENTARY ON

§§ 202-205

the generally despised class of actors, and by even numbering Apelles and Mnester among his close friends (Dio lix, 5, 2; S. G. 55, r). The part played by Apelles and Helicon in getting Gains' order for the desecration of the Temple issued does not rule out the possibility that it was issued from Gaul (as is suggested in the note on I99 rtapa-rW~"""' vuv). It is quite conceivable, although there is no supporting evidence, that they accompanied Gains on his expedition. E:xo::rr~Ae:uae --r~\1 &po:v. Gains is reputed to have had unnatural relations with Mnester (S. G. 36, r), and Philo here insinuates that the same was the case with Apelles. 204

8croL a~

....

&.vw't'chw; Ironical, whether read as a question

(C.-W.-R.) or as a statement (Colson). fLee' oi'i fLI:v. Helicon. Cf. r68-7r. cfcr't'tov. Like Nero, Gains is said to have performed .as a singer,

etc. (Dio lix, 5, 4-5; S. G. 54). 205 'Acrx&ACiJVO<;. Ascalon, which made itself independent of the Seleucids in ro4 B.C. and began its own era (BMCGC, Palestine, xlviii, ro6 ff.), was the only city on the Phoenician coast from Dora to the Egyptian border to escape annexation by Alexander J annaeus in the first century B. C. (It is not included in the list of Hasrnonaean conquests in A] xiii, 395). It apparently retained its independence in Pornpey's settlement of the East in 63, for it is not listed among the Phoenician cities removed from Jewish control then and added to the province of Syria (A] xiv, 76; BJ i, r56-7). In 36 B.C., when most of the Phoenician coastal strip from the river Eleutherus (north of Area) to the Egyptian border was given by Antony to Cleopatra, Ascalon was apparently included; the only exceptions specified are Tyre and Sidon (A] xv, 92-5; B] i, 36r), and Cleopatra's head was shown on one coin of Ascalon (BMCGC, Palestine, ro8, no. 20). It regained its free status in 30; when Octavian restored to Herod the Great the parts of his kingdom annexed by Cleopatra and enlarged it by the addition of several Phoenician cities which had been lost to the Jews since 63, Ascalon was not included (A] xv, 217; Bj i, 396). Although the city thus lay outside Herod's kingdom, he had a palace there (later part of his sister Salome's estate; A] xvii, 321), and made many gifts to it (BJ i, 422). S. Perowne accepts, with slight modification, the statements of Julius Africanus (apud Eus. HE i, 6, 2-3, and 7, rr) and Justin Martyr (Dial. c. Tryph. 52) that Herod was of Ascalonite ancestry, and regards this as the explanation of his attitude towards the city

I I I

266

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

(The Life and Times of Herod the Great (1956), 21-2). Ascalon remained independent at least until the end of the first century A. D., when Pliny calls it liberu-m oppidum (NH v, 68). At an unknown date but before 359 it became a colony, which involved its incorporation in the province of Palestine; it still retained the title "free", although it was then meaningless (U. Wilcken und L. Mitteis, . Grundzuge und Chrestomathie der Papyruskunde (1912) II, ii, no. 271). &aUp.~o:'t'6c;; -rL:; x.txl &x.O'/r&.AAco:-roc;; 13ucr[.L€VEL~h. Early in the war of 66-70 the Jews attacked and burnt the villages round Ascalon (BJ ii, 460), which retaliated by a massacre of two thousand, five hundred Jews living in its territory (BJ ii, 477). Shortly after that the Jews made an unsuccessful attack on the city itself (BJ iii, g-28). On the attitude of rabbis of the second and third centuries A. D. to Ascalon and other cities which from the Jewish point of view (although not necessarily from that of the Roman administration) lay outside the frontiers of Jewish territory, see A. Biichler, "Der Patriarch R. Jehuda I und die griechisch-romischen Stadte PaHi.stinas" in JQR xiii (1901), 683-740, an article of which an English translation is printed in Biichler's Studies in Jewish History (1956), 179-244· &J..J..' ol iJ.SV . . . . The rest of this section, bracketed in this edition, 206 breaks the thread of the argument, and would have formed a footnote, had footnotes been invented by Philo's time. 6 iJ.t'l. Apelles. Suetonius records that Gains once had Apelles whipped for a failure to be quick enough in his flattery (G. 33), but he mentions no permanent fall from favour such as Philo seems to be alluding to. cr-c-pe~AoD[.LeVoc;; xcd -rpoxL~6[.Levoc;. Vivid accounts of the rack, the wheel, and other devices of torture in the ancient world are given in A. R. Allinson, Tortures and Torments of the Christian Martyrs (1903), a translation of A. Gallonio, De SS. Martyrum Cruciatibus (published in Italian in 1591 and subsequently in Latin). ex 7tBpc~p07t'ij~. Colson suggests that "periodically" (rack and wheel being taken together) would suit the simile of recurrent fever better than "in turns" (note ad loc.). 6 31: 'EJ..cxwv. The exact date of the execution of Helicon is not given, but as it was clearly part of Claudius' reaction against Gaius' policy and his attempt to efface the memory of his principate, it can be assumed that it occurred soon after his accession. This

COMMENTARY ON

207

§§ 205-207

reference therefore gives a terminus post quem for the composition, or at least the completion, of the Legatio. o
r8

268

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

be a textual corruption of the other ("Le successeur de Ponce Pilate" in L'Antiquite Classique viii (1939), 413-9). MarullusjMarcellus is otherwise unknown, and his apparent failure to take any hand in the events of 40 suggests that he was an ineffective governor. ~~' ""P' Eil'f'phn crTpo.~•iX,. The garrison of three legions in Syria, presumably stationed there by Augustus during his reorganization of frontier defence but not attested until 6-4 B.C. (A] xvii, z86; JJ] ii, 40), had been increased to four by A.D. 23 (T. A. iv, 5, 4) by the transfer of XII Fulminata from Egypt (see P.-W. s.v. Legio, col. 1706). As far as is known, no legion was stationed actually on the Euphrates in the first half of the first century A. D. Under Tiberius VI Ferrata was stationed at or near Laodicea (A.D. 19: T. A. ii, 79,3), and X Fretensis at Cyrrhus (A.D. 18: T. A. ii, 57,2). The camps of the other two legions, III Gallica and XII Fulminata, under the early Emperors are not known, but XII may have been stationed from the time of Augustus at Raphaneae, where it was in66 (BJ vii, r8), and it is probable that Antioch, the capital, was also garrisoned. Cf. J. G. C. Anderson in CAH X, 282-3. The garrison of Syria remained unchanged until the time of Corbulo's Armenian campaigns, which may have been followed by some alterations in the dispositions of the legions. 1'~V ~pJcre:~o:.v. "Two legions" (A] xviii, z6r-z). The ''three legions" of BJ ii, r86 must be a slip. There is no evidence to show which legions were chosen. The order to tal<e troops to Judaea shows that Gaius anticipated stiff opposition, and that he was aware that the small auxiliary garrison under the command of the procurator there was likely to prove inadequate for dealing with it. On the garrison of Judaea, probably one ala and five cohorts, see C. H. Kraeling in HThR XXXV (1942), 266-9. 208 i1 Mcr7to~oc; Or possibly "tyrant", the meaning of the word in II9 (cf. note) and 237. n:pocx:n:o8c~:.;ou0€:vou~. VZ(JJ-Tep~cr[.LoG.

See the note on 117 E:xoucr~ou<;; 6ocv&'Tou.::;.

See the note on 152 €ve:w-rfptcro::v. ivolyem. lVISS eMyecrL, accepted by most editors and defended by Dahl as patently ironical. Reiter (appar. crit.) cites C. E. Richter (whose edition of Philo, r828-30, was not accessible to the present writer) for the emendation ivolyocrL. Mangey proposed the rare word &volyem. 209 3LOLV<Xyvou~. See the note on 69 3Low&yvw. iv &fL'IJ)(olvo•' ~v. Petronius' handling of the whole episode, as

COMMENTARY ON

§§ 207-2II

269

recorded by both Philo and J osephus, reveals him as a humane and sensitive person, with considerable sympathy for Jewish feelings. Philo, who clearly admired him, credits him with having acquainted himself with Jewish thought before taking up his post in the East (245). &'f'6p'I)TOV. ]~eiter thinks that rotLOV may have fallen OUt after this. ~3eL ydop &vO' l:vb<; Oowol~ou . . . . . Petronius may have heard of Pilate's massacre, perhaps ten years earlier, of the many Jews who had opposed his use of money from the Temple treasury to finance the building of an aqueduct (A] xviii, 6o-2; 13] ii, 175-7). 210 'L'OU<; v6fLou<;. For the Hellenistic use of v6fLo<; as the equivalent of the Hebrew "Torah" see the note on II5 ~wv [zpwv v6fLwv. Although Philo generally uses v6p.o<; in this Jewish sense, he sometimes appears to be more conscious of the Greek meaning of the word, as he is here, where he is speaking, not of the Pentateuch as a whole, but of the laws by which the Jews were required to live (~do a,,.~z ~ocyp.evoc)-the basic Ten Commandments (Exod. xix-xx) and the mass of lesser commands and prohibitions laid down in the Pentateuch. With Oe6xP'IJ"~" 'A6Y'" cf. Decal. 15, where Philo describes the Ten Commandments as Oooil XP'IJ"fLOU,. &yaAtta-rocpopoUat -rCI ) ~ ,!, ~ Jl. ' I E:XtJ.rlVvrtVOV't'E<; e:xotJ.EV EV 't'<Xt<; 't'UX<Xf.<; w0'1t'Ep e:yxexocp(Y.yf..te:VOU<;. zrr bocpyel:<; -rDrcouc;; X(Y.1 tJ.opcp&c;; o:U-rWv xoc8opW\J-rE<;. Reminiscent of

Plato's doctrine of the glimpses which the eyes of the soul can catch of the Ideas. -roU<; ttZv 'TttJ."')'TLX.&<; S:xov-rw; &AAacpUAouc;; aU'T&\J, Philo may be referring here not only to proselytes (gentiles who had accepted Judaism in full, inclnding submission to circumcision), but also to those gentiles on the fringe of Judaism who went so far as to accept its monotheism and moral code and to conform to the major requirements of the Law, but who did not mark themselves out definitely as proselytes by circumcision. In the light of the observations of Kirsopp Lake (Foakes J ackson and Lake, The Beginnings of Christianity V (1933), 74-96) and of L. H. Feldman ("Jewish 'Sympathizers' in classical literature and inscriptions" in Trans. and Proc. Amer. Philol. Assoc. lxxxi (1950), zoo-8), it seems advisable to use the term "Judaizer" or "Jewish sympathizer" to denote this class of persons, quite numerous in the early empire, in preference to such tenns as cre:~6!J.e\Jac;; ('TOV 8e6vL tpo~aUt-te:voc;; 'TOv 8e:6v,

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

Oeocre~·~s,

and metuens (which occur in the literature of the early

Christian period), or the modern terms '(God-fearer" and usemi-" or

"half-proselyte", nsed by many scholars in this sense. For references to proselytes and J udaizers and for discussion of their position vis-a-vis the Jews see, e.g., H. I-L Griitz, Die jiidischen Proselyten im Rdmerreiche unter den Kaisern Domitian, Nerva, Trajan und Hadrian (1884); Juster, I, 253-90; G. F. Moore, ]udaism I (1927), 323-53; W. G. Braucle, Jewish Proselytizing (1940); Wolfson, II, 355-74; G. Ricciotti, Histoire d'Israel II (translated by P. Auvray, 1948), 25o-6g; S. W. Baron, A Social and Religious History of the Jews (1952) I, 171-83; ]E s.v. Proselyte. n:eq;pb~o:.cn f1.~V Exoca-;ov. Cf. St. Matt. v, r8; St. Luke xvi, IJ. The Jews regarded strict obedience to the Law in its every detail as an end in itself. Olivoc-ros cimocpcUqJckx:Tou ~6/..ou.

8c; O'&v fi:!JcpB?J Eau-c-if) o:Xnoc;

gcr't'C<.L

xo:1 ne:ptOtcl 't'b E:~axoAoutle:f:v B&va-rov.

For a full discussion of the inscription, of its possible position on the balustrade, and of the death penalty prescribed for offenders, see C. Clermont-Ganneau, "Une stele du Temple de J<erusalem" in Rev. Archeol. 2nd series xxiii (1872), 214-34, 290-6. A fragment of a second Greek inscription, found in 1936, is in the museum in J erusalem. See J H. Iliffe, "The e&.vaTO<; inscription from Herod's Temple" in Quarterly of the Dept. of Antiquities in Palestine vi (rg38), r-3; PL I and II show the two inscriptions. Photographs of the complete one are also given by Jones, Herods, PL 4, and in RE xxx (1921),

PI. IV. 214

With this section cf. 28r-z with the note .,,);, &7totXL<X<;, and Fl.

