JESUS
BEFORE PILATE
A MONOGRAPH OF THE CRUCIFIXION
Political and Legal History
OF THE TRIAL OF JESUS
UNDER THE JEWISH AND ROMAN CRIMINAL LAW, WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE OFFICE, POWERS, PUBLIC ACTS AND PRIVATE CHARACTER OF TIBERIUS OESAR, PONTIUS PILATE, ANNAS AND CAIAPHAS, HEROD ANTIPAS, AND OTHERS CONNECTED WITH THE TRIAL
EMBRACING
THE ACTS OF PONTIUS PILATE
TRANSLATED FROM THE OLDEST MANUSCRIPTS
WITH PROOF OF THEIR ANTIQUITY AND DISCUSSION OF AUTH EN-TICITY; INCLUDING COPIOUS EXPLANATORY NOTES
BY
WILLIAM OVERTON CLOUGH, B. A.
ASSISTED BY ABLE EDITORS
BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA
E. J. HEEB $t CO., PUBLISHERS
1895Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1895, by EMMETT J. HEEB,
In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
Copyrighted 1883 by W. O. Clough. Copyright assigned to Robert Douglass, April 2,1883. Copyrighted 1891 by Robert Douglass. Copyright assigned to Emmett J. Heeb, January 20, 1894.TO
THE FRIENDS OF JESUS WITHOUT DISTINCTION OF NAME WHO WOULD LEARN MORE OF HIS LIFE IN THE INDIVIDUAL STRUGGLE HE MADE FOR HUMANITY
BEFORE THE KINGS AND RULERS OF THIS WORLD
THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR
(iii)THE LEGAL ASPECTS.
SO
to His disciples, as taught to the multitude, was: “He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father.” (John xiv, 9.) “I and My Father are one.” (John x, 30.) “As the Father knoweth Me, even so I the Father, and I lay My life down for the sheep. Therefore doth My Fathér love Me, because I lay My life down, that I might take it again.” (John x, 15, 17.)
This was the doctrine of Jesus, taught in the face of that law whose first command seemed to#the Jews to forbid all such teaching as blasphemy. This was the doctrine proclaimed by the defendant, Jesus, when He stood to answer before that august tribunal known as the great Sanhedrin. There seems no room here for even such a question as the capital offense of Sabbath breaking. All other offenses put together could not form such a one as the offense of claiming to be equal with God. This to the Jew was the offense of offenses, the extreme of extremes, against the fundamental commandment of the law.
The claim formed the offense that distinguished the trial of Jesus as one of a class, unique, and standing by itself. It was not to be treated as other capital offenses. One who gave himself out as Messiah, or who led the people astray from the doctrines of their fathers, had, to endure all the rigors of the law without any mitigation. Under this law he could be tried and condemned on the same day, or in the night; and his property could be confiscated and not passed over to his heirs. (McClintock & Strong’s Encyclo. Bib. Knowl., Vol. IX, p. 346; Tosephta Sanhedrin,GENERAL CONTENTS.
Introduction, -------	1-15
The Political Situation at the Trial of Jesus, -	-	17-46
The Legal Aspects of the Trial, -	47-68
The Great Sanhedrin, ------	69-81
The Acts of Pilate,.................................... 83-184
Tischendorf’s Comments on,.............................185-192
Tischendorf on Authenticity of, -	-	-	-	193-217
Sketch of Pontius Pilate, -----	218-237
Annas and Caiaphas the High Priests, -	-	238-262
Sketch of Tiberius Caesar, -----	263-323
Testimony of Early Christian Fathers, -	-	325~334
Lardner’s Remarks on Acts of Pilate,	-	335~353
Sketches of the Lives of Justin, Tertullian, Eusebius
and Tischendorf,................................. 354~37^
Jesus Crucified,.......................................379-404
Report of Pilate,	 407-431
Summary of Roman Decrees, -	432-456
Letters of Pliny and Trajan, ...	-	457-470
Jerusalem in the Days of Jesus,	-	-	-	471-473
Rome in Her Glory, *-	-	-	-	-	-	474-475
Crucifixion, -	--	--	--	-	476-479
Jewish Regard for Their Law, -	-	-	480-485
Politics, Philosophy, Religion and Society in the
Days of Augustus Caesar,	-	-	-	486-490
Index,......................-	491-503
(V)LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
	FACING	
Christ Before Pilate,	Munkacsy.	i
Jesus In Gethsemane, ....	Hoffman.	l7
Christ Taken Captive, ...	Hoffman.	39
Scribes and Caiaphas, - - -	- Munkacsy.	47
Jesus Before Pilate, -	Munkacsy.	67
Christ Entering Jerusalem,	Doré.	89
Descent From the Cross, -	Rubens.	110
The Three Marys, -	Munkacsy.	!39
Christ Leaving the Prsetorium,	Doré.	168
Pontius Pilate, -	Munkacsy.	218
Dream of Pilate’s Wife, ...	Doré.	-35
Annas and Caiaphas, -	- Munkacsy.	238
Tiberius Caesar, -	Statue.	263
Christ on Calvary, -	- Munkacsy.	379
Head of Christ, -	Hoffman.	411
Pharisee, ------	- Munkacsy.	480INTRODUCTION.
The crucifixion of Jesus occurred in the history of mankind, amid the splendors of an Augustan age which was erected upon the treasures of a conquered world. The gold of earth’s nations, the strength of her fortresses, the palaces of her capitals, the gates of her cities, the glory of her kingdoms, were all Rome’s. Rome was the standard in human affairs; her heritage was as opulent as it was universal, and within her were the models of the world. For the attainment of finer arts and diviner things, she vied with the masters of her mother, Greece, whose broken statues are, unto the present, miracles of genius which jio living artist can restore. Virgil sang so like Homer that Augustus made him brother. Antonius Pius, Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, Cicero and Seneca taught maxims of morals which make the Christian culture of to-day marvel.
Yet, amid all this power over earth’s nations, this luxuriance of art and learning, and this material magnificence, the Roman world was dying, was dead when Jesus came, dead in all spiritual hope of a beyond. Only Cicero among her philosophers believed in immortality. Then it was that Jesus came. He
(02
INTRODUCTION.
lived and taught, and died upon the cross, fenced
round with Roman spears.
History, science, philosophy and poetry have done their best to illumine the mystery of that cross; around that crucifixion literature and art, with untiring devotion, have thrown all the halos which the broadest culture and the richest genius could reflect. Civil history with her lamp of research contributes the treasures discovered by her tireless hand, regarding that transcendent life, and would remove, so far as may be, the clouds which obscure that most momentous event from the clear eye of truth.
The documents, discussions, and details of history, embodied in this volume, are necessarily from two chief sources, Roman and Jewish. They deal mainly with the political and civil inter-relations of the two peoples, Jews and Romans. These important papers review in full the complicated political situation surrounding the trial of Jesus ; they give a careful digest of the legal aspects of his trial before the Sanhedrin ; present his claim of kingship as made before Pilate ; include in full Pilate’s report to the Roman government concerning the trial and crucifixion ; together with a large amount of other supplementary matter of the most interesting and important character, gathered by great labor from most trustworthy sources. And while not omitting at all the religious features, the reports treat of these relations as they were dominated by the overwhelming rule of a power which discountenanced all religion. For Rome, in all herINTRODUCTION.
3
governmental policy, both at home and in her conquered provinces, had no religion, and no regard for religion, save as a tool to pacify, to cheat, and to enslave those who believed in one. Her epitaph for every grave, written by her highest hand of philosophy, her brightest pen of poesy, was:	“Death is
an eternal sleep.”
Before the Sadducean high priest, and in the presence of that teacher whose doctrine was the doctrine of immortality, Rome’s lieutenant sat as judge of life or death, unmoved by any sentiment of religion. A civil, political, practical verdict in the case of the accused was his only concern. Thjs was his position, his office, his prerogative. Under him Jesus paid the last .penalty of a life devoted to a doctrine foreign to Roman thought and Roman philosophy, under the charge of high treason, made out under complications that yet puzzle the pens of critics.
For that act of his, no name in all the world of Christendom is more widely known than that of Pilate. More than eighteen centuries have elapsed since he signed the death-warrant of an humble peasant, brought before his judgment-seat at Jerusalem, for trial. But for this, his ten years’ governorship over Judea might have passed unknown; and, to the great world, be as little heard pf as the other procurators of Rome who preceded and succeeded him in office.
Rome is not now as Pilate left it, but in the chief temple of that once mistress of the world there sits to-4
INTRODUCTION.
day, the mute, yet life-like statue of Pilate’s master, Tiberius Csesar. That statue, stately and classic above all others, has been preserved throughout these centuries by the friends of the Nazarene. There it sits, gracing the great temple of St. Peter’s, which is dedicated to the worship of the same peasant whose name and fame now fill the world.
What changes has that statue looked upon! Imperial Rome, with all her world-wide power, her glory and her gods, has passed away. From the cross where Pilate nailed the Nazarene, from the tomb where watched and slept the Roman guard, there have come a new religion, a new Rome, a new age and a new world, mightier than any ever dreamed of by the Caesars. Rome with her eagles and her gods has fallen before a power she could not keep entombed, whose symbol is the cross.
Profound interest must ever attach to records which come out of the darkness of the first hundred years of Christianity. No century since has scanned so carefully the records of those early times as this. Its stones and manuscripts, iconographs and monuments, become real witnesses to verify what has been called the “Dream of Faith.” Farther away in time are sought the tablet of rude brick, the papyrus, the parchment, the very straws that held the bricks together, to help man back to where Egypt slept amid her pyramids and sphinxes, when Jacob’s children left it to seek across the desert the city where their God would place His name. The present seeks the light whichINTRODUCTION.
5
led Israel’s feet toward “the city whose foundations were laid without hands,” the house “whose builder and maker is God.” The present seeks the words of Him who spake as never man spake, and treasures every record of those times. Only the patient, untiring research of scholarship has accomplished what has already been done, and can hope to reveal the treasures which yet lie hidden waiting for its work. That field of research has enlisted the most earnest efforts of many of the world’s ablest and best men during the past century. The scriptures, the chief authority in matters of the Christian religion, have been the battle-field for centuries of the world’s finest intellects and highest scholarship. . Modern scientific and historic discoveries, results of patient investigation of those times, have done much to light up the darkness which surrounded the life of Jesus, and have confirmed many things hitherto clouded by doubt. More light is needed and will be gladly received by Christendom from any source.
For ten years Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea unde£ the Roman emperor Tiberius Caesar. The trial, sentence, condemnation and crucifixion of Jesus was an official act of Pilate in his administration of Roman authority. The law was imperative as to his duties. M. Tullius Cicero says: “The governor of a province originally had to account at Rome for his administration from his own books; but after the Lex Julia, B. C. 61, the governor was bound to deposit two copies of his accounts in the .two chief cities of his province,6
INTRODUCTION
and to place one in the Archives of the Aerarium. Also, reports concerning religious matters were to be made to the emperor by the governors, especially such as engaged their official attention. (Cic., Ad. Fam., II, 17, V., 20; Ad. Attic., VI., 7.)
Pilate had nothing to lose by obeying the law in making such a report concerning the official acts in the trial of Jesus, while not to have done so would have cost him his governorship and consigned him to exile. From these facts it follows that he must have performed his legally prescribed duty in reporting the trial, condemnation and crucifixion of Qne who had disturbed the peace of the whole province, and had been charged with treason against the throne of the emperor.
About A. D. 138, Justin Martyr, the learned philosopher, made an apology for Christianity before the emperor and senate at Rome. In that defense he quotes the prophecies as to the facts concerning Jesus, his life, death and resurrection, then refers, three times in that one apology, to the “Acts which were recorded under Pontius Pilate,” as indisputable evidence of his assertion that Jesus had fulfilled these prophecies and therefore was divine.
The eminent Roman lawyer, Tertullian, is still more explicit. His writings reveal great natural endowments, wealth of legal, historical and philosophical learning, and thorough acquaintance with religious truth and the conditions which surrounded the early church. They traverse the fields of religious life andINTRODUCTION.
7
conditions to such an extent that they constitute one of the most prolific sources for the church historian concerning the religious doctrines of his time. He was pre-eminently a lawyer. His arguments and language everywhere reveal his legal turn of mind. His writings throw almost the only light we have upon any disputed points of the Roman law. He became a Christian, and championed the cause of the crucified One by writing an Apology in defense of Christianity, addressing it to persons high in authority, Roman magistrates. In that Apology he claimed the divinity of Jesus on account of the character of his life, death and resurrection, and pointing to the Roman records for confirmation of those facts. In the second chapter of his Apologeticus, written about A. D. 200, he tells the magistrates that “all this was reported to Tiberius, the emperor, at that time.”
Justin had been a religious philosopher, a follower of Plato, until one of the early Christians in Rome had pointed him to the Old Testament prophecies and to their fulfillment in Jesus Christ. After careful study of the prophecies and of JesUs, he became convinced of the Divine origin and truth of Christianity, and accepted it as his religion.
But that faith was assailed on every side by the champions of various heathen philosophies, and was in djanger of being obstructed by their influence upon the Roman authorities. To avert this, Justin assumed the championship of his religious faith and addressed his defense of it to the emperor and senate. In that8
INTRODUCTION.
Apology, he quotes from the Old Testament, chiefly Isaiah and the Psalms, to show the character, life, acts, incidents of the death and the resurrection of the Messiah, Son of God and Savior who was to come. Then he affirmed that those prophecies had been fulfilled by Jesus of Nazareth, and as evidence of the truth of his assertion, especially the supernatural event of the resurrection of Jesus, he cites the official records of the Roman government which contained the report of its procurator. He calls those records, the "Acts of Pilate.”
Justin was wise in his object, as well as in his methods and means of attaining it. If he could convince the authorities of the divinity of Jesus Christ, they could not but accept as divine the doctrine which he taught. That was the inevitable logical sequence. And by doing this the divine origin and character of Christianity would be established, and the protection of the Christians throughout the Roman empire would be secured.
The learned emperor, Antonius Pius, and the senate could not have been ignorant of the facts stated in their own records concerning the man ‘ ‘who suffered under Pontius Pilate, and who arose again according to his account.” "You may be easily satisfied of these things which were foretold by the prophets from the Acts of Pontius Pilate.” it would have been madness in Justin to have stood before that Roman senate in defense of the hated religion of Jesus and cited in confirmation of his statements officialINTRODUCTION.
9
records scarcely a century old, had they not been in existence.
Tertullian, however, spoke from the standpoint of a lawyer. He gives a very full account of the trial, execution and resurrection of Jesus. He quotes largely from the writings of the Apostles as to the doctrine taught by Him. But when he would prove the divine character of Jesus and His doctrine by the miraculous incidents of His life and His resurrection, he appeals to the Roman records. They were likely to have more weight than either the prophecies, of the Hebrew scriptures or the writings of the friends of Jesus. It was an appeal to the records of the court which had tried and executed Jesus as to the facts in the case. It could not be disputed by the very court which had put them in its archives. These he calls the “Acts oi Pilate.”
These two witnesses were competent to testify as to the existence and contents of the Roman records. From Cicero and others it is learned that the treasury of the state was under the old temple of Saturn. There the public moneys and other valuables of the state were kept; also the standards of the legions, the laws of Rome, reports and dispatches of generals and governors of the Roman provinces, decrees of the senate, and the proceedings of the courts. The treasury contained the records of all important occurrences such as prodigies, miracles, births, deaths, and executions. Also, letters and reports as to religious matters, such as Pliny’s letter to Trajan and his re-10
INTRODUCTION.
ply, and the emperor’s instructions to the pro-consul of Asia as to his treatment of Christians. Men of learning, such as were Justin and Tertullian, could not have been ignorant of the document so important to them.
George Rawlinson, the renowned historian, says: “It seems certain that Pilate remitted to Tiberius an account of the execution of our Lord and the grounds of it, to which Justin Martyr more than once alludes, and which was deposited in the archives of the empire.”
Dr. Burton (Eccl. Hist., Vol. I, p. 34), says: “It is almost impossible to suppose that the fathers, Justin and Tertullian, were mistaken in believing some such documents to be preserved in the archives. Their confident appeals to it show that they believed its substance not to be unfavorable to our Lord’s character.”
These documents, of such inestimable value to the early Christians, were, later, widely known and circulated ; they were multiplied and scattered to every corner of the empire as an indisputable witness to the historic facts of the crucifixion, and particularly the resurrection of Jesus. The influence was felt to such an extent that Eusebius, who lived at the time, says that the Emperor Maximin, A. D. 311, issued a decree “to every district, place and city of the whole empire” for their destruction. He further relates, that, in order to eradicate the teachings of these papers, forgeries were substituted containing testimoniesINTRODUCTION.
11
against the character and resurrection of Jesus which the children were taught to read and commit to memory.
One great purpose Pilate must have had, aside from performing the official duty of making such a report, was to justify his course of procedure in the case of Jesus. To justify his judicial act requires that he should make a full report to Tiberius. The general character of the account shows this to have been his chief object. He was in a peculiar position. He must justify his condemnation of a man whom he had pronounced innocent, and so maintained until the very end. He had sentenced to death a man for whom he had sincere admiration and respect, and he must justify himself in the mind of the most righteous emperor who ever sat upon the throne of Rome. He therefore emphasizes the necessity of Jesus’ death for the preservation of the peace of his province. This could only be preserved by yielding to the rulers of the people. Then he dwells upon the life, good deeds, words and character of Jesus, His death, and particularly His resurrection, to justify his judgment of the faultless character of Jesus. He shrewdly brings to bear everything at hand which will justify his conduct. One of the most weighty of these was the message of his wife, Claudia. That communication, doubtless, had great effect upon Pilate, and it would have much weight at Rome with the emperor and senate whose deepest religious sentiment was a superstitious reverence for dreams and omens12
INTRODUCTION.
as revelations from the gods. He therefore includes in a report the full contents of Claudia’s dream.
Moderi^ criticism, in its search for truth, has demanded most positive evidence as to the authentic-ity, genuineness, accuracy, harmony and historical consistency of all documents coming under > its consideration. Properly enough, the skeptical critic “denied everything and demanded proôf.” The batteries of doubt have been brought to bear and a storm of questions hurled against the authenticity and genuineness of the Old and New Testament.
Scholars have been distrustful and critical of all material derived from the first three hundred years of the Christian era. In the first of these centuries were written those manuscripts which contain the most precious truth ever given to man ; yet those first three centuries also produced the greatest number of writings containing superstitions, falsehoods and forgeries, born of antagonism to the Jew and Christian, which any age has ever known. Naturally such criticism has cast doubt upon every product of those times. However, the last few decades have established a more conservative judgment and method of criticism. Almost everything destructible has been demolished, and the age of construction has begun. This is a hopeful sign that criticism is to engage in the happier task of building up the walls of the temple of historic truth. Each stone will be selected with care and laid upon that Chief Corner-stone whioh has never been moved or broken.INTRODUCTION.
13
In concluding this introduction, it is well to repeat that the chief value of the records of Pilate consists in the fact that they form a body of testimony which comes from a disinterested source, influenced in no way by the close ties which necessarily exist between the Apostles and their great Leader. This disinterested testimony confirms the maih statements of the gospels, adds much interesting detail, and harmonizes points of apparent difference in the gospel reports concerning the history of that marvelous life and death. Some such testimony from one wholly outside of, and free from, all undue feeling of devotion, has long been felt to be desirable, and such confirmatory and luminous testimony will be hailed as of the greatest value, when it also appears to be truly historic. Such is the aim in the presentation of the important papers here offered, and such is the helpful and reverent spirit in which it is hoped they may contribute to a more nearly complete knowledge of the truth.
The foregoing facts concerning the Acts of Pilate are enough, it would seem, to establish the conclusion of their genuineness as originating under the procura-torship and sanction of Pilate himself, and as being records composed in the very face of the events they narrate. They show “The Acts of Pilate” to have been part of the coinage of history, under his governorship in Judea, and passing as current in the days of Justin, with every mark of fact enstamped upon14
INTRODUCTION.
them, as did the coins of money bearing the image and superscription of Caesar pass in his day.
Destructive criticism has done its best to invalidate the genuineness of both gospels and apocrypha; following in its wake, minor critics have tried to destroy the personality of Abraham, of Moses, of David and of Jesus; still later, to obliterate the existence of Homer and of Shakespeare alike. But a more conservative and patient investigation has unearthed indisputable evidence to the contrary. Modern scholarship stands again amidst the ruins of these former men and things, and does handle the very armor of the men who have been counted myths. The story of Joseph in Egypt, among her Pharaohs, grows more real as the mummy bandages are unwrapped from the kings under whom he served. The poet-history of the battles around old windy Troy, painted three thousand years ago in the Iliad of Homer, rises like reality 4s the spade of Schliemann lifts the sand and mold, buried three-foundations deep, off the skulls and shields of those ancient captains of the Trojan war, and holds up to light the buckler, shield and spear of men who perished before iEneas sailed, or Virgil sang “Ilium’s lofty temples robed in fire.”
These discoveries illumine what was an uncertain page. They make real to the sight the heroes whose heroism, in peaceful glory or in deeds of war, seemed too god-like to be true. How new these old things are from the fountain head! They refresh the spirit of faith like goblets filled at the spring. Some ofINTRODUCTION.
15
their pictures are new to the most of persons. The descriptions given here and there, of the Savior Himself as a person while here on earth, of the robe He wore, that spotless robe of white which Herod put upon him; of the three Marys weeping where he hung upon the tree; of the wail of her whose mother-heart was pierced by woe, and many other details, are not unworthy of being read by him who would draw nearer to the cross of Jesus. They are truly worthy of an enduring place in Christian literature, and as truth, in the likeness of His life-history, they will not dim one star in the bright diadem He wears. They add no gloss, and lend no trace unworthy of the story so often heard, nor do they steal away a single ray where light shines through to break upon His cross or crown. These pictures from the crucifixion, taken from history, will serve to broaden the landscape that lies around the cross which divides the darkness from the light; to heighten the great ideal of a life glorified by purity, peace, and love, and to fix the signet seal of His truth of whom it was said, “He is the light of the world.”THE POLITICAL SITUATION
AT THE
TRIAL OF JESUS
The political situation in Judea at the time of the crucifixion is of commanding interest to him who would fully understand the forces by which Jesus was surrounded, and who would appreciate His position before the civilized world in the crowning years of His mission on earth. In order to comprehend these conditions, it is necessary to include in the review more than a century’s history. The reader must turn far back in time to the days of Moses and consider tetrarchs, kings and priests who officiated long before any ruler like Saul or David reigned, to that distant period in which God alone was King in Israel, God whose. Son died on that same claim of King.
Israel, politically considered, consisted of twelve tribes, united by fealty to one King alone, who was God, their only and supreme Ruler. He was lawmaker and law-giver in all things great and small, and besides Him there was no other. All government proceeded from Him. Whether in private or18	THE POLITICAL SITUATION.
public acts; whether in individual, social or religious affairs; whether in domestic or foreign matters; whether in relation to life or death, God was all and in all. This was Israel’s first King, this her only autocratic Ruler. The government was called a Theocracy, a God government.
Politics, the relation of citizen to government, was encircled by this one idea. And hence it is that we find Moses, the great leader of this nation in all things, utter all law, every commandment and statute, with the*preface: ‘ ‘Thus saith the Lord.’ ’ The Theocracy was founded, established and operated while' Israel was yet in the desert; before they came into the possession of any land, while they had no home, and no country. And this one thought serves to throw much light over that passage, “My kingdom is not of this world,,” spoken by Jesus, but seldom hinted at as originating in the Theocracy. It indicates a . peculiar position for Israel as a state, as a nation; an idea of government known to no other people on the earth, then or since. This must have been the nearest to Christ’s idea of “kingdom” as He used it before Pilate. This was the politics, the citizen-relationship to government of Israel in the beginning, under Moses. This was Israel’s political position and situation.
The idea of nationality dates back to Abraham. It was perhaps the most prominent feature of God’s covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This national hope given to them rested upon the oath ofTHE POLITICAL SITUATION.
19
God. Say what we may about the spiritualized World of a theocracy, of a kingdom and a nation, the promise, the covenant, the oath calls for “land,” “nations,” “people.”
The reader will be surprised, in reviewing the promises incorporated in that old instrument called “The Covenant of God with Abraham,” to find these words so often repeated. It is “land,” “nations,” “people,” all the time. “Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto ‘a land’ that I will shew thee” (Gen. xii), are the first words of God to Abraham. “And I will make of thee a great ‘nation.’ ” “And Abram passed through the ‘land’ unto the place of Sichem. ”	‘ ‘And the Lord appeared unto Abram and
said, Unto thy seed will I give this ‘land.’ ’ ’
Again in Chapter xv of Genesis:	“After these
things the word of the Lord came unto Abram saying,” verse 18, “Unto thy seed have I given this ‘land,’ from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates.” Once more, in Genesis, Chapter xvii:	“And when Abram was ninety
years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram and said unto him,” verse 8, “I will give unto thee and thy seed after thee, the ‘land’ wherein thou art a stranger, all the ‘land’ of Canaan, for an everlasting possession.” In verse 6, He had said:	“And
I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make ‘nations’ of thee, and ‘kings’ shall come out of thee.” These words are confirmed by an oath of God made20
THE POLITICAL SITUATION.
to Abraham at a place called Jehovah-jireh. This is the oath as delivered by the angel of the Lord: “By myself have I sworn that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore; and thy seed shall possess the gates of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the * nations’ of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.” (Gen. xxii, 15, 16, 17, 18.) The oath of God rests on the covenant made with Abraham like an eternal seal. Abraham had finished his work as the founder of a people. He had procured the* seal upon the Magna Charta for mankind, and placed in the heart of Isaac, his son, its promises. Gathered to his people, he slept in the cave of Mach-pelah, in the field of Ephron, the son of Zohar the Hittite, before Mamre, beside Sarah, his wife, where Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him.
The covenant which God made with him was not buried with him. Its provisions, sealed by the oath of God, were renewed in Isaac. “The Lord appeared unto him and said: Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the ‘land’ which I shall tell thee of; sojourn in this ‘land; ’ for unto thee and unto thy seed I will give all these ‘countries ' and I will perform the oath which I swore unto Abraham thy father, I will give unto thy seed all these ‘countries.’” (Gen. xxvi, 2, 3, 4.)
Isaac died. The story of his blindness, and his tender blessing of Jacob form the highest poetic de-THE POLITICAL SITUATION.
21
scriptions of home and of national life to be found in any history. (Gen. xxvii, 27-30.) “Land,” “nations,” “countries,” “peoples,” crowd with their political interests the pages of the history. “God Almighty bless thee,” ended Isaac’s words of blessing to Jacob, “and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of ‘people,’ that thou mayest inherit the ‘land’ which God gave unto Abraham.” (Gen. xxviii, 3, 4.) At the bottom of that golden ladder whose foot rested upon the earth, and “the top of which reached to heaven,” Jacob heard the Lord, standing above it:	“I am the Lord God of Abra-
ham, thy father, and the God of Isaac; the ‘land’ whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it and to thy seed.” (Verse 13.)
If there ever was a place for poetic rhapsody here it is. If there ever was a text for spiritualizing “the kingdom of heaven” here is the place, in which a pilgrim, with a stone for his pillow, dreamed of “a ladder set up on the earth whose top reached into heaven,” with the “angels of God ascending and descending on it.” But no poetry falls into that speech of God, “the ‘land’ whereon thou liest to thee will I give it, and to thy seed.” These are citations from the covenant made with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. The extracts point out that heritage which Israel hoped fpr then, and clung to, even when John came preaching, “to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children.”
Sixteen hundred years before Christ, the eighteenth22
THE POLITICAL SITUATION.
dynasty of kings in Egypt saw the Israelites “more numerous and mightier than the Egyptians” among whom they lived. The new monarch * ‘who knew not Joseph,” who saw in this Hebrew people, the descendants of Jacob’s sons, a multitude numbering millions, a nation, in short, of foreign blood, naturally bore a dread of them. What if some foreign war should break upon him? What if these Israelites of themselves should revolt against Egypt?
Here began the slavery in Egypt, those decrees, and that legislation which ultimately carvecj out the nationality of Israel. It doubtless took the best statesmanship of Egypt to originate that great plan for the Enslavement of a whole people, so numerous now as Israel had become. It must have required the soundest advice of Pharaoh’s cabinet to devise that edict which should cover so wise a policy of government as might forever separate all citizenship of Israel from Egypt. The nearest and the shortest route to such an end was slavery.
This edict of Pharaoh for Israel’s slavery went forth; and one hundred years later it had made the millions of Israel’s sons abject slaves under Egyptian bondage. This was their political situation; and this “the nation” that had sprung from the Abrahamic promise, made five hundred years before. Was there hope in the heart of Israel then? Was there faith, was there despair? Hope there was, and hope alone, save in the mind of one man. That man was Moses.
And whatever that element in him may be named,THE POLITICAL SITUATION.
23
faith, foresight, or prpphecy, matters not. For it was greatness of the grandest sort. To stand before great Pharaoh whose monoliths, whose pyramids, were monumental of his family’s imperial strength; upon whose faces were cut the hieroglyphic history of each king that had preceded him in the long line of Egyptian dynasties; and whose building had consumed the lives of whole generations of slaves; to stand before the palace of such a king, and say as Moses said, “Let my people go,” was great!
It took the greatness of the greatest man of modern times long months of heart-ache, long nights of sleepless unrest, and the long persuasion of his cabinet, to sign that edict, “Let that people go,” when backed by a million fighting men. Let Moses himself stand in comparison here ! Let him come upon the political arena of the nineteenth century with all her boasts; let him, with South America, North America and Russia, stand as the political liberator of a whole nation of slaves, and answer in his words: “Let my people go.” He stands to-day as he stood then, alone, higher than they all. If individual greatness be the element of comparison, he outranks them all.
If history be worth reading, Moses stands without a peer in any parliament of politics as the advocate of home rule, and the rights of a people enslaved by the edicts of an autocrat, an emperor or a senate.' No single man ever faced a lordlier audience than when he stood before that palace of Pharaoh, and plead for his people. No braver general ever marched out of24
THE POLITICAL SITUATION.
the enemy’s country when he had gained that petition. Imagination can almost see him as at the head of his three millions, organized as he placed them, six hundred thousand fighting men to the front, twelve tribes named after ancient Jacob’s sons; on the east the Lion of Judah leading them, while in front of all, that “Pillar of Fire” which like a phosphorescent cloud arose from all Israel’s brain and heart; that strange enthusiasm that blazed on Sinai’s top, that led them through the wilderness, and in every pilgrimage of night, captivity and slavery, burned alike in the golden temple of their proudest king, or by the waters of Babylon, unquenched and unquenchable, the hope of national glory.
These memories belong to Israel, to Judah, and the Jew. From Abraham till now, millenniums have not sufficed to blot out the “nation” which was to spring from the loins of Abraham, or erase from their mind that national hope. It was as strong when John came preaching on the banks of Jordan as when Joshua crossed that river, nearly fifteen centuries before, to occupy the land.
The political ideas, promises and hopes of the Abrahamic covenant, which instrument was the grant and deed that covered all for Israel in all ages, were now about to be realized. Before them lay a land to be conquered by arms. Joshua, their leader, was meditating the attack of Jericho, the first city to be conquered by the new hosts. Israel entered on the conquest of Canaan, the covenanted land, immediatelyTHE POLITICAL SITUATION.
25
after the death of Moses, the founder and leader of the nation. Under Joshua, his appointed successor, in B. C. 1451, in the month of April (Nisan) the passage of the Jordan was completed.
In memory of that dreadful night to the first born of Egypt, the people kept the Passover for the first time on the soil of that inheritance promised Abraham 540 years before, and forty years after their exodus from Egypt. There must have been sad musings around the table of each family while they celebrated that Passover. Not one of the six hundred thousand fighting men who left Egypt, none save Caleb and Joshua, sat at that meal. Their bones were in the wild desert, by the wilderness and around Sinai. A new generation under one old leader had crossed over into the Promised Land.
How interesting is that incident, in which, while Joshua sat meditating the fall of Jericho, a vision came upon him in which he sees a warrior with a drawn sword in his hand. This warrior gives his name to Joshua as “Captain of the host of Jehovah,“ a title so often aftetward used to designate the Son of God.
It looks like a dream to call this ‘ ‘ Captain of the host of Jehovah“ with a drawn sword in his hand planning the capture of Jericho, Jesus, the Son of God, “King of the Jews.“
It looks like a dream to know that under the solemn curse of Joshua “to destroy all living things,” but one household of nil Jericho was excepted, the26
THE POLITICAL SITUATION.
household of Rahab. She is one of the four females named in the genealogy of Jesus of Nazareth. She helped to take Jericho. She was the mother of Boaz, the great-grandfather of David. She was the maternal ancestor of the future “Captain of the host of Jehovah.”
Joshua died B. C. 1420, and the Theocracy was administered for three hundred years by judges, until the people became prosperous and ambitious, when they demanded “a king like all other nations.” The King of the Theocracy uttered His protest and warning by His prophet Samuel. At the command of God, a man was chosen to be their king. With the reign of Saul, B. C. 1095, began the monarchy and ended the Theocracy. Then follow David and Solomon, each in turn a king of all Israel.
Upon the death of Solomon, B. C. 975, the monarchy was divided. Israel as one nation no longer existed, but was divided into two kingdoms, the “kingdom of Israel” and the “kingdom of , Judah.” Israel occupying about 9,375 square miles, and Judah about 3,435; the former being about the size of New Hampshire, the latter about half the size of New Jersey. From this »time till the end of the kingdom of Israel, two Israels, so to speak, formed rival kingdoms. The kingdom of Israel lasted 255 years, ending B. C. 721, having had nineteen kings.
The kingdom of Judah went into captivity uilder Babylon a little over a century thereafter, that is about B. C. 605. Here Judah remained for seventyTHE POLITICAL SITUATION.	2J
years. The first caravan of Judah, now called “Jews,” numbering 50,000, started from Babylon, under the decree of Cyrus, B. C. 536.
The most interesting details might be given here. Cyrus caused his treasurer to deliver to Zerubbabel, the prince of Judah and leader of the migration, the vessels of the temple of Jerusalem which Nebuchadnezzar had brought to Babylon when Jerusalem was destroyed seventy years before, “her temple, her palace, and all her goodly places being burned by fire.”
They went up out of this second captivity even as out of their first in Egypt, enriched, not with spoils, but with free-will offerings. Seven thousand men-servants and maid-servants, seven hundred horses, two hundred mules, and six thousand asses, formed part of the property of the first Jewish caravan starting again for the Fatherland, the old home at Jerusalem.
Zerubbabel, their leader and their prince, was with them. He was grandson of Jehoiachin who was next to the last of Judah’s kings before the captivity, and was made “governor” of Judea. Judah had indeed returned from captivity, but not the “kingdom of Judah.” Kingdom and king ended politically when Nebuchadnezzar “burnt the house of God, broke down the wall of Jerusalem, burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, took all the vessels great and small, and all the treasures of the king and of the princes28	THE POLITICAL SITUATION.
and brought them to Babylon/’ (II Chron. xxxvi, 17, 18, 19.)
In 444 B. C. Jerusalem’s walls had been rebuilt and the gates hung. In the year B. C. 433, Nehe-miah, after many reforms made by him at Jerusalem, returned to the Persian court, the headquarters of government, in other words. Nothing more is known of him. Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, falls into these times, about B. C. 400. Almost the last words of that prophetic book are: ‘ ‘ All ‘nations’ shall call you blessed; for ye shall be a delightsome ‘land’ saith the Lord of hosts. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts. Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet (John the Baptist) before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.”
Nothing of history can be included herein now, from B. C. 400 down to B. C. 37. It may be said only, that actual, real, true, and independent sovereignty—-national, political autonomy—was no more after the return from Babylonian exile. But the idea, the thought, the doctrine, and the hope of it, as promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; as held to after the slavery of Egypt; as fought for in the conquest of Canaan; and as expressed by Malachi the last of their prophets in his last utterances to the Jewish people, did burn in the breast of every trueTHE POLITICAL SITUATION.
29
Jew, even down to the time when Jesus taught in Galilee.
To give dates only, then from Malachi onward it may be added:	There was the continuance of the
Persian dominion till B. C. 331 ; the Greek empire in Asia, B. C. 331—167; the independence of Judea under the Asmonean princes, B. C. 167—63; the reign of the House of Herod the First under Rome, B. C. 37, till toward the destruction of Jerusalem, A. D. 70.
To run up these dates till the era of Pompey the Roman, B. C. 63, must conclude what is to be said on the political situation of the great event in the life of the personage around which so much of this history clusters. It will be remembered by the reader that B. C. 63, Palestine became a Roman tributary, subject to the governor of Syria, Quirinius,' the Cy-renius of the New Testament. The position of Palestine just before and during the life of Jesus is characterized by the Historian Rawlinson as “complicated and anomalous, undergoing frequent changes, but retaining through them all certain peculiarities which made that country unique among the dependencies of Rome.”
“Having passed under Roman rule with the consent and by the assistance of a large party of its inhabitants, it was allowed to maintain for awhile a sort of semi-independence. A mixture of Roman with native power resulted from this cause, and a complication in the political status difficult to be thoroughly understood by one not native and contemporary.”30
THE POLITICAL SITUATION.
The chief representative of the Roman power in the East at this time, A. D. 7, was Cyrenius, a Roman senator, who had been consul, and who, on other accounts, was of great dignity. He was sent by Caesar to be judge of that province of Syria to which Judea had been added, and, as Josephus tells us, “to take an account of their substance, and to dispose of Archelaus ’ money.” This was not many years after the death of Herod the First, the last “king” over all Palestine. At his death his territory was divided among his sons. Archelaus receiving Judea, Samaria and Idumea; Herod Antipas, Galilee and Perea; Philip, Trachonitis and the adjoining countries.
About 7 A. D., after the death of Herod the First, Archelaus was removed from his government by his Roman master, the emperor of Rome, Philip and Herod Antipas continuing to rule in their respective principalities. It may be well to remark in this place that Herod the First, and Herod Antipas, his son, watched “the kingdom” with a Jewish eye, with a Jewish thought, although overshadowed by Rome.
The former, the foremost politician among the Jews of his day, could not bear the thought of a rival king, from whatsoever direction it might come. He had out-generaled every opponent that had met him yet on the political field, as well as on the battle-field. An itemized list alone, the shortest index of his acts, as given by Josephus, will astound one who has not read it before. His political strategy was unexcelled by any man of his time, Jew or Roman. So minutelyTHE POLITICAL SITUATION.
31
did he take cognizance of everything that could bear on the political situation, that the murders committed by him in his own family, to make more sure his throne, caused a Roman emperor to exclaim in astonishment: “I had rather be Herod’s sow than Herod’s son!”
This is the king whose inordinate love of power drove him to imbrue his hands in the blood of infants, that no king might be found to arise against him. He sought in that bloody sacrifice he made to political ambition at Bethlehem one whom he well knew to be the “Shiloh”,prophesied by Jacob on his death-bed while he blessed Judah, the “Seed” sworn to Abraham by God Himself, the “Captain of God’s host” seen by Joshua before Jericho, and the “Son of David” whom all Jews knew, and that all so long had hoped for!
He deserves the maxim “You can not out-herod Herod.” The latter of the two names, Herod Anti-pas, was, in wickedness, a worthy scion of his most wicked father. Later on, thirty years after the murder of the innocents at Bethlehem, he became the blood-thirsty executioner of the promised Elijah, the forerunner of the Christ, John the Baptist. Political fear, kingly ambition, and jealousy in him, doubtless bore the dripping, bloody head of John ‘ ‘on a charger, ’ ’ cut from his body. Such in a word are two acts of the father and son, seeking to destroy “the Hope of Israel” and His forerunner; such were the king and would-b^ king in their attempts to defeat the kingly claim of Jesus—a claim never made by Him to them,32
THE POLITICAL SITUATION.
but which was pointed out in prophecy and promise. Such were the “kings” of the Jews at the times of which we are writing. They are called kings because they were filled with that one thought. The former was actually so, the latter was desired to be so by his' father, and was banished by Rome’s emperor because of a demand for larger power than that of tetrarch to be granted him, and that he be made king.
It is interesting here to note why Herod Antipas took no action in the trial-of Jesus when he was sent before him by Pilate. Herod, at heart, was a nationalist, and would have thrown off the Roman yoke, but was afraid at the time to let Pilate or Rome know his real feeling. A few years later he confessed at Rome before the emperor that he had prepared for a revolt with 70,000 stand of arms against Rome, and was accordingly banished with his wife, Herodias. The preaching of Jesus in Galilee, Herod’s dominion, was done among nationalists, and served only to make Galileans more nationalistic; and as that was what Herod really wanted, he did not molest Jesus, although the scribes from Judea under Pilate said to Jesus “Herod will kill thee;” and he did not condemn Jesus when sent to him by Pilate. Jesus to some extent was helping forward Herod’s ideas against Rome, and hence Herod’s inaction toward him. But Herod and Pilate were enemies, no doubt, because Pilate knew he was against Rome and wanted to*be a Jewish king, as was afterward proved to the Roman emperor when he banished him. This is most likely•THE POLITICAL SITUATION.
33
why Jesus preached in Herod’s dominion, and why Herod did not concern himself about his condemnation.
It must not be supposed that the people had lost their ancient inheritance, the idea and hope of being a nation. They were discontented under the Roman yoke. That national idea was the spirit which produced a political party bitterly arrayed against Rome in the time of Pilate. The very district in which Jesus labored most and longest, and the people among whom he seemed best content to dwell, Galilee, beautiful, rich, fertile, flower-covered Galilee, teemed with a population intensely “nationalistic” and anti-Roman. They hated Rome as perhaps no other district in all Palestine did. They loved to think of those ancient times when Israel was free; when David and Solomon reigned; when Israel was the “Son of God,” the people of his choice! They loved to read of Moses and the wanderings from Egypt, when through the desert the twelve tribes of Jacob’s sons marched, Judah in the van, with the lion on their banner—whence arose the name of this same man “Lion of the tribe of Judah.” No wonder that the man Jesus loved to dwell and to preach among such a people, kinsmen of a-sentiment, political as it was, He, if human, must have felt. And this is not merely sentiment. History has left the recorded facts that among the very disciples of Jesus were to be found this sort of men, “nationalists,” and even one disciple a blood-kinsman 334
THE POLITICAL SITUATION.
of the Nazarene. The Christian scholar, Edersheim, tells us this.
These are little things that will grow larger as we near the place where it was asked by a Roman procurator:	“Art thou a king?” “What hast thou
done?” They will grow larger when Jesus shall face that committee from the Sanhedrin that confronted Him at the judgment-seat of Pilate with charges of sedition and high treason against the Roman power. Galilee with its “nationalism,” its anti-Roman politics, its teeming population, ready for revolt at any moment, with friends, disciples, blood-kinsmen of Jesus among them, will form an insistence to the argument of that committee from the Sanhedrin hard to be borne down, while it shouts: “If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar’s friend ! ’ ’
This situation of affairs political, that culminated in the trial of Jesus, was long in its growth. It was not the outcome of a few years or decades. It had elements in it that reached back to the days of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; elements that lived on through the bondage of Egypt, and the wanderings in the desert; elements that crossed over the Jordan into the “promised land,” and that began the overthrow of the Canaanites, and that ultimately crowned king David and her Solomon.
Jesus’ idea of government was purely theocratic. He was in His own words the King of “a kingdom not of this world.” He was a High Priest in the words of His apostle “after the order of Melchizedek,”THE POLITICAL SITUATION.
35
having neither predecessor nor successor. In His own words He was “before Abraham,” above Abraham and superior to him as was Melchizedek. This, in a word, is the unique position of Jesus, looked at from what theologians term “His divine side.” To unify it, to make it a part of and one with “the human side,” has been the turmoil of theology since He taught. There is a temporal and a spiritual kingdom.
A dividing line must be drawn. “A human side” here, a “divine side” there. The political situation of the cross must be viewed on the one side or the other. The natural and human side is now under consideration. Jesus plainly indicates both kingdoms in His recorded utterances. The people had lost the idea of a spiritual kingdom with the Theocracy. Jesus said:	“My kingdom is not of this world, else
would My followers fight that I be not taken.”
This plainly cuts off “My kingdom” from any actual organic relationship with the “kingdom of this world.” For all people know that the existence, the very life, of any nation depends, as it has ever depended, upon its fighting men. The “ultima ratio regum,” the last appeal of every king for the life of the nation is an appeal to arms. Without this no nation has ever existed.
Politics then, as such, have no place in His kingdom, and must be excluded from the field of contemplation, or the words “not of this world” be given up. Either this or the “kingdom” of Jesus must be36
THE POLITICAL SITUATION.
severed from all connection with the Theocracy. For under the Theocracy men did fight for national existence. The whole land of Canaan had to be brought under theocratic government by killing men, women, and often little children.
The kingdom taught by Jesus stands out unique and widely separated from the Mosaic Theocracy, for though the latter was instituted and constituted in the wilderness, and before its people came into Canaan,, yet it did include the doctrine and statutes of war, of fighting.
What, then, was this “kingdom not of the world?” Evidently not the Theocracy of Moses, for that included war, while the “kingdom not of this world” excluded it. Evidently, if the language of Jesus be taken .at all, His kingdom meant no revolt against the Roman power.
But what was the “kingdom not of this world,” so unlike the old Theocracy of the Israelites under Moses, and which contemplated no outbreak, no uprising, no rebellion, no fighting for its king? It seems to have been a sort of mental, sentimental, doctrinal, metaphysical or spiritual reign. But, whatever it was, it was not political, civil, temporal or worldly. No soldiers, no fighting, no actual, positive, material belongings attached to it, as represented to Pilate in Jesus’ words.
But the Roman procurator gave the answer made by Jesus “a human side.” He treated the word “kingdom” as a civil, political, actual, human king-THE POLITICAL, SITUATION.
3 7
dom. Thus far he is in perfect accord with all present-day theology which gives only a human side to this question, and treats it in a temporal, rational
sense.
We turn now to the Jewish priestly authorities, the constituted ecclesiastical rulers of Jewish affairs, so recognized by the Roman government, and under whom Jesus was brought to trial. The head of this organization was Annas, the real high priest. His son-in-law, Caiaphas was the acting high priest, and was but the shadow of Annas. What were his official relations to the people, his political views and his personal character?
Annas was a moneyed politician. High priesthood and presidency of the Sanhedrin were to him secondary considerations. Herod the First, the great king, was his model. Annas remembered him, for he was old enough, having been made high priest in A. D. 7. Herod had played with a strong hand the double game of Jewish king and lieutenant of Rome. Why might not Annas? And so he did.
As a true high priest of God, he was far from it. He was a Sadducee. He believed not like Josephus or any other Jew in man’s immortality. Money, and the worldly power it could buy, was the all of his religion. His shameless conduct in starving aged priests to death, to satisfy his insatiable greed of gold, blackens the page of his greatest historian, Josephus, by its very mention; and the stalls of his sons, for money-changing and dove-selling, were mills for grind-38	THE POLITICAL SITUATION.
ing the poor, even in the precincts of that temple where he had stood ‘‘face to face” with God, and whence he came forth to “bless the poor.” He bought apd sold men, from a high official Roman down to the heads of robber bands that infested the city and the province. Such a politician was he. Even worse must have been the man who was his servant and his shadow.
We are drawing toward a crisis and a close now, nearing an event, a great trial, in which men like this must have a voice. Politically, they were self-seekers only, whose whole sentiment and soul said:	“Push
out the man who opposes me.”
That some one was opposing the ecclesiastical and political administration of affairs, that some one was opposing the Jewish rulers and the Roman officials, must appear self-evident when such officials and rulers consent to the arrest of that person and his trial for life. The government, whatsoever it was, must have been assailed somewhere, or else “soldiers” would not have been “called out” to arrest and bring in such an assailant. That this “calling out of soldiers” proceeded from “headquarters” makes it evident that the government believed itself to have been assailed. No mere misdemeanor, no mere trifling offense against municipal authority would have been so dignified by a procurator or a senate. Times have not been so much changed as to render incomprehensible these things, or to alter all forms of procedure.THE POLITICAL SITUATION.
39
The arrest of Jesus by order from the lieutenant of Caesar, instigated by and based upon the suggestions of the president and members of the Jewish Sanhedrin, means more than a common offense charged against Him. His public career as teacher and leader of multitudes in Galilee, as well as in other districts; His several appearances in the very capital city of Judea; His denunciations against the consti-' tuted authorities of the whole Jewish polity as then administered; His claim of being the only proper authority in the conduct of the relations of men in every sphere of life; His choice of a band of men trained to these ideas; and above all the setting up of a “new kingdom,” were facts too well known to be ignored by the government, whether ecclesiastic or political. All this had gone on for three years, gone on in the face of an opposition that warned Him, admonished, rebuked and threatened Him from the highest sources of His government. What else could happen now than His arrest? What else than a trial before those tribunals against which He had offended.
The political head of the government acting through a military power, its last and strongest argument, steps in with an order to arrest and to bring to trial. That trial begins and runs up till it reaches through the departments of ecclesiastic and civil government, culminating in the source and head of its whole polity and authority. Thus ends the career of a mission so far as it touched upon the mixed polity in Judea,40
THE POLITICAL SITUATION.
embracing the so-called “ecclesiasticism” of the Jew and the political arm of Rome.
Thus came about the arrest and trial of Jesus, arising out of the ecclesiastic envy, spite and hate of the high priests, and ending with a political decree for His death by the Roman governor, Pilate.
It can but be of interest here to know that after the final overthrow of Jerusalem, when the ruins were held by a garrison of Roman soldiery, Vespasian commanded “a strict search to be made of all who claimed descent from the house of David,” in order to cut off, if possible, all hopes of the restoration of the royal house of the Messiah. (Dr. Wm. Smith’s Saecular History of the Jews, History of the Bible, p. 986.) This shows what the great Roman Emperor Vespasian thought of a Jewish king, and the possibility of a hope of one in the Jewish mind, forty years after the rule of Pilate and Tiberius.
In review of the political situation which existed at the time of the crucifixion, and under which ruling powers that crowning event in human history occurred, let it be remembered that this element is one of the most important features to be regarded by him who would understand the forces which surrounded and arrayed themselves against the origin of Christianity. The whole social structure of that time was political. The government of Rome was wholly that. So, too, had become the church of the true God with its priesthood, temple and worship. The Jewish Theocracy had lost religion out of its constitution. The church,THE POLITICAL SITUATION.
41
once aglow with devotion to sacred things, had sunk into a secular institution. No prophet’s voice now uttered the mind of God. The scribes and pharisees, who administered its behests, belied their teachings by their lives. They added to the law of Moses such other rules as would enable them to enforce the payment of tithes by the people for their support in luxury. The temple had become a market-place. In short, the ecclesiastical body had become,, an institution which employed its every function of religion and authority for mercenary ends. It was as truly a political government as was the Roman Empire, far more oppressive upon the liberties of the people, more extortionate upon their financial life, and, what was infinitely worse than Roman rule, it clothed all this in the robes of holiness.
John’s demand for repentance and righteousness, as a preparation for the kingdom of heaven, struck the policy of the Jewish Church, as thus corrupted, and the life and character of its officials, with vastly more force than it did the Roman government. John began, and Jesus continued, to hold up to the people the truth of righteousness which had been buried under the rubbish of the decayed church. This was a resurrection. What John indicated came. It was the authoritative messenger of the truth. As John baptized Him, a voice said: “This is My Son, hear ye Him.’’ Then began the Gospel of truth and righteousness so gladly welcome to the poor, so fatal to pride, greed and power..42
THE POLITICAL SITUATION.
What Jesus taught struck at the very foundations of the corrupt structures of both institutions, the Ju-daistic and the Roman. He set forth the truth of the law and the prophets in the face of existing corruption, and even the unlearned people understood him, though they were slow to grasp His real meaning as it applied to their condition. One of the causes which prevented the masses from comprehending the doctrine of Jesus was the all-prevailing idea of empire, fostered by the conditions of that time. The people caught the words “king” and “kingdom,” and understood these terms in a material sense. They accepted these wèll-known words, and would make Jesus king, expecting Him to restore the kingdom of Israel.
Even the disciples did not fully grasp the idea of His spiritual kingdom until after the resurrection. The Jewish rulers never did comprehend it. The Sanhedrin and the high priests, who pretended to administer a Theocracy, had lost God out of His king-ship. Israel’s only king had been God. The religious bigotry of the rulers was the source of that hate which persecuted Jesus. This was done in the name of religion as they did everything which served their purposes in controlling affairs. It was but a cloak which covered a political persecution. The spirit and truth of the real Jewish religion was lost. The Theocracy, in its true sense, had passed away, and the fabric which remained was but a despotic institution with religious forms. Jesus did not assail the divine truth of the Jewish church. He affirmedTHE POLITICAL SITUATION.
43
and exalted it. He even taught the people to obey the Pharisees because they sat in the seat of Moses as teachers of the law. But the truth He uttered did attack the whole fabric of government as administered by Jewish rulers, for this had become an institution controlled and directed for selfish purposes by Godless men. It matters not that the form of the institution, its laws and ceremonies were of divine origin. When they lost the divine spirit and purpose, they lost the essential element of religion, and became, in fact, a human institution. Thus it was that Jesus assailed the political and not the religious organization of the Jewish government.
The teachings of Jésus were, on the other hand, greatly in accordance with the sentiments of the emperor of Rome, whose policy of government Pilate understood and administered in Judea. The emperor, Tiberius, was decidedly in favor of popular rights, even against the patrician senate of Rome. He endeavored to promote civil and religious liberty, education, freedom of speech, untrammeled individual conscience, and to secure to the citizens of his empire many rights and liberties for their protection and welfare.
Knowing the sentiments and policy of his emperor, and having examined and learned as much concerning the teachings of Jesus as Pilate must have known, it is not strange that he should say, from his position as a governor, “I find no fault in Him.” Regarding Jesus, there was no case before the judgment seat of44
THE POLITICAL SITUATION.
Pilate until the charge of “high treason” against the throne of the empire was preferred. That made a case, one which he must consider. Pilate knew, however, that the charge was insincerely made, that it was not prompted by loyalty to Caesar, but by envy against Jesus who was exposing the faulty government of the Jewish rulers.
If the social and governmental conditions surrounding the life of Jesus are rightly considered, the political aspect of His trial must be regarded as of primary importance. His followers regarded Him as a religious teacher, but the first effect of His ministry was a popular revolt against the order of affairs then existing. The human, social side of the moral law was the sum and substance of the “voice in the wilderness,” and Jesus also made it the largest part of His teachings. Many centuries have passed since that time, yet man has found no form of government ’which conserves social and individual welfare and happiness which is not based upon the same principles and administered according to the policies taught by Jesus. He lays down the fundamental principles which guide the policies of men in every relation and duty which makes for happiness and well-being, and the bodies politic which incorporated most of these in their forms of government are the social beacon lights of this earth to-day.
Civil and religious liberty, equality of rights and privileges, fraternity of human sympathy, conscientiousness and intelligence, righteousness, justice,THE POLITICAL SITUATION.
45
truthfulness; respect for authority; protection of the weak by the strong; community in public interests; unity in the bond of love, áre some of the doctrines which address themselves to the moral apprehension of all humanity as right and true. They are the underlying principles of righteous government. Such were the doctrines of Jesus Who proclaimed them to the world in Palestine, among a populace crushed to poverty and distress by the oppression of a Jewish oligarchy, to which was added the burden of a luxurious Roman monarchy. No wonder the people heard Him gladly and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. No wonder that they throhged to see and hear Him Who had come to save. So general was this acclaim of the people that Herod delayed the arrest of John for fear of them, and the Jewish authorities did not lay hands on Jesus, even when He came to Jerusalem. When at last they did arrest Him, they accomplished it by stealth and treachery under cover of darkness, and lost no time in completing His trial, condemnation and execution; all of which was done in dread of a popular uprising. But that dread was not caused by fear that the people would rebel against the religious worship and divine ordinances of the temple and its services.
The rulers of both governments saw in the popular effects of the teachings of Jesus a threatened revolt against the prevailing political order of things, and therefore the man who instigated it was a seditious person. They did not see his real character and pur-46
THE POLITICAL SITUATION.
pose, or their apprehensions would have been even greater. The history of eighteen hundred years since that time confirms the truth of their opinions, for the political doctrine taught by that Nazarene has been heard gladly by the common people ever since. To these the doctrines of Jesus have been good news and glad tidings of political salvation, though He Who was the great teacher paid His life upon the cross.SVHdVIVD QNV Saai^OSTHE LEGAL ASPECTS
OF THE
TRIAL OF JESUS
The whole Jewish law may be classified as follows: Laws religious and. ceremonial; laws constitutional and political; laws civil; human duties and rights; laws criminal. Consideration of the last only will properly come within this article.
The first commandment begins with the declaration, “I am Jehovah thy God which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. ’ ’ This clause involved as its consequences, first, the belief in Jehovah as God, the acceptance of His covenant, and the observances of His ordinances; and, secondly, the holiness of the people, as Jehovah’s peculiar possession, with their families, servants, lands and flocks, and all that belonged to them. The remainder of the commandment forbade them “to have any other gods before Jehovah.” Under this prohibition was included not only the worship of false gods, but every pretense to supernatural power, of commerce with supernatural beings, except with
(47)48
THE LEGAL ASPECTS.
God Himself in His ordinknces. Hence the severe laws against witchcraft and divination.
The fourth commandment is based on the principle for which God had made provision from the creation, that our nature needs “seasons for remembering our God and Creator.”
The first and fourth commandments are the ones that will receive special attention in this article, inasmuch as they form the body of the accusation brought against Jesus by the Sanhedrin.
The first commandment is in these words: “Thou shalt know no other gods before .me.’’ The fourth is, “Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy.” The construction put upon these commandments is well brought out in various examples given in the Old as well as the New Testament.
The infraction of the first commandment was punishable with the penalty of death (Lev. xxiv, 16): “He that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him; as well the stranger as he that is born in the land; when he blasphemeth^the name of the Lord he shall be put to death.”
The infraction of the Sabbath law, the fourth commandment, was also punishable by the death of the transgressor (Num. xv, 32, 33, 34, 35):	“And
while the children of Israel were in the wilderness they found a man that had gathered sticks upon the Sabbath Day. And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and untoTHE LEGAL ASPECTS.
49
all the congregation. And they put him inward, because it was not declared what should be done to him. And the Lord said unto Moses, ‘The man shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp. ’ ’ ’
These two instances may well suffice to exhibit the spirit and letter of the law as regards the penalty to be inflicted upon blasphemy and Sabbath breaking. These infractions were of the nature of highest offense against the law. They were in no sense concerning “the straining out of gnats;” they were high offenses against the law, not on minor points, not on hair-splitting interpretations, or quibblings, but against the foundation of a system as old as Moses. The claim of equality and identity with God, the Lord of Israel, was, to the Jewish mind, the highest of high treason against the government of God. It was as the dissolution of that great foundation upon which alone Moses built, and an attempt to establish. that idolatry against which Judaism was the only outspoken and declared enemy from the day when Israel left Egypt to that very hour.
The reader can not easily understand the horror and indignation of that Jewish Sanhedrin when confronted by the man Jesus, who for months and years had led multitudes by the lake, and in the wilderness, and through the streets of the holy city, teaching such a doctrine as equality with God. What meant that doctrine to the Jews? That doctrine as preached 4THE LEGAL ASPECTS.
51
480.) This very fact may explain why many writers have fallen into the error of summing up the “irregularities” of the proceedings as “many.” When properly examined these will be found to be exceedingly few, and of the smallest importance. Broadly admitting that much of prejudice, hate, spite, bitterness and envy, dimmed the very atmosphere of the Sanhedrin, these could not in their opinion have blackened the hue of this offense.
A great deal of consideration has been given to such points as the “taking of Jesus to the house of Annas first,” the “trial at the palace of Caiaphas,” the “whole body of the council’s not being present,” and to the “proper president of the Sanhedrin’s not being in the chair.” As to the last of these “irregularities” it may be stated, that both Caiaphas and Annas seemed certainly to have presided in the Sanhedrin, and that, officially; nor is Lightfoot’s explanation of the mention of the high priests, though Gamaliel and his son Simeon were respectively presidents of the Sanhedrin, at all probable or satisfactory. (McClintock & Strong, Vol. IV p. 251.) Caiaphas was the same high priest from whom Saul (Paul) received letters to the synagogues at Damascus when he was yet ‘ ‘breathing out threatenings -and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord; that if he found any of this way, whether they, were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. (Acts, ix, 1, 2.)
Saul of Tarsus (Paul) was a lawyer and well versed52
THE LEGAL ASPECTS.
in all such matters. He certainly knew from whom he should take an authoritative commission in such a business as this, and, moreover, he was a conscientious officer of the law. He went to the proper authority "desiring” such a commission. As to the "whole council’s not being present,” it is sufficient simply to quote the Gospels. Matthew states in his account:	"When the morning was come all the
chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus and led Him away and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate, the governor. ” (Matthew xxvii, i, 2.) Mark’s words are stronger. He says:	"And
straightway in the morning the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes, and the whole council, and bound Jesus and carried Him away and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate.” Luke in his Gospel says (Chapter xxiii, i):	"And the
whole multitude of them arose and led Him unto Pilate.” In the tenth verse of the same chapter, Luke says: "And the chief priests and scribes stood and vehemently accused Him.” So in verse 13 : "And Pilate when he had called the chief priests and* the rulers and the people, said unto them.” John says in his Gospel, Chapter xix, 6, that "the chief priests and officers were present at the trial of Jesus before Pilate.” From these statements it is clear that on the day of the trial "all the council,” "all the chief priests and elders” were present, as the Gospels state.
It would seem that some apology should be madeTHE LEGAL ASPECTS.
53
for introducing here grammatical quibbles and technicalities on small points, which have been dragged into the pathway of those who would wish to know what really are the facts involved in the trial of Jesus, and to find out their meaning. The great Sanhedrin of Seventy was not instituted for the adjudication of trifling matters. These were to be left to the lower courts, instituted expressly for the trial of such.
The supreme court of the Jews, the Sanhedrin, the highest court of the land, composed of the most learned men of the nation, ought to have been judges above criticism, as to their knowledge of the whole business of the law; and from all that is known of their character, by the qualifications required for their membership, they should be above criticism as to their general sincerity, impartiality and probity. There were good men in the Sanhedrin like Nicode-mus and Joseph of Arimathea, who seemed to have enjoyed the liberty of a hearing, and who might have been heard had they wished it, on the many “irregularities” of procedure that are claimed to have been allowed during the trial of Jesus, towards whom they were friendly and in whose interest they did speak in this trial. The charges under which Jesus was tried were, as has been stated, those against the most radical and organic commands of the law, blasphemy and the breaking of the Sabbath; both of which were punishable by death. (Levit. xxiv, 15, 16; Num. xv, 32> 36.) Being such it would seem that the ut-54
THE LEGAL ASPECTS.
most care would have been taken at every step of the procedure.
