Philo, Embassy to Gaius 37.299
created: This entry is taken from Embassy to Gaius 37.299 written by Philo in ca. 40 C.E.
edition published: 2023-06-30-05:00
language: grc; grc
availability: Except for materials quoted from other sources, this entry is copyright 2023 by the contributors (Bianca Gardner, et al.) and the Caesarea City and Port Exploration Project. It is licensed under the Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license. Some texts quoted in this entry may be in the public domain in the United States. No copyright is asserted for these quotations. Some texts quoted in this entry may have copyright restrictions and are reused under Section 107 of the Copyright Act of (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)

https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/1

Caesarea Maritima is indirectly attested at Philo, Embassy to Gaius 37.299. This passage was written ca. ca. 40 C.E. possibly in Alexandria. Philo was a Jewish philosopher and historian who flourished at Alexandria during the first generations of Roman provincial rule in Egypt. His voluminous writings are marked by their learning, variety, and fusion of Hellenistic philosophy with biblical exegesis, particularly his application of the critical strategy of allegoresis. In 40 C.E., he joined a diplomatic mission to the emperor Gaius (Caligula) as an advocate for the rights of the Alexandrian Jewish community after the major wave of riots with the resident Greeks. In his account of this “embassy” (πρεσβεία,legatio), Philo expresses to the emperor his concern over preserving the inviolability of the Temple in Jerusalem, especially against the introduction of foreign cult-images. Here he cites the affair of the golden shields that the governor Pontius Pilate had dedicated in Jerusalem during the reign of Tiberius.

ἔχω δέ τι καὶ φιλοτίμημα αὐτοῦ προσδιηγήσασθαι, καίτοι μυρίων ἀπολελαυκὼς ὅτε ἔζη κακῶν· ἀλλὰ τἀληθὲς φίλον καὶ σοὶ τίμιον. Πιλᾶτος ἦν τῶν ὑπάρχων ἐπίτροπος ἀποδεδειγμένος τῆς Ἰουδαίας· οὗτος οὐκ ἐπὶ τιμῇ Τιβερίου μᾶλλον ἢ ἕνεκα τοῦ λυπῆσαι τὸ πλῆθος ἀνατίθησιν ἐν τοῖς κατὰ τὴν ἱερόπολιν Ἡρῴδου βασιλείοις ἐπιχρύσους ἀσπίδας μήτε μορφὴν ἐχούσας μήτε ἄλλο τι τῶν ἀπηγορευμένων, ἔξω τινὸς ἐπιγραφῆς ἀναγκαίας, ἣ δύο ταῦτα ἐμήνυε, τόν τε ἀναθέντα καὶ ὑπὲρ οὗ ἡ ἀνάθεσις.

[Ed. Cohn and Wendland 1902]

I can relate one example of (Tiberius’s) lust after honor, even though I have suffered thousands of hardships when he was alive; nevertheless, the truth is a dear thing, and worthy of your (sc. Gaius’s) respect. Pilate was appointed prefect over Judaea from among his lieutenants. This man, not so much to honor Tiberius as to vex the populace, dedicated gold-covered shields in the Palace of Herod in the holy city. These bore no shape nor anything other forbidden feature apart from the requisite inscription, which mentioned two things: the one who made the dedication, and the one for whom the dedication was made.

[Trans. J. L. Rife with ref. to Yonge and Scholer 1855]

Works Cited

[...] 37 299
[...] 784

[Philo, Embassy to Gaius 38.300-38.305]

[Jerusalem

Judaea]

[Herod I, king

Pontius Pilate

Tiberius, emperor]

[Government and Law

Herodian History

Jewish History

Judaism

Military

Roman History

Urban Topography]