COMMENTARY ON

45-6

'louaa(ou~

§§ 2II-2I6

271

yd:,p X,
~vexcx -r1l~ 7t/,daToc~ 't"E:

\l~aou~

xocf. e:UBettp.o\le:crT&Tcx~ -rWv 8\l EUpC:mn xetL 'Acrt~ xet-r& xocf. 'f)7te:fpour:; 8xv~p.oV":<Xt. Also references to the settlement

of Jews in all parts of~ otxou[L~V1J in Leg. 330, Strabo apud A] xiv, 114-8, Bj ii, 398, and vii, 43, and Oracula Sibyllina iii, 271. On the number of Jews in the empire and the proportion which they formed of its total population see Baron, op. cit. I, 370-2, where estimates made by other scholars are examined. 215 cr
THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

218

220

22I

222

used the overland trade-routes between India and China and the West, which ran through Parthia and on which see M. I. Rostovtzeff in CAH XI, rzo-4; Charlesworth, Trade-routes, 98 ff.; E. H. Warmington, Commerce between the Roman Empire and India (1928), r8-3r. They would have crossed Petronius' province of Syria (cf. 7tdp!f above) via Palmyra and Damascus, and then gone through Trachonitis (A] xvii, 26). Little is known of the state of the actual roads, but the richly laden envoys had to face the danger of attacks by Parthian brigands (A] xviii, 313). v&ou. See the note on 183 -v&o"["Tr· A geographical rather than a political term, covering the long coastal strip, of which part belonged to the province of Syria and part to that of Judaea, while some of its cities were independent. &, ~oilw•n. Tyre and Sidon (like Ascalon; 205 and note) had been

COMMENTARY ON

§§ 217-222

273

independent cities since late Hellenistic times. Rome respected their autonomy, except in 20 B.C., when Augustus temporarily deprived them of their independence as a punishment (Dio liv, 7, 6; cf. S. Aug. 47), presumably placing them under the control of the legate of Syria. Tyre was independent again when Strabo was writing (xvi, 2, 23, 757). St. Matt. xv, 2I and St. Mark vii, 31 imply that c. A. D. 30 both cities were administering territories, and their sending of embassies to Agrippa I in 44 (Acts xii, 20), if historical, presupposes an independent status. See further P.-W. s.vv. Sidon, coli. 2225-6, and Tyros, coli. r895-9; cf. A. H. M. Jones, Cities of the Eastern Roman Provinces (1937), 254-5, 257,260, 272. [L<~omt[L7t
1 274

THE EMBASSY TO GA!US

of land-travel see the bibliography given in the note on I8

COMMENTARY ON rp~ft1)<;

yOCp oD3€v WxUTspov. "C'oU~ ~v -r~As~ 'T&v )Iouaod(l)v. Presumably the members of the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem. The whole question of the Sanhedrin, its composition, its leaders, its meeting-place, and its duties is exceedingly complicated and controversial, and cannot be discussed even in ontline here. It can merely be noted that some scholars, notably A. Bt\chler (Das Synhedrium in Jerusalem und das gras se Beth-din (Igo2), of which the article Sanhedrin in ]E is largely a summary), have sought to solve the many problems involved by postulating the existence of two Sanhedrins up to A. D. 70-one a political and executive body, which is mentioned by Josephus and in the Gospels, and the other the supreme authority in religious matters, with which the Mishnah and Talmud are concerned; only the latter, they suppose, survived after 70 and was transferred to J amnia. If this view is accepted, it was presumably the members of the political Sanhedrin, or some of them, whom Petronius summoned to meet him. Other scholars, however, have maintained that there was only one Sanhedrin. A convenient summary of the conclusions of many scholars who have dealt with the question is given by S. P. Hoenig, The Gr.eat Sanhedrin (I953), I2I-32. 223 The reaction of Philo and the other envoys in Italy to the news is described in somewhat similar terms (I89). xeo"[""'V· The demonstrations which Philo places vaguely in Phoenicia are undoubtedly to be identified with those to which Josephus gives an exact location at Ptolemais (A] xviii, 263; BJ ii, I92). Willrich alone, to the writer's knowledge, denies the identification and postulates separate demonstrations, first in northern

226

227

228

229 230

§§ 222-230

275

Phoenicia and then at Ptolemais (4I5-7; 468-g). Josephus describes Ptolemais as "a city of Galilee" (B] ii, I88), but it lay outside the limits of the Jewish kingdom, and it belonged at this time to the province of Syria. (It is not included in the list of Hasmonaean annexations (A] xiii, 395), but is mentioned as one of the cities "outside" Herod the Great's kingdom which enjoyed his benefactions (BJ i, 422).) Petronius thus came to within striking distance of the northern frontier of Palestine, but did not enter the province at this stage. 7t6A<e<<; xe
l

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

have thought it appropriate for a highly rhetorical speech put into the month of another" (note ad lac.). npocr~7t~O'O!J.~V. Cohn's emendation of the MSS npocrn~crot)f.Lc:8cx, which was accepted by previous editors. Colson queries the need for any change, on the ·grounds that prostration before Petronius could count as prostration before Gaius when it was reported to him in the future (note ad lac.). 231 06mA/.[ou. L. Vitellius was legate of Syria from 35 until (probably) 39 (note on rr6 T~v 11:pocrx1\v·~,nv). 't'~V &7tL't'p01t~V. See the note on 132 't"OU ae bn't"p07tOU 't"~~ xcGpco;;. i:v "TI rr6f.sc. Cf. 228. To a Jew "the city" meant Jerusalem, just as to a Roman urbs meant Rome. 't"a n~pl 't"o{nwv 8xo~J-tcr87J yp&f.L!J.~X't"CX. Josephus n1akes Vitellius' visit to Jerusalem, where he received the news of Tiberius' death (16th March, 37), coincide with a Jewish festival which he does not name (A] xviii, 122-4). Assuming that the dispatch from Rome took four to five weeks to travel, it is most probable that the festival was the Passover, which in 37 occurred on 2oth April. A few months previously Vitellius, exercising the right of supervision over J udaea enjoyed by the legates of Syria, had answered a Jewish appeal for redress against Pilatc's oppressive administration by sending him to Rome to report to Tibcrius and installing a temporary acting governor, and had then visited Jerusalem himself (A] xviii, 88-go). By the Passover of 37 there cannot yet have been an officially appointed procurator in residence; for Pilate did not reach Rome until after Tiberius' death (ibid.), and Gaius' appointment of his successor (A] xviii, 237) cannot have been known in Judaea until well after the Passover. This gives a reason for Vitellius' visiting Jerusalem for a second time within a few months. He went to support the acting governor, who lacked the full procuratorial authority, during the festival, a time when, as a precaution against disturbances, the procurator normally took a military force up to the capital. Vitellius' two visits to Jerusalem and his removal of Pilate are discussed in more detail by the present writer in "The date of the dismissal of Pontius Pilate from Judaea" in ]ourn. Jewish Stud. v (1954), 12-21. 232 "'"; !m~p "~' &px~' rcdou 8ucrla,. A reference either to the regular daily sacrifices offered in the Temple for the well-being of the Emperor (r57), or to the special hecatomb offered immediately after Gaius' accession (356); or perhaps to both. Josephus makes the

:

COMMENTARY ON

§§ 230•235

277

Jews allude to their daily sacrifices in their plea to Petronius (Bj ii, I9J). XP~i""""'· Mangey's emendation for the MSS ""~~'-"'""• read by previous editors, which is unlil{ely so close to the preceding ""~1"& 't"WV. Dahl would expunge xa1 x-r~!Lct't"a. 't"~\1 &i.:J. ."f)v &.noccrr.t.v Adocv. ' AAAo~ can be used to mean "in addition" with a noun which does not cover the items already mentioned. Other examples are Xenophon A nab. i, 5, 5, Plato Gorg. 473c, and Aeschines i, r63. Cf. the nse of alius in Vergil Aen. vi, 4II. ne~&~ xd ~1t7tLX(h; auv&!J.~Lc;. The two legions which Petronius had 233 bronght with him (207). X't'~Lvf-rwmxv, L~p~uthwcrav, xpsocvof.LfL't'Wcrav. Third person hnperatives in --rwcrocv, -crOwcrocv, and -v't'wcro::v are norn1al forms in Hellenistic Greek, and are found occasionally in classical Greek also. See E. Schwyzer, Griechische Grammatih I (r939), 8oz. sk ~aou. In the Scptuagint and the Old Testament Apocrypha, 235 Hades frequently stands for the Hebrew term Sheol, which denotes the world beyond the grave. It occasionally occurs in the same sense in the New Testament (e.g., St. Matt. xi, 23; xvi, r8; St. Luke x, 15; xviti 23; Acts ii, 31; Revel. i, r8; xx, 13-4; cf. vi, 8, where Hades _::death). Hades in the New Testament is distinguished from Gehenna, hell, the place where the wicked are punished in everlasting fire. The Aramaic word Gehenna is derived from the Hebrew expression meaning the "valley of Hinnom" -a gorge near Jerusalem where the fire-worship of Moloch had been celebrated before the Exile. Sec fnrther Hastings, A Dictionary of the Bible s.vv. Hades; Hell; and Gehenna. Here and in M os. ii, z8r Philo uses Hades in the general sense of the place of the dead; cf. Heres 45 and 78. In Som. i, I5I, however, Hades is the abode only of the wicked, while in Gong. 57 thi~ conception of Hades is dismissed as "mythical"; "for the true Hades is the life of the wicked". Cf. Philo's use of Tartarus in 103 and Praem. 152. (In 49 the reference to Tartarus is in the mouth of the gentile Macro.) ~n~xoc't"cxa
THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

a thousand Jews besieged in Masada c. 73 similarly killed themselves to escape falling into Roman hands (BJ vii, 320-401). 236 ouai: 8eo<;. Mangey's suggestion that this might be altered to oilad<; has found no favour with editors. &7to3ox~<;. Literally "acceptance", in the sense of "willing submission to"-unless perhaps Philo is referring to the Jews' struggles to get the gentiles to recognize their right to live in accordance with their Law. il.Y.o~v 83e~ek[Le8o< . . . . . The earliest extant account of the Gorgon's 237 head is in Hesiod Shield zr6 ff. "On reconnait it cette allusion que Philon se substitue aux personnages qu'il fait parler. Cette connaissance de la mythologie grecque n'est pas vraisemblable chez les J uifs de la Terre Sainte" (Delaunay, 349, n. I). &v~xecrToL. Mangey's suggestion for the MSS [Li:yocrToL/rt.L, which is impossible so soon after ~J.ey&A<X~. Dahl would expunge xcd t-tfyw-rcxL. 3ecr7t6,.,ou. See the note on this word in rrg. 239 7tpscr~dav I:MfLEVOI. The body normally responsible for sending embassies to Rome on behalf of a province was the concilium or xmv6v (P.-W. s.v. Concilium, col!. 8r5 f.; E. G. Hardy, Studies in Roman History I' (r9ro), 270 ff.). No Palestinian concilium is recorded (see the list of concilia known in the East in P.-W. Suppl. IV s.v. xmv6v, call. 93off.), and since the functions of xo~v& or concilia were largely connected with the organization of the imperial cult, it is inherently improbable that such a body was established in Palestine. There the responsibility probably lay with the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem, on which see the note on zzz -roO~ €:v -rfAet 't'&v 'Iouao:.(wv. Cf. A] xx, rgr-4, where -riiJv (le:pocroAut.u-riiJv ot npoOxov't's<; choose ten

240

from among themselves to go on an embassy to Nero. 6 7t&n7to<;. M. Vipsanius Agrippa, Gaius' maternal grandfather. J osephus quotes two decrees issued by Agrippa on the subject of Jewish religious liberty, addressed to Ephesus and Cyrene respectively. Both reaffirm the inviolability of the Jews' sacred money (discussed in the notes on r56), and the former also prohibits the calling of Jews to law on the Sabbath (A] xvi, r67-7o). They are quoted, with four other decrees, in such a way as to suggest that they were connected with Augustus' settlement of complaints made to him by the Jews of Asia and N. Africa, probably after Agrippa's death in rz B.C. (note on 315). A few years earlier, however, when Agrippa, during his second eastern command, was travelling through Ionia with Herod the Great after his Bosporan

COMMENTARY ON

§§ 235-245

279

campaign of I4 B.C. (Dio liv, 24, 4-7; cf. J. G. C. Anderson in CAH X, 268, n. r), a deputation of Jews from the neighbourhood came to him with complaints about various gentile infringements of their religious liberty, including the theft of their sacred money and summonses to law on the Sabbath (A] xvi, 27-61; a substantially different account of the embassy is given in xii, 125-6). It was very probably in the hope that the advocacy of the Jewish king, who as a friend of Agrippa (note on 294) had offered him unsolicited help in the campaign (A] xvi, r6-26), would stand them in good stead, that the Jews chose that moment to make their appeal. The decree sent by Agrippa to Ephesus is very likely to have been issued on this occasion. (Juster's objection that the decree cannot have been the answer to this embassy because Agrippa "n'aurait surement pas traite de voleurs les magistrats d'Ephese" (I, rso, n. 2) does not seem particularly cogent.) The decree addressed to Cyrene suggests that during one of Agrippa' s eastern commands the Jews there made a similar appeal, which J osephus has not recorded. It contains no identifiable date, as the praetor of Libya mentioned therein, Flavius or Fabius (PIR 2 III, 95, no. rr), is otherwise unknown. 7tp67to<7t7to<;. Augustus, father of Gaius' maternal grandmother, Julia. For his protection of Jewish religious liberty see 155-8, 309r8, and notes. 33 According to A] xviii, 269-72, and B] ii, 192-zor; Petronius 243 was sufficiently impressed, or alarmed, by the attitude and earnestness of the Jewish demonstrators at Ptolemais that he went with his staff to Tiberias, to investigate the situation in the province itself. He took with him a detachment of troops, while leaving the rest within easy reach at Ptolemais. (This is inferred from A] xviii, 279 in conjunction with B] ii, 192 and zor.) At Tiberias there occurred further mass demonstrations, which lasted for a considerable time-although of the figures given, forty days (A]) and fifty days (B]), even the lower may well be exaggerated. This second set of demonstrations finds no place in Philo's narrative. · ~v yd
280

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

reference to Genesis i in De Sublimitate ix, 9, despite the problems which it raises, indicates some familiarity with Hebrew literature among educated Greeks and Romans at the time of the composition of the treatise, probably in the mid-first century A. D. (For the date sec M. J. Boyd in Classical Quarterly new series vii (1957), 42 and the bibliography given there.) Even if the reference was derived by the author from the Caecilius of the Augustan period, reputed to have been "a Jew by faith", whose work apparently provided his starting-point, it would have been pointless for him to make it unless it was likely to be appreciated by at least some of his readers. €7tETp67tEUaE:\l. See the note on 132 't'OU a~ E:nt-rp6nou -r-Yjc:; x~pac:; for this verb, here used in the general sense of "to govern" and covering the different posts of proconsul of Asia (cf. the note on Petronius' cursus in 255) and legate of Syria. 'lou3a~o~ xoc0' kx&cr-r'I)V n6Atv dcrt rccq.Ln:P:t)Ge'ir:;. Cf. z8r and the note --rt%c:; &:rcot:.dac:;. urc~zsw. On this verb, frequent in Philo and often connoting a voice heard by the heart rather than by the ear, see Colson's notes on Leg. 245 and Som. i, r64 (Loeb Philo V, 6or). To the occurrences which he cites may be addedAbr. 73 and roz,Jos. rro, M os. i, z8r, Spec. ii, 8o, Praem. 50 and 55, and Prob. I2J. 246 I"~ xomndym Too, ~r,(Lwupyou,. BJ ii, 192 implies that the statue was finished and taken by Petronius to Ptolemais. (But why the plural &v~pc&vTIY.' ?) The accounts in the A] and the Legatio contain no hint of this, and it can probably be disregarded as merely a slip. Leg. 337 suggests that the statue was finished but was still in Sidon when Gaius reissued his order for the desecration of the Temple late in the autumn of 40; but it may mean no more than that Gaius presumed that it must have been finished by then. 247 bmpbtscv. This sentence implies that the Jews needed Petronius' permission to send an embassy to Rome. In 4 B.C., when Palestine was still a client kingdom, permission had been obtained from the legate of Syria then operating in the country for the dispatch of an embassy (A] xvii, 300; B] ii, 8o). On the other hand, Leg. 301-3 shows that the Jews on occasion sent embassies or letters without reference to the procurator, and there is no suggestion that they were acting ultra vires in so doing. Indeed, the power of the provincials in general to initiate prosecutions for maladministration presupposes that they had the right to communicate with the senate or the Emperor without reference to their governors. The evidence

