Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 16.136-16.141
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Text
Περὶ δὲ τὸν χρόνον τοῦτον συντέλειαν ἔλαβεν ἡ Καισάρεια Σεβαστή, ἣν ᾠκοδόμει δεκάτῳ μὲν ἔτει πρὸς τέλος ἐλθούσης αὐτῷ τῆς ὅλης κατασκευῆς, ἐκπεσούσης δὲ τῆς προθεσμίας εἰς ὄγδοον καὶ εἰκοστὸν ἔτος τῆς ἀρχῆς ἐπ᾽ ὀλυμπιάδος δευτέρας καὶ ἐνενηκοστῆς πρὸς ταῖς ἑκατόν. ἦν οὖν εὐθὺς ἐν καθιερώσει μείζονες ἑορταὶ καὶ παρασκευαὶ πολυτελέσταται: κατηγγέλκει μὲν γὰρ ἀγῶνα μουσικῆς καὶ γυμνικῶν ἀθλημάτων, παρεσκευάκει δὲ πολὺ πλῆθος μονομάχων καὶ θηρίων ἵππων τε δρόμον καὶ τὰ πολυτελέστερα τῶν ἔν τε τῇ Ῥώμῃ καὶ παρ᾽ ἄλλοις τισὶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων. ἀνετίθει δὲ καὶ τοῦτον τὸν ἀγῶνα Καίσαρι κατὰ πενταετηρίδα παρεσκευασμένος ἄγειν αὐτόν: ὁ δ᾽ αὐτῷ πᾶσαν τὴν εἰς τὰ τοιαῦτα παρασκευὴν ἀπὸ τῶν οἰκείων διεπέμπετο τὴν φιλοτιμίαν ἐπικοσμῶν.ἰδίᾳ δὲ καὶ ἡ γυνὴ Καίσαρος Ἰουλία πολλὰ τῶν ἐκεῖ πολυτελεστάτων ἀπέστειλεν, ὡς μηδὲν ὑστερεῖν τὰ πάντα συντιμώμενα ταλάντων πεντακοσίων. συνελθόντος δ᾽ εἰς τὴν πόλιν ὄχλου πλείονος κατὰ θεωρίαν καὶ πρεσβείας, ἃς ἔπεμπον οἱ δῆμοι δι᾽ ἃς ἐπεπόνθεισαν εὐεργεσίας, ἅπαντας ἐξεδέξατο καὶ καταγωγαῖς καὶ τραπέζαις καὶ διηνεκέσιν ἑορταῖς, τῆς πανηγύρεως ἐν μὲν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐχούσης τὰς ἀπὸ τῶν θεαμάτων ψυχαγωγίας, ἐν δὲ ταῖς νυξὶ τὰς εὐφροσύνας καὶ τὴν εἰς τοῦτο πολυτέλειαν, ὡς ἐπίσημον γενέσθαι τὴν μεγαλοψυχίαν αὐτοῦ: εἰς πάντα γὰρ ἅπερ ἂν ἐπιτηδεύσειεν ἐφιλονείκει τὴν τῶν ἤδη γεγενημένων ἐπίδειξιν ὑπερβαλέσθαι, καί φασιν αὐτόν τε Καίσαρα καὶ Ἀγρίππαν πολλάκις εἰπεῖν, ὡς ἀποδέοι τὰ τῆς ἀρχῆς Ἡρώδῃ τῆς οὔσης ἐν αὐτῷ μεγαλοψυχίας: ἄξιον γὰρ εἶναι καὶ Συρίας ἁπάσης καὶ Αἰγύπτου τὴν βασιλείαν ἔχειν.1
Translation
About this time it was that Cesarea Sebaste, which he had built, was finished. The entire building being accomplished: in the tenth year, the solemnity of it fell into the twenty-eighth year of Herod's reign, and into the hundred and ninety-second olympiad. There was accordingly a great festival and most sumptuous preparations made presently, in order to its dedication; for he had appointed a contention in music, and games to be performed naked. He had also gotten ready a great number of those that fight single combats, and of beasts for the like purpose; horse races also, and the most chargeable of such sports and shows as used to be exhibited at Rome, and in other places. He consecrated this combat to Caesar, and ordered it to be celebrated every fifth year. He also sent all sorts of ornaments for it out of his own furniture, that it might want nothing to make it decent; nay, Julia, Caesar's wife, sent a great part of her most valuable furniture [from Rome], insomuch that he had no want of any thing. The sum of them all was estimated at five hundred talents. Now when a great multitude was come to that city to see the shows, as well as the ambassadors whom other people sent, on account of the benefits they had received from Herod, he entertained them all in the public inns, and at public tables, and with perpetual feasts; this solemnity having in the day time the diversions of the fights, and in the night time such merry meetings as cost vast sums of money, and publicly demonstrated the generosity of his soul; for in all his undertakings he was ambitious to exhibit what exceeded whatsoever had been done before of the same kind. And it is related that Caesar and Agrippa often said, that the dominions of Herod were too little for the greatness of his soul; for that he deserved to have both all the kingdom of Syria, and that of Egypt also.2
Works Cited
- 1 Flavius Josephus, Antiquitates Judaicae: Machine Readable Text, ed. Benedict Niese (Medford, MA: Trustees of Tufts University, 2013), section: 16.136-16.141.
- 2 Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews: Machine Readable Text, trans. William Whiston (Medford, MA: Trustees of Tufts University, 2011), section: 16.136-16.141.
Additional Bibliography
- Josephus, Flavii Iosephi opera III: Antiquitatum iudaicarum libri XI-XV, ed. Benedict Niese (Berlin: Weidmann, 1892), section: 16.136-16.141.
- Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, in The Complete Works of Flavius Josephus: The Celebrated Jewish Historian. Comprising the History and Antiquities of the Jews, with the Destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, and Dissertations Concerning Jesus Christ, John the Baptist, James the Just, and the Sacrifice of Isaac, Together with a Discourse on Hades, or Hell ; With His Autobiography, trans. William Whiston (Chicago: Donohue, Henneberry & Co., 1895), 27–498, section: 16.136-16.141.
How to Cite This Entry
Bianca Gardner et al., “Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 16.136-16.141,” in Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, entry published March 30, 2020, https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/6.
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Bibliography:
Bianca Gardner et al., “Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 16.136-16.141.” In Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, edited by Joseph L. Rife., edited by Joseph L. Rife. Caesarea City and Port Exploration Project, 2020. Entry published March 30, 2020. https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/6.About this Entry
Entry Title: Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 16.136-16.141
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, “Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 16.136-16.141”
- Bianca Gardner and Joseph L. Rife, entry contributors, “Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 16.136-16.141”
Additional Credit:
- TEI encoding by William L. Potter
- Electronic text added by Bianca Gardner
- Testimonia identified by Joseph L. Rife