The provisions of the law seem to have been very full and just. By these, “unless the culprit was fully conscious of the culpability of his action, knowing while he committed the deed that it was against the spirit and letter of the law; and unless his guilt was subsequently proved beyond a doubt by at least two witnesses and before a competent tribunal, he could not be capitally or even corporally punished.”
An additional proviso, that of antecedent warning, which the Talmudic jurisprudence speaks of, would seem to explain many of the acts of Jesus as given in the New Testament, and one that would preclude even the possibility of convicting of crimes which, through ignorance of the law, men might be liable to commit. This warning had to be administered immediately before the commission of the misdeed. If any time elapsed between the warning and the exe-cutipn of the crime, the culprit could not be sentenced to death, if the crime was capital; nor could he be even whipped, if the offense was subject to corporal punishment. Moreover, the warning must expressly state the penalty to which the would-be offender might be liable, whether corporal or capital; and if capital, the particular mode of death must be mentioned. Furthermore, the would-be offender must acknowledge the warning, or it was of no force. He must signify his readiness, as the case might be, to die for the execution of his intention, or to suffer corporal pun-THE LEGAL ASPECTS.
55
ishment; he must say to the informer: “I am fully cognizant of the law, and of the inevitable consequences of its infraction,” or something similar; else the court could not consider the conditions complied with. The requirement has no equal in ancient or modern law. (Mendelsohn Criminal Jurisprudence of the Ancient Hebrews, pp. 29, 32.) “If a man,” says Blackstone, “intending to kill a thief or housebreaker in his own house, by mistake kills one of his own family, this is no criminal action; but if a- man thinks he has a right to kill a person excommunicated or outlawed wherever he finds him, and does so, this is willful murder.” For a mistake in point of law, which every person of discretion not only may know, but is bound and is presumed to know, is in criminal cases no sort of defense. “Ignorantia juris, quod quisque tenetur scire, neminem excusat, that is, ignorance of the law which every one is held to know, excuses no one, is as well a maxim of our own law as it was of the Roman.” (Blackstone, iv, 27.) But by this proviso presumption of acquaintance with the law could not convict. The would-be evil doer or trespasser must be duly warned or there could follow no conviction.
It was the binding force of this provision, doubtless, that made the Jews so often beset and interrupt the Savior’s speeches and acts, and which in time drove him into heathen regions of the wilderness and desert. It must have been this that so often induced Him to caution His disciples and those He healed, “to56
THE LEGAL ASPECTS.
telljno man,” but “to show themselves to the priests, and offer the accustomed gifts.” The Jews seemed to have lost no opportunity to warn Him against Sabbath-breaking and blasphemy. They were always present, if they could find Him, to warn Him from the simple fact that they could not convict Him legally unless they did. It will be especially remembered that Jesus charged the disciples, “that they should tell no man that He was Jesus the Christ.” (Matt, xvi, 20.)
All are aware that He “spake openly,” yet this can not overturn the facts, that for some reason, Jesus, during much of His mission, was a wanderer, and that He often fled from place to place, to avoid those who watched Him. It will be easily seen then that under provisions like this a would-be offender might choose to evade or defeat those who would be witnesses against Him, for under such alone could He be convicted before a proper tribunal. It was no easy matter therefore to bring one to trial.
Was it under such conditions as these that Jesus “was betrayed” into the hands of the tribunal? Was it in the face of such difficulties, under such provisions of the law, that the rulers of the Jews “sought to take Him?” Was it on this account that “the chief priests and scribes and elders of the people assembled unto the palace of the high priest Caiaphas,” to consult “how they might take Jesus by subtilty?” that is by refined and acute argument, not by sly, artful, cunning. (Matt, xxvi, 3, 4.)THE LEGAL ASPECTS.
57
But the humanity of the law did not stop with this one provision of antecedent warning. The witnesses against the accused, even in a case of mere corporal punishment, had to charge him with one and the same criminal act, and to declare that they saw one another while seeing him committing the crime. Witnesses moreover had to be competent. The following persons were incompetent to testify:	Women,
slaves, minors, deaf, mute or blind; persons convicted of irreligion or immorality; gamblers, usurers, farmers or collectors of imposts, relatives by consanguinity or affinity, and persons directly interested in the case. This long list would include many of the friends and all the relatives, and perhaps most of the disciples of Jesus, as “incompetent,” even had they been called as witnesses, and had been summoned before the tribunal of the Sanhedrin.
There is a class of witnesses, however, mentioned by the Gospels as “sought for” by the chief priests and elders and all the council during this trial that deserves mention. It is the class called “false witnesses.” (Matt, xxvi, 59.) This remarkable statement will appear the more so upon examination of the law concerning a false witness. Moses left a law about such an one. It reads, “If a false witness arise against any man, to testify against him that which is wrong, then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before the Lord, before the high priests and the judges which shall be in those days; and the judges shall make diligent inquisition;58
THE LEGAL ASPECTS.
and, behold, if the witness be a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his brother, then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to do unto his brother. And thine eye shall not pity, but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.” (Deut. xix, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21.) It is not wonderful in such a case as trying a man for his life that they found none.
The surprise of the matter is that judges of a court like this should ‘ ‘seek false witnesses. ’ ’ The enormity of such an act as placing a man just where the law would slay him, is beyond words to express. It paints the court in colors so dark that, ordinarily, it could not be believed.
Behind that law one should have seen the face of Moses, shining there in the Sanhedrin, as when he came down from Sinai’s top, with the two tables in his hand, while Aaron the great and first high priest, and all the people, were afraid of him. And, behind him yet, one should have seen, far back, Abraham, with a knife uplift as if to strike some victim, God knows best, a sheep, or man. If that victim be a lamb, let him strike; if that victim be the Son, say not thou, ‘‘Withhold thine hand,” for this may be what Abraham saw, this but the blood upon the lintel that the Lord poured out, when all the firstborn of Egypt’s house were slain, though brought about by wicked men.
Follow the Master to where He touched upon another council floor, outside the temple of the law,THE LEGAL ASPECTS.
59
walled in from all save Jewish things; and hear Him on the pavement of the nations, at the Roman bar. Here did He make the mighty stand for man, the freedom of all men, the “Gentiles*’ of a land wider than Israel. Here did He enlarge upon the little word of “King,” and crowned himself among them, Chief. Here He did stand upon the threshold of the “Kingdom that shall never be destroyed, the kingdom that shall not be left to other people, and that shall break in pieces and consume all other kingdoms.’’ (Dan. ii, 44.)
This court of the Sanhedrin had in it lawyers. They doubtless knew that if Pilate should evade his duty in failing to affirm their decision of blasphemy and Sabbath-breaking, as mere religious questions' of the Jews, he could not pass over so easily the central charge they had in mind, which was against the wellbeing of the Roman state. They knew what that law on the brazen plates of Rome called ‘1 Leesa Majestas, ’ * high treason, meant. They felt that Jesus had violated this law, and they believed that He would repeat those words of being king in the presence of Pilate; and if He did, there was no hope of His escape from death.
Nothing can be better here than to give the evangelists’ own words concerning this kingship. Matthew is silent as to any question of this kind directly made by Pilate to Jesus. Mark says:	“And straightway
in the morning the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council,6o
THE LEGAL ASPECTS.
and bound Jesus and carried Him away, and delivered Him to Pilate. And Pilate asked Him, ‘Art Thou the King of the Jews?’ And He answering said unto him:	‘Thou sayest it/” Says Luke:
“And Pilate asked Him, saying, ‘Art Thou the King of the Jews?’ And He answered him and said, ‘Thou sayest it.’” John says:	“Then Pilate en-
tered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus and said unto Him, ‘Art Thou the King of the Jews?’ Jesus answered him, ‘Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of Me?’ Pilate answered, ‘Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and chief priests have delivered Thee unto me; what hast Thou done?’ Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom is not of this world, for then would My servants fight that I should not be delivered unto the Jews; but now is My king-dom not from hence.’ Pilate therefore said unto Him, ‘Art Thou a King then?’ ' Jesus answered, ‘Thou sayest I am a King. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of truth heareth My voice.’ Pilate saith unto Him, ‘What is truth?’ ” This is the testimony of the Gospels in their own words, as to the question of the “kingdom” and the King. In the testimony given by John’s Gospel, after Jesus had stated “My kingdom is not of this world,” Pilate puts the question again, “Art Thou a King then?” What was the meaning that Pilate affixed to the answer of Jesus? Let Pilate’s words and Pilate’s deeds answer.THE LEGAL ASPECTS.
6l
The meaning to him comes out in three languages as, “penned by him for the cross;“ “set up over Jesus’ head; “ as Pilate’s only justification to Roman law for the act of signing Jesus’ death. John says: “And the writing was, ‘Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews.’” Luke says:	“This is the King of
the Jews.” Mark says:	“The King of the Jews.”
Matthew says: ‘ ‘This is Jesus the King of the Jews.’ ’ Pilate wrote this. What he meant by it the reader can determine for himself. It would seem that Pilate would not in an official capacity be taunting the Jews by writing irony, sarcasm, or ridicule, over the head of a Man who had suffered or who had to suffer death on the cross. It would seem that Pilate thought not of a kingdom beyond, one “not of this world.”
The offense which Pilate had to try, the charge of high treason, had nothing to do with the governments “not of this world.” The Roman emperor did not depute Him as Caesar’s Legate in Judea for any such business as watching over kingdoms or empires “not of this world.” He must have known how Herod looked upon the promised reign of “One to come,” thirty years before, when he tried to defeat such promise by a massacre of the infants. He must have known of Herod’s son, Herod Antipas, and of his beheading John the Baptist ‘ ‘because he feared John’s influence; ” he must have remembered how he himself had watched the political influence of Jesus, as He spoke to the multitude of the Jews at Siloam. He might have read on the Jewish rolls, that cata-62
THE LEGAL ASPECTS.
logue which kept the lineal descent up to David s time, of a coming King, and all the prophecies concerning Him. His own secretary could read all about the Hebrew kings of old, David and Solomon, and the whole story of the prophecies about “the great King to come.”
Pilate could hardly fail of inquiring something about the triumphant entry of “King David’s son” into Jerusalem, when all the people had made acclaim, and strewed their garments in the way as Jesus passed. All this might be a thing for Pilate to ‘ ‘jest’ ’ about if he had not known that Rome kept an eagle’s eye on all that savored of rebellion or high treason against the empire. Such language as “call no man master on earth,” such words as “go and tell that fox,” sent to the ruler of Galilee, would scarcely be tolerated by Caesar’s lieutenant. Such words as “Thou sayest I am king; for this cause came I into the world,” were, under the law that governed the governor, treasonable, and worthy of death.
Jesus, the “prophet of Nazareth,” says plainly (John viii, 56), “Your father Abraham rejoiced that he should see My day; and he saw it, and was glad. ’ ’ The simple question is, what did Abraham see? What sort of “land and countries and nations” did he see in the covenant made with him, with Isaac, and with Jacob ? Did he see land and country and nations involved like the rabbis of later years, or did he see a “kingdom not of this world?” It has been well remarked by Edersheim (Vol. I, Book II, p. 163) ‘ ‘that midst theTHE LEGAL ASPECTS.
63
dazzling brightness and crowd of figures” contained in the great picture drawn by the Old Testament, of the grand central personality of Jesus “there was great danger of being lost in the details, and missing the central idea. ’ ’ And if this be true, was there not even among the lawyers of the Sanhedrin this danger? And if this was so there, what must have been the case with Pilate and his conception of the Messiahship and the kingdom of God?	‘ ‘The day of Jesus, ’ ’ ‘ ‘the
times of Jesus,” “the kingdom of Jesus,” by whatever name it has been called, as seen by Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, in the covenant, had “land, nation, countries,” named in it. The reader will be surprised to run over these descriptions as given under Abraham’s covenant, in the promises made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and to see how many times real estate, land, comes into the promise of this kingdom. (Gen. xii, 2, 3; xiii, 14, 15; xvi, 18, 19, 20, 21; xvii, 18, 19; xviii, 6, 8; xxvi, 2, 3, 4, 5; and xxviii, 14, 15.)
Certainly there was danger of misconception when such words as these are built into a “spiritual covenant,” concerning a spiritual kingdom. Beyond doubt, such was the Abrahamic covenant, a covenant of spiritual promises. For to Abraham and his “seed” were the promises made, to his seed which is Christ. Here are Paul’s own words (Galatians iii, 8) : “And the Scriptures, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached through the Gospel unto Abraham, saying, in thee shall all64	THE LEGAL ASPECTS.
nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentile through Jesus Christ that we might receive the promise of the spirit through faith. Now to Abraham and his ‘seed’ were the promises made. He saith not, and to seeds, as of many; but as one, and to thy seed, which is Christ.” But Pilate had not this interpretation of Paul’s. He had the passages of Genesis speaking of “nations, princes, land, countries.” Is it at all wonderful that he should ask Jesus a second time “Art Thou a king then?”
Pilate must not be so underestimated here as to to think of him as having lost both the dignity and the ability of a Roman legate. There were lawyers at Rome as well as in Jerusalem. And there were laws of Rome engraven in brass, that extended over the smallest affairs of men. He who has read of Jesus as K^ing, ought not to forget that the Roman state had been in existence more than seven hundred years when Jesus was born; that it had existed as a republic, as a kingdom, and was now an empire, ruling the world. He ought not to forget that Rome had made laws for the government of all those foreign peoples whom she had conquered in all parts of the habitable earth. He ought to know that all Palestine was under the laws and power of Rome when Herod “the great” reigned, and that Herod was king only because the Roman senate allowed him to be. He oughtTHE LEGAL ASPECTS.
65
to read the decrees of Julius Caesar and Augustus Caesar, who, with the approbation of the Roman senate, made laws for the government of the Jewish people long before Jesus was born, or stood before Pilate claiming to be king. He ought to remember that the word ‘ ‘king' ’ was no new word to Pilate, or to any official of the Roman empire, acting as the governor of a Roman province like Judea. (Appendix, Summary of Decrees.)
The constitution and laws, the civil, political and religious rights and privileges of a Roman province, had to be overseen by such a governor, and he must observe them as rights recognized by Roman authority, or else lose his governorship. Pilate was not ignorant of any of these things; neither should modern critics be, when they come to answer the question, “Art thou a king?”
‘ ‘ Art thou the king of the Jews ? ’ ’ Why of the Jews ? Why not leave those words off? Why does Pilate say, ‘ ‘ of the J ews ? ’ ’ There is a good reason. A J ewish king was different from other kings. He held a sort of twofold dominion. He was chosen by the people, but was anointed of God. He reigned over the affairs of men, levied troops, carried on war, like any other earthly king, though he also ruled in those higher, spiritual interests that concerned the people. He was God’s vicegerent on earth. Part of his dominion was soverign authority in spiritual things. If Pilate had any knowledge of Jewish kings, he would certainly refer the 566
THE LEGAL ASPECTS.
word to the times of.David and Solomon. But as this son of David claimed a “kingdom not of this world,” it must have confused Pilate, for no Jewish king had ever reigned over such an exclusive one before. There is no need of surprise therefore at Pilate’s confusion in this matter. He must certainly have known all about Jewish kings from the explicit decrees of Julius Caesar and Augustus, concerning such persons among the Jews, and which decrees had been, as far back as Julius Caesar, engraved on brazen plates, in Roman and Greek letters. Pilate certainly must, as governor of a Jewish district like Judaea, have learned from Julius Caesar’s decrees, or Augustus’, decrees, or Tiberius’ decrees whether Jewish kings ruled over a “kingdom not of this world” exclusively, or, whether under Roman rule, they ruled over various earthly interests.
The Sanhedrin was the court of highest authority on earth, established by God for the interpretation of His law, both as to civil and religious matters. It was the human parliament of the divine Theocracy, the human administrator of divine will. It was the most august court which ever interpreted religion to man. Before the members of that court Jesus stood charged with ‘blasphemy’ because he had made himself equal with the author of that court and the laws it administered. That was high treason against the King of Israel.JESUS BEFORE PILATE DAY OF THE TRIALTHE LEGAL ASPECTS.
67
Rome ruled tfie world with a Caesar on its throne, and a representative of its power and authority in the capital of every province in its empire, whose duty it was to administer its law and execute the will of Caesar. Before that court Jesus stood charged with high treason because he had claimed to be a king.
These two powers and their courts were established facts. Both claimed divine authority. Both powers were ordained of God.
Thus it was that Jesus stood before the highest religious tribunal on earth, and before the court of the Roman Empire which ruled the civil and political rights of men throughout the known world.
Those were the two supreme courts of earth, the court of God and the court of man, the law of Heaven and the law of Rome, Caiaphas and Caesar.
Jesus was charged with high treason against the enthroned monarchs represented by those courts. Treason against God, enthroned and uttering His will to the world amid the thunders of cloud-veiled Sinai, treason against Caesar enthroned and uttering his will to the world amid the trumpets and splendor of Rome.
Never before nor since in human history has it been possible for any one to stand before the properly constituted courts both of earth and Heaven. They met that day in Jerusalem at the trial of one who claimed to be the king of both.68
THE LEGAL ASPECT^.
Caiaphas, Heaven’s lieutenant, asked Him, “Art thou the Christ?” Jesus replied, ‘I am.”
Pilate, Rome’s lieutenant, asked Him, “Art thou a king?” Jesus calmly answered, ‘Thou hast said.’ The courts gave judgment and adjourned, a cross arose, and the world still gazes, wonders and inquires,, what, why?THE GREAT SANHEDRIN.
ITS ORIGIN AND CONSTITUTION.
The origin of this body is not clear amid the conflicting statements that have come down from varying authorities. By some it has been referred to the time of Moses (Num. xi, 16, 17), by others to the reorganization of the Jewish state under Ezra, after the Babylonian captivity, and still by others to the time of Alexander the Great, when he convulsed all Asia, B. C. 333.
The most ancient Jewish tradition is that the Sanhedrin was instituted by Moses, when, according to the command of God, he appointed seventy elders (Num. xi, 16, 24). Over these Moses was president, thus making the whole number seventy-one members.
In the time of the kings it is stated that Saul was the president of the Sanhedrin in his reign; that his son Jonathan was the vice-president; that these two functions continued during the times of the later prophets ; that the Sanhedrin existed even in the Babylonian captivity, and that this body was reorganized
(69)7 o
THE SANHEDRIN.
immediately after the return by Ezra. This view has been entertained by some of the most learned Christian scholars, like Reland, Grotius, Selden, and others. Yet others express little doubt that this supreme court, as it existed during the second temple after the captivity and return from Babylonian exile, was developed under the Greek rule over Palestine.
Livy, the great Latin historian, states in express terms (xvi, 32):	“Pronuntiatum quod ad statum
Macedoniae pertinebant senatores quos synedros vo-cant legendos esse, quorum consilio res publica ad-ministraretur. ’ ’ The arguments that have been based on the fact of the mere name Sanhedrin, as occurring at no earlier period than the Macedonian supremacy in Palestine, and the silence of certain historical books of the Bible as to it, are not conclusive proof that the Sanhedrin did not exist prior to the mention of the name, any more than the fact of Josephus’ not mentioning it before the conquest of Pompey, B. C. 63, .would show that the Sanhedrin was not in existence before that date.
In the book of Numbers (Chapter xi, 16, 17), God speaks to Moses in these words:	“Gather unto
me seventy of the elders of Israel, whom thou know-est to be the elders of the people, and officers of them; and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand with thee. And I will come down and talk with thee there; and I will take of the spirit that is upon thee, and will putTHE SANHEDRIN.
71
it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not alone.”
The Jerusalem Targum paraphrases Exodus, xv, 27:	“And they came to Elim where there were
twelve fountains of water, answering to the twelve tribes of Israel, and seventy palm trees, answering to the seventy elders of the Sanhedrin of Israel.” Other Ghaldee versions say, “the judicial courts of the remotest antiquity were called Sanhedrin.”
As remarked before, the omission of the name Sanhedrin by certain books of the Bible is no conclusive proof against its existence prior to them. It is known from Josophus that the Sanhedrin was in existence under Hyrcanus II, B. C. 78; and was a very old institution at that time, though he does not mention it by the name of Sanhedrin until after Pompey, B. C. 63.
The powers of the Sanhedrin were very extensive. The summoning of King Herod the Great to answer before it for certain offenses proves that it took oversight even over the acts of kings. The mere name or change of name in this or that age is no argument against the existence of an institution that seems to be alluded to by Isaiah xxviii, 6, when he speaks of it as “A spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate; ’ ’ the same spirit that was put upon the seventy under Moses by God Himself.
Whether as “Great Synagogue,” or “Sanhedrin,” whether by one appellation or another, its origin and7 2
THE SANHEDRIN.
constitution, its authority and its functions, are the things that most distinguish it, and identify it, as being the same body in this or that age. Whether under Moses or Ezra; whether under the Maccabees, or Great Herod, it was the spirit, the power, the jurisdiction it held, that made it what it was. So far as can be seen, it must have been in Israel the highest court. It had upon it “the spirit of Moses,” and was, with him, the highest civil and ecclesiastical tribunal. Raphall (Post Bibl. Hist., Voi. I, p. 106), who traces the origin and progress of thè Sanhedrin with great acumen, concludes his inquiry : ‘ ‘We have thus traced the existence of a council of Zekenim or Elders fouhded by Moses, existing in the days of Ezekiel, restored under the name of Sabay Yehoudai, or Elders of the Jews, under Persian Dominion; Ge-rusia, under the supremacy of the Greeks; and Sanhedrin under the Asmonean kings and under the Romans.”
The members of the Sanhedrin represented three classes of the Jewish nation : the priests, represented by their chiefs, called the chief priests; the elders of the people, because they were the heads of the families and tribes, represented the laity or people generally ; and the scribes or lawyers, who, as interpreters of the law in ecclesiastical and civil matters, represented the literary laity or people. The chief priests, elders and scribes, therefore, constituted the Sanhedrin. Every New Testament reader has learned the frequency of their mention in that book.THE SANHEDRIN.
7 3
In* tliis connection let it be said, that these great men formed a body that was counterpart of the sacred Roman senate. Of it Gibbon says: “With regard to civil objects, it was the supreme court of appeal; wi&i regard to criminal matters, a tribunal constituted for the trial of all offenses that were committed by men in any public station, or what affected the peace and majesty of the people. Its most frequent and serious occupation was the exercise of judicial power. As a council of state and as a court of justice it possessed many prerogatives. Every power was derived from their authority, every law was ratified by their sanction.” Such, with an exception here and there, were the powers of the Jewish senate.
Such was the seventy’s assembly under Moses, with his spirit upon them. Such must have been their spirit when it summoned men like Herod and Alexander Jannaeus before it. Such was the body that directed Pilate’s soldiery to arrest Jesus and bring him forward to answer before it. It can not longer appear strange to any reader that Jesus was apprehended by this governing body. It was a part of the business and office of the Sanhedrin to make just such investigations and trials; a«id it was sustained by the authority of the Roman government in doing so.
That this high court had many and serious difficulties to face, surrounded as it was by Roman spears, shorn of much of its former dignity and breadth of jurisdiction, does not, matter in the consideration of7 4
THE SANHEDRIN.
its high duty. Like every other court in every other time, struggling against usurpation and military rule, struggling against the encroachment of brute force against right and reason, it could not choose to abdicate, resign, and leave all civil, moral and religious government, to be raided by a foreign foe; and the dearest ties of kinship, and of blood, of home, of family, and of name,' to be prostituted. Such a court could not shirk all duty. The supreme court of every nation, state and kingdom undei* heaven, ought to have better things believed of it than have been taught of this ancient one of Israel, established from the first by God himself.
It may assist in understanding the character of the Sanhedrin to know what sort of men formed its membership, and the qualifications necessary to becoming a part of it. The latter were both minute and numerous. An applicant for membership had to be morally and physically blameless. He had to be tall, middle-aged, wealthy, learned in the branches of divine law, and in divers branches of profane science, such as mathematics, astronomy and medicine. He had to know several languages besides, in order to understand fully foreigners and foreign questions; he had to be the father of a family and to be a descendant of a Levite, priest, or Israelite. In addition, a candidate for the great Sanhedrin was, first of all, to have been a judge in his native town; to have been transferred from that office to the small Sanhedrin which sat at the entrance of the temple, and thenceTHE SANHEDRIN.
75
to have been advanced to the second small Sanhedrin which sat at the entrance at the temple hall (Mai-monides Yad Hahazaquah; Sanhedrin, 32a, 88b). After B. C. 30, no one could be ordained as a member without permission from the president, and both he and the vice-president must be present at the ordination.
The Sanhedrin was presided over by a president and a vice-president, elected by the corporate assembly of members. The king could not be elected to this office, but the high priest might be, provided he had the necessary qualifications. The president of the Sanhedrin represented the civil and religious interests of the Jewish nation before the Roman government abroad and before different Jewish congregations at home. The vice-president had his sphere of labor more especially with the Sanhedriil, leading and controlling discussions on disputed points. The third rank in the Sanhedrin was that of a sage of referee. It was his office to hear and examine the pending subject in its various bearings and bring it before the court for discussion. Besides these high officials were judges, scribes and other menial officers not members of the seventy-one. Such in the main was the constitution of the Sanhedrin.
Xhe jurisdiction of the Sanhedrin under the Theocracy extended to the institution of ordinances, and the definition of disputed points in ecclesiastical matters, as also to the adjudication of secular questions;76
THE SANHEDRIN.
but in the days of Jesus it had little if any power in political affairs.
The divine law had to be determined and interpreted almost solely by the Sanhedrin, inasmuch as its members were the most skilled in the written word of God, as well as being bearers of the oral law transmitted to them by their predecessors, which law they in turn handed down to successive members of their body.
The Sanhedrin had to watch over the legality and purity of the priests; keeping their genealogies in all places where the Jews resided, giving their names, the heads of families and all male descendants, and had to supply every priest with* such an attested document. The Sanhedrin tried cases of unchastity on the part of priests’ daughters, and married women who were accused by their husbands of infidelity, which were questions of life and death. iL-had-tQ watch over the religious life of the nation, and to try any tribe Which was accused of departing from the living God to serve idols. It had to bring to trial false prophets, or any heretic who promulgated doctrines contrary to the tenets of the Sanhedrin, for, by law, “Such a one is not to be executed by the tribunal of his native place, nor by the tribunal at Jabne, but by the supreme court at Jerusalem” alone. Th^law as contained in Deut. xvii, 12, 13, reads:	“And
the man who will do presumptuously, and will not hearken unto the priest that standeth to minister before the Lord thy God, or unto the judge, evenTHE SANHEDRIN.
77
that man shall die, and thou shalt put away the evil from Israel.” In accord with this remark, as to the execution and the place, are the Savior’s words: “It can not be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.” (Luke xiii, 33.) Paul, the Apostle, is also witness to this matter, when he says ( Acts ix, 1, 2) : “And Saul went to the high priest and desired letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound, into Jerusalem.” This serves also to show the jurisdiction which the high priest exercised at the time. See, also, Acts xxvi, 10, where Paul states: “Which thing I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests, and when they were put to death I gave my voice against them.”
Much hastbeen said and written as to whether the high priest was the rightful president of the Sanhedrin. But Paul, who must have been informed in all such matters, says, that when he went after authority “to bind men and women, to bring them up for trial” and “shut them up in prison,” he received that authority “from the high priests.”
The foregoing ought to satisfy us as to the jurisdiction. in these cases, at least, for Paul was a “conscientious liver,” and did these things “in all good conscience.” • lie knew Jewish law, Jewish duty, Jewish authority, and the jurisdiction of Jewish officials. He had been instructed in the law as well as78
THE SANHEDRIN.
he could be instructed in it, and was, at the time he gives this information, a Christian. As a Jew and as a Christian, he did what he did “in all good conscience,” guided by the best intelligence that his great learning could give him. For bringing “men and women bound to Jerusalem, for throwing them into prison to be put to death,” he got authority from the high priests. Here are his own words:	“I am
verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city, at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye are all this day.” “And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.” “As also the high priest does bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders. ’ ’ “I think myself happy, king Agrippa, because I shall answer for myself this day before thee,f touching all the things whereof I am accused of the Jews.” Especially because I know thee to be expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews, wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently. ’ ’ “My manner of life from my youth, which was at the first among mine own nation at Jerusalem, know all the Jews, which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that after the most straightest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.”
The loss of mere de facto power to jpunish by death for political offenses, or such as Rome might choose to hold in her own grasp by sheer force of the lanceTHE SANHEDRIN.
79
and the sword, the intimidation of the supreme court by the bayonet, argues not that this Sanhedrin had basely surrendered all rights under that old constitution, the law, to the adjudication and power of Roman authority. These “creatures” of Pilate, “these minions of a heathen power” argued too freely with Pilate, threatened too forcibly an appeal from this Roman procurator’s judgment, to permit the belief that they had no rights, no power. They had a law which the civil, political and military rule and power of Rome must respect, under whatever governor Rome might send to Jerusalem or Judea. Under the provisions of this law Jesus was tried, and this action was to be respected. Pilate knew this, and so stated.
Vitellius, Pilate’s superior officer, the president of Syria, and Tiberius Caesar, the Emperor supreme over all, would recall Pilate, strip him of his insignia, and banish him, if he did not respect all of the Jewish law that Rome,allowed the Jews to exercise and enforce.
Thus the Sanhedrin, the supreme court of Judea, was proceeding in Paul’s time, carrying out the provisions of that divine system intrusted to their fathers, and to,their children, from the days of Moses till the very day when Paul received his commission “to hunt down heretics, and bring them bound to Jerusalem.”
Here then is the* key to the situation and position of the Sanhedrin. This court of ecclesiastical jurisdiction, the guardians of religion and religious affairs,8o
THE SANHEDRIN.
had authority in and jurisdiction over all matters pertaining to religion.
Rome with all its harsh dealings, with all its taking away of power, had left them these God-given privileges to enjoy, to keep and to perform. The decrees of the Roman emperors given in this volume down to and after Pilate’s time, as well as the New Testament accounts, declare the truth of this statement. The Sanhedrin had not only an existence, but it had a jurisdiction which covered the arrest, the trial and condemnation of Jesus to death for Sabbath breaking and for blasphemy." It only asked of Pilate to ratify, to complete and perform this decree under their right, and when he refused to do this he was asked by them to do one other thing which he could not refuse. ‘ ‘We have no king but Caesar, ’ ’ we yield all aspirations to political claim, we only ask the performance at your hands of our right and prerogative under the emperor, to execute this Man condemned by our court acting under our great law.
When Pilate refused this appeal then it was that these Sanhedrin lawyers shouted to Pilate that fearful word “king.” He calls Himself “King,” as if to say to Pilate:	“Make what you can of that! Ask
Him and probe this matter further! See how you will come out with that, the ‘ ecclesiasticism of our court, the religious decrees of our high tribunal seem to pass for nothing here, so take Him nearer to you, bring Him before that bar which you do sit upon, that bar of Caesar/s right, and see how you will fare!”THE SANHEDRIN.
8l
This must be the scene before that double court when the tribunal of the Sanhedrin and of Pilate stood face to face. The Sanhedrin lawyers had made their point. Nothing can go to show, however, that it claimed a wrong power when it claimed religious and ecclesiastic jurisdiction, and the right to punish offenses falling under such jurisdiction. This left in Pilate’s hands the power to treat as he might the political affront to Roman power, the sole charge of Lcesa Majestas, high treason against Caesar and all Rome.THE ACTS OF PILATE.
{PREFA TORT NOTE.)
The oldest existing copies of the Acts of Pilate extend over a period of time from the fifth century, that is from A. D. 424 (Tischendorf Prolegomena, p. lxxii, lxxiii), down to the fifteenth, and, in this respect, resemble very much the various copies of our Bible.
These copies of the Acts of Pilate of the fifth century, A. D. 424 (Prolegomena, p. lxvii), are known under the title of “Coptic Sahidian” and “Latin Palimpsest.” Their place of discovery no doubt was Turin, in northern Italy, where Tischendorf “used them first,” together with the celebrated Victor Amadee Peyron, professor of oriental languages in the University of Turin, author of a Coptic lexicon and grammar, and the discoverer of many ancient Greek and Latin manuscripts.
A very interesting account of this celebrated orientalist may be seen in the “Grand Dictionnaire Uni-versel du XIX Siecle,” tome 12, p. 739, from which we translate the following:
“Peyron, Victor Amadee, was an Italian oriental-
(83)84
THE ACTS OF PILATE.
ist, born at Turin in 1785, and died in 1866. He pursued his studies and was made doctor of theology in the university of this city, when he studied the oriental languages under the Savant Abbe de Val-perzue de Caluso, whom he succeeded in 1815 as professor of oriental languages at Turin. Previous to this epoch he had already made himself known by his discovery of ancient Greek texts and Latin palimpsests which are to be found in his ‘Descrizione Evangelevio Greco.’ He is the author of very important works on the Coptic language, the two principal of which are, ‘Lexicon Linguae Copticae,’ and ‘Grammatica Linguae Copticae.’ ”
The only mention made by Tischendorf of the whole matter, however, is contained in an*allusion, of a line or two in Latin, in which he says; “Folia papyracea Coptica saeculi fere V. Interpretationem huius textus mecum communicavit, dum Taurini versabar, celeber-Peyron.” (Prolegomena, p. lxxii.) The meaning of which is:	A Coptic papyrus manu-
script of the fifth century, the interpretation of whose text was made with me by the very celebrated Peyron, while I was stopping at Turin.
No wonder that the general reader knows so little of the history of the Bible, or of the Acts of Pilate, when two ’documents of the rarest character and used by the greatest of manuscript decipherers, are passed over as a great discovery, but as a great secret, and the place, time and date of their first using left to be searched out by a lesser palaeographer, and madeTHE ACTS OF PILATE.
85
known to the ordinary reader. The discovery of the fifth century copies of the Acts of Pilate, no matter by whom made, whether by Peyron or Tischendorf, was to those documents of no less importance than was to the Old and New Testament Scriptures the discovery of the Codex Sinaiticus on Mount Sinai. The Sinaitic Codex enabled the Christian world to say:	“A third ancient witness has come to light by
which may be tried every sentence and word in the Vatican Bible at Rome, and the Alexandrine Bible, of the British Museum, and all later copies.
The discovery of the Coptic Sahidian papyrus and Latin palimpsest copies of the Acts of Pilate enabled the Christian world to'say:	“We have a text by
which all the copies of these papers can be tried, which are spoken of by Justin and Tertullian, Eusebius and Epiphanius, Orosius and Chrysostom, Lard-.ner and Rawlinson, Tischendorf and many other Christian scholars, and about which they have Written as being made out by Pilate, sent to the Roman emperor, kept in the archives at Rome, disseminated all over the Roman empire, used by Christians everywhere, and proscribed by a Roman emperor in every city, town and school district. They have been tried, and the result of that trial shall be stated by Tischendorf’s own words, as follows:	“The first
decisive ground to be noticed is, that .the Greek text, as given in the version most widely circulated in the manuscript, is surprisingly corroborated by two documents of the rarest character and first used by myself,86
THE ACTS OF PILATE.
the Coptic Sahidian papyrus manuscript and Latin palimpsest.” So surprisingly, that Tischendorf in the next sentence remarks:	“Such a documentary
confirmation of their text is possessed by scarcely ten works of the collective Greek classic literature.”
So well esteemed, so dear, so sacred were those documents that copies made five centuries after the crucifixion meet all the requirements of Justin and Tertullian’s description, and “surprisingly accord with the text most widely circulated in the Greek manuscript long centuries after.”
The first Greek form as given in this volume was edited by comparing with it:	(i) Monacensis
cxcii, date thirteenth century; (2) Monacensis cclxxvi, date twelfth century; (3) Paris Reg., date 1315 A. D.;	(4) Paris Reg., date fifteenth cen-
tury.
The second Greek form was edited by comparison, with:	(1) Venetus Marcianus, class 11, cod. cli,
seventeenth century; (2) Paris Reg., date of fifteenth century; (3) Venetus Marcianus, class 11, cod. lxxxvii, date fifteenth century.
The Latin form is conformed to these codices: (1) Vaticanus, date thirteenth century; (2) Vati-canus, No. 4,363, similar to the first; (3) Venetus Marcianus, date fifteenth century, and several others of the fourteenth century, and lastly, the Vindobon-ensis palimpsest of the fifth or sixth century. (For all of which see Prolegomena Apoc., pp. lxxi, Ixxii, lxxiii, lxxiv.)THE ACTS OF PILATE.
(FIRST GREEK FORM.)
I, Ananias, of the propraetor’s body-guard, being learned in the law, knowing our Lord Jesus Christ from the Holy Scriptures, coming to Him by faith, and counted worthy of the holy baptism, searching also the memorials written at that time of what was done in the case of our Lord Jesus Christ, which the Jews had laid up in the time of Pontius Pilate, found these memorials written in Hebrew, and, by the favor of God, have translated them into Greek for the information of all who call upon the name of our Master Jesus Christ, in the seventeenth year of the reign of our lord Flavius Theodosius, and the sixth of Flavius Valentianus, in the ninth indiction.
All ye, therefore, who read and transfer into other books, remember me and pray for me, and pardon my sins which I have sinned against Him.
Peace be to those who read and those who hear, and to their households. Amen.
(87)88
THE ACTS OF PILATE.
Chapter 1.—Having called a council, the high priests and the scribes Annas and Caiaphas and Semes and Dathaes, and Gamaliel, Judas, Levi and Nepthalim, Alexander and Ja'irus, and the* rest of the Jews, came to Pilate accusing Jesus about many things saying:	We know this man to be the son of
Joseph the carpenter, born of Mary; and he says that he is the Son of God, and a king; moreover, profanes the Sabbath, and wishes to do away with the law of our fathers. Pilate says : And what are the things which he does, to show that he wishes to do away with it? The Jews say: We have a law not to cure any one on the Sabbath ; but this man has, on the Sabbath, cured the lame and the crooked, the withered and the blind and the paralytic, the dumb and the demoniac, by evil practices ? Pilate says to them : What evil practices ? They say to him : He is a magician, and by Beelzebub, prince of the demons, he casts out the demons, and all are subject to him. Pilate says to them: This is not casting out the demons by an unclean spirit, but by the god Esculapius.
The Jews say to Pilate : We entreat, your highness that he stand at the tribunal and be heard. And Pilate, having called them, says : Tell me how I, being a procurator, can try a king? TJiey say to him : We do not say that he is a king, but he himself says that he is. And Pilate, having called the runner says to him :* Let Jesus be brought in with
♦The bringing of Jesus before Pilate is mentioned in all the Gospels under the simple statements—“They led him away and deliveredCHRIST ENTERING JERUSALEMTHE ACTS OF PILATE.
89
respect. And the runner, going out. and recognizing him, adored him, and took his cloak into his hand and spread it on the ground, and .says to him : My Lord, walk on this and come in, for the procurator calls’ thee. And the Jews, seeing what the runner had done, cried out against Pilate, saying : Why hast thou ordered him to come in by a runner, and not by a crier? for assuredly the runner, when he saw him,*adored him, and spread his doublet on the ground and made him walk like a king.
And Pilate, having called the runner, says to him : Why hast thou done this, and spread out thy cloak upon the earth and made Jesus walk upon it? The runner says to him : My Lord procurator, when thou didst send me to Jerusalem to Alexander, I saw him sitting upon an ass, and the sons of the Hebrews held branches in their hands and shouted; and others spread their clothes under him saying:
him to Pontius Pilate the governor;” “And they carried him away, a.nd delivered him unto Pilate;” “And they led him unto Pilate;” “Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of Judgment.” It may be doubted whether any of the Evangelists quoted above were eye witnesses to the scenes described here in the account given of the bringing of Jesus before the tribunal of the Roman governor. Peter seems to have been present, and “that other disciple” mentioned by John; but whether this “other disciple” was John himself must be left to conjecture; though it is generally believed that John was present, and he is here referred to.
The account given in the Acts of Pilate is minute, simple, straightforward; and as we know nothing contradictory of it in other writings on the same topic, we are prepared, to accept it as a true narrative in detail of the arraignment of the Saviour before the judgment seat of Pilate.90
THE ACTS OF PILATE.
Save now, thou who art in the highest ^ blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
The Jews cry out and say to the runner: The sons of the Hebrews shouted in Hebrew; whence then, hast thou the Greek? The runner says to them: I asked one of the Jews, and said: What is it they are shouting in Hebrew ? And he interpreted it for me. Pilate says to them : And what did they shout in Hebrew? The Jews say to him : Hosanna membrome baruchamma adonai. Pilate says to them : And this hosanna, etc., how is it interpreted? The Jews say to him : Save now in the highest; blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Pilate says to them : If you bear witness to the words spoken by the children, in what has the runner done wrong? And they were silent. And the procurator says to the runner: Go out and bring him in what way thou wilt. And the runner, going out, did in the same manner as before, and says to Jesus: My Lord, come in; the procutator calleth thee,.
And Jesus, going in, and the standard-bearers holding their standards, the tops of the standards bent down,* and adored Jesus. And the Jews, see-
*The Roman standards were surmounted by an eagle of gold or silver in relievo, of the size of a pigeon, which was borne on the tops of spears, with its wings displayed and with a thunderbolt in its talons. On the body of the ensign were the capitals S. P. Q. R. the initial letters of the words Senatus Populus Que Romanus—the Senate and the Roman people. When the army marched, the eagle was always visible to the legions; and when it encamped, the eagle was placed before the praetorium or tent of the general.THE ACTS OF PILATE.
91
ing the bearing of the standards how they were bent down and adored Jesus, cried out vehemently against the standard-bearers. And Pilate says to the Jews : Do you not wonder how thè tops of the standards were bent down and adored Jesus? The Jews say to Pilate : We saw how the standard-bearers bent them down and adored him. And the procurator, having called the standard-bearers, says to them : Why have you done this ? They say to Pilate : We are Greeks and temple-slaves, and how could we adore him? and assuredly, as we were holding them up, the tops bent down of their own accord and adored him.
Pilate says to the rulers of the synagogue and the elders of the people : Do you choose for yourselves men strong and powerful, and let them hold up the standards, and let us see whether they will bend down with them. And the elders of the Jews picked out twelve men powerful and strong, and made them hold up the standards six by six ; and they were placed in front of the procurator’s tribunal. And Pilate says to the runner : Take him outside of the Pretorium, and bring him in again in whatever way may please thee. And Jesus and the runner went out of the Pretorium. And Pilate, summoning those who had formerly held up the
The eagle on the summit of an ivory staff was also the symbol of the consular dignity. The bowing of the standards, therefore, in the presence of Jesus was a fit prophecy that ere long the power of Rome, which they represented, should bow to the rule of him who was now being arraigned under them as a humiliated subject.92
THE ACTS OF PILATE.
standards, s&ys to them : I have sworn by the health of Caesar, that if the standards do not bend down when Jesus comes in, I will cut off your heads. And the procurator ordered Jesus to come in the second time. And the runner did in the same manner as before, and made many entreaties to Jesus to walk on his cloak. And he walked on it and went in. And as he went in the standards-were again bent down and adored Jesus.
Chap. 2.—And Pilate, seeing this, was afraid, and sought to go away from the tribunal; but when he was still thinking of going away, his wife sent ,to him saying: Have nothing to do with this just man, for many things have I suffered on his account this night. And Pilate, summoning the Jews, says to them : You know that my wife is a worshiper of God, and prefers to adhere to the Jewish religion along with you. They say to him : Yes, we know. Pilate says to them: Behol'd, my wife has sent to me, saying, Have nothing to do with this just man, for many things have I suffered on account of him this night. And the Jews answering, say unto Pilate : Did we not tell thee that he was a sorcerer ? behold, he has sent a dream to thy wife.
And dilate, having summoned Jesus, says to him : What do these witness against thee? Sayest thou nothing? And Jesus said; Unless they had the power, they would say nothing ; for every one has the power of his own mouth to speak both good and evil. ' They shall see to it.
And the elders of the Jews answered, a^id said to Jesus: what shall we see? first, that thou wastTHE ACTS OF PILATE.
93
born of fornication ;* secondly, that thy birth in
*This charge is not alluded to in any one of the Gospel narratives. There is a passage in Matthew which renders it more than probable that the Jews were acquainted with the facts which at one time caused Joseph, the husband of Mary, much anxiety as, that “being a righteous mail, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.” It is highly probable that some intimation of the facts here alluded to was made to the Jews, or else this open and public charge would not at the time of the arraignment before Pilate have been so much insisted upon. We make mention of this point not for any purpose of discussing the sonship of Jesus. We accept the account as given in the New Testament— and as delivered by the angel to Joseph, “that which is begotten in her is of the Holy Ghost.” But, that the Jews, many of them at least, held to the opinion and expressed the same which is here narrated, that the birth of Jesus and his conception had nothing supernatural about it, it is certain. Whether this was based on honest conviction, or on prejudice or spite, must be left to the reader. It will be interesting at least to every reader to look into the law of betrothal as declared to have taken place between Joseph and Mary by other witnesses at the trial, and see how far it had to do with contradicting the charge here made by the priests and other opponents.
“For some time after our Saviour’s ascension,” says Lardner, “the Jews aspersed the character of Mary, our Lord’s mother, and reproached him with a spurious nativity. ” And Lardner further remarks, “when these aspersions were first given out, we cannot say exactly; but they are in Celsus, who wrote against the Christians about the year 150 a. d., and doubtless he had them from the Jews.” The Talmud or Jews’ Bible contains this aspersion in a form so shocking that it can not be printed here in its exact terms. We give Lardner’s translation of it, which is substantially the Talmud’s account with the vulgarity of expression left off. It is the following:
“Upon a certain day when several masters were sitting at the gate of the city, two boys passed by before them; one of whom covered his head, the other had his head uncovered. Concerning him, who, contrary to the rules of modesty,* had boldly passed by with his head uncovered, Elieser said he believed he was spurious; Rabbi Joshua94
THE ACTS OF PILATE.
said he believed he was the son of a woman set apart; but Rabbi Akiba said he was both. The others said to Akiba, why do you differ from the rest of your brethem? He answered that he would prove the truth of what he had said. Accordingly he went to the mother of the boy, whom he found sitting in the market place and selling herbs. He then says^ to her, ‘My daughter, answer me a question which I shall put to you, and I assure you of a portion of happiness in the world to come. ” She answered, “Confirm what you say with an oath. ”
Akiba then swore with his lips, but at the same time absolved himself in his mind. Then he said to her: “Tell me the origin of your son!” which she did, and confessed that it was as .he said. When he returned to his colleagues and told them the discovery he had made, they said: “Great is Akiba, who has corrected the rest of the masters!”
The exact language of the Talmud makes the mother of the boy [Mary] say: “Quando ego nuptias celebrarem, laborabam amenstruis. Ideoque secessit a me maritus, paranymphus autem meus [occasione arrepta] congressus mecum est. Atque ex eo concubitu extitit mihi filius hie. ”
This note has been made to show the importance attached by the Jews to the “true facts” in the case of Jesus as held among them; and that at the trial they were so much exercised on this point that they bring it up among the first of their accusations against him, which probably was the first public announcement made of this charge of spurious birth, and which they afterwards incorporated into their Bible, theTalmud. It was at the trial under Pilate, that perhaps first public mention was made of this charge of the Jews as is given in the Acts drawn up under Pilate.
The apostles and disciples of Jesus, so far as their names aré known to us by New Testament mention, do not appear to have been present during the discussion. Twelve other Jews, whom Caiaphas calls “men of the Greeks,” defended Jesus from this charge—having been “present at the espousal” of Joseph and Mary, and Pilate declares to the Priests that this story of theirs can not be true “because they were betrothed.”
Such readers as are interested in the merits of this, which seems to have so much engaged the thought of Pilate as well as the accusers of Jesus, will do well to examine the laws of the Jews in regard to betrothal.THE ACTS OF PILATE.
95
Bethlehem was the cause of the murder of the infants ; thirdly, that thy father Joseph and thy mother Mary fled into Egypt because they had no confidence in the people.
Some of the bystanders, pious men of the Jews, say : We deny that he was born of fornication ; for we know that Joseph espoused Mary, and he was not born of fornication. Pilate says to the Jews
It may be observed here that Celsus who wrote against the Christians about A. d. 150 has this charge. Whence he got it must have been from the mouth of the Jews, or else from some writing, and if the latter, most probably from the Acts of Pilate. And as they make mention of this charge as a false charge, Celsus would not mention the Acts as the source of his knowledge.
The subjoined law may be of interest here.
If any one has been espoused to a woman as to a virgin, and does not afterward find her so to be, let him bring his action, and accuse her, and let him make use of such indications to prove his accusation as he is furnished withal; and let the father or the brother of the damsel, or some one that is after them nearest of kin to her, defend her. If the damsel obtain a sentence in her favour, that she had not been guilty, let her live with her husband that accused her; and let him not have any farther power at all to put her away, unless she gives him very great occasions of suspicion, and such as can be no way contradicted; but for him that brings an accusation and calumny against his wife in an impudent and rash manner, let him be punished by receiving forty stripes save one, and let him pay fifty shekels to her father; but if the damsel be convicted, as having been corrupted, and is one of the common people, let her be stoned, because she did not preserve her virginity till she were lawfully married; but if she were the daughter of a priest, let her be burnt alive.
He that hath corrupted a damsel espoused to another man, in case he had her consent, let both him and her be put to death, for they are both equally guilty: the man, because he persuaded the woman willingly to submit to a most impure action, and to prefer it to lawful wedlock. Polity of Moses: Josph. Antiq Book iv, chap. 8.96
THE ACTS OF PILATE.
who said he was of fornication : This story of yours is not true, because they were betrothed, as also these fellow-countrymen of yours say. Annas and Caiaphas say to Pilate: All the multitude of us cry out that he was born of fornication, and are not believed ; these are proselytes and his disciples. And Pilate, calling Annas and Caiaphas, says to them: What are proselytes ?* They say to him: They are by birth children of the Greeks, and have now become Jews. And those that said that he was not born of fornication, viz: Lazarus, Asterius, Antonius, James, Amnes, Zeras, Samuel, Isaac. Phinees, Crispus, Agrippas and Judas, say: We are not proselytes, but are children of the Jews,
*What are Proselytes ? The term proselyte is not classic Greek. It was used exclusively by the Jews. It is found in the Septuagint and in the New Testament.
Pilate, therefore, not being a Jew or acquainted with terms used almost exclusively by the Jews, naturally asks of the priests its meaning, as they seemed to be inclined to make a point on it. While the question seems to come in 'incidentally—it goes far toward proving its authenticity, from the fact of its coming up as a mere incident.
There were among the Jews two kinds of proselytes—the proselytes of the gate, and the proselytes of justice or righteousness.
The former feared and worshipped the true God without adopting circumcision or any of the ceremonies of the law. They were allowed to dwell in the land of Israel, and through holiness might have hope of eternal life.
The latter received circumcision and observed the whole. law of Moses, and were admitted to the prerogatives of the people of God. In making a report of the trial to Tiberius, it would be necessary for Pilate to explain words like proselyte to Tiberius—as it is not likely that he being only a classic Greek scholar that he would understand a Greek term used exclusively by Jews.*THE ACTS OF PILATE.
97
and speak the truth ; for we were present at the betrothal of Joseph and Mary.
And Pilate, calling these twelve men who said that he was not born of fornication, says to them : I adjure you, 'by the health of Cæsar,* to tell me whether it be true that you say, that he was not born of fornication. They say to Pilate : We have a law against taking oaths, because it is a sin ; but they will swear by the health of Cæsar that it is not as we have said, and we are liable to death.\ Pilate says to Annas and Caiaphas : Have you nothing to answer to this? Annas and Caiaphas say to Pilate : these twelve are believed when they say that he was not born of fornication ; all the multitude of us cry out that he was born of fornication, and that he is a sorcerer ; and he says that he is thé Son of God and a king, and we are not believed.
* This oath, by the fortune of Caesar, was put to Polycarp, a bishop of Smyrna, by the Roman governor, to try whether he was a Christian, as they were then esteemed who refused to swear that oath. Martyr, Polycarp, sect. 9.
fPilate adjures these friends of Jesus under penalty of death it would seem if they committed perjury—to say whether Jesus was born of fornication. In chapter 2, of Second Form of the Acts, it is stated that these did swear under penalty of being beheaded if perjured to the fact of his not being born of fornication. When the priests, Annas and Caiaphas, were asked to answer this oath by a negative to it, it does not appear that they swore, but evaded so to do.
There seems to have been enacted by the senate under Augustus a law of perjury such as spoken of here ; .and that a man was liable to its penalty if he swore by Caesar.* (See Huidekoper—Judaism and Rome, p. 8, note 10.)
798
THE ACTS OF PILATE.
And Pilate orders all the multitude to go out, except the twelve men who said that he was not born of fornication, and he ordered Jesus to be separated from them. And Pilate says to them: For what reason do they wish to put him to death? They say to him : They are angry because he cures on the Sabbath. Pilate says: For a good work do they wish to put him to death? They say to him: Yes.
Chap. 3.—And Pilate, filled with rage, went outside of the Pretorium and said to them: I take the sun to witness that I find no fault in this man. The Jews answered and said to the procurator: Unless this man were an evil-doer, we should not have delivered him to thee. And Pilate said : Do you take him and judge him according to your law-* The Jews said to Pilate : It is not lawful for us to put any one to death. Pilaie said Has God said that you are not to put to death, but that I am?
And Pilate went again into the Pretorium and spoke to Jesus privately, and said to him : Art thou the king of the Jews? Jesus answered Pilate:
*The liberty which Pilate placed in the hands of the Jewish officials here to take Jesus and stone him to death—not being accepted by them plainly shows that they wished not to assume the responsibility of actually putting Him to death.
It may be seen in the lines following that many of the Jews, and among them some of the rulers, as Nicodemus, did not wish the death of Jesus. The rulers were doubtless apprehensive of the vengeance of the many friends.of Jesus among the Jews themselves as well perhaps of that of Caesar, should it afterward be shown that the high priests had actually murdered Him innocent of any offence.THE ACTS OF PILATE.
99
Dost thou say this of thyself, or have others said it to thee of me? Pilate answered Jesus : Am I also a Jew? Thy nation and the chief priests have given thee up to me. What hast thou done ? Jesus answered : My kingdom is not of this world ; for if my kingdon were of this world, my servants would fight in order that I should not be given up to the Jews: but now my kingdom is not from thence. Pilate said to him : Art thou, then, a king? Jesus answered him : Thou sayest that I am king. Because for this have I been born, and I have come, in order that every one who is of the truth might hear my voice. Pilate says to him : What is truth? Jesus says to him : Truth is from heaven. Pilate says : Is truth not upon earth? Jesus says to Pilate : Thou seest how those who speak the truth are judged by those that have the power upon earth.
Chap. 4.—And leaving Jesus within the Preto-rium, Pilate went out to the Jews and said to them : I find no fault in him. The Jews say to him : He said, I can destroy this temple, and in three days build it. Pilate says: What temple? The Jews say: The one that Solomon built in forty-six years, and this man speaks of pulling it down and building it up in three days. Pilate says to them : I am innocent of the blood of this just man. See you to it. The Jews say: His blood be upon us and upon our children.
And Pilate, having summoned the elders and priests and Levites, said to them privately : Do notIOO
THE ACTS OF PILATE.
act thus, because no charge that you bring against him is worthy of death ; for your charge is about curing and Sabbath profanation. The elders and the priests and the Levites say : If any one speak evil against Caesar, is he worthy of death or not? Pilate says: He is worthy of death. The Jews say to Pilate : If any one speak evil against Caesar, he is worthy of death ; but this man has spoken evil against God.
And the procurator ordered the Jews to go outside of the Pretorium ; and, summoning Jesus, he says to him : What shall I do to thee? Jesus says to Pilate : As it has been given to thee. Pilate says : How given? Jesus says: Moses and the prophets have proclaimed beforehand of my death and resurrection. And the Jews, noticing this and hearing it, say to Pilate ; What more wilt thou hear of this blasphemy? Pilate says to the Jews : If these words be blasphemous, do you take him for the blasphemy, and lead him away to your synagogue and judge him according to your law. The Jews say to Pilate : Our law bears that a man who wrongs his fellow-men is worthy to receive forty save one : but he that blasphemeth God is to be stoned with stones.
Pilate says to them : Do you take him and punish him in whatever way you please. The Jews say to Pilate : We wish that he be crucified. Piiate says : He is not deserving of crucifixion.
And the procurator, looking round upon the crowds of the Jews standing by, sees many of the Jews weeping, and says : All the multitude do notTHE ACTS OF PILATE.	IOI
wish him to die. The elders of the Jews say: For this reason all the multitude of us have come, that he should die. Pilate says to the Jews: Why should he die? The Jews say: Because he called himself the Son of God and King.
Chap. 5.—And one Nicodemus, a Jew, stood before the procurator and said: I beseech your honor let me say a few words. Pilate says: Say on. Nicodemus says: I said to the elders and the priests and Levites, and to all the multitude of the Jews in the synagogue, What do you seek to do with this man? This man does many miracles and strange things, which no one has done or will do. Let him go and, do not wish any evil against him. If the miracles which he does are of God, they will stand ; but if of man, they will come to nothing. For assuredly Moses, being sent by God into Egypt, did many miracles, which the Lord commanded him to do before Pharoah, king of Egypt. And there were Jannes and Jambres, servants of Pharaoh, and they also did not a few of the miracles which Moses did; and the Egyptians -took them to be gods—this Jannes and Jambres. But, since the miracles which they did were not of God, both they and those who believed in them were destroyed. And now release this man, for he is not deserving of death.
The Jews say to Nicodemus : Thou hast become his disciple, and therefore thou defendest him. Nicodemus says to them: .Perhaps, too, the procurator has become his disciple, because he defends him.102
THE ACTS OF PILATE.
Has the emporer not appointed him to this place of dignity? And the Jews were vehemently enraged, and gnashed their teeth against Nicodemus. Pilate says to them: Why do you gnash your teeth against him when you hear the truth? The Jews say to Nicodemus: Mayst thou receive his truth and his portion. Nicodemus says: Amen, amen ; ipay I recieve it, as you have said.
Chap. 6.—One of the Jews, stepping up, asked leave of the procurator to say a word. The procurator says: If thou wishest to say anything, say on. And the Jew said: Thirty-eight years I lay in my bed in great agony. And when Jesus came, many demoniacs and many lying ill of various diseases were cured by him. And when Jesus saw me he had compassion on me, and said to me : Take up thy couch and walk. And I took up my couch and Walked. The Jews say to Pilate: Ask him on what day it was when he was cured. He that had been cured says: On a Sabbath. The Jews say : Is not this the very thing we said, that on a Sabbath he cures and casts out demons?
And another Jew stepped up and said: I was born blind; I heard sounds, but saw not a face. And as Jesus passed by I cried out with a loud voice, Pity me, O son of David. And he pitied me and put his hands upon my eyes, and I instantly received my sight. And another Jew stepped up and said: I was crooked and he straightened me with a word. And another said: I was a leper, and he cured me with a word.'THE ACTS OF PILATE.
IO3
Chap. 7.—And a woman cried out from a distance and said: I had an issue of blood, and I touched the hem of his garment, and the issue of blood, which I had had for twelve years, was stopped. The Jews say: We have a law that a ^woman’s evidence is not received.
Chap. 8.—And others, a multitude both of men and women, cried out, saying: This man is a prophet, and the demons are subject to him. Pilate says to them who said that the demons were subject to him:	Why, then, were not your teachers
also subject to him ? They say to Pilate : We do not know. And others said ; Het raised Lazarus
*But let not a single witness be credited; but three or two at the least, and those such whose testimony is confirmed by their good lives. But let not the testimony of women be admitted, on the account of the levity and boldness of their sex; nor let servants be admitted to give testimony, on account of the ignobility of their soul; since it is probable that they may not speak truth, either out of hope of gain, or fear of punishment. But if any one be believed to have borne false witness, let him, when he is convicted, suffer all the very same punishments which he against whom he bore witness was to have suffered. Josephus, Book IV., chap. 8. Polity of Moses.
I have neper observed elsewhere, that in the Jewish government, women wer^e not admitted as legal witnesses in courts of justice. None of our copies of the Pentateuch say a word of it. It is very probable, however, that this was the exposition of the Scribes and Pharisees, and the practice of the Jews in the days of Jesus.
*fThe Acts of Pilate record only the more remarkable miracles of the Saviour; and these as attested by eye-witnesses under most remarkable circumstances- It has already been remarked that twelve persons among the Jews—called by Caiaphas “Greek proselytes”— had the courage to appear in defending Jesus from the charge of be-104
THE ACTS OF PILATE.
from the tomb after he had been dead four days. And the procurator tremble'd, and said to all the multitude of the Jews : Why do you wish to pour out innocent blood ?
Chap. 9.—And, having summoned Nicodemus and the twelve men that said he was not born of iornication, he says to them : What shall I do, because there is an insurrection among the people? They say to him : We know not; let them see to it. Again Pilate, having summoned all the multitude of the Jews, says: You know that it is customary, at the feast of unleavened bread, to release one prisoner to you. I have one condemned prisoner in the prison, a murderer named Bar Abbas, and this man standing in your presence, Jesus in whom I find no fault. Which of them do you wish me to release to you? And they cry out:
ing born of fornication. The witnesses who now appear were not summoned by Pilate or the priesthood. Called together by the common feeling of deepest gratitude—the lame and the leper, the blind and the dumb see and hear the infamous treatment of their benefactor. It must have startled Caiaphas himself when these broke forth from all sides of the crowd, as witnesses to the mighty deeds of mercy done by him who now is arraigned as a malefactor. How keenly flashed every syllable with the lightning of truth from the lips of such witnesses. We can not but remark here, that the scene as pictured in Chap, vi of the Acts of Pilate, to him who has imagination and conception of the truly natural in expression, nothing can excel the description there given. It is not wonderful that such testimony should shake the judgment and judgment seat of Pilate. It was mightier than any other that ever fell in the presence of any tribunal—the speech of nature, voiced from the hearts whose only motives were from love and deepest gratitude.THE ACTS OF PILATE.	105
Bar Abbas. Pilate says : What, then, shall we do to Jesus, who is called Christ? The Jews say: Let him be crucified. And others said: Thou art no friend of Caesar’s if thou release this man, because he called himself the Son of God and King. You wish this man, then, to be a king, and not Caesar?