COMMENTARY ON

§§ 245-249

z8r

suggests that in Palestine procedure varied according to circumstances, and that questions of tact as well as of legality may have come in. Petronius was a senior official, who might be expected to treat the Jews more favourably if they politely asked his permisssion to appeal to the Emperor, and whose authorization might be hoped to add weight to their pleas. A mere procurator, however, could perhaps be treated with less deference by the Sanhedrin. And in the episode related in Leg. 299-305 it was obvious that Pilate, if asked, would have refused the Jews permission to complain to Tiberius about his conduct. When trouble arose between the Jews and the procurator Festus in 62, they obtained his permission to send an embassy to lay the matter before Nero (A] xx, 191-4); but this may have been done solely because they thereby effectively postponed the execution of the order of Festus to which they objected. 24~ l:mcr'l'tAAocv. Sections 248-53 give the contents of Pctronius' letter to Gaius, the writing and dispatch of which are recorded in 254. According to J osephus, Petronius wrote his letter at the request of some Jewish spokesmen, who had an interview with him at Tiberias while the demonstrations there were in progress (A] xviii, 273-83; BJ ii, 199-zor). If the events at Tiberias are historical-and there seems to be no reason for rejecting J osephus' testimony on this point-then probably Petronius' letter to Gaius was written, as Josephus says, after the demonstrations there rather than, as Philo says, after those at Ptolemais. The statement in BJ ii, 20r-z that after the demonstrations Petronius took his army back to Antioch and wrote to Gains from there is surely an error (although Gelzer (4r2) and Schi\rer (I, 504) accept it). The temper of the Jews was such that it would have been only prudent for him to remain within reach of Palestine while awaiting Gaius' reply, and A] xviii, 301 implies that he was still there with his army in the autumn. I"~ ~~Aoilv'l'e<. It appears from 265, however, that Petronius did tell Gaius something about the Jews' demonstrations and appeals. J osephus represents him as warning Gaius that the situation in Palestine was so serious that a revolt seemed imminent and openly advising him to drop the whole project (A] xviii, 287,302; B] ii, 202). 249 i:v &xfLJi .... 6criY. cr7t1Y.p'L'&. This section provides the crucial evidence for determining the details of the chronology of the Temple episode as a whole.' Philo dates the Jewish demonstrations to the height of the grain-harvest. Josephus, however, dates the second set of demonstrations, those at Tiberias, to the seed-time (A] xviii, 272,

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

274; BJ ii, zoo). In Palestine the main cereal crop was sown in the autumn and harvested between April and June. The Passover marked the beginning of the harvest and Pentecost its conclusion (]E s.v. Pentecost, 592; cf. Philo Spec. ii, r58-87). Thus two widely separated seasons are apparently indicated for the demonstrations, and therefore for the subsequent correspondence between Petronius and Gains also. Schiirer (I, 504) and Jones (Herods, rg8-g) suppose that the demonstrations at Ptolemais took place at harvest-time and those at Tiberias at seed-time, and that Petronius wrote to Gains on each occasion. Willrich (415-8) has a somewhat similar theory. But this close duplication of episode is unconvincing, and moreover J osephus' statement that after the demonstrations at Ptolemais Petronius "hurried" to Tiberias (AJ xviii, z6g), which was only about thirty miles away, suggests that the interval between the demonstrations at the two places was one of a few days rather than of a few months. Chronologically the two sets of demonstrations formed a single incident, occurring at a single season of the year and giving rise to a single letter from Petronins to Gains. Balsdon seeks to reconcile Philo and Josephus by dating the demonstrations to the autumn of 40 and supposing that Philo is speaking here of spring-sown cereals harvested in the autumn (]RS, 23). But although it seems certain that then, as now, two crops were obtained in Mediterranean lands in a year (see M. I. Rostovtzeff, The Social and Economic History of the Hellenistic World (1941), 365 and n. r6o), the spring-sown cereals are likely to have been harvested before August, while the autumn sowing for the early summer harvest could not take place until the rains had begun in October. There was therefore no coincidence between harvest and sowing in the autumn. Such coincidence was, however, possible in the early summer, since the late summer crops, although probably normally sown in 'March or earlier, could be sown at any time up to the cessation of the rains in May. (Information on this point has been kindly supplied to the writer by Mr. Sh. Applebaum of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.) It appears, moreover, from the sharp distinction which Philo draws in Spec. iv, zo8-r8 between the grain-harvest in the early summer and the fruit-harvest in the autumn (cf. the note below) that the main grain-harvest in the Palestine of his clay was that of the early summer. It is therefore most probably to this first harvest that Philo is here referring, rather than to any subsidiary grain-harvest obtained later in the

COMMENTARY ON

§§ 249-250

year. If the demonstrations are dated to the early summer and placed late within the limits of the harvest-season, in May-June (for a reason given in the note on z6r ~ 7tp6~epo' ~ 5cnepo,), the chronological scheme which emerges from calculations made backwards and forwards from that date harmonizes with most of the other details in the narratives. J osephus' date for the correspondence between Petronius and Gaius is discussed in the note on 259 bto::~v&'J cdl'r0v. ~ou ~'ij' xomx'f'po,ouv~e<;. Petronius was afraid that the Jews might deliberately destroy their crops as a step towards the mass-suicide which they had threatened (234-5). Even if they did not take such a drastic step as arson, the neglect of the seasonal agricultural ,operations during the demonstrations was likely to have serious consequences. • &v ~ 8e,8po'f'6po<; mxpi:X:"'· The Feast of Tabernacles in October marked the conclusion of the fruit-harvest (JE s.vv. Pentecost, 592; and Tabernacles, Feast of, 657; Philo Spec. ii, 204-5). Balsdon takes Philo's reference to Petronius' anxiety for the fruit-crop as supporting his contention that the demonstrations took place in the autumn (JRS, 23). If the demonstrations occurred in the early summer, the fruit-crop, it is true, would not have been ripe until some four months later. But this provides no conclusive argument against postulating an early date for the demonstrations. For although Philo's words here could be taken to mean that the fruitcrop was ready for gathering at the time of the demonstrations, they need not be so interpreted. All that he actually says is that Petronius felt that he needed a garrison to safeguard the fruit as well as the other crops. Such was the frenzy of the Jews at the time that he was justified in fearing for the future as well as for the present: if the Jews did actually set fire to their fields, the fruit-trees might be in jeopardy; or if Gains refused to give up his plan for the Temple, a recurrence of demonstrations in the autumn might prevent the harvesting of the fruit. Alternatively, Petronius may simply have been exaggerating the gravity of the situation in order to alarm Gains. 250 'Al-e~&,8p"'"' ~~' 7tp6<; Atyomcp. Alexandria ad Aegyptum. On Gains' proposal to visit Egypt see the note on 172 oox et<; fi.GCXpoc,, 7teA&y... The quickest route from Italy to Alexandria was the direct one across the open sea, especially during the season of the north-west etesian winds, which according to ancient writers blew Legatio ad Gaium

IQ

THE EMBASSY TO GAlUS

from mid-July for a month or six weeks; various estimates are given in C. Wachsmuth's edition of Lydus' Liber de Ostentis (r897), Index, p. 363. Sec also P.-W. s.v. Etesiai, coli. 714-5, and other references given by Box, note on Fl. z6 €'n1cr~o:..:;. '!oU no:.po:.TIZ:!J-nov--ro~ a'T6Aou. Ships normally sailed in convoys rather than singly. --rOv ih' 'Ader:~ xcd ~up(a.:; xUxAov. This route would probably have taken Gains across the Adriatic, round the Peloponnese, across the Aegean via the islands to western Asia Minor or Rhodes, and then along the coasts of southern Asia Minor, Syria, and Palestine to Egypt. A leisurely journey hy this route seems to have been preferred to the direct route by "those who had no pressing calls of business, for it afforded an opportunity of seeing some of the spots most famous in history and legend" (Charlesworth, Trade-routes, 43). For further discussion of the routes between Rome and the East see W. l\1. Ramsay in Hastings, A Dictionary of the Bible V, 375 !f.; Charlesworth, op. cit., 23-4, 42-4, 84-6, 247 ff.; E. H. Warmington, The Commerce between the Roman Empire and India (r9z8), 5, 330; Box, note on Fl. 26 ~ov .... 7tAoilv. Z5I "k From the sense the anteccndent is clearly VCopTk seem to be synonymous) relied mainly on sails. Their greater storage space and their method of propulsion meant that they could undertake long voyages across the open sea, while warships found anything but coasting voyages difficult. 252 Tpoq>rk<; &q>66vou<;. Balsdon uses Petronius' anxiety at the prospect of a food -shortage in Palestine at a time when extra supplies would be needed to support his date for the demonstrations at Ptolemais and Tiberias, arguing that it "can have concerned only the autumn of A.D 40", since "neither in autumn A.D. 39 nor at any time in A. D. 40 could Gaius be expected to arrive in the East earlier than the spring of A. D. 41" (]RS, 24). But Petronius did not necessarily know as early as June, 40, that Gains was planning an ovation for the end of August, which would involve the postponement of his eastern tour. At that time he was probably still expecting him. to come to the East later that summer, as had apparently originally been intended. His anxiety is therefore understandable, and there

COMMENTARY ON

§§ 250-255

zli5

is no conclusive argument here against postulating a date in the early summer for the demonstrations and Petronius' letter to Gains. -rOOv Ev -r&AcL. This phrase probably covers Gains' co1nites, those members of his official class of amici who were chosen as travelling companions. On amici and comites see J. A. Crook, Consilium PrincijJis (1955), 21-30; P.-W. s.vv.; Box, note on Fl. 2 &v ~o•<; t'Tcdpo~c; xpL6dc; napci. For other uses of oL Ev 'T&AeL see the note on the phrase in z6. 0 a~ a't'pctTL(I)'t'LX6c;. Presumably Gains was to be escorted on this journey by a detachment of the praetorian guard, such as accompanied him on his northern campaigns (S. G. 43; 45, r), although the purpose of this journey was not military. 0 a~ otxe-nxO.:;;. Cf. Dio lix, zr, 2 for the non-military attendants accompanying Gains on his northern campaign. 253 7teptn~v 3e<~lAetC
z86 zs6

&zO[cr-rou

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

fLO~ ~Ovou.:;;.

See the note on

II5 ~-t6vou.:;;

COMMENTARY ON

yOCp 'Iou3cdou<;;

Cme:~Abce:-ro.

IIapBuacoo. In zo B. C. the threat of a Roman attack had sufficed to make Phraates restore the standards captured from Crassus (Res Gestae eh. 29; Dio liv, 8, I-3; S. Tib. 9, I). In A.D. 35 or 36 Artabanus had called off his proposed Armenian campaign in the face of a similar threat (T. A. vi, 36), and after the subsequent expulsion of Artabanus, Vitellius, the legate of Syria, and his legions peacefully escorted the Roman nominee for the Parthian throne, Tiridates, into Mesopotamia (T. A. vi, 37). When Tiridates had in his turn been ejected, Vitellius with his legions held a ceremony by the Euphrates at which he bestowed on Artabanus H.ome's official recognition as the reinstated king-whether before or after Tiberius' death is uncertain (note on 8 niim 't'o!:.:;; f.L~pe:cnv ~pfLOcr~J.fV'Y)V ..... ) . During Gains' principate, however, far from being kept in check by their awe of Roman arms, the Parthians apparently reoccupied Armenia, whose king Gains had for some unknown reason deposed and imprisoned (T. A. xi, 8, I; Dio lx, 8, I; Sen. Dial. ix, II, I2). Roman fear of Parthia at the time is shown by the fact that in 39 the mere allegation that Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee, was in league with Artabanus was considered an adequate reason for deposing him and banishing him to Gaul (A] xviii, 250-5). 258 &N~OC . d 1!po~v(cr-ratJ.at -r&v ze:tp&v; An obscure and difficult sentence. Literally it seems to mean "But why do I arise before my actions?" For zdp= action" see L. and S. 9 s.v., IV. Colson interprets this as "But why should I not sit still till my hands get to world" But the translation here suggested, "Why am I talking instead of acting?", seems to accord better with what follows. 259 """ rcpoc; Tcc<;. Liberti ab epistulis. trcaovwv aO-rov. Philo's account of Gains' reply to Petronius (2596o) is totally different from that of J osephus, according to whom Gains did not conceal his anger at his legate's presumption in offering him advice, but wrote commanding him to commit suicide as a punishment for his failure to execute his orders promptly; this letter, however, was delayed in transit and reached Petronius a month after the news of Gains' death (A] xviii, 302-IO; B] ii, .203). J osephus thus dates the correspondence to the last two or three months of Gains' life, which is consistent with his apparent dating of the demonstrations to the autumn. But if this date for the demonstrations is rejected in favour of the early summer (notes on 249), 11

§§ 256-261

J osephus' version of the contents of Gains' reply to Petronius must be rejected also. For the picturesque story of the suicide-order with its fortunate delay makes no sense except in conjunction with an autu1nn date for the correspondence. It is suspect in any case, since, as Balsdon remarks (I4o), "history .... is full of similar stories of lucky escapes from tyrants, and the normal punishment of a disobedient subordinate was to be recalled for trial to Rome". Willrich points out (469) the similarity between Gains' reply to Petronius as recorded in Leg. 259-60 and the reply which Josephus makes him send to Petronius' acknowledgement of the receipt of his orders (A] xviii, 262). It is possible that the contents of Gains' reply to the letter written after the demonstrations (given by Philo) have somehow been transferred by J osephus (or his source) to the beginning of the episode, and turned into a reply to Petronius' earlier letter, which barely needed one. Philo does not say what action Petronius took on receiving Gains' reply, but he apparently found some unrecorded pretext for continuing to postpone the execution of Gains' order during the weeks which elapsed before the unexpected arrival of the letter announcing its cancellation (333). He probably felt that it would be wise to keep his troops at Ptolemais still (note on 248 tmcrTtAAeov). Josephus' statement that when he marched there on receiving Gains' original order it was with the intention of wintering there (A] xviii, 262) may be a misplaced reference to an intention which he formed on receiving Gains' reply to his letter about the demonstrations, this intention having been transferred from the middle to the beginning of the episode together with the contents of Gains' reply to Petronius' letter. ..nX.t; npO<; vew-repo1t'o~(o:.v .... ev E.-rotf.Lcp. A very real danger, as the events of A.D. 68-9 were to show. 260 -rdo 0ep'l) . . . . A reasonable supposition. At least two months would have elapsed since the demonstrations when Petronius received Gains' reply. 26I 35 f"
z88

