Philo, Embassy to Gaius 37.294-37.295
https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/413
Context
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 the year 40 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. He calls in support the respectful behavior of
earlier Romans, including Agrippa, who had travelled to Jerusalem directly from his
arrival by ship at Caesarea in 15 B.C.E.
Text
(294) ἀλλὰ τί μοι ξένους καλεῖν μάρτυρας ἔχοντι πολλοὺς τῶν οἰκειοτάτων
σοι παραστῆσαι; Μάρκος Ἀγρίππας εὐθέως, ὁ πρὸς μητρός σου πάππος, ἐν Ἰουδαίᾳ γενόμενος,
ἡνίκα Ἡρῴδης ὁ ἐμὸς πάππος ἐβασίλευε τῆς χώρας, ἀναβῆναι μὲν ἀπὸ θαλάττης εἰς τὴν
μητρόπολιν ἐν μεσογείῳ κειμένην ἠξίωσε·(295) θεασάμενος δὲ τὸ ἱερὸν καὶ τὸν τῶν ἱερέων
κόσμον καὶ τὴν τῶν ἐγχωρίων ἁγιστείαν, ἠγάσθη χρῆμα νομίσας ὑπέρσεμνόν τι καὶ παντὸς
λόγου μεῖζον ἑωρακέναι, καὶ διήγημα οὐδὲν ἦν ἕτερον αὐτῷ πρὸς τοὺς συνόντας τότε τῶν
ἑταίρων ἢ ὁ τοῦ νεὼ καὶ τῶν κατ’ αὐτὸν ἁπάντων ἔπαινος.1
Textual Note
Ed. Cohn and Wendland 1902Translation
(294) But why do I need to call upon foreign witnesses, when I have
many of your countrymen and friends whom I can put on the stand? Marcus Agrippa, your
own grandfather on your mother’s side, from the moment he arrived in Judaea, when Herod,
my grandfather, was king of the country, thought it right to travel up from the sea to
the metropolis lying inland. (295) When he saw the Temple and the raiment of the priests
and the piety of the native people, he marvelled at it, thinking that he had seen
something of surpassing solemnity and greater than any estimation; and he had no other
discussion with his traveling companions besides praise for the sanctuary and everything
in it.2
Translation Note
Trans. J. L. Rife with ref. to Yonge and Scholer [1855] 2013Works Cited
- 1 Philo, Philonis Alexandrini opera quae supersunt, ed. Leopold Cohn and Sigofried Reiter, vol. 6 (Berlin: Georg Reimer, 1905), bk: 37, section: 294-295.
- 2 David M. Scholer, ed., The Works of Philo: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume, trans. Charles Duke Yonge, New, updated edition (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 2013), p: 783-784.
How to Cite This Entry
William L. Potter et al., “Philo, Embassy to Gaius 37.294-37.295,” in Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, entry published June 30, 2023, https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/413.
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Bibliography:
William L. Potter et al., “Philo, Embassy to Gaius 37.294-37.295.” In Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, edited by Joseph L. Rife., edited by Joseph L. Rife. Caesarea City and Port Exploration Project, 2023. Entry published June 30, 2023. https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/413.About this Entry
Entry Title: Philo, Embassy to Gaius 37.294-37.295
Authorial and Editorial Responsibility:
- Joseph L. Rife, general editor, Vanderbilt University
- Joseph L. Rife, editor, Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia
- David A. Michelson, Daniel L. Schwartz, and William L. Potter, technical editors, “Philo, Embassy to Gaius 37.294-37.295”
- William L. Potter and Joseph L. Rife, entry contributors, “Philo, Embassy to Gaius 37.294-37.295”
Additional Credit:
- TEI encoding by Joseph L. Rife
- URNs and other metadata added by William L. Potter
- Electronic text added by Joseph L. Rife
- Testimonia identified by Joseph L. Rife