And Pilate, in a rage, says to the Jews : Always has your nation been rebellious,* and you always
*In this connection we have an item preserved to us by the Jewish Historian that forms matter for thought, and cannot fail to be in-terésting to some. We give it here to show the ground of a great sedition in the early history of the Priesthood—and as a very suggestive scrap of history—in showing how rebellious a spirit dwelt in the Jew—from the times of Moses down to the day of Jesus.
The Sedition of Corah and of the Multitude against Moses, and
against his Brother, concerning the Priesthood.
HIS SPEECH.
Corah, an Hebrew of principal accdunt, both by his family and by his wealth, one that was able to speak well, and one that could easily persuade the people by his speeches, saw that Moses was in an exceeding great dignity, and was uneasy at it, and envied him on that account (he was of the same tribe with Moses, and of kin to him), was particularly grieved, because he thought he better deserved that honourable post on account of his great riches, and not inferior to him in birth. So he raised a clamour against him among the Levites, who were of the same tribe, and especially among his kindred, saying, “that it was a very sad thing that they should overlook Moses, while he hunted after, and paved the way to glory for himself, and by ill arts should obtain it, under the pretence of God’s command, while, contrary to the laws, he had given the priesthood to Aaron, riot by the common suffrage of the multitude, but by his own vote, as bestowing dignities in a tyrannical way on whom he pleased. ” He added “that this concealed way of imposing on them was harder to be borne than if it had been done by an open force upon them be-106	THE ACTS OF PILATE.
speak against your benefactors. The Jews say: What benefactors? He says to them : Your God led you out of the land of Egypt from bitter slavery, and brought you safe through the sea as through dry land, and in the desert fed you with manna and gave you quails, and quenched your thirst with water from a rock, and gave you a law; and in all these things have you provoked your God to anger,
cause he did now not only take away their power without consent, but even while they are unapprized of his contrivances against them; for whosoever is conscious to himself that he deserves any dignity, aims to get it by persuasion, and not by an arrogant method of violence ; but those that believe it impossible to obtain those honours justly, they make a show of goodness, and do not introduce force, but by cunning tricks grow wickedly powerful: that it was proper for the multitude to punish such men, even while they think themselves concealed in their designs, and not suffer them to gain strength till they have them for their open enemies. ”
“For what account,” added he, “is Moses able to give, why he has bestowed the priesthood on Aaron and his sons ? for if God had determined to bestow that honour on one of the tribe of Levi, I am more worthy of it than he is; I myself being equal to Moses by my family, and superior to him both in riches and in age: but if God had determined to bestow it on the eldest tribe, that of Reubel might have it most justly ; and thou Dathan, and Abiram, and [On, the son of] Peleth, would have it, for these are the oldest men of that tribe, and potent on account of their great wealth also.” (See Numbers, xvi., Josephus, Antiq. B. IV., chap. ii.
We are also told by the same authorities that the whole multitude of the Jews at one time rebelled—when Moses sent out some persons to search out the land of the Canaanites—and further, that when those who were sent were returned, after Forty Days, and reported that they should not be a match for them, and extolled the strength of the Canaanites, the multitude were disturbed, and fell into despair; and were resolved to stone Mose£ and to return back again-into Egypt, and serve the Egyptians. ‘THE ACTS OF PILATE.	107
and sought a molten calf. And you exasperated your God, and he sought to slay you. And Moses prayed for you, and , you were not put to death. And now you charge me with hating the emperor.
And, rising up from the tribunal, he sought to go out. And the Jews cry out and say: We know that Caesar is king, and not Jesus. For assuredly the magi brought gifts to him as to a king. And when Herod heard from the magi that a king had been born, he sought to slay him ; and his father, Joseph, knowing this, took him and his mother, and they fled into Egypt. And Herod, hearing of it, destroyed the children of the Hebrews that had been born in Bethlehem.
And when Pilate heard these words he was afraid ; and, ordering the crowd to keep silence, because they were crying out, he says to them : So this is he whom Herod sought? The Jews say: Yes, it is he. And, taking water, Pilate washed his hands in the face of the sun, saying : I am innocent of the blood of this just man ; see you to it. Again the Jews cry out: His blood be upon us and upon our children.
Then Pilate ordered the curtain of the tribunal where he was sitting to be drawn, and says to Jesus : Thy nation lias charged thee with being a king. On this account, I sentence thee first to be scourged, according to the enactment of venerable kings, and then to be fastened on the cross in the garden where thou was seized. And let Dysmas and Gestas, the two# malefactors, be crucified with thee.108	THE ACTS OF PILATE.
Chap. 10.—And Jesus went forth out of the Pre-torium, and the malefactors with him. And when they came to the place they stripped* him of his clothes and girded him with a towel, and put a crown of thorns on him round his head. And they crucified him ; and at the same time, also, they hung up the two malefactors along with him. And Jesus said ; Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And the soldiers parted his clothes among them; and the people stood looking at him. And the chief priests and the rulers with them mocked him, saying: He saved others ; let him save himself. If he be the Son of God, let him come down from the cross. And the soldiers made sport of him, coming near and offering him vinegar mixed with gall, and said: Thou art the king of the Jews ; save thyself.
And Pilate, after the sentence, ordered the charge against him to be inscribed as a superscription in Greek and Latin and Hebrew, according to what the Jews had said: He is king of the Jews.
And one of the malefactors hanging up spoke to him, saying: If thou be the Christ, save thyself and
*None of the Gospels give this account of the stripping of Jesus and girding him with a towel.. Most, if not all, of the paintings representative of the Crucifixion present Jesus as crucified thus naked, and girt with a towel. So that, after all, we may have a most truthful representation of this last scene in the life of the Saviour, so common in almost every household and Christian temple. History, in this case, bears up the pencil of the limner into the light of truthTHE ACTS OF PILATE.
109
us. And Dysmas answering reproved him, saying: Dost thou not fear God, because thou art in the same condemnation? And we, indeed, justly, for we recieve the fit punishment of our deeds ; but this man has done no evil. And he said to Jesus : Remember me, Lord, in thy kingdom. And Jesus said to him : Amen, amen ; I say to thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise.*
Chap. 11.—And it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the earth until the ninth hour, the sun being darkened; and the curtain of the temple was split in the middle. And, crying out with a loud voice, Jesus said: Father, baddach e'phkid ruel, which is, interpreted, Into thy hands I commit riiy spirit. And, having said this, he gave up the ghost. And the centurion, seeing what had happened, glorified God and said : This was a just man. And all the crowds that were present at this spectacle, when they saw what had happened, beat their breasts and went away.
And the centurion reported what had happened
*There is a legend of this man Dysmas which tells us that while Jesus, the infant, sojourned in Egypt three years amongst strangers, this man Dysmas, the robber at one time made a temporary home in his retreat for Joseph and Mary, and the infant child. There are many strange meetings in life : and this at the cross of Jesus and Dysmas is one of the strangest. He was crucified on the right hand of Jesus. The legend hints at the great truth that, an act of humanity and kindness though.done in a robber’s cave will sometime be rewarded, and its legend wander around the world as a lesson to teach that a good deed is never lost and may form a step to Paradise. (See Dr. Walsh’s “Life of Mary.” p. 319.)I IO
THE ACTS OF PILATE.
to the procurator. And when the procurator and his wife heard it they were exceedingly grieved, and neither áte nor drank that day. And Pilate sent for the Jews and said to. them : Have you seen what has happened ? And they say: There has been an eclipse of the sun in the usual way.
And his acquaintances were standing at a distance, and the women who came with him from Galilee, seeing these things. And a man named Joseph, a councillor from the city of Arimathea, who also waited for the kingdom of God, went to Pilate and begged the body of Jesus. And he took it down and wrapped it in a clean linen, and placed it in a tomb hewn out of the rock, in which no one had ever lain.
Chap. 12.—And the Jews, hearing that Joseph had begged the body of Jesus, sought him and the twelve who said that Jesus was not born of fornication, and Nicodemus and many others who had stepped up before Pilate and declared his good works. And of all these that were hid Nicodemus alone was seen by them, because he was a ruler of the Jews. And Nicodemus says to them: How have you come into the synagogue? The Jews say to him : How hast thou come into the synagogue ? for thou art a confederate of his, and his portion is with thee in the world to come. Nicodemus says : Amen, amen. And likewise Joseph also stepped out and said to them : Why are you angry against me because I begged the body of Jesus? Behold, I have put him in my new tomb, wrapping him in clean linen ; and I have rolled a stone to the doorDESCENT FROM THE CROSSTHE ACTS OF PIE ATE.
I I I
of the tomb. And you have acted not well against the just man, because you have not repented of crucifying him, but also have pierced him with a spear. And the Jews seized Joseph and ordered him to be secured until the first day of the week, and said to him : Know that the time does not allow us to do anything against thee, because the Sabbath is dawning; and know that thou shalt not be deemed worthy of burial, but we shall give thy flesh to the birds of the air. Joseph says to them : These are the words of the arrogant Goliath, who reproached the living God and holy David. For God has said by the prophet, Vengeance is mine, and I will repay, saith the Lord. And now that he is uncircumcised in flesh, but circumcised in heart, has taken water and washed his hands in the face of the sun, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just man; see ye to it. And you answered and said to Pilate: His blood be upon us and upon our children. And now I am afraid, lest the wrath of God come upon you and upon your children, as you have said. And the Jews, hearing these words were embittered in their souls, and seized Joseph and locked him into a room where there was no window; and guards were stationed at the door, and they sealed the door where Joseph was locked in.
And on the Sabbath the rulers of the synagogue and the priests and the Levites made a decree that all should be found in the synagogue on the first day of the week. And, rising up early, all the multitude in the synagogue consulted by what deathI 12
THE ACTS OF PILATE.
they should slay him. And when the Sanhedrin was sitting, they ordered him to be brought with much indignity. And, having opened the door, they found him not. And all the people were surprised and struck with dismay, because they found the seals unbroken, and because Caiaphas had the key. And they no longer dared to lay hands upon those who had spoken before Pilate in Jesus’ behalf.
Chap. 13.—And while they were still sitting in the synagogue and wondering about Joseph, there came some of the guard whom the Jews had begged of Pilate to guard the tomb of Jesus, that his disciples might not come and steal him. And they reported to the rulers of the synagogue, and the priests and Levites what had happened: how there had been an earthquake; and we saw an angel coming down from heaven, and he rolled away the stone from the mouth of the tomb and sat upon it; and he shone like snow and like lightning. And we were very much afraid, and’lay like dead men; and we heard the voice of the angel, saying to the women who remained beside the tomb, Be not afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here. He has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay, and go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead, and is in Galilee.
The Jews say: To what women did he speak ; The men of the guard say: We know not who they were. The Jews say: At what time was this? The men of the guard say‘: At midnight. TheTHE ACTS OF PILATE.	I 13
Jews say : And wherefore did you not lay hold of them? The men of the guard say: We were like dead men from fear, not expecting to see the light of day, and how could we lay hold of them? The Jews say: As the Lord liveth, we do not believe you. The men of the guard say to the Jews : You have seen, so great miracles in the case of this man, and have not believed ; and how can you believe us? And assuredly you have done well to swear that the Lord liveth, for indeed he does live. Again the men of the guard say : We have heard that you have locked up the man that begged the body of Jesus, and put a seal on the door; and that you have opened it and not found him. Do you, then, give us the man whom you were guarding, and we shall give you Jesus. The Jews say: Joseph has gone away to his own city. The men of the guard say to the Jews: And Jesus has risen, as we heard from the angel, and is in Galilee.
And when the Jews heard these words they were very much afraid, and said: We must take care lest this story be heard, and all incline to Jesus And the Jews called a council, and paid down a considerable money and gave it to the soldiers, saying: Say, while he slept, his disciples came by night and stole him ; and if this come to the ears of the procurator we shall persuade him and keep you out of trouble. And they took it, and said as they had been instructed.
Chap. 14.—And Phinees, a priest, and Adas, a teacher, and Haggai. a Levite. came down from 8I 14	THE ACTS OF PILATE.
Galilee to Jerusalem, and said to the rulers of the synagogue, and the priests and the Levites: We saw Jesus and his disciples sitting on the mountain called Mamilch; and he said to his disciples, Go into all the world and preach to every creature: he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be condemned. And these signs shall attend those who have believed: in my name they shall cast out demons, speak new tongues, take up serpents j and if they drink any deadly thing it shall by no means hurt them ; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall be well. And while Jesus was speaking to his disciples we saw him taken up into heaven.
The elders and priests and Levites say: Give glory to the God of Israel, and confess to him whether you have heard and seen those things, of which you have given us an account. And those who had given the account said: As the Lord liveth, the God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, we heard these things, and saw him taken up into heaven. The elders and the priests and the Levites say to them: Have you come to give us this announcement, or to offer prayer to God? And they say : To offer prayer to God. The elders and the chief priests and the Levites say to them : If you have come to offer pra}^er to God why, then, have you told these idle tales in the presence of all the people? Says Phinees, the priest, and Adas, the teacher, and Haggai, the Levite, to the rulers of the synagogues, and the priests and the Levites: If what we have said and seen be sinfnl, behold,THE ACTS OF PILATE.	I I 5
we are before you; do to us as seems good in your eyes. And they took the law and made them swear upon it not to give any more an account of these matters to any one. And they gave them to eat and drink and sent them out of the city, having given them also money, and three men with them ; and they sent them away to Galilee.
And these men, having gone into Galilee, the chief priests and the rulers of the synagogue, and the elders came together in the synagogue and locked the door, and lamented with great lamentation, saying: Is this a miracle that has happened in Israel? And Annas and Caiaphas said: Why are you so much moved ? Why do you weep ? Do you not know that his disciples have given a sum of gold to the guards of the tomb, and have instructed them to say that an angel came down and rolled away the stone from the door of the tomb ? And the priests and elders said : Be it that his disciples have stolen his body ; how is it that the life has come into his body ; and that he is going about in Galilee? And they, being unable to give an answer to these things, said, after great hesitation : It is not lawful for us to believe the uncircumcised.
Chap. 15.—And Nicodemus stood up, and stood before the Sanhedrin saying : You say well; you are not ignorant, you people of the Lord, of these men that come down from Galilee, that they fear God, and are men of substance, haters of covetousness, men of peace; and they have declared with an oath, we saw Jesus upon the mountainII6	THE ACTS OF PILATE.
Mamilch with his disciples, and he taught what we heard from him, and we saw him taken up into heaven. And no one asked them in what form he went up. For assuredly, as the book of the Holy Scriptures taught us, Helias also was taken up into heaven, and Elissaeus cried out with a lond voice, and Helias threw his sheepskin upon Elissaeus, and Elissaeus threw his sheepskin upon the Jordan, and crossed and came into Jericho. And the children of the prophets met him and said, O Elissaeus, where is thy master Helias? And he said, He has been taken up into heaven. And they said to Elissaeus, Has not a spirit seized him, and thrown him upon one of the mountains ? But let us take our servants with us and seek him. And they persuaded Elissaeus, and he went away with them. And they sought him three days, and did not find him ; and they knew that he had been taken up. And now listen to me, and let us send into every district of Israel and see, lest perchance, Christ has been taken up by a spirit and thrown upon one of the mountains. And this proposal pleased all. And they sent into every district of Israel and sought Jesus, and did not find him ; but they found Joseph in Arimathea, and no one dared to lay hands on him.
And they reported to the elders and the priests and the Levites : We have gone round to every district of Israel, and have not found Jesus : but Jos-eph we have found in Arimathea. And hearing about Joseph they were glad and gave glory to the God of Israel. And the rulers of the svnagogue,THE ACTS OF PILATE.	I 17
and the priests and the Levites, having held a council as to the manner in which, they should meet with Joseph, took a piece of paper and wrote to Joseph as follows:
Peace to thee ! We know that we have sinned against God, and against thee ; and we have prayed to the God of Israel that thou shouldst deign to come to thy fathers and to thy children, because we all have been grieved. For, having opened the door, we did not find thee. And we know that we have counseled evil counsel against thee ; but the Lord has defended thee, and the Lord himself has scattered to the windsi our counsel against thee, O honorable father Joseph.
And they chose from all Israel seven men, friends of Joseph, whom, also, Joseph himself was acquainted with ; and the rulers of the synagogue, and the priests and the Levites say to them : Take notice; if, after recieving our letter he read it, know that he will come with you to us. But if he do not read it, know that he is ill-disposed towards us. And, having saluted him in peace, return to us. And having blest the men, they dismissed them. And the men came to Joseph and did reverence to him, and said to him : Peace to thee ! And he said: Peace to you and to all the people of Israel! And they gave him the roll of the letter. And Joseph, having received it, read the letter and rolled it up, and blessed God and said: Blessed be the Lord God, who has delivered Israel, that they should not shed innocent blood ; and blessed be the Lord, who sent out his angel and covered me under his wings.I 18	THE ACTS OF PILATE.
And he set a table for them : and they ate and drank and slept there.
And they rose up early and prayed. And Joseph saddled his ass and set out with the men : and they came to the holy city Jerusalem. And all the people met Joseph and cried out: Peace to thee in thy coming in! And he said to all the people : Peace to you ! and he kissed them. And the people prayed with Joseph, and they were astonished at the sight of him. And Nicodemus received him into his house and made a great feast, and called Annas and Caiaphas and the elders and the priests and the Levites to his house. And they rejoiced, eating and drinking with Joseph ; and, after singing hymns, each proceeded to his own house. But Joseph remained in the house of Nicodemus.
And on the following day, which was the preparation, the rulers of the synagogue and the priests and the Levites went early to the house of Nicodemus : and Nicodemus met them and said: Peace to you ! And they said : Peace to thee and to Joseph, and to all thy house, and to all the house of Joseph! And he brought them into his house. And all the Sanhedrin sat down, and Joseph sat down between Annas and Caiaphas ; and no one dared to say a word to him. And Joseph said: Why have you called me? And they signaled to Nicodemus to speak to Joseph. And Nicodemus, opening his mouth, said to Joseph: Father, thou knowest that the honorable teachers and the priests and the Levites seek to learn a word from thee. And Joseph said : Ask. And Annas and Caiaphas,THE ACTS OF PILATE.	I 19
having taken the law, made Joseph swear, saying: Give glory to the God of Israel, and give him confession ; for Achar, being made to swear by the prophet Jesus, did not forswear himself, but declared unto him all, and did not hide a word from him. Do thou also, accordingly, not hide from us to the extent of a word. And Joseph said : I shall not hide from you one word. And they said to him: With grief were we grieved because thou didst beg the body of Jesus and wrap it in clean linen and lay it in a tomb. And on account of this we secured thee in a room where there was no window ; and we put locks and seals upon the doors, and guards kept watching where thou wast locked in. And on the first day of the week we opened and found thee not, and were grieved exceedingly ; and astonishment fell upon all the people of the Lord until yesterday. And now relate to us what happened to thee.
And Joseph said: On the preparation, about the tenth hour, you locked me up, and I remained all the Sabbath. And at midnight, as I was standing and praying, the room where you locked me in was hung up by the four corners, and I saw a light like lightning into my eyes. And I was afraid and fell to the ground. And some one took me by the hand and removed me from the place where I had fallen ; and moisture of water was poured from my head even to my feet, and a smell of perfumes came about my nostrils. And he wiped my face and kissed me, and said to^me, Fear not, Joseph : open thine eyes and see who it is that speaks to thee.120
THE ACTS OF PILATE.
And, looking up, I saw Jesus. And I trembled and thought it was a phantom ; and I said the commandments, and he said them with me. Even so you are not ignorant that a phantom, if it meet anybody and hear thft commandments, takes to flight. And seeing that he said them with me, I said to him. Rabbi Helias. And he said to me, I am not Helias. And I said to him, Who art thou, my lord? And he said to me, I am Jesus whose body thou didst beg from Pilate ; and thou didst clothe me with clean linen, and didst put a napkin on my face, and didst lay me in thy newr tomb, and didst roll a great stone to the door of the tomb. And I said to him that was speaking to me, show me the place where I laid thee. And he carried me away and showed me the place where I laid him ; and the linen cloth was lying in it, and the napkin for his face. And I knew that it was Jesus. And he took me by the hand and placed me, though the doors were locked, in the middle of my house, and led me away to my bed and said to me, Peace to thee! And he kissed me and said to me, For forty days go not forth out of thy house ; for, behold, I go to my brethern in Galilee.
Chap. 16.—And the rulers of the synagogue, and the priests and the Levites when they heard these words from Joseph, became as dead, and fell to the ground, and fasted until the ninth hour. And Nicodemus, along with Joseph, exhorted Annas and Caiaphas, the priests and the Levites, saying : Rise up and stand upon your feet, and tasteTHE ACTS OF PILATE.
12 I
bread and strengthen your souls, because to-morrow is the Sabbath of the Lord. And they rose up and prayed to God, and ate and drank, and departed every man to his own house.
And on the Sabbath our teachers and the priests and Levites sat questioning each other and saying : What is this wrath that has come upon us? for we know his father and mother. Levi, a teacher, says : I know that his parents fear God, and do not withdraw themselves from the prayers, and give the tithes thrice a year. And when Jesus was born his parents brought him to this place and gave sacrifices and burnt offerings to God. And when the great teacher, Symeon, took him into his arms, he said, Now thou sendest away thy servant, Lord, according to thy word, in peace; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all the peoples ; a light for the revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel. And Symeon blessed them, and said to Mary his mother. I give thee good news about this child. And Mary said, It is well, my lord. And Symeon said to her, It is well; behold, he lies for the fall and the rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign spoken against; and of thee thyself a sword shall go through the soul, in order that the reasoning of many hearts may be revealed.
They say to the teacher Levi: How knowest thou these things ? Levi says to them : Do you not know that from Him I learned the law? The Sanhedrin say to him:	We wish to see thy father.
And they sent for his#father. And they asked him,122
THE ACTS OF PILATE.
and he said to them : Why have you not believed my son? The blessed and just Symeon himself taught him the law. The Sanhedrin says to Rabbi Levi: Is the word that you have said true ? And he said : It is true. And the rulers of the synagogue, and the priests and the Levites said to themselves : Come, let us send into Gallilee to the three men that came and told about his teaching and his taking up, and let them tell us how they saw him taken up. And this saying pleased all. And they sent away the three men who had already gone away into Galilee with them ; and they say to them : Say to Rabbi Adas and Rabbi Phinees and Rabbi Haggai, Peace to you and all who are with you ! A great inquiry having taken place .in the Sanhedrin, we have been sent to you to call you to this holy place, Jerusalem.
And the men set out into Galilee and found them sitting and considering the law : and they saluted them in peace. And the men who were in Galilee said to those who had come to them : Peace unto all Israel! And they said : Peace to you ! And they again said to them: Why have you come? And those who had been sent said : The Sanhedrin call you 10 the holy city Jerusalem. And when the men heard that they were sought by the Sanhedrin they prayed to God, and reclined with the men and ate and drank, and rose up and set out in peace to Jerusalem.
And on the following day the Sanhedrin sat in the synagogue, and asked them, saying: Did you really see Jesus sitting on the mountain MamilchTHE ACTS OF PILATE.
123
teaching his eleven disciples, and did you see him taken up? And the men answered them and said : As we saw him taken up, so also we said.
Annas says : Take them away from one another and let us see whether their account agrees. And they took them away from one another. And first they call Adas and say to him : How didst thou see Jesus taken up? Adas says: While he was yet sitting on the mountain Mamilch and teaching his disciples, we saw a cloud overshadowing both him and his disciples. And the cloud took him up into heaven, and his disciples lay upon their faces upon the earth. And they call Phinees, thé priest, and ask him also, saying : How didst thou see Jesus taken up? And he spoke in like manner. And they again asked Haggai, and he spoke in like manner. And the Sanhedrin said : ‘The law of Moses holds : At the mouth of two or three every word shall be established. Buthem, a teacher, says : It is written in the law, And Enoch walked with God, and is not, because God took him. Jai'rus, a teacher, said : And the death of holy Moses we have heard of, and have not seen it ; for it is written in the law of the Lord, and Moses died from the mouth ot the Lord, and no man knowethof his sepulchre unto this day. And Rabbi Levi said : Why did Rabbi Symeon say, when he saw Jesus, “Behold, he lies for the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign spoken against?” And Rabbi Isaac said : It is written in the law, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, who shall go124
THE ACTS OF PILATE.
before thee to keep thee in every good way, because my name has been called upon him.
Then Annas and Caiaphas said: Rightly have you said what is written in the law of Moses, that no one saw the death of Enoch, and no one has named the death of Moses ; but Jesus was tried before Pilate, and we saw him receiving blows and spittings on his face, and the soldiers put about him a crown of thorns, and . he was scourged and received sentence from Pilate, and was crucified upon the Cranium, and two robbers with him ; and they gave him to drink vinegar with gall, and Longinus, the soldier pierced his side with a spear ; and Joseph, our honorable father, begged his body, and he says he is risen ; and as the three teachers say, We saw him taken np into heaven; and Rabbi Levi has given evidence of what was said by Rabbi Symeon, and that he said, Behold, he lies for the fall and rising again of hiany in Irsael, and for a sign spoken against. And all the teachers said to all the people of the Lord:	If this was from
the Lord, ami is wonderful in your eyes, knowing you shall know, O house of Jacob, that it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth upon a tree. And another seripture teaches : The gods which have not made the heaven and the earth shall be destroyed. And the priests and the Levites said to each other: If this memorial be until the year that is called Jobel, know that it shall endure forever, and he hath raised for himself a new people. Then the rulers of the synagogue, and the priests and the Levites, announced to all Israel, saying: Cursed isTHE ACTS OF PILATE.
125
that man who shall worship thè work of man’s hand, and cursed is the man who shall worship the creatures more than the Creator. And all the people said, Amen, amen.
And all the people praised the Lord, and said : Blessed is the Lord, who hath given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he hath spoken ; there hath not fallen one word of every good word of his that he spoke to Moses, his servant. May the Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers ; let him not destroy us. And let him not destroy us, that we may incline our hearts to him, that we may walk in all his ways, that we may keep his commandments and his judgments which he commanded to our fathers. And the Lord shall be for a king over all the earth in that day ; and there shall be one Lord, and his name one. The Lord is our king ; he shall save us. There is none like thee, O Lord. Great art thou, O Lord, and great is thy name. By thy power heal us, O Lord, and we shall be healed ; save us, O Lord, and we shall be save'd, because we are thy lot and heritage. And the Lord will not leave his people, for his great name’s sake ; for the Lord has begun to make us into his people.
And all, having sung praises, went away each man to his own house glorifying God ; for his is the glory forever and ever. Amen.THE ACTS OF PILATE.
(SECOND GREEK FORM.)
Chap. 1.—Our Lord Jesus Christ having wrought in Judea many and great and extraordinary miracles, and on account of this, being hated by the Hebrews, while Pilate was procurator in Jerusalem, and Annas and Caiaphas high priests, there came of the Jews to the chief priests, Judas, Levi, Neph-thalim, Alexander, Syrus, and many others, speaking against Christ. And these chief priests sent them away to say these things to Pilate also. And they went away, and said to him : A man walks about in this city whose father is called Joseph, and his mother Mary ; and he calls himself king and Son of God; and being a Jew, he overturns the Scriptures, and does away with the Sabbath. Pilate then asked, in order to learn from them in what manner he did away with the Sabbath. And they answered, saying: He cures the sick on the Sabbath. Pilate says: If he makes the sick whole, he does no evil. They say to him : If he effected the cures properly, small would be the evil; but by using magic he does these things, and by having the demons on his side. . Pilate says: To cure a
(126)THE ACTS OF PILATE.
127
person that is ill is not a diabolic work, but a grace from God.
The Hebrews said: We beseech your highness to summon him, in order that thou mayst make accurate inquiry into what we say. Pilate therefore, throwing off his cloak, gave it to one of his officers, saying : Go away, and show this to Jesus, and say to him, Pilate the procurator calls thee to come before him. The officer accordingly went away, and finding Jesus, summoned him, having unfolded on the ground also Pilate’s mantle, and urged him to walk upon it. And the Hebrews, seeing this, and being greatly enraged, came to Pilate murmuring against him, how he had deemed Jesus worthy of so great an honor.
And he, having inquired of the officer who had been sent, how he had done so, the officer answered: When thou didst send me to the Jew Alexander, I came upon Jesus entering the gate of the city, sitting upon an ass. And I saw that the Hebrews spread their garments in the way', and the ass walked upon the garments ; and others cut branches, and they went forth to meet him, and cried out, Hosanna in the highest! Thus, therefore, it was necessary for me also to do.
The Jews, hearing these words, said to him: How didst thou, being a Roman, know what was said by the Hebrews ? The officer answered: I asked one of the Hebrews, and he told me these things. Pilate said: What means Hosanna? The Jews said: Save us, O Lord. Pilate answered : Since you confess that your children said so, how128
THE ACTS OF PILATE.
now do you bring charges, and say against Jesus what you do say? The Jews were silent, and had nothing to answer.
Now, as Jesus was coming to Pilate, the soldiers of Pilate adored him. And others also were standing before Pilate holding standards. And as Jesus was coming, the standards also bowed down, and adored him, As Pilate, therefore, was wondering at what had happened, the Jews said to him : My lord, it was not the standards that adored Jesus, but the soldiers who were holding them carelessly.
Pilate says to the rulers of the synagogue : Choose twelve powerful men, and give them the standards, so that they may hold them firmly. And this having taken place, Pilate ordered the officer to take Jesus outside, and bring him in again. And as he was coming in, the standards again bowed down, and adored him. Pilate therefore wondered greatly. But the Jews said ; He is a magician, and through that he does these things.
Chap. 2.—Pilate says to Jesus: Hearest thou what these testify against thee, and answerest thou not? And Jesus answered and said: Every man has power to speak either good or bad, as he wishes; these also, therefore, having power, say what they wish.
The Jews said to him: What have we to say about thee? First, th^t thou wast begotten from sin; second, that on account of thee, when thou wast born, the infants were murdered; third, thatTHE ACTS OF PILATE.
129
thy father and thy mother fled into Egypt, because they had no confidence in the people.
To these the Jews who were there present, Godfearing men, answered and said: We say that his birth is not from sin ; for we know that Joseph received into keeping his mother Mary, according to the practice of betrothal. Pilate said: Consequently you lie who say his birth is from sin. They say again to Pilate : All the people testify that he is a magician. The God-fearing Jews answered and said: We also were at the betrothal of his mother, and we are Jews, and know all of his daily life ; but that he is a magician, that we not know. And the Jews that thus said were these : Lazarus, As-tharius, James, Zaras, Samuel, Isaac, Phinees, Cris-pus, Dagrippus, Amese and Judas.
Pilate therefore says to them: By the life of Caesar, I wish you to swear whether the birth of this man is without sin.* They answered : Our law
*In note 3, chap. 2, of First Greek Form we have already adverted to this charge of the priests as to the birth of Jesus; and mentioned the fact that a penalty of forty stripes and a fine of fifty shekels of silver (31 dollars) was imposed upon those bringing a false charge of fornication against a man’s wife or daughter.
It may be added here that it is possible that Pilate insisted upon proof of this charge, and took an uncommon interest in it from the fact that just such a report had been made as to his own birth:—and the legend still exists that he was the natural son of the king of May-ence and an illegitimate. It is singular that he seems to have pressed this unimportant point so far, unless he had some feeling in the matter, and that feeling appears here to have been based on personal grounds.
Moreover he knew how irresponsible a man must be of any wrong
9130
THE ACTS OF PILATE.
lays down that we are to swear not at all, because an oath is great sin. Notwithstanding, by the life of Caesar we swear that his birth is without sin, and if we lie, order us all to be beheaded. And when they had thus spoken, the Jews that were bringing the charge answered Pilate, and said: And dost thou believe these twelve single Jews more than all the multitude and us, who know for certain that he is a magician and blasphemer, and that he names himself Son of God?
Then Pilate ordered them all to go forth out of the Pretorium except the said twelve alone. And when this had been done, Pilate says to them privately ; As to this man, it appears that from envy and madness the Jews wish to murder him : for of one thing—that he does away with the Sabbath— they accuse him ; but he then does a good work, because he cures the sick. For this, sentence of death is not upon the man. The twelve also say to him : Assuredly, my lord, it is so.
Chap. 3.—Pilate therefore went outside in rage and anger, and says to Annas and Caiaphas, and to the crowd who brought Jesus : I take the* sun to witness that I find no fault in this man. The crowd answered : If he were not a sorcerer, and a magician, and a blasphemer, we should not have brought him to your highness. Pilate said : Try him your-
of this character attaching to ones birth; and under this feeling determined to push the point to its extremity and impose the penalty in case of finding a false accusation against the mother of Jesus.THE ACTS OF PILATE.	13 I
selves. The Jews said : Our law permits to put no man to death. Pilate says: If you are unwilling to put him to death, how much more am I.
Then Pilate returned to the palace, and says to Jesus: Tell me, art thou the king of the Jews? Jesus answered: Dost thou say this, or have the other Jews said this to thee, that thou mightst question me ? Pilate said: Thou dost not think I am a Hebrew? I am not a Hebrew. Thy people and the chief priests have delivered thee into my hands ; and tell me if thou art king of the Jews? Jesus answered: My kingdom is not of this world ; for if my kingdom were in this world, my soldiers would not be unconcerned at my being seized: wherefore my kingdom is not in this world. Pilate said: But art thou king? Jesus said: Thou hast said: for this was I born, to bear witness of the truth ; and if any one be a man of the truth, he believes my word, and does it. Pilate says : What is the truth? Jesus answered : The truth is from the heavens. Pilate says: On earth, then, is there no truth? Christ says : I am the truth ; and how is the truth judged on earth by those that have earthly power!
Chap. 4.—Pilate therefore, leaving Christ alone, went outside, and says to the Jews: I find no fault in this man. The Jews answered : Let us tell your highness what he said. He said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and in three days to build it. Pilate says: And what temple did he say that he was to destroy ? The Hebrews say : The temple of Solomon, which Solomon built in forty-six years.132
THE ACTS OF PILATE.
Pilate says privately to the chief priests and the scribes and the Pharisees : .1 entreat you, do nothing evil against this man ; for if you do evil against him, you will do unjustly: for it is not just that such a man should die, who has done great good to many men. They said to Pilate: If, my lord, he who has dishonored Caesar is worthy of death, how much more this man who dishonors God!
Then Pilate dismissei them, and they all went outside. Thereupon he says to Jesus ; What dost thou wish that I shall do to thee? Jesus says to Pilate: Do to me as is determined. Pilate says : How is it determined? Jesus answered : Moses and the prophets wrote about me being crucified, and rising again. The Hebrews hearing this, said to Pilate : Why do y0u seek to hear a greater insult out of him against God ? Pilate says : These words are not an insult against God, since they are written in the books of the prophets. The Hebrews said : Our Scripture says, If a man offend against a man, that is to say, if he insult him, he is worthy to receive forty strokes with a rod ; but if any one insult God, to be stoned.
Then came a messenger from Procle, the wife of Pilate, to him : and the message said : Take care that thou do not agree that any evil should happen to Jesus the good man ; because during this night I have seen fearful dreams on account of him. And Pilate spoke to the Hebrews, saying: If you hold as insult against God the words which you declare Jesus to have spoken, take and judge him yourselves according to your law. The Jews said toTHE ACTS OF PILATE.
133
Pilate : We wish that you should crucify him. Pilate says : This is not good.
And Pilate, turning towards the people, saw many weeping, and said : To me it seems that it is not the wish of all the people that this man should die. The priests and the scribes say : We on this account have brought all the people, that thou mightst have full conviction that all wish his death. Pilate says: For what evil hath he done. The Hebrews said : He says that he is a king, and the Son of God.
Chap. 5.—A God-fearing Jew, therefore, Nico-demus by name, stood up in the midst, and said to Pilate : I entreat your highness to permit me to say a few words. Say on, said Pilate. Nicodemus says : I, being present in the synagogue, said to the priests, an4 the Levites, and the scribes, and thé people, What have you to say against this man? This man does many miracles, such as man has never yet done nor will do. Let him go, therefore ; and if indeed what he does be from God, it will stand , but if from man, it will be destroyed. Just as happened also when God sent Moses into Egypt, and Pharoah king of Egypt told him to do, a miracle. and he did it. Then Pharoah had also two magicians, Jannes and Jambres ; and they also did miracles by the use of magic art, but not such as Moses did. And the Egyptians held these magicians to be gods v but because they were not from God, what they did was destroyed. This Jesus, then, raised up Lazarus, and he is alive. On this134
THE ACTS OF PILATE.
account I entreat thee, my lord, by no means to allow this man to be put to death.
The Hebrews were enraged against Nicodemus, and said: Mayst thou receive the truth of Jesus . and have a portion with him. Nicodemus says: Amen, amen ; be it to me as you say.
Chap. 6.—And when Nicodemus had thus spoken another Hebrew rose up, and said to Pilate : I beg of thee, my lord Pilate, hear me also. Pilate answered : Say what thou wishest. The Hebrew says: I lay sick in bed thirty-eight years; and when he saw me he was grieved, and said to me, Rise, take up thy couch, and go into thine house. And while he was saying the word to me, I rose and walked about. The Hebrews say: Ask him on what day of the week this happened. He says : On Sabbath. The Jews said: And consequently we say truly, that he does not keep the Sabbath.
Another, again, standing in the midst, said: I was born blind ; and as Jesus was going along the road, I cried to him, saying, Have mercy upon me, Lord, thou son of David. And he took clay, and anointed mine eyes ; and straightway I received my sight. Another said : I was crooked ; and seeing him. I cried, Have mercy upon me, O Lord. And he took me by the hand, and I was immediately raised. Another said: I was a leper, and he healed me merely by a word.
Chap. 7-—There was found there also a woman named Veronica, and she said : Twelve years I wasTHE ACTS OF PILATE.
135
in an issue of blood, and I only touched the edge of his garment, and directly I was cured. The Jews say: Our law does not admit the testimony of a woman.
Chap. 8.—Other men cried:	This man is a
prophet, and the demons are afraid of him. Pilate says: And how were the demons not at all thus afraid of your parents also? They say: We do not know. Others, again, said : Lazarus, after having been four days in the tomb, he raised by a single word. Pilate therefore, hearing of the raising of Lazarus, was afraid, and said to the people; Why do you wish to shed the blood of a just man.
Chap. 9.—Then he summoned Nicodemus and the twelve God-fearing Jews, and Said to them: What do you say that I should do? because the people are in commotion. They say : We do not know: do as thou wilt; but what the people do, they do unjustly, in order to kill him. Pilate again went outside, and said to the people: You know that in the feasts of unleavened bread it is customary that I free on your account one of the criminals kept in custody. I have, then, one malefactor in the prison, a robber named Bar Abbas. I have also Jesus, who has never done any evil. Which of the two, then, do you wish that I release to you? The people answered: Release to us Bar Abbas. Pilate says: What, then, shall I do with Jesus? They say : Let him be crucified. Again, others of them cried out: If thou release Jesus thou art no136	THE ACTS OF PILATE.
friend of Caesar, because he calls himself Son of God, and king. And if thou free him, he becomes a king, and will take Caesar’s kingdom.
Pilate, therefore, was enraged, and said : Always has your nation been devilish and unbelieving : and ever have you been adversaries to your benefactors. The. Hebrews say : And who were our benefactors ? Pilate says : God, who freed you out of the land of Pharaoh and brought you through the Red Sea as upon dry land, and fed you with quails, and gave you water out of the dry rocks, and who gave you a law, which, denying God, you broke; and if Moses had not stood and entreated God, you would have perished by a bitter death. All these, then, you have forgotten. Thus, also, even now, you say that I do not at all love Csesar, but hate him, and wish to plot against his kingdom.
And having thus spoken, Pilate rose up from the throne with anger, wishing to flee from them. The Jews therefore cried out, saying: We wish Caesar to be king over us, not Jesus, because Jesus received gifts from the magi. And Herod also heard this—that there was going to be a king—and wished to put him to death, and for this purpose sent and put to death all the infants that were in Bethlehem. And on this account also his father, Joseph, and his mother fled from fear of him into Egypt.
So then, Pilate hearing this, silenced, all the people, and said: This, then, is the Jesus whom Herod then sought, that he might put him to death? They say to him: Yes. Pilate, therefore, having ascertained that he was of the jurisdiction ot Herod,THE ACTS OF PILATE.
137
as being derived of the race of the Jews, sent Jesus to him. And Herod, seeing him, rejoiced greatly, because he had been long desiring to see him, hearing of the miracles which he did. He put on him, therefore, white garments.* Then he began to question him. But Jesus did not give him an answer. And Herod, wishing to see also some miracle or oth'er done by Jesus, and not seeing it, and also because he did not answer him a single word, sent him back again to Pilate. Pilate, seeing this, ordered his officers to bring water. Washing, then, his hands with the water he said to the people : I am innocent of the blood of this good man. See you to it, that he is unjustly put to death* since neither I have found fault in him, nor Herod ; for because of this he has sent him back again to me. The Jews say: His blood be upon us and upon our children.
Then Pilate sat down upon his throne to pass
*We learn from Matthew’s Gospel that the soldiers stripped Jesus and put on him a scarlet robe. And after they had mocked him they took the robe off him and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him. Matt, xxvii: 2, 8, 31.
From Mark we learn that the soldiers clothed him with purple. Mark xv:i7.
Luke states that, Herod, with his men of war, set him at naught and mocked him and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe and sent him again to Pilate. Luke xxiii: 11.
From John’s Gospel we learn that the soldiers platted a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe. John xix: 2.
The Acts of Pilate state that, white garments were put on Jesus by Herod. And Canon Farrar in the ixth edition of the Encyclopaedia uses the phrase “white robe.” M. de Munkacsy has followed this in his painting, arraying Jesus in a white robe.138
THE ACTS OF PILATE.
sentence. He gave order, therefore, and Jesus came before him. And they brought a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and a reed into his right hand. Then he passed sentence, and said to him:	Thy nation says and testifies against thee
that thou wishest to be a king. Therefore, I decree that they shall beat thee first with a rod forty strokes, as the laws of the kings decree, and that they shall mock thee; and finally that they shall crucify thee.
Chap. 10.—The sentence to this effect, then, having been passed by Pilate, the Jews began to strike Jesus, some with rods, others with their hands, others with their feet;.some also spat in his face. Immediately, therefore, they got ready the cross and gave it to him, and flew to take the road. And thus going along,bearing also the cross he came as far as the gate of the city of Jerusalem* But as he, from the many blows and the weight of the cross, was unable to walk, the Jews, out of the eager desire they had to crucify him as quickly as possible, took the cross from him and gave it to a man that met them, Simon by name who had also two sons, Alexander and Rufus. And he was from the city of Cyrene. They gave the cross, then, to him, not because they pitied Jesus and wished to lighten him
*None of the Evangelists state definitely at what point on the way to Golgotha the crowd with Jesus met Simon the Cyrenian—upon whom for the balance of the journey the cross was laid. The Acts of Pilate state that Jesus “had come to the gate of the City of Jerusalem.”THE THREE MARYSTHE ACTS OF PILATE.
139
of the weight, but because they eagerly desired, as 'has been said, to put him to death more speedily.
Of his disciples, therefore, John followed him there. Then he came fleeing to the mother of God, and said to her : Where hast thou been that thou hast not come to see what has happened? She answered: What is it that has happened? John says : Know that the Jews have laid hold of my Master, and are taking him away to crucify him. Hearing this, his mother cried out with a loud voice, saying : My son, my son, what hast thou done that they are taking thee away to crucify thee? And she rose up as if blinded, and goes along the road weeping. And women followed her—Martha and Mary Magdalene and other virgins. And John also was with her. When, therefore, they came to the multitude of the crowd, the mother of God says to John : Where is my son? John says : Seest thou him bearing the crown of thorns, and having his hands bound? And the mother of God, hearing this and seeing him, fainted and fell backwards to the ground, and lay a considerable time. And the women, as many as followed her, stood round her and wept. And as soon as she revived and rose up, she cried out with a loud voice :	My Lord, my son,
where has the beauty of thy form sunk? how shall I endure to see thee suffering such things ? And thus saying, she tore her face with her nails, and beat her breast. Where are they gone, said she, the good deeds which thou didst in Judea? What evil hast thou done to. the Jews? The Jews, then seeing her thus lamenting and crying, came and140
THE ACTS OF PILATE.
drove her from the road : but she would not flee, but remained, saying :	Kill me first, ye lawless
Jews.
Then they got safe to the place called Cranium, which was paved with stone and there the Jews set up the cross. Then they stripped Jesus, and the soldiers took his garments and divided them among themselves ; and they put on him a tattered robe of scarlet, and raised him and drew him up on the cross at the sixth hour of the day. After this they brought, also, two robbers, the one on his right the other on his left.
Then the mother of God standing and looking, cried out with a loud voice, saying : My son ! my son ! And Jesus, turning to her, and seeing John near her, and weéping with the rest of the women, said : Behold thy son ! Then he says also to John : Behold thy mother ! And she wept much, saying : For this I weep, my son. because thou sufferest unjustly, because the lawless Jews have delivered thee to a bitter death. Without thee, my son, what will become of me? How shall I live without thee? What sort of life shall I spend? Where are thy disciples, who boasted that they would die with thee ? Where those healed by thee ? How has no one been found to help thee ? And looking to the cross, she said :	Bend down, O cross, that I may
embrace and kiss my son, whom I suckled at these breasts after a strange manner, as not having known man. Bend down, O cross ; I wish to throw my arms round my son like a mother. The Jews hearing these words, came forward and drove to aTHE ACTS OF PILATE.
I4I
distance both her and the women and John* Then Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying: Father, let not this sin stand against them, for they know not what they do. Then he says :	I thirst.
And immediately there ran one of the soldiers and took a sponge and filled it with gall and vinegar mixed, and put it on a reed and gave to Jesus to drink. And having tasted it, he would not drink it. And the Jews, standing and looking on, laughed at him, and said: If thou truly sayest that thou art the Son of God, come down from the cross immediately, that we may believe in thee. Others said, mocking : Others he saved, others he cured, and he healed the sick, the paralytic, the lepers, the demoniacs, the blind, the lame, the dead ; and himself he cannot cure.
^Matthew, Mark and Luke, state that Mary and the women and John, and all his acquaintance stood “beholding afar off.” John states that they stood “by the cross.”
The Acts of Pilate harmonize these accounts by stating that “the Jews, hearing the lamentations of Mary, came forward and drove to a distance both her and the women, and John.”
So that the truth of the Gospel account is made out, and Jesus, “the man of sorrows,” who in the dark garden alone had been with none among men to hear or to help, amid this second gloom, the garden of death—is left. Acquaintance, friend and mother must stand far off, and in the silence of the individual soul let him be circled who must pass through death.
Though all this scene were but the myth of history, yet we might call it the echo of nature’s voice, declaring day by day “I am the way, the resurrection and the life” to every man who in that awful hour must hang alone upon the tree of Death; who in the silence of his soul’s individuality stands all alone, with only the One—to keep him awful company.142
THE ACTS OF PILATE.
In the same manner, also, the robber crucified on his left hand said to him : If thou art the Son of God, come down and save both thyself and us. His name was Gistas. And he that was crucified on the right, Dysmas by name, reproved that robber, saying: O wretched and miserable man, dost thou not fear God? We suffer the due punishment of what we have done; but this man has done no evil at all. And, turning to Jesus, he says to him: Lord, when thou shalt reign, do not forget me. And he said to him: To-day, I tell thee truth, I shall have thee in paradise with me.
Chap. 11.—Then Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, Father, into thy hands I shall commit my spirit, breathed his last. And immediately one could see the rocks rent; for there was an earthquake over all the earth; and from the earthquake being violent and great, the rocks also were rent. And the tombs of the dead were opened, and the curtain of the temple was rent, and there was darkness from the sixth hour till the ninth. And from all these things that had happened the Jews were afraid, and said:	Certainly this was a just man.
And Longinus, the centurion, having perceived all these so great miracles, went away and reported them to Pilate. And when he heard he wondered and was astonished, and, from his fear and grief, would neither eat nor drink that day. And he sent notice, and all the Sanhedrin came to him as soon , as the darkness was past; and he said to the people :	You know how the sun has been darkened ;THE ACTS OF PILATE.
143
you know how the curtain has been rent. Certainly I did well in being by no means willing to put to death the good man. And the malefactors said to Pilate:	This darkness is an eclipse of the sun,
such as has happened also at other times. Then they say to him :	We hold the feast of unleavened
bread to-morrow: and we entreat thee, since the crucified are still breathing, that they be brought down.* Pilate said:	It shall be so. He therefore
sent soldiers, and they found the two robbers yet breathing, and they broke their legs; but finding Jesus dead they did not touch him at* all, except that a soldier speared him in the right f side, and
•This was in accordance with the law of Moses:—If any man have committed a sin worthy of death, and thou hang him on a tree: his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day (for he that is hanged on a tree is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the Lord giveth thee for an inheritance. Deut. xxi: 22, 23.
+This most singular statement of Jesus’ body being “speared in the right side” deserves more than a passing notice.
It must be true that if any modern medieval or second or third century Christian had been asked the question—On which side the body of Jesus was speared? he or she would have answered at once— “on the left side. ”
Some how or other this was and is the universal impression.
No writer it would seem would have been bold enough to run counter to this universal impression—in writing up a view or conception of it as drawn from his imagination.
There would be too much in his own mind against the statement, in the whole and universal conception of the history in the case, and the world wide impression left of it now for more than sixteen or seventeen centuries.
Why then should the writer of this phrase have had the hard!-144
THE ACTS OF PILATE.
immediately there came forth blood and water.
And as the day of the preparation was drawing towards evening, Joseph, a man well-born and rich, a God-fearing Jew, finding Nicodemus, whose sentiments his foregoing speech had shown, says to him :	I know that thou didst love Jesus when
living, and didst gladly hear his words, and I saw thee fighting with the Jews on his account. If then it seem good to thee, let us go to Pilate and beg the body of Jesus for burial, because it is a great sin for him to lie unburied. I am afraid, said Nicodemus, lest Pilate should be enraged, and some evil should befall me. But if thou wilt go alone and beg the dead and take him, then will I also go with thee and help thee do everything necessary for the burial. Nicodemus having thus spoken, Joseph directed his eyes to heaven and prayed that he might not fail in his request; and he went away to Pilate, and having saluted him, sat down. Then he says to him :	I
entreat thee, my lord, not to be angry with me, if I shall ask anything contrary to what seems good to your highness. And he said :	And what is it that
thou askest? Joseph says:	Jesus, the good man
whom through hatred the Je.ws have taken away to crucify, him I entreat that thou give me for burial.
hood to write contrary to all received opinion in framing up a narrative to be read as testimony and truth, unless it were true at the time—and the now prevailing contrary opinion not in existence at the(time of his writing—but which after it has become so strong and universal? It is reasonably certain and beyond a reasonable doubt that this account is much older than ihe universal belief or impression that Jesus was speared on the left side.THE ACTS OF PILATE.
145
Pilate says : And what has happened that we should deliver to be honored again the dead body of him against whom evidence of sorcery was brought by his nation, and who was in suspicion of taking the kingdom of Caesar, and so was given up by us to death? And Joseph weeping and in great grief, fell at the feet of Pilate, saying: My lord let no hatred fall upon a dead man ; for all the evil that a man has done should perish with him in his death. And I know, your highness, how eager thou wast that Jesus should not be crucified, and how much thou saidst to the Jews on his behalf, now in entreaty and again in anger, and at last how thou didst wash thy hands and declare that thou wouldst by no means take part with those who wished him to be put to death ; for all which reasons I entreat thee not to refuse my request. Pilate, therefore, seeing Joseph thus lying and supplicating and weeping, raised him up, and said :	Go ; I grant thee this
dead man ; take him and do whatever thou wilt.
And then Joseph, having thanked Pilate and kissed his hands and his garments, went forth rejoicing indeed in heart as having obtained his desire, but carrying tears in his eyes. Thus also, though grieved, he was glad. Accordingly, he goes away to Nicodemus and discloses to him all that had happened. . Then, having bought myrrh and aloes a hundred pounds, and a new tomb, they, along with the mother of God* and Mary Magdalene and
*The expression “mother of God” may be a change from the original “mother of the god,” as used by Pilate—made by the translator. We have an instance in point where a like change was made by 10146
THE ACTS OF PILATE.
Salome, along with John, and the rest of the women, did what was customary for the body with white linen, and placed it in the tomb.
And the mother of God said, weeping:	How
am I not to lament thee, my son? How should I not tear my face with my nails? This is that, my son, which Symeon the elder foretold to me when I brought thee, an infant of forty days old, into the Temple. This is the sword which now goes through my soul. Who shall put a stop to my tears, my sweetest son? No one at all except thyself alone, if, as thou saidst, thou shalt rise again in three days.
Mary Magdalene* said, weeping: Hear oh peo-
Clement in substituting tuo> dewv, of the gocls, for rod ddou, of the divine nature, as given in Huidekoper’s Judiasm at Rome, p. 43, note 8, in a quotation from Clement.
Pilate uses such words as Lord’s day, and he may have taken from both the Roman and Christian uses of the terms, as other Latin writers are known to have done in several compositions.
We find in Julius Caesar’s decrees concerning the Jew’s “Almighty God,” “Sabbath,” “Sabbatical Year,” etc.—as quoted by Josephus. (Antiq. Book xiv, chap.x.)
And under Augustus we find the same expressions used by him, either in this express form or in language expressive of this sense whose form was put by Josephus. The.term “mother of God” is older than the birth of Jesus. To think that it was unknown to the ancients and unused by them till the days of the Christian church is to think ignorantly. Historical criticism must not be violated by such a course as places the origin of a phrase in the second or third century that had been in use long before the Christian era.
*This outburst of feeling is the speech of a very singular woman.
Infamous in life, whose gilded person was the dwelling of seven evil spirits, she became the follower of Jesus only to attain and become an immortal name in history, .and the alabaster box of Christian memory.THE ACTS OF PILATE.
147
pies, tribes and tongues, and learn to what death the lawless Jews have delivered him who did them ten thousand good deeds. Hear and be astonished. Who will let these things be heard by all the world ? I shall go alone to Rome to the Caesar. I shall show him what evil Pilate hath done in obeying the lawless Jews. Likewise, also, Joseph lamented, saying : Ah, me! sweetest Jesus, most excellent of men, if, indeed, it be proper to call thee man, who hast wrought such miracles as no man has ever done. How shall I enshroud thee? How shall I entomb thee ? There should now have been here those whom thou fedst with a few loaves ; for thus should I not have seemed to fail in what is due.
Then Joseph, along with Nicodemus, went home ; and, likewise, also the mother of God, with the women, John also being present with them.
Her eyes were the first to be christened before all others with the vision of the first fruits from the dead —in the sight of the Resurrected One.
Famous had she been in that court that often ruled the world; and Cleopatra-like had made slaves of many an Antony and Caesar’s legate.
But laying aside all the pomp of her gilded sin, cleansed in heart and lifted up into the sweet life of peace and purity, she became one of the foremost friends of Him whom she followed even to his death
When Pilate left Palestine the third spring after the crucifixion, en route for Rome with Claudia his wife and his Roman guards, we are told that he spent a night by the sea of Galilee, being entertained by this woman whose princely home made fittest place for his encampment; and that there he talked with her of Him whose death and name was deeply left upon his soul.
The reader will see a fine picture of this meeting of Pilate, his wife Claudia and lady Magdalene, in Sir Edwin Arnold’s “Light of the World”—Book 1.148
THE ACTS OF PILATE.
Chap. 12.—When the Jews were made acquainted with these things done by Joseph and Nicodemus, they were greatly stirred up against them. And the chief priests, Annas and Caiaphas, sent for Joseph, and said : Why hast thou done this service to Jesus? Joseph says: I know that Jesus was a man just and true and good in all respects; and I know, also, that you, through hatred, managed to murder him ; and therefore I buried him. Then the high priests were enraged, and laid hold of Joseph and threw him into prison, and said to him: If we had not to-morrow the feast of unleavened bread, tomorrow, also, should we have put thee, like him, to death ; but being kept in the meantime, early in the morning of the Lord’s day thou shalt be given up to death. Thus they spoke, and affixed their seal to the prison, having secured it by fastenings of all sorts.
Thus, therefore, when the preparation was ended, early on the Sabbath the Jews went away to Pilate, and said to him : My lord, that deceiver said that after three days he should rise again. Lest, therefore, his disciples should steal him by night and lead the people astray by such deceit, order his tomb to be guarded. Pilate therefore, upon this, gave them five hundred soldiers,* who all, sat round the sepulchre so as to guard it, after having put seals upon the stone of the tomb.
* In the “ Report of Pilate ” in appendix near the end, Pilate states that 2,000 chosen troops arrived at Jerusalem on the morning following the crucifixion. This would explain the possibility of giving to the high priests 500 men to guard the sepulchre.THE ACTS OF PILATE.
149
The Lord’s day, then, having dawned, the chief priests, along with the Jews, called a council and sent to take Joseph out of the prison, in order to put him to death. But, having opened it, they found him not. And they were astonished at this— how, with doors shut and the bolts safe, and the seals unbroken, Joseph had disappeared.
Chap. 13.—And upon this there came up one of the soldiers guarding the tomb, and he said in the synagogue : Learn that Jesus has risen. The Jews say: How? And he said: First there was an earthquake; then an angel of the Lord, clothed with lightning, came from heaven and rolled the stone from the tomb and sat upon it. And from fear of him all of us soldiers became as dead, and were able neither to flee nor speak. And we heard the angel saying to the women who came there to see the tomb : Be not afraid for I know that you seek Jesus. He is not here, but is risen, as he told you before. Bend down and see the tomb where his body lay ; but go and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead, and let them go into Galilee, for there shall they find him. For this reason I tell you this first.
The Jews say to the soldiers : What sort of women were they who came to the tomb ? and why did you not lay hold of them ? The soldiers say : From the fear and the mere sight of the angel, we were neither able to speak nor move. The Jews said: As the God of Israel liveth, we do not believe a word you say. The soldiers say : Jesus did150	THE ACTS OJF PILATE.
so great wonders, and you believed not, and are you going to believe us ? You say truly that God liveth ; and certainly he whom you crucified truly liveth. But we have heard that you had Joseph shut up in the prison, and that you afterwards opened the dooi^s and did not find him. Do you, then, present Joseph, and so we also shall present Jesus. The Jews say: Joseph, that fled from the prison, you will find in Arimathea, his own country. And the soldiers say*: Go you into Galilee, and you will find Jesus, as the angel said to the woman.
At these words the Jews were afraid, and said to the soldiers: See that you tell this story to nobody, or all will believe in Jesus. And for this reason they gave them also much money. And the soldiers said : We are afraid lest by any chance Pilate hear that we have taken money, and he will kill us. And the Jews said : Take it; and we pledge ourselves that we shall speak to Pilate in your defense. Only say that you were asleep, and in your slumber the disciples of Jesus came and stole him from the tomb. The soldiers therefore took the money, and said as they were bid. And up to this day this same lying tale is told among the Jews.
Chap. 14.—And a few days after there came from Galilee to Jerusalem three men. One of them was a priest, by name Phinees ; the second a Levite, by name Aggai ; and the third a soldier, by name Adas. These came to the chief priests, and said to them and to the people : Jesus, whom you crucified,THE ACTS OF PILATE.
I 5 I
we have seen in Galilee with his eleven disciples upon the Mount of Olives, teaching them, and saying : Go into all the world, and proclaim the good news ; and whosoever will believe and be baptized shall be saved ; but whosoever will not believe shall be condemned. And having thus spoken, he went up into Heaven. And both we and many others of the five hundred besides were looking on.*
And when the chief priests and the Jews heard these things, they said to these three: Give glory to the God of Israel, and repent of these lies that you have told. They answered : As the God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob liveth, we do not lie, but tell you the truth. Then the high priest spoke, and they brought the old covenant of the Hebrews out of the Temple, and he made them swear, and giving them also money, he sent them into another place, in order that they might not proclaim in Jerusalem the resurrection of Christ.
And when these stories had been heard by all
*The “many others of the five hundred” spoken of here may be „ of the soldiers or guards given by Pilate to the priests to watch the sepulchre.
The excitement and commotion in and about the Temple at this time seems most natural under the circumstances. It has been a source of wonder to many Christians even, that the resurrection of Jesus took place so quietly, so unobserved by the multitudes that were then at Jerusalem—if the New Testament accounts contain all the events.
The account given in this 14th chapter of the Acts of Pilate, would seem to comport well with all the known circumstances—and indeed it does seem strange that such events as here recorded should have failed to occur.152
THE ACTS OF PILATE.
the people, the crowd came together into the Temple, and there was a great commotion. For many said: Jesus has risen from the dead, as we hear, and why did you crucify him ? And Annas and Caiaphas said: Do not believe, ye Jews, what the soldiers say ; and do not believe that they saw an angel coming down from heaven. For we have given money to the soldiers, in order that they should not tell such tales to any one ; and thus also have the disciples of Jesus given them money, in order that they should say that Jesus has risen from the dead.
Chap. 15.—Nicodemus says : O children of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the prophet Helias went up into the height of heaven with a fiery chariot, and it is nothing incredible if Jesus too has risen ; for the.prophet Helias was a prototype of Jesus, in order that you, hearing that Jesus has risen might not disbelieve. I therefore say and advise, that it is befitting that we send soldiers into Galilee, to that place where these men testify that they saw him with his disciples, in order that they may go round about and find him, and that thus we may ask pardon of him for the evil which we have done to him. This proposal pleased them ; and they chose soldiers, and sent them away into Galilee. And Jesus indeed they did not find ; but they found Joseph in Arimathea
When, therefore, the soldiers had returned, the chief priests, having ascertained that Joseph was found, brought the people together, and said : WhatTHE ACTS OF PILATE.
153
shall we do to get Joseph to come to .us? After deliberating, therefore, they wrote to him a letter to the following effect: O father Joseph, peace be to thee and all thy house, and thy friends ! We know that we have offended against God, and against thee his servant. On account of this, we entreat thee to come here to us thy children. For we have wondered much how thou didst escape from the prison, and we say in truth that we had an evil design agaipst thee. But God, seeing that our designs against thee were unjust, has delivered thee out of our hands. But come to us, for thou art the honor of our people.