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

Emperor spent in Gaul (lix, 24, r). But there is no other evidence that the kings accompanied him there, and, since the chronology of Dio's account of Gaius' principate is somewhat confused, it is probable that the sentence is a misplaced allusion to the last few months of Gaius' life. Agrippa remained in Italy throughout the winter of 40-r (A] xix, 236 ff.; BJ ii, zo6 ff.), and returned to Palestine the following spring or summer (A] xix, z86). ~ 11p6'n:pov ~ •3cr't'e:pov. I.e., Agrippa had not heard either of Gaius' original order (7tp6-r.:pov) or of his reply to Petronius' letter (5cr-repov), It would appear from this and from the fact that he is not named as one of the spokesmen who appealed to Petronius at Tiberias (A] xviii, 273-6) that he left his kingdom before the order was made known to the Jewish leaders by Petronius (Leg. 222-4), i.e., before about mid-May. If he did not reach Italy until August, he spent over two months travelling-the whole of the time of the conference, the demonstrations, and the journey of Petronius' letter to Gaius. (It is in order to shorten his journey as much as possible that the demonstrations are dated to the latter part of the harvest-season in the chronological scheme adopted in this edition; see the note on 249 tv &xfl'{j .... 5croc crrw:p"t'ti, fin.}. This is distinctly slow, but not unreasonably so, since the north-west etesian winds precluded a direct voyage from the eastern Mediterranean to Rome at that season, and the king may have chosen to travel by easy stages. In J osephus' account Agrippa already knows of Gaius' order when he is introduced into the story (A] xviii, 289 ff.). But it is not incompatible with this to suppose that he had previously heard of it from Gaius, as Philo says. If Philo is right about Agrippa's ignorance (and he can be taken as a reliable witness, if he was in close touch with the king in Italy; see the note on 276), then the view of Schiirer (I, 503), Gelzer (399, 409), and Jones (Herods, 197) that Gaius' order was issued as early as the autumn of 39 is untenable. For, as Balsdon says (]RS, 20), it is difficult to believe that it failed to come to Agrippa's ears in Palestine for six months or a year. Willrich, on the other hand, rejects Philo here; he postulates an early date for Gaius' order (415, 468), and argues from the detailed documentation in Agrippa's letter to Gaius that the king must have known of the order before leaving Palestine and have collected his evidence there (417-8). 264 Erd -rocroU-r6v IJ.O~ xp6vov cruv3Loc't'pL~c<.~. For several m_onths in 36 before Agrippa's imprisonment, and for over a year between his

COMMENTARY ON

§§ 261-266

289

release soon after Gaius' accession and his return to Palestine in the summer of 38 (note on 179); perhaps also for some time in 39, if Josephus is right in saying in BJ ii, rSr-3, that Agrippa himself went to Rome then to accuse Antipas. (The longer account of Antipas' fall in A] xviii, z4o-55, however, mentions only a letter from Agrippa to Gaius.) During his earlier long residence in Rome which ended in 23, Agrippa had been on friendly terms with Gains' grandmother, the younger Antonia, a friend of his mother (A] xviii, 143-4; cf. 164-5), and therefore must have known Gains' family when it returned to Rome after Germanicus' death in 19; but Gaius was then only seven. ~~0~ &v3pL&.v't'o:.. Cf. the note on r88 ~L6c; hcLx1>:1Jcr~v c
,

290 267

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

~6vwv. Probably sinews or tendons here, as in IV M ace. vii, J3, rather than "nerves" (as Colson), the sense in which Galen uses the

word.

z68

z6g

270

otx~ae. Cf. 272 rw.pO: crocuTiji. Agrippa probably had a more or less permanent establishment of his own in Rome, as he had spent several considerable periods there in the past and remained through the winter of 40-r; and Josephus' story of how he feasted Gains presupposes this (A] xviii, z8g-3or). His son, however, seems to have lived in Claudius' palace later (A] xix, 360; xx, g). eOepyecrlocL<;. His release from prison and appointment as king (note on 179). ~n·~""" .,;,;,y Wwv. Although Agrippa followed the outward forms and observances of Judaism punctiliously (A} xix, 293-4, 331), he was probably largely a pagan at heart, as were his Idumaean predecessors on the throne. He had been brought up in Rome and lived as an associate of gentile princes until he was thirty-two, and his return to the court about twelve years later to stay for over two years suggests that he found the atmosphere congenial. Although as king he was less blatantly generous to pagan cities than his grandfather, who had earned unpopularity by his actions, he showered gifts on Berytus (A] xix, 335-7; cf. 329), and in the predominantly Greek city of Caesarea he held games on the pagan model and did not deprecate the title of god (A] xix, 343-6; Acts xii, zr-3). &(.Laupo::rc; xat &x)~uW3e:m -ro:.1c; <StJ!e:m. A stroke in a particular part of the brain may impair the sight. Tij~ &vcmvoij<;. Colson translates this as "revival". But the more technical 1nedical use of &vocnvo~= respiration" (see Aristotle's treatise Ile:pt 'Ava7tvo'lic;) seems more appropriate here. Tij<; 7tept TO crwp.oc crzl:creN~. The temporary, alterable condition of the body, as opposed to its permanent ~~'' or constitution. . Supplied by Mangey from the same phrase in 270. p.enNplcroc~ crocuTIJV. The meaning apparently needed here is not recognized by L. and S. 9 In Xenophon llept 'I7tmxij<; xi, 7iJ.<'t'ewpf~1) €o:.u't"6v seems to mean prance". !3wL. Presumably members of Agrippa's Jewish suite. "" crNp.chwv. used of a sick body also in P. Zenon 59254 (third century B. C.) and by Galen (C. G. Kiihn, Medicorum Graecorum Opera quae Extant (1821-33), XIII, roz5), and of a martyr's tortured body in Ens. HE iv, r5, 40. ~1-sop.p.
272

11

273

COMMENTARY ON

§§ 267-276

291

sage, which was a common medical treatment in antiquity. There are numerous references in Galen to the use of oil for this purpose (e.g., Kiihn VI, rzz, r96, 200; VII, 124-5; XI, 471, 507), and possibly one in Pliny (NII xxviii, 137). Galen mentions massage as a treatment for atrophied limbs (Kiihn XVIII, ii, 89r ff. )-i.e., for the effects of paralysis-and for epilepsy (Kiihn XI, 364-5). 274 T
275

cruyx.exu~J.SVOt:; X0:1 7t&c; ev't'{rx.o~ fL&).LO''Trl
This section may cover a few weeks of convalescence. There is no need to assume, with Willrich (4r7, n. r), that Agrippa made his appeal to Gains immediately after recovering consciousness. ocmlze.. Reiter accepts tJti:x_e., the reading of A. Colson prefers &"i:x_e., the reading of the other MSS, which previous editors had accepted, since "oc1tex_w in the sense of 'receive in full' is well-known, e.g. St. Matt. vi, 2. No such sense is cited for tJti:x_N" (note ad lac.). 276 36 31:1-Tov 1-oc~O>v ""'il""' tm
l

I

292

TI-lE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

302). Philo gives no definite indication of where the appeal was made, but if Josephus is right in locating it in Rome (A] xviii, 28g), the date was September or later, after Gaius' re-entry into the city at his ovation. The letter given by Philo is probably not a verbatim copy of that actually written by Agrippa, but, in accordance with the conventions of ancient historiography, merely reproduces its general contents. There can be little doubt that Philo and his companions were in touch with Agrippa in Italy. Apart from their common distress, Philo had close family connections with him: his brother Alexander had lent money to the king a few years previously (A] xviii, r5g-6o), and in 41 Alexander's son Marcus was to marry his daughter Berenice (A] xix, 276). Possibly Philo himself helped to draft the king's letter to Gaius. Much of the evidence adduced in it (zgr-Jzo) is the sort of thing which the Alexandrian Jews would have collected for their own appeal to Gains and embodied in the two memoranda submitted to him earlier (178-g), and it may have been supplied by Philo for Agrippa's use. For if Agrippa left Palestine in ignorance of Gains' plan for the Temple (26r), he did not bring with him detailed evidence about the toleration or favour shown towards J udaism by other Emperors and their protection of the Jews' religious liberty ready for presentation to Gains, but had to collect it after his arrival. Cf. Balsdon, 139, n. r; H. Lewy, Philon von Alexandrien "V on der :\fachterweisen Gottes" (1935), g; H. Leisegang in ]EL lvii (1938), 399· The parts of the letter dealing with Agrippa's relations with Gains and with the fate of the Temple (278-go, 323-9) will, of course, have been unique to that document. aO'\"oxp&.,op. Imperator. This form of address, used several times 277 in Agrippa's letter, and the Augustus Imperator with which the Jewish envoys addressed Gaius (352) were irregular. "Like Tiberius before him and Claudius afterwards, (Gains) refused to accept the praenomen imperatoris. Nor is there evidence epigraphic or numismatic that he recorded after his name the seven imperial salutations which, according to Cassius Dio (lix, 22, 2), he received during the 'German expedition'. Cf. BMCCRE I, r56-8 (coins of A. D. 40-r)" (Balsdon, 146). 278 'IouBxco,. Agrippa was in fact three quarters Idumaean and only one quarter Jewish by descent. On the side of his mother Berenice he was wholly Idumaean, her parents having been Salome, the sister of Herod the Great, and Costobarus, a member of the Idumaean

COMMENTARY ON

§§ 276-281

293

nobility and a pagan at heart (A] xv, 253-8; xvi, II; xviii, 133; B] i, 552). His father Aristobulus was the son of the Idumaean Herod the Great and Mariamme, grand-daughter of Hyrcanus, the last Hasmonaean ruler of the country (BJ i, 241; A] xiv, 300; in xviii, 130 she is wrongly called his daughter). The Idumaeans, conquered and annexed late in the second century B. C. by John Hyrcanus (A] xiii, 257-8), were never regarded as Jews, despite their enforced adoption of the Jewish religion, by the Jews of the old stock. Herod the Great was called ~~wouBaco, (A] xiv, 403), and was sufficiently conscious that his subjects looked upon him as halfforeign to cause his court-chronicler to spread the tale that his family was a Jewish one from Babylon (A] xiv, g). '\"OU o~(,nou ewu. See the note on this title in I57· TC<Xmtwv. Only Herod the Great. Marian1n1c's Hasmonaean ancestors. &v o~ 1tAdous €A~yov"To &px~epe~<;. The historical develop1nent was in fact the reverse of that indicated here. After the return from the Exile, the rulers of the Jews were for centuries the High Priests. The early Hasmonaeans held this position after re-establishing the independence of Judaea. Later members of the dynasty bore the title "king" in addition to that of High Priest. 280 On the forms which Jewish expressions of loyalty to foreign overlords and benefactors could take, and on the daily sacrifices in the Temple for the well-being of the Emperor, see the notes on 133 '\"Cf'ci.' and on 157 6ucr(a,. 8v -raZe; X<X't'IZ 't'0Cc; a'l)[J,O't"EAdc; eop't"(h;; &vayotJ.k;vo:.~c;. E.g., the three special hecatombs offered during Gains' principate (356). &v.,eAl)(eow. See the note on this adjective in 157. Here the MSS are fairly evenly divided between Zv-re:A~xeow and 8'J3eA€xemv. qnAoxalaape,. Cl. the coin struck by Agrippa in 43/4 with the legend' Ayp(TC'It<X' qnA6xaccrap ~e
l THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

Jews of the Diaspora looked to Jerusalem as their capital, not only because it contained the Temple which was the focus of their religion, but also because they hoped to return to it when the lVIessianic age dawned and Israel was freed from subjection to foreign domination. ~et<; oc11:mxle<<;. With Philo's list of centres of the Diaspora in 281-2 cf. St. Luke's catalogue in Acts ii, 9-1r. Other literary evidence, documentary evidence, or both confirm the presence of Jews in most of the places mentioned by the two writers and in many others also. The most complete list of the individual towns where Jews are known to have lived is that of Juster (I, 180-209). The epigraphic evidence for the Diaspora, collected in Cl], testifies to the presence of Jews in some places not listed by Juster: see, e.g., I, nos. 554, 632-7, 655, 671, 681, 694-6, and II, nos. 754, 759-61, 852-65, 144r-2, 1533. The known Jewish settlements certainly do not all date back to Philo's time; the earliest evidence for many of them is of late imperial date, and the nucleus of some is likely to have been Jews captured and enslaved in the suppression of the revolts of 66-70, rr5-8, and 132-5. Italy is conspicuously absent from Philo's list, but Gains needed no reminding of the Jewish settlements there. S. W. Baron suggests (A Social and Religious History of the Jews (1952) I, 170) that St. Paul's intention of visiting Spain presupposes the existence of Jews there as early as c. A.D. 50. The literary and epigraphic evidence for Spain cited by Juster is all of much later date. ~~v Koli.'Y)V 7tpomxyopeuof'SV'Y)V. The origin of the term "Coele Syria" and the area which it denoted in late classical Greek are discussed by A. Shalit, "Koli.'Y) ~up[oc from the mid-fourth century to the beginning of the third century B. C." in Scripta Hierosolymitana i (1954), 64-77. "'Coele Syria' included three different geographical concepts in Hellenistic Greek: (1) the valley between Mt. Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, (2) the region south of Damascus and east of the Jordan, i.e., roughly corresponding to modern Transjordania, (3) Palestine and Transjordania together" (R. Marcus, note on A] xi, 25, Loeb). It is difficult to be certain which of the first two of these areas Philo means here; probably the second, i.e., the Decapolis. Of other first century writers, Pliny distinguishes between the Decapolis and Coele Syria (by which he means the valley between Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon; NH v, 74, 77), as Strabo does also (xvi, 2, 16, 754). But Josephus uses Coele Syria to

COMMENTARY ON

§§ 281-283

denote the Decapolis in A] xiii, 355-6 and B] i, 103-4, although he uses it in other senses elsewhere. P!olemy includes the cities which Pliny lists as comprising the Decapolis, together with some others, under the heading of Coele Syria (Geogr. v, 15, 22-3=V, 14, r8 in C. Muller's edition I, ii (1901); the additional words xoct L'lexcm61.ew<; ,in the heading in most MSS seem to be a gloss). Coins of two cities 1n Pliny's list of the Decapolis, Gadara and Philadelphia, and coins uf Abila, a city absent from Pliny's list but known from GIG 4501 to have belonged to the Decapolis by Hadrian's day, show that that district was called Coele Syria in imperial times; see BMCGC, Galatia, etc., 305-6; F. de Saulcy, Numismatique de la Terre Saint< (1874), zgS-303, 310-2, 388-gz. For fuller treatment see Schiirer, II, 148-93; P.-W. s.vv. Dekapolis; and Koile Syria; A. I-I. M. Jones, The Cities of the Eastern Roman Provinces (1937), z6o-r. There is ample evidence for Jewish settlements in the cities of the Decapolis. 282 .,~v 7tSpe
l 296

285

z86

287

288 z8g

THE EMBASSY 'fO GAIUS

is discussed by P. Monceaux, uLes colonies juives dans 1' Afriquc romaine" in RE] xliv (r9oz), r -28. 7t'Et_puY.fvoc~. A gives TO t:U nzqmx€va;L -r'ljv (PwfLc.dx.~v TioAvrdocv. I.e., elevation to the status of a municipium with citizen rights. E:Ae:u6epLocv yoDv ~ r.p6pc.0v &
COMMENTARY ON

§§ 283-29!

