Philo, Embassy to Gaius 38.305
https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/414
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 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
(38.299). The Jewish populace, outraged by the act of blasphemy, drove their leaders to
request the shields’ removal by petition first to Pilate, who did not acquiesce, and
second to Tiberius, who decided in their favor (38.300-38.304). Pilate consequently
removed the shields to Caesarea for display in the Temple of Rome and Augustus.
Text
εὐθέως γὰρ οὐδὲ εἰς τὴν ὑστεραίαν ὑπερθέμενος ἐπιστέλλει, μυρία μὲν τοῦ
καινουργηθέντος τολμήματος ὀνειδίζων καὶ ἐπιπλήττων, κελεύων δὲ αὐτίκα καθελεῖν τὰς
ἀσπίδας καὶ μετακομισθῆναι ἐκ τῆς μητροπόλεως εἰς τὴν ἐπὶ θαλάττῃ
Καισάρειαν, ἐπώνυμον τοῦ προπάππου Σεβαστήν, ἵνα ἀνατεθεῖεν ἐν τῷ
Σεβαστείῳ· καὶ ἀνετέθησαν. οὕτως ἀμφότερα ἐφυλάχθη, καὶ ἡ τιμὴ τοῦ αὐτοκράτορος, καὶ ἡ
περὶ τὴν πόλιν ἀρχαία συνήθεια.1
Textual Note
Ed. Cohn and Wendland 1902Translation
For immediately, without delaying until the next day, (Tiberius)
sent a letter in which he censured and assailed (Pilate) at length for his unprecedented
audacity, ordering him to take down the shields at once and to transport them from the
metropolis to Caesarea Maritima, named after his grandfather
Augustus, so that they could be dedicated in the Augusteum. And they were dedicated. So
thus both interests were protected, the emperor’s honor and the city’s ancient
custom.2
Translation Note
Trans. J. L. Rife with ref. to Yonge and Scholer 2013 [1855]Works Cited
- 1 Philo, Philonis Alexandrini opera quae supersunt, ed. Leopold Cohn and Sigofried Reiter, vol. 6 (Berlin: Georg Reimer, 1905), bk: 38, section: 305.
- 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: 784-785.
How to Cite This Entry
William L. Potter et al., “Philo, Embassy to Gaius 38.305,” in Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, entry published June 30, 2023, https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/414.
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Bibliography:
William L. Potter et al., “Philo, Embassy to Gaius 38.305.” 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/414.About this Entry
Entry Title: Philo, Embassy to Gaius 38.305
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 38.305”
- William L. Potter and Joseph L. Rife, entry contributors, “Philo, Embassy to Gaius 38.305”
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