This letter the Jews sent to Arimathea, with seven soldiers, friends to Joseph. And they went away and found him ; and having respectfully saluted him, as they had been ordered, they gave him the letter. And after receiving it and reading it, he glorified God, and embraced the soldiers; and having set a table, ate and drank with them during all the day and the night.
And on the following day he set out with them to Jerusalem ; and the people came forth to meet him, and embraced him. And Nicodemus received him into his own house. And the day after, Annas and Caiaphas, the chief priests, having summoned him to the Temple, said to him : Give glory to the God of Israel, and tell us the truth. For we know that thou didst bury Jesus ; and on this account we laid hold of thee, and locked thee up in the prison. Thereafter, when we sought to bring thee out to be put to death, we did not find thee, and we were154
THE ACTS OF PILATE.
greatly astonished and afraid. Moreover, we prayed to God that we might find thee, and ask thee. Tell us therefore the truth.
Joseph said to them: In the evening of the preparation, when you secured me in prison, I fell a-praying throughout the whole night, and throughout the whole day of the Sabbath. And at midnight I see the prison-house that four angels lifted it up, holding it by the four corners. And Jesus came in like lightning, and I fell to the ground from fear. Taking hold of me, therefore, by the hand, he raised me, saying, Fear not, Joseph. Thereafter, embracing me, he kissed me, and said, Turn thyself, and see who I am. Turning myself, therefore, and looking I said, My lord, I know not who thou art. He says, I am Jesus, whom thou didst bury the day before yesterday. I say to him, Show me the tomb and then I shall believe. He took me, therefore, by the hand, and led me away to the tomb, which had been opened. And seeing the linen and the napkin, and recognizing him, I said, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; and I adored him. Then taking me by the hand, and accompanied by the angels, he brought me to my house in Arimathea, and said to me, Sit here for forty days ; for I go to my disciples, in order that I may enable them fully to proclaim my resurrection.
Chap. 16.—When Joseph had thus spoken, the chief priests cried out to the people: We know that Jesus had a father arid mother; how can weTHE ACTS OF PILATE.
155
believe that he is the Christ? One of the Levites answered and said: I know the family of Jesus, noble-minded men, great servants of God, and receiving titles from the people of the Jews. And I know also Symeon the elder, that he received him when he was an infant, and said to him : Now thou sendest away thy servant, O Lord.
The Jews said: Let us now find the three men that saw him on the Mount of Olives, that we may question them, and learn the truth more accurately. They found them*, and brought them before all, and made them swear to tell the truth. And they said : As the God of Israel liveth. we saw Jesus alive on the Mount of Olives and going up into heaven.
Then Annas and Caiaphas took the three apart, one by one, and questioned them singly in private. They agreed with one another, therefore, and gave, even the three, one account. The chief priests answered, saying: Our scripture says that every word shall be established by two or three witnesses. Joseph, then, confessed that he, along with Nicode-mus, attended to his body and buried him, and how it is the truth that he has risen.THE ACTS OF PILATE.
(LATIN FORM.)
Chapter 1.—Annas and Caiaphas, Summas and Datam, Gamaliel, Judas, Levi, Neptalim, Alexander and Jairus, and the rest of the Jews, came to Pilate, accusing the Lord Jesus Christ of many things, and saying:	We know him to be the son
of Joseph the carpenter, born of Mary ; and he says that he is the Son of God, and a king. Not only so but he also breaks the Sabbath, and wishes to do away with the laws of our fathers. Pilate says: What is it that he does, and wishes to destroy the law? The Jews say :	We have a law, not to heal
any one on the Sabbath : but he, by evil arts, heals on the Sabbath the lame and the hunchbacked, the blind, the palsied, the lepers, and the demoniacs. Pilate says to them :	By what evil arts ? They say
to him : He is a sorcerer : and by Beelzebub, prince of the demons, he casts out demons, and they are all subject to him. Pilate says to them:	It is not in
an unclean spirit to cast out demons but in the god of Scolapius.
The Jews say :	We pray thy majesty to set himTHE ACTS OF PILATE.
157
before thy tribunal to be heard. Pilate calling the Jews to him, says to them :	How can I seeing that
I am a govenor, hear a king ? They say to him : We do not say that he is a king, but he himself says he is. And Pilate, calling a runner, says to him : Let Jesus be brought in with kindness. And the runner, going out and recognizing him, adored him and spread on the ground the cloak which he carried in his hand, saying:	My Lord, walk upon
this, and come in, because the governor calls thee. But the Jews, seeing what the runner did, cried out against Pilate, saying :	Why didst not thou make
him come in by the voice of a crier, but by a runner? for the runner, too, seeing him, has adored him, and has spread out before him on the ground the cloak which he held in his hand, and has said to him :	My Lord, the governor calls thee.
And Pilate, calling the runner, says to him: Wherefore hast thou done this, and honored Jesus, who is called Christ ? The runner says to him: When thou didst send me into Jerusalem to Alexander, I saw him sitting upon an ass, and the children of the Hebrews breaking branches from the trees, strewing them in the way ; and others spread their garments in the way, shouting and saying, Save therefore, thou who art in the highest; blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord !
The Jews cried out, saying against the runner: The children of the Hebrews indeed cried out in Hebrew. How canst thou a Gentile, know this? The runner says to them:	I asked one of the Jews,
and said, What is it that they cry out in Hebrew?158
THE ACTS OF PILATE.
and he explained to me. Pilate says to them : And how did they cry out in Hebrew? The Jews said : Osanna in the highest ! Pilate says to them : What is the meaning of Osanna in the highest ? They say to him : Save us, thou who art in the highest. Pilate ^ays to them : If you yourselves bear witness to these terms and words in which the children cried out, in what has the runner sinned? And they were silent. The governor says to the runner:	Go out,
and lead him in, in whatever way thou wilt. And the runner, going forth, did after the same form as before, and says to Jesus :	My Lord, go in because
the governor calls thee.
As Jesus, then, was going in, and the standard-bearers bearing the standards, the heads of the standards. were bowed of themselves and adored Jesus. And the Jews, seeing the standards, how they bowed themselves and adored Jesus, cried out the more against the standard-bearers. And Pilate says to the Jews :	Do you not wonder at the way in
which the standards have bowed themselves and adored Jesus? The Jews say to Pilate:	We saw
how the men carrying the standards bowed themselves and adored Jesus. And thé governor, calling the standard-bearers, says to them:	Why have
you so done? They say to Pilate : We are Gentile men, and slaves of the temple :	how had we to
adore Him :	for when we were holding the figures
they themselves bowed and adored Him.
Pilate says to the chiefs of the synagogue and the elders of the people :	Choose ye men powerful and
strong, and let them hold the standards, and let usTHE ACTS OF PILATE.
159
see whether they will bow of themselves. And the elders of the Jews, taking twelve men very strong and powerful, made them hold the standards, six and six; and they stood before the governor’s tribunal. Pilate says to the runner:	Take out Jesus
outside of the Pretorium, and bring him in again in whatever way thou wilt. And Jesus and the runner went outside of the Pretorium. And Pilate, calling those who had iormerly held the standards, said to them :	By the health of Caesar, if the stand-
ards do not bow themselves when Jesus comes in, I will cut off your heads. And the governor ordered Jesus to come in a second time. And the runner did after the same form as before, and besought Jesus much that he would go up and walk upon his cloak. And he. walked upon it, and went in. And as Jesus was going in, immediately the standards bowed themselves, and adored Jesus.
Chap. 2.—And Pilate seeing, fear seized him, and immediately he wished to rise from the tribunal. And while he was thinking of this, viz., to rise and go away, his wife sent to him, saying : Have nothing to do with that just man, for I have suffered much on account of him this night. And Pilate, calling the Jews, said to them :	Ye * know that my wife is
a worshiper of God, and in Judaism thinks rather with you. The Jews say to him :	So it is, and we
know. Pilate says to them:	Lo, my wife has sent
to me, saying :	Have nothing to do with that just
man, for I have suffered, much on account of him this night. And the Jews answering, said to Pilate :160	THE ACTS OF PILATE.
Did we not say to thee that he is a magician? Lo, he has sent a vision of dreams to thy wife.
Pilate called Jesus, and said to him :	What is it
that these witness against thee, and sayst thou nothing to them? And Jesus answered:	If they
had not the power, they would not speak. Every one has power over his own mouth to say good and evil; let them see to it.
And the elders of the Jews answering, say to Jesus:	What shall we see? First, that thou wast
born of fornication; second, that at thy birth in Bethlehem there took place a massacre of infants ; third, that thy father Joseph and thy mother Mary fled into Egypt, because they had no confidence in the people.
Some of the bystanders, kind men of the Jews, say: We say that he was not born of fornication ; but we know that Mary was espoused to Joseph, and that he was not born of fornication. Pilate says to the Jews who said that he was of fornication: This speech of yours is not true, seeing that the betrothal took place, as these of your nation say. Annas and Caiaphas say to Pilate :	We, with all
the multitude, say that he was born of fornication, and that he is a magician ; but these are proselytes, and his disciples. And Pilate, calling Annas and Caiaphas, says to them:	What are proselytes?
They say to him : They have been born sons of the Gentiles, and then have become Jews. Then answered those who testified that Jesus was not born of fornication, Lazarus and Asterius, Antonius and James, Annes and Azaras, Samuel and Isaac, Fi-THE ACTS OF PILATE.
161
nees and Crispus, Agrippa and Judas: We were not born proselytes, but are sons of the Jews, and we speak the truth : for we were present at the betrothal of Mary.
And Pilate, calling to him those twelve men who proved that Jesus had not been born of fornication, said to them :	I adjure you by the health of Caesar,
tell me if it be true that Jesus was not born of fornication. They say to Pilate :	We have a law not to
swear because it is a sin ; but let them swear by the health of Caesar that it is not as we say, and we are worthy of death. Then said Pilate to Annas and Caiaphas: .Answer you nothing to those things which these testify ? Annas and Caiaphas say to Pilate : Those twelve are believed that he was not born of fornication ; we—all the people—cry out that he was born of fornication, and is a magician, and says that he himself is the Son of God and a king, and we are not believed.
And Pilate ordered all the multitude to go outside, except the twelve men who said that he was not born of fornication, and ordered to separate Jesus from them. And Pilate says to them:	For what
reason do the Jews wish to put Jesus to death? And they say to him :	They are angry because he
heals on the Sabbath. Pilate said:	For a good
work do they wish to put him to death ? They say to him :	Yes, my Lord.
Chap. 3.—Pilate, filled with fury, went forth outside of the Pretorium, and says to them : I take the • ii162	THE ACTS OF PILATE.
sun to witness that I find in this man not even one fault. The Jews answered and said to the governor : If he were not an evil-doer we should never have delivered him to thee. Pilate says to them : Take him and judge him according to your law. The Jews answered : It is not permitted to us to put any one to death. Pilate says to them : Has God said to you not to put any one to death ? has he, therefore, said to me that I am to kill?
Pilate, having again gone into the Pretorium, called Jesus to him privately, and said to him : Art thou the king of the Jews? Jesus answered Pilate : Speakest thou this of thyself, or have others said it to thee of me? Pilate answered: Am I a Jew? Thy nation and the chief priests have delivered thee to me. What hast thou done? Jesus, answering, said: My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would assuredly strive that I should not be delivered to the Jews : but my kingdom is not from hence. Pilate said to him: Art thou then a king ? Jesus said to him : Thou sayest that I am a king. For I for this was born, and for this have I come, that I should bear witness to the truth ; and every one who is of the truth hears my voice. Pilate says to him : What is truth? Jesus says: Truth is from heaven. Pilate says : Is not there truth upon earth? Jesus says to Pilate : Notice how the truth-speaking are judged by those who have power upon earth.
Chap. 4.—Pilate, therefore, leaving Jesus within the Pretorium, went out to the Jews, and says toTHE ACTS OF PILATE.
163
them : I find not even one fault in him. The Jews say to him : He said, I can destroy that Temple, and in three days raise it again. Pilate said to them : What Temple? The Jews say to him : The Temple which Solomon built in forty and six years ; and he says that he can destroy and build it in three days. Pilate says to them ; I am innocent of the blood of this man ; see ye to it. The Jews say to him : His blood be upon us and upon our children.
And Pilate, calling the elders and priests and Levites, says to them privately: Do not do so ; for in nothing, though you accuse him, do I find him deserving of death, not even about the healing, and the breaking of the Sabbath. The priests and Levites and elders say: Tell us, if any one blasphem-eth Caesar, is he deserving of death or not? Pilate says to them : He deserves to die. The Jews answered him : How much more is he who has blasphemed God deserving to die I
And the governor ordered the Jews to go outside of the Pretorium ; and, calling Jesus, said to him : What am I to do with thee? Jesus says to Pilate : As it has been given thee. Pilate says : How has it been given? Jesus says : Moses and the prophets made proclamation of my death and Resurrection. And the Jews, hearing this, say to Pilate : Why do you desire any more to hear blasphemy ? And Pilate said : If this speech is blasphemous, do you take him and lead him to your synagogue and judge him according to your law. The Jews say to Pilate: Our law holds, If a man have sinned against a man, he is worthy to receive forty less164	THE ACTS OF PILATE.
one ; but he who has blasphemed against God, to be stoned.
Pilate says to them : Then judge him according to your law. The jews say to Pilate: We wish that he be crucified. Pilate says to them : He does not deserve to be crucified.
And the governor, looking upon the people of the Jews standing round, saw very many of the Jews weeping, and said : All the multitude does not wish him to die. The elders say to Pilate: And for this reason have we come—the whole multitude —that he should die. Pilate said to the Jews: What has he done that he should die? They say: Because he said that he was the Son of God, and a king.
Chap. 5.—But one Nicodemus, a Jew, stood before the governor, and said: I entreat mercifully, allow me to say a few words. Pilate says to him : Say on. Nicodemus says : I said to the elders and the priests and the Levites, and to all the multitude of the Jews in the synagogue, What have you to do with this man ? This man does many wonders and signs, which no one of men has done or can do. Let him go, and do not devise any evil against him : if the signs which he does are of God, they will stand ; but if of men, they will come to nothing. For Moses, also, being sent by God into Egypt, did many signs, which God told him to do before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And the sorcerers, Jamnes and Mambres, were there healing, and they did, they also, the signs which Moses did, but not all,THE ACTS OF PILATE.
165
and the Egyptians deemed them as gods, Jamnes and Mambres. And since the signs which they did were not of God, they perished, both they and those who believed in them. And now let this man go, for he is not deserving of death.
The Jews say to Nicodemus : Thou hast become his disciple, and takest his part. Nicodemus says to them : Has the governor also become his disciple, and does he take his part? Has not Caesar set him over that dignity? And the Jews were raging and gnashing with their teeth against Nicodemus. Pilate says to them : Why do you gnash your teeth against him, when you are hearing the truth? The Jews say to Nicodemus: Mayst thou receive his truth, and a portion with him ! Nicodemus says : Amen, amen, amen ; may I receive it, as you have said!
Chap. 6.—And of the Jews a certain other one, starting up, asks the governor that he might say a word. The governor says : What thou wishest to say, say. And he said : For thirty-eight years I lay in infirmity in my bed in very grievous pain And at the coming of Jesus many demoniacs, and persons held down by divers infirmities, were healed by him. And some young men had pity on me, and, carrying me in bed, laid me before him. And Jesus, seeing, had pity on me and said the word to me, Take up thy bed and walk. And immediately I was made whole ; I took up my bed and walked. The Jews say to Pilate; Ask him what was the day on which he was healed He said : The Sabbath.THE ACTS OF PILATE.
166
The Jews say: Have we not so informed thee, that on the Sabbath he heals and drives out demons ?
And a certain other Jew, starting up, said : I was born blind ; I heard a voice and saw no man. And as Jesus was passing by I cried out with a loud voice, Have pity upon me, thou son of David. And he had pity upon me, and laid his hands upon my eyes, and I saw immediately. And another Jew, starting up, said : I was hunchbacked, and he straightened me with a word. And another said: I was leprous, and he healed me with a word.
Chap. 7.—-And also a certain woman, Veronica by name, from afar off cried out to the governor: I was flowing with blood for twelve years ; and I touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately the flowing of my blood stopped. The Jews say: We have a law that a woman does not come to bear \yitness.
Chap. 8.—And certain others, a multitude of men and women, cried out,.saying : That man is a prophet, and the demons are subject to him. Pilate says to those who said that the demons are subject to him : And your masters, why are they not subject to him? They say to Pilate : We do not know. And others said to Pilate: He raised up dead Lazarus from the tomb after four days. The governor, hearing this, said trembling to all the multitude of the Jews: Why do you wish to shed innocent blood ?THE ACTS OF PILATE.
167
Chap. 9.—And Pilate, calling Nicodemus and the twelve men who said that he was not born of fornication, says to them: What am I to do, seeing that there is a sedition among the people ? They say to him : We do not know ; let them see to it. Again Pilate, calling all the multitude of the Jews, said: You know that you have a custom during the day of unleavened bread, that I should release to you one that is bound. I have a notable one bound in the prison, a murderer who is called Bar Abbas, and Jesus who is called Christ, in whom I find no cause of death. Whom do you wish that I should release unto you? And they all cried out saying : Release unto us Bar Abbas. Pilate says to them : What, then, am I to do with Jesus who is called Christ? They all say : Let him be crucified. Again the Jews said: Thou art no friend of Caesar’s if thou release this man, for he called himself the Son of God, and a king: unless perhaps thou wishest this man to be king, and not Caesar.
Then, filled with fury, Pilate said to them : Always has your nation been seditious, and always have you been opposed to those who were for you. The Jews answered : Who are for us? Pilate says to them : Your God, who rescued you from the hard slavery of the Egyptians, and led you forth out of Egypt through the sea as if through dry land, and fed you in the desert with manna and quail, and brought water to you out of the rock and gave you to drink, and gave you a law ; and in all these things you provoked your God, and sought for yourselves a god—a molten calf. And you exasperatedi68
THE ACTS OF PILATE.
your God, and he wished to slay you ; and Moses made supplication for you, that ye should not die. And now you say that I hate the king.
And, rising up from the tribunal, he wished to go outside. And the Jews cried out and said to him : We know that Caesar is king, and not Jesus. For the magi also presented gifts to him as a king; and Herod, hearing from the magi that a king was born, wished to slay him. But when this was known, his father, Joseph, took him and his mother and fled into Egypt: and Herod, hearing, destroyed the infants of the Jews which were born in Bethlehem.
Pilate, hearing these words, was afraid. And, silence being made among the people who wefe crying out, Pilate said: This, then, is he whom Herod sought? They say to him : It is he. And, taking water, Pilate washed his hands in presence of the people, saying: I am innocent of the blood of this just man; see ye to it. Again the Jews cried out, saying : His blood be upon us and upon our children.
Then 4 Pilate ordered the veil to be loosened, and said to Jesus: Thine own nation have brought charges against thee as a king; and, therefore, I have sentenced thee first to be scourged on account of the statutes of the emperors, and then to be crucified on the cross.
Chap. 10.—And when Jesus was scourged, he delivered him to the Jews to be crucified, and two robbers with him ; one by name Dismas, and the other by name Gistas. And when they came toCHRIST LEAVING THE PRAETORIUMTHE ACTS OF PILATE.	169
the place, they stripped him of his garments and girt him about with a linen cloth and put a crown of thorns upon his head. Likewise, also, they hanged the two robbers with him, Dismas on the right and Gistas on the left. And Jesus said :	Father, for-
give them, for they know not what they do. And the soldiers parted his garments among them. And the people stood waiting ; and their chief priest and judges mocked him, saying among themselves: He saved others, now let him save himself; if he is the Son of God, let him come down from the cross. And the soldiers mocked him, falling prostrate before him, and offering him vinegar with gall, and saying :	If thou art the king of the Jews, set thy-
self free.
And Pilate, after sentence, ordered a title to be written in Hebrew, Greek and Latin letters, according to what the Jews said: This is the King of the Jews.
And one of the robbers who were hanged, by name Gistas, said to him:	If thou art the Christ,
free thyself and us. And Dismas, answering, rebuked him, saying :	Dost not even thou fear God,
who art in condemnation ? for we justly and deservedly have received those things which we endure, but he has done no evil. And he kept saying to Jesus:	Remember me, Lord, in thy kingdom.
And Jesus said to him : Verily I say unto thee, that today shalt thou be with me in paradise.
Chap. 11. And it was-about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole earth; and theI/O	THE ACTS OF PILATE.
sun was obscured, and the veil of the Temple was rent in the midst. And, crying out with a loud voice, he said:	Father, into thy hands I commend
my spirit. And thus saying, he gave up the ghost. And the centurion, seeing what was done glorified God, saying:	This was a just man. And all the
people who were present at that spectacle, seeing what was done, beating their breasts, returned.
And the centurion reported to the governor what was done. And the governor and his wife hearing, were very sorrowful, and neither ate nor drank that day. And Pilate, calling together the Jews, said to them :	Have you seen what has been done? And
they said to the governor:	There has been an
eclipse of the sun, as is usual.
And his acquaintances stood afar oflf, and the women who had followed him from Galilee, seeing these things. And lo, a certain man, by name Joseph, holding office—a man good and just, who did not consent to their counsels nor their deeds, from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, waiting—he, also for the kingdom of God, went to Pilate and begged the body of Jesus. And, taking him down from the cross, he wrapped him in clean linen and laid him in his own new tomb, in which no one had been laid.
Chap. 12.—And the Jews, hearing that Joseph had begged the body of Jesus, sought for him ; and those twelve men who had said that He was not born of fornication, and many others who had .stood before Pilate and declared his good works. AndTHE ACTS OF PILATE.	17 I
all of them being hid, Nicodemus alone appeared to them, because he was a chief man of the Jews ; and he says to them :	How have ye come into the
synagogue? The Jews say to him:	And thou,
how hast thou come into the synagogue, seeing that thou consentest with him? May his portion be with thee in the world to come! Nicodemus said: Amen, amen, amen. Likewise also Joseph, coming forth, said to themi Why are you enraged against me because I begged the body of Jesus? Lo, I have laid him in my own new tomb, wrapping him in clean linen; and I have rolled a stone to the door of the cave. And ye have not acted well against a just man, since you have not borne in mind how you crucified him and pierced him with a lance. The Jews, therefore, laying hold of Joseph, ordered him to be imprisoned because of the Sabbath day ; and they say to him :	Know that the hour com-
pels us not to do anything against thee, because the Sabbath is dawning. But understand that thou art worthy not even of burial, but we will give thy flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth. Joseph says to them :	That is the speech of the
proud Goliath, who reviled the living God against holy David. *And God hath said, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. And Pilate, intercepted in his heart, took water, and washed his hands before the sun, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just man ; see ye to it. And you answered and said to Pilate, His blood be upon us, and upon our children. And now I fear that sometime or other the wrath of God will come upon you172
THE ACTS OF PILATE,
and your children, as you have said. And the Jews, hearing this, were embittered in heart; and taking Joseph, shut him up in a house where there was no window, and set guards at the gates, and sealed the^gate where Joseph had been shut up.
And on the Sabbath morning they took counsel with the priests and the Levites, that they should all be assembled after the Sabbath day. And awaking at dawn, all the multitude in the synagogue took counsel by what death they should slay him. And when the assembly was sitting, they ordered him to be brought with much indignity; and opening the gate, they found him not. All the people therefore were in terror, and wondered with exceeding astonishment, because they found the seals sealed, and because Caiaphas had the keys. And no longer did they dare to lay hand upon those who spoke before Pilate in Jesus’ defense.
Chap. 13.—And while they were sitting in the synagogue, and recriminating about Joseph, there came certain of the guards whom they had asked from Pilate to guard the sepulchre of Jesus, lest his disciples coming should steal him. And they reported, saying to the rulers of the Synagogue, and the priest and the Levites, what had happened: how there had happened a great earthquake, and we saw how an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, and rolled away the stone from the door of the tomb, and sat upon it; and his countenance was like lightning, and his raiment like snow. And for fear, we became as dead. And we heard the voiceTHE ACTS OF PILATE.
173
of the angel speaking to the women who had come to the sepulchre, and saying, Be not ye afraid; for I know that ye seek Jesus who was crucified:	He
is not here ; he has risen, as he said: come and see the place where the Lord was laid. And go immediately and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead, and will go before you into Galilee, as he said to you.
The Jews say:	To what women was he speaking? The soldiers say :	We do not know who the
women were. The Jews say :	At what hour was
it? The guards say:	At midnight. The Jews
say:	And why did you not detain them ? The
guards say :	We became as dead from fear of the
angel, not hoping now to see the light of day , and how could we detain them? The Jews say:	As
the Lord God liveth, we do not believe you. And the guards said to the Jews :	You have seen so
great signs in that man, and have not believed ; and how can you believe us that the Lord lives? For well have ye sworn that the Lord Jesus Christ lives. Again the guards say to the Jews :	We have heard
that you have shut up Joseph, who begged the body of Jesus, in the prison, and have sealed it with your rings; and on opening, that you have not found him. Give us Joseph, then, and we shall give you Jesus Christ. The Jews said : Joseph has gone to Arimathea, his own city. The guards say to the Jews : And Jesus, as we have heard from the angel is in Galilee.
And the Jews, hearing these sayings, feared exceedingly, saying : Lest at some time or other this174
THE ACTS OF PILATE.
saying be heard, and all believe in Jesus. And the Jews, taking counsel among themselves, brought forth a sufficient number of silver pieces, and gave to the soldiers, saying; Say that, while we slept, his disciples came and stole him. And if this be heard by the governor, we shall persuade him, and make you secure. And the soldiers, taking the money, said as they were advised by the Jews, and their saying was spread abroad among all.
Chap. 14.—And Finees a certain priest, and Addas a teacher, and Egias a Levite, coming down from Galilee to Jerusalem, reported to the rulers of the synagogue, aud the priests and the Levites, how they had seen Jesus sitting, and his disciples with him, on the Mount of Olivet, which is called Mam-bre, or Malech. And he said to his disciples: Go into all the world, and declare to every creature the gospel of the kingdom of God. He who believeth and is baptized shall be saved ; but he who believeth not shall be condemned. And these signs shall follow them who believe: In my name shall they cast out demons ; they shall speak in new tongues ; they shall take up serpents ; and if they have drunk any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them ; they shall lay hands upon the sick, and they shall be well. And as Jesus was thus speaking to his disciples, we saw him taken up into heaven.
The priests and the Levites and the elders say to them: Give glory to the God of Israel, and give confession to him, whether you have both heard and seen those things which you have related.THE ACTS OF PILATE.
175
Those who had made the report say :	As the Lord
God of our fathers liveth, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, we have heard and seen. The Jews say to them:	Have
you come for this—to tell us ? or have you come to give prayer to God? They said : We have come to give prayer to God. The elders and chief priests and Levites say to them: And if you have come to give prayer to God, why have you murmured before all the people about that foolish tale? Finees the priest, and Addas the teacher, and Egias the Levite, say to the rulers of the synagogue, and the priests and the Levites :	If those words which we have
spoken, which we have seen and heard, be sin, behold we are in your presence ; do unto us according to that which is good in your eyes. And they taking the law, adjured them to report the words to no one thereafter And they gave them to eat and drink, and put them outside of the city, giving them silver pieces, and three men with them, who should conduct them as far as Galilee.
Then the Jews took counsel among themselves when those men had gone up into Galilee ; and the rulers of the synagogue shut themselves in, and were cut up with great fury, saying: What sign is this which hath come to pass in Israel? And Annas and Caiphas say :	Why are your souls sorrow-
ful? Are we to believe the soldiers, that an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, and rolled away the stone from the door of the tomb? No ; but that his disciples have given much gold to those who were guarding the sepulchre, and have taken Jesus176	THE ACTS OF PILATE.
away, and have taught them thus to say : Say ve, that an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, and rolled away the stone from the door of the tomb. Do you not know that it is unlawful for Jews to believe foreigners in a single word, knowing that these same who received sufficient gold from us have said as we taught them ?
Chap. 15. And Nicodemus rising up, stood in the midst of the council, and said: You have said rightly. And are not the men who have come down from Galilee God-fearing, men of peace, hating a lie? And they recounted with an oath, how “we saw Jesus sitting on Mount Mambre with his disciples, and he taught them in our hearing, and that they saw him taken up into heaven. And no one asked them this : How he was taken up into heaven. And, as the writing of the holy book teaches us, holy Elias too was taken up into heaven, and Elisaeus cried out with a loud voice, and Elias threw his sheepskin over Elisaeus; and again Elisaeus threw that sheepskin over the Jordan, and went over and came to Jericho. And the sons of the prophets met him, and said to Elisaeus, Where is thy master Elias? And he said, He has been taken up into Heaven. And they said to Elisaeus, Has a spirit snatched him away, and thrown him upon one of the mountains? But rather let us take our boys with us and seek him. And they persuaded Elisaeus, and he went with them. And they sought him for three days and three nights, and found him not, because he was taken up. And now, men,THE ACTS OF PILATE.
i/7
hear me, and let us send into all Israel, and see lest Jesus can have been taken up somewhere or other, and thrown upon one of the mountains. And that saying pleased all. And they sent to all the mountains of Israel to seek Jesus, and they found him not; but they found Joseph of Arimathea, and no one dared to lay hold of him.
And they reported to the elders and priests and Levites: We have gone found all the mountains of Israel, and not found Jesus ; buf we found Joseph in Arimathea. And hearing of Joseph, they rejoiced, and gave glory to the God of Israel. And the rulers of the synagogue, and the priests and the Levites, taking counsel in what manner they should send to Joseph, took paper, and wrote to Joseph.
Peace to thee and all that is thine ! We know that we have sinned against God, and against thee; and thou hast prayed to the God of Israel, and he has delivered thee out of our hands. And now deign to come to thy fathers and thy children, because we have been vehemently grieved. We have all sought for thee—we who opened the door, and found thee not. We know that we counseled evil counsel against thee ; but the Lord hath supplanted our counsel against thee. Thou art worthy to be honored, father Joseph, by all the people.
And they chose out of all Israel seven men friendly to Joseph, whom also Joseph knew to be irienaly ; and the rulers of the synagogue and the priests and the Levites say to them : See, if he take
the letter and read it, for certain he will come with 12178
THE ACTS OF PILATE.
you to us ; but if he do not read, you may know that he is ill-disposed towards us, and. saluting him in peace, return to us. And blessing them, they sent them away. And they came to Arimathea to Joseph, and adored him on their face upon the ground, and said: Peace to thee and all thine! And Joseph said : Peace to you, and to all the people of Israel! And they gave him the roll of the letter. And Joseph took and read it, and rolled up the letter, and blessed God, and said: Blessed be the Lord God, who hath delivered Israel from shedding innocent blood; and blessed be God, who sent his angel, and covered me under his wings. And he kissed them, and set a table for them ; and they ate and drank, and slept there.
And they rose in the morning ; and Joseph saddled his ass, and travelled with them, and they came into the holy city Jerusalem. And there met them all the people, crying out, and saying: Peace be in thy coming in, father Joseph! To whom he answered and said: The peace of the Lord be upon all the people! And they all kissed him. And they prayed with Joseph, and were terrified at the sight of him. And Nicodemus tooL him into his house, and made a great feast, and called Annas and Caiaphas, and the elders and chief priests and Levites, to his house. And making merry, and eating and drinking with Joseph, they blessed God, and went every one to his own house. And Joseph remained in the house of Nicodemus.
And on the next day, .which is the preparation, the priests and the rulers of the synagogue and theTHE ACTS OF PILATE.
179
Levites rose early, and came to the house of Nico-demus. And Nicodemus met them, and said to them: Peace to you ! And they said to him : Peace to thee and Joseph, and to thy house and Joseph’s house! And Nicodemus brought them into his house. And the council sat; and Joseph sat between Annas and Caiaphas, and no one dared to say a word. And Joseph said to them : Why have you called me? And they made signs with their eyes to Nicodemus, that he should speak with Joseph. And Nicodemus opening his mouth, said : Father Joseph, thou knowest that the reverend teachers, priests, and Levites seek to hear a word from thee. And Joseph said: Ask. And Annas and Caiaphas, taking up the law, adjured Joseph, saying: Give glory to the God of Israel, and give confession to him, that thou wilt not hide any word from us. And they said to him : With grief were we grieved that thou didst beg the body of Jesus, and wrap it in clean linen, and lay it in a tomb. Therefore we shut thee up in a house where there was no window, and put a lock and a seal on the gate ; and on the first day of the week we opened the gates, and found thee not. We were therefore exceedingly grieved, and astonishment came over all the people of God. And therefore hast thou been sent for; and now tell us what has happened.
Then said Joseph: On the day of the preparation, about the tenth hour, you shut me.in, and I remained there the whole Sabbath in full. And when midnight came, as I‘was standing and praying, the house where you shut me in was hung upi8o
THE ACTS OF PILATE.
by the four corners, and there was a flashing of light in mine eyes. And I fell to the ground trembling. Then some one lifted me up from the place where I had fallen, and poured over me an abundance of water from the head even to the feet, and put round my nostrils the odor of a wonderful ointment, and rubbed my face with the water itself, as if washing me, and kissed me, and said to me, Joseph, fear not; but open thine eyes, and see who it is that speaks to thee. And looking, I saw Jesus ; and being terrified, I thought it was a phantom. And with prayer and the commandments I spoke to him, and he spoke with me. And I said to him : Art thou Rabbi Elias ? And he said to me : I am not Elias. And I said: Who art thou, my lord? And he said to me: I am Jesus, whose body thou didst beg from Pilate, and wrap in clean linen : and thou didst lay a napkin on my face, and didst lay me in a new tomb, and roll a stone to the door of the tomb. Then I said to him that was speaking to me: Show me, Lord, where I laid thee. And he led me, and showed me the place where I laid him, and the linen which I had put on him, and the napkin which I had wrapped upon his face; and I knew that it was Jesus. And he took hold of me with his hands, and put me in the midst of my house though the gates were shut, and put me in my bed, and said to me : Peace to thee ! And he kissed me, and said, to me.: For forty days go not out of thy house; for, lo, I go to my brethren into Galilee.
Chap. 16.—And the rulers of the synagogue, andTHE ACTS OF PILATE.
181
the priests and the Levites, hearing these words from Joseph, became as it were, dead, and fell to the ground, and fasted until the ninth hour. And Joseph and Nicodemus entreated them, saying: Arise and stand upon your feet, and taste bread, and comfort your souls, seeing that to-morrow is the Sabbath of the Lord. And they arose, and entreated the Lord, and afe and drank, and went every man to his own house.
- And on the Sabbath the teachers and doctors sat questioning each other, and saying : What is this wrath that has come upon us ? because we know his father and mother. Levi the teacher said: I know that his parents fear God, and never depart from prayer, and give tithes thrice a year. And when Jesus was born, his parents brought him up to this place, and gave to God sacrifices and burnt offerings. And assuredly the great teacher Simeon took him into his arms, saying: Now thou sendest away thy servant, O Lord, according to thy word, in peace; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples, a light for the revealing of the nations, and the glory of thy people Israel. And he blessed Mary his mother, and said, I make an announcement to thee concerning this child. And Mary said, Well, my lord. And Simeon said, Well. And he said again, Lo, he has been set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be spoken against; and a sword shall pierce thine own soul, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.182
THE ACTS OF PILATE.
And the j ews said to Levi: And how knowest thou these things ? Levi says : Do you not know that from him I learned the law? They of the council say : We wish to see thy father. And they searched out his father, and got information ; for he said: Why did you not believe my son? The blessed and just Simeon taught him the law. The council says to Rabbi Levi: The saying which thou hast spoken is true. The chief priests and rulers of the synagogue, and Levites, said to each other: Come, let us send into Galilee to the three men who came hither and gave an account of his teaching and his being taken up, and let them tell us how they saw him taken up into heaven. And that saying pleased all. Then they sent three men into Galilee ; and go, said they, say to Rabbi Addas and Rabbi Finees and Rabbi Egias, Peace to you and yours ! Many investigations have been made in the council concerning Jesus ; therefore have we been instructed to call you to the holy place, to Jerusalem.
The men went to Galilee, and found them sitting and meditating on the law. And they saluted them in peace. And they said : Why have you come? The messengers said : The council summon you to, the holy city Jerusalem. And the men, hearing that they were sought for by the council, prayed to God, and reclined with the men, and ate and drank with them. And rising in the morning, they went to Jerusalem in peace.
And on the morrow the council sat; and they questioned them, saying : Did you plainly see JesusTHE ACTS OF PILATE.	183
sitting on Mount Mambre teaching his disciples; and taken up into heaven?
First Addas the teacher says : I really saw him sitting on Mount Mambre teaching his disciples; and a shining cloud overshadowed him and his disciples, and he went up into heaven ; and his disciples prayed upon their faces on the ground. And calling Finees the priest, they questioned him also, saying: How didst thou see Jesus taken up? And he said the same as the other. And again they tailed the third, Rabbi Engias, and questioned him, and he said the same as the first and second. And those who were in the council said: The law of Moses holds that by the mouth of two or three every word should stand. Abudem, a teacher, one of the doctors, says: It is written in the law, Enoch walked with God, and was translated; for God took him. Jairus, a teacher, said : And we have heard of the death of holy Moses and have not seen it; for it is written in the law of the Lord.’ And Moses died according to the word of the Lord, and no man knoweth of his burying even to the present day. Rabbi Levi said: What is it that Rabbi Simeon said? Lo, he lies for the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sigh which shall be spoken against? Rabbi Isaac said: It is written in the law, Lo, I send mine angel, who shall go before thy face to keep thee in every good way, because I have brought his new name.
Then Annas and Caiaphas said: Rightly have ye said that these things are written in the law of Moses that no one saw the death of Enoch, and no184
THE ACTS OF PILATE.
one has named the burying of holy Moses. And Jesus gave account to Pilate, and we saw him scourged and receiving spitting on his face : and the soldiers put a crown of thorns on him, and he received sentence from Pilate; and then he was crucified, and they gave him gall and vinegar to drink; and two robbers were crucified with him, and the soldier Longinus pierced his side with a lance ; and our honorable father Joseph begged his body, and he has risen again, and, as they say, the three teachers have seen Him taken up into heaven. And Rabbi Levi has borne witness to what was said by Simeon the elder—that he has been set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be spoken against.
Then Didas, a teacher, said to all the assembly: If all the things which these have borne witness to have come to pass in Jesus,* they are from God, and let it not be wonderful in our eyes. The chiefs of the synagogue, and the priests and the Levites said to each other how our law holds, saying : His name shall be blessed forever: His place endureth before the sun, and his seat before the moon ; and all the tribes of earth shall be blessed in him, and all nations shall serve him ; and kings shall come from far, adoring and magnifying him.
*And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which if they should be written every one, I suppose thaj even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written, Amen. John xxi, 25.TISCHENDORF’S COMMENTS
ON THE ACTS OF PILATE.
In one of his most critical and learned works,* Tischendorf says:
“Justin, in like manner as before, is the most ancient voucher for this work, which is said to have been written under Pilate’s jurisdiction, and by reason of its specification of wonderful occurrences before, during and after the crucifixion, to have borne strong evidence to the divinity of Christ. Justin saw as little reason as Tertullian and others, for believing that it was a work of pious deception from a Christian hand.” [A.s has been alleged by opponents.] “On the contrary, Justin appeals to it twice in his first apology in order to confirm the accounts of the occurrences which took place at the crucifixion in accordance with prophecy, and of the miraculous healings effected by Christ, also the subject of prophetic announcement. He cites specifically (chap. 35) from Isaiah lxv. 2, and lviii. 2: ‘I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people which walketh in a way that was not good. They ask of me the ordinances of justice,
«Origin of the Four Gospels, pp. 141 et. Seq.
(185)186	tischendorf’s comments.
they take delight in approaching to God. ’ Further, from the 22d Psalm: ‘They pierced my hands and my feet; they parted my garments upon them and cast lots upon my vesture.’ With reference to this he remarks that Christ fulfilled this; that he did stretch forth his hands when the Jews crucified him —the men who contended against Him and denied that he was Christ. ‘Then,’ he says further, ‘as the prophet foretold, they dragged him to the judgment seat, set him upon it and said, ‘judge us.’ The expression, however, ‘they pierced,’ etc,’ refers to the nails with which they fastened his feet and hands to the cross. And after they had crucified him they threw lots for his clothing, and they who had taken part in the act of crucifixion divided it among themselves. To this he adds : And you can learn from the Acts, composed during the governorship of Pontius Pilate that these things really happened.’ “Still more explicit is the testimony of Tertullian. It maybe found in Apologeticus (chap. 2) where he says that out of envy Jesus was Surrendered to Pilate by the Jewish ceremonial lawyers, and by him, after he had yielded to the cries of the people, given over for crucifixion ; that while hanging on the cross he gave up the ghost with a loud cry, and so anticipated the executioner’s duty ; that at that same hour the day was interrupted by a sudden darkness ; that a guard of soldiers was set at the grave for the purpose of preventing his disciples stealing his body, since he had predicted his resurrection, but that on the third dav the ground was suddenly shaken and the stone rolled away from be-tischendorf’s comments.	187
fore the sepulchre : that in the grave nothing was found but the articles used in his burial; that the report was spread abroad by those who stood outside that the . disciples had taken the body away ; that Jesus spent forty days with them in Galilee, teaching them what their mission should be. and that after giving them their instructions as to what they should preach, he was raised in a cloud to heaven. Tertullian closes this account with the words, ‘All this was reported to the Emperor at that time, Tiberius, by Pilate, his conscience having compelled even him to become a Christian.’
“The document now in our possession corresponds with this evidence of Justin and Tertullian. Even in the title it agrees with the account of Justin, although instead of the word acta, which he used, and which is manifestly much more Latin than Greek a Greek expression is employed which can be shown to have been used to indicate genuine Acts. The details recounted by Justin and Tertullian are all found in our text of the Acts of Pilate, with this variation, that nothing corresponds to w'hat is joined to the declaration of the prophet, ‘They dragged him to the seat of judgment and set him upon it and said.’ etc. Besides this, the casting lots for the vesture is expressed simply by the allusion to the division of the clothes. We must give even closer scrutiny to one point. Justin alludes to the miracles which were performed in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, on the lame, the dumb, the blind, the dead and on lepers. In fact, in our Acts of Pilate there are made to appear before the Roman gov-188
tischendorf’s comments.
ernor a palsied man who had suffered for thirty-eight years, and was brought in a bed by young men, and healed on the Sabbath day ; a blind man cured by the laying on of hands ; a cripple who had been restored ; a leper who had been cleansed ; the woman whose issue of blood had been stanched, and a witness of the raising of Lazarus from the dead. Of that which Tertullian cites we will adduce merely the passage found in no one of our gospels, that Jesus passed forty days after his res-surrection in company with his disciples in Galilee.
“This is indicated in our Acts of Pilate at the end of the fifteenth chapter, where the risen man is represented assaying to Joseph: ‘For forty days go not out of thy house, for behold I go to my brethren in Galilee,’
“Every one will perceive how strongly the argument that our Acts of Pilate are the same which Justin and Tertullian .read is buttressed by these unexpected coincidences. The assertion recently made requires, consequently, no labored contradiction that the allusions to both men have grown out of their mere suspicion that there was such a record as the Acts of Pilate, or out of the circulation of a mere story about such a record, while the real work was »written as the consequence of these allusions at the close of the third century. What an uncommon fancy it requires in the two men to coincide so perfectly in a single production, as is the case in the Acts to which I am now referring. And are we to imagine that they referred with such em-tischendorf’s comments.	189
phasis as they employed to the mere creations of their fancy ?
“The question has been raised with more justice, whether the production in our possession may not have been a copy or a free revision of the old and primitive one. The modern change in the title has given support to this conjecture, for it has occasioned the work to be commonly spoken of as the Gospel of Nicodemus. But this title is borne neither by any Greek manuscript, the Coptic-Sahid-ian papyrus, nor the Latin manuscripts with the exception of a few of the most recent. It may be traced only subsequently to the twelfth century, although at a very early period, in one of the two prefaces attached to the work, Nicodemus is mentioned in one place as a Hebrew author and in another as a Greek translator. But aside from the title, the hand-writing displays great variation, and the two prefaces alluded to above show clearly the work of two hands. Notwithstanding this, however, there are decisive grounds for holding that our Acts of Pilate contains in its main / substance the document drawn from Justin and Tertullian. The first of these to be noticed is, that the Greek text, as given in the version most widely circulated in the manuscripts, is surprisingly corroborated by two documents of the rarest character, and first used by myself—a Coptic-Sahidian papyrus manuscript and a Latin palimpsest—both probably dating from the fifth century. Such a documentary confirmation of their text is possessed by scarcely ten works of the collective Greek classic literature. Both of these190
tischendorf’s comments.
ancient writings make it in the highest degree probable that the Egyptian and Latin translations which they contain were executed still earlier.
;*But could a work which was held in great consideration in Justin’s and Tertullian’s time and down to the commencement of the fourth century, and which strenuously insists that the Emperor Maximin caused other blasphemous Acts of Pilate to be published and zealously circulated, manifestly for the purpose of displacing and discrediting the older Christian Acts—could such a work suddenly change its whole form, and from the fifth century, to which in so extraordinary a manner translators, wholly different in character, point back with such wonderful concurrence, continue in the new form ? Contrary as this is to all historical criticism, there is in the contents of the work, in the singular manner in which isolated and independent details are shown to be related to the canonical books, no less than in the accordance with the earliest quotations found in Justin and Tertullian, a guaranty of the greatest antiquity.
“There are in the contents, also, matters of such a nature that we must confess that they are to be traced back to the primitive edition, as, for example, the narrative in the first chapter of the bringing forward of the accused.
“It is incorrect, moreover, to draw a conclusion from Justin’s designation of the Acta which is not warranted by the whole character of the work. The Acta, the U7tojoy^juaro, are specified in Justin’s account not less than in the manuscripts which wetischendorf’s comments.	191
possess, as being written under Pontius Pilate, and that can signify nothing else than that they were an official production composed under the direct sanction of the Roman Governor.”
Such are the remarks of Tischendorf in regard to the remarkable papers which have just been presented. Whatever else he may have said of them in relation to their connection with our Scriptures, one thing he has most clearly affirmed, viz., that it e are to-day in -possession of the records transmitted by Pilate to the Roman Emperor, as seen by Justin, referred to by Tertullian, and as alluded to by Eusebius. The simple question remaining to be settled by the reader is this : Are we to accept them as Justin, Tertullian and Eusebius did, as the official statements of Pilate, originating in his pro-curatorship in Judea, and written under his knowledge and with his sanction, or are we to assume as some have done, that these three eminent men spoke and wrote of matters of the highest importance to all coming generations without a correct appreciation of what they were doing? It requires great hardihood to cast aside the plain and emphatic statements of Justin Martyr, Tertullian and Eusebius ; made by Justin at least to the Roman Senate, an educated Emperor, and to philosphers, and kept alive from A. d. 138 down to a. d. 315.
Now the first question to be settled is : Have we those Acts of Pilate?
To prove that we have, is the abject before us in the quoting of the foregoing. We ask the reader to examine carefully again what Dr. Tis-^192
TISCHENDORE’S COMMENTS.
chendorf has said in relation to “Our Acts of Pilate.” Now it is simply impossible to go behind this record. The examination of the oldest existing manuscripts of these records was carefully made by this eminent scholar, who is their discoverer— the body of the text, the prologue, in their handwriting and other particulars being carefully made. A searching comparison of their contents with the description given by the apologists of the original is carefully made ; in short, all the skill exercised in the severest historical and linguistic criticism is brought to bear in the examination : and the result reached is the fixed conclusion that “we have thi documents known to and used by Justin and Ter tub UanT This is Dr. Tischendorfs deliberate conclusion ; substantiated by a cofirmation of their text, “which,” he says, “is -possessed by scarcely ten works of the collective Greek classic literature.”TISCHENDORF ON AUTHENTICITY.
BY REV. JOSEPH LITTELL.
The statements of the learned critic and palaeographer, Tischendorf, concerning the Acts of Pilate, together with the comments of Dr. Gardner, elsewhere presented, bear upon the antiquity of the Acts. In the main, the judgments of other critics concur with that of Tischendorf. This testimony may be summed up thus: There are now in existence ancient documents entitled “The Acts of Pilate;“ that these documents were written in the fifth century; that they are copies of a document in existence prior to the writing of Justin Martyr’s first Apology. Furthermore, that the documents now in existence are approximately accurate copies of the document cited by Justin about A. D. 138, and by Tertullian about A. D. 200. If the judgment of scientific criticism and palaeographical research can be accepted, these are facts beyond dispute.
These facts, be it observed, rest upon the indisputable existence of documentary record, that, Justin, and later, Tertullian, cited that document by name and described the character of its contents repeatedly in their writings.
T3
(193)194
TISCHENDORF ON AUTHENTICITY.
But there still remains the question of authenticity and genuineness to be answered. Was that document called by Justin “The Acts of Pilate’ ’ and the “Acts recorded under Pontius Pilate,” a genuine manuscript, written by, or under the direction of, Pilate; or was it a “pious fraud of some Christian,” who drew from the Old Testament Scriptures the prophetic quotations, from the four Gospels the detailed facts, and from his imagination the other material which compose the contents of that document? Such documents as the latter were numerous in those days, which fact alone suggests careful inquiry as to the authenticity of this or any document of that time which claims credibility.
Some statements made by Tischendorf are not included in the quotations from his writings presented in the foregoing chapter. These have been reserved for separate consideration because of their special bearing upon the question of authenticity. This learned critic is beyond a doubt the highest authority on this manuscript. He addressed himself most particularly to the antiquity of the Acts; but he seems equally clear as to its authenticity.
However, he has made statements which are not compatible with its authenticity, and the use he has made of that document makes its original production necessarily later than that of the fourth Gospel.
Tischendorf devoted most of his life to the investigation of documents pertaining to the origin of the Gospels. The essence of his,life’s work he embodiedTISCHENDORF ON AUTHENTICITY.
195
in a volume, which his scholarly translator, Rev. William L. Gage, D. D., by his permission, gave to the English speaking world, entitled “Origin of the Four Gospels.“ He found abundant evidence of the early existence of the first three Gospels in the writings of the first part of the second century. But it was a more difficult task to locate the date of the origin of John’s Gospel. The slow process of copying by hand necessarily resulted in the slow distribution of a document, and, as John’s Gospel was written some years later than the first three, the knowledge of it was later in going abroad, and writers knew and quoted the first three who did not know or quote the fourth Gospel. This fact gave occasion to the rationalistic critics of Germany and France, in the first half of this century, to assert that the fourth Gospel was not written in the first century, and therefore, could not have been written by the Apostle John who died in the first century; but was written by some other John who could not have been a disciple of Jesus; hence, the fourth Gospel was not authentic, genuine or credible.
Tischendorf was aroused to defend the authenticity of the four Gospels against such charges as these, by his sincere Christian faith in their authenticity as the inspired records of the life and teaching of Christ by his apostles. His Christian faith was challenged by the rationalistic unbelief of Hilgenfeld, Strauss, Volk-mar and Renan, and he brings all his natural endow-196 TISCHENDORF ON AUTHENTICITY.
ments and intellectual culture to serve the intense purpose of his faith to prove their authenticity. His antagonists were learned men; and the result of that scholastic contest is one of the richest legacies which we possessln critical and palaeographical literature today.
There is a law in human nature from which Tischen-dorf was not exempt, which becomes powerful in proportion to the intensity of purpose which impels the person towards the object of his effort. The presence and influence of that law can be most distinctly seen in the work of the world’s greatest men, who were great because of their high aim and the all-absorbing purpose to attain it. It may be called the law of unconscious partiality. It is the sovereignty of the heart over the brain, the supreme rule of faith over opinion. It bends the mental discernments to the moral purposes.
The disinterested judge may sit calmly upon the bench and truly weigh the facts; but when he stands before the bar with the intense conviction that his cfient’s claim is just and true, in his determined purpose to impart that conviction to the jury, he will irresistibly construe every evidence in favor of his conviction. An interested advocate can not be an impartial judge; the more interested the more partial. This is notorious as to the attorney for the defense. This law of partiality is recognized by the written laws of every civilized nation to-day. Its presence isTISCHENDORF ON AUTHENTICITY.
197
seen in literature, in the histories of nations and the biographies of men.
It is no insinuation of conscious injustice in the estimation of facts, or of conscious unfairness in the use he makes of them, to point to the law of partiality as the cause of the incongruous statements of the learned Tischendorf. As a mere critic of the Acts of Pilate, Tischendorf is a calm judge. But he becomes the partial advocate when he usps that document as a witness for his client, the fourth Gospel, for whose defense he was inspired by the supreme faith of his soul. His most difficult task in the great work of establishing by documentary evidence the authenticity of the four Gospels was with reference to that of John, the last of the four written. The authenticity, and even the antiquity of that Gospel did not rest entirely upon the acts of Pilate. But his rationalistic opponents could not, and never did, dispute the existence of it at the time Justin cited it, A. D. 138; and, if that document was written later than John’s, they could not doubt but that John’s gospel was in existence as early as the first decade of the second century. These were the facts which faced the advocate, Tischendorf, as he cast about him to find proof suitable for his purpose in his supreme effort, and at a point in the case where witnesses were scarce.
It is needless to quote here the many statements of the critic advocate by which he conclusively proved the Acts to have been in existence prior to the writing198 TISCHENDORF ON AUTHENTICITY.
of Justin’s Apology. These are the statements in which the facts were in perfect accord with the use to be made of them. When the facts were in accord with the verdict asked for, there was no opportunity for the law of partiality to manifest itself. But there were some things observed by the critic which were not favorable to the purpose of the advocate. It is Tis-chendorf, the critic, who says these things: “Origin of Four Gospels,” page 141, “Justin saw as little reason as Tertullian and others for believing that it (The Acts of Pilate) was a work of pious deception from a Christian hand.” Page 149, “The whole character of the work in our possession does not deny in toto that which we must infer from the statements of Justin and Tertullian.” As they never once reveal a doubt as to its authenticity, “that which we must infer” is very plain to us, as it must have been to Tischendorf.
He proceeds, “It is incorrect, moreover, to draw a conclusion from Justin’s designation of the “Acta” which is not warranted by the whole character of the work. The Acts are specified in Justin’s account as being written under Pontius Pilate; and that can signify nothing else than that they were an official production, composed under the direction of the Roman governor.” Such is the critic’s judgment of the document as a whole. Again in his later Prolegomena, page 62, the critic says that many others— / multi alii—regard the Acts of Pilate just as Justin and Tertullian did, and that they regarded them as “ Scnptis Judicariis.” Had he said Judicatus or Ju-TISCHENDORF ON AUTHENTICITY.
199
dicialis he would have described official documents of a general character, such as official reports of military, financial or statistical departments made by the official heads of these departments. But not so. He says “Judicariis"—which points to the source, the whence, the specific character of the “Scriptis,” and that is that they were the writings of judicial proceedings, the records of the acts of a judge in a court.
Thus does the scholarly Tischendorf use the discriminating words of the classic Latin to point out what he asserts to be the character of the “Acts of Pilate” as regarded by Justin, Tertullian et multi alii. We can not believe that the learned critic was either careless in the use of words or insincere in his statement. Nor can we anywhere else find that he ever had critical or circumstantial reason to modify his judgment of the document or his faith in Justin and Tertullian. These statements are the critic’s judgment of Justin and Tertullian and of the document before him. They are clear, direct, and are not qualified or explained away even when the advocate uses them. However, we find many indications that they were mental convictions which embarrassed the advocate. We have heard the critic in the passages just quoted, which have been selected with care that their meaning be not misrepresented by the absence of their contexts.
We now quote from “Origin of the Four Gospels” (pages 149 and 150), in which the advocate applies the Acts of Pilate to the case in hand. He says: “Their transmission to the emperor must be imagined200
TISCHENDORF ON AUTHENTICITY.
as accompanied by a letter of the same character with that which has been brought down to us in the Greek and Latin editions, and yet not at all similar in purport to the notable Acts of Pilate.” This is perfectly in keeping with the facts known to Tisch-endorf concerning the relations and duties of Pilate to his emperor. It was perfectly true to the situation of Pilate that he should make an official report of the trial to be placed among the state papers, and, in addition, that he should write a personal letter to the empero^ on the same general subject, but with more liberty in the expression of his opinions and statements concerning other outside relative matters than was proper to embody in a public official document. This “imagination” of Tischendorf was true to the situation of Pilate, but utterly impossible to the situation of a forger writing nearly a century later, tlis situation would never have suggested such an “imagination” to Tischendorf. That statement originated in the conviction of the critic that the Acts were genuine, and the advocate stumbles over it when he says, “It must be imagined.” He proceeds, “It is by no means necessary for us to assert that the production in our hands (with the exception already alluded to) remained free from interpolation; the distinguishing characteristic which it bears is the weaving in of much from synoptic Gospels and more from John, relative to the last sufferings of Jesus. Is it not stated in Justin that the Acts of Pilate reveal the fulfillment of prophecy respecting the resurrectionT1SCHENDORF ON AUTHENTICITY.
201
of Jesus'from the dead, as it is given in Chapter viii of the work in our hands, in the testimony concerning the resurrection of Lazarus? Is it probable that, in order to set John aside, we are to believe that in Justin’s edition (the edition of the Acts cited by Justin) there was recorded one of the other two resurrections of which we have traces presented to us ? ”
‘ ‘ It would lead us to the denial of an unquestionable fact, should we not admit the claims of our Acts of Pilate, in their connection with the work of the same name known to Justin, to serve as testimony to the authenticity of the Johanean as well as the synoptic Gospels dating from a period prior to Justin, in spite of their frequent use of the Gospels. What importance this fact has in enabling us to determine the age of our Gospels, and especially John, is at once apparent; it weighs far more than any verbal extract made from John in the epoch of Justin. If the apocryphal Acts of Pilate must, for the reason that Justin cites them in his first Apology to the Roman emperor, be ascribed to the first decades of the second century, they show by their use of and dependence upon the Gospel of John, that the latter dates from a period even earlier. This theory throws no light into the impenetrable darkness, but, among the many beams which come down from the period directly after the age of the apostles, and which illumine the most important question of Christianity, this is one of the most luminous. ’ ’ This statement concerning ‘ ‘ interpolations ’ ’ is just. They naturally would,202
TISCHENDORF ON AUTHENTICITY.
and admittedly did, find their way into even the oldest known manuscript of the sacred writings, as has been pointed out in the latest revision of the Bible. As to the remainder of the paragraph concerning the ‘ ‘ distinguishing characteristic ’ ’ the ‘ ‘ weaving into the Acts of much of the Gospels, and especially of John,” and the emphasized question as to the resurrection of Lazarus; observe, that this is an assertion with the rising inflection; an assumption unbacked by a reason, ending in a question; a theory hypothecated and unanswered. Of this, more particularly, later.
The remaining portion of the quotation shows the advocate proceeding from the standpoint of his assumed theory to show the value of the alleged apocryphal Acts as a witness to the synoptic Gospels, and especially John, which culminates in the declaration that this document ‘ ‘ is the most luminous in its beam of light which comes down to us from that early age.” And such it is, whether it be authentic or a “pious fraud.”
It requires no special pleadings to point out the plainly discernible character of the statements of Tischendorf just quoted; no special insight to see the mental convictions of the critic giving way to the moral purpose of the advocate. They are there to be seen because they were in the mind of the great critic Tischendorf, and in the heart of the powerful advocate Tischendorf, that sincere and honest man, with high aims, intense purpose and unconscious partiality.TISCHENDORF ON AUTHENTICITY.
.203
The pivot upon which he turned the Acts from genuineness to forgery was what he calls “this theory.” That theory was what he asserts to be the apocryphal character of the Acts; and that alleged apocryphal.character rests upon “the distinguishing characteristic which it bears is the weaving in of much from the synoptic Gospels and still more from John, relative to the last sufferings of Jesus.” That is the heart of the matter, the one fact upon which Tischendorf everywhere bases his right to use the Acts of Pilate as an apocryphal witness to the earlier origin of the Gospels, especially John. Let us examine the question of his right to so use the Acts, with the purpose of discovering the truth if possible, or at least the probable truth.
We will assume as our proposition that the original of the Acts of Pilate cited by Justin in A. D. 138, was an authentic document, recorded under Pontius Pilate. In assuming this proposition, and seeking evidence of its truth, we are not to *be understood as assailing' the authenticity of John’s Gospel. That rests on evidence which has been accepted by the conscience of the Christian world. But, even though it did depend upon “documentary evidence, there is enough of that undisputed by rationalistic critics today to place John at an earlier date than is pointed to by the Acts of Pilate as used by Tischendorf. John’s Gospel does not need the support of a pious forgery; neither does history need the authentic Acts of Pilate for knowledge of the facts of the death and204
TISCHENDORF ON AUTHENTICITY.
resurrection of Jesus. But, if .those Acts are authentic, John would lose nothing and history would have in that document the most valuable records of the events surrounding the origin of Christianity yet known outside the Gospels.
Fortunately the critical examination of the Acts has been made by the eminent scholar Tischendorf. Our work is to examine the methods of his critical labor and the results obtained by him in that work, as well as his manner of using those results. There are well known and self-evident principles laid down and accepted by the leading writers on the laws of evidence, by which we must be guided if we will justly estimate an4 rightly use the results of Tischendorf’s critical labor upon the Acts of Pilate.
ist. Two men, having witnessed the same fact of occurrence, will use nearly, if not exactly, similar words in recording a simple statement of that fact.
2d. Two men, having read or heard the same words, will use nearly or exactly similar words in making a record of that which they have read or heard.
3d. Two men having knowledge of the same fact of occurrence, record or utterance, obtained from different points of observation, will be in harmony as to the central fact of their record, but will differ therein according to the different points 6f observation.
4th. Two men may observe the same facts from different mental, moral, social, political, financial or official points of view, which will be indicated in their separate records of the same fact.TISCHENDORF ON AUTHENTICITY. 205
5th. Two men, having knowledge of the same fact of occurrence, or words read or uttered, if making a record of the same from memory, will use approxi mately similar words.
6th. Two men may have different opportunities for knowing one and the same fact and may have different motives in recording the same fact, which will characterize their records accordingly.
These are a few of the self-evident and fundamental principles of the Laws of Evidence as they apply to the concurrence of documentary evidence. For our purpose these are sufficient; but we must use caution in applying them, especially rule fifth, which contains the “points of view.”
The question to which they are to be applied is: Did the authors of the four Gospels, particularly the fourth, on the one hand, and the author of the Acts of Pilate, on the other, make those records of facts of occurrence, record and utterance, according to their different opportunity of knowing, motives atid points of observation, independently of each other?