family on the father's death, and had the right to a special blessing from his father just before the latter's death. These privileges, known as the "birthright", could be snrrendered by the son or transferred by the father to a younger son: see Deut. xxi, I7; Mishnah Baba nathra viii, 4-5, and Bekoroth viii, 9; and examples in Genes. xxv, 32 ff., xxvii, and xlviii. For fuller discussion see JE s.vv. Birthright; Family; and Primogeniture. TWv &va-roALx&v .... aU-raxpOC-ropa. Probably a reference to the oath of loyalty to the new Emperor which Vitellius administered to the people of Jerusalem (A] xviii, I24)290 xecp6>q.tr,-rov oMs[Llocv 1:~ &px~~ ["op
l ~g8

'rHk E:MilASSY TO GAIUS

be proud to follow goes far to discredit Suctonius' allegation that he was ashamed of his descent from a commoner (G. 23, r). It may also be noted that in tbe inscription on his mother's funerary urn Gaius described her as Agrippa's daughter (ILS r8o), and that an undated as showing Agrippa's head may have been struck under Gaius (BMCCRE I, cxxxiii, and 142, no. I6I; L. Lanffranchi in Riv. !tal. de Numis. xxiii (Igio). z6-3r). o~oc --:oU xe:Ae:Ucro:.~ bncrt"oAocr:; 't'd:c; 7to::·rrax60e:\J &no:.pxlic;. The MSS read OLOC -roU xe:AdJcroct 't'd.c; 1t'tX\J't'ax60e:v &.no:.pxOCc; bncr--roA
retained by all editors despite the clearly illogical position of tmcr~o A<Xc,. J\!Iangey suggested the transposition here adopted, or, alternatively, alteration to &.noa-raAoac;, "by missions" (i.e., by envoys selected for the purpose). On the latter Colson comments that the evidence cited by Mangey for this use "does not seem to do away with its superfluity after 7tt[L7t
COMMENTARY ON

§§ 29I-297

avoids all mention of the action of either, both here and in 300. tv
in the autumn, he may have been in Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles and the Day of Atonement. The ceremonial vestments, the "golden robes" described in Exodus xxviii and xxxix, were worn by the High Priest on the three great festivals of the Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles, and on the Day of Atonement except when he entered the Holy of Holies (307 and notes); for those parts of the ritual he wore special white linen garments (Levit. xvi, 4, 23; J\!Iishnah Y oma iii, 6-7; vii, 4). During the rest of the year the ceremonial vestments were kept in Herod's fortress, the Antonia, where they remained under the Roman occupation until handed back to Jewish custody by Vitellius, legate of Syria, when he visited Jerusalem in A.D. 36/7 (A] xv, 403-9; xviii, go-5). 297 &.voc6~[Loccro. Cf. the note on I 57 [L6vo' oo 7tocvolxw,. J osephus does not mention Agrippa's gifts to the Temple, but says that he sacrificed a hecatomb (A] xvi, I4; cf. ss). The offering of sacrifices in the Temple by gentiles was accepted and regulated from early times (Levit. xxii, 2S, which presupposes that gentiles might present sacrifices; I Kings viii, 4I-3; J\!Iishnah Shekalim vii, 6), and became Legatio ad Gaium

20

300

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

common (B] ii, 409, 413-5; v, 15-7; cf. iv, 262). Other examples are Ptolemy III Euergetes (In Ap. ii, 48), Antiochus Sidetes (A] xiii, 241-4), and Vitellius, whose ostensible purpose on his second visit to Jerusalem, at the Passover of 37 (231 and notes), was to sacrifice (AJ xviii, 122). Alexander the Great~s sacrifice at Jerusalem (A] xi, 336) is legendary, as he did not visit the city; but its inclnsion in the tradition shows that such an action would have been qnite natural. Angustns' commendation of his grandson Gaius for refraining from worshipping in the Temple on his way through Judaea in A.D. r (S. Aug. 93) implies that he might have been expected to do so. (There is no serious inconsistency between this and Augustus' protection of the Jews' religious liberty. His attitude was that Judaism was all right for the Jews, but that an heir to the throne should not dabble, however superficially, in foreign cults.) For fuller discussion of heathen participation in the Temple worship see Schiirer, II, 357-60.
xomv ~'t7J. 38 'f'CAo~[l-'~1-'"·

L. and S. 9 cite this reference for the meaning "act of ambition or ostentation", which makes little sense here. The other meaning given, "thing on which one prides oneself", is better. Colson translates "act showing a fine spirit", and suggests as an alternative "showing his public spirit", since 'f'LAo~•[.'lrx is sometimes nsed of a ruler's munificence. (In 6o 'f'•Ao~•[.'lcx seems to mean ~~ardour" or 11 enthusiasm".) [.'Up[wv .... >w.xwv. See the note on 179. On &.7toA
On bd'1"po7tor;, here used in its commonest sense of

"procurator", see the note on 132 'TOU ae bc~-rp6nou -r~r; xc.Gpe
COMMENTARY ON

§§ 297-299

301

of the Roman standards at Jerusalem" in HThR xxxv (1942), 263-89)-an action which it is hard to interpret otherwise than as deliberate provocation-and by his use of money from the Temple treasury to finance the building of an aqueduct to Jerusalem (A] xviii, 55-62; B] ii, 169-77). The second action had apparently also been regarded as sacrilegious, since it aroused violent protests. The Mishnah sanctions the use of any surplus from the shekel-dues for "the city wall and the towers thereof and all the city's needs" (Shekalim iv, 2), and this could presumably be interpreted as covering the water-supply for Jerusalem. But in Tosaphot Yomtov (by Yomtov Lipman Helier; died 1654) on Mishnah Nedarim v, 5 it.is said, referring to B. T. Nedarim rra and Asheri ad loc., that there was a difference of opinion as to whether the money might in fact be used for these purposes. l:v -roe<; .... 'Hp3ou ~cxcnAdoL<;. The palace bnilt by Herod the Great near the north-west corner of the city c. 24 B.C. It was a fortress as well as a luxurious palace, and was defended on the north by three towers bnilt into the city-wall and named after his brother Phasael, his wife Mariamme (whether the first or the second is not clear), and his friend Hippicns (B] v, 16r-81; A] xv, 318-9). It was used as the procurator's administrative headquarters when he went to Jerusalem (306 l:v otx[qo -rwv i:mTp67tu>V; BJ ii, 301), and soldiers were sometimes quartered there (B.J ii, 328). The Roman military headquarters in Jerusalem, however, apparently lay in the fortress called Antonia adjoining the Temple (discussed by L.-H. Vincent, "L'Antonia, palais primitif d'Herode" in RB !xi (r954), 87-107). A cohort was permanently stationed there by 66 at any rate (BJ v, 24-4-5) and probably earlier also (Acts xxi, 27-40). Whether the praetorium mentioned in the accounts of the trial of Christ was Herod's palace or the Antonia is disputed; for the literature see W. Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, translated by W. F. Arndt and F. W. Gingrich (1957) s.v. 7tp<Xmi>pwv; and Soeur Marie-Aline de Sion, La Forteresse Antonia a Jerusalem et la Question du Pretoire (1955), I93-27I; cf. Kraeling, op. cit., 278-So. The old Hasmonaean palace, nearer to the Temple than Herod's palace, was the residence of the Herodian princes on their visits to the capital; e.g., Agrippa II stayed there c. 6o (A] xx, 189-90). Plans of Jerusalem are given by, e.g., Soeur Marie-Aline, op. cit.; H. St. J. Thackeray, Loch edition of B] iv-vii; F.-M. Abel, Histoire de la Palestine

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

(1951) I; S. Perowne, The Life and Times of Herod the Great (1956). bnxpUcrou-:; &crrd3(X~ .... -rWv &7t1Jyopw!J.E:v<.Uv. Josephus begins his account of Pilate's procuratorship by describing how he took up to Jerusalem a detachment of troops whose standards bore portraitbusts of Tiberius, and how this show of disrespect for the Jews' objection to "graven images" (of which he can hardly have been ignorant, since he took care to have the standards carried in at night, discreetly covered) met with such vigorous demonstrations of protest that he had the offending objects returned to Caesarea. In view both of Philo's categorical statement here that the votive shields in the episode which he records were aniconic and therefore did not infringe the Jewish Law, and of other considerable differences between his and J osephus' narratives, it can hardly be maintained, as it has been by, e.g., Dahl (Excursus II), H. H. Gratz (Geschichte der juden IIP (1878), 285-6), and more recently Colson (in his Introduction, xix-xx), that the two authors are merely recording variant traditions of a single episode. Two distinct episodes are surely in question. Eusebius quotes BJ ii, 169-70 in HE ii, 6, 4, and refers twice to the incident narrated by Josephus, men·· tioning him as his authority but exaggerating the gravity of Pilate's action by making him take portraits of the Emperor (i.e., the standards) into the Temple (Chron. Tib. XIX; Dem. Ev. viii, 2, 122); cf. the similar exaggeration in Jerome (In l'vfatt. xxiv, 15=PL XXVI, 184) and in Origen (In Matt. xvii, 25=PG XIII, 1549). But he also twice cites Philo as an authority for an attack by Pilate on the Temple (Dem. Ev. viii, 2, 123; HE ii, 5, 7), in the former passage repeating his statement that Pilate took the standards into the Temple. These are clearly references to the incident related by J osephns, not to that related in the Legatio as we have it. This may mean that the episode of the standards was narrated by Philo in a part of his historical writings which is no longer extant, as Schiirer thinks (III, 67g-8o). But it is equally possible that Eusebins, reading Philo and Josephus hastily, has overlooked the vital differences between their narratives, has supposed them to be variants of a single episode, and has then given an inaccurate version of J osephus' story under Philo's name. "r6v 't'E &va8E:v-ro:. xcd Urc~p oU ~ &v&9smc;. The shields will presumably have been dedicated by Pilate himself in Tiberius' honour. 300 -roUe; 't'e: ~cmtA€wc; ute:~c; -rfT're<pac;. In A] xvii, rg-22, and BJ i, 562-3 the wives and children of Herod the Great are listed (but with the

COMMENTARY ON

§§ 299-300

exclusion of Mariamme I, who was dead by the period under discussion, and her five children). Of his ten sons, Antipater, Alexander, and Aristobnlus had been pnt to death during his lifetime; Mariamme I's third son had died young (B] i, 435); and Archelaus, the former ethnarch of Judaea, had been banished to Gaul in A. D. 6 (A] xvii, 344). Of the other five, Antipas was tetrarch o:f Galilee nntil 39, and Philip tetrarch of northern Transjordan until 34, and they were both presumably among the princes in question. Another of the four may have been Herod, son of Mariamme II, the first husband of Herodias. There is no evidence to show how long he lived after Herodias had divorced him in order to marry Antipas (A] xviii, rog-1o, 136); the accounts of the death of John the Baptist c. 28 in the Synoptic Gospels (which all err in making Herodias' first husband Philip the tetrarch; see Schiirer, I, 435, n. 19) perhaps suggest that at that time the divorce was recent (St. Matt. xiv, 3-12; St. Mark vi, 17-29; St. Luke iii, rg-2o). Nothing is known about the other Herod, son of Cleopatra, or about Phasael, son of Pallas. A. D. Doyle makes the point that the episode of the shields probably occurred at the time of a Passover, "when the princes would be in Jerusalem with the other pilgrims; all four sons wonld scarcely be available at ordinary times" ("Pilate's career and the date of the Crucifixion" in ]ThS xlii (1941), rgo-3). The presence of Pilate in Jerusalem also suggests a festival-time; but Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles are other possibilities. 't'o0c; &AAouc; &7toy6vouc;.

For Herod's grandchildren and great-

grandchildren see A] xviii, 130-40. Of the three sons of his son Aristobulus, Agrippa I was living in Palestine in the early 30s A. D. (note on 179). The whereabouts of the other two, Herod (king of Chalcis from 41; A] xix, 277) and Aristobulus, of the three sons of Herod's daughter Salampsio, and of Alexander, one of the two sons of Herod's son Alexander, at this time are unknown; but they may have resided in Palestine, or may have been visiting it for a festival. Alexander's other son, Tigranes, apparently lived in Rome after his brief and ill-fated reign over Armenia c. A.D. 6 until his execution in 36 (A] xviii, 139; T. A. vi, 40, 2; cf. J. G. C. Anderson in CAH X, 277). Little is known about Antipater's son (A] xvii, 14, 18). Philip is stated to have died childless, and there is no reference to children of Antipas or Archelaus. The only child of Herod, son of Mariamme II, by Herodias was a daughter, Salome.

THE ElVIB ASSY TO GAIUS

It is possible that Aristobulus, son of the Herod who was later king of Chalcis, and great-grandson of Herod the Great, was of an age to be chosen as one of the delegates; he was of marriageable age soon (apparently) after the death of Philip the tetrarch in 34 (A] xviii, 137). -roUe; Ev -rfAeL Members of the Sanhedrin, on which see the note on 222 -roUe; Ev -rfAe~ -r:ilw 'Iou3cx.Lwv. !J.'lj xLve~'J ~81) TI&-rp~a. .... &x.Lnrra.. The phrase x.~veiv -r&. &:.x.fV'I)TCX. is used to denote sacrilege in Heroclotus vi, 134. Cf. Philo's use of xcvEI:v in rr8, r6r, and 327. On his statement that Jewish customs had never before been violated see the note 292 8Gov. Philo does not make clear how the presence of the shields in Jerusalem violated, or was likely to violate, Jewish traditions. As fat as appearances went, they were innocuous; they were ani conic, and, seeing that dedications by Jews in honour of benefactors were admitted into the synagogues (note on 133 n[-L<X~), the inscriptions which they bore could have been expected to give no offence. But the violence of the Jews' reaction against them reveals a fear that some deeper (presumably religious) significance than met the eye lay in the objects themselves or in the inscriptions. The shields were probably connected, in some way which managed to keep the letter but not the spirit of the Jewish Law, with the imperial cult. The episode of the iconic military standards may have awakened the Jews to the fact that aniconic objects also could have religious significance for the Romans, and made them anxious to keep even those out of Jerusalem, and they may have feared that the introduction of the aniconic shields was the thin end of the wedge: as Pilate had met stiff opposition when he had openly flouted Jewish religious feeling, he might now be initiating another attack by a seemingly innocent action which was to be the forernnner of some definite contravention of the Law; and acceptance of shields which kept the letter of the Law might create a precedent which would make the rejection of Pilate's next innovation difficult. 301 &:.x.oc!J-7t'~c; xcx.L ~e-r&. "ToD ocUS&3ouc; &~dA~x-roc;. In the episode of the standards Pilate had nltimately given way in the face of Jewish protests and had them removed; but by the time of the incident of the aqueduct his attitude had hardened, and he had many Jews massacred for their opposition. f'~ cr~occr[G<~< . . . . The Jews' threat that Pilate's action would drive them to rebellion against Rome reveals a state of high nervous

COMMENTARY ON

§§ 300-303

tension and excitement, and indicates that this incident occurred when they had already had long experience of his unsympathetic rule. oUO~v W~Ae~ -rWv ~[.Le:-ri:pwv xoc"Ta.AUEo-f)<XL The Jews' confidence that Tiberius was the champion of their religious liberty-a confidence justified by his response to their appeal (304-5)-would seem to place the incident of the shields after Sej anns' death, when the prefect's designs against the Jews were brought to an abrupt close and Tiberius made it known that he was reverting to the traditional imperial policy of protecting Juclaism (r5g-6r). (The indications that the incident occurred fairly late in Pilate's procnratorship preclude elating it to before Sejanus' attack on the Jews.) Whereas previously Pilate had been able to ride roughshod over his subjects' religious prejudices in the light of Sejanus' known attitude, the Jews could now appeal to the Emperor in the knowledge that the improvement in their position consequent on Sejanus' fall gave them a reasonable chance of redress. rcpecr~oo~ I:A6fC
306

THE El\IBASSY TO GAIUS

argue, as he had done when the Jews asked him to remove the military standards from Jerusalem, that to undo something which had been clone in the Emperor's honour would be an act of 5~po<; ('maiestas?) towards him (A] xviii, 57). 3<'i'~''"'""'h('f.<; &mcrToAr.l<;, Doyle suggests that this letter was the cause of the enmity which existed between Antipas and Pilate at the time of the Crucifixion (St. Luke xxiii, 12), and argues that, if the episode of the shields occurred after Sejanus' death, this supports the dating of the Crucifixion to 33, as against 30 (op. cit. ). (For discussion of the year of the Crucifixion see J. K. Fotheringham, "Astronomical evidence for the date of the Crucifixion" in]ThS xii (rgro-r), 120-7; "The evidence of astronomy and technical chronology for the date of the Crucifixion" in]ThS xxxv (r934), r46-62; articles cited by J. Jeremias in]ThS I (r949), 2, n. I; T. Corbishley in A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture, eel. B. Orchard and others (r953), 849.) Corbishley, however, thinks (in Clergy Rev. xii, 379) that the hostility had arisen from Pilate's execution of some of Antipas' Galilaean subjects. 304 Sto:vo:yvoUc;;. See the note on 6g (ho:.v€yvcu. 6Jpy(cr0'i. Tiberius was angry with Pilate for having disregarded the instructions which he had issued after Sejanus' death to provincial governors to protect the Jews under their rule. 305 T~V brt 0('/.Ac\T,n Kcncr&p
COMMENTARY ON

§§ 303-307

307

harbour of Caesarea was called /; So~o:crT6t; AofL~V (A] xvii, 87; BJ i, 6r3), and the city's official name was Ko:1cr&pooo: ~ 11:p6<; SE~('f.CJTij\ Ao!Lev• (BMCGC, Palestine, r3-5). Later, when Vespasiau raised Caesarea to colonial status, its official name was Colonia Prima Fleevia Augusta Caesarensis (BMCGC, Palestine, r6-42; cf. Pliny Nil v, 6g). The name Sebaste alone normally denoted the city of Samaria as rebuilt by Herod the Great (A] xv, 292-8; BJ i, 64, 403; cf. n8). Tij\ Se~C
Tabernacle) and in the tractate Yoma in the !Vlishnah (for the Temple). E0~6fLEVo<;. After taking incense into the Holy of Holies the High Priest "came out by the way he went in, and in the outer space" (i.e., the Sanctuary, the part of the Temple leading to the Holy of Holies, from which it was divided by a double curtain) "he prayed a short prayer. But he did not prolong the prayer lest he put Israel in terror" (Yoma v, r). (So great was the .Jewish fear that some mishap might befall the High Priest while officiating in the Holy of Holies, that at the end of the clay's ritual "he made a feast for his friends for that he was come forth safely from the Sanctuary"¥ oma vii, 4·) The prayer is given in the Babylonian Talmud: "IV! ay it be Thy will, 0 Lord our God, that this year be full of heavy rains and hot. !Vlay there not depart a ruler from the house of Judah, and may the house of Israel not require that they sustain one another, and permit not the prayer of travellers" (i.e., for dry weather, which would give them less uncomfortable journeys) "to find entrance before Thee" (Yoma 53b). 307 x&v &p('f. Ti<; 11:ou. . . . Not only did no other priest accompany the High Priest into the Holy of Holies, but no-one was allowed to remain even within the Sanctuary while he was within the Holy of Holies (Levit. xvi, 7). 't'1} aUT'(j 't'ptc; ~ xocf. -re't'p&xtc;. An error is implicit in this remark.

---

308

TI-lE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

According to Levit. xvi, 12-5, and Mishnah Yoma v, 1-4, and vii, 4, the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies four times in the course of the ritual of the Day of Atonement-first to place a censer of incense on the Ark (or, after the loss of the Ark, on a stone marking its site); then to sprinkle the blood of a sacrificed bullock round the chamber; then to repeat the action with the blood of a he-goat; and finally to remove the censer. For fuller accounts and discussion see ]E s.v. Atonement, Day of; The New Bible Commentary, ed. F. Davidson, A. M. Stibbs, and E. F. Kevan (r953), notes on Levit. xvi; J. H. Hertz, The Pentateuch and the Haftorahs III (1932), notes onLevit. xvi. Cf. C. Spicq, L' Epitre aux Hebreux (r953) II, 253. 308 ea\IOC-rou~ ExoucrL(.I)c;. See the note on IIJ E:xoucrtouc;; ea\1&-rouc;;. 'roUe;; ne:pt 't"aihoc tilmw[.LSNouc;. "Those who have kept themselves holy in relation to the shrine", i.e., have taken care not to desecrate it. yuvaL~t xat 't"Sxvmc;. See the note on this phrase in rzr. 310 &optAOO'O'jlt<X<; oox &xpot, x•lA
&napx.W'~~

Le:pOC.

[L6vot<;. In the eastern provinces, as in Italy, the synagogues were exempted by both J nlius Caesar and August us from the general ban on collegia. Cf. the notes on II4 and rs6 1tpoO'
COMMENTARY ON

312

§§ 307-315

form collegia carried with it the right to have a common fnnd. En~crucr'T&.mxc;. Cohn's en1endation for the various readings of the MSS, &,t O'UO'~&O'
xat &\IOpdac;; xa~ crwcppocrUv'Y)c;; xcd Otxo;.wcrUYY')c; e:Ucre:'re: xcd Om6-ri')'Wc; xcd crUtJ.n&crYjc; &pe:'t"~r,, and almost identical

words in Spec. ii, 62. te:ponotJ..noU~. See the note on 156 nS!J-7tO\I't"ac;; de;; ~Ie:pocr6AutJ.a. 313 1-&xxo<; &v0U1tOL~O<;. A similar letter from c. Norbanus Flaccus, proconsul of Asia, to Sardis, and an abbreviated version of the letter of Augnstus, the contents of which the proconsul passed on to Sardis and Ephesus, are preserved in A] xvi, IJI and r66. One C. Norbanus Flaccns was consul in 38 B. C., and another, probably his son, was consul with Augustus in 24 B.C. (P.-W. s.v. Norbanus 9. call. 932-4). There is no documentary evidence to show which of them later became proconsul of Asia, the inscription from Pergamum honouring a proconsul of this name (IGRR IV, 428) being undated. Dessau (PIR 1 II, 415, no. 135) and Groag (in P.-W. XVII, call. 1270-2) suppose that it was the consul of 38. The latter dates his proconsulship to between Actium and Octavian's assumption of the name Augustus, while D. Magie dates it to the late 30s B. C. (Roman Rule in Asia Minor (r95o) II, rsSo). Both cite the letters in Philo and J osephus (where Augustus is called simply "Caesar") as their authorities. Such early dates for these documents, however, seem unlikely. It is not clear whether Philo is referring

I

3IO

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

in 3II and 3r6 to Augustus' reimposition of Caesar's ban on all collegia except those, like the synagogues, which were specifically exempted, or to an earlier time in his principate, when Caesar's ruling was presumably still theoretically in force. But J osephus implies that the documents formed part of Augustus' response to the appeal of the Jewish deputations from Asia and north Africa, and he places that appeal after the completion of the rebuilding of Caesarea in rz or ro B.C. (note on 305). It therefore seems more plausible to identify the proconsul with the consul of 24, as do Dahl (note ad loc.) and Juster (I, I49-50). This Norbanus could be fitted into the proconsular jasti of Asia during the years soon after I2 B. C. No securely dated proconsul is known for that province for many years before Asinius Gallus in 6-5 B.C. (CIL III, 7rr8; IGRRIV, ro3rb), the date 9 B. C. usually assigned to Paullus Fabius Maximus being no more than probable (OGIS 458; cf. Magie, l.c.). The use of "Caesar" alone to designate Augustus in the documents quoted by Philo and J osephus is no proof that they were drawn up before 27 B. C. August us is called merely "Caesar" in the inscription of Paullus Fabius Maximus in Asia (above) and in one from Spain (CIL II, 258r), and the Nazareth rescript of an unnamed Emperor believed to have been Claudius is headed fo.,&""Yf'OC Koclcrocpo<; (M. P. Charlesworth, Documents Illustrating the Reigns of Claudius and Nero (I939), p. I5, no. IJ). The four other documents quoted in A] xvi, r62-73 along with those bearing Nor banus' name seem, on chronological grounds, to have no connection with the Jewish appeal to Augustus, although J osephus implies that they also were elicited by it. The decree of Jullus (in MSS incorrectly Julius) Antonius, proconsul of Asia some time between g and 2 B. C. (PIR 2 I, I53, no. 8oo), reaffirming, at the Jews' request, the rights of religious liberty already granted to them by Augustus and M. Vipsanius Agrippa (r72-3), presupposes an earlier pronouncement which had been disregarded, and this suggests that Jullus held office later than Norbanus, while the document in r6z-5 is dated to c. A. D. 2 by the reference to C. Marcius Censorinus' proconsulship of Asia (PIR 1 II, 336, no. r63; Magie, l.c.). On the other hand, the two decrees of Agrippa, who died in rz B. C. (discussed in the note on 240 6 7t1Xlt7to<;), will have been issued before the appeal to Augustus. 3I6 cru"68wv. Presumably the collegia. Contrast the use of the word in a general sense in 312.

COMMENTARY ON

§§ 3I5-326

3II

8ooT
3I7

nrx:voix~oc;.

320

32I

322 324

325 326

~~"' Toov oc!cr61JTWV I"'I'Ja•v 'I01JTI>V. Strictly speaking illogical-"no mental concept apart from objects of sense". "'P'Y
THE EMBASSY '!'0 GAIUS

COMMENTARY ON §§ 326-338

37, and was not added to it with Galilee in 39 (note on 179), Such

But this wonld have been to grant only half of the favour requested., and would not have obviated the danger of a Jewish revolt, As Philo's attitude to Gains was such that he would not have represented his concession to the Jews as more generous than it really was, his version of the countermand is preferable to that of Josephus. On receiving Gains' countermand during the autumn of 40, Petronius took his army back from Ptolemais to Antioch (misplaced in Bj ii, 201; see the note on 248 ~mcr-rtAAetv), This "rider" which Gains appended to the countermand seems entirely reasonable, despite Philo's description of it as Moc; &pyoc1.e
an error as this, which the king could not have made, reveals that Leg. 276-329 comes from Philo's pen and is not a verbatim copy of

Agrippa's memorandum. i(<Xptcrc
-r·~v

7tpb 11-~xpoU 't'6X1JV o-J 1w.:pocvroU~ocL.

Colson translates "I do not

beg to keep my short-lived good. fortune". He comments that to translate (with Mangey) "I do not deprecate my recent ill fortune" would accord. better with the common uses of rc<XpoctToul'"" and rcpo 1'-txpoil, but would contradict what Agrippa has said in 323 (sic; but he snrely means 324), But is this objection valid? It is metaphorical imprisonment against which Agrippa has just pleaded, and. it would not be incompatible with that for him to offer now to resume his former condition-not merely private status but literal imprisonment (329 )--in return for the immunity of the Temple, -rk y&.p &v .... &.v6p~7toLc;; Se. "if you do not grant my request". 330 42 €:vTUxm. An unusual use of €y-ruyx&:v(J), as Colson comments. He favours Mangey's suggestion &v -rozot (note ad loc,), and translates "the turn events might take", But assuming T<Xil-roc (the letter) as the subject, ~VTO;(ot can stand, &.v!Xa'T6:.cre:wc; xcd &.v3po~:7toO~crt-toU X.G(t 7totV't'e:AoUc; noptl~ae:(l)c;. I.e., if Gains persisted. with his plan, the Jews wonld. revolt, and. enslavement and devastation would follow the inevitable Roman victory. rce
334

335

336 337

338

'tHE EMBASSY To GAiUS cruvxU~ELV crE~(Xcr[.J.OG. Cf. r6z. &v x.oci.C{> (se. T6n
•

{mE~Af7tE't"O.

-rOCc, [.LSv tv 't"(XLc; &AArJ.~c, 1t6Ae:rn 7tpocrEuxac;. Nowhere else is there any indication that the example of the Alexandrian desecration of the synagogues was followed in other cities during Gaius' principate. In Fl. 44-7 Philo merely says that there was a serious danger that when the gentiles elsewhere heard what had happened in Alexandria, they also would attack the synagogues. The only recorded occasion when the danger became a reality was after Gains' death, when the gentiles of the Phoenician city of Dora in Syria put a statue of Claudius in a synagogue. Agrippa I, who was back in Palestine by then, reported the matter to Petronius (an interesting detail, since Dora lay outside his kingdom), and Petronius wrote to the magistrates of Dora, reprimanding them for their breach of the decree issued by Claudius soon after his accession

conf1rmtng Jewish religious liberty throughout the empire (A] xix, 286-91, 300-12; cf. Introduction, p. 28). The incident must have occurred in the first year or so of Claudius' principate, since Petronius' governorship of Syria terminated in 41/2 (A] xix, 317 and coins of Antioch). Philo therefore may have known of it and have antedated it. b y~p hspwv &vom8tVTOlV t
Legatio ad Gaium

21

THE BMJlASSY TO CA!US

constant epithet of kings who manifested the superhuman powers with which the}' were credited. The adjective could also bear the purely human sense of ."distinguished". The title Epiphanes was apparently used first by Ptolemy V. From the mid-second century it was popular with the Seleucids, who sometimes added the name of an individual god. The cities of Asia honoured Julius Caesar as Oeo<; l:m'{locv~<; (SJG II, 76o), and later the title was conferred on emperors and members of their families. See further Pfister in P.-W. Suppl. IV s.v. Epiphanie, especially coli. 3o6ff.; M. P. Nilsson, Gesyhichte der griechischen Religion II (1950), 173-4, 214-6; A. D. Nock, "Notes on ruler-cult, III" in ]ourn. Hellenic Stud. xlviii (1928), 38-41, On ve6~ see the note on 8gb veo<; L'u6vucro<;. 348 lt~yl:.; &viY.TSfLVEC~ &.Op6wv xocxwv. I.e., maltreatment of the Jews will bring divine retribution in its train. Reiter marks a lacuna between 348 and 349, before the sudden and casual return to the story of the delegations to Gains, which faded into the background in-rg8-2o6. Cf. Introduction, p. 41. 349 44 TIJV 7tept Tij<; 7toAcTdoc<; &yOivoc. On the meaning of 7toAc't'diY. see the note on 193. dcreA06vTe<;. In 349-67 Philo describes the envoys' second hearing before Gains, held in Rome in the autumn of 40. His attitude to the Jews was distinctly more hostile on this occasion than at their preliminary interview some months earlier (181). The reason for the change in his attitude is probably to be found in his receipt of Petronius' letter reporting the Jewish opposition to the proposed desecration of the Temple, which had arrived during the summer a,nd greatly annoyed him (254 ff.). 350 f'ETI: cruve~pwv. On the explanation which Philo gives here of a Roman custon1 see the note on 28 7t(;(\I'T_e:A~~ e;ouatG<. In a Roman civil lawsuit the praetor and the iudex were· at liberty to invite men with legal experience to assist them on the bench as their consilium or assessores (Cicero Pro Rose. Com. 4, 12; Pro Quinct. 2, 5; 10, 36; 30, 91). The imperial consili.um later performed similar judicial functions (e.g., Dio liii, 21, 5); see further ]. A. Crook, Consilium Principis (1955). 31 ff., 42 ff. Magie (De Vocabulis, 70) gives other examples of mlve8po,=a member of the imperial consilium. Crook thinks that in this passage Philo is expressing "his disgust, when he led the Jewish embassy from Alexandria, at finding that they were received not by a properly constituted judicial council but by the emperor alone ... , In fact, Philo is. so sure how these

COMMEN1'ARY ON

§§ 34El-351

things should be done that it may perhaps be concluded that he had seen before his death .... the regular procedure of Claudius in such matters" (op. cit., 40). -rE-rpax.ocrLotc; g't'e:cnv. A round figure to cover the period from the foundation of Alexandria in 331 B.C. Jewish settlers had had a share in the original foundation, and their political rights in the city had either been granted by Alexander and confirmed by the Diadochi (BJ ii, 487-8; I nAp. ii, 35), or, according to A] xii, 8, granted by Ptolemy I. [J.Upt&m 1toMciLc;.