Pilate and the four evangelists lived at the same time, in the same country, and had knowledge of the same central facts of the life-, death and resurrection of Jesus. They could have made, and there are documents indicating that they did make, records concerning those facts independently of each other. Let us apply the laws of evidence to the documents bearing their names.
Rule ist. They had witnessed some facts in com-20 6
TISCHENDORF ON AUTHENTICITY.
mon, and we find the Acts stating them in similar and even the same words used by one or more of the evangelists. This is especially interesting from the fact that the Gospels were written in Hebrew and Greek, while Pilate must have written in Latin, and yet the similarity appears after the translation of them into English.
2d. They had read and heard the same words in some instances, and we find that the Acts of Pilate contains similar and frequently identically the same words used by the apostles, as when quoting the Hebrew Scriptures, the sayings of Jesus, accusers and witnesses.
t
3d. They had knowledge of some of the same facts of occurrence, record and utterance in common, and did write from memory in some instances, and after the passing of different periods of time, the apostles after some years, John after many years; and yet the author of the Acts uses approximately the same language as the apostles, no two of whom, be it noted, use exactly the same words in stating the institution of the supper, or the superscription on the cross. The Acts are evidently as near the accurate words as any of them as to the superscription.
4th. Their points of view were different, and their records differ accordingly, and are strikingly in keeping therewith; while at the same time they are in perfect harmony as to the central fact, and the principal relative facts known to them in common.
5th. As to the points of view: The writers of theTISCHENDORF ON AUTHENTICITY.
207
Gospels were of Jewish education supplemented by the teachings of Jesus; Pilate was mentally cultured in the polytheistic philosophy and military life of Rome. They believed Jesus to be the Messiah, the Savior, the Christ, the Son of God; Pilate only saw in Jesus a Jewish teacher of new religious doctrine which excited the envy and hatred of the Jewish rulers. The evangelists were of the common Jewish people, while Pilate was of the aristocratic Roman people. The financial element scarcely enters into the problem, unless it was a factor in Pilate’s mind as necessary to the luxury incident to the patronage of the emperor. The disciples were poor, except one or,two of moderate circumstances, and all cared little or nothing for gain; and when they wrote had sacrificed all for the cause of Christianity. Official: Pilate was a Roman provincial governor, the judge before whom state questions were tried, and in that capacity was in a peculiarly favorable position to know the facts as to the trial, sentence and execution of Jesus, and the reports of His soldiers who crucified Him and guarded His tomb; while the disciples were but common citizens of the Jewish province and had less favorable opportunity of personal knowledge of many things, such as the examination of Jesus by Pilate, the full detail of his wife’s message, reports of soldiers, and other matters. And yet, while the Acts of Pilate harmonizes with the apostles’ records in the main facts, these different points of view are distinctly seen in the differences between their records.208
TISCHENDORF ON AUTHENTICITY.
Reserving the sixth rule of concurrence, let us summarize the results already considered. The harmony of the Acts with the four Gospels is undisputed as to the main facts. The similarity and identity of language is frequent and evident. The first three Gospels were written some years before that of John. There are many instances in which John uses the identical language of one or more of the first three Gospels; and it is known that he was acquainted with those documents; and yet we are not aware that John has ever been charged with having copied the language of the earlier Gospels in writing his Gospel. Pilate knew some of those same facts, and could have used the same or similar words in recording them. The fact that the “Acts of Pilate” contains the same and similar language as to the facts knbwn in common by him and John, is no more an evidence that the author of the Acts copied from John than the same fact in the former case is evidence that John copied from the first three Gospels.
Again, the character of the facts recorded by the Acts, as compared with that of those recorded by the evangelists, is significant. Pilate does not report the transfiguration, for example. He was not in a situation to know about it; and even if he had heard of the main fact he could not have given its details. Nor would either the fact or its details served his purpose if he could have given them to the emperor. In like manner the evangelists do not attempt to give us a full account of the trial of Jesus. Their accountsTISCHENDORF ON AUTHENTICITY.
209
when taken all together are very incomplete. They were impressed by the indignities and insults heaped upon their friend Jesus, but saw in them the fulfillment of prophecy. They knew the central fact of Pilate’s examination of Jesus in the judgment hall, but did not hear or report all the details of that conversation ; and if they had heard and seen everything Pilate had heard, said and done, their purpose would not have been served by recording it.
Rule 6th presents the positive phase of this matter. First. Pilate and the Gospel writers were differently situafed as to their opportunities for knowing many things, and their records are in harmony with that fact. Second. Their different motives in recording those events, when taken in relation to their opportunities for knowing, present perhaps the most striking textual concurrence to be found anywhere. With these facts in mind we might point to many texts and clairft that the four Gospels, particularly John, are indispensable witnesses to the fact that the author of the Acts must have had personal knowledge of certain things from the very standpoint of Pilate or he could not have stated them in the language he uses. Had he copied the language of John, or the other Gospels, he would have copied their point of view, and their motive. All these conditions are seen to1 be true by the comparison of the texts in hand, and in the light of all the available critical work of Tischendorf himself. These principles of concurrence account for and include the whole of the 14210
TISCHENDORF ON AUTHENTICITY.
Acts of Pilate so far as the text of that document, by the laws of evidence, can be compared with the first three Gospels and most of the fourth.
But the special use made of the Acts by Tischen-dorf was, to push John’s Gospel back into the first century; and for this purpose he relies upon the passages in the Acts which are similar to, and verbatim with, those found only in John. Any harmony of the Gospels reveals the fact that John is by far the most extensive and particular of the four Gospel writers iri his report concerning the trial, death hnd resurrection of Jesus. Of many things his is the only record made by any of the four writers; and it is of striking importance to note that those things peculiar to John’s account are just such matters as Pilate needed to put into his report to his emperor. They served his own personal purpose of justifying his actions in the matter, and belonged to the report of his judicial acts which official duty demanded he should make to the emperor. Now Tischendorf bases his right to call, and use, the Acts of Pilate as apocryphal, upon the similarity and identity of language used by its writer and John “relative to the last sufferings of Jesus.” John made the most complete record on that subject, and that subject was the chief matter which engaged Pilate’s official attention concerning which he would make an official report. And there are passages in the Acts of Pilate similar to, and verbatim with, passages in John’s Gospel. But not one of them contains an intrinsic necessity ofTISCHENDORF ON AUTHENTICITY.
211
dependence upon John. Both Pilate and John knew the facts they state; both could have written them independently of each other. Or, the writer of either document might have copied the other, so far as those texts are concerned. But Tischendorf asserted that the writer of the Acts copied from John. The burden of proof rested upon him who would deny his assertion. Proof to the contrary not being produced, his assertion stood unrefuted. But what did it stand upon? He points to the similarity of the text, that is all. He produces no documentary or circumstantial evidence to confirm his assertion; points out no Intrinsic necessity in the text of the Acts to show that they must have been copied; utterly disregards his former admissions of circumstantial evidence that they were not copies. He simply asserts that they were copied from John, says that that shows John’s Gospel to have been written earlier than the Acts of Pilate, then the advocate rests his case and takes his seat; and some modern critics point to him and say, “Tischendorf pronounces the ‘Acts of Pilate’ spurious. The judge has given his decision, and he uses them as ‘apocryphal.’ ’’ But they will say of a judge who tries and gives judgment in a common civil lawsuit in the issue which he is financially or otherwise interested, “He ought to be impeached; he can not possibly give just judgment; that case ought to be appealed to an impartial court. ’ ’ And it usually is.
To sum up: the question of the authenticity of the212
TISCHENDORF ON AUTHENTICITY.
Acts has been followed through its trial by a critic, whose final judgment was given as an advocate swayed by the law of partiality; which law we admit to have been ‘unconsciously’ present in the learned Tischendorf, but potent because of his all-absorbing purpose in defending the authenticity of the four most precious biographies in Christendom. But only the truth is true ; to seek to know the truth is the duty of Christian thought as well as faith. Christianity has nothing to fear from the truth of history, whether it be brought to light from the sands of Egypt, thè mounds of Babylon or Nineveh, the buried ruins of ancient Jerusalem and Rome, from the hidden archives of monastic libraries, or the mistaken judgments of sincere, but fallible men.
The Acts of Pilate were adjudged “apocryphal” by Tischendorf in the manner and for the purpose already shown. A new question is now presented. Witji his earnest purpose, his moral incentive, his learning and faith challenged by the champions of unbelief, what is the true value of his decision? Against his decision stands the law of the Roman empire, demanding such a document as the Acts of Pilate; an emperor exacting fidelity from his lieutenant; a governor in Judea, with nothing to lose, but much to gain, by making such a report; the wonderful harmony of that document, bearing the name of that governor, with the four Gospel records of the same great event; Justin, the learned heathen philosopher, whio, after careful study, accepted theTISCHENDORF ON AUTHENTICITY.
213
Christian religion and became its defender when it was extremely dangerous to do so, and who three times pointed the emperor and senate of Rome to their own official records, only one century old, each time naming the specific document which contained their own lieutenant’s account of the facts he asserted, the same man who later gave up his life for the faith which depended upon the facts which he repeatedly affirmed were recorded in the “Acts of Pilate. ’ ’
But again : It is Tischendorf himself who has set before later investigators the task of weighing his judgment as against that of the early Fathers. It is Tischendorf, the learned critic, whose exhaustive work upon this document puts it among the important writings of those early days to which the eyes of Christendom turn with ever increasing interest, and whose rare facilities for doing the work leaves little in that line for us to do. And it is Tischendorf, the advocate, whose method of using that document raises the question of the justice of his decision, and leaves it to be answered by later inquirers after historic truth who are not willing to accept without question the decisions of men with a purpose to conserve, even though they be of the highest learning. Self-emptiness is the first essential to the successful search for truth. Self-filled, by theory or interest men will bend whatever truth they find. In this con-science-attested fact is to be found the reason for the214
TISCHENDORF ON AUTHENTICITY.
depreciation of Tischendorf by independent modern scholars.
Let us now balance Tischendorf’s use of the Acts of Pilate, as he compels us to do, against the use made of it by the Fathers. Tischendorf characterizes and uses it as apocryphal and therefore a fraud. If he was right, then it must of necessity follow that the Fathers, Justin, Tertullian and others, who definitely and repeatedly cited it, were either ignorant and deceived concerning it, or else they were dishonest. In either case they are unreliable and untrustworthy witnesses to the authenticity and genuineness of the documents composing the New Testament. The great importance of their credibility as witnesses for these documents is seen in the fact that they are the principal witnesses upon whose testimony biblical history mainly depends as to these documents. Either Tischendorf or they were mistaken and wrong. The question is, which shall we believe?
In the absence of other evidence than the mere assertion as to, and use made of, the Acts of Pilate by him and them, our judgment must be arbitrary. But such is not the case. Tischendorf, on the one hand, asserts it to be apocryphal and so uses it; but with all his vast research he finds no document, no external circumstances as to its author or its origin to prove his claim. He adjusts his critical work to his theory without being justified by the necessity of the laws of evidence, and applies the document thus asserted to be apocryphal to the great purpose in whichTISCHENDORF ON AUTHENTICITY.
215
his brain and heart were enlisted. As apocryphal it became a mighty weapon in the contest in which his self-satisfaction and scholastic honor were at stake. After more than eighteen centuries it was not possible for him personally to know the facts.
On the other hand Justin, not to speak of others,
cited it and used it as an authentic document. Be-
)
ing in Rome and but one century later, he could personally know the facts. His knowledge of other documents and the truth of his statements of facts of record are confirmed by numerous witnesses. Contemporaneous writers upon historical, philosophical and religious subjects are in accord with him wherever he touches upon those matters. The champions of rival religions assailed the religion which Justin defended in his Apology to the emperor and senate, but not one of them ever charge Justin with having falsely pointed to a document which did not exist as evidence of the divine origin of Christianity, nor charge him with folly for citing a forgery to support his claim. Those would have been migfity weapons in their hands, and they used every effective weapon they could find. Surely the learned emperor and the cultured senate knew whether or not “The Acts of Pilate” was among their records; and they were keenly sensitive to the “decline of the religion of our fathers” and jealous of the progress made by “foreign superstitions,” of one of which Justin was the champion. What an opportunity for them to have charged him with folly or falsehood, to have put him216
TISCHENDORF ON AUTHENTICITY.
on his own defense against the charge of being either a fool or a knave, and if one, in effect both. But no such charge is made against Justin, no allegation of weakness hurled at a religion which needed the support of a fraudulent document and the championship of an ignorant man or a prevaricator. How eloquent is their silence on that subject.
Who has the greatest claim to our credibility, as to his use of that document? Tischendorf advocating the antiquity of a document, with nothing at stake but his scholastic reputation? Or, Justin, advocating the divinity of Jesus Christ before Roman authorities with his life at stake?
Having thoroughly examined all the available critical writings of Tischendorf on this subject, which are chiefly in the Latin and too voluminous to present here, the “Origin of the Four Gospels” being a fair and concise digest; and, after careful examination of the ' conditions, both objective and subjective, which affected his judgment and methods of using the Acts of Pilate, we must conclude that, as a critic merely, his work is just and unassailable, but in the use he makes of that document and in the critical work which contributed to his purpose as an advocate, Tischendorf, although doubtless sincere, was mistaken. The subjection of his judgment to his purpose was characteristic of this learned critic whenever these two qualities of the man met, as is to be expected of all men. This fact is noted by Dr. Philip Schaff, in his “Introduction to the American Edition of Westcott and Hort’sTISCHENDORF ON AUTHENTICITY. 2\J
Greek-English New Testament.” He says: “Prnf. Tischendorf is by far the most industrious, enterprising and successful textual critic of the Nineteenth Century.” But “His judgment was influenced by subjective considerations,” and that Dr. Tragelles, who has spent his whole life in critical work among old manuscripts, “was far behind Tischendorf in the extent of his researches but more scrupulously accurate in the use of them.” In this estimate of his use of critical material Dr. Scrivener coincides, p. 431.
We must therefore conclude that the probability is strongly in favor of the authenticity of the Acts of Pilate, which probability invites the attention of independent critics and investigators to its textual genuineness with the promise of ripening into a certainty in their hands and becoming one of the richest fruits possible for them to offer to the world, so eager to receive historic evidence of the divine origin of Christianity.SKETCH OF PONTIUS PILATE.
The first name of Pontius Pilate is unknown. It indicates that he was connected by descent or adoption with the gens Pontii—prominent first in Roman history in the person of C. Pontius Telesinus, the great Samnite General.* The family name Pilatus
*Pontius Pilate, if indeed, a descendant of this great man, had whereof to boast in speaking of his “Roman and Spanish” blood.
The three Samnite wars lasted, with brief intervals more than hal a century (B. C. 343-290). The Latin allies, becoming unruly, were reduced to obedience by a war which broke up the League and subjected all Latium to Roman law. Two incidents of the Latin war illustrate the Spartan-like sternness of the Romans of this period B. C. 339. All soldiers were forbidden to leave the camp on pain of death; but Titus Manlius the consul’s son, vexed by the challenge of a Latin warrior, went out and killed him, and returning in triumph, laid the spoils at his father’s feet. The consul ordered his guards to behead the young man before his tent in the presence of all the army.
The second Samnite war lasted b. c. 326-304, 22 years. The Romans suffered a disgraceful defeat at the Caudine Forks, where the remnant of their army which survived had to “pass under the yoke,” in token of submission. A treaty of peace was made; but the Roman Senate refused to be bound by it, and sent the two consuls and two tribunes who had signed it, bound in chains to suffer the vengeance of the Samnites. Pontius the Samnite general gener-
(218) ‘PONTIUS PILATESKETCH OF PONTIUS PILATE.	2 19
has received two explanations : one meaning armed with a javelin and the other, as contracted from pileatus.
The pileatus or cap was the badge of manumitted slaves ; and this renders it probable that, Pilate was a libertus, or the descendent of one.
Nothing is known of his early history, however, positively ; but a German legend relates that he was the natural son of Tyrus, King ofMayence. It relates also that Pilate was sent by Tyrus as a hostage to Rome, where he was afterward guilty of murder, and being banished to Pontus rose into notice by subduing the barbarous tribes there, receiving in consequence the name of Pontius, and was sent to Judea. It has been thought that the twenty-second
ously released them. After many reverses and a few victories, the Romans were at length acknowledged as masters of Italy.
The Samnites, however, made use of the six years’ interval of peace, to enlist all the Italian nations in a new league against Rome, and in 298 B. c. the third Samnite war broke out. Etruscans, Umbrians and Gauls, on the north were allied with Lucanians, Apulians, Greeks and Samnites on the south.
In a great battle at Sentinum, the Gauls and Samnites were defeated B. c. 295 and 25,000 men were slain.
Pontius, the Samnite general, still defended his country by his brilliant genius ; but at length the Romans gained a victory, in which he was made a prisoner and compelled to walk the street* of Rome loaded with chains to adorn the triumph of the consul. When the procession reached the foot of the Capitolina Hill, he was led aside and beheaded in the Mamertine Prison. That the noble Pontius suffered this fate, is one of the greatest blots upon the honor of Rome.
Samnium was completely subjected, and a Roman colony of 20,000 guarded its territory.220
SKETCH OF PONTIUS PILATE.
legion, which was in Palestine at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem and was afterwards stationed at Mayence may have been in this case the bearer of this tradition.*
Pontius Pilate was the sixth Roman procurator of Judea, and under him our Lord worked', suffered and died, as we learn, not only from the obvious Scripture allusions, but from Tactitus. A procurator was generally a Roman knight, appointed to act under a governor of a province as collector of the revenue and judge in cases connected with it.
Strictly speaking, procurators of Caesar were only required in the imperial provinces ; that is, in those which', according to - the constitution of Augustus, were reserved for the especial administration of the emperor, without the intervention of the Senate and people, and governed by his legate. In the senato-
*There is an interesting fact connected with this German legend curiously enough brought out in the trial of Jesus before Pilate.
When the Jews brought forward the charge of bastardy against Jesus Pilate seems to have become very much interested and manifests that interest in the charge emphatically by insisting on probing it to the bottom. The reader will be struck forcibly by reading carefully the pains expended by Pilate on this seemingly unimportant charge and the manner in which he insisted upon proof of what he there treats as false, but in which he could have felt no interest unless based on what was hidden to all but himself.
That a sympathetic chord was touched in his memory cannot fail of being suspected by any one who will study in this connection his treatment of the charge against Jesus on this point.
Even if this legend be true it in no way effects*the life or character of Pilate as he well knew, yet being true would prompt to just such a feeling as seems to have wrought on him in the examination so closely made of this charge.SKETCH OF PONTIUS PILATE.
22 I
rial provinces, governed by proconsuls, the corresponding duties were discharged by quaestors. Yet, it appears, that sometimes procurators were appointed in these provinces also to collect certain dues of the Jiscus (the emperor’s special revenue) as distinguished from those of the cerarium (the revenue administered by the Senate.) Sometimes in a small territory, especially in one contiguous to a larger province, and dependent upon it, the procurator was head of the administration and had military and judicial authority, though he was responsible to the governor of the neighboring province. Thus, Judea was attached to Syria upon the deposition of Arche-laus, A. D. 6, and a procurator appointed to govern it, with Caesarea for its capital. Already, during a temporary absence of Archelaus, it had been in charge of the procurator Sabinus ; then, after that ethnarch’s banishment’ came Coponius ; the third procurator was M. Ambivus ; the fourth Annius Rufus ; the filth, Valerius Gratus ; and the sixth, Pontius Pilatus, who was appointed A*. D. 25—26, in the twelfth year of Tiberius. One of his first acts was to remove the headquarters of the army from Caesarea to Jerusalem. The soldiers, of course, took with them their standards bearing the image of the emperor, into the holy city. No previous governor had ventured on such an outrage. Pilate had been obliged to send them in the night, and there were no bounds to the rage of the people, in discovering what had been thus done. They poured down in crowds upon Caesarea, where the procurator was residing, and besought him to remove the images.222
SKETCH OF PONTIUS PILATE.
After five days of discussion he gave the signal to some concealed soldiers to surround the petitioners and put them to death, unless they ceased to trouble him ; but this only strengthened their determination, and they declared themselves ready rather to die than forego their resistance to an idolatrous innovation.
Pilate then yielded, and the standards were then, by his orders, brought down’ to Caesarea. On two other occasions he nearly drove the Jews to insurrection ; the first, when in spite of this warning about the images, he hung up in his palace at Jerusalem some gilt shields inscribed with the names of deities, which were only removed by an order from Tiberius; the second, when he appropriated the revenue arising from the redemption of vows to the construction of an aqueduct. This order led to a riot, which he suppressed by sending among the crowd soldiers, with concealed daggers, who massacred a great number, not only rioters, but of casual spectators. To these specimens of his administration, which rest on the testimony of profane authors, we must add the slaughter of certain Galileans, which was told to our Lord as a piece of news and on which he founded some remarks on the connection between sin and calamity. It must have occurred at some feast at Jerusalem in the outer court of the Temple, since the blood of the worshipers was mingled with their sacrifices ; but the silence of Josephus about it seems to show that riots and massacres, on such occasions, were so frequent that it was needless to recount them at all.SKETCH OF PONTIUS PILATE.
223
It was the custom of the procurators to reside at Jerusalem during the great feasts, to preserve order and, accordingly, at the time of our Lord’s last passover, Pilate was occupying his official residence in Herod’s palace ; and to the gates of this palace, therefore, Jesus, condemned on the charge of blasphemy, was brought early in the morning by the chief priests and officers of the Sanhedrin, who were unable to enter the residence of a Gentile, lest they should be defiled and unfit to eat the passover. ‘ Pilate, therefore, came out to learn their purpose and demanded the nature of the charge. At first they seem to have expected that he would carry out their wishes without further inquiry; and, therefore, merely described our Lord as a disturber of the peace ; but as a Roman procurator had too much respect for justice, or at least understood his business too well to consent to such a condemnation, and as they knew he would not enter into theological questions any more than Gallio did on a somewhat similar occasion, they were obliged to devise a new charge, and, therefore, interpreted our Lord’s claims in a political sense, accusing him of assuming the royal title, perverting the nation, and forbidding the paying of tribute to Rome.
It is plain, that from this moment Pilate was distracted between the two conflicting feelings : a fear of offending the Jews, who had already grounds of accusation against him, which would be strengthened by any show of lukewarmness in punishing an offense against the imperial government, and a conscious conviction that Jesus was innocent, since it224
SKETCH OF PONTIUS PILATE.
was absurd to suppose that a desire to free the nation from Roman authority was criminal in the eyes of the Sanhedrin. Moreover, this latter feeling was strengthened by his own hatred of the Jews, whose religious scruples had caused him frequent trouble, and by a growing respect for the calm dignity and meekness of the sufferer. First, he examined our Lord privately, and asked him whether he was a king? The question which he, in turn, put to his judge, “Sayest thou this of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me?” seems to signify that there was, in Pilate’s own mind, a suspicion that the prisoner really was not what he was charged with being; a suspicion which shows itself in a later question, “Whence art thou?” in the increasing desire to release him, and in the refusal to alter the inscription on the cross. In any case Pilate accepted, as satisfactory, Christ’s assurance that his kingdom was not of this world, that is, not worldly in its nature or objects, and therefore, not to be founded by this world’s weapons, though he could not understand the assertion that it was to be established by bearing witness to the truth. His famous reply, “What is truth?” was the question of a wordly-minded poli-cian ; skeptical, because he was indifferent; one who thought truth an empty name, or at least could not see “any connection between truth and policy.” With this question he brought the interview to a close, and came out to the Jews and declared the prisoner innocent. To this they replied that his teaching had stirred up all the people from Galilee to Jerusalem. The mention of Galilee suggested toSKETCH OF PONTIUS PILATE.
225
Pilate a new way of escaping from his dilemma, by sending on the case to Herod A'ntipas, tetrafch of that country, who had come up to Jerusalem to the feast, while at the same time it gave him an opportunity of making overtures of reconciliation to Herod, with whose jurisdiction he had probably in some recent instance interfered. But Herod, though propitiated by this act of courtesy, declined to enter into the matter, and merely sent Jesus back to Pilate dressed in shining, kingly robes, to express his ridicule of such pretensions, and contempt for the whole business. So Pilate was compelled to come to a decision, and, first having assembled the chief priests and also the people, whom he probably summoned in the expectation that they would be favorable to Jesus, he announced to them all, that the accused had done nothing worthy of death, but at the same time in hopes of pacifying the Sanhedrin, he proposed to scourge him before he released him. But as the accusers were resolved to have his blood they rejected his concession, and, therefore, Pilate had recourse to a fresh expedient. It was the custom for the Roman governor to grant every year, in honor of the Passover, pardon to one condemned criminal. The origin of the practice is unknown, though we may mention it with the fact mentioned by Livy that at a Lectisternium “vinctis quoque dempta vinculu. ”
Pilate, therefore, offered the people their choice between two, the murderer Barabbas and the prophet whom a few days before was hailed as the Messiah. To receive their decision, he ascended the bema, a 15226
SKETCH OP PONTIUS PILATE.
portable tribunal which was carried about with a Roman magistrate, to be placed wherever he might direct, and which in the present instance was erected on a tessellated pavement in front of the palace, and called in Hebrew Gabbatha, probably from being laid down on a slight elevation. As soon as Pilate had taken his seat, he received a mysterious message from his wife—according to tradition, a proselyte of ]the gate, named Procla, or Procula, “who had suffered many things in a dream,” which impelled her to entreat her husband not to condemn the Just One. But he had no longer any choice in the matter, for the rabble, instigated of course by the priests, chose Barabbas for pardon, and clamored for the death of Jesus ; insurrection seemed imminent and Pilate reluctantly yielded. But before issuing the fatal order, Pilate washed his hands before the multitude as a sign that he was innocent of the crime, in imitation, probably, of the ceremony enjoined in Deut. xxi., where it is ordered that when the perpetrator of a murder is not discovered, the elders of the city in which it occurs shall wash their hands, with the declaration, “Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it.” Such a practice might be adopted even by a Roman, as intelligible to the Jewish multitude around him. As in the present case it produced no effect, Pilate ordered his soldiers to inflict the scourging preparatory to execution , but the sight of unjust suffering so patiently borne, seems again to have troubled his conscience and prompted a new effort in favor of the victim. He brought him out bleedingSKETCH OF PONTIUS PILATE.
227
from the, savage punishment, and decked in the scarlet robe and crown of thorns, which the soldiers had put on him in derision, and said to the people, “Behold the man!’’ hoping that such a spectacle would rouse them* to shame and compassion. But the priests only renewed their clamors for his death and fearing that the political charge of treason might be insufficient, returned to their first accusation of blasphemy, and, quoting the law of Moses, which punished blasphemy with stoning, declared that he must die, “because he made himself th? Son of God.” But this title, Son of God, augmented Pilate’s superstitious fears, already aroused by his wife's dream ; he feared that Jesus might be one of the heroes or demigods of his own mythology ; he took him again to the palace, and inquired anxiously into his descent and his claims, and as the question was prompted by fear or curiosity, Jesus made no reply. When Pilate reminded him of his own absolute power over him, he closed this last conversation with their resolute governor by the mournful remark “Thou couldst have no power at all against me except it were given from above; therefore, he that delivered me unto these hath the greater sin.” God had given to Pilate power over him, and power only; but to those who delivered him up God had given the means of judging of his claims; and, therefore, Pilate,s sin in merely exercising his power was less than theirs, who, being God’s own priest, with the Scriptures before them, and the word of prophecy still alive among them, had deliberately conspired for his death.228
SKETCH OF PONTIUS PILATE.
The name and character of Pontius Pilate have been singled out for shame by various writers. He has been called “a type of the rich and corrupt Romans of his age; a worldly-minded statesman conscious of no higher wants than those of this life.” His conduct in the crucifixion of Jesus was “highly criminal.” “His guilt was that of weakness and fear.” By others of the present time Pilate has been named, even on his judgment seat, “a hollow void,” “a cynic,” “a moral suicide,” and a “coward.”
The discriminating reader will ask whence these epithets? He will carefully compare the sayings of Jesus about Pilate with those about Herod the te-trarch, the high priests, the scribes and other Jewish officials. He can not find such epithets as the above in scriptural language applied to Pilate. By examining the list as applied to officials among the Jews, he will find such as “hypocrites, serpents, vipers, worthy the damnation of hell, blind guides, liars, children of the devil, devourers of widows’ houses.” All of these epithets and more are to be found in thé words of Jesus, descriptive of other officials, but not of Pilate. Whence has the estimate of the character of Pilate the governor been derived? Whence have come the epithets? Outside of the New Testament accounts there is little to base such epithets upon, and they have allowed but slight room to vilify to such extreme the character of Pilate.
One of the most conservative of historians, Frederick Huidekoper, in his “Judaism at Rome,” statesSKETCH OF PONTIUS PILATE.
229
in a few words the basis of a fair estimate of Pilate’s character: ‘ ‘Josephus pictured Pilate with no friendly pen, yet he furnishes with his usual embellishments the following facts. The Roman soldiers came from Caesarea to Jerusalem by night, possibly to diminish the chances of offense. The Jews objected to the images on the Roman standards (Antiq. xviii, 3, 1), whereupon Pilate, after finding that the matter might cause trouble, sent, though not without a little delay, the images back to Caesarea. He found that the city needed water, and thcit a large sum of money was lying in the temple useless, or probably worse than useless, since unprincipled men must have found means to misuse it. He took the money, made an aqueduct (Antiq. xviii, 3,2), and repressed the mob which followed. Josephus shows him to have been energetic, utilitarian and gifted with administrative power.”
The Gospels state that before Pilate a Man was brought whom the leading Jews were determined to have put to death. Pilate tried hard to save Him, but in order to accomplish it he must have incurred risk of an accusation from the conservative Jews who, in the existing state of parties at Rome, after the death of Sejanus, could have effected his ruin. This he had not, apparently, the nerve to meet. But the governor who could not, to save himself, permit the execution of an innocent peasant, for such Jesus must have seemed to him, without repeated effort in His behalf (Matt, xxvii, 17—26; Mark xv, 10—15; Luke230
SKETCH OF PONTIUS PILATE.
xxiii, 4, 14-25 ; John xviii, 38, xix, 4-16), was not indifferent to justice. He had a keen conscience, though his moral strength did not equal the demand upon it.
The third spring after the crucifixion, Pilate was again at Rome, whither he had been sent by the president of Syria, his superior officer, to answer in relation to some difficulties with the Samaritans, before the emperor Tiberius. Josephus has left this brief account of the affair:	“But the nation of the
Samaritans did not escape without tumults. The man who excited them to it was one who thought lying a thing of slight consequence, and who contrived everything so that the multitude might be pleased. He bade them get together upon mount Gerizzim, which is by them looked upon as the most holy of all mountains, and assured them that, when they were come hither, he would show them those sacred vessels which were laid under that place, because Moses put them there. So they came thither armed, and thought the discourse of the man probable, and as they abode at a certain village, which was called Tirathaba, they got the rest together to them, and desired to go up the mountain in a multitude together, but Pilate prevented their going up, seizing upon the roads with a band of horsemen and footmen, who fell upon those that were gotten together in the village; and when it came to an action, some of them they slew, and others of them they put to flight, and took a great many of them alive, the principal of whom, and alsoSKETCH OF PONTIUS PILATE.
23I
the most potent of those that fled away, Pilate ordered to be slain. When the tumult was appeased, the Samaritan senate sent an embassy to Vitellius, the president of Syria, and accused Pilate of the murder of those that were killed, for they did not go to Tira-thaba in order to revolt from the Romans, but to escape the violence of Pilate. Vitellius sent Marcellus to take care of the affairs of Judea, and ordered Pilate to go to Rome, to answer before the emperor to the accusations of the Jews. So Pilate, when he had tarried ten years in Judea, made haste to Rome, and this in obedience to the orders of Vitellius, which he dare not contradict, buit before he could get to Rome Tiberius was dead.” (Antiq. xviii, 4, 1, 2.) There is a tradition that Pilate was banished to Vienna Allo-brogum. There are others concerning his death, but none seem to be trustworthy.
Herod, who was occupying the same palace with Pilate in Jerusalem, at the time of the trial of Jesus, was banished about this time. An idea may be gathered from Josephus as to the fate of Pilate in his trial before Caligula. “Herodias, Agrippa’s sister, who now lived as wife to that Herod who was te-trarch of Galilee and Perea, took this authority of her brother in' an envious manner, particularly when she saw that he had a greater dignity bestowed on him than her husband had, since, when he ran away, he was not able to pay his debts; and now he was come back, it was because he was in a way of dignity and great good fortune. She was therefore grieved232
SKETCH OF PONTIUS PILATE.
and much displeased at so great a mutation of his affairs, and chiefly when she saw him marching among the multitude with the usual ensigns of royal authority, she was not able to conceal how miserable she was, by reason of the envy she had towards him, but shei excited her husband, and desired him that he would sail to Rome, to court honors equal to his, for she said she could not bear to live any longer, while Agrippa, the son of that ■ Aristobulus who was condemned to die by his father, one that came to her husband in such extreme poverty that the necessaries of life were forced to be entirely supplied by him day by day; and when, he fled away from his creditors by sea, he now returned a king; while he was himself the son of a king, and while the near relation he bare to royal authority called upon him to gain the like dignity, he sat still, and was content with a private life. But thou Herod, although thou wast not formerly concerned to be in a lower condition than thy father, from whom thou wast derived, had been, yet do thou now seek after the dignity which thy kinsman hath attained to; and do thou not bear this contempt, that a man who admired thee should be in a greater honor than thyself, nor suffer his poverty to show itself able to purchase greater things than our abundance ; nor do thou esteem it other than a shameful thing to be inferior to one who the other day lived upon thy charity. But let us go to Rome, and let us spare no pains nor expenses, either of silver or gold, since they can not be kept forSKETCH OF PONTIUS PILATE.
233
any better use than for the obtaining of a kingdom.
“Herod opposed her request at the time, out of the love of ease, and having a suspicion of the trouble he should have at Rome, so he tried to instruct her better. But the more she saw him draw back, the more she pressed him to it, and desired him to leave no stone unturned in order to be king; and at last she left not off till she engaged him, whether he would or not, to be of her sentiments, because he could not otherwise avoid her importunity. So he got all things ready, after as sumptuous a manner as he was able, and spared for nothing, went up to Rome, taking Herodias along with him. But Agrippa, when he was made sensible of their intentions and preparations, he also prepared to go thither. As soon ’as heard they set sail, he sent Fortunatus, one of his freed,men, to Rome, to carry presents to the emperor, and letters against Herod, and to give Caius a particular accojunt of those matters if he should have any opportunity. This man followed Herod so quickly, had so prosperous a voyage, and came so little after him, that while Herod was with Caius, he himself came and delivered his letters; for they both sailed to Dicearchia, and found Caius at Baiae, which is itself a little city of Campania, at the distance of about five furlongs from Dicearchia. There are in that place the royal palaces, with sumptuous apartments, every emperor still endeavoring to outdo his predecessor's magnificence; the place also affords warm baths, that spring out of the ground of their234
SKETCH OF PONTIUS PILATE.
own accord, which are of advantage for the recovery of the health of those that make use of them, and besides, they minister to man’s luxury also. Now Caius saluted Herod, for he first met with him, and then looked upon the letters which Agrippa had sent him, and which were written in order to accuse Herod; wherein he accpsed him, that he had been in confederacy with Sejanus, against Tiberius’ government, and that he was now confederate with Artabanus, the king of Parthia, in opposition to the government of Caius; as a demonstration of which, he alleged that he had armor sufficient for 70,000 men in his armory. Caius was moved at this information, and asked Herod whether what was said about the armor was true; and when he confessed that it was true, for he could not deny the same, the truth of it being too notorious, Caius took that to be a sufficient proof of the accusation that he intended to revolt. So Caius took away from Herod his tetrarchy, and gave it by way of addition to Agrippa’s kingdom; he also gave Herod’s money to Agrippa, and, by way of punishment, awarded him a perpetual banishment, and appointed Lyons, a city of Gaul, to be his place of habitation. But when he was informed that Herod-ias was Agrippa’s sister, he made her a present of what money was her own, and told her that it was her brother who prevented her being put under the same calamity with her husband. But she made this reply:	“Thou, indeed, O emperor! actest after a
magnificent manner, and as becomes thyself in whatDREAM OF PILATE’S WIFESKETCH OF PONTILIS PILATE.
235
thou offerest me; but the kindness which I have for my husband hinders me from partaking of the favor of thy gift; for it is not just that I, who have been made a partner in his prosperity, should forsake him in his misfortunes.” Hereupon Caius was angry at her, and sent her with Herod into banishment, and gave her estate to Agrippa. And thus did God punish Herodias for her envy at her brother, and Herod also for giving ear to the vain discourses of a woman.” (Antiq. xiii, 7.)
Whether Pilate and his wife suffered the like fate of Herod and Herodias must be left to conjecture in the absence of positive historic record. It is probable that they did. However, Pilate’s name and his fame will follow that of Jesus, the one in question, the other in honor, perhaps until the world shall end.
Claudia Procula, the wife of Pilate, was most probably a convert to Judaism. The beauty and purity of her life has perhaps its counterpart in the picture drawn by Josephus, of Paulina, the wife of the Roman governor, Saturninus (Antiq. xviii, 3, 5), whose purity refused to bend before the two hundred thousand drachmae of Decius Mundus. No woman should fail to read that narrative, as referred to above, and no man who would see in Tiberius the man and em-
9	.>
peror that he was should fail to see in this act the regard which Tiberius Caesar had for purity of life and the measuring out of strict justice against its infraction.
Claudia Procula had her place at the trial of Jesus.236	SKETCH OF PONTIUS PILATE.
Her act bears honorable mention in the Gospels. Among the strangers who took part in the sad drama it is fitting that her name be mentioned. How much she had to do with the ewer of water and the declaration “I find in Him no fault,” will never be known. She may have impressed those words upon Pilate’s heart never to be effaced from memory and human history, when she told him of her dream in the palace. Her memory deserves a picture that no limner may touch save with the lines of beauty. Her name should have a sainted place among the women of the cross and sepulchre who heard the angel’s speech, “Not here, He is risen.”	. '
Men trampled under foot a thousand acts and words like hers, a thousand mute notes of the heart, whose pathos can not be set to speech, because the iron pen of scholastic pharisaism has punctuated the rhythm of the human heart and diagrammed the music of the soul down to jots and tittles. She was a heroine who caught within her heart the words, ‘ ‘What are thrones that swim in blood, at Rome or in Jerusalem? What are lords and kings of Judea or Galilee, but Roman eagles watching the dove-cotes of Genesareth? What am I or my husband, lordly lieutenant Pilate? I will go or send this dream brought by the angel, to where he sits as Caesar. I will go, though it cost that throne and banishment from Rome and cast us down forever. I will go back to Gaul among the shining hills of my girlhood, sad, a widow; or I will follow him in exile to Vienne, to Lyons, or to Pontus, but I will go.”SKETCH OF PONTIUS PILATE.
237
No wonder that the angel met her as down those marble steps Procula bore that message. It was not their first meeting. Into that palace chamber that angel had come before and fanned the fevered brow of many- a palace dreamer. And now her work all done, along the ether routes of heaven her angel pinions, like white air, she spread, and sailed away.ANNAS AND CAIAPHAS,
THE HIGH PRIESTS.
History has left no more interesting chapters concerning any class of men than those relating to the priesthood. The priesthood forms a part of the history of mankind from the earliest times of savage life, to and through the highest civilizations that have flourished.
Wherever there is organized society, whether as a family, a tribe, a state or a nation, there is found the priest. This has been so always and everywhere. Human government has never been able to move along without that great directive force under one form or another. The statesmanship and generalship of the world in all ages has recognized this fact, sometimes too late, at a nation's grave.
Anarchy and Atheism know no priesthood; but outside, of these it has been regarded as the conservator of all good government. The historian will not deny this fact, and the statesman who stands highest in the affairs of men acknowledges it as a universal truth. Those higher heads of the legislative parlia-ANNAS AND CAIAPHASANNAS AND CAlAPHAS.
239
ment, those mightier generals among the battlements that decide a nation's fate, believe it. "
There could not be chosen a nobler example of the priesthood than that afforded by the Jews. For seventeen hundred years and more, while Egypt, Babylon, Persia and Greece arose and passed away amid the glories of their monarchies, the Jew lived on, wearing on his high priest’s brow one name, the name of God. The insignia of heaven sat upon his brow, and in his brain nestled the “name of the Almighty One” whom all call Father. It was borne upon Aaron’s brow while yet in the desert. It was on the brow of others, centuries later, when the golden temple lifted its head above the nations in the glory of a reign that shall not be eclipsed, and again in the darkness of an exile time it may have been worn in Babylon.
Josephus records that Alexander the Great, as he came up to Jerusalem, “and saw the multitude at a distance in white garments, while the priests stood clothed with fine linen, and the high priest in purple and scarlet, with his mitre on his head, having the golden plate whereon the name of God was engraved, approached by himself, and adored that name, and was first to salute the high priest.” (Antiq. xi, 8, 5.) He also says that “the crown upon which Moses wrote the name of God” was in existence in his day. (Antiq. viii, 3, 8.) And Whiston, his translator, says in a note (page 87, Book III, 8, 6):	“That
the very Mosaic petalon, or »golden plate, for the240
ANNAS AND CAIAPHAS.
forehead of the Jewish high priest was itself preserved, not only till the days of Josephus, but of Origen; and that its inscription, ‘Holiness to the Lord,’ was in the Samaritan characters.” In this connection Josephus has left an account concerning the precious things deposited in the temple that were delivered by the priests from the wall of the holy house to Titus at the taking of Jerusalem, as follows:	“But
now at this time it was that one of the priests, the Son of Thebuthus, whose name was Jesus, upon his having security given him by the oath of Caesar that he should be preserved, upon condition that he should deliver to him certain of the precious things that had been reposited in thé temple, came out of it and delivered him from the, wall of the holy house two candlesticks like to those that lay in the holy house, with tables, and cisterns, and vials, all made of solid gold, and very heavy. He also delivered to him the veils and the garments, with the precious stones, and a great number of other precious vessels that belonged to their sacred worship. The treasurer of the temple also, whose name was Phineas, was seized on and showed Titus the coats and girdles of the priests, with a great quantity of purple and scarlet, which were there reposited for the use of the veil, as also a great deal of cinnamon and cassia, with a large quantity of other sweet spices which used to be mixed together and offered as incense to God every day. A great many other treasures were also delivered to him, with sacred ornaments of the temple notANNAS AND CAIAPHAS.
24I
a few; which things thus delivered to Titus, obtained of him for this man the same pardon that he had allowed to such as deserted of their own accord.”
Did Annas ever wear that golden mitre before which Alexander bowed? Did his son-in-law, Cai-aphas, ever put it on as he stood where Aaron stood, and as he faced such men as Jaddua chanced upon? These questions hav^ a bearing upon the times which are now being considered. These men stood in an office great as Aaron’s, great aS Jaddua’s when he met Alexander, wearing the great name that the Macedonian king adored.
Three centuries had passed since Alexander stood before the high priest Jaddua and said: “ ‘I did not adore him, but that God who hath honored him with this high priesthood; for I saw this very person in a dream, in this very habit, when I was at Dios in Macedonia, who, when I was considering with myself how I might obtain the dominion of Asia, exhorted me to make no delay, but boldly to pass over the sea thither, for he would conduct my army and would give me the dominion over the Persians, and that all things would succeed according to what is in my own mind; and when he had said this to Par-menio, and had given the high priest his right hand, the priests ran along by him, and he came into the city; and when he went up into the temple he offered sacrifice to God, according to the high priest’s
16242
ANNAS AND CAIAPHAS.
direction, and magnificently treated both the high priest and the priests.” (Antiq. xi, 3, 5.)
Did Annas ever read of this? Did Caiaphas? Did they realize what high priest meant that morning when they met “with the elders and scribes and the whole council, to hold consultation” about taking Jesus before Pilate? Did Caiaphas look back upon that list from Aaron till himself, three score names and eleven, and covering more than sixteen centuries of high priests, to ask the question, who am I? what is this office that I hold?
Did the aged Annas forget all dignity of the man that bore upon his brow “Holiness to the Lord,” as he stood with Caiaphas in that holy office, so long administered by those who had preceded him; bearing upon their breasts the gems of sardius, topaz, emerald, carbuncle, jasper, sapphire, agate, amethyst, figure, onyx, beryl and chrysolite? Did he hear the echo of those golden bells that hung upon the fringes of Aaron's sons a thousand years before, or, had their music ceased in that holy of holies forever?
The writer would not picture a false array to glorify a high priest here, but he can not pass this office by, with all its duties so sacred, to satisfy that few who would scatter to the winds the very memories that make heaven dear.
They were a kingly.set of men, whose feet alone had echoed in that corridor where God met face to face with them. How hard a task it is to wipe away the stain of a mere name. Annas, Caiaphas andANNAS AND CAIAPHAS.
243
Pilate have shared a common fate in history, the one a heathen Roman, the others, priestly Jews. Abraham, Jacob, Joseph and Benjamin, are names that must not be shaded with “Jew.” Saul, of Tarsus, that knight of the Christian faith, who rode like one of “the six hundred,” who hunted down Christian men as well as women, does not sound so harsh when written Paul the Apostle.
Annas and Caiaphas are names that need not make inglorious the law, the temple, or that holy name they bore upon their foreheads, which Alexander saw on the brow of Jaddua, simply because men have been taught to hate them. They were but representative men, even down to the robes they wore. Their names are nothing. They bore upon their breasts the names, and should have borne the interests of Israel’s tribes, as on their brow, the name of Israel’s God. They bore the law, not theirs, biit Moses’ law, not Moses’ yet, but God’s own word. In this connection it might be said that Caiaphas is the same high priest who granted Saul, of Tarsus, letters to the Synagogues at Damascus, while he was “yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples,” and which letters gave authority, “that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound into Jerusalem.”
The chief interest attaching to the names Annas and Caiaphas is their intimate connection with the trial and death of Jesus, and this connection is one that joins itself in many difections to the history of244
ANNAS AND CAIAPHAS.
the times. Like Jaddua, Hyrcanus and other high priests had done before, they stood related to persons and events around which the greatest interests of mankind have centered.
These two men are known individually by drawing around them a few personal facts connected with their official work; but generally they are known by setting their names among the many links that form the great chain of their order.
Josephus has left this account of the high priests: “Now I think it proper to give an account of our high priests, how they began, and who of these are capable of that dignity, and how many there had been at the close of the war.
“History informs us that Aaron, the brother of Moses, officiated before God as high priest, and that after his death, his sons succeeded him immediately, and that this dignity has been continued down from them to all their posterity, whence it is the custom of our country that no one should, take the high priesthood of God, but he who is of the blood of Aaron; while every one that is of another stock, though he were a king, can never obtain that high priesthood* Accordingly the number of all the high priests from Aaron the first of them, until Phanas, was eighty-three.
“Of these, thirteen officiated as high priests in the wilderness, from the days of Moses, while the tabernacle was standing, until the people came into Judea, when King Solomon erected the temple to God. ForANNAS AND CAIAPHAS.
245
at first they held the high priesthood till the end of their life, although afterward they had successors while they were alive.
“Now these thirteen, who were the descendants of the sons of Aaron, received this dignity by succession, one after another, and. after that it was a monarchy. The number of years during the rule of these thirteen, from the day when our fathers »departed out of Egypt, under Moses, their leader, until the building of the temple which King Solomon erected at Jerusalem, was six hundred and twelve.
“After those thirteen high priests, eighteen took the high priesthood at Jerusalem, one in succession to another, from the days of King Solomon, until Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon made an expedition against the city, and burned the temple and removed our nation into Babylon and took the high priest, Josedek, captive.
“The time of these high priests was four hundred and sixty-six years, six months and ten days, while the Jews were still under the regal government. But after the term of seventy years’ captivity under the Babylonians, Cyrus, king of Persia, sent the Jews from Babylon to their own land again, and gave them leave to rebuild their temple, at which time, Jesus, the son of Josedek, took the high priesthood over the captives, when they were returned home.
“Now he and his posterity,in all fifteen, until An-tiochus Eupator, were under a democratical government for four hundred and fourteen years. And then246
ANNAS AND CAIAPHAS.
this Antiochus and Lysias, the general of his army, deprived Onias, who was called Menelaus, of the priesthood, and slew him at Beria; and driving Onias the Third, put Jacimus into the place of the high priest. One that was, indeed, of the stock of Aaron, but not of the family of Onias. Nqw when Jacimus had retained the priesthood three years, he died.
“Jonathan*succeeded him, and then Simon took the high priesthood, and when he was destroyed at a feast, his son, whose name was Hyrcanus, succeeded him. This Hyrcanus enjoyed that dignity thirty years and died an old man, leaving the succession to Judas, who was called also Aristobulus.
“Alexander was his heir, and when this Alexander had been both king and high priest twenty-seven years, he departed this life, and permitted his wife, Alexandra, to appoint him that should be high priest. So she gave the high priesthood to Hyrcanus, but held the kingdom herself nine years, and then died.
“Hyrcanus was deprived of his principality by Aristobulus, who reigned and performed in the high priest’s office for three years and as many months, when Pompey cam^ upon him, took the city of Jerusalem by force, and sent him and his children to Rome. Pompey afterward restored Hyrcanus to the high priesthood, and made him governor of the nation, but forbade him to wear a diadem.
“This Hyrcanus ruled besides his first nine years, twenty-four years more, when Barzapharnes and Pacorus, the generals of th§ Parthians, passed theANNAS AND CAIAPHAS.
24;
Euphrates and fought with Hyrcanus, and took him alive, and made Antigonus, the son of Aristobulus, king. When he had reigned three years and three months, Sosius and Herod besieged and took him. Anthony had him brought to Antioch and slain there. Herod was then made king by the Romans. But Herod did not appoint high priests out of the family of Asmoneus, but made certain men so, that were barely of those that were priests, excepting that he once gave that dignity to Aristobulus, the grandson of Hyrcanus, aiming, by such appointment, to gain the favor of the people, who had a kind remembrance of Hyrcanus. Yet Herod put Aristobulus afterwards to death, fearing that the people would incline too much to him. After this man, Aristobulus, Herod never entrusted the high priesthood to the sons of Asmoneus.
“Archelaus, also Herod’s son, did like his father in making appointment to the high priesthood, as also did the Romans who took the government injo their hands.” (Antiq. Book XX, Chap, x.)
Near the time of the birth of Jesus, and drawing nearer to the events of his crucifixion, comp the darkest times of political and ecclesiastical domination. After all that has been said of the Jewish priesthood, its dignity and glory, it is painful to come into the presence of Annas and Caiaphas as history compels. These two, of whom, as president of the Great Sanhedrin, and acting high priest, it would be pleasing to be able to say better things. Annas was a Sad-248
ANNAS AND CAIAPHAS.
ducee, and his son-in-law, Caiaphas, was no better; both were men who did not believe that “God is concerned in our doing or not doing what is evil; ’ ’ men who believed “not in the immortal duration of the soul, and the'punishments and rewards of Hades“ (Jos. Wars, B. II, C. viii); men who believed “that souls die with the bodies,” and who kept the law as officers of it, simply out of fear of the multitude. (Antiq. B. XVIII, C. i.) Yet one was “the president of the Sanhedrin,” the other the acting, legal high priest of God.
Were there not better testimony than that which has merely put these men among a sect called “Sad-ducees,” it would be difficult to believe this of a president of the great Sanhedrin and of the high priest.
But, unfortunately, individual scars mark the lives of these men. Incidents, facts, deeds in their own lives, of their own doing, stand up as witnesses against them, and in proof of the statements about to be made. What shall be said when it is found that the high priests of this whole period are described in the most terrible language of the Talmud, such as of self-indulgence, violence, luxury, public indecency, whispering and hissing, to influence the judgment of tribunals.
What shall be thought of the man whose sons kept the “Bazaars of the Sons of Annas,” where moneychanging, selling of doves, the market of sheep and oxen, and other desecration abounded? When thous-ANNAS AND CAIAPHAS.
249
ands of the poor from all lands were imposed upon, even to the buying of doves for sacrificial needs?
Who can count the profit of those bazaars? Who tell of the vast feums that flowed through this desecration into the coffers of the high priest? It is painful to have to record such things of these men; however, it is due to the reader that he should have some idea of the surroundings hinted at in the words of scripture in the mention of “tribute,” “money-changers,” and the like.
Eidershiem. states that “a month before the feast (on the 15th of Adar) bridges and roads were put in repair, and sepulchers were whitened, to prevent accidental pollutions to pilgrims, that some would select this out of the three gr.eat annual feasts for the tithing of their flocks and herds, which, fn such case, had to be done two weeks before the passover; while others would fix on it as the time for going up to Jerusalem before the feast to purify themselves, that is to undergo the prescribed purification in any case of Levitical defilement. But what must have appealed to every one in the land was the appearance of the money-changers, who opened their stalls in every village on the 15th of Adar, just a month before the feast. They were, no doubt, regularly accredited and duly authorized. All Jews and proselytes (women, slaves and minors excepted), had to pay the annual temple tribute of half a shekel, according. to the sacred standard, equal to about 1 shilling 2 pence. From this tax many of the priests250
ANNAS AND CAIAPHAS.
claimed exemption on the ingenious plea that in Leviticus vi, 23, every offering of a priest was ordered to be burned, and not eaten; while from the temple tribute such offerings were paid for as two wave loaves and the shewbread, which were afterwards eaten by the priests.
“This temple tribute had to be paid in exact half shekels of the sanctuary, or ordinary Galilean shekels. When it is remembered that, besides Palestinian silver and copper coin, Persian, Tyrian, Syrian, Egyptian, Grecian and Roman money circulated in the country, it will be understood what work these money-changers must have had. From the 15th to the 25th of Adar they had stalls in every country town. On the latter date, which therefore must be marked as the first arrivals of festive pilgrims in the city, the stalls in the country were closed and the moneychangers henceforth sat within the precincts of the temple. All who refused to pay the temple tribute were liable to distraint of their goods. The moneychangers made a charge of a Maah, or from 1 1-2 pence to 2 pence on every half-shekel. This was called quolbon. But if a person tendered a sela, a four-denar piece, in value two half-shekels of the sanctuary, or two Galilean shekels, he had to pay double quolbon, one for his half-shekel of tribute money, the other for his change. Computing the annual temple tribute at about 75,000 pounds, the bankers/ profits may have amounted to 8,000 or 9,-000 pounds a year. This is only a part of the pict-ANNAS AND CAIAPHAS.
251
ure in this one department of money-changing alone, and by no means all of its operations. The sales in the bazaars must have exceeded a hundred fold in profits that of the mere money-changing.
“It will naturally be asked here:	What became
of the profits of the money-changers, and who were the real owners of the temple market? No certainty of answer can be made to this. The best authorities are in favor of the inference that ‘there can be little doubt that they went to leading temple officials.’ And there is little doubt that these bazaars were those of the sons of Annas the high priest, and that they occupied part of the temple court; in short, that the temple market and the bazaars of the sons of Annas were identical.
“This is the place and these the things upon which the ‘Prophet of Nazareth of Galilee’ came and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the table of the money-changers, and the seats of them that sold doves, saying unto them: ‘It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.’ ‘But when they (the chief priests and Pharisees) sought to lay hands on Him (Jesus) they feared the multitude, because they took Him for a prophet.’ Besides, this nefarious business had become very apparent and extremely unpopular. The people, the multitude, knew of this evil, but, as is often the case, the rulers had the necks of the multitude underfoot. Annas did not forget this business interruption. He re-252
ANNAS AND CAIAPHAS.
membered this act of Jesus, even when he stood before the Sanhedrin, concerning higher matters than the selling of doves, when he and Jesus met for the last time as judge and prisoner.
“Not a few events in the life of Annas go to show that he was ‘a great hoarder of money;’ that he ‘bought up the friendship of procurators, high priests and others high in official position by his presents; ’ that he was surrounded by ‘very wicked servants who joined themselves to the boldest sort of people and went to the threshing floors and took away the tithes that belonged to the priests, by violence, and did not refrain from beating those who would not give these tithes to them; so that some of the priests, that of old were wont to be supported with those tithes, died from want of food.’ It is stated that not far from this time ‘sedition arose between the high priests, with regard to one another, and that they got together bodies of the boldest sort of people, and frequently came from reproaches to throwing of stones at each other.’ Annas is especially mentioned in this connection as being ‘too hard for the rest, by his riches, which enabled him to gain those most ready to receive.’ ’’ This is quoted from a Jewish historian and can hardly be disputed. It would seem well to review what has been said in former pages‘about the priesthood, the great Sanhedrin, and the dignity and glory of the former times of Judaism. So degraded had they become from their former condition, so corrupt and low that one is ashamed almost to proceedANNAS AND CAIAPHAS.
253
in the history of “a government going in all things from bad to worse.”
It will be noticed that Annas figures almost exclusively in this history, Caiaphas being scarcely mentioned. This is to be explained only by saying that Annas was the soul and body of the priesthood at this time. He was not only the “power behind the throne,” but by his long-continued familiarity with all its affairs, he was the throne. Roman procurators, high priests, kings and kings’ sons, and others connected with the affairs of government, even down to the smallest appointments, were under the
influence of this one man. Being a Sadducee he had
.•
a strong hold on the influential, the rich and learned. The multitude, the majority, were not in accord with him, especially when aroused by any popular call of attention to “honest rights.” Sons and son-in-law were but his tools. High priest he was, and as president of that supreme council of Judea known as the Sanhedrin, his influence permeated well-nigh everything. How far this differs from the days of Moses and Aaron; how far from that Theocracy when kings and priests were servants of God!
Strabo, the Greek historian of the first century, who gives a description of every part of the world known in his time, states in his book xvi, pp. 761-762:	“Those that succeeded Moses, continued for
some time in earnest, both in piety and righteous actions; but after a while there were others that took254
ANNAS AND CAIAPHAS.
upon them the priesthood; first, superstitious, and afterwards tyrannical persons.
“Such a prophet was Moses and those who succeeded him, beginning in a way not to be blamed, but changing for the worse.
“And when it openly appeared that the government was becoming tyrannical, Alexander was the first that set himself for a king instead of a priest, and his sons were Hyrcanus and Aristobulus.”
It might be truly said that history does not present another as long a list of officers, acting so consecutively, and under so many vicissitudes, with such uniform devotion to one great idea, as belonged to this dignified order of the Jewish high priests, at least down till the time of Hyrcanus.
According to the Mosaic account, so familiar to readers of scripture, the high priest was as God in the wilderness to the people when camping around Sinai; the tribes of Israel were an army in exile without home, without house, except the tabernacle, without shelter, except the tent, and with no hope of country but the “promised land.”
Aaron, the high priest, led them wearing the holy vestments “made for glory and for beauty,” and bearing upon his shoulders and on his breast the insignia of heaven.
The high priest was shepherd leader of the flock of God, wearing the golden bells at his feet, as he and his sons guided that flock by mountain and stream, through the long campaign of forty years inANNAS AND CAIAPHAS.
255
the wilderness, under that banner clothed with cloud by day, pillared with fire by night. He might stand face to face with God, whose court was within the holy of holies meeting place with God, whither no living man but him might stand, and from whose decrees there might be no appeal.
This was the character of the high priesthood at its fountain-head; an office under God’s direct appointment succeeded to by birth alone, and never to become the gift of a mere civil magistrate. This idea of it was carried out until the time of the reign of Herod the Great, with but three exceptions.
After that, time the high priest was occasionally appointed at the mere whim of the civil ruler, a good example of which occurs under Valerius Gratus, the Roman procurator who officiated just before Pilate.
Gratus dismissed Annas from the priesthood, and appointed Ismael to the place; a little while later, Ismael was deprived of office, and Eleazar, son of Ananus, appointed, then Simon, all in a few years, and then Joseph Caiaphas.
Caiaphas, the son-in-law of Annas, was appointed to the office of high priest by Valerius Gratus, who came to Judea under Tiberius Caesar before Pilate’s
0
administration. Caiaphas was therefore installed in office about the year A. D. 25, and by the same procurator who had deprived Annas of it a few years before. He continued in office till after the cruci-‘ fixion, and was at the trial of Peter and John with Annas; though Annas seems to have been acting256
ANNAS AND CAIAPHAS.
high priest in that trial. Only slight mention of the name of Caiaphas occurs in any history.
An opinion of his is recorded in John’s Gospel, Chap, xi, 49, 50, which seems to argue that in his view of the case, it was a political necessity that Jesus should be put to death, rather than that through His influence alive the whole Jewish polity should be destroyed. This opinion was expressed before the council of chief priests and Pharisees which had met to discuss this question just after the raising of Lazarus from the dead.
Caiaphas, although acting high priest, was in reality but the deputy of Annas; and though standing in the holy office with great dignity, pride and arrogance, did but carry out the judgment and behests of Annas.
Annas was first appointed to office by Cyrenius when the taxings were completed in the thirty-seventh year of Caesar’s victory over Antony at the battle of Actium, about A. D. 7.
Josephus relates that so long was his reign followed by those of his son-in-law, and his five sons, that he “was a sort of perpetual high priest.’’ For, as intimated above, and shown in many of his acts, he was the moving spirit, “the power behind the throne’’ during all of this long period of his own and his family’s control of the high office.
It was before him, first of all, that Jesus was taken. From other mention of him, such as that in the Acts of Apostles (Chap, iv), where he alone is mentioned as “high priest,” and Caiaphas’ name is mentionedANNAS AND CAIAPHAS.	2 $7
incidentally, with others who were at the trial of Peter and John for preaching and healing in the name of Christ, it is probable that Annas was still acting. His name is mentioned long after the crucifixion, in connection with the stirring and troublous times near the destruction of Jerusalem as “the most ancient of the high priests” then alive.
His son Ananus occupied the priestly office, A. D. 62, but was removed by king Agrippa, at the demand of the Pharisees, because of his attempt to revive Sadduceeism, and was put to death , by the zealots, A. D. 67. From a speech of Ananus, given in the appendix, the reader may learn in what confused condition the domestic affairs of Jerusalem were at this time. The home government had grown from bad to worse ever since the crucifixion of Jesus.
There were but two sources of power by which any' correction of this state of affairs could be made; by the power of the Sanhedrin under the priesthood, or by the civil power of Rome. If the priesthood should become entirely incompetent to guide the affairs of the state, there was but one alternative, jt must yield entirely to Roman hands.
Evidently there was no middle ground, and thé shrewd priests could see this state of affairs confronting them and threatening their office more and more as each month rolled round. The home government was in no position during the preaching of Jesus to
17258
ANNAS AND CAIAPHAS.
be attacked every day as being corrupt and venal to the last degree.
The charge of unbounded hypocrisy and venality as urged against the very fountain-head of a government, and as continuing until deserving the “damnation of hell,” was not well calculated to keep down rebellion or quell sedition among a people already smarting under misrule from abroad as well as from its own native government.
For this reason there stands a charge in the death warrant of Jesus, as dictated or suggested by the Jews, that “He is seditious!” “He is the enemy of the Law! ’ ’
Luke gives Jesus’ reply which seems to be a partial denial of such a charge, in these words: “Then Jesus said unto the chief priests and captains of the temple, and the elders, which were come to him, Be ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and staves?
“When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me; but this is your hour, and the power of darkness.” (xxii, 52, 53.)
These passages contain a remnant of that invective which He had often thrown out against the rulers, and, while for the moment He would make excuse, He immediately iterates what would again arouse them to fury by calling to mind the denunciations of their conduct so frequently made by Him before the people at large.
And here it may be noted with emphasis what was the core of the offense committed by Jesus, His at-ANNAS AND CAIAPHAS.
259
tack on the interpretation of the law as well as on the administration of it by the Jewish rulers then in power. For, it must be known, that Jesus assumed a construction of the moral law even in a wider sense, a broader and more liberal scheme than the narrow, contracted and conservative interpretation held by the Jewish scribes and priests.
There was between his doctrine and theirs, “an irrepressible conflict,” a conflict between an aggressive, radical and progressive move toward a republic of mankind and for mankind, and the narrow, sectional control of monarchy, or, what is little better, the condensation of all power into an aristocratic Oligarchy. This was a conflict between the Abra-hamic and the Mosaic ideas of government, Jesus for the Abrahamic, Annas for the Mosaic.
It was the battle-ground of the greatest ideas that have ever moved human society, in any, and in all ages. On that field Jesus yielded up His life as the foremost champion of human rights, bearing aloft that blessed of banners, inscribed with the name “Son of Man.” Man was his motto, not “the Sabbath” nor a “peculiar people,” but Man, the whole human family.
In so doing he abolished the narrow birthright that was stolen long ago by Jacob, which drove his brother Esau from the field of blessing, and did confer on each the birthright of being a man. And every such an one, He hath given the right to become “king and priest to God.”2ÖO
ANNAS AND CAIAPHAS.
But the high priests of His day could not see it so. They had been born and reared under the old constitution, which held them, separate, distinct and peculiar. Ten tribes first, and after that, one by one the tribes went down to this very hour, when “the oldest and the smallest sect in the world” makes up the last remnant of the old constitution.
Dean Stanley gives this picture, as he sketched it from Mount Gerizim: “There is, probably, no other locality in which the same worship has been sustained with so little change or interruption for so great a series of years, as that of this mountain, from Abraham to the present day. In their humble synagogue, at the foot of the mountain, the Samaritans still worship, the oldest and the smallest sect in the world. And up the side of the mountain, and on its long ridge, is to be traced the pathway by which they ascend to the sacred spots where they yearly celebrate, Wone of all the Jewish race, the Paschal Sacrifice.”— Stanley, Sinai and Palestine, 236.
Look now at Aaron, see his shining garments, his breast-plate, his golden bells tinkling at his feet; behold the proud list which was kept in the holy of holies while the golden temple stood. Look* on Annas and on Caiaphas; further on, see Phannias, the rustic brute who filled the office last, when Roman Eagles tore the golden Cherub’s wing from above the Ark, and bore it off to Rome, and left the levelled city like a plowman's field. In this shall be seen theANNAS AND CAIAPHAS.
261
priesthood’s reign, and the priesthood’s fall. Fifteen centuries rolled by during this change.
The humble synagogue, as shown by Stanley, is what remains of the old order under the Jewish priesthood, whose final act was the rolling of the great stone against the topb of Jesus. To them that stone has never been rolled away. The faith of Abraham, head of the family of the Faithful, rose o’er that tomb, and has become “the light of the World!” Jesus has become High Priest of Humanity, and Annas, Caiaphas, Pilate and Tiberius, have become fatnous, only as connected with the tragedy of His crucifixion.
No priestly name among the fourscore and three will be so long remembered as the names Annas and Caiaphas ; no Roman .emperor and lieutenant’s will live like those of Pilate and Tiberius; no simple peasant’s will be called so oft as Peter, James and John. The three Marys and Lazarus of Bethany shall enjoy that immortality of history, translated into every tongue around the world for nearly two thousand years, these names have sounded, echoing the times in which His great work was done, who should forever be the one High Priest.ANNAS AND CAIAPHAS.
2Ö2
Annexed is a list of all the high priests with the dates of their reigns:
I.	Aaron,	B. c. 1657-1619	42.	Manasseh, 43.	Onias II,	260-234 234-219
2.	Eleazar,	1619-1580	44. Simon II,	219-199
3*	Phineas,	1580-1523	45. Onias III,	I99_I75
4-	Abishua,	l523~ltf6	46.	Jason, 47.	Onias IV,	I75—173
5-	Bukki,	1466-1409		173“162
6.	Uzzi,	1409-1352	48. Jacimus,	162-160
7-	Zerahiah,	i352“I295	49. Jonathan,	160-143
8.	Meraioth,	i295-i238	50. Simon III,	*43"*35
9-	Amariah I,	1238-1185	51. Hyrcanus I,	135-106
	ithamar’s	LINE.	52. Judas,	106-105
10.	Eli,	I185-II25	53. Alexander,	105-78
11.	Ahitub I,	II25-I085	54. Hyrcanus II,	78-41
12.	Ahimelech,	IO85-IO60	55. Antigonus,	4I_37
I3-	Abiatha,	I06o-IOI2	56. Ananeel,	37-35
	eleazar’s line.		57. Aristobulus,	35	
14.	Zadok I,	1012-972	58. Jesus I,	35-23
i5-	Ahimaaz,	972-956	59. Simon IV,	23-5
16.	Azariah I,	956-917	60. Matthias I,	5-4
I7-	Amariah,	917-887		A. D.
18.	Johanan,	887-884	61. Joazar,	ï» 4. 5> 7
ï9.	Issus,	884-883	62. Eleazar II,	4
20.	Jehoiada,	883-838	63. Jesus II,	4-5
21.	Phideas,	838-837	64. Ananus I (Annas), 7-21	
22.	Zechariah,	837-809	65. Ismael I,	21-22
23-	Azariah II,	809-776	66. Eleazar III,	22-23
24.	Amariah III,	776-742	67. Simon V,	23-25
25-	Urijah,	742-730	68. Joseph I (Caiapnas), 25-36	
26.	Ahitub II,	730-700	69. Jonathan I,	36~37
27-	Zadok,	700-647	70. Theophilus,	37-42
28.	Shallum,	647-634	71. Simon VI,	42-43
29-	Hilkiah,	634-609	72. Matthias II,	43-44
3°-	Azariah IV,	609-598	73. Elioneus,	44-48
31-	Seraiah,	598-588	74. Joseph II,	48—■—
32-	Jehozadak,	588-54°	75. Ananias,	48-55
33-	BABYLONIAN Jeshua,	EXILE. 54O-5OO	76.	Jonathan II, 77.	Ishmael II,	55-62
34-	Joiakim,	5OO-465	78. Joseph III,	62
35-	Eliashib,	465-406	79. Ananus II,	62
36-	Joida,	406-37Ï	80. Jesus III,	62-65
37-	Jonathan,	371-339	81. Jesus IV,	65-69
38.	Jaddua,	339-319	82. Matthias III,	69-70
39-	Onias I,	319-302	83. Phannias,	70
40.	Simon I,	302-293	Destruction of Jerusalem by	
41-	Eleazar I,	293-260	Titus.	TIBERIUS CAESARSKETCH OF TIBERIUS CÆSAR.
It may be well here to state to the reader that-, in this work which is entitled “A Monograph of the Crucifixion,” it has been thought best to give some account of the Emperor, in whose reign it occurred, as also the prominent officials connected with it, both on the Jewish and Roman side.
In the history of it, also, certain others of later times call for mention—and hence the insertion of the various sketches that here follow.
It has been argued by some that it is not likely that Pilate would have made such a writing to Ti • berius Caesar as is contained in the foregoing Acts, Reports, etc., for the simple reason that the character of Tiberius is opposed to such an idea.
The true character of Tiberius therefore is necessary here in arriving at a conclusion on this question ; and inasmuch as later criticism and a 'more thorough investigation has shown that, Tiberius’ character, both as a man and a ruler, has been grossly misrepresented, by Suetonius especially, one of his earliest biographers, it is felt necessary that it be set forth in its true light, as having a bearing on the objections to the Reports’ being made by such of his subordinate lieutenants as Pilate.
(263)264
SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CAESAR.
And what shall be said of the character of Tiberius here, will be drawn from the latest historical investigation, and the most thorough and critical examination of original authorities by a master hand.
Suetonius, born a. d. 70 and who died 123 a. d. was a political enemy and hater of Tiberius ; and in his “Life of the Twelve Caefears” has taken particular delight in aspersing the character of the great emperor, and in so doing has misled the minds of much of posterity into the belief that Tiberius was a corrupt, dissolute beast, as a man, and a weak and imperious tyrant as emperor, whose sole delight was to be cruel and devilish.
That he was not such, might be denied generally from the very fact of his parentage, his early childhood and very boyhood ; and especially from the facts of his great culture in learning, his love of the arts and literature, and from his great ability as a general, when he attained to manhood.
His very selection by the great Augustus as one fit to succeed him in his reign as emperor, is enough to show somewhat of the man, to say nothing else in his favor.
His wise, honest and liberal policy as a man and ruler devoted to the interests of the people, and his anti-patrician sentiment, lie chiefly at the foundation of what has been alleged against him by men like Suetonius, Tacitus and others.
Tiberius Caesar was the second emperor of Rome. He was born Nov. 15, 42 b. c., on the Palatine Hill, Rome : and suceeded the great Augustus A. d. 14. He was a descendant of the great Claudian family,SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CAESAR.
265
whose signal services to the Roman State were many.
He was also related to the family of the Livii which, although of the common people, made itself distinguished, having enjoyed the honor of eight consulships, two censorships, three triumphs, and one dictatorship.
The father of Tiberius was a quaestor, a general and a senator. After the assassination of Julius Caesar he proposed a resolution in the Senate to reward those who had slain him.
The childhood of Tiberus is said to have been spent in troubles, and amid many dangers, accompanying his parents in their flight from political enemies, from one province to another. He was a precocious child, delivering, when only nine years old, an oration on the rostra in praise of his father.
While yet a boy he attended the chariot of the great Augustus in his triumph for the victory at Actium ; and presided over the games celebrating that victory, he commanding the larger boys.
From the age of 20 till 36 by far the greater part of his time' was spent in camp.
In 9 b. c., that is when 33 years old he became the first soldier of the empire, occupying the position left vacant by Drusus’ death in the autumn of that year. In the year following he traversed all that part of Germany lying between the Rhine and the Elbe. He was rewarded with the full triumph and the military title of “imperator.”
In 6 b. c. Augustus bestowed upon him the tri-bunician authority for five years. He was thus in266
SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CAESAR.
the most formal manner associated with the emperor in the conduct of the government on the civil side.
At the age of 56, that is a. d. 14, Tiberius ascended the throne as emperor.
Throughout his reign, of 22 years, he strove earnestly to do his duty to the empire at large.
His guiding principle was to maintain the constitutional forms which had been constructed by Augustus.
When he died A. d. 37 he left the subject people of the empire in a condition of prosperity such as they had never known before, and never knew again.
Public security both in Italy and abroad was maintained with a strong hand, and commerce was stimulated by the great improvement of communication.
Soldiers, governors and officials of all kinds were kept in dread of vengeance if they oppressed those beneath them, or encouraged irregularity of any kind. He died at the age of 78.
The accompanying likeness of him, procured through the kindness of Hon. A. G. Porter, our Ex-United States minister to Italy, and regarded as authentic, is from a statue of Tiberius in the gallery of the Vactican at Rome. It was discovered in modern times at Piperno, the ancient Pri-vernum, near Terracina.
We append here, by the author’s special permission, the very valuable and exhaustive note of Prof. F. Huidekoper, as taken from his “Judaism at Rome b. c. 76—a. d. 140” and found on pages 504—541SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CAESAR.	26j
note G, as to the character of Tiberius, as follows.
Character of Tiberius
The personal character and political tendencies of the Emperor Tiberius have an indirect connection with the general subject of this work; yet a chief motive for the following note is the desire of contributing towards an appreciation of one who, after laboring faithfully by precept and example in behalf of temperance and frugality, rectitude and kindness has been misrepresented as a brutal and despotic debauchee.
If we ask why Tiberius should have been so traduced, there are two answers,’ one applicable to the charge of despotism, the other to that of debauchery. The former can be best comprehended by such as appreciate the degree in which the privileged classes had come to regard peculation, bribery, and extortion as their well-settled right.* When Tiberius, with no exercise of arbitrary power, threw the
*“The equites abused their power, as the Senate had done before them. As farmers of the public revenues, they committed peculation and extortion with an habitual impunity, which assumed in their own view the complexion of a right. When accused they were tried by accomplices and partisans. .	.	. On the other hand, in
prosecutions against senators of the opposite faction, the equites had more regard to political animosty than to justice. Even in ordinary cases, where party teehng was not concerned, they allowed their judicial votes to be purchased by bribery and corrupt influence.“ —Smith, Diet, of Biog., i, p. 1079, col. 2, art. Drusus, No. 6. These remarks hold equally true of the Senate, which was generally regarded (Pliny, Jun., Epist. 9, 13, § 21, quoted in Ch. X. note 104)+ as severe towards all faults but its own. +A11 references of this sort are to Huidekoper’s “Judiasm at Rome.”268
SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CAESAR.
whole weight of his personal and official influence against such procedures, they resented it,* and as they were the writers of history, their feelings have overlaid their facts. The charge of debauchery can be better weighed and understood after an examination of his life.
Before proceeding, it deserves note that Tiberius encouraged freedom of speech and neglected any disparagement of himself ;f yet Tactitus, a lifetime
*It has already been mentioned (Note C, foot-note 18) that the presence of Tiberius in a subordinate seat at trials, prevented bribery and corruption. On this Tacitus remarks (An. i, 75):	“Though
justice was thereby furthered, liberty was impaired. ” This liberty can scarcely have been aught save that of wrong-doing. No hint is given that Tiberius interfered with any pretor’s honest exercise of judgment. His course in the Senate precludes such supposition.
f“He remained unmoved at all the aspersions, scandalous reports, and lampoons which were spread against him or his relations; declaring, ‘In a free state, both the tongue and the mind ought to be free.’ Upon the Senate’s desiring that some notice might be taken of these offences, and the persons charged with them, he replied, *We have not so much time upon our hands that we ought to involve ourselves in more business. If you once make an opening for such proceedings, you will soon have nothing else to do. All private quarrels will be brought before you under that pretence.’ There is extant also an utterance by him in the Senate percivilis, which is that of a model citizen. [After putting a good explanation on a perverted report of some one’s language?] ‘If indeed he have spoken otherwise I will make it a point to explain [to him] my actions and remarks. If he should persist, I shall reciprocate his dislike.’ ”— Sueton. Tib. 28, Bohn’s trans. altered.
In the following we must remember that the Senate had, as a stroke of policy, deified Augustus, and that Tiberius could only by defying its authority and enactments exempt any one from legally brought charges of vilifying him. “An informer [prosecutor onSKETCH OF TIBERIUS CÆSAR.	269
later, could find no writer in his reign who spoke evil of him.* That writer was certainly no friend of Tiberius, and what he says, therefore (under a. d. 23,) concerning the first ten years of his administration, need not be suspected of any coloring in the emperor’s favor, f
shares] charged Apuleia Varilia *	*	* with vilifying the deified Augustus, Tiberius; and his mother* *	*	* Tiberius de-
sired that a distinction should be made : ‘If she had spoken irreverently of Augustus she [if the words of Tiberius have not been altered] must be condemned, but for invectives against himself he would not have her called to account.’ The consul asked him what were his sentiments respecting the aspersions of his mother, which the accused was charged with uttering. To this he made no answer, but at the next sitting of the Senate he prayed too in her name, ‘that no words in whatsoever manner spoken against her might be imputed to any one as a crime.’ ’’—Tacitus, An. 2, 50, Bohn’s trans. “This *	*	* series of sad events was interrupted by a degree of
joy from the pardon extended by Tiberius to.Cominius, who had been convicted of writing defamatory verses upon him.”—Tacitus, An. 4, 31, Bohn’s trans. “Of disrespect towards any one, or unbelief in [the divinity of] any one, *	*	* he made very slight ac-
count, nor did he ever attend to such ¿llegation [of offence] touching himself.”—Dio Cass. 57, 9.
*“As to Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero, whilst they yet reigned the histories of their times were falsified through fear ; and after they had fallen, they were written under the influence of recent detestation.”—Tacitus, An. 1, 1, Bohn’s trans.
fThe following is such a recantation of statements and insinuations scattered by Tacitus through his first three books, as to suggest that those had been first published, and that, when Book 4 appeared, public opinion compelled a retraction: “All the public, and every private business of moment was managed by the Senate : to the leading members he allowed liberty of debate : those who deviated into flattery, he himself checked: in conferring preferments, he was guided by merit, by ancient nobility, (?) renown in war, (?) and dis-2JO
SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CÆSAR.
Prominent among the characteristics of Tiberius was moral earnestness. When a governor’s rapacity had become manifest he broke off social intercourse with him ; and when the man committed suicide, either to avoid the shame of condemnation or the confiscation of his ill-acquired property, Tiberius wrote to the Senate urging the impropriety of giving social standing to such a man, and condemning the idea that the disgrace of his conduct was removed, or shifted to others, by his suicide.*
tinguished civil accomplishments; insomuch that it was agreed that none had greater pretensions. The consuls and the pretors retained the usual distinctions of their offices; inferior magistrates, the exercise of their authority; and the laws, except the inquisition for bad citizenship, were beneficially administered. The tithes, taxes, and all public receipts were directed by companies of Roman knightsl: the management of his own estates hte committed only to men of eminent probity; and to some from their reputation, though unknown to him : and when once engaged, they were continued, without any restriction of term; since most of them grew old in the same employments. *	*	* He took care that the provinces' should not
be oppressed with new impositions ; and that the existing burdens should not be rendered intolerable by rapacity or severity in the magistrates: corporal punishments and confiscations of
GOODS WERE UNKNOWN.
“The emperor’s lands in Italy were small, and thinly scattered; the behavior [or else the number] of his slaves modest; the freedmen in his house few ; his disputes with private individuals were determined by the courts and the law.”—Tacitus, An. 4, 6, 7, Bohn’s trans. altered. This is the person of whom Tacitus had previously alleged (An, 1, 74) that “all things disgraceful were, because of their truth, believed to have been uttered [by others].”
*“Pomponius Labeo, who, as I have mentioned, was governor of Moesia, opening his veins poured out his life-blood ; his wife Paxaea, in emulation of his example, did the same. The dread of falling bySKETCH OF TIBERIUS CAESAR.
271
Moral earnestness imparts early development, and elicits recognition thereof from others. There is hardly a better criterion of its existence than to find maturity attributed to youth, and to see age deferential towards early years. We have this testimony to Tiberius from outsiders* and also from a stepfather who longed for his counsel in difficulty, and for his personal influence in moments of irritation.t The fact deserves to be pondered, that the—not
the executioner made deaths of this sort a welcome resource; in addition to which, those who were condemned forfeited their estates, gnri were debarred the rights of burial; of such as made away with themselves, the bodies were interred, and the wills were valid, the reward of their despatch! Tiberius, however, in a letter to the Senate, argued ‘that it was the usage of their ancestors (?), when they would renounce the friendship of anyone, to forbid him their house, and thus put an end to all gracious intercourse: a usage he had repeated in the case of Labeo ; but he who was pressed with a charge of maladministration, and other crimes, had sought to veil his guilt by an act reflecting odium upon others ; while his wife had alarmed herself unnecessarily, for though guilty, she was nevertheless in no danger.’ ”—Tacitus, An. 6, 29. A comparison with the foregoing of NoteC, foot-note 17, implies, apparently, that the Senate, in opposition to the remonstrance of Tiberius, must, at some date since the incident there mentioned, have granted pecuniary indemnity to suicides. The appeal of Tiberius to “usage of their ancestors” (if not fabricated by Tacitus), was made to the highest code of rectitude acknowledged by the body which he was addressing.
*“He (Tiberius), while yet young, was called the old man because of reverence for his thoughtfulness.”—Philo, Embassy, 21; Opp. p. 696 (Bohn’s trans. 4, pp. 130, 131).
+“‘If anything (Augustus wrote) has occurred requiring more careful thought than usual, or at which I am angry, *	* * I long for
my Tiberius.’ ”—Sueton. Tib. 21.2/2
SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CÆSAR.
always seemly—jests of Augustus would die apon his lips when Tiberius approached.*
Moral earnestness is independent of party, and not blunted by prevalent indifference to venality. When a corrupt judge of the privileged classes needed punishment,f Tiberius spoke no uncertain language, and when one of his own fiscal agents triejd imposition he was equally plain.I
Moral earnestness—by which must not be understood personal excitability on moral questions—is
*“I do not ignore what some have handed down, that Augustus, not secretly, but openly, so disapproved (?) his austerity, morum diritatem, that he sometimes, on his entrance, broke off his most careless and jovial remarks.”—Sueton. Tib. 21.
+“But in the case of Publius Suilius, formerly quaestor to Ger-manicus, now convicted of having taken money in an affair where he was to decree as judge, and for which he was about to be excluded from Italy, the emperor voted for his banishment into an island, with such earnestness of feeling, that with the solemnity of an oath he declared it ‘for the interest of the commonwealth’; a proceeding which, though at the time regarded as harsh, turned afterwards to his praise, when Suilius returned to Rome; a following age saw that exile possessed of extravagant power ; abandoned to venality, and employing his friendship with Claudius, which he long enjoyed, in all cases for his own advancement, but never in the cause of virtue.”— Tacitus, An. 4, 31, Bohn’s trans. altered.
i“For by the Senate even yet all affairs were transacted ; insomuch that Lucilius Capito, the emperor’s comptroller in Asia, was, at the accusation of that province, put upon his defence before them, the emperor protesting with great earnestness, ‘that from him Lucil-iiis had no authority but over his slaves, and in collecting his domestic rents; that if he had usurped the jurisdiction of pretor, and employed military force, he had so far violated his orders; they should therefore hear the allegations of the province. ”—Tacitus, An. 4, 15, Bohn’s traqs.SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CAESAR.
273
apt to recognize and respect the individual responsibility of others. Tiberius recognized the individual responsibility of senators, avoided interfering with it, and did what he could to make them feel it. An instance has already been given* of a question in which he took much interest. Other illustrations of this trait are given below.f
*See in note 6 of Ch. v. a citation from Suetonius, Tib. 31. It may profitably be compared with action on a similiar question in the time of Trajan (see Ch. x. foot-note 59), who did not even submit it to the Senate, but decided it with his council.
+“In the respect he paid to individuals, or the whole body of the Senate, he went beyond all bounds. Upon his differing with Quintus Haterius in the Senate-house, ‘Pardon me, sir,’ he said, ‘I beseech you, if I shall as a senator, speak my mind very freely in opposition to you. *	*	* All affairs, whether of great or small importance,
public or private, were laid before the Senate. Taxes and monopolies, the erecting and repairing edifices, levying and disbanding soldiers, the disposal of the legions and auxiliary forces in the provinces, the appointment of generals for the management of extraordinary wars, and the answers to letters from foreign princes, were all submitted to the Senate. He compelled the commander of a troop of horse, who was accused of robbery attended with violence, to plead his cause before the Senate. He never attended the Senate-house but unattended ; and being once brought thither in a litter, because he was indisposed, he dismissed his attendants at the door.
“When some decrees were made contrary to his opinion, he did not even make any complaint. And though he thought that no magistrates after their nomination should be allowed to absent themselves from the city, but reside in it constantly, to fulfil their duties in person, a pretor elect obtained liberty to depart under the honorary title of a legate-at-large. *	*	* All other things of a
public nature were likewise transacted by the magistrates, and in the usual forms ;	*	*	* he used to rise up as the consuls approached,
and give them the way.
18274
SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CÆSAR.
Moral earnestness is not fond of flattery from, nor of unmanly behavior in, others. Tiberius was no exception to this rule.* It is not apt to aim
“He reprimanded some persons of consular rank in command of armies for not writing to the Senate an account of their proceedings, and for consulting him about the distribution of military rewards ; as if they themselves had not a right to bestow them as they judged proper.”—Sueton. Tib 29—32, Bohn’s trans. alt'd.
Tiberius “never undertook anything of moment without communicating it to the others (the Senate). Proposing his own view, he not only conceded to every one freedom to oppose it, but bore at times votes (or perhaps ‘decrees’) contrary to his view, for he often voted. His son Drusus habitually did it in common with the other senators, sometimes first, sometimes after others; but as regards himself, sometimes he was silent ; sometimes after several others had spoken he expressed himself fully ; sometimes last of all. For the most part, that he might not seem to interfere with their freedom of utterance, his phraseology was, ‘If I were to give my opinion, I would say so and so.’ This was equivalent to the usual form, yet the others were not constrained by it from speaking their minds. Often when he had given an opinion subsequent speakers took opposite ground, and sometimes carried it. Yet he never manifested anger thereat.”—Dio Cass. 57, 7.
*“He had such an aversion to flattery, that he would never suffer any senator to attend his litter, either as a civility or upon business. And when a man in consular rank, in begging his pardon for some offence he had given him, attempted to fall at his feet, he started from him in such haste that he stumbled and fell. If any compliment were paid him, either in conversation or a set speech, he would not scruple to interrupt or reprimand the party, and alter what he said. Being once called ‘lord’ by some person, he desired that he might no more be affronted in that manner. When another, to excite veneration, called his occupations ‘sacred,’ and a third had expressed himself thus, ‘By your authority I have waited upon the Senate,’ he obliged them to change their phrases ; in one of them adopting persuasion, instead of ‘authority,’ and in the other laborious instead of ‘sacred.’ ”—Sueten. Tib. 27, Bohn’s trans. altered.SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CvESAR.
275
either at expense or display. Tiberius tried, not by force, but by precept and example, to inculcate frugality and temperance.* * One of his efforts in this direction has, like too many others of even his best deeds, been shamefully misrepresented.!
Compare Tacitus, An. 4, 6.
The first of the above statements is corroborated by another writer. “When carried anywhere in his litter he did not permit any senator or any of the principal knights to follow as attendants. ”— Dio Cass. 57, 11.
* Although Tiberius enforced existing laws against dissipation, “yet when the senators wished to enact a penalty against profligate livers, he took no action on'it, adding that it was better to reform them in some way privately, than to impose a public punishment upon them. ” — Dio Cass. 57, 13.
Additional evidence that Tiberius was a temperate liver may be found in his playful criticism (Tacitus, An. 6, 46) of persons “who after their thirtieth year needed advice from another (that is, from a physician) as to what was physically beneficial or injurious to them;” and in the remark of Suetonius (Tib. 68), “He enjoyed excellent health, which, was unimpaired during his whole term of office, although after his thirtieth year he managed it according to his own judgment, without aid or counsel of physician. ” Plutarich [De Sanitate Tnenda, Opp. 6, p. 517, ed. Reiske; 7, p. 407. ed Hutten) may refer to some variation by Tiberius of his habitual remark as recorded by Tacitus, though the spirit of it is the same.
fTiberius accepted from an old man, Sestius Gallus, with whom he had found some fault in the Senate, an invitation to supper (Sueton. Tib. 42) on condition “that he should change nothing from his ordinary custom,” meaning, doubtless, that he should add nothing to the expense or trouble of his entertainment. Report, fabricated perhaps in a later age, charged Gallus, correctly or falsely, with being waited on by girls in a state of nudity. We can safely assume, either .that the charge was fabricated by dissolute idlers as a jest at the expense of Tiberius, or, tliat if Gallus had ever permitted himself so gross an indecency, Tiberius was ignorant of the2 J6
SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CvESAR.
Frugality is sometimes connected with avarice; but all writers agree that Tiberius had no taint of the latter.* * His benevolence seems to have been thoughtful,! and in more than one instance copious
fact, and Gallus sure not to repeat it in his presence. Fearful as such indecency appears,[the plates of Wilkinson’s Ancient Egyptians (Vol. I, pp. 142, 143, Harper’s edit.) show that it was not unknown, at least to some heathen assemblages.
*Tacitus calls him (An. 3, 18) “sufficiently firm, as I have often related, against (the temptations of) money.” The solitary exception which he mentions (An. 4, 20) is imaginary. A public plunderer was prosecuted, and Tiberius had an accurate calculation made of what was due from him. Tacitus, copying the feelings of the aristocracy, deemed this illiberal. Elsewhere he says: “The estate of the wealthy Emilia Musa, who died intestate, and which was claimed for the prince’s purse, he surrendered to Emilius Lepidus to whose family she seemed to belong; as also to Marcus Servilius the inheritance of Patuleius, a rich Roman knight, though part of it had been bequeathed to himself; but he found Servilius named sole heir in a former and well-authenticated will, alleging that the nobili-tatern sentorial rank of each needed pecuniary aid (to prevent forfeiture). Nor did he ever accept any man’s inheritance, but where friendship gave him a title ; the wills of such as were strangers to him, and of such as, from pique to others, had appointed the prince their heir, he utterly rejected.”—Tacitus, An. 2,48, Bohn’s trans. altered.
“These (his bounties to others) he expended from his lawful revenues, for he never killed any one for the sake of riches nor yet confiscated his goods nor did he in any instance acquire money through threats. To vEmilius Rectus, who on one occasion sent him from Egypt, of which he was governor, more than the appointed tribute, he wrote back, ‘I wish you to shear and not shave, my sheep. ”— Dio Cass. 57, 10. “In addition to other virtues, he practised rigid abstinence from what belonged to others, never accepting legacies left him'by such as had relatives.”—Dio Cass. £7, 17.
f“About this time, Pius Aurelius the senator, whose house, yielding to the pressure of the public roads and aqueducts, had fallen,SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CAESAR.
277
nor was it confined to pecuniary manifestations alone
complained to the senate and prayed relief. Qpposed by the pretors of the treasury, he was aided by Tiberius, who paid him the price of his house, for he was fond of being liberal upon fair occasions. * * Upon Propertius Celer, once pretor, but now desiring leave to resign the dignity of senator on the score of poverty, he bestowed a thousand great sesterces, upon satisfactory information that his necessities were derived from his father. Others, who attempted the same thing, he ordered to prove their allegations to the Senate. ”—Tacitus An. 1, 75, Bohn’s trans. altered.
“As he relieved the honest poverty of the virtuous, so he degraded from the Senate (or suffered to quit it of their own accord) Vibidius Varro, Marius Nepos, Appius Appinaus, Cornelius Sylla, and Quintus Vitellius, who were spendthrifts, and brought themselves to poverty by misconduct.”—Tacitus, An. 2, 48, Boha’s trans.
“He spent very little on himself, very much on the community, *	*	* giving much aid to cities and private individuals.
To many poor senators, who because of poverty would [could?] not attend the Senate, he gave (the requisite) wealth, yet not indiscriminately [compare Tacitus An. 1, 75],	*	*	* and whatever he
gave was counted to them before his eyes. Because under Augustus the paymasters appropriated to themselves large portions of such sums, (Tiberius) was rigidly on his guard that nothing of that kind should happen under him.”—Dio Cass. 57» IO*
To Atilius Buta “confessing his poverty after an immense patrimony had been consummed, Tiberius remarked, ‘You have been late in waking up.’ ”—Seneca, Epist. 122, 11. The phraseology of the remark indicates anything but moral indifference to waste.
JTiberius “gave largely to cities and individuals, nor was he willing to accept (public) honor or praise because of his gifts.” —Dio Cass. 57, ir. “The Sardians *	*	* received the greatest
share of compassion, for Tiberius promised them a hundred thousand great sesterces, and remitted all their contributions to the public treasury and the prince’s privy purse, for five years.”—Tacitus, An. 2, 47, Bohn’s traus. altered.
“The city was visited with a fire which raged with unusual violence, and entirely consumed Mount Gaelius ;	*	*	* the emperor
dissipated their murmurs by bestowing on each sufferer money to278	SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CAESAR.
but showed itself in ways which indicated an active personal interest in the welfare of others.* *
Moral earnestness is sometimes, though not always, associated with attention to life’s courtesies. Tiberius practised these and the kindly offices of life equally in his retirement at Rhodesf and in his term of imperial power.\ The fearful experiences,
the extent of his damage : hence he had the thanks of men of rank in the Senate ; and was rewarded with applause by the populace, for that without any views of ambition, or the importunities of friends, he had of his own free will sought out the sufferers, though unknown to him, and relieved them by his bounty.”—Tacitus, An. 4, 64, Bohn’s trans.
“The same year the city suffered grievously from a fire ;	*	*	*
he paid the value of the houses and clusters of tenements destroyed. A hundred thousand great sesterces he expended in this bounty, which proved the more grateful to the people, as he was ever scaring in his own private building.”—Tacitus, An. 6, 45, Bohns trans.
*At Rhodes “one morning, in settling the course of his daily excursion, he happened to say that he should visit all the sick people in the town. This being not rightly understood by those about him, the sick were brought into a small portico, and ranged in order, according to their several distempers. Being extremely embarrassed by this unexpected occurence, he was for some time irresolute how he should act ; but at last he determined to go round them all, and make an apology for the mistake even to the meanest among them, and such as were entirely unknown to him.”—Sueton. Tib. n, Bohn’s trans.
+“He led entirely a private life, taking his walks sometimes about the Gymnasia, without any lictor, or other attendant, and returning the civilities of the Greeks with almost as much complaisance as if he had been upon a level with them.”—Sueton. Tib. u, Bohn’s trans.
t“He was very easy of access and ready to be spoken to.
* * *SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CAESAR.
279
both public and private, through which he passed, would, in most men, have chilled them, yet he retained his social kindliness to the close of life.* * * His abhorrence for brutalizing games did not prevent interest in such as were innocent,\ or else in the enjoyment of those who frequented them, and among his minor habits one indicates perhaps a limited degree of playfulness.§
When he invited them (any of the magistrates) to his table, he received them at the door and accompanied them thereto on bidding them good-by. *	*	* He mingled with his associates as a pri-
vate person. In their lawsuits he acted as an advocate ; after their sacrifice [did he abstain from these?] he attended their feasts ; when they WERE sick HE watched with (literally, ‘over’) them, unattended by any guard ; and for one of them when dead he delivered the funeral address.”—Dio Cass. 57, 11. The gratuitous labor of advocate, according to Roman views, seems to have been in certain cases a duty not to be neglected,
*When the last illness of Tiberius was coming on, and some friends were supping with him, Charicles, the physician, rose to leave, kissed the hand of Tiberius and felt his pulse. He probably wished to break up the company so as not to over-fatigue him. Tiberius asked him to take his place again and continued the entertainment.- Nor, when it was over, “did he abstain from His custom, but supporting himself on the couch, with the aid of a lictor, he addressed each as they said good-by.”—Suet on. Tib. 72.
+“At ‘fairs,’ or whatever afforded a holiday to the multitude, he would, coming on the preceding evening to the house of some one of his tenants in the neighborhood of the gathering, spend the night there, so as to be most promptly and conveniently accessible; and he frequently watched the horse-races from the window of some one of his freedmen.”—Dio Cass. 57, 11.
§In South Germany the author found, that, if some one in the stage-coach sneezed, immediately one or more hats would be lifted280
SKETCH OF TIBERIUS C^SAR.
Then as now the use of a foreign language was, in many instances, a result of affectation.* Tiberius, though well acquainted with Greek, showed his simplicity of character, aside from other ways, by conversing in his mother tongue, f
Moral earnestness seeks approval from the conscience of others rather than favor from their feelings ; it is not ambitious of titles nor prone to take offence. The remark of Tiberius touching dislike which he had incurred, “Let them hate if only they approve,”! could hardly come from any one save a conscientious man trying to do right. His dislike of titles is one among the evidences of an unambitious man§ trying to do right, whilst several incidents show his absence of jealousy.*
with the greeting, “Your health.” He has been told by travellers in Italy, that the same custom prevails there. It is two thousand years old, for the elder Pliny remarks [Nat. Hist. 28, 5, 2]; “Why salu-tamus do we salute, or say, ‘health to’ a sneeze, which custom they say that Tiberius, the least mirthful certainly of men, exacted when in his carriage. ”
*“No woman thinks herself beautiful until from a Tuscan she has been metamorphosed into a miniature Greek. *	*	* In this
language they manifest fright: in it they express joy, anger, weariness.”—Juvenile, Sat. 6, 186-189.
tSee Suetonius, Tib. 71, and Dio Cassius, 57, 15. Tiberius must, in the Senate at least, have carried this to a noticeable extent; for when he had occasion to use the word monopoly, he apologized for using one borrowed from a foreign language.
' JSueton. Tib. 59.
§“He did not permit himself to be called dominum, master, by freedmen, nor emperor, literally ‘commander’, imperatorem, except by the soldiers ; he wholly refused the appellation, ‘father of hisSKETCH OF TIBERIUS CASSAR.
28i
Tiberius had in early life proved himself an able and humane general.! During his reign he maintained peace4 This peacefulness was the result
country.’ He did not add, to his signature, the title Augustus, or august, which he never permitted to be voted him, but tolerated it when spoken or written to himself, and as often as he corresponded with certain kings he himself added it. He was commonly called Caesar, occasionally Germanicus, from his deeds in Germany, and, even by himself, according to old custom, Primate (or presiding officer) of the Senate. He said that, ‘I am master of my slaves, commander of the soldiers, but primate of the others.’ And prayed, when the question came up, that he might live and rule only so long as beneficial to the public. Thus in all things he behaved so much as a private man, that he would not permit anything unusual on his birthday.”—Dio Cass. 57* 8. Cp. note 14.
*“ Rufus Helvius, a common soldier, acquired the glory of saving a citizen, and was, by Apronius, presented with the spear and collar. Tiberius added the civic crown, complaining rather than offended that Apronius had not in his own right as proconsul granted that also. *	* * Tiberius *	*	* granted to Blaesus that he should
be by the legions saluted Imperator, commander, emperor. * *	*
Junia, *	* * sister of M. Brutus and wife of C. Cassius, * * *
having honorably distinguished with legacies almost all the great men of Rome, she omitted Tiberius,—an omission which drew from him no indications of offended dignity, nor did he hinder her panegyric from being pronounced from the rostra, nor her funeral from being celebrated with all the other customary solemnities.”—Tacitus An. 3, 21, 74, 76, Bohn’s trans.
tSee Suetonius, Tib. 9, 16-19.
+“Tiberius, *	*	* who never allowed any seed of war to
smoulder or to raise its head either in Greece pr in the territory of the barbarians, and who bestowed peace and the blessings of peace up to the end of his life, with a rich and most bounteous hand and mind, upon the whole empire and the whole world. —Philo, Em-282
SKETCH OP TIBERIUS CÆSAR.
neither of thoughtless sentiment nor of indolence, as is evident from his early life and from the energy of his dealings with the freebooter Tacfarinas, and with robbers and rogues generally.* The same love of peace showed itself in his private relations and in his dislike of trifling accusations. At Rhodes he interposed as peacemaker between sophists who had quarrelled : and his only exercise, during eight years’ stay there, of his authority as a magistrate was to imprison a man whose fault-finding must have tended to start the quarrel afresh.f A wish to conciliate furnishes the most probable explanation of the apple offered to Agrippina, his ambitious daughter-in-1 aw.\ His dislike of trifling charges
bassy, 21, Bohn’s trans. “The matter upon which I am occupied is *	*	* a state of undisturbed peace, or only interrupted in a
limited degree * * * and a prince indifferent about extending THE BOUNDS OF THE EMPIRE.”—Tacitus, An. 4, 32, Bohn’s trans.
♦Tacitus, An. 3, 73, 74.
+“One instance only is mentioned in which he appeared to exercise his tribunitian authority. Being a constant attendant upon the schools and lecture-rooms of the professors of the liberal arts, on occasion of a quarrel among the wrangling sophists in which he interposed to reconcile them, some person took the liberty to abuse him as an intruder and partial in the affair. Upon this withdrawing privately home, he suddenly returned attended by his officers, and summoning his accuser before his tribunal by a public crier, ordered him to be taken to prison.”—Sueton. Tib. 11, Bohn’s trans.
JHe had, in answer to some of her importunities, taken her hand and remarked, “You think, my child, if you do not rule, that an injury is done you.”—Sueton. Tib. 53. Compare Tacitus, An. 4, 52. At table, after this conversation, Agrippina seems to have been tooSKETCH OF TIBERIUS CAESAR.
283
may have been due partly to his sense of justice and partly to his love of peace.* *
Moral earnestness looks upon power as a trust. Tiberius among all the emperors laid* before the Senate, when entering upon office, a detailed statement of his trust.! At the close of life his anxiety
ill-humored to eat. Tiberius commended some apples, picked one out and handed it to- her. She threw it to one of the servants. Tiberius remarked to his mother that she treated it as if poisoned. [Tacitus, An. 4, 54.] The leading facts as mentioned by Tacitus are here narrated, but without his interpretation of them.
*On one occasion, when two individuals consecutively had been charged with disrespect for the divinity of Augustus, Tiberius, wrote to the consul “that the object in deifying his father was not to facilitate the destruction of citizens.”—Tacitus, An. 1,73. On another occasion [Tac. An. 1,74] a persistent attempt was made in the Senate to fasten on a man some charge of conversation disrespectful to Tiberius. It was skilfully concluded with an allegation that the accused had cut the head from a statue of Augustus and substituted a head of Tiberius. This, it was probably supposed, would prevent the emperor from advocating the man’s cause, lest he should thereby seem to count himself above Augustus. Tiberius for once lost patience, and said that he also in this case would give his opinion and under oath, so as to compel a like course on the part of the Senate. Piso, a senator of independent character, restored the emperor’s eqanimity by calling out to him, “In what place, Caesar, will you vote? If first, I shall have something to guide me ; if after all others, I fear that I might incautiously dissent from you. ” This sar-i casm on the lack of manliness in the Senate recalled Tiberius apparently to a consciousness that the sccuser was appealing, not to any supposed sensitiveness in himself, but to senatorial servility. He quietly “gave his opinion tulit [sententiam] that the defendant should be acquittted of these charges of bad citizenship.” Some pecuniary charges were referred to the civil tribunal.
fTacitus, An. 1, 11.284
SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CÆSAR.
was conscientous as to itsitransmission.* He seems to have preferred certain, rather than severe, punishments, f and to have advoided such as degrade men or diminish self-respect.];
Justice loves openness in questions of public administration. Tiberius exerted himself to secure open and fair hearing as well as intelligent decision.§ His selection of men who could, during a lifetime, retain office satisfactorily to those whom they ruled,!
*Tacitus represents in his Annals 6, 46, that Tiberius, in his last days, weighed carefully the qualifications, as a successor, of his grandson, of his brother’s grandson Caligula, of his nephew Claudius, and thought even of persons not belonging to his own family. No one fully satisfied him and he did not make a choice. Tacitus adds (Ibid): “favor with contemporaries was to him,
OF LESS MOMENT THAN THE EFFORT FOR HONOR AMONG POSTERITY.” Tacitus, on this point, gives his testimony without, apparently, appreciating its value.
tNo reliable record exists of any one having been put to death by Tiberius. “He gave special attention to preserving the peace, i. e. the public security, against bandits, robbers, and mob violence. * * He rigidly repressed popular tumults and guarded against their occurrence. When slaughter had been caused by quarrel in a theatre, he banished the leaders of the faction and the players who were its cause, nor could he by any prayers of the people be forced into recalling them ”—Sueton. Tib. 37.
^Corporal punishments were unknown In his time. See no, 5.
§“IIe never transacted business alone with the envoys from cities or nations, but always appointed a number as participants in the investigation, and especially those who had once been their governors.” .—Dio Cass. 57, 17.
II“This, too, was part of the policy of Tiberius, to continue persons in offices, and for the most part to maintain them in the same military authority or civil employments to the end of their lives.”—SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CAESAR.
285
attests not only his good sense and scrupulous consideration of character, but also his moral sense since a deficiency in this direction would have precluded any such result. Two governors of his appointment have been sketched or mentioned by monotheists. One of them, Flaccus, is portrayed by Philo, his unscrupulous enemy.* * Of another, Pilate, we have some view in Josephus and the Gospels, f
Tacitus, An. 1, 80, Bohn’s trans. No governor appointed by Tiberius was ever, while alive, charged with, or prosecuted for, malversa-- tion in office.
*See Ch. V. note 66.
|Josephus pictured Pilate with no friendly pen, yet he furnishes, with his usual embellishments the following facts. The Roman soldiers came from Caesarea to Jerusalem by night,—possibly to diminish chances of offence. The Jews objected to the images on their standards \Antiq. 18, 3, 1.] Pilate^ after finding that the matter might cause trouble, sent, though not without a little delay, the images back to Caesarea. He found that the city needed water, and that a large sum of money was lying in the temple useless, or probably worse than useless, since unprincipled men must have found means to misuse it (compare Ch. n. notes 33, 34). He took the money, made an aqueduct (Antiq. 18, 3, 2), and repressed the mob which followed. Josephus shows him to have been energetic, utilitarian, and gifted with administrative power.
If we turn to the Gospels we find that before this Pilate, a man was brought whom the leading Jews were determined to have put to death. Pilate tried hard to save him, but in order to accomplish it must have incurred risk of an accusation from the conservative Jews, who, in the existing state of parties at Rome, after the death of Senjanus, could have effected his ruin. This he had not, apparently, nerve to meet. But the governor who could not, to save himself, permit the execution of an innocent peasant—for such Jesus must have seemed to him—without repeated effort in his behalf (Matt. 27, 17-26.; Mark, 15, 10-15 5 Luke, 23, 4, 14-25 ; John, 18, 38 ; 19, 4-16)286
SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CAESAR.
Although the surroundings of Tiberius, and many circumstances in his life, must have tended to repress affectionateness in his manner, yet two or three recorded instances show that it not only dwelt within, but that it occasionally showed itself. The final parting from his first wife, and the efforts to prevent his ever seeing her again, admit no explanation unless he were affectionate* His joy when he became a grandfather implies fairly the same quality in his old age,f and his behavior at the death of Augustus is most naturally explained by the same
was not indifferent to justice. He had a keen conscience, though his moral strength did not equal the demand upon it.
*“Our children *	*	* are (judicially) in our own power, which
right is a peculiarity of Roman citizens, for there are almost no other men who have such power over their children as we (Romans).”—Gaius, Instit.
Tiberius deferred, for two years, marrying Julia. This was [Smith, Diet, of Antiq p. 741, col. 2] the longest legal limit for a betrothal. When she was banished at a later date by her father, her husband was thoughtful and considerate. He asked [Suetonius, Tib. 11] in repeated letters, tljat any presents he had given her might not be taken away. The previously divorced wife of Tiberius was subject to legal penalties (see Ch. viii. note 77) if she did not remarry in six months. She married Asinius Gallus [mentioned in Ch. viii. note 102,] between whom and her first husband friendship seerils to have remained unbroken. He is mentioned by Dio Cassius, 58, 3, as dining with Tiberius in a. d. 36, and as receiving from him a guard against his enemies.
+“Livia, sister of Germanicus, wife of Drusus, gave birth to twin boys, which *	*	* caused the prince so much joy, that he could
not refrain from boasting (?) to the Fathers, that to no Roman, previously, of the same rank, had twins been born.”—Tacitus, An. 2, 84.SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CAESAR.
287
characteristic. None but an affectionate person would, under the circumstances mentioned in note 36, have taken the hand of the person whom he addressed.
The repugnance of Tiberius for any manifestation of divine honor towards mortals may have been due to his moral sense, but it is so strong as almost to indicate monotheistic leanings. It was certainly not due to any regard for the heathen religion.* *
gn. His Retirement to Ca-preoe
Augustus had acquired the island of Capreae as a pleasant country residence.! Tiberius built twelve
*^iberius “was negligentior, rather negligent in regard to the gods and religious observance because (?) addicted to astrology.”—Sue-ton. Tib. 69. Drusus his son was blamed, by the patrician party, doubtless, for neglecting the gods of Rome and the initiatory auspices (see Tac. An. 3, 59). It deserves note, also, that the daughter of this Drusus, when expelled from Rome, was mourned most publicly by a friend who was subsequently charged with foreign superstition, that is, with monotheism.
T“Augustus, having taken a fancy to Capreae, *	*	* took pos-
session of it as part of the imperial domain, giving the Neapolitans in exchange the far more wealthy island of JEnaria. *	*	* He
appears to have visited it repeatedly. *	*	* Tiberius * *	*
erected not less than twelve villas in different parts of the island.
* *	* Excavations in modern times have brought to light mosaic
pavements, bas-reliefs, cameos, gems, and other relics of antiquity. ” —Smith, Diet, of Geog. 1, p. 509, col. 2.
According to the New Am. Cyclopaedia (art. Capri), the island “is still celebrated for the beauty of its climate, *	*	* is about
nine miles in circumference,” and is frequented by quails, “vast numbers of which are caught every spring and autumn on their passage from and to Africa.”288
SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CAESAR.
or more tasteful villas upon it, and retired thither A. d. 26, with a select number of friends, men of culture and of business capacity. Several reasons may have prompted him to this. He was almost seventy, and may have needed respite from the fatigues of city life. He may also have felt that if lie lived separately from his' nqother, it would be more difficult for her to compromise him, and he would avoid any need of controlling her.* * Yet fur-
The relics in these villas, as well as a passage of the elder Pliny, convey the impression that Tiberius had a liking for the fine arts. Pliny specifies two paintings (a Gallic high-priest, Net. Hist. 35, 36, 10 ; and a bather using the strigil, or scraper, Nat. Hist. 34, 19, 13) as having especially commended themselves to the emperor.
*“She was greatly puffed up beyond all women who preceded her.
*	*	* Except that she did not venture upon entering the Senaise,
the camps, or the assemblies, she endeavored to administer all things as if sole ruler; eventually Tiberius excluded her entirely from public affairs, while allowing her control of matters at home. Then as she proved, even in these matters, a burden, he often left home and in every way avoided her, so that she was by no means the least of his reasons for removing to Caprese.”—Dio Cass. 57; 12.
This mother must have severly tried her son’s sense of justice and propriety. At one time a lady, unwilling to pay her debts, took refuge with the mother, who insisted (Tac. An. 2, 34) that Tiberius should have the proceedings against her stopped. At another she had determined (Dio Cass. 57, 12) to dedicate a statue to Augustus (as a god), and to make a great feast for the senators, knights, and their wives. Tiberius obviated the impropriety by feasting the men and letting her take the women. He required as a preliminary to the statue, that the Senate should vote assent. She must, then or subsequently, have carried her point, for, much to his disgust, she not only dedicated a statue (Tac. An. 3, 64), but added his name to her own as concerned in the performance, a total misrepresentation (see note 48) of his position on such matters. In much of this she was doubtless the unconscious tool of. patricians.SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CAESAR.
289
ther, he may have noticed steps of the aristocratic, towards a rebellion such as subsequently broke out, and he may have felt that, by living at some distance from the city, he could escape the need of measures for self-protection. The published statements of treasury disbursements ceased from the date when he left Rome (Dio Cass. 56, 9.) a pretty sure evidence that his enemies were misapplying these disbursements. Among the companions of this retirement was the eminent jurist Nerva, against whom not even .his political enemies have a word to allege;*. Flaccus, the statesman and man of culture, gifted with uncommon administrative ability, and whose abode at Alexandria was the seat of refinement ;f Macro, combining the qualities of military commander with those of moralist and teacher ;J and Curtius Atticus, a Roman
*Nerva was a law-pupil of the Labeo mentioned on pp. 171, 172, and is lauded by Tacitus (An. 6, 26) as “acquainted with all law, human and divine. ”
+See Ch. V. notes 66, 82. Flaccus must have remained among the intimate companions of Tiberius until sent in A. D. 32 as governor to Egypt, and. if Philo can be trusted (Against Flaccus, 3, Bohn’s trans. Vol. 4, p. 63; Paris edit. p. 663, 11. 29-31), he, when Tiberius died, grieved as for a personal friend.
JMacro’s military qualities are attested not merely by the office to which the disciplined judgment of Tiberius appointed him, but by his prompt suppression of the pre-arranged patrician rebellion of A. D. 31. His moral qualities are protrayed by Philo, who at least had means of knowing, for Herod Agrippa, the father-in-law of Philo’s niece, lived for a time at Caprese, associating much with the young Caligula, for whose moral training Marco seems to have exerted himself. According to Philo (Embassy, 7, 8), Marco tried 19290
SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CAESAR.
knight. He was also accompanied by Greek and Latin scholars.* His respected and cherished sister-in-law Antonia (with not improbably the wives of some among the officers) contributed, occasionally at least, feminine influences to this select society.f
faithfully, in his intercourse with Caligula, to give him good aims, so that the latter on meeting him would say, ‘Here is *	*	* the
pedagogue.’—Philo, Paris edit. p. 687; Bohn’s trans. 4, p. in.
*“His departure was with a small number of companions: one consular senator, Cocceius Nerva, skilled in the laws; a Roman knight, Curtius Atticus, who, as well as Sejanus, was among the distinguished ones; others gifted in liberal studies, chiefly Greeks, by whose conversation he might be refreshed.”—Tacitus, An. 4, 58.
fAntonia was a daughter of Marc Antony and of Octavia, sister to Augustus. Smith’s Dictionary (art. Antonia, 6) mentions her as “celebrated for her beauty, virtue, and chastity.” Josephus says (Antiq. 18, 6, 6) that “she was in all respects honored by Tiberius,” and mentions her (Antiq. 18, 6, 4; cp. 6) among the society of his retirement. She was probably a monotheist, for not only was her intimate friend in early days a Jewess, but her business agent and superintendent of her estates in Alexandria was the Jewish ethnarch in that city, brother of Philo. Further : though her husband had been senatorial in politics, yet the Senate for some reason ignored herself until a grandson, whom they hoped to please, sat upon the throne. Then in a single decree (Sueton. Calig. 15) they, for the sake, doubtless, of currying favor, voted her all the honors which had ever been conferred on Livia. This was overshooting the mark, since it made her, among other things, Priestess of Augustus. The relations of Antonia to her dependents are illustrated by the remark of Csenis, her freedwoman, subsequently the cherished wife of Vespasian, who, when told to forget something, replied, “It is useless, mistress, to give me such a direction, for these and all other things which you tell me are so fixed in my mind, that it is impossible to forget them.”—Dio Cass. 66, 14.SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CAESAR.	291
Tiberius at Capreoe must have continued his previously industrious habits. He left Memoirs, part, at least, of which were written here, for they included matters occurring after he left Rome. His attention to the political and financial interests of the community suffered no diminution.* In his benevolence, which continued to be frequent and copious,! it is noteworthy that the younger members of his family were called upon for responsible and arduous duty.J His superintendence of his own fiscal matters must have been good, for, in spite of benevolence and absence of avarice, he left a large fortune.§ The rules of social morality which he had laid down
*“He paid exceeding attention that they, the Senate, should convene as often as duty required, and that they should neither meet later than appointed, nor be dismissed earlier. On this head he repeatedly gave injunctions to the consuls, and sometimes directed things to be read by them to the Senate which he was accustomed to do in reference to other kinds of business, as if he could not write directly to the Senate.“—Dio Cass. 58, 21, under A. D. 33 ; see also in the next note the attention of Tiberius to financial matters.
+Tiberius in A. D. 27 relieved the sufferers by a fire [Tacitus, An. 4, 64,] and in A. D. 33 relieved a financial crisis [Dio Cass. 58, 21] by lending without interest. Multitudes, of course, needed this relief, and it could be safely given only after examination of their assets. In A. D. 36 he relieved [Dio Cass. 58, 26] sufferers by inundation. In the same year [Tacitus, An. 6, 45, quoted in hote 19] he relieved the sufferers by an extensive fire.
i“For estimating each one’s loss, the four husbands of Caesar’s grand-daughters, Cneius Domitius, Cassius Longinus, Marcus Vini-cius, Rubellius Blandus, were selected; Publius Petronius being added by nomination of the consuls,”—Tacitus, An. 6, 45.
§Sueton. Calig. 37.292
SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CÆSAR.
in public were, if we may believe Josephus, carried out with equal strictness in his retirement,! His offices of kindness were not forgotten, and when Nerva was on his death-bed the friend who watched by his side was Tiberius*! His thoughtfulness in the administration of business was unabated ; and when, in a. d. 32, the governor of Egypt died, he temporarily sent one of his freedmen thither,§ thus giving himself leisure to select a successor, Flaccus, who approved himself in the office. ||
tAccording to Josephus, Antiq. 18, 6, 4, Herod Agrippa, subsequently king, came to visit Tiberius and met with a kfndly reception. Trustworthy advice, promptly following, said that his object was t« avoid creditors and honest debts. Tiberius “was greatly pained on perusing this epistle,” and declined further intercourse while the debts were unpaid, which was therefore soon effected. Perhaps Tiberius had yet other advice (see p. 99) concerning Herod, and merely tolerated him in kindness to Antonia.
JThe nature of Nerva’s death renders probable that he suffered from weakness of stomach, as did his grandson; the Emperor Nerva, and perhaps, also, that, like his grandson he may have been more distinguished by gentle goodness than by rugged strength. An attempted enforcement of usury laws had produced, in A. D. 33, financial disorder and distress. Nerva, in the midst of it, was, according to Dio Cassius 58, 21, depressed by anticipations of fraud and disturbance. If he could be depressed, his nervous system must already have been shocked by partisan murders at Rome. Tiberius sought to encourage him, as also to elicit his views on the course to be pursued. Tenderness of friendship, one might think, should escape defamation, but the traducers of Tiberius represent the death of Nerva as due to voluntary starvation caused by his weariness of the emperor.
§Dio Cass. 58, 19.
II See Ch. v. note 66.SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CÆSAR.
293
The residence at Capreæ was diversified by occasional visits elsewhere.* During it most of the emperor’s grandchildren, adoptive or otherwise, were married. One of them, Caligula, chose a wife whose father belonged to the bitter opponents of Tiberius, yet the latter does not seem to have made any objections, nor to have altered* his relations towards Caligula because of it.
Tactitus and Suetonius, unsupported by Dio Cassius, tell us that Tiberius, retiring to Capreæ when he was almost three score years and ten, commenced a round of debauchery so vile that a modern brothel would be decent in comparison. The story, originated in a queer joke.f was propagated by party malignity, and countenanced by prevalent dissoluteness. It would deserve no notice, save for the wide credence which it has received.
*Suetonius mentions [Tib. 40] a visit to the continent, which must have been in a. d. 27 ; Tacitus, An. 4, 74, relates a visit in the year 28 to Campania ; Dio Cassius mentions, 58, 3, a hospitality towards Gallus in A. D. 30, which seems to imply proximity to the city ; and [58, 21] a residence in A. D. 33 in the suburbs of Rome, and repeated visits thither [58, 24] about the close of the same year ; and a stay [58, 25] at Antium in a. D. 35 ; Tacitus speaks, An. 6, 39, of Tiberius as near Rome in the last mentioned year ; Josephus speaks, Antiq. 18, 6, 6, of events in A. D. 3'», during a stay in the neighborhood of Tusculum, a locality twelve or fifteen miles from Rome, where wealthy citizens had their couutry residences, and at the date of his last illness, in A. D. 37, Tiberius was at Misenum.
+The name of the island, Capreæ, or Capri, led some one to call him Caprineus, which might mean, either a resident in Capri, or, by a play on words, a grossly dissolute man.294
SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CAESAR.
§ iii. Patrician Revolt of A. D. ji.
At the death of Augustus the patricians had arranged measures, which proved abortive, to prevent the accession of Tiberius. In a. d. 19, 20, they were planning rebellion, with Germanicus as a leader. His* death aided in breaking up their projects. In A. d. 31 a patrician outbreak took place, the widow of Germanicus being either its nominal head or among its active managers. Some prelude to it occurred in the previous year, as we may infer, from the appointment of a military guard to protect a popular leader.* The outbreak was prearranged, for one or more vessels put to sea in Greece; and by those interested, a son of Germanicus was alleged to accompany, or head, the expedition, f which had for its object the invasion of Syria or Egypt.
*“On the same day that Gallus dined with Tiberius, drinking with him in friendship, he was condemned by a decree of the Senate ; so that a pretor was sent to bind him and lead him to punishment. And yet Tiberius acting thus (?) *	*	*, exhorted him to
be |Of good courage, directing that he be guarded without bonds until he [Tiberius] himself should come to the city - *	*	* and
he was guarded by the consuls save in the consularship of Tiberius, for then he was guarded by the pretors. ”—Dio Cass. 58, 3.
+“About the same time Greece and Asia were dismayed by a rumor more rife than lasting, ‘that Drusus, a son of Germanicus, had been seen in the Cyclades, and soon afterwards upon the continent.’ And there was indeed a youth nearly of the same age, to whom some of the emperor’s freedmen, as if he were recognized by them, attached themselves, with the purpose (?) of betraying him. The unwary were allured by the^splendor of the name, the Greeks being prone to catch at anything new and marvellous ; so much soSKETCH OF TIBERIUS CÆSAR.
295
The consuls, at the date oi the rebellion, were Trio and Regulus. The former was an unscrupulous politician with whom Tiberius had at one time declined intercourse, and who had afterwards wished to make himself prominent, in the year 20, as a prosecutor of the emperor’s friend Piso.* Regulus does not seem to have intended rebellion, but to have been entrapped by fraud into giving it unintentional aid.f The time selected for it was coin-
tha£ they imagined, ‘that, escaped from custody and proceeding to the armies of his father, he would invade Syria or Egypt. He was now attended by a crowd of young men, and thronged with eager partisans, elated with his present success, and airy hopes, when the story readied Poppæus Sabinus. He was at that juncture engaged in Macedonia, and likewise had charge of Greece ; to obviate the mischief, whether the account fwere true or false, he hastily passed the bay of Torone and that of Therme ; and presently reached Euboea, an island of the Ægean Sea, and Piraeus, on the coast of Attica ; he then passed along the coast of Corinth, and the straits of the Isthmus ; and, by another sea, entered Nicopolis, a Roman colony. There at length he learned, that, being shrewdly questioned, he had declared himself the son of Marcus Silanus ; and that many of his followers having fallen off, he had embarked, as if he meant to sail to Italy. Sabinus sent this account to Tiberius, and further than this we |have found nothing (?) of the origin or issue of that affair.”—Tacitus, An. 6, io, Bohn’s trans. The young man, according ,to Dio Cassius 58, 25, was sent to Tiberius. Silanus, father of the boy here mentioned, was one of the high aristocracy, consul during the reactionary proceedings of A. D. 19. His lack of moral sensibility w as shown in a. d. 20, by his public, instead of private, thanks for the permitted return of a brother who had disgraced himself. Tacitus when writing the above muât have known that the expedition was part of a pre-arranged senatorial rebellion.