-r;Oiv

Cf. the note on 124 -roaa.U-roc<; [J.Upt&:.8rxc;.

'Al\e~ocv~p~wv 'Iou~oclwv.

See the note on 183 TWV if.AAwv

'Al\e~ocv~pewv.

npo~ fL
l THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

COMMENTARY ON

§§ 351-355

I

the pomoerium (in Melanges d'Archeol. et d'Hist. (Ecole Franvaise de Rome) liv (1937), r82-3), and there can be little doubt that this second interview took place after Gains' ovation on 31st August, when he had resumed residence in Rome. Cf. the notes on r8r huxe: 3€: &x 'ri1V }.1-'fj'rpcpwv S:~~
trccdJA
t

the name implies that it had been in force for a long time. Leisegang, Indices, lists over forty occurrences of the word rcp6crp'1J"'' in Philo (including Leg. r8o and 355). The meaning is ((name" or "title" in all except two-Heres z6r, where the sense is clearly "speech", and Leg. rSo, where it is "word" or perhaps "greeting" (a meaning found elsewhere; see L. and S. 9 ). Philo sometimes uses the:pf.L't)ve:Uoo in its common Ineanings of expound", "interpret" (cf. &p!J.'tJY
11

! I

320

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

their exemption from participation in the imperial cult; Isidorns twists this exemption into an accusation of disloyalty. In J osephus' brief account of the embassies (A] xviii, 257-60), in which he describes only one hearing (presumably this second one), the only topic of discussion explicitly mentioned is the Jews' repudiation of the imperial cult, which the Greeks there also insinuate is tantamount to disloyalty. &1r&v--:wv yd;p &vOpd)'n:wv . . . . See r8-zo. Isidorus makes this allegation, both false, as the Jews are quick to point ant (356), and irrelevant to the issues under cliscussion, in order to prejudice Gains against the Jews. 356 ~11-0iv. J osephus (very credibly) makes Philo himself the spokesman who attempts to answer the Greek charges against his race. But in his account Philo is the only member of the Jewish delegation to enter Gains' presence: at the end of the interview Gains ejects o:.O-r6v not o:.1~.vroU~, and Philo goes out" and reports to the other Jews. &xaT6iJ-~o:<; t86crociJ-
1

COMMENTARY ON

§§ 355-359

321

sacrifices in Jerusalem, paid for by the Alexandrian community. oU -rO !J.ev ocl!J.a .... 't'fl Lsp~ ~AoyL Not all ] ewish anhnal sacrifice~ were burnt in their entirety on the altar; of some only parts were burnt, while the rest of the flesh was eaten by the priests or by the Jew offering the sacrifice, although the envoys here deny this by implication (6l<; ~So<; i:vio•<; 7tOL
xct:rd: 't'~\1 &Ard3oc 't'~c:;; n~:p!J.OCVtX~c;; 'Jbt'f)c;;. It is clear from the use of I:J.7t(<; that the hecatomb was offered before, or soon after, the be-

ginning of Gains' northern campaign, and not after its allegedly successful conclusion. The campaign was apparently mooted in the summer of 39, since one of the reasons given for the building of the bridge of boats across the bay of Baiae, which Dio elates to that year (lix, 17), was ut Germaniam et Britanniam, quibus imminebat, alicuius immensi operis jama territaret (S. G. 19, 3). The Jewish sacrifice may therefore have been offered at any time during the summer or autumn of that year-which incidentally indicates that the Alexandrian Jews had been able to return to normal life and recover from the losses suffered during the previous year ver.y quickly. Since there is nothing to show whether the Jewish envoys heard of it before leaving Alexandria for Italy or after their arrival there (via traders coming from Palestine or Egypt?), their knowledge of it does not help to determine the year of their voyage. 359 11-(11-o•<;. For the mime in the ancient world ""and its popularity in Alexandria see P.-W. s.v. Mimos; H. Reich, Der Mimus (1903).; J. R. Allarclyce Nicoll, Masks, Mimes, and Miracles (1931), 17-134; W. Beare, The Roman Stage' (1955), 139-48; Box, notes on Fl. 34; cf. Musurillo, AA, 247-8. Philo uses the mime as a comparison in describing two episodes in the anti-Jewish disturbances in Alexandria·in 38 also-the Carabas-procession (Fl. 38; cf. Box's note) and the lynching of the Jews (Fl. 72, with Colson's note, Loeb Philo IX). Even if performances of mimes were not patronized by strict Jews, the literary form must have been familiar to them. Box cites a Midrash which mentions the mocking of Jews in the theatre and circus and jokes against them in the mimes. Some of the grotesque bronze and terracotta statuettes which G. M. A. Richter argues

322

THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

represent mimic actors (in Amer. Journ. Archaeol. znd series xvii (rgr3), r4g-56) have exaggeratedly large hooked noses. See, e.g., Nicoll, op. cit., 48, fig. 32, and 7r, figg. 68 and 69; less striking examples are 47, fig. 3I (probably from Egypt), 48, figg. 33 and 34, and 49, fig. 37· Is it possible that these statuettes represent Jewish characters which appeared in mimic farces? The style of the faces recalls the Pompeian fresco of "The Judgement of Solomon" (in the Naples Museum), in which the figures are pigmies with unnaturally large heads and hooked noses; for discussion and a reproduction see J.-B. Frey, "Les Juifs a Pompei" (in RB xlii (r933), 365-83), 375-8I and PI. XXII. Possibly that fresco, which, like so many others at Pompeii, is Alexandrian in style, represents a scene from a mime. 361 3trX 't"l xo~pdwv xpe&v &n€xe:cr6e:; Box regards this question as mimic (note on Fl. 38). "Clean" animals, which the Jews were allowed to eat, were cloven-hoofed animals which chewed the cud, notably the ox, sheep, and goat. Animals not fulfilling both these conditions were "unclean" and were forbidden as food. In the food laws of the Pentateuch the pig is one of the animals excluded by name because, although cloven-hoofed, it does not chew the cud (Levit. xi, 2-8; Deut. xiv, 3-8). Cf. Philo in Spec. iv, roo-9, where he gives an allegorical explanation of the regulation. See further ]E s.vv. Dietary Laws; and Clean and unclean animals. The Jews' abstention from pork amused and puzzled the gentiles, who speculated about the reason for it (In Ap. ii, I37; Plutarch Mar. 669e67rc; T. H. v, 4; Juvenal xiv, g8-g; Sextus EmpiricusPyrrh. Hypot. iii, 223). The Egyptians also abstained from pork (Herodotus ii, 47; In Ap. ii, r4r; Plutarch Mar. 353 f; Ae!ian Nat. Anim. x, r6; Anaxandrides apud AthenaeusDeipnos. vii, 30oa; Sextus Empiricus l.c.; Origen Contra Cels. v, 34 and 4I). At the time of Tiberius' measures against the Jews and the Isis-cult in Rome in A. D. rg (note on I59 2:·r,toovo<;), quorundem animalium abstinentia was regarded as evidence of adherence to one of the proscribed sects (Sen. Ep. cviii, 22); for discussion see the present writer in Latomus xv (rg56), 320. -rO !J-E't'plwc; !J-e:~3t&cra:L . . . . &.crq.>a;A€s. Dio and Suetonius know nothing of this. 7t<Xp<Xcrecrupftivw<;. See the notes on the different uses of this verb 363 in I42 and r68. The meaning "mock" seems appropriate here. 7tept T~<; 7tOAml<X<; 8LJ<<Xlot<;. Gains now begins to deal directly with

COMMENTARY ON

364

367 368

369

370

§§ 359-370

the second of the two questions referred to him for settlementthat of the Jews' civic position in Alexandria (I93; see the note there on the meaning of 7tOAtTda<). thoywcrcl[.tevo<; Tij<; 3t><<XtoAoyla<<;. This admission that Gains did listen to some of the Jews' arguments indicates that the interview as a whole was not quite such a farce as Philo would have us believe. MA /.euxjj. For glass in the ancient world see A. Kisa, Das Glas im Altertume (rgo8) and F. Neuburg, Glass in Antiquity (translated by R. ]. Charleston, rg4g). Other works are cited in The Oxford Classical Dictionary s.v. Glass. 8t<Xcpa
THE EMBASSY TO GAIUS

COMMENTARY ON

use of the synagogues which had proved possible after the end of the riots, and any relaxation of the regulation confining the Jews to the ghetto, lacked official sanction until Claudius reaffirmed their rights soon after his accession .. Cf. Introduction, pp. 23 and 27-30. ~xoucrE . . . . ""P~xoucrEv; Balsdon (I4I) translates ·this as a statement-"for he heard our case, though he paid no attention to'; (i.e., did not admit as valid) "some of ourfa:cts". But Colson rejects this (note ad lac.): "the question mark appended both by Mangey and Reiter is necessitated by 5<;, which cannot bear the sense which Balsdon gives it." 371 The Jewish delegates here seem to assume that their compatriots in other centres of the Diaspora are as unpopular with their gentile neighbours as their own· Community is in Alexandria, so that a decision against the Jews will be the signal for attacks on the religious liberty and civic rights· of Jewish 1tol.muf'""" in other gentile cities. 372

at

TSw~ cru~r.pOC-r't'E:~'\1 ~fl'i:IJ aoxoUv't'E~ &.'lt'e::~p~xe::ci'o:.v.

We do not know

who are meant here. Possibly it is some of the leading Roman Jews, who now feared to endanger the position of their owri community by annoying Gains with their support of a cause to which he was clearly hostile. Delaunay suggests that it may be Agrippa I, who dared not put Gains' affection for him to the test again (388, n. 2). xo:.Aou11-€vwv yoOv, ~vaov {)vTe::c; . . . . An anacolouthon of a type common in conversational Greek. 373 ~ ah[C<. The Jews·· refusal to acknowledge Gains' divinity, which in this treatise is made responsible for the disturbances in Alexandria (rr5-2o). · -ri)v 7t
§§ 370-373

325

view contradicting that previously held. In Patristic Greek the meanings of repentance and of a change of policy or opinion per' sist. (References from the forthcoming Lexicon of Patristic Greek were kindly supplied to the writer by the editor, the Reverend Professor G. W. H. Larnpe.) It is hard, however, to see how Philo could have ended his treatise with a recantation of his attack on Gains. H. Leisegang's theory is that in the palinode Gains, the object of attack in the extant treatise, was glorified as "ein Werkzeug Gottcs", and God was praised "der in diesem Kaiser wohlweislich den J udenhass erregte, ihn zu den Verfolgungen der J uden und zurn Frevel an ihrern Heiligtum trieb, urn dadurch das ganze Volk zum Zeugnis fiir seinem Gott aufzurulen, zur Bewiihrung seiner alten Tugenden und zu cinern Beispiel der ganzen Welt" (]BL lvii (I938), 404; see Introduction, p. 40, n. I for his view of the meaning of the title IIEpt 'Apeo;&v). But this is perhaps overingenious, and it is more probable that the subject of the palinode was the fall of Gains, represented as divine retribution for his attack on the Jews, and the change for the better which Jewish fortunes underwent after Claudius' accession. (Cf. Goodenough, Politics, I9, and Colson, note ad toe.). Such an account would correspond to that of Flaccus' punishment which concludes the other treatise. Schi\rer suggests (I, 50I, n. I74: Ill, 679) that Philo's general theme in both treatises is the same as that of Lactantius' De M ortibus Persecutorum, namely that the persecutors of the pious meet unpleasant ends, and there are hints of this in Leg. 348 and in the references to the fall of Helicon and the execution of Apelles in 206. But if Gains' death was the subject of the palinode, the word can bear its normal meaning of "recantation" here only in smne strained and unnatural sense-cf. Colson's remark that the story of Gains' death would be a recantation only in the sense of forcing the doubters of providence to recant-and it therefore seems better to suppose that Philo is using the word in the unparalleled(?) sense of "an account of a reversal of fortune".

-,

INDEX Numbers in italic type are numbers of the sections of the text; those in roman type are pages of the introduction or commentary. Casual references are omitted from this index. Agrippa I, Jewish king, zSn., 45-6, 207, 261, 273, 314, 324; career of, 324-5; 251-2, z88-g; kingdom of, 326; 252, 311-2; visit of, to Alexandria, r79; 16-rg, 49, 214, 252; visit of, to Gaius, z6r-8; 32, 35, 287-8; illness of, 266-75; 35, z8g-gr; memorandum of, to Gaius, 276-330; 35, z88, 291-2; attitude of, towards J udaism, zgo, 297. Agrippa, M. Vipsanius, 297-8; attitude of, towards Jews, 29I, 294-7; zo6, 237. 240, 2]8-g, 299, 300.

Alexander the alabarch, brother of Philo, 4, 17, 250, 292. Alexandria, Greek citizenship in, 4-q, 17, 25, 31; Jewish districts in, 20-21, 215-6, 220, 222; gymnasium in, I35: 14, 18, 20, 223. Alexandrian Greeks, hostility of, towards H.oman authority, 11-12, 214, 224; nationalist party among, 12, 14-19, 44-5, 248-g, 319; hostility of, towards Jews, .r2o; 3, 11-12, 206-7, 214; parody of Jewish procession, 18-rg; attack of, on Jews' persons and property, IZO-IJI; 21-2, 206-7, 214-20; attack of, on Jews' civic status, 16-IJ, 20-1, 24, 25; attack of, on synagogues, I32-7, r65, rgr, 346; 19-20, 25, 26, 45-7, 206-7, 220-4, 25], 264, 314, Jig. Animal-worship, I39, r63; 225-6, 245-6. Anti-Semitism, in Alexandria, see under Alexandrian Greeks; of Gaius, see under Gaius; anti-Semitic literature, I7o; 247-8. Apelles, actor, 203-6; 32, 251, 264.:.6. Apion, anti-Semitic writer, 24, 30, 248-g, 319. Apollo, 93, 95-6, IOJ-6, I09-IO; zoo-1, 203. Ares, 93, 97, III-3; 201-2, 204. Army, Roman, g, ss; 159. 1]8, 185, 285; garrison of Egypt, 220; garrison of Judaea, z68, 2]6, JOI-2; garrison of Syria, 207-8, 222, 233. 256. 259: 33, z68. Ascalon, zos; 265-6. Assembly, Jews' right of, I56-7; 205-6, 239· Atonement, Day of ("Fast Day"), 306-7; 299, 307-8, 318. Augustus, I43-53, 3og-ro, 3I9; 159, 169-70, 174. 182, 226, 227-42 passim, 273, Joo; treatment of Jews, I54-8, agr, Jio-8; 206, 226, 231, 236, 238, 240-2, 278, 298, Joo, 308-u; temple of, in Alexandria, I5I; 192-3, 231-2; temple of, in Caesarea, 305; 230. Caesarea, 305; 262, 306-7, 310, Capita, C. Herennius, Igg-zoz; 32, 260-2. Carabas, 18, 20, 45, 46. Chaldaean, 4; 152-3. Claudius, Emperor, zo6; 151, 177, 182, 230, 266, 271, 289, 310; treatment of Jews, 23, 27-31, 152, 239, 244, 314-5, 319, 324; Letter to Alexandria, 6-J, 12, 28-31, 152, 213, 2JI, 233; edicts Of, 6, TO, 2]-9, JI, 255, 264, 3 1 4-5·

INDEX

!NbEX

Cleopatra III, I35; 223; Cleopatra VII, II, r8g, 223, 224, 228, 229, 231, 265. Cocle Syria, 28r; 294-5. Collegia, 15; synagogues exempted from ban on, 3r6; 205,236, 308-g, Jio. Corn-doles, r58; 235, 242. Cronos, Age of (Golden Age), r]; 162-4; cf. 166-7. Demi-gods, Gaius' equation of himself with, 78-gz, rr4; 193-4. Demonstrations, Jewish, at Ptolcmc.is, 225-42; 33, 273-5, 279; at Tiberias, 34, 279, 288; date of, 281-3, 284-5, 286-7. Diaspora, Jews of, 2I4-7, 28r-3; 237-8, 257, 258, 264, 271-2, 294-6, 324. Dionysius, Alexandrian nationalist leader, rz, r6, 44, 249, 319. Dionysus, 78-g, 82-3, 88-g, 92, g6; 193-5, rg8, 201. Dioscuri, 78-g, 84-5, 87, 92; 194-6. Embassies, Greek and Jowish, from Alexandria to Claudius, 29-30. Embassy, Greek, from Alexandria to Gaius, I72, I83; 24-7,30,41-2,48, 157, 248-g, 3'9· Embassy, Jewish, from Alexandria to Gaius, IJ4, I78-8o, 370; 24-7, 30, 32, 37, 41-3, 157, 248, 250-1; voyage of, r8o, rgo; 24, 47-50, 254; memorandum of, I78-g; 24-5, 49, 251, 252-3; first hearing of, I8I-3; 25-6, 253-5; hear news of Gaius' attack on Temple, I84-206; 26, 256; second hearing of, 349-72;·26-7, 267, 316-24 passim. Ennia Thrasylla, wife of Macro, 39-40, 59, 6I (not named); rSo, 186-7. Eusebius, on Philo's works, 37-43; on Pontius Pilate, 245, 302. Fate, 25; 173. First-fruits (sacred money; Temple tax), I56-7, 2I6, 29I, 3II-6; 205, 237-9, 2]1-2, 2]8-9, 308. Flaccus, A. Avillius, prefect of Egypt, I32 (not named); 4, 9-10, 14-23, 25, 44-5, 47,. 49, I]I, IJJ, r86, 216, 219-20, 243, 248, 314, 319; Philo's work on, 38-41. Freedmen, Jewish, in Home, I55; 234-5. Gaius, Emperor, accession of, 8-I3i 15, 158, 161-2; illness of, I5-2I, 355; 164-6, 175, 176, 185, 188; interest of, in theatre, etc., 42, 45; 18r, 264-5; attitude of, towards family, 33, 32I; 178-9, 194; relations of, with sisters, 87, 92; 175, 197-8, 199; character and mental derangement of, 22, 34, 52, 59, 67, 73, 339-46; 168-9, 179, 18s; self-deification of, 75-II4, II8, I62-5, I98, 20I, 2I8, 265, 332, 338, 346, 368; 26, 37, 191-3, zoo, zo6-], z13, 214, 263, z6], 318, 324; deification of, ante-dated by Philo, 3, 191-2, 207; attitude of, towards Jews, II5, IIg, I33, I8o, 20I, 256, 346; 3, 206-7, 213, 316; portraits of, placed in Alexandrian synagogues, I34; 45-7, 222, 264; attack of, on Temple, I88-337, 346; 31-6, 42, 43, 2II, 256-313 passim, 31s; cancellation of order for attack on Temple, 333; 3r2-3; reissue of order, 337, 346; 313; chronology of attack on Temple, 31n., 2S6, 260-1, 267, 273, 281-3, 284-.5, 286-8, 291-2; campaign in North, 356; 26, 48, _so, 197, 210, 254, 255, 26o, 263, 26S, 321; proposed visit of, to Alexandria, I72-3, 250-3, 338; 34, 36, 48-g, 249-so, 283-4, 313; ovation on 31st August, 40:25,35,49,249,254,284,287,292, 318; executions by, g8, I04-IO, 34I-2; 202-4, 314 (see also under Gemellus, Macro, and Silanus); visit of Agrippa I to, see under Agrippa I. Gemellus, cousin of Gains, 23-36, 67-8, 75 (not named); 15, r66, r69-78, 188, rg6, 199, 251. Ghetto in Alexandria, I24-8; 9. 19-23, 25, 47. 214-9. 258, 324. Gods, Gains' equation of himself with, 93-II4; 200. Hades, 235; 277. Harvest, 249, 257, 260; 34, 48-9, 281-3, 288. j, I

329

Hecatombs offered by Jews, 356; 23, 26, so, 162, l66, 263, 276, 293, 320-r. Helicon, slave of Gaius, r66-78, 203-6; 24, 32, 48, 246-8, 249, 265, 266. Heracles, .78-9, 8I, 90, 92.; 195, rg8. Hermcs, 93-4, 99.-I02; zoo, 202. Herod the Great, 294-7; 240, 241, 263, 265, 278-9, 292-3, 299, 306-7; palace of, in Jerusalem, 299; 301; .sons and descendants of, 300; 302-4. High :Priest, 278, 296) 306-7; 293., 3q7-8. Holy City, see under Jerusalem. Holy of Holies ("the shrine"), r88, 306-8; 307-8. Homer, 8o; 195, z3o. Imperial cult, I49-SI; 222, 230-1, 233, 278, 304, 313, 315; Jews' exemption from participation il;l, 25-7,_.206, 240-I, 2SJ, 319-20. Israel, etymology of, 4; 153-4, 156. Isidorus, Alexandrian nationalist leader, 355; 12, 14-16, 23, 24, 26, 30, 44, 49. 223, 248-9, 319-20. Jamnia, 200-3; 32, 261-4. Jerusalem ("Holy City"), 225, 23I, 265, 278-3I5 passim, 334; 23S·, 238, 240, 273. 276, 294· 299-306, 3'3· Jews in Alexandria, relations of, with ~ome, 11; civic status of, 3-14, 255, 317; aspirations after Greek citizenship, 12-14, r6-17, 25, 28, 31; civic status of, attacked by Greeks, 16-17, 20-I, 46-7, 216, 220; question of civic status of, referred to Gaius, I93-4, 349-50, 363, 366; 24-7, 257-8, 323; civic status o£, restoreU by Claudius, 23, 28-31. See also under Alexandrian Greeks, Gaius, and Riots. Jows in Rome, I55-8, I6o; 205-6, 233-40, 243-4, 324. Jews, religious liberty of, guaranteed by Rome, I56-8, I6I; II, 25-7, 28, 30, 20S-6, 233, 236-42, 257, 258, 292, 300, 309-10, 314-5, 319. Jcws, sacred money of, see under First-fruits. Julia Augusta, see under Livia. Julius Caesar, Z42, Z50, 251, 316; legislation of, for the Jews, 205-6, 236, 238, 308. . Junia Claudia or Claudilla, wife of Gaius, 62-5, 7I (not named); I So, IS], 190. Lamia, garden of, 35I; 26, 317. Lampo, Alexandrian nationalist leader, 12, 16, 23, 24, 49, 249, 319. Law, Jewish (Torah), II5, I52, I6I, I95, 2IO-II, 220, 236, 240, 256, 280, 299-30I, 360, 37I; 208, zrz, 237, 269, 270, 278, 296-7, 304; Jews' readiness to die for, II7, rgz, 208-9, 2I5, 233-6, 369; 33, ZII-2; Jewish unwritten, IIS; 208-g. Legatio ad Gaium, MSS of, 36-7; lacunae in, 41-2, 157• 248, 253, 298, 316; date of composition of, 151, 152, 266; character and purpose of, 3, 182. Letters between Gaius and Petronius, 207, 248, 254, 259-60; 34-5, 267, 281, z86-7, 288, 291, 316. Libertas et immunitas, 287; 296. Libya, 283; 295-6. Livia (Julia Augusta), wife of Augustus, 29I (not named), 3I9-zo; 240, 261, 263, 298, 311. Logos, rrz; 1s6, 189; seminal, 55; 183-4. Macro, Q. Naevius Cordus Sutorius, praetorian prefect, 32-62, 6g, 75; IS, r6, r66, r68, 172, 173, IJ]-89, 219. Maecenas, garden of, 35r; 26, 317-8. Mimes, 359; 321-2. Most High God (title of Jewish God), I 57, 278; 241. Nature, I-2, so; rsr-2, ISJ; law of, 68; 189. Norbanus Flaccus, G., proconsul of Asia, 3I4-5; 308-10.

330

INDEX

Paean, g6, rro; zor, 204. Palinode, 373; 40-3, 324-5. liept 'Aps't'W\1 (alternative title of Legatio ad Gaium), 37-41; cf. I 57· Petronius ,P., legate of Syria, 207-6I passim, 333; 33-5, z6o-r, 267-9, z]r-88, zgr, 313, 314-5· Philo, career of, 250, 254-5; membership of embassy to Gains, r82-4; 24, 25, 32, 37, 151, 193, 319, 320; visit of, to Jerusalem, 238; historical works of, 37-43· Phoonicia, 222, 225-6; 33, 265, 272, 274-5· Pilate, Pontius, 299-305; 38, 40, 42, zrr, zzr, 243, 245, z6g, 276, z8r, J00-6, no).Jre:Ufl.(X, Jewish, in Alexandria, see under J cws in Alexandria, civic status of.

Pomoerium, 25, 49, 254, JIJ-8. Pork, Jews' abstention from, 36z-2; 27, 322; cf. zz. Powers (in Philo's philosophical system), 6-7; r56-7. Proskynesis, rr6; zog-II, 318. Providence, divine, J, 220, 336, 367; 152, 157, 173. 213, 272, 325. Ptolemais, 33-5, 273-5, 279, 280, 281-2, 284, 287, 313. Ptolcmies, r4o; 221, 223-5, 240, 316. Riots, anti-Jewish, in Alexandria, r20-37; 19-24, 38, 42, 43, 45-7, 49, rgr, 199, 203, 206-7, 213, 214-24, 251, 252-3, 263, 315. Roman citizenship, I 57, 285, 287; 13, 235, 240, 242, 296. Sabbath, rs6, I58; 206, 242, 2]8-9. Sanhedrin, 274, 278, 28r. Sejanus, L. Aelius, praetorian prefect, 37; IJO, 171, 179; anti-Jewish policy of, r6o; 38, 40-3, 243-5, 305, 306. Sidon, 222, 337; 33, 272-3. Silanus, J.L Junius, father-in-law of Gaius, 62-5, 7r-2, 75; 166, IJ], 18]-8, 19r. Statue, to be placed in Temple, r88, 203, 207, 220-2, 238, 246, 260, 265, 306, 308, 335, 337; 32-6, 256-7, 272, 280. Stoicism, 151, 153, 155, 182, 183-4, 189, 192, 204. Synagogues, 346, 37I; 205, 233, 236, 310, 314; in Alexandria, I32-8, r48, rsz, r65, rgr, 346; 19-20, 25, 26, 45-7, 206-7, 215, 220-4, 225, 257, 264, 314, 319; in Asia, J.r.r; 308; in Dora, 314; in Rome, r56-7; 236-7; in Jerusalem, 235; dedications in honour o£ benefactors in, I33; 19, 46, 220-1, 225; services in, rs6; 237· Temple in Jerusalem, r57, r88-335 passim, 346; 237-8, 240-1, 256-7, 274, 298-g, 301-2, 312-3, 315, 316, 318, 320; description of, 259-60; death penalty for gentiles who entered inner courts of, 2r2; 27o; sacrifices for Emperors in, I 57. 232, 280, JI7, 355-7; 240-2, 276-7, 31 r; gifts of Emperors and others to, I57, 297, Jig; 240, 299-300. See also under Gaius, attack of, on Temple. Temple tax, see under First fruits. Tiber, rss. I8I; 234. 253· Tiberius, Emperor, 8, I4, I4I-2, r66-;, 329; 15, 158-9, 164, 182, 226-], 247· 251, 276, 317; plans of, for succession, and relations of, with Gaius, 23-9, 33-8, 58; 16g-76; treatment of Jews, r5g-6r, 298-305, 308; 226, 243-5. 305-6. Torah, see under Law, Jewish. Travel, by land, 254; r66, 273, 285; by sea, IS, 250; z8n., r65, 166, 260, 283-4, 285, 288. Vitellius, L., legate of Syria, 2JI; rss. 210, 26], 2]6, 29]. 299· Zeus, statue of, to be placed in Temple, I88, 265, 346; 32, 198, zoo, 256-], 315; cf. 298.

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