*See p. 192.
fAfter the rebellion was crushed “Trio *	*	* had indirectly296
SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CAESAR.
cident with a change in the command of a pretorian cohort. Sejanus had been their commander, much to the chagrin of the ultra aristocracy,—who felt galled at seeing one of the inferior order acting as the emperor’s right-hand man,* *—and of Agrippina who deemed him an opponent of her aims. Tiberius, with no unfriendliness towards him,f found
blamed Regulus as backward in crushing the agents of Sejanus. He *	*	* not only repelled his colleague, but brought him to an in-
vestigation as guilty of conspiracy.”—Tacitus, An. 5, 11.
*This statement scarcely needs proof, but abundant evidence in its support may be found in Velleius Paterculus, 2, 128. That author^ writing whilst his friend Sejanus was in power, quotes a long list of distinguished individuals, not of patrician ancestry, who, because of their merits, had been elevated to high position at Rome He argues that Tiberius, the Senate, and the people had but followed ancient precedent in elevating an unusually competent man. The argument implies a class who decried Sejanus because of his origin. It is but fair to give this friend’s opinion of Sejanus : “A man most genial even in gravity; of pristine cheerfulness ; laborious without showing it; totally unassuming, and for that reason heaped with honors; always measuring himself below the estimate of others ; tranquil in countenance and disposition; of sleepless mental activity. ” —Vel. Pater. 2, 127.
+Suetonius, Tib. 61, restates, or quotes from a restatement by some one else, a passage from the Memoirs of Tiberius, “that he had punished (?) Sejanus because he had found him filled with animosity against the children of his son Germanicus. ” Sejannm se punisse quod comperisset furere adversus liberos Germanici Jilii sui. This passage is not quoted verbally, for it is written in the third person. Had the Memoir by Tiberius assumed responsibility for the proceedings against Sejanus, Tacitus would have been but too thankful to quote what would have saved him much inconclusive reasoning. The passage, in its most obvious sense, is so plainly contradicted by other evidence, as to show that the meaning of Tiberius has been per-SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CAESAR.
297
reasons for substituting Macro, a man on kindly terms with Sejanus.
Macro reached Rome at night, communicated his authorization to one of the consuls, Regulus, and to Laco, commander of the night watch. The Senate met on the next morning in Apollo’s Temple. Macro saw and held a conversation with Sejanus, who, “in excellent spirits over it, hurried into the Senate house.” He then replaced the day watch by the night one, perhaps because of trust in Laco ; entered the temple and gave a letter of Tiberius to the consuls; charged Laco to watchfulness, and went himself to the camp.
The letter of Tiberius was opened. “It was long and not directed against sejanus ”f It certainly did not contemplate his death, and there can hardly be a question that it contained no suggestion, repetition or desire to any one.]; It ordered a guard for Sejanus, as a protection, doubtless, against his enemies. During its perusal, if Dio’s narrative be correct, some of the senators—perhaps by prearrangement—left the side of Sejanus. A fictitious tumult was created, and his more timorous friends
verted. The term “punished” has been substituted for removed from office, or for some equivalent expression.
*Dio Cass. 58, 10.
tThe conspirators, and writers influenced by them, have done their best to pervert this letter into an apology for their crimes. According to Dio Cassius 58, 10, it treated various matters, found briefly some fault witn Sejanus in two passages; spoke near its close of two senators, friends of Sejanus, as deserving punishment (?), and directed A GUARD TO BE PLACED OVER SEJANUS.29B	SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CvESAR.
were cowed. No. distinct motion' seems to have been before the Senate. The proceedings of the conspirators can be judged from th,e following: The consul “Regulus [?] did not ask the votes of all, nor even of a single one concerning putting him (Sejanus) to death, but being afraid lest some one should oppose, and a disturbance be made,—since Sejanus had many relatives and friends,—having asked sortie one and received assent, that he should be bound, he led him out of the Senate and into prison.”* Sejanus would, perhaps, have been safe on his own side of the house, but had been lured by a fraud among his enemies.f Laco, seeing his danger, came into the Senate room, took place by his side and accompanied him to prison, but may not, at that stage of the proceedings, have felt warranted in entering upon a conflict with the consul.
Shortly afterwards, on the same day, another meeting of the Senate—to which were summoned probably only the conspirators and those whom they could control—took place at the temple of Concord near the prison. A mob had been excited against Sejanus, and because the Senate saw this,
*Dio Cass. 58, 10. The impression conveyed by the above, that Regulus headed the action against Sejanus, is a misrepresentation which Dio has innocently copied.
tRegulus, according to Dio Cass. 58, 10, called two or three times to Sejanus and motioned him with his hand to come to him. Sejanus, inattentive at first, asked if he were calling to him, and crossed over, on the supposition, apparently, that he wished to hold some conversation with him. If this be true, Regulus was used by the conspirators without knowing their object.SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CAESAR.
299
and “saw not one of the (pretorian) guards,”* they condemned him to death. The quoted passage is evidence, if other were wanting, that no aid was expected from Macro. Sejanus, his children,! and' many adherents of the popular party were brutally murdered.];
The mangled body of Sejanus was knocked about during three days before being thrown into the Tiber.§ How long the conspirators held sway
*Dio Cass. 58, 11.
+Dio Cass. 58, 11. The little daughter of Sejanus, a mere child, had, according to Tacitus, An. 5, 9, been violated before execution, —a fate shared by others, if we may trust Suetonius. The senatorial faction, in whose service this was done, must, when on their defence, have tried to coat over the atrocity with religious varnish. “Because according to traditional custom, it was impious to strangle immature girls.”—Sueton. Tib. 61. “As if it were impious, that a virgin should be executed in prison.”—Dio Cass. 58, 11. “Because it was deemed unheard of, that a virgin should be subjected to triumvial punishment.”—Tacitus, An. 5,9. The triumvial court was one for “summary,” even capital, “punishment upon slaves and persons of lower rank. ” — Smith, Diet, of Antiq. 1167, 1168. Tacitus, Suetonius, and Dio, quote this wretched attempt at an apology, as if they believed that the brute of an exercutioner was prompted by a reverence for religion. Tacitus assumes to be a moralist. His indignation elsewhere (An. 1, 76, quoted on p. 180) contrasts. unfavorably with its absence here.
tThese murders expressly violated a humane enactment which Tiberius had ten years previously introduced, that “no one condemned by them (the Senate) should be executed in less than ten days, nor within that time should the decree be deposited in the treasury.”—Dio Cass. 57, 20. A passage of Suetonius, Tib. 55, renders probable that some of the victims were from a council of twenty, who aided Tiberius in governing the city. Compare with it Caligula’s statement to the Senate in the next section.
§Dio Cass. 58, 11.300
SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CAESAR.
is uncertain. They were unquestionably subdued before the year closed, and perhaps within a week or two. Not a soldier from elsewhere seems to have been needed, and the fleet which Tiberius held ready* was not called into requisition. The conspirators had to provide for their own safety. They made offers to Macro and Laco, who refused to listen.f They voted honors to Tiberius. He forbade their consideration.]; An embassy of their leading men went to see him. They found no admission. The consul Regulus tried it.§ He fared no better.
The conspirators, while holding control, had, as a political measure, enacted that no one should put on mourning for Sejanus.|| Tiberius interfered.
*Tiberius kept his fleet ready to depart at a moment’s notice (Dio Cass. 58,13; Suetonius, Tib. 65), and had signals and watchers arranged, probably against the contingency of a naval effort by the conspirators, or against any outside disturbance.
+“Not long afterwards they began to flatter Macro and Laco. They offered them great wealth and honors, to Laco those of questor, to Macro those of pretor, besides allowing the latter to sit among them, clothed in senatorial purple during the votive public games. They (Laco and Macro) declined the offers.“—Dio Cass. 58, 12.
^Concerning Tiberius they voted that “thenceforth he should be called Father of his Country ; that his birthday should be honored with ten horse-races and with a senatorial feast. He again as on more than one previous occasion, Dio Cass. 58, 8, forbade any one to introduce such a motion.”—Dio Cass. 58, 12. What must he have thought of them?
§Dio Cass. 58, 13. In this connection Dio mentions that Regulus had “always been studious of pleasing Tiberius.”
||“They voted *	*	* that no one should put on mourning for
him (Sejanus), and that a statue of Liberty should be erected in the Forum. ”Dio Cass. 58, 12.SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CAESAR.
301
“He permitted all who wished it to mourn him, forbidding that any one should be prevented from doing this for any one else, which [he said] had been repeatedly enacted [meaning, that it was
well-settled law].......... Afterwards on account
of Sejanus, and of those [lawlessly]* accused, he punished a great many and [also] those charged with having violated and murdered their nearest female relatives.” f
The property of Sejanus had been confiscated and put into the senatorial treasury, which had been opened by Vitellius, its prefect (Tac. An. 5 8,) in support of the rebellion. Justice required its restoration to his relatives. “The eftects of Sejanus were taken out of the senatorial treasury, that they might be squeezed into that of Tiberius, on pretext that it should make restitution.”];
Not a few of the popular party had committed suicide; perhaps, that they might escape death at the hands of malevolent opponents ; perhaps that they might under the Roman law, save their property for their children.§ Their confidence in Tiberius
*The reading “lawless” is found in two manuscripts.
tDio Cass. 58, 16.
%“Bona Sejani ablata cerario ut in fiscum cogerentur, tanquam ref'erret.”—Tacitus, An. 6, 2. At this act of simple justice Tacitus shows his chagrin. “The Scipios .(!) and Silani (!) and Cassii (!) with great asseveration advocated these things in nearly, or quite, identical language.”—Tacitus, An. 6, 2.
§“Very little property was confiscated of such as anticipated execution by a voluntary death. *	*	* Nearly all the effects of302
SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CAESAR.
was shown by devising their property to him. He, contrary to his custom, assumed the legacies,* and effected doubtless, so far as he could, their return to the proper heirs.f The same confidence in Tiberius which these sufferers showed by their wills, was manifested by others in their remarks.!
If any doubt could remain that Sejanus and his friends were murdered by conspirators against Tiberius, we shall find in the next section an explicit
those who did not die in this manner were confiscated, little or nothing being given to their accusers.”—Dio Cass. 58, 15, 16. The probability is, that, in murders committed by a conspiracy, no regular prosecution took place, and, therefore, no one could possibly claim a “prosecutor’s share.” “Not only knights but senators, not only men but women, were crowded into the prison. Some were executed there. Others were thrown from the Capitol by the tribunes and even by the consuls. The bodies of all were tossed into the Forum, and subsequently cast into the river.”—Dio Cass. 58, 15.
*“He accepted everything left to him, and nearly all these compulsory suicides left their property to him.”—Dio Cass. 58, 16.
■+In the year 33 also, when Sextus Marius, on a fictitious charge probably, had been murdered, Tiberius took possession of his 'property. The narration of this by Tacitus An. 5, 19, illustrates his dealings with history. He affirms two things :	(1,) That the large
property of Marius was taken by Tiberius, which showed that Tiberius had compassed His death for the sake of his property ;(2.) That Tiberius was so incensed at the murder of Marius and others, that he disburdened his feelings by slaughtering indiscriminately those in prison accused of complicity with Sejanus. The second statement contradicts the first.
t“They attributed nothing or but few things to him, Tiberius, for they said that, as regarded most of these transactions, some he could not have known, and others he had been compelled to do against his will.”—Dio Cass. 58, 12.SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CAESAR.
303
statement of Caligula to the Senate, that they, after spoiling Sejanus by their flattery, had put him to death ; and Seneca also affirms that the Senate were his murderers.*
The ambitious Agrippina, who had hoped to put one of her sons in the place of Tiberius,—and perhaps to be practically ruler,—wavered between plans of continuing the struggle and of saving herself. f Her senatorial co-conspirators endeavored to ease their own shoulders by unanimous testimony against her]; She was legally amenable to Tiberius
*“On the' day on which the Senate led him out to execution the populace pulled him to pieces. *	*	* Nothing remained of him
which the executioner could drag with his hook. ”—Seneca, De Tran-quillitate, 11, 9.
+“Last of all, Tiberius having calumniated (?) her with desiring at one moment to betake herself to the statue of Augustus, at another to the armies, banished her to the island of Pandateria.”—Sueton. Tib. 53. Tacitus, as usual, copies or adds to patrician misstatements. He says:	“Persons were provided by Tiberius, who should warn
Agrippina and her son Nero to escape to the armies of Germany, at one time commanded by her husband, or in the most public manner to embrace the statue of the divine Augustus in the Forum and call on the people and Senate for aid! And these projects, spurned, were charged as if planned by them.” Tacitus, An. 4, 67. Tacitus connects this with events of A. d. 27. It has no appositeness thereto, and was probably displaced by himself or some earlier writer, for the sake of obscuring history.
JCaligula—in response probably to incessant senatorial invective against Sejanus—“inveighed often against all senators, equally, as clients OF Sejanus, and delatores, prosecutors of his mother and brothers, *	*	* defending the severe measures of Tiberius as
necessary, since credence had to be given to such a multitude of accusers. ”—Sueton. Calig. 30. Caligula knew how to use sarcasm.304
SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CAESAR.
as the adoptive father of her husband, and was by him banished to an island, where two years subsequently, she died, on the anniversary of her victim’s death.*
Among the severe trials of Tiberius, in connection with this revolt, was the fate of Livilla, or Livia, Junior, his daughter-in-law. Her husband Drusus, and subsequently to his death, her son. had been hoped for by the popular party as their future prince.f This made her an object of animosity to the patrician faction. During the rebellion her statues were thrown down and violent decrees enacted against her.J She was among the women
*“Caesar added, that ‘ she died on the same day of the year on which Sejanus had been punished (?) two years previously, and that the fact deserved recollection.’ *	*	* It was decreed [by the
Senate] that forever on the 18th of October, (the day when both had died) an offering should be made to Jupiter.”—Tacitus, An. 6, 25. The parenthetical remark in its present shape was no part of the decree. The additional remark of Tiberius that Agrippina had not perished by a public execution, is misrepresented by Tacitus as a boast.
tWhen Drusus, her husband, died, the popular party must have endeavored (Tacitus, An. 4, 9) to make his funeral outvie the one previously gotten up by the patricians for Gertnanicus.
i“At Rome, in the beginning of the year, a. d. 34, as of the disgraceful doings (?) of Livia were but lately become known, and had not already [how?] been sufficiently punished, savage decrees were also enacted against her statues and memory.”—Tacitus. An. 6, 2. The circumstances here mentioned occurred probably in the latter part of 31, while the rebellion held sway. Its location in a. d. 32, may be one of those misplacements by which the patrician party endeavored to obscure history, If the decrees were early in the year 32, there must have been an effort of the conspirators, in their fright,SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CÆSAR.
305
violated. Circumstancial evidence renders it not improbable that she was also murdered by a reprobate nephew or nephews.* * When her violators were brought to justice, the senatorial faction called it punishment for adultery, f
A conspiracy and state emergency such as we
to divert indignation from themselves. The enactment of decrees against Livilla’s memory implies apparently that she was already dead, which corroborates the supposition that she had been murdered.
* Agrippina had, when her husband died, three surviving sons, Nero, Drusus, and Caius or Caligula. The last mentioned resided at first with his great-grandmother, Livia, then with his grandmother, Antonia, and then with his grand-uncle, Tiberius. The other two are represented by their aged relative, the emperor (Tacitus, An. 5, 3 ; 6, 24), as addicted to vice. If the action of Tiberius already mentioned (see p. 527), against such as had violated and murdered their nearest female relatives, were without intervention of courts, it must have been against some member, or members, of his family, subject, as such, to his personal jurisdiction. If so, there can be little doubt that the reference is to Nero or Drusus, or to both. Nero was banished (Sueton, Tib. 54; compare Calig. 15) tp the island of Pontia. Drusus {Ibid.) was kept prisoner in the Capitol until his death.
+In A. D. 34, Mamercus Scaurus, with whom Seneca (De Benefic. 4, 31, 2, 3) disgusts his readers, and v^hom Tacitus calls “distinguished by noble birth, and in pleading causes, but of shameful life, ” was tried (Tac. An. 6, 29) for “adultery with Livia, and magical rites.” According to Dio Cassius, 58, 24, the sole charge was “having committed adultery with Livia ; and many others were punished on her account. ” The nature of* his offence may be judged from the following comment of Tiberius on an insulting and defiant drama by the culprit: “/ will make him an Ajax.” Dio Cass. 58, 24. Ajax is said to have violated Cassandra, the priestess of Minerva* Smith. Diet, of Biog. 1, p. 88, col. 1, and to have perished in consequence. Defiant language, Ibid. p. 87, col. 2, did not save him.
2030 6
SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CÆSAR,
have mentioned would, to many a ruler, have suggested arbitrary measures. No such charge against Tiberius comes to us even from his enemies. Not a military exécution is mentioned ; no arbitrary expurgation of the Senate, such as Augustus executed in favor of the reactionary aristocracy. Tiberius seems to have proceeded patiently and persistently in collecting evidence and in laying it before the established tribunal, so that perpetrators of outrage and murder should receive their due reward.
The senatorial faction fought stoutly, and more than three years were needed before Trio could be brought to justice, though he had committed some of the murders with his own hand. Even Scaurus escaped conviction for nearly the same length of time.
§ iv. Social Results of the Rebellion.
The civil policy of Rome recognized no public prosecutor whose duty it was to proceed against criminals. The popular party had no legislative body in behalf of justice. The law-making power was largely in the hands of the present criminals, that is, of the Senate, which moreover exercised, to some extent, judicial functions. Had Tiberius under these circumstances treated revolution as calling for extraordinary, even non-legalized action on his part,had he banished, even if he did not execute, the more active criminals, public opinion would have sustained him, and the communitySKETCH OF TIBERIUS OdESAR.
307
would have been spared many evils. He was scrupulous, however, not to overstep his established authority, and the laws were allowed ordinary course.* That he did not seize the opportunity for reforming the government may have been due to his advanced age, or to promises enacted by his step-father, or to absence of the originality requisite for political reconstruction, though he was otherwise highly gifted with administrative ability.
Every individual whose relatives had been murdered could bring action against the murderers. These murderers were politically and financially powerful. They brought or instigated counterprosecutions to intimidate their opponents.f They
•Tiberius “sent in to it [the Senate] not only the book [articles of accusation] placed in his hands by ‘prosecutors,’ but also the evidence under torture superintended by Macro, so that nothing was left to them [the senators] save acquittal or condemnation.—Dio •Cass. 58, 21, compare 24. Tacitus alludes to but one instance of this, which he places in the year 37. Three senators of rank were on trial. “Commentaries [by whom?] sent to the Senate said that Macro had presided at the examination of witnesses, and the torture of the slaves. Absence of any letters from the emperor against them created suspicion.”—Tacitus, An, 6, 47. In the extract from Dio the bracketed word “acquittal” must not be attributed to him, though necessary to a fair understanding of the matter. In both of these extracts the accusers must have been others than Tiberius. He appears merely as the presiding officer of the Senate, through whom charges and evidence were handed in. Slave evidence in such cases was only valid if taken under torture. Macro’s presence at the examination may have been needed to prevent fraud or to mitigate inhumanity.
+One man gave as a reason for bringing a prosecution, Tacitus, An. 6, 18, that he wished to parry his brother’s danger. “Under308	SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CÆSAR.
could, no doubt, hire Delatores, prosecutors on shares, who for a price paid, and in hope of half the defendant’s property, would undertake the invention of crime and evidence. Seneca depicts the state of matters,* and elsewhere places in strong contrast the earlier years of Tiberius.f
The proceedings against Gallio illustrate the condition of things. He had moved, in the Senate a reward for the pretorian soldiers because of their fi-
Tiberius the accusers of others acquired much wealth from their property and from the senatorial treasury, and obtained certain honors.”—Dio Cass. 58, 14.
*“Under Tiberius Caesar there was frequens et pcene publica, a common and almost epidemic insanity for accusation, which, worse than any civil war, brought destruction to Roman citizens. The utterance of the drunken, the simplicitas, light-heartedness of the jesting, were seized upon. Nothing was safe.”—Seneca, De Benefic. 3, 26, 1.
tSeneca tells Nero on his accession, “No man was ever so dear to another as you to the whole Roman people. * *	* No one now
mentions the divine Augustus or the earlier years of Tibprius Caesar.” —De dementia 1, 1, 5, 6.
This testimony comes from one who had no disposition to overpraise Tiberius. The guarded benevolence of the latter did not suit Seneca’s views of conferring favors. (Seneca, De Benefic, 2, 7, 8.) That writer elsewhere, De Benefic. 5, 25, 2, attributes to Tiberius a lack of sociability caused by pride, which was more probably due to practical reasons. Seneca moved in aristocratic society, and could not wholly escape its influence. He tells us, Epist. 83, 13, 14, that Cossus, whom Tiberius on quitting Rome had left in charge of the city, was a thoughtful, discreet man, virum gravern, moderatum, especially trusted above' other ministers by Tiberius with private matters, and that he never divulged a public or private secret. Yet in connection with this, Seneca tells us that he was an habitual drunkard ; a fiction, probably, of the aristocracy.SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CÆSAR.
309
delity against the rebellion. Tiberius, who saw that the motion was a \^ell-intentioned, even if foolish mistake, wrote that the soldiers were under orders of their commander (Imferatoris\ emperor) and must look to him, not to the Senate, for reward. The Senate, eager to indulge its feeling against Gallio, banished him. Tiberius—against whom the alleged fault had been committed—recalled him and gave him a guard for his protection.*
The charges against Cotta Messalinus are another illustration of the prevailing tendency.! Their tenor implies that they came from the dominant senatorial taction. Tiberius replied, that neither language maliciously perverted, nor the freedom of convivial conversation, ought to be made a ground of accusation. He prefixed to this a statement that it was a torment to know, “what I ought to write you, how I shall phrase it, and what I had better omit,” and added that his torments were daily ones.];
*Tacitus. An. 6. 3 ; Dio Cass. 58, 18.
+Only three charges are adduced by Tacitus: (1) that Cotta had spoken of Caligula’s manhood as yet untried (the Latin admits an indecent perversion); (2) that a birthday feast for Augusta, mother of Tiberius, had by him been called a funeral entertainment; and (3) that in a pecuniary suit with Lepidus and Arruntius, he had said, “The Senate will protect them, my little Tiberius me.”—Tacitus, An. 6, 5. For these charges, with which Tacitus seems to spmpathize, the senatorial faction had, according to that writer, been on the watch.
iTiberius, as “primate” of the Senate, had to give assent before a prosecution could be legally commenced. To refuse this for all prosecutions which he disapproved, wbuld practically have made him the exclusive judge of such cases,—an arbitrary power the assump-3io
SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CAESAR.
He felt at times that the earth needed a renovation as with fire.* Conscienlli'ous anxiety and inability to provide a safeguard against such evils after his death, made him in some moment of perplexity treat Priam as relatively happy in his freedom from kindred anxiety.f Financial chaos was by an act of the patricians superadded to other troubles which he needed to remedy.J yet he labored on, and the last moments of his earthly existence were apparently devoted to thoughtful provision for the future.§
tion of which (see Note C, foot-note 10) he probably deemed inappropriate. On the other hand, assent yielded might mean pecuniary ruin, or death, to an innocent man. Even an unguarded word, addressed to the Senate, might be perverted to some one’s ruin. The anxiety and suffering of Tiberius in such a position is by Tacitus; An. 6, 6, attributed to his guilty conscience,—a palpable and gross misrepresentation, though frequently accepted as truthful, even at the present day.
*„He is said to have often repeated this old line of Greek poetry: ‘When 1 am dead, let the earth blaze' ”—Dio Cass. 58, 23. Compare Seneca’s views in note 50, on p. 57. The line was probably well known, for Cicero, De Finibus, 3, 19, treats it as familiar, Seneca, De dementia, 2, 2, 2, quotes it. and Suetonius, Nero, 38, mentions its citation in Nero’s presence.
+Dio Cassius, 58, 23.
JThe Senate had enacted, Tacitus, An. 6, 17, that by every man, two thirds of his moneys at interest should be placed on lands in Italy. Patricians were the chief land-owners, and the object therefore must have been to favor themselves. The enactment necessitated a simultaneous calling in of all loans. This threatened widespread financial ruin, which Tiberius parried (see note 58) by lending a large amount without interest.
§“Seneca writes : ‘That finding himself dying, he took his signetSKETCH OF TIBERIUS CÆSAR.	3 I I
After the death of Tiberius many of the patrician faction who had prosecuted others endeavored to lay their own doings on his shoulders. Caligula became indignant at the attempted falsification, and gave it a public rebuke.* *
In the foregoing sketch Tiberius has been sometimes called by the accustomed title of emperor, as a means of avoiding the too frequent repetition of his name. This title was, however, repugnant to him. The term “primate” would, in some respects, be
ring off his finger, and held it awhile, as if he would deliver it to somebody ; but put it again upon his finger, and lay for some time, with his left hand clinched, and without stirring ; when suddenly summoning his attendants, and no one answering the call, he rose; but his strength failing him, he fell down at a short distance from his bed.’ ”—Sueton, Tib. 73, Bohn’s trans.
*Caligula on his accession burned (possibly by advice of Tiberius) the records of testimony against his mother, Dio Cass. 59, 6; Sueton. Calig. 30. The patrician faction may have deemed it a permission to falsify. They complained bitterly on finding that other records were not included. Two years after the death of Tiberius, Caligula “entering the Senate chamber, bestowed much praise on him and blame upon the Senate and people (?) for unjust detraction of him (compare his words quoted on p. 208).	*	* * Thereupon, enu-
merating each one of those who had been destroyed, he rendered manifest, as it seemed, that to most of them the sen ators were the cause of destruction. Of some they were the accusers ; against others, they were the witnesses, and on all of them they had passed sentence. These records he caused to be read by freedmen from the very documents which he formerly said had been burnt He added, that *	*	* you, having puffed up and spoiled Sejanus, put him
to death. *	*	* Saying these things and recapitulating the
senatorial charges of unbelief against sundry persons, he ordered them to be engraved on a brazen tablet', and hurried from the Senate chamber.”—Dio Cass. 59, 16.312
SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CAESAR.
better. There is, however, no title at the present day which corresponds exactly to his official position. The appended extract on his personal appearance will not be without interest for some readers.*
§ v. Tacitus falsifies History.
The Memoirs written by Tiberius have unfortunately perished, unless they lie unnoticed in some library. Our chief resources for a knowledge of his reign are three writers, Tacitus, Suetonius, and Dio Cassius.
The last mentioned wrote nearly two centuries after the death of Tiberius. He exercised no critical judgement,! yet he has in many instances furnished valuable information. Though a senator, he. quotes anti-patrician facts and sometimes what seems anti-patrician argument ;J but his patrician
*“If we may trust the testimony of a noble sitting statue, discovered iu modern times vat Piperno, the ancient Privernum, near Ter-racina, and now lodged in the gallery of the Vatican, which has been pronounced to be a genuine representation of Tiberius, we must believe that both in face and figure he was eminently handsome, his body and limbs developed in the most admirable proportions, and his countenance regular, animated, and expressive.”—Merivale, Hist, of the Romans, 4, pp. 170, 171.
+“My purpose is *	*	* to write connectedly whatever.I find
stated *	*	* without being inquisitive, and without suggesting
to others whether an act were just or unjust, nor whether the narrative concerning it be false or true.”—Dio Cass. 54, 15.
J“Then another laughable incident took place. The Senate voted that hé (Tiberius) should select as many of themselves as he wished, and should have twenty of this number, chosen by lot, as guards, armed with swords, whenever he should enter the Senate chamber.SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CAESAR.
313
and anti-patrician accounts are too often mixed in uttei* * confusion.
Suetonius wrote without chronological arrangement, and recorded personal anecdotes rather than a connected history. He was often misled by patrician accounts/* yet not intentionally, for he narrates at times what must have been very unacceptable to the aristocracy. His easy credence of indecent stories is objectionable.
Tacitus is our most copious source for the history of Tiberius. His arrangement is expressed by the title Annals, each year being treated by itself. This aids the. reader in studying the sequence of events. He has, however, two main faults. He copies the grossest patrician misrepresentations, not merely in ignorance, but with a knowledge of their untruth. Secondly, he superadds his own discoloration and falsification. A long article, or a work perhaps, would be requisite to treat the subject fully. A few items may suffice to point out his dishonesty.
The unwillingness of Tiberius to call Augustus
For—inasmuch as the outside was guarded by soldiers, and none but senators were permitted to enter—they thereby recognized that the guard was given him solely against themselves as his enemies.” —Dio Cass. 58, 17. This was in A. D. 32, shortly after the rebellion. The connection implies that, instead of coming from a writer on the popular side, it was an expression of chagrin by some patrician.
*A striking instance of this is that he attributes, Sueton. Tib. 61, not merely the murder of Sejanus and others, but the enactment against mourning.314
SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CAESAR.
god was a matter of notoriety. Tacitus, a member in early life, of the popular party, while friends and acquaintances of Tiberius were yet living, cannot have been ignorant of the fact. Yet, writing in the days of Trajan, when it was less commonly known, he treats his reader to the precious fiction below, fand on various occasions puts into the mouth of Tiberius the expression Divine Augustus. J
Again: Tacitus convicts himself of knowing, that Tiberius, so far from being at enmity with Se-janus, or having murdered him, would not even after his death believe the charges against him.
tClaudia Pulchra, a cousin and partisan of Agrippina, and therefore patrician in politics, was prosecuted by Domitius Afer, the greatest pleader whom Quintilian, Instit. 12, 11, 3, had ever heard. For the real charges against her Tacitus probably substitutes as in some other cases fictions, and then indulges in the following: “Agrippina, ever vehement, and then in a flame on account of the perilous situation of her kinswoman, flew to Tiberius, and by chance found him sacrificing to the imp^ror his father. When, availing herself of the circumstance to upbraid him, she told him ‘that it was inconsistent in him to offer victims to the deified Augustus and persecute his children: his divine spirit was not transfused into dumb statues: the genuine images of Augustus were the living descendants from his celestial blood: she herself was one; one sensible of impending danger, and ¡now in the mournful state of a suppliant. In vain was Pulchra set up as the object of attack; when the only cause of her overthrow was her affection for Agrippina foolishly carried even to adoration.’ ” - -Tacitus, An. 4, 52, Bohn’s trans.
JTacitus, An. 1. 11; 2, 38; 3, 54, 56. The same expression is, in the Annals, 3, 34, put into the mouth of Drusus, son of Tiberius. The statement of Tacitus (An. 4, 57) that Tiberius visited Campania for the professed purpose “of dedicating the temple to Jupiter at Capua and one to Augustus at Nola,” is probably a mere falsehood..SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CAESAR.
315
Yet, in the face of this, he fabricates speeches, and puts< them into the mouth of Tiberius and others» implying that Sejanus was by Tiberius deemed, and had been treated as his enemy.* By comparing, in
*Under the year 35, Tacitus says, that “although three years had elapsed since the death of Sejanus, yet time, prayers, and satiety, which are wont to mollify others, did not so mollify Tiberius, but that he punished uncertain or obsolete actions as if weighty and recent. Under fear of this Fulcinius Trio [consul when Sejanus was murdered, and one of the chief plotters against him and Tiberius], not enduring the accusers who were pressing him hard, put together, in his ‘last tablets,’ many savage accusations against Macro and the chief freedmen of Caesar ; objecting to Caesar himself a mind weakened by age, and treating his absence as exile. Which tablets, concealed by the heirs, Tiberius ordered to be recited, because ostentatious of his enduring liberty of speech in others and indifferent to his own infamy, or because having been long ignorant as TO the crimes OF Sejanus, he preferred eventually, that in any manner whatever, the statements [which brought them to light?] should be made commonly known.”—Tacitus, An. 6, 38.
The concluding reason shows Tacitus to have been aware, that, for three or four years after the death of Sejanus, any crimes attributed to that individual had remained discredited by Tiberius. The remarks therefore, which Tacitus at an earlier date puts into the mouth of Tiberius and others, as also his own insinuations, An. 5, 6, 7 ; 6, 3, 8, 14, 19, 23, 25, 30, implying hostility of the emperor to Sejanus, were by Tacitus himself known to be fictions for the furtherance of falsehood. The beginning of the foregoing extract admits no plausible interpretation save on the supposition that Tacitus knew Trio to have been, prosecuted with the approval of Tiberius, FOR COMPLICITY IN THE MURDER OF SEJANUS AND HIS friends. The unscrupulous patricianism of Tacitus is evinced by his treating an atrocious, wholesale murder as having become obsolete in three years. The light which the foregoing throws on the untruthfulness of Tacitus is not affected by the obvious absurdity of supposing that “tablets” which, according to both himself and Dio Cassius, were silent about Sejanus, should* have been recited in order to throw odium on him.3i6
SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CAESAR.
a single instance, the account of Tactitus with that of Dio Cassius, a more definite opinion can b§ attained as to the manner in which the former adds to his authorities.*
The foregoing are but individual instances of misrepresentation. Its frequency and extent may be inferred from the fact that a reader might peruse Tactitus, and that readers generally, if not universally, have perused him, without consciousness of attempted patrician rebellions in a. d. 14 and 19, and without knowledge that such a rebellion had broken ferociously out in a.d* 31. What would be thought concerning a modern historian of Germany
*Dio Cassius copies a patrician authority in which the term Republic has been obviously substituted for Senate,—the two ideas being identical in some patrician minds,—and in which the exile of Gallio is incorrectly attributed to Tiberius.
Tiberius banished Junius Gallio, “who had proposed, that a seat in the theatre among the knights should be given to soldiers after serving their time,—charging that he was apparently inciting them to favor the Republic (the Senate) rather than himself.”—Dio Cass. 58, 18.
“Junius Gallio, who had proposed ‘that the pretorian soldiers, having fulfilled their term of service, should thence acquire the privilege of sitting in the fourteen rows of the threatre allotted to the Roman knights,’ he rebuked vehemently, and, as if present, demanded ‘what business he had with the soldiers, whose duty bound them to observe only the orders of the emperor (Imperatoris, commander), and from .the emperor alone to recieve their rewards. Had he forsooth discovered what had escaped the sagacity of the divine Augustus? Or was it not rather a method invented by a satellite of Sejanus, to raise sedition and discord? an artifice by which, under pretence of conferring honor, he might stimulate the simple minds of the soldiers to break through the established regulations of the service.”—Tacitus, An. 6, 3, Bohn’s trans. altered.SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CAESAR.
317
in 1848, or of the United States in 1860—1865, who should persistently ignore, in the former country, a popular uprising, or, in the latter, an effort of the slaveholders to dismember the government. His effort would, because of present facilities for preserving information, be abortive,* but not. certainly, more untruthful in object, than that of Tactitus. The portion of bis Annals which mentions the execution of Sejanas is, indeed, lost, but his extant treatment of the attendant circumstances leaves no doubt of elaborated* imposition.
The dealing of Tacitus with Livilla and Agrippina may illustrate his treatment of the conspiracy. Livilla was connected with the popular party and was in friendship with Tiberius. Agrippina was prominent in patrician movements and at enmity with him. The rebellious patricians who murdered the former, endeavored, in her case as in that of Seja-nus, to mitigate their own crimes by blackening the character of their victim.* Tacitus, to throw his readers off their guard, states under the year 23, when no motive for falsification appears, that she was seduced by Sejanus whom she aided to poison her husband, but that nothing was known of it until eight years later.f Eight years later, lest the reader
*The earliest charge by the conspirators against L,ivilla was probably one preserved by Pliny, Nat. Hist. 29, 8, 5, of improper intimacy, not with Sejanus, but with Eudemus, her physician.
tWe are told by Tacitus, An. 4, 3, Sejanus “enticed her by adultery and *	*	* impelled her to the murder of her husband
and again (4, 8), “Sejanus *	*	* choge a poison which, creeping
only by degrees into the system, should resemble an accidental dis-3 18	SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CAESAR.
might notice that the charge originated with politi-
ease. It was given to Drusus (her husband) by Lygdus the eunuch, as became known eight years afterwards;” and again (3, 11), “The method of effecting this crime, that is, the sole evidence of its existence, divulged eight years afterwards by Apicata, wife of Sejanus, was patefactus substantiated by putting Eudemus (the physician of Livilla) and Lygdus to the torture.” The extant works of Tacitus do not contain this alleged revelation by Apicata, but it has been transmitted us by Dio Cassius, 58, 11 : “Apicata * *	* having
learned that the children were dead, and having seen their bodies on the malefactors’ stairs, went away and having written in a book concerning the death of Drusus many things against his wife Livilla,— on whose account she had quarrelled with her husband so as no longer to live with him,—she sent it to Tiberius, and then committed suicide. ”
According to this story, Apicata—at variance with her husband and conscious of his crime —refrained during eight years from mentioning it. Then, when he had been murdered, she looked at the lifeless forms of her children, and—after viewing the innocent little daughter who had been outraged and strangled—wrote to Tiberius, not to complain of the murderers, but to palliate their crimes by narrating events eight years old. If the hard-pushed conspirators professed during the lifetime of Tiberius apy information from Apicata, we may be sure that it did not, until after his death, assume the form of a letter to himself. If they had tortured to death Eudemus and Lygdus, they would deem it safe to fabricate evidence in their name.
Tacitus diverts scrutiny from his narrative by mixing with it extraneous matters, and endeavors to inspire credence by putting it forward as a defence of Tiberius against the charge of poisoning his son, even while stating that no writer had ever made such a charge. It winds up as follows : “Nor has any writer appeared so hostile as to charge it upon Tiberius ; though in other instances they heve sedulously collected and aggravated every action of his. My purpose in relating and refuting this rumor was, under so glaring an example, to destroy the credit of groundless hearsays, and to request of those into whose hands my present undertaking shall come, that they would not prefer vague and improbable rumors, unscrupulously credited, toSKETCH OF TIBERIUS CAESAR.
319
cal enemies who had murdered her., he treats it as, since a long time, well known.* *
In the case of Agrippina, Tacitus quotes some charges which, as narrated in his pages, do not bring to light, and scarcely even suggest, any political criminality.f To these he adds an apersion of her private character, fabricated probably by himself, with the object of refuting it and of thus placing her in the light of a vindicated women. J The charge of prompting conspiracy and instigating murder is wholly overlooked.
Whenever Tacitus becomes pious, or undertakes to philosophize or moralize, to expatiate on jurisprudence or antiquities, or to address our sympathies, the reader should be doubly watchful against effort to conceal some patrician roguery or else some patrician defeat. Pious indignation against Tiberius for not consulting the Sibyline Oracles, is but a
the narrations of truth unadulterated with romance.”—Tacitus, An. 4, 11, Bohn’s trans. altered. Should any one wish model impudence in a party renegade, let him read Tacitus.
*Tacitus, An. 6, 2,
+Tacitus, An. 4, 67,
iTacitus, An. 6, 25, quotes Tiberius, as accusing Agrippina of adultery with Asinius Gallus. Had he attributed to him, a charge against her of adultery with the man in the moon, the certainty could hardly be greater of his knowing that no such utterance had proceeded from Tiberius or from any contemporary source. Gallus, a friend of Tiberius, was a leader of the popular party. As such his life (see note 68) was in danger from the animosity of Agrippina.’s adherents. The absurd quotation cannot have been invented before the lime of Tacitus, and not improbably originated with himself.320
SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CÆSAR.
means to divert attention from the position of reactionaries afraid of their former hobby.* Egyptian antiquities are a screen to plottings of rebellion by Germanicus in Egypt. \ An account of usury legislation throws somewhat into the shade a senatorial enactment whose purpose was to make the borrowing of money easy for senators and difficult for others.\ Meditations on Astrology and Fate suggest—what Tacitus shrunk probably from asserting —that Drusus, the worthless son of Germanicus, suffered, not for his crimes, but owing to blind fate, or because the gods take no interest in man.§ With the same object, in the sections immediately consequent on the foregoing, Tacitus appeals to sympathy in behalf of Drusus,because those in charge of him “took note of his countenance, groans, and secret repinings,” which means—if we may judge from information in the same paragraph—that they had to bear with the violence and imprecations of their prisoner. Tacitus evidently wishes his readers to infer, what he has been guarded enough to avoid affirming, that Drusus died of starvation.!
*See Ch. vii. note 103.
+Cp. pp. 186, 187, with Tac. An. 2, 60, 61.
îSee note 112.
§Tac. An. 6, 21, 22.
¡ITacitus, An. 6, 23, 24. The charge against Drusus,—attributed in this last section to Tiberius, of “a disposition exitiabilem in suos destructive towards his own relatives,” claims careful consideration as to whether it means, that he had murdered his aunt, Livilla. Compare note 100. A reader unfamiliar with Roman history shouldSKETCH OF TIBERIUS CAESAR.
321
The disposition of Tacitus to veil or suppress mention of crime committed, or ridicule incurred, by .the patrician party is, naturally enough, conjoined to misrepresentation of such popular leaders as were most hated by patricians. No peculiarity of his work is more obvious or offensive than this.* If Tiberius rejects honor, the historian, instead of appreciating the fact, subjoins a remark to pervert the reader’s understanding of it.* If Gallus and Gallio are each furnished with a military guard, this is represented, not in its true light as a friendly effort to protect them, but as a device of Tiberius for their annoyance.f A glaring instance of the same ten-
guard against confusing this Drusus with Livilla’s husband, the son of Tiberius.
*“Neither however would he, on accont of these acts accept the name of ‘Father of his Country,’ a title offered him before ; nay, he sharply rebuked such as said, ‘His divine occupations,’ and called him ‘Lord.’ Hence it was difficult and dangerous to speak under a prince who dreaded liberty and abhorred flattery.”—Tacitus An. 2, 87, Bohn’s trans. The dread of liberty is flatly contradicted by statements (forced out of Tacitus?) in the Anrials, 4, 6, quoted in note 5.
+The seizure of Gallus has been mentioned in note 68. The guard and encouragement given him by Tiberius were subsequently misrepresented by the patriciarv party, Dio Cass. 58, 3, as contrivances for his annoyance, that his life and uneasiness might be prolonged instead of ended by suicide. The year 30 is' lost from the Annals of Tacitus, and with it is lost any account of Gallus being seized. But the < spirit of the lost narrative can be safely judged from the present portion which narrates the death of Gallus. “The death of Asinius Gallus became generally known. That he perished through famine, was undoubted ; but whether of his own accord or by constraint, was held uncertain. The emperor was consulted, 21322
SKETCH OF TIBERIUS CAESAR.
dency occurs in his dealing with Domitian, The latter, perhaps to end needless war in Britain, had recalled Agricola. When, at a later date, Agricola was ill, Domitian made kindly inquiries concerning him, and, on the last day, sent repeatedly to inform himself. The contemptible comments of Tacitus are given below. * He had himself received kindness from Domitian and was nevertheless willing to please his new associates, the aristocracy, by attributing to crime in Domitian what was evidently a courtesy, if not an office of friendship. Yet this is the man who tells his readers their need of aid to understand history, and who puts himself forward as its interpreter.!
‘whether he would suffer (?) him to be buried,’ when he blushed not to grant it as a favor.”—Tacitus, An. 6, 23, Bohn’s trans.
The guard for Gallio (compare note 68) is thus noticed: “As it was alleged that he would experience no hardship from an exile at Lesbos, a celebrated and charming island, which he had selected, he was hauled back to Rome, and kept under guard in the house of a magistrate-”—Tacitus, An. 6, 3, Bohn’s trans.
*“Commiseration was aggravated by a prevailing report that he (Agricola) was taken off by poison, I cannot venture to affirm anything certain of this matter ; yet, during the whole course of his illness, the principal of the imperial freedmen and the most confidential of the physicians was sent much more frequently than was customary with a court whose visi’ts were chiefly paid by messages; whether that was done out of real solicitude, or for the purposes of state inquisition, on the day of his dicease it is certain that accounts of his approaching dissolution were every instant transmitted to the emperor by couriers stationed for the purpose ; and no one believed that the information, which so much pains was taken to accelerate, could be received with regret.”—Tacitus, Agric. 43, Bohn’s trans.
+“It was pertinent to searcji out and narrate these things, sinceSKETCH OF TIBERIUS CAESAR.
323
In the revival of learning an overestimate of long-neglected heathen authors was natural. That Tacitus should, however, until the present day, have retained reputation as a reliable historian, is no credit to modern research.
few by their own wisdom can discern honorable things from the more degrading, useful things from injurious. The majority are taught by the fortunes of others.”—Tacitus, An. 4, 33.TESTIMONY
OF
EARLY CHRISTIAN FATHERS
RELATIVE TO THE ACTS OF PILATE.
JUSTIN MARTYR,
(FIRST A POLO G Y. J
Sec. 1—“To the emperor Titus -^lius Adrianus Antoninus Pius Augustus Caesar, to his son Veris-simus the philosopher, and Lucius the philosopher, the natural son of Caesar but the adopted son of Pius, and the lover of learning, and to the Sacred Senate and to the whole people of Rome, in favor of those men of all nations who are unjustly hated and oppressed, I, Justin, the son of Priscus and grandson of Bacchius, native of Flavia Neapolis, a city of Palestine, being one of them, have composed this address'and petition.”
Sec. 35.—“And that Christ, after his birth, should be unknown to other men until he was grown to man’s estate, which also came to pass, hear what was foretold of this. The words are as follows: ‘A child is born to us, and a young man is given to us, whose government is upon his shoulders,’ which is significant of the power of the cross ;
(325) ‘326	EARLY CHRISTIAN FATHERS.
to which, when crucified, he applied his shoulders, as shall be more clearly shown in the course of my explanation. And, again, the same prophet Isaiah, who was inspired by the prophetical Spirit, says : ‘I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people, to those who walk in a way that is not good. They ask me now for judgment, and presume to draw nigh to God’. “And again in other words by another prophet, who says: ‘They pierced my hands and my feet and cast lots upon my garments.’ Yet David the king and prophet, who uttered these words, underwent none of these things; but Jesus Christ stretched out his hands, and was crucified by the Jews, who contradicted him and denied him to be the Christ.’ For. indeed, as the prophet said, they mocked him, and set him on the judgment seat and said, ‘Judge us.’ But the words ‘They pierced my hands and feet,’ are a description of the nails that were fixed in his hands and his feet on the cross. And after he was crucified, those who crucified him cast lots for his garments and divided them among themselves.
And that these things were so, you may learn from the Acts which were recorded under Pontius Pilate. ’ ’
Sec. 48.—“And that it was foretold that our Christ should heal all diseases, and raise the dead, hear what was said. It is as follows: ‘Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing.’EARLY CHRISTIAN FATHERS.
327
“That He performed these things, you may easily be satisfied from the Acts of Pontius Pilate.”
“A third reference must be accepted in the thirty-eighth chapter, where Justin in like manner cites Isaiah xvi, 2, and 1, 6:	“I gave My back to the
smiters and exposed My cheeks to blows.” See, also, the words already cited of the xxii Psalm, “They cast lots,” etc., in conjunction with Psalm iii, 5, “I laid Me down and slept; I awaked,” etc., and Psalm xxii, 8. He makes this close to the prophecies: “And this was all done by the Jews to Christ as you can learn (here we have this express declaration) from the Acts compiled under Pontius Pilate.”— (Tischendorf, Origin of the Four Gospels, note 117, p. 267.)TESTIMONY OF TERTULLIAN.
The learned Tertullian in his Apology for Christianity, about the year a. d. 200, says: Chap. 2. “Out of envy Jesus was surrendered by the Jewish ceremonial lawyers to Pilate, and by him, after he had yielded to the cries of the people, given over for crucifixion ; while hanging on the cross he gave up the ghost with a loud cry, and thus anticipated the executioner’s duty; at that same hour the day was interrupted by a sudden darkness ; a guard of soldiers was set at the grave for the purpose of preventing his disciples stealing his body, since he had predicted his resurrection, but on the third day the ground was suddenly shaken, and the stone was rolled away from before the sepulchre ; in the grave nothing was found but the articles used in his burial ; and the report was spread abroad by those who stood outside that tfie disciples had taken the body away ; Jesus spent forty days with them in Galilee, teaching them what their mission should be ; and after giving them their instructions as to what they should preach, he was raised in a cloud to heaven. All this was reported to the em'peror at that time, Tiberius, by Pilate, his conscience having compelled even him to become a Christian.” (See Tischendorf’s account in “Origin of the Four Gospels.”) Tertullian in the same Apology, thus
(328)EARLY CHRISTIAN FATHERS.
329
relates the proceedings of the Roman emperor, Tiberius, on receiving Pilate’s account:
“There was an ancient decree that no one should be received for a diety unless he was first approved by the Senate.
•‘Tiberius, in whose time the Christian religion had its rise, having received from Palestine, in Syria, an account of such things as manifested the truth of Christ’s divinity, proposed to the senate that he should be enrolled among the Roman gods ; and gave his own prerogative vote in favor of the motion.
“But the senate rejected it, because the emperor himself had declined the same honor (of being deified). Nevertheless, the emperor persisted in his opinion, and threatened punishment to the accusers of the Christians. ’ ’EUSEBIUS’ TESTIMONY.
‘‘The fame of our Lord’s remarkable resurrection being now spread abroad, according to an ancient custom prevalent among the rulers of the nations to communicate important occurrences to the emperor, that nothing might escape him, Pontius Pilate transmits to Tiberius an account of the circumstances concerning the resurrection of our Lord from the dead, the report of which had already spread throughout all Palestine. In this account he intimated also that he ascertained other miracles respecting him. and now having risen from the dead, he was believed to be a god by the great mass of the people.
‘‘Tiberius referred the matter to the Senate, but it is said they rejected, the proposition, apparently because they had not examined into this subject first, according to an ancient law among the Romans*, that no one should be ranked among the gods unless by a vote and decree of thè Senate : in reality, however, because the salutary doctrine of the Gospel needs no confirmation and co-operation of men.
“Tiberius, therefore, under whom the name of Christ was spread throughout the world, when this doctrine was announced to him from Palestine, where it first began, communicated with the Senate,
(330)EARLY CHRISTIAN FATHERS.
331
being obviously pleased with the doctrine ; but the Senate, as they had not proposed the measure, rejected it.
“But the emperor continued in his opinion, threatening death to the accusers of the Christians ; a divine providence infusing this into his mind, that the Gospel, having freer scope in the commencement, might spread everywhere over the world.” (See Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical Hist., Book II., Chap. 2.)
EUSEBIUS’ ACCOUNT OF THE FORGERY OF THE ACTS
OF PILATE.
The authority and fo,rce of the appeals made by early Christians to these documents of Pilate’s were felt by the opponents of Christianity to such an extent, that during the reign of the Emperor Maximin, A. d. 311, false Acts of Pilate were forged manifestly for the purpose of discrediting and displacing the older Christian Acts.
Concerning the extent and bitterness to which this forgery was carried Eusebius, who lived at the time, says: “Having forged certain Acts of Pilate, respecting our Saviour, full of every kind of blasphemy against Christ, these with the consent of the Emperor, they sent through the whole of the empire subject to him, commanding at the same time by ordinances in every place and city, and the adjacent districts, to publish these to all persons, and to give them to the school-masters to hand to their pupils to study and to commit to memory, as exercises for declamation.* Whilst these things were being
*According to Eusebius, “the boys had nothing but Jesus and Pilate in their mouths the whole day long.”—Hist. Ecc. ix. 5, 7.332
EARLY CHRISTIAN FATHERS.
done, another commander whom the Romans call Dux, in Damascus, a city of Phoenicia, caused certain infamous females to be seized in the forum: threatening to inflict torture upon them, he forced them to make a formal declaration, taken down on record that they had once been Christians and that they had been privy to the criminal acts among them ; that in their very churches they committed licentious deeds, and innumerable other slanders, which he wished them to utter against our religion, which declarations he inserted in the Acts and communicated to the emperor, who immediately commanded these documents to be published in every city and place.” [See Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical Hist., Book IX, Chap. 5.]
Such is the testimony of these early and able Christian Fathers. It needs no argument, in the face of such a body of evideuce, to show that Pilate made a very complete report to the Roman emperor concerning Jesus ; and that this report was entirely favorable to the claims made by the Christians of the divinity of their Master.
We must feel that if Justin, Tertullian and Eusebius have deceived uS in the testimony on the most vital point of the system of faith we know as Christianity—then we have a right to doubt any other statements they have made in regard to the death aud resurrection of Jesus Christ. We ask the reader’s careful attention to the lives and characters of these witnesses given in the following pages. We add further only the testimony of Chrysostom and Orosius.TESTIMONY OF CHRYSOSTOM.
Chrysostom, golden-mouthed, so named from the splendor of his eloquence, was born at Antioch a. d. 347. He was originally a lawyer, but abandoned a successful practice to become a teacher of Christianity. In 381 he was ordained a deacon. In 386 he was ordained a presbyter, by Flavian bishop of Antioch. In 397 Chrysostom was consecrated bishop of Constantinople. The most valuable of his works are the homilies on the New Testament and on the Psalms, most of which have been translated and published in the Oxford Library of the Fathers.
“The Roman Senate,” says he, “had the power of nominating and decreeing who should be gods. When, therefore, all things concerning Christ had been published, he who was the governor of the Jewish nation sent to them to know if the}7 would be pleased to appoint him also to be a god. But they refused, being offended and provoked, that before their decree and judgment had been obtained, the power of the crucified man had shined out and had attracted all the world to the worship of him. But by the overruling providence of God this was brought to pass against their will, that the divinity of Christ might not be established by human appointment, and that he might not be recognized one of the many deified by them.”TESTIMONY OF OROSIUS.
At postquam passus est Dominus Christus atque a mortuis resurrexit, et discipulos suos praedican-dum dimisit. Pilatus, praeses Palestinae, ad Tibe-rium imperatorem et resurrectione Christi, conse-quentibusque virtutibus, quae per ipsum palam factae fuerant, vel per discipulos ipsius in nomine ejus fie-bant, et de eo quod crescenti plurimorum fide Deus crederetur. Tiberius cum suffrages magni favoris retulit ad senatum. ut Christus deus haberetur. Senatus, indignatione motus, quod non sibi prius secundum morem delatum esset ut de suscipendo cultu prius ipse decernerent consecrationem Christi recusavit, edicto que constituit exterminandos esse Urbe christianos ; precipue cum et Sejanus, praefec-tus Tiberii suscipiendae religione obstinatissime con-tradiceret. .Tiberius tamen edicto accusatoribus chris-tianorum mortem comminatus est. Orisii Liber, 7 c. 4.
Translation.—But after the Lord Christ had suf fered, and risen from the dead, and sent his disciples for preaching, Pilate, the president of the province of Palestine, to Tiberius the emperor and the senate related concerning the passion and resurrection of Christ, what things openly through him had been done, or through his disciples in his name, and that in the growing faith' of many he was believed to be God etc., etc. - Orosius, Book 7, chapter 4.
(334)LARDNER’S REMARKS ON THE
ACTS OF PILATE.
Of the knowledge which the emperor Tiberius Caesar had concerning our Saviour Jesus Christ, the following remarks are made by Dr. Nathaniel Lardner, which may be found in his work, “The Credibility of The Gospel History, ” in the chapter on “Testimonies of Ancient Heathens,”—Vol. vi, p. 605, et seq.
The Acts of Pontius Pilate, and his letter to Tiberius.
“Justin Martyr, in his first Apology, which was presented to the emperor Antoninus Pious, and the Senate of Rome, about the year 140, having mentioned our Saviour’s crucifixion and some of the circumstances of it, adds: ‘And that these things were so done you may know from the Acts made in the time of Pontius Pilate.’
“Afterwards in the same Apology, having mentioned some of our Lord’s miracles, such as healing diseases and raising the dead, he adds; ‘And that these things were done by him you may know from the Acts made in the time of Pontius Pilate.’
“Tertullian, in his Apology, about the year 200, having spoken of our Saviour’s crucifixion and re-
(335)336
lardner’s remarks.
surrection, and his appearance to his disciples, who were ordained by him to preach the gospel over the world, goes on: ‘Of all these things, relating to Christ, Pilate, in his conscience a Christian, sent an account to Tiberius, then emperor. ’
“In another chapter or section of his Apology, nearer the beginning, he speaks to this purpose: ‘There was an ancient decree that no one should be received for a deity unless he was first approved by the senate. Tiberius, in whose time the Christian religion had its rise, having received from Palestine in Syria an account of such things as manifested our Saviour’s divinity, proposed to the senate, and giving his own vote as first in his favor, that he should be placed among the gods. The senate refused, because he himself had declined that honor.’ “ ‘Nevertheless the emperor persisted in his own opinion, and ordered that if any accused the Christians they should be punished.’ And then adds: ‘Search,’ says he, your own writings, and you will there find that Nero was the first emperor who exercised any acts of severity toward the Christians, because they were then very numerous at Rome.’ “It is fit that we should now observe what notice Eusebius takes of these things in his Ecclesiastical History. It is to this effect: ‘When the wonderful resurrection of our Saviour, and his ascension to heaven, were in the mouths of all men, it being an ancient custom for the governors of provinces to write the emperor, and give him an account of new and remarkable occurrences, that he might not be ignorant of anything; our Saviour’s resurrectionlardner’s remarks.
337
being much talked of throughout all of Palestine, Pilate informed the emperor of it, as likewise of his miracles, which he had heard of, and that being raised up after he had been put to death, he was already believed by many to be a god. And it is said that Tiberius referred the matter to the senate , but that they refused their consent, under a pretence that it had not been first approved of by them ; there being an ancient law that no „ one should be deified among the Romans without an order of the senate; but, indeed, because the saving and divine doctrine of the gospel needed not to be confirmed by human judgment and authority. However, Tiberius persisted in his former sentiment, and allowed not anything to be done that was prejudicial to the doctrine of Christ. These things are related by Tertullian, a man famous on other accounts, and particularly for his skill in the Roman laws. I say he speaks thus in his Apology for the Christians, written by him in the Roman tongue, but since (in the days of Eusebius) translated into the Greek.’ His words are these : ‘There was an ancient decree that no one should be consecrated as a deity by the emperor, unless he was first approved of by the senate. Marcus Aemilius knows this by his god Alburnus. This is to our purpose, forasmuch as among you divinity is bestowed by human judgment/
“ ‘And if God does not please man. he shall not be God. And, according to this way of thinking, man must be propitious to God. Tiberius, therefore, in whose time the Christian name was first 22338
lardner’s remarks.
known in the world, having received an account of this doctrine out of Palistine, where it began, communicated that account to the senate; giving his own suffrage at the same time in favor of it. But the senate rejected it, because it had not been approved by themselves. ‘Nevertheless the emperor persisted in his judgment, and threatened death to such as should accuse the Christians.’ ‘Which,’ adds Eusebius, ‘could not be other than the disposal of Divine Providence, that the doctrine of the gospel, which was then in its beginning, might be preached all over the world without molestation.’ So Eusebius.
‘•Divers exceptions have been made by learned moderns to the original testimonies of Justin Martyr and Tertullian.” ‘Is there any likelihood,’ say they ‘that Pilate should write such things to Tiberius concerning a man whom he had condemned to death? And if he had written them, is it probable that Tiberius should propose to the senate to have a man put among the gods upon the bare relation of a governor of a province ? And if he had proposed it, who can make a doubt that the senate would not have immediately complied? So that though we dare not say that this narration is absolutely false, yet it must be reckoned as doubtful.’ So says Du Pin.
‘•These and other difficulties shall now be considered.
“Now, therefore, I shall mention some observations :
“In the first place, I shall observe that Justinlardner’s remarks.
339
Martyr and Tertullian are early writers of good repute. That is an observation of bishop Pierson. These testimonies are taken from the most public writings, Apologies for the Christian religion, presented, or at least proposed and recommended to the emperor and senate of Rome, or to magistrates of high authority and great distinction in the Roman empire. Secondly : It certainly was the custom of governors of provinces to compose Acts or memoirs or commentaries of the remarkable occurrences in the places where they presided.
In the time of the first Roman emperors there were Acts of the Senate, Acts of the City, or People of Rome, Acts of other cities, and Acts of governors of provinces. Of all these we can discern clear proofs and frequent mention in ancient writers of the best credit. Julius Caesar ordered that Acts of the Senate, as well as daily Acts of the People should be published’ See Sueton. Jul. Caes.'c. 20.
“Augustus forbade publishing Acts of the Senate.
“There was an officer, himself a senator, whose province it was to compose those Acts.
“The Acts of the Senate must have been large and voluminous, containing not only the question proposed, or referred to the senate by the consul, or the emperor, but also the debates and speeches of the senators.
“The Acts of the People, or City, were journals or registers of remarkable births, marriages, divorces, deaths, proceedings in courts of judicature, and other interesting affairs, and some other things below the dignity of history.340
lardner’s remarks.
“To these Acts of each kind Roman authors frequently had recource for information.
“There were such Acts or registers at other ^places besides Rome, particularly at Antium. From them Suetonius learned the day and place of the birth of Caligula, about which were other uncertain reports. And he speaks of those Acts as public authorities, and therefore more decisive and satisfactory than some other accounts.
“There were also Acts of the governors of provinces, registering all remarkable transactions and occurrences.
“Justin Martyr and Tertullian could not be mistaken about this ; and the learned bishop of Caesarea admits the truth of what they say. And in the time of the persecuting emperor Maximin, about the year of Christ 307, the heathen people forged Acts of Pilate, derogatory to the honor of our Savior, which were dilligently spread abroad, to unsettle Christians, or discourage them in the profession of their faith. Of this we are informed by Eusebius in his Ecclesiastical History.
Thirdly : It was customary for the governors of provinces to send to the emperor an account of remarkable transactions in places where they presided.
“So thought the learned Eusebuns as we have seen.
“And Pliny’s letters to Trajan still extant, are a proof of it. Philo speaks of the Acts or Memoirs of Alexandria sent to Caligula, which that emperor read with more eagerness and satisfaction than anything else.lardner’s remarks-
341
“Fourthly : It has been said to be very unlikely that Pilate should write such things to Tiberius, concerning a man whom he [Pilate] had condemned to death.
“To which it is easy to reply, that if he wrote to Tiberius at all, it is very likely that he should speak favorably and honorably of the Savior.
“That Pilate passed sentence of condemnation upon our Lord very unwillingly, and not without a sort of compulsion, appears from the history of the evangelist: Matt xxvii.; Mark xv. ; Luke xxiii. ; John xviii. Pilate was hard pressed. The rulers of the Jews vehemently accused our Lord to him. They said they had found him perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that himself is Christ, a king, and the like; and all without effect for awhile.
“Pilate still sought for expedients to set Jesus at liberty.
“As his reluctance had been very manifest and public in a court of judicature, in the chief city of the nation at the time of one of their great festivals, it is highly probable that when he sent to Rome he should make some apology for his conduct. Nor could anything be more proper than to allege some of our Saviour’s miracles which he had heard of, and to give an account to the zeal of those who professed faith in him after his ignominious crucifixion, and openly asserted that he had risen from the dead and ascended to heaven.
“Pilate would not dare in such a report to write falsehood, nor to conceal the most material circum-342
lardner’s remarks.
stances of the case about which he was writing. At the trial he publicly declared his innocence: and told the Jews several times ‘that he found no fault in ' him at all.’
“And yvhen he was going to pronounce the sentence of condemnation, ‘he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying : ‘I am innocent of the blood of this just person : ‘See ye to it.’ Matt, xxvii, 24.
“When he wrote to Tiberius he would very naturally say something of our Lord’s wonderful resurrection and ascension, which were much talked of and believed by many, with which he could not be possibly unacquainted. The mention of these things would be the best vindication of his inward persuasion, and his repeated declarations of our Lord’s innocence upon trial notwithstanding the loud clamors and united accusations of the Jewish people and their rulers.
“Pilate, as has been said several times, passed condemnation upon Jesus very unwillingly, and not until after long, trial.
“When he passed sentence upon him he gave orders that this title or inscription should be put npon the cross:	‘Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the
Jews.’
“When he had expired, application was made to Pilate, by Joseph of Arithmathea, an honorable counsellor, that the body might be taken down and buried. To which he consented ; but not till assurance from the centurian that he had been sometime dead. The next day some of the priests and phari-lardner’s remarks.
343
sees came to him saying; ‘Sir, we remember that that deceiver said while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. ‘Command, therefore, that the sepulchre be made sure, until the third day, lest his disciples come by night and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead. ‘So the last error shall be worse than the first.’
“Pilate said nnto them: ‘Ye have a watch; go your way, make it sure as you can. ’ So they went and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone and setting a watch.
“Whilst they were at the sepnlchre there was a ‘great earthquake,’ the stone was rolled away by an Angel, ‘whose countenance was like lightning, and for fear of whom the guards did shake and become as dead men. ’ Some of the guards went down into the City, and showed unto the chief priests all the things that were done.
“Nor can there be any doubt that these things came also to the governor’s ears. Pilate, therefore was furnished with materials of great importance relating to this case, very proper to be sent to the emperor. And very probably he did send them, for he could do no otherwise.
“Fifthly: it is said, ‘ That if Pilate had sent such things to Tiberius, it is nevertheless very unlikely that Tiberius should propose to the senate that our Saviour might be put among the gods, because that emperor had little or no regard for things of religion.’
“But it is easy to answei that such observations are of little or no importance, Few princes are able344
lardner’s remarks.
to preserve uniformity in the whole of their conduct, and it is certain that Tiberius varied from himself upon many occasions and in different parts of his life.
“Sixthly: it is further urged, that if Tiberius had proposed the thing to the senate, there can be no doubt that the senate would have immediately complied.
“But neither is this difficulty insuperable ; for we are assured by Suetonius that Tiberius let several things be decided by the senate contrary to his own opinion, without showing much uneasiness
(It must be observed here that Dr. Lardner is very copious in quotations from the best authorities in proof of all his statements. The reader is referred to Vol. VI of his great works, pages 605-620, where will be found these quotations in foot-notes too lengthy to be transcribed here.)
“Seventhly: The right interpretation of the words of Tertullian will be of use to remove difficulties and to confirm the truth of the account.
“I have translated them in this manner :	‘When
Tiberius referred the matter to the senate, that our Lord should be placed in the number of gods, the senate refused, because he had himself declined that honor.’
“The words are understood to the like purpose by Pearson.
“There is another sense, which is that of the Greek translation of Tertullian’s Apology, made use of by Eusebius :	‘The senate refused because
it had not itself approved of it.’ But that sense, if it be any sense at all, is absurd, and therefore un-lardner’s remarks-
345
likely. If none beside the senate had a right to consecrate any for the deity, yet certainly the consul or the emperor might refer such a thing to that venerable body. According to Tertullian’s account the whole is in a fair way of legal proceeding.” [And it may be remarked here that Tertullian, being well versed in Roman law, would hardly have passed by a blunder here or committed one in anything wherein he may have had to do with the statement.]
“By virtue of an ancient law, no one might be reckoned a god, (at least by the Romans,) without the approbation of the senate. Tiberius having been informed of some extraordinary things concerning Jesus, referred it to the senate, that he also might be .placed in the number of deities. Was it possible after this that the Senate should refuse it, under a pretense that Tiberius had bestowed divinity upon Jesus without their consent, when he had done no such thing, and at the very time was referring it to their judgment in the old legal way?
“Le Clerc objects that the true reading in Tertullian is not—Non quia in se non probaverat, but quia non ipse probaverat.
“Be it so. The meaning is the same. Ipse must intend the emperor, not the senate. The other sense is absurd, and next to a contradiction, and therefore not likely to be right, and at the same time it is a rude and needless affront. The other interpretation represents a handsome compliment, not without foundation. For it is very true that Tiberius had himself declined receiving divine honors.346
lardnér’s remarks.
“Eighthly: It has been objected that Tiberius was unfriendly to the Jewish people, and therefore it must be reckoned very improbable that he should be willing to put a man who was a Jew among the gods. .
“But there is little or no ground for this objection. It was obviated long ago in the first part of this work, where beside other things it is said : In the reign of Tiberius the Jewish people were well used. They were indeed banished out of Italy by an edict; but it was for a misdemeanor committed by some villians of that nation. The great hardship was that many innocent persons suffered beside the guilty.
“Upon other occasions Tiberius showed the Jews all the favor that could be desired, especially after the death of Sejanus; and is much applauded for it by Philo.
“Ninthly: Still it is urged, ‘Nothing can be more absurd than to suppose that Tiberius would receive for a deity a man who taught the worship of one God only, and whose religion decried all other deities as mere fiction.’*
*The absurdity of this objection, “that Tiberius was opposed to the idea of one God only” will appear very fully to the reader of our day when he turns to the evidences that have come forward to the contrary through late research. The religious ideas of the Jews had gained quite a hold at Rome at the time Tiberius lived; and it is well known that soon after, even members of the imperial family did become Christians.
In the chapters on Annas and Caiaphas and in the sketch of Tiberius given in this volume enough may be gathered by the reader tolardner’s remarks.
347
“Upon which I must say, nothing can be more absurd than this objection. Tertullian does not suppose Tiberius to be well acquainted with the Christian religion, our Saviour’s doctrine.
“All he says is, that, having heard of some extraordinary things concerning him, he had a desire to put him among the Roman deities.
“Tenthly ; Tertullian proceeds : ‘Nevertheless the emperor persisted in his opinion, and ordered that if any accused the Christians they should be punished.’ This was very natural. Though the senate would not put Jesus in the number of deities, the emperor was still of opinion that it might have been done.
“And he determined to provide by an edict for the safety of those who professed a high regard for Jesus Christ. Which edict, as Eusebius reasonably supposes, was of use for securing the free preaching of the gospel in many places.
••But the authority of that edict would cease at the emperor’s demise, if not sooner. Unfortunately it could not be in force, or have any great effect, for a long season.
“Nor need we consider the ordering such an edict as in favor of the Christians as an incredible thing, if we observe what Philo says, who assures
show how far Jewish religious thought had supplanted old pagan notions at Rome"
No reader who desires a full knowledge' of this field of history should fail to see Prof. F. Huidekoper’s “Judiasm at Rome B. c. 76 to A. D. 140.”34§
lardner’s remarks.
us that ‘Tiberius gave orders to all the governors of provinces, to protect the Jews in the cities where they lived in the observation of their own rights and customs ; and that they should bear hard on none of them, but such as were unpeaceable and transgressed the laws of the State.’
“Nor is it impossible that the Christians should partake of the like civilities, they being considered as a sect of the Jews. And it is allowed that the Roman empire did not openly persecute the Christians, till they became so numerous that the heathen people were apprehensive of the total overthrow of their religion.
“In the eleventh place, says a learned and judicious writer, ‘It is probable that Pilate, who had no enmity toward Christ, and accounted him a man unjustly accused and an extraordinary person, might be moved by the wonderful circumstances attending and following his death, to hold him in veneration, and perhaps to think him a hero and the son of some deity. It is possible that he might send a narrative, such as he thought most convenient, of these transactions to Tiberius : but it is not at all likely that Tiberius proposed to the Senate that Christ should be deified, and that the senate rejected it, and that Tiberius continued favorably disposed toward Christ, and that he threatened to punish those who should molest and accuse the Christians.’ ‘Observe also,’ says the same learned writer, ‘that the Jews persecuted the apostles, and slew Stephen, and that Saul made havoc of the church, entering into every house, and hailing men and women, committinglardner’s remarks.	349
them to prison, and that Pilate connived at all this violence, and was not afraid of the resentment of Tiberius on th^t account. ’
“Admitting the truth of all these particulars just mentioned, it does not follow that no orders were given by Tiberius for the protection of the followers of Jesus.
“For no commands of princes are obeyed by all men everywhere. They are oftentimes transgressed.
“Nor was any place more likely than Judea, where the enmity of many against the disciples of Jesus was so great. Nor need it be supposed that Tiberius was very intent to have this order strictly regarded. For he was upon many occasions very indolent and dilatory ; and he was well known to be so. Moreover the death of Stephen was tumultuous, and not an act of thé Jewish council. And further, the influence of Pilate in that country was not now at its full height, We perceive from the history of our Lord’s trial before him, as recorded in the gospels, that he stood in fear of the Jews.
“He was apprehensive that, if he did not gratify them in that point, they might draw up a long list of mal-administrations for the emperor’s view. His condemnation of Jesus at the importunity of the Jews, contrary to his own judgment and inclination, declared to them more than once, was a point gained ; and his government must have been ever after much weakened by so mean a condescension. And that Pilate’s influence in the province continued to decline is manifest, in that the people of it prevailed at last to have him removed in a very igno-350
lardner’s remarks.
minious manner by Vitellius, president of Syria.
“Pilate was removed from his government before the Passover in the year of Christ 36. After which there was no procurator or other person with the power of life and death, in Judea, before the ascen-sion of Herod Agrippa, in the year 41.
“In that space of time the Jews would take an unusual license, and gratify their own malicious dispositions, beyond what they could otherwise haye done, without control.
“Twelfth : Some have objected, that Tertullian is so absurd as to speak of Christians in the time of Tiberius ; though it be certain that the followers of Jesus were not known by that denomination till some time afterwards.
“But this is a trifling objection. Tertullian intends no more by Christians than followers of Jesus, by whatever name they were known or distinguished ; whether that of Nazarenes, or Galileans, or disciples.
“And it is undoubted, that the Christian religion had its rise in the reign of Tiberius : though they, who professed to believe in Jesus, as risen from the dead and ascended to heaven, were not called Christians till some time afterwards.
“So at the beginning of the paragraph he says, ‘There was an ancient law that no god should be consecrated by the emperor, unless it was first approved by the senate.’ Nevertheless Tertullian was not so ignorant as not to know that there were not any emperors when the ancient decree was passed.
“His meaning is, that no one should be deified byGardner’s remarks.
351
any man, no not by a consul or emperor, without the approbation of the senate.
“Finally, We do not suppose that Tiberius understood the doctrine of the Saviour, or that he was at all inclined to be a Christian.
“Nor did Tertullian intend to say any such thing, for immediately after the passage first cited from him, he adds: ‘But the Caesars themselves would have believed in Jesus Christ, if they had not been necessary for the world, or if Christians could have been Caesars.’
“Grotius appears- to have rightly understood the importance of these passages of Tertullian ; whose note upon Matthew xxiv. 2, I have transcribed below.” The reader is referred to Vol. VI. of Lard-ner’s Works, where he will find the notes of this learned writer, as quoted from various ancients and moderns, in proof of all he has brought forward in these lengthy arguments, and which can not be transcribed here.
“Admit, then, the right interpretation of Tertulian, and it may be allowed that what he says is not incredible or improbable. The Romans had almost innumerable deities, and yet they frequently added to that number and adopted new. As deifications were very frequent, Tiberius might have indulged a thought of placing Jesus among the established deities without intending to derogate from the worship or honor of those who were already received.
“But the senate was not in a humor to gratify him.
“And the reason assigned is, because the emperor352
lardner’s remarks.
himself had declined that honor, which is so plausible a pretense, and so fine a compliment, that we can not easily suppose it to be Tertullian’s own invention : which, therefore, gives credibility to his account.
*
“Eusebius, though he acknowledged the overruling providence of God in the favorable disposition of Tiberius toward the first followers of Jesus, by which means the Christian religion in its infancy was propagated over the world with less molestation, does also say, at the beginning of the chapter quoted, ‘The senate refused their consent to the emperor’s proposal, under a pretence that they had not been first asked, there being an ancient law, that no one should be deified without the approbation of the senate; but, indeed,’ adds he, ‘because the saving and divine doctrine of the gospel needed not to be ratified by human judgment and authori-
ty*’
Chrysostom’s observation is to like purpose, but with some inaccuracies. It is likely that he was not at all acquainted with Tertullian ; and he was no admirer of Eusebius. Perhaps he builds upon general tradition only. ‘The 'Roman senate,’ says he, ‘had the power of nominating and decreeing who should be gods. When, therefore, all things concerning Christ had been published, he who was the governor of the Jewish nation sent to them to know if they would be pleased to appoint him also to be a god. But they refused, being offended and provoked, that before their decree and judgment had been obtained, the power of the crucified onelardner’s remarks.
353
had shined out and had attracted all the world to the worship of him. But, by the overruling providence of God, this was brought to pass against their will, that the divinity of Christ might not be established by human appointment and that he might not be reckoned one of the many who were deified by them.’
“Some of which, as he proceeds to show, had been of infamous characters.
“I shall now transcribe below in his own words what Orosius, in the fifth century, says of this matter, that all my readers may have it at once before them without looking farther for it.” This quotation from Orosius will be found in the “Testimony of the Fathers,” under the title, “Testimony of Orosius.
“And I refer to Zonoras and Nicephoras. The former only quotes Eusebius, and transcribes into his Annals the chapter of his Ecclesiastical History quoted by me. Nor has Nicephoras dqne much more.”
Thus we have at much length quoted from this very learned author the arguments on this topic, and we only add that these arguments are sustained by quotations from Latin, Greek, French and English authorities wrho have always stood very high in this department of research.
23SKETCHES OF THE LIVES
OF
JUSTIN, TERTULLI AN, EUSEBIUS AND TISCHENDORF.
Some account of the lives of Justin Martyr, Tertullian and Eusebius, whose writings in relation to the “Acts of Pilate” are ¿iven in the foregoing pages, as also a sketch of the late eminent biblical archaeologist Constantine Tischendorf, may be of much interest to the reader of this volume, in laying before him the character of the men upon whose authority rests the value of the singularly interesting documents that form the basis of the work.
LIFE OF JUSTIN.
Justin, surnamed the philosopher, or more generally the Martyr, of whom Eusebius says that he overshadowed all the great men who illuminated the sçcond century, by the splendour of his name, was born about the year a. d. 100.
He was the son of a wealthy Greek, Priscus, who had in all probability dome to reside at Flavia Ne-apolis (erected on the site of the ancient Sichem.) in Samaria with the Roman colony sent by Vespasian to the city which bore his name. He tells us in one of his works that he travelled much in his
(354)LIFE OF JUSTIN.
355
youth, and studied ardently the various systems of philosophy prevalent in his day, searching after some knowledge that should satisfy the cravings of his soul.
The myths and absurd worship of the heathen had failed to satisfy the youthful and longing soul, to know God and the relations of God to man : and in turn Stoic and Peripatetic, Pythagorean and Pla-tonist were examined, to set his mind at rest upon the vital question.
By the Stoic he was told that in philosophical speculation the subject which he seemed to consider the most important was only of subordinate rank. By the Pythagorean he was rejected outright, because he confessed himself ignorant of music, astronomy, and geometry, which that school considered a necessary introduction to the study of philosophy ; and so he turned in despair to the Platonists, at this time in high repute in the place of his residence.
At last he seemed to have gained the haven of peace : the Platonic doctrine of ideas could not fail to inspire Justin with the hope that he “should soon have .the intuition of God,” for this is the aim of Platonic philosophy. “Under the influence of this notion,” says Justin himself, “it occurred to me that I would withdraw to some solitary place, far from the turmoil of the world, and there in perfect self-collection give myself to my own contemplations in a chosen spot by the sea-side.” Whether Justin still resided at this time at Flavia Neapolis by the Dead Sea, or whether by the Valley of the356
LIFE OF JUSTIN.
Jordan north of this sea, or some unfrequented spot of Lake Genesareth, or whether at Ephesus he resided, is a matter of dispute. But whether one or the other, it was in this resort by the shore of the resounding sea—attracted to it by the grandeur of the object he was seeking to solve, and the loveliness of the spot—that we find him one day while wrapt in thought, pacing up and down by the side of the sea, accosted by a man of venerable aspect, sage and grave ; and soon the two are engaged in earnest converse on the subject ever uppermost in young Justin’s mind. Somewhat enamored of the Platonic philosophy, he argues in its favor with the appositely present senior, and contends that at some future day it will conduct him into that nearer acquaintance with God, or, in the Platonists’ term, afford him the “vision of divinity.”
But the meek old man, who is a Christian, contends that the goal which he is seeking to gain can not be reached by any philosophical school or unaided mind, even of the highest order ; the fallacy of Plato is proved by some two or three points of doctrine belonging to that system ; and finally the doubting and indocile disciple is visited with the curt and not gentle apostrophe, “You are a mere dealer in words r but no lover of action and truth ; your aim is to be not a practicer of good, but a clever disputant, a cunning sophist.” Once more the inquiring youth is baffled in his attempt to lay hold of the truth : he is again convinced that even from the foremost of heathen philosophers he cannot obtain the pearl for which he is seeking so earnestly.LIFE OF JUSTIN.
357
But with this intelligence there comes also the direction, ‘’Search the Scriptures; study the Hebrew prophets ; men who, guided by the Spirit of God, saw and revealed the truth, and even foretold events future to their day ; read the last heroic words of the disciples of him who came to raise a fallen world, and restore it to eternal and imperishable felicity/’ “Pray,” ended the venerable Christian, “that the gates of light may be opened to thee, for none can perceive and comprehend these things except God and his Christ grant them understanding.” Justin was impressed; he had often heard the Platonists calumniate the Christians, but he had always discredited the statements.
He had frequently observed the tranquility and fortitude, with which these followers of Jesus encountered death and all other evils which appear terrible to man ; and he could never condemn as profligates those who could so patiently endure. He had long believed them innocent of the crimes imputed to these consistent martyrs. He was now prepared to tliink that they held the truth.
He reflected on the words of the venerable stranger, and was convinced that they inculcated the only “safe and true philosophy.”
From this time his personal history becomes obscure, as he has but little to relate of himself hereafter, and as from other sources we can gather but little on which we can depend.
Certain it is that he at once enlisted in active service in the newly espoused cause.
Retaining the philosopher’s garb he ardently de-358
LIFE OF JUSTIN.
voted himself to the propagation of Christianity. By writing, by travel, and by all means in his power, like Paul the great Gentile apostle, feeling himself a debtor to all men, of every race and rank in life, he felt his obligation to teach them of his new Master, and the way of salvation.
Whether at Ephesus amid a little group of Jews, or before the emperors of Rome, we see him using all his knowledge of scripture, and all his acquirements in philosophy, to convince the world that Jesus is divine.
He made all his knowledge of philosophy subservient to this one purpose. He visited many places in order to diffuse the knowledge of Christ. On his second visit to Rome he was apprehended and brought before the tribunal of Rusticus who was prefect of the city. And as he refused to sacrifice to the gods he was sentenced to be scourged and beheaded—which sentence was carried into immediate effect. Thus perished the ablest of the apologists of the second century.
We can not better close this brief sketch than by quoting from Fisher’s ‘‘Apostolic Fathers
“Justin’s praises are sounded by the whole early church.
“Writers like Irenaeus and Tertullian borrowed very largely from his \yorks ; later fathers appeal to him as to on$ speaking with authority ; no other name so great as his intervenes between John and Origen. He appears in the midst of that cultured and curious, but hollow and heartless second century, like an old Hebrew prophet waking after aLIFE OF JUSTIN.
359
sleep of centuries, assuming the philosopher’s cloak as the nearest approach to his old sheepskin mantle. He denounces woes upon Caesar if he does not repent, as boldly as Elijah rebuked the sins of Ahab.
“He feels through every fiber of his being that he is called to utter the truth of God, and so speaking he knows no fear. And yet, with all his prophetic boldness, Justin was a philosopher, and in spite of occasional narrow reasônings, he was a broad thinker.
Of his works of undoubted genuineness are his two “Apologies” addressed to the emperors, and his “Dialogue with Trypho.” It is in the first of his apologies that he alludes twice to the “Acts of Pilate”—which allusions in their context are given in the foregoing “Testimonies of the Fathers.”LIFE OF TERT.ULLIAN.
Tertullian is the most ancient of the Latin fathers whose works are extant, and one of the most noteworthy personages belonging to the early church. Our knowledge of his personal history is extremely limited. He was born at Carthage in a. d. 160, or near that date. His father was a Roman centurion in the service of the proconsul of Africa. His natural endowments were great, and they were supplemented by a comprehensive course of studies whose fruit appears in the wealth of historical, legal, philosophical, physical and antiquarian elements contained in his writings.
He was destined for the civil service of the empire, and was accordingly trained in Roman jurisprudence, and the art of forensic eloquence. He is described by Eusebius as one of the most # highly esteemed Romans. His mode of argumentation and terminology everywhere reveal the legal turn of his mind, and his writings in many places throw light on disputed points of the Roman civil law. Tertullian was converted to Christianity when he was between thirty and forty years of age, and he immediately became its fearless champion against pagans Jews, and heretics—especially Gnostics. With a sternness of nature becoming the son of a roman centurion, he combined a fierceness of temper befitting
(360)LIFE OF TERTULLIAN.	3^1
his Punic birth. He has been fitly termed the Christian Hannibal; and as the son of Hamilcar vowed eternal hatred to the Roman name, so this Carthaginian seemed upon becoming a Christian, to vow eternal hatred to whatever was anti-Christian.
He was the first religious teacher after the apostles who attained to a clear recognition of the mighty contrast between sin and grace, and who presented it in all its force to the mind of the church. He was married but nevertheless entered the ranks of the clergy. Jerome says that he was first a presbyter of the Catholic Church, but his own writings do not determine whether he was a member of the spiritual order prior to his lapse into Montanism or not. It is certain, however, that he sojourned for a time in Rome.
The transition to Montanism occurred a few years after Tertullian’s conversion, and about A. D. 202. The act doubtless had its origin in his eccentric disposition and vigorous moral views, which predisposed him to regard that heresy with favor and to dislike the Roman Church. Jerome attributes it to personal motives excited by envy of the Roman clergy, and modern writers have ascribed it to disappointed ambition. We know, however, that the penetential discipline of the church was administered at Rome with exceeding laxity, and that such indifference was an abomination in the eyes of Tertullian. Assuredly he did not regard Montanus as the Paraclete. He recognized in him only an inspired organ of the Spirit. He, rather than Mon ■362
LIFE OF TERTULLIAN.
tanus, became the head of the Montanistic party in Africa, giving to their undefined views a theological character and a conceded influence over the life oi the church, and establishing it on foundations sufficiently firm to enable it to protract its being down to the fifth century. The assertion that he returned to the Catholic church before he died is sometimes made but can not be substantiated ; and the continued existence of the Tertullianists would seem to contradict the assumption.
As a writer Tertullian was exceedingly fresh and vigorous, but also angular, abrupt and impetuous. He was a speculative thinker, though the bitter opponent of philosophy. His aspiring mind sought in vain for adequate language in which to express itself, and struggled constantly to force the ideas of Christianity within the forms of the Latin tongue.
His style thus became exceedingly forcible, nervous, vivid, concise and pregnant. His adversaries were assailed without mercy, and with all the weapons of truth and of art; and they generally appear in his writings in ridiculous plight. He was the pioneer of orthodox anthropology and soteriology the teacher of Cyprian and forerunner of Augustine, in the latter of whom his spirit was reproduced in twofold measure, though without its eccentricities and angularities. It is possible to trace resemblances. also, between him and Luther with respect to native vigor of mind, profound earnestness, polemical relentlesness. etc. ; but the father lacked the child-like amiability of the Reformer, who was both lion and a lamb.LIFE OF TERTULLIAN.
363
Tertullian’s writings are usually of brief extent, but they traverse nearly all fields of the religious life, and they constitute the most prolific source for the history of the church and of doctrines in his time. No satisfactory classification of them can be executed, because but few of them afford the necessary data on which to base a scheme :--------
1.	His Catholic writings, or such as defend orthodox Christianity against unbelievers and heretics. Most of these works date from the Montan-ist era of the author’s life.
2.	Apologies against Pagans ond Jews.—First of all the Apologeticus addressed to the Roman magistracy a. d. 198, and forming one of the. best rebuttals of the charges raised by the heathen of the time against Christianity. Similar in character are the Ad Nationes Libri II. In De Testimonio An-imae the author develops an argument for the unity of God and the reality of a future state from the innate perceptions and feelings of the soul. In the
> work Ad Scapulam he remonstrates with the African governor of that name who was bitterly persecuting the Christians. The Adversus Judaeo Liber draws from the old Testament prophets the proof that the Messiah has appeared in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.
3.	De Praescri-ptione Hereticorum, or rules to be observed by Christians in dealing with heretics. —In this work the argument involves as its fundamental principle the idea that the heretics, as innovators, are under the necessity erf proving their positions. while the church is assured in its sole right364
LIFE OF TERTULLIAN.
to the allegiance of Christendom by the uninterrupted current of Apostolic tradition and an unimpaired succession, so that it need not enter into controversy with heretics. His most extensive and learned polemico-dogmatical work is his Adversus Marcio-nem Lib. V.
For a mention of a full list of his works and the earliest and best collections of them, see McClintock & Strong’s Cyclopedia Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical, Vol. X.. Harper & Bros., 1881, from which this extract is taken.
Such is a very brief sketch of the life of this remarkable man whose testimony in relation to the Acts of Pilate has been given in foregoing pages of this work.LIFE OF EUSEBIUS.
Eusebius, who is well known as the father of ecclesiastical history, was born in Palestine probably about the year a. d. 265, the exact date of his birth being uncertain.
He was surnamed Pamphili, because he was the friend of Pamphilus.
Little is known of his youth except that he was a diligent and laborious student of sacred literature. It was as a student that he became connected with Pamphilus, who was president of a theological school at Caesarea, and there devoted himself to the collection of a church library mainly in defence of the writings of his great master Origen.
During his imprisonment in the Diocletian persecution—and in which Pamphilus suffered martyrdom—Eusebius distinguished himself by great devotion to this friend of his, spending days with him in affectionate intercourse, and it is supposed, actively assisted him in the preparation of an apology for Origen’s teaching. After the death of Pamphilus Eusebius withdrew to the city of Tyre where the Bishop Paulinus kindly received him, and afterwards went to Egypt where he was imprisoned but soon released.
His release at the time suggested an accusation made twenty years afterwards -by Potamon, Bishop
(365)366
LIFE OF EUSEBIUS.
of Heraclea, that he had apostatised. Potamon then charged that Eusebius was in prison with him, and that while he had an eye plucked out for his confession of the truth, Eusebius escaped unhurt. Whether this accusation had any foundation in fact is doubtful. Eusebius was soon afterwards elevated to the see of Caesarea, and this fact of itself defeats the charge of his heresy. This occurred in a. d. 313. Here Eusebius labored conspicuously till his death in the year 340. The character of Eusebius is intimately bound up with the part he took at the council of Nicea, and afterwards in the great controversy connected with the work of that council. Verv much discussion has been had as to the •/
orthodoxy of this great man, his conduct and views being differently judged by his critics. He has been charged by Dr. Newman, in his history of the Ari-ans in the fourth century, as openly siding with the Arians and sanctioning and sharing their deeds of violence. The Anglican scholars from Bell and Cave, down to Lee of Cambridge, have warmly defended his orthodoxy. Eusebius was certainly not an Arian, although he defended Arius personally, an}^ more than he was an Athanasian.
His true position can only be said to have been made clear in and by the scientific theology of Germany, and especially in Dorner’s great work on the “Person of Christ.”
When the Arian controversy broke forth, about a. d. 319, Arius sought the intervention of Eusebius to pacify the misunderstanding between him and his bishop, Alexander, and Eusebius responded byLIFE OF EUSEBIUS.
367
writing two letters to Alexander explaining that Arius was misrepresented.
At the council of Nice a Eusebius attended the emperor Constantine as his special friend, and was appointed to receive the august emperor with a panegyrical oration, at whose right hand in the council he had the honor of sitting. He prepared the first draft of the creed which was afterward, with some additions, adopted by the council. It was these additions that formed the whole difference between Eusebius and the Athanasians. He resisted the expression “of the same substance4” as expressive of the true relation of the Father and the Son, and persisted in the resistance to the last, and would only subscribe to the creed, at the dictation of the emperor.
After the council Eusebius continued to identify himself with the fortunes of the Arian rather than of the Athanasian party and his great favor at court and his influence with the imperial authorities enabled him to protect the one party at the expense of the other.
It is this personal attitude which has mainly identified him with Arianism. In so far as he was a partisan, and lent himself to the persecution of the Athanasians his conduct deserves censure; yet it must be observed that from his own theological standpoint he was disposed to regard the treatment of Arius by his opponents as indefensible, and to consider his opinions as tenable within the church. He regarded the Athanasians the innovators in doctrine rather than Arius, who only maintained a368
LIFE OF EUSEBIUS.
standpoint that many had held in the church before him, whereas the Athanasian development evidently appeared to Eusebius as going beyond the older and less determined doctrine in which he had been trained. Eusebius has been charged with being deficient in that spiritual and speculative insight which sees the true drift of opinions, and detects below the surface of language, a true from a false line of development of Christian thought.
But as has been remarked by the acute Dorner, it was clear, in regard to the theological position at that time, that the church had arrived at a point at which it could not stand still, but must choose one or the other of two courses—either to take a step in advance, and define the indefinite, or go backwards either into heathenism or into Judaism. We can not here further allude to the theological views entertained by the subject of our sketch. We will only say that Eusebius is admitted to have excelled in erudition all the church fathers, not excepting Origen and Jerome.
Among his writings his Ecclesiastical History is a valuable repertory of the opinions of the Christian writers of the second and third centuries whose works have perished. He has been charged with personality and inaccuracy by Gibbon, but without adequate evidence. The most important of his works are his Ecclesiastical History, in ten books, covering a period of the church’s history from the ascension of Christ to a. d. 324; The Chronicon, in two books, comprising an historical sketch, with chronological tables, of the most important events inLIFE OF EUSEBIUS.
369
the history of the world from the days of Abraham till the twelfth year of the reign of Constantine ; The Præperatio Evangelica, in fifteen books, being a collection of facts and quotations from the works of nearly all the philosophers of antiquity ; The Demonstratio Evangelica, in twenty books, of which only ten are extant, a learned and valuable treatise on the evidences themselves ; and various minor works such as the Theophania, in four books. De Vita Constantini, etc., etc.
A full list of the works of Eusebius may be found in McClintock & Strong’s Cyclopedia of Biblical and Ecclesiastical Literature, Vol. X., from which this sketch is principally taken.SKETCH OF TISCHENDORF, WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF HIS MOST REMARKABLE DISCOVERIES.
Constantine Tischendorf, the most prominent scholar in the department of New-Testament palaeography, was born January 18, 1815, at Lengenfeld, Saxony. Having been prepared at the gymnasium at Plauen for the university, he entered at Easter, 1834, the halls of Leipsic.
Here Gottfried Hermann and George Benedict Winer were among his teachers. At the close of 1836 he received a prize medal for an essay on Doctrina Pauli Apostoli de Vi Mortis Christi Satisfactoria. which he published at Leipsic in 1837. A second prize was awarded him in 1838, on Disputado de Christo, published in 1839. At the same time he took his degree of doctor of physiology. In 1840 he published Dissertatio Critica et Exege-tica de Ev. Matt., and was promoted as licentiate of theology ; in the same year he qualified as pri-vatdocent of theology by publishing De recensioni-bus quas dicunt Novi Testamenti Ratione Potis-simum habita Scholzii, reprinted in the Prolegomena to the Greek Testament in 1841. In this essay, as Kahnis rightly remarked, he gave to the world the programme of his theological future. In 1839, October, he began to prepare a critical hand-edition of
(370)SKETCH OF TISCHENDORF.
371
the Greek New Testament which was published under the title Novum Testamentum Graece : etc., etc. In 1840 Tischendorf went to Paris. The library there contained a celebrated palimpsest. A manuscript of the Bible from early in the fifth century had been cleaned off in the twelfth century, and used for writings of Ephraem Syrus. What no mortal had been able to do before, Tischendorf did, and with the aid of chemical reagents he completely restored the original text.
The University of Breslau acknowledged his merit by bestowing on him the title of doctor of theology. Meanwhile he also collated the Paris manuscript of Philo, for Prof. Grossman at Leipsic, and the only remaining MS. of the sixtieth book of the Basilicas, for Dr. Heimbach at Jena. F. Didot, the publisher, bargained with Tischendorf for a reissue of his Leipsic edition, which appeared at Paris in 1842, and then abbe Jager, a professor in the Sarbonne, begged him to edit a Greek text that should be as nearly as possible conformable to the Vulgate, which was also published in the same year. In 1841 and 1842 he visited the libraries in Holland, London, Cambridge, and Oxford. Early in 1843 he left Paris for Rome, working four weeks on the Codex E of the Gospels of Basle. In Italy he stayed more than a year, and used his time in the best possible manner. After his Italian researches were finished, he prepared to start for his first Eastern journey in 1844, which he repeated again in 1853 and 1859. On his third journey, in 1859. he discovered the famous Codex Sinaiticus, the oldest372
SKETCH OF TISCHE^DORF.
and most perfect manuscript copy of the Bible extant. The incidents of this journey and the discovery of this sacred treasure to the Christian world are here summarized as especially interesting.
There is an old convent in Mount Sinai, founded according to traditionary account by the emperor Justinian, a. d. 527. The flight of St. Catherine’s body, according to tradition, which was transported from Alexandria to the top of the mountain in a. d. 307, and whose relics are said now to repose in the chancel behind the altar, doubtless gaye the name to this convent, which is called St. Catherine’s ; and it was in this convent that Tischendorf discovered the Sinai Bible.
Having previously visited the libraries of England, France, the Netherlands and Italy, he went to the Levant under the patronage of the king of Saxony ; and it was during that tour he visited for awhile the Convent of St. Catherine.
It was while sojourning here that one day in looking over the contents of an old paper basket used for holding waste paper that he happened to discover, to his great delight, several fragments of a very old manuscript of the Septuagint—a manuscript which by examination he determined to be not less ancient than the fourth century ot the Christian era. These fragments were taken by Tischendorf to Leipsic and published two years afterward in fac-simile.
In 1858, after much negotiation and preliminary arrangement, having received permission from Alexander II., the then emperor of Russia, to visit theSKETCH OF TISCHENDORF.
373
East with the view of searching for and purchasing ancient manuscripts that might be of service in promoting Biblical learning, he set out on his eastern tour of exploration. In the early part of the year 1859 he again arrived at the old convent on Mount Sinai, where, with his old friends, the monks, whose acquaintance he had made on a former tour, he remained some days. He, however, had despaired of success in making any further discovery of the much desired treasure which the discovery of a few years before had led him to believe might be accomplished by his further research.
He had therefore ordered his dragoman to fetch his Bedouins with their camels to take him back to Cairo. But, luckily, the steward of the convent proposed a walk prior to his setting out, apd thus by another providential accident it happened that the grea*t scholar was rewarded for all his worry and watching. For during this stroll with his friend the steward, he intimated to Tischendorf, that he, too, had ‘‘seen and read a manuscript copy of the Sep-tuagint,” and, moreover, that he had a copy in his possession. When they returned from their walk they proceeded together to the steward’s dormitory, where, from a hidden recess, he brought out a package wrapped up in a red cloth.
On unfolding tliis package it proved to be the long sought manuscript—a manuscript the most perfect, perhaps, in existence, of the Bible. One which the Codex Vaticanus alone could rival in point of age—and in comparison with which the best of the literary treasures of Rome must give place.374
SKETCH OF TISCHENDORF.
Dr. '! ischendorf obtained permission of the steward to take the ancient treasure with him to his bedroom, and there, u,pon examination, he became convinced of the value of his discovery, and, to use his own language, he “gave God thanks for bestowing so great a favor on the church, upon literature, and upon himself.” All that night he spent in copying a portion of the manuscript. He felt it •4 a crime to sleep under the circumstances of the situation” in which he was placed.
Modern or medieval sacred literature presents us with no more romantic picture than that of this Christian scholar of the nineteenth century, sitting at midnight upon the “Mount of the Burning Bush,” reading a volume fourteen centuries old, containing a copy of the stone tables delivered to Moses on that spot during the exodus from Egypt—the “Old Law,” written on stone many long centuries ago by the “Finger of God,” preserved in the history of a people whose vicissitudes of fortune can not be paralleled in the annals of the world—copied into every living tongue of the civilized world—is being refad on that night by a man removed forward by thousands of years into the light, which, first blazing in Sinai’s Bush, enlightens the foremost nationalities of the nineteenth century.
How must he have felt standing where the Angel of the Bush stood, reading there the oldest copy of of the oldest law delivered under the lightnings and thunderings of God’s personal presence. Sinai still kept the oldest copy, and we feel that it was a fitting treasure for such a place. And though St,SKETCH OF TISCHENDORF.
375
Petersburgh holds the treasure to-day, we can but feel that it should still remain in the old convent, on the sacred mount on whose top was first drafted the platform of a Moral Constitution whose like has never been framed for the government of Man. On the day following the discovery Tischendorf obtained the consent of the brethern to take the manuscript with him to Cairo, in order that he might there transcribe it fully, at his leisure.
Still, this could not be done without the consent of their Supervisors. He therefore procured an official letter from the librarian of the monastery and on the 7th of February, 1859, left Mount Sinai and proceeded to Cairo, bearing his letter to the chief of the Ecclesiastical Order, Agathangelus. He, at once, despatched upon a dromedary a courier shiek to Mount Sinai, who, after a safe journey of only nine days, laid the precious manuscript into Tischen-dorf’s hands.
Tischendorf at once set about the work of transcribing it, and with two assistants he completed the task in two months.
The transcribed copy was compared letter by letter with the original.
After this labor had been completed, Tischendorf conceived the idea of negotiating with the monks at St. Catherine’s for the transfer of the original to the permanent possession of the learned of Europe.
He was, after many difficulties and much delay, successful; and on the 28th of September, 1859, the Codex Sinaiticus was placed in his possession at Cairo, under the stipulation that he should bear376	SKETCH OF TISCHENDORF.
it to St. Petersburg!! for publication, and to remain in the keeping of the Czar, until the archbishop should make it the property of the Czar forever.
On the October of the same year Tischendorf had the honor of placing the old copy before Alexander at St. Petersburgh. It was placed in the Imperial Library where for a fortnight the public of the Russian capital had the privilege of viewing it. rThere, among more than half a million printed volumes, and twenty thousand manuscripts, it formed an object of interest and attraction as king among books.
It was a triumphal spectacle for Tischendorf, and a day of triumph for the Book-of-books.
Among the writings of men few books have graced so high a place of honor as did Moses and the Prophets, Christ and the Apostles, on that proud day.
An imperial order was made, that three- hundred fac-simile copies should be made and distributed throughout the Christian world, by the Czar.
In pursuance of this, Tischendorf took the original to Leipsic for the purpose of founding the types and arranging for its printing. In November, 1861, Tischendorf formally presented to the Czar and Czarina the fruit of his labors. Three hundred copies of the fac-simile were ordered, one hundred of which the Czar presented to Tischendorf.
Of the fac-similes of this great work so successfully reproduced by the liberality of Alexander of Russia and the untiring zeal of its discoverer, we believe three are to be found in this country—oneSKETCH OF TISCHENDORF.
3 77
in the library at Washington, D. C.: one in the Astor library of New York and one in the Lane Sem-i inary library of Cincinnati. For the gratification of the curious reader, we here append a description of the original: It is a large quarto volume, the width of the pages being somewhat greater than the length. It is made of dressed skins of animals, chiefly of the antelope of the Arabian and African deserts, one skin forming two leaves throughout, and which must have required in its preparation very great skill, in order to receive the impressions from the stylus.
The entire manuscript consists of 345| skins—199 make up the Old Testament and the remainder forms the New.
Each page contains four narrow columns of writing 9| inches long and 4£ broad, each column having 48 lines.
The color of the skins is a light yellow.
The ink has many hues—blackish, copper-tinted and yellowish. Throughout it is in capital letters.
Originally there appears to have been no punctuation. The vastness of the age of this unique manuscript is clearly proved by Tischendorf in his Prolegomena and the arguments are given at such length there that no opportunity is left for doubt by the candid-minded reader. Thus there was given to the world perhaps the oldest and most valued copy of the Bible through the indefatigable energy and persevering labors of Tischendorf. Leaving his home with but a few dollars jn his possession, and wearing a suit of clothing purchased on credit, he378
SKETCH OF TISCHENDORF.
returns at last the most honorable and distinguished discoverer of modern times. He was created a Russian noble, a Saxon privy-councillor, knight of many orders, doctor of all academic degrees. He was made ordinary professor of Leipsic University, and a special chair of palaeography was made for him. From this period onward he devoted the remainder of his life to the publishing of the results of his amassed materials collected on his different journeys. In November, 1874, he had a recurrence of apoplexy that had attacked him a year before and of which he died Dec. 7th 1874.
In his last will he left this testimony of his life : “In my labors I have sought no other aim than truth ; to her I have always unconditionally bowed the knee.’ And so passed away this great scholar in the school of Christ.
Among his discoveries must not be omitted the mention of certain papers contained in this volume. We refer to the two remarkably rare manuscripts mentioned on page 189 of this work—the Coptic-Sahidian and Latin palimpsest manuscripts, corroborative of the Acts of Pilate. His comments on the antiquity and genuinness of the Acts of Pilate have been already quoted, at length.CHRIST ON CALVARYJESUS CRUCIFIED.
The crucifixion of Jesus is an event in human history so full of interest to every Christian that each turns with deep concern to learn what he can of His wonderful life, of His, inspiring teachings, of His death upon the cross, and of His resurrection from the tomb. The struggles through which He passed, the emotions which must have crowded upon His lips for utterance, and the scenes of His daily activity among His fellowmen, as they pass before the mind, awaken the keenest sympathy and quicken the deepest pathos. Of all these scenes, those of the closing hours of His life are most impressive, and about the cross on which that life was surrendered, one lingers spell-bound with tenderness of feeling.
The desolate knoll on which Jesus yielded up His life was the center around which the fury of human rage, at intervals, had played for more than a thousand years. Death was not new to Calvary. For centuries to come they were still to hover about this “place of a skull,” and in that field many pilgrims were yet to be given a stranger’s burial.
(379)38o
JESUS CRUCIFIED.
History has recorded no hills more historic of death than the Heights of Zion. Whoever has read the $tory of Jerusalem from the times of David down to the last Crusade, and of all Palestine from the times of Abraham, will remember that for much of the time the heights about Jerusalem, and of all that land, have been the scene of much more fatal struggle than perhaps any other recorded fields of death.
Here on this mount of paradox, sacred to prayer, devoted to death, scarred by the ravages of ruthless wars, theater of a thousand desolations, seemed a most fitting place for His cross who had come as the Prince of Peace. From the-day that David stormed her strong citadel even until now no capital has been more central of human conflict than the ‘‘City of David.” No city has seen such extreme vicissitudes and kept alive so long such intense interest in the hearts of men. Like that “sacred fire” on her altars, whether burning in the humble tent of skins or in the temple of her kings, humanity’s interest in Mount Zion has never ceased to glow with a devotion and fervor most wonderful, whether in one age or another, and under whatever change or circumstance.
When Jesus came he saw Jerusalem bearing the civil yoke of pagan Rome and writhing under the seditions of a corrupted Jewish priesthood, filled with political hate as well as political despair. Yet He had doubtless learned in boyhood, and knew in manhood, the glorious history of His people.JESUS CRUCIFIED.
38i
He must have read of David and Solomon, of that Golden Age—when God Himself seemed to be king and guide in Israel. He must have compared those palmy days with the times in which He was then living—and the glory of Solomon so faded to the poverty of a broken foreign province.
He must have read those glorious passages from the hand of His forefather David, the poet king, long ago descriptive of Zion :—“ Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great king. God is known in her palaces for refuge. Let Mount Zion rejoice, let the daughters of Judah be glad, because of thy judgments. Walk about Zion, and go around about her, tell the towers thereof. Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces; that ye may tell it to the generations following.” Ps. xlviii.
“The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. Selah. Of Zion it shall be said, this and that man was born in her. The Lord shall count when He writeth up the people that this man was born there.” Ps. lxxxvii. The sparrow hath found a house, and the swallow a nest for herself where she may lay her young, even thine altars O Lord of hosts, my King, and my God. They go from strength to strength; every One of them in Zion appeareth before God. A day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.” Ps. Ixxxiv.-382
JESUS CRUCIFIED.
With what feelings of sadness he must have read that other psalm of David so descriptive of Jerusalem under the sway of the Caesars:—“O God, the heathen are come into thine inheritance ; thy holy temple have they defiled; they have laid Jerusalem in heaps. The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth. Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem ; and there was none to bury them. Ps. Ixxiv.
How like a fulfilled prophecy this psalm must have read to Jesus ; how sadly real of his country, of its capital and of His people in the days of His own time!
Jerusalem did not reach her highest glory, however under David.
. Jesus must have read more tearfully of her golden age under Solomon, the son of king David ; when the Lord “had given rest on every side,” so that there was neither adversary nor evil occurrent, (1 Kings v, 4;) and of that golden house whose “stones made ready before they were brought thither, echoed neither hammer nor ax, nor gave sound of tool of iron” in all its building.
He must have read and remembered the dedication of that house; and that wonderful prayer of Solomon, whose eloquence in speech and conception echoes still a rival of the finest ancient or modern oratorios.
Above all Jesus must have recalled with deepest pathos, after that prayer, that “God appeared untoJESUS CRUCIFIED.
383
Solomon the second time, as He had appeared unto him at Gibeon,” and said:	“I have heard thy
prayer and thy supplication that thou hast made before Me; I have hallowed this house which thou hast built, to put My name there forever; and Mine eyes and Mine heart shall be there perpetually.
“And if thou wilt walk before Me as Dayid thy father walked, in integrity of heart and in uprightness, to do all that I have commanded thee, and will keep My statutes and My judgments, then will I establish the throne of thy kingdom forever, as I promised to David, thy father, saying, ‘there shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel.’ ” I Kings ix, 2-5.
It must have crucified the heart of Jesus to read of these glories of Israel and her temple under Solomon, and then turn to contemplate her state as He saw it under Rome, even under Pilate, and Caesar holding the pagan sword over Jerusalem. Jesus was a Jew. He must have felt that love of country so deeply rooted in the heart of the Jew as could pour forth in exile a song like this:
“By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept when we remembered Zion.
“We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.
“For there they that carried us away captive required of .us a song and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion.’384
JESUS CRUCIFIED.
“How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?
“If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.
“If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.”
That Mercy Seat at Jerusalem, shadowed by the wings of the golden cherubim, has never been removed from the Jewish heart, and is still one of the last strongholds in human memory that infidelity shall ever take away from religion.
Jesus was human as well as divine, and as man He loved His people, loved His country and her time-honored memories. He had His social friends and comrades, too, as other men have, and when He chose His apostles and gave them “power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease,” He sent them forth “not into the way of the Gentiles, or into any city of the Samaritans, but rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” to proclaim to them “the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” first of all. (Matt, x, i, 7.)
His visits to the home of Martha, Mary and Lazarus, with the tender incidents recorded of them, touch the heart as tenderly as the coming of loved ones did in the days of childhood, when family reunions were had in our own homes.
His human-heartedness touches the whole pictureJESUS CRUCIFIED.
385
He has left of His life, from Johri the “beloved” apostle, even, down to His love of little children, and the affection of the people for the man whose presence in the wilderness emptied all homes to see Him, and to hear His wonderful words. Jesus was a citizen, a son, a brother, a friend, a neighbor, having the native instincts common to humanity, and, in a thousand ways, His heart was crucified like the heart of all those who truly follow Him. He was a citizen of a poor and distressed country. He saw Herod and Pilate ruling over a downtrodden people. He saw Annas and Caiaphas serving as the mere perfunc-tories of the highest and most solemn trusts, and that sacred temple, “the house of prayer,” made “a den of thieves.”
Jesus was known as a Jewish peasant, yet he must have known himself how high his lineage was, since he was descended of a line of kings. He could call King David father, and Abraham his ancestor. Could there be a more kingly line? Who ever wore a crown, bore a sword, or swept a harp like David’s? Who ever saw a glory like Solomon’s? Who ever raised an altar of faith like Abraham’s? How keenly must he have felt the oppression which his people bore. With what pity and contempt must he have looked upon the rule of Pilate! He had read of, and doubtless had thought, many a time, over the “Restoration of Israel,” that great reformation so long sung by poet, so vividly visioned by the prophets, of hope-
25386
JESUS CRUCIFIED.
ful, faithful, stricken Israel. In every vale, by every mountain side, he often heard that haunting echo:
“Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel, be glad and rejoice with all thy heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.
“The Lord hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy; the King of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of thee; thou shalt not see evil any more.” (Zeph., Chap, iii.)
Doubtless He believed that prophecy, too, which said to Israel so long ago, that God would some day raise up a leader like unto Moses, who should give deliverance to her people, and that other prophecy of Jacob:* “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a law-giver from between his fe6t, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.” (Genesis xlix.)
Jesus did not hope for a mere temporal re-establishment of the Jewish state. His disciples seemed to hold to this view at one time. But He looked farther, hoped farther, and believed farther than a mere temporal, civil, political or national reformation or re-establishment of Israel. This for the throne of David was not only impossible, but unworthy of One whose mission aspired to lift to a higher plane not only Israel, but all mankind, and whose end was voiced in the words “Son of Man,” “Son of God.”
The mightiness of that one idea made Him stand alone, against the prejudices of His own people, andJESUS CRUCIFIED.
387
in a large sense, against the teachings of all His contemporaries, as well as against Moses himself, the great law-giver and deliverer, in many things dear and sacred to the whole Jewish nation from the times of the Mosaic institution, and, in addition to this, to stand opposed to all men’s ideas in the reformation of humanity.
Few men have attempted during the world’s long history to reform even one nation, when that nation alone was unanimously opposed to the reform. Few men in politics, morals, or religion have been bold enough to attempt a reformation anywhere in the world’s history singled^handed and alone. The voice of the people, uttered or felt, must be known to the most of reformers before they set out on that4 steep path called reformation. Even in the noblest republics now nineteen centuries from Jesus, the maxim is cheered to the echo that The voice of the people is the voice of God.’ The people are the government, is a trite but dear saying even to the grandest of republics.
Yet Jesus had just such an attempt to make, just such a reform to inaugurate and to carry out. What an individual power that must have been in Him to begin such a reform as against the whole world!
What a prospect lay along His path, Gethsemane, the saddest of gardens, and farther on Golgotha, the skull-shaped mount, pinnacled with a Roman cross, and Aceldama, perhaps, for His burying ground! These confronted Jesus face to face for weeks, for388
JESUS CRUCIFIED.
months, for years. History has recorded it of Him that He knew this would be the end of His attempt. It may be doubted whether history has recorded a similar case of a sane man’s so brave attempt.
For three long years at least, Gethsemane and Golgotha, the Cranium and its pinnacle, the cross, haunted Him day and night as He walked the dells of Galilee or wandered by the sunset mountain sides, or sat by the sea, seeking peace under such a contemplation. Golgotha and the cross, surrounded by and bristling with Roman spears, must have broken in upon His vision now and then, as He talked of the lilies, spoke the beatitudes on the mount, or lifted little children up into the light of God. Such visions must come to the reader in order to enable him to understand the character of the man Jesus who was arraigned before Pilate, and to know the offense of that doctrine which He urged, and for which, side by side with robbers and thieves, He climbed the hill of crucifixion as a brother man.
Memories such as these may help one to a better understanding of His mission, if he can draw nearer to that one idea upon which Jesus founded the highest individuality yet attained by man in any age, and which marked Him at once the Son of Man and Son of God, as no man was ever marked.
His crucifixion had a meaning in it for which there was a cause and a need. He assumed it from beginning to end. He understood and undertook to carry out the sacrifice. He entered into His service as OneJESUS CRUCIFIED.
389
having power to lay down His life and to take it up. God’s will He knew was in and through this whole reform. He understood it in a better and clearer way than any one of the twelve disciples. He could see its results on humanity, and understood its blessings even as He understood the sermon on the mount.
How exalted are those precepts taught upon that mount:	“But I say unto you, that ye resist not evil;
but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man sue thee at the law and take away thy coat let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn thou not away. Love your enemies, bless them that cprse you, and do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven.’’ (Matt, v, 39-44.)
How far in advance of the times in which He lived was such a philosophy as this. Two thousand years have rolled away, with their progress in art and literature, in music, painting and poetry, but the Sermon on the Mount has not been surpassed.
These precepts form but a part of the new doctrine which caused His arraignment, trial and crucifixion. He died to establish a system which He knew best adapted to the salvation of the human race, when that race should learn the lesson of its practice. He lived and taught, looking to that terrible day when390
JESUS CRUCIFIED,
on a Roman cross He should seal the doctrine with His own life, and leave that life as a legacy to those who might be able to follow in His bleeding footsteps for all time to come.
The story of the cross has been often told in part. It has often, too, become a sort of myth, a fairy tale, a sort of intellectual theatrical upon which thought and feeling may play, a mere recreation. The true story can only be read and appreciated by souls of power and depth. Men and women, to appreciate it, must have that strength of soul which can enter into the great passion which Jesus endured for three long years. There must be some masterfulness about the man who tries to be like Jesus.
No reformation, no repentence, no true awakening ever began to be in any soul for good, which had not the greatness of patience, and the heroic capacity to suffer.
Jesus was descended from a people inured to suffering ; their history is a most interesting one in that one feature at least. Their connection with Egypt, their four centuries of patient servitude, their wanderings in the deserts of Arabia, their struggles for conquest ove;r Palestine, their wholesale captivities and exile afterwards, form a chain of circumstances whose unyielding links must have taught them the virtue of a patience, the strength of a will, and the depth of a faith, which tempest tossed on the dark waves of calamity, still held like an anchor about the rock ofJESUS CRUCIFIED.
391
national hope that has never been shaken under the pilgrimage of a thousand exiles.
Zion a$d Jerusalem have never been forgotten; with what zeal they have always sung in the words of King David:
“Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth, may Israel now say:
“Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth; yet they have not prevailed against me,” (Ps. cxxix.)
That national hope was not realized, perhaps never will be, as they looked for its realization. They misapprehended their prophets’ teaching in relation to it. They knew not their greatest Prophet when He came. Their plan for restoration was not His plan. The faith of Abraham had been narrowed down in the Mosaic system, and was only a preparation for the time in which the Redeemer s'hould come. A new way would then turn all nations into the one family, all of whose members should be children of the great Father of the Faithful.
That day had now come, when in the beautiful city in which Jesus had been brought up, He read the Messianic Proclamation from Israel’s prophet, Isaiah:
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
“To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”392
JESUS CRUCIFIED.
“To-day,” said He, “is this scripture fulfilled in your ears,” and passing through the midst of them who were opposing, went on His way never,to return to His home again. The deepest interest must follow Him on His three years’ mission of teaching, healing and miracle, and the closest sympathy keep in touch with that beautiful life shaded everywhere with a tinge of sadness, from the years of infancy even unto Calvary.
Jesus proceeded to fulfill His mission to mankind by teaching and healing. He encountered the opposition of the rulers of the people. This antagonism on their part developed into bitter hate and violent malice. Open persecution began at the time of His healing the lame man who for thirty-eight years had suffered from infirmity. The simple command to him whom He Jiad healed to take up his bed and walk, aroused the Jewish rulers to fury. The greatest interest connects itself with the last three years of His life, and especially with the scenes which culminated in the closing days of His career, and the four great events, the last supper, the passion, the trial and crucifixion. Attempts to describe the scenes of these last four days and to give to them their full meaning have engaged the pens of great writers in Christian literature through all recent centuries. Canon Farrar has reviewed these events with such clearness that the substance of the following pages is an abstract taken therefrom:JESUS CRUCIFIED.
393
He was summoned before a committee of the Sanhedrin, but they did not then dare to punish His violation of their Sabbath, knowing His power with the people. But from that day forward the authorities at Jerusalem seem to have determined on His death ; and such was their bitter and unceasing hostility, that Jesus left Jerusalem without waiting for the approaching passover.
The remainder of His life may be said to have been spent in peril, in flight and in concealment; appearing now and then for brief periods in Galilee and Jerusalem.
He departed from Capernaum His accustomed home and went into the heathen regions of Tyre and Sidon, and thence southward again keeping mainly to the eastward and less inhabited country, only now and then healing a sufferer, but by degrees attracting crowds again.
After this period of wandering and absence, He once more sailed to Magdala, but was met immediately by the Herodians and Pharisees with a hostile demand for a sign. Turning away from them. He uttered His last farewell to the cities in which He had labored; and once more journeyed northward and came to Caesarea Philippi.
It was here and at this time that Peter gave that which henceforth was to be the answer of all the Christian world:—“Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Christ left Ephraim with the great caravan of Galilean pilgrims that were on the road to the Passover—which was to be His last.394
JESUS CRUCIFIED.
His apostles were now well aware from His own warnings that a crisis of His career had arrived. He had told them plainly that the crowning horror of being crucified was certain.
When they came near to Jericho, accompanied by excited multitudes He healed the blind Bartim-aeus, and while there excited the murmurs of the crowd by accepting the hospitality of the publican Zacheus.
He passed from Jericho to Bethany, arriving at Bethany probably on Friday, March 31, a. d. 30, six days before the Passover. It was on this occasion that Martha and Mary gave Him a banquet in the house of Simon, the leper, where Mary in gratitude broke the vessel of precious ointment over His head and feet.
On the morning of Palm Sunday Jesus made His triumphant entry into Jerusalem, and as He came in sight paused to weep over it and prophesy its doom, saying :
If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peacel but uow they are hid from thine eyes.
For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side,
A nd shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation. Luke xix: 42-44.
At the evening He retired for safety with His twelve disilples outside the city walls, in the direc-JESUS CRUCIFIED.
395
tion of Bethany. On Monday morning He went again to Jerusalem, and on going into the temple He was met by the priests, scribes and rabbis demanding by what authority He was acting. At evening He again retired from the city.
The next day, which was Tuesday of Passion week, was marked by several attempts of the rulers to undermine His authority, by involving Him in some difficulty, either with them or the people. In the temple He was first met by the plot of thé Herodians and Pharisees, to embroil Him either with the Romans or the populace by the questioii of paying tribute to Caesar, then on the part of the S adduces by a question concerning the resurrection, and then by a scribe as to the great commandment, of the Law. (See Mark xii, 13-32.).
To all of these by His ready wisdom He showed Himself superior in knowledge and insight, and entirely defeated these stratagems of the Sanhe-drists.
Then it was that He delivered the terrible denunciation against their degradation of religion into a mere tyranny and formalism, in those words :
“ Woe unto you scribes, and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayers, therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. Matt, xxiii- 14, 15.
These were terrible words to have been uttered at a time like this, and addressed to such an au-39^	JESUS CRUCIFIED.
dience as was His. But the battle was now on, and Jesus must either retreat from the great stand He had taken, or defeat, by the truth, the wickedness, deceit and hypocrisy that reigned among the rulers of His people. He had undertaken a mighty reform, He must carry it out. The Jewish authorities felt that this was a final rupture, and that they must now at all costs bring about His speedy death.
He now left the temple forever, and went and sat on the green slopes of the Mount of Olives, over against the temple. There He pronounced that great discourse to His disciples, Peter, James, John, Andrew and the rest, concerning the great events to come. (See Mark xiii, i-27.)
In the cool of the evening they walked to Bethany, doubtless about the time that Judas was plotting with the priests the plan for His arrest.
Wednesday seems to have been spent in deep retirement at Bethany, as not a single incident is recorded of that day.
Next morning, Thursday, He woke never to sleep again.
On the evening of that day He went with His disciples to Jerusalem to keep that quasi-Paschal feast, which in better days had been long solemnized in memory of that night when God smiting the first born of the Egyptians, passed over the houses of the Israelites which were marked with the blood of the paschal lamb. (See Exodus xii, 29.)
It was then that He instituted the sacrament of the Eucharist. During this supper He told John and Peter that He knew who the traitor apostle was.JESUS CRUCIFIED.
397
He also announced that this was the last meal He should eat with them, and bade them henceforth to keep it in sacramental memory of Him.
Then suddenly at a distance the torches flashed upon the darkness, as Judas, followed by the priests and their servants, and Levites of the temple-guard and Roman soldiers, crossed the valley of Kidron to the slope of Olivet on which the garden lay. There Judas betrayed Him with a kiss, and with the words, “Hail Master!”
About the little band of Jesus crowded the chief priests, and captains of the temple, and the elders ; and His disciples seeing what would follow, they said to Him, “Lord, shall we smite them with the sword?” But Jesus having forbidden them, they all forsook Him and fled.
Then they took Him, and led Him into the high priest’s house. He was then taken before the shrewd and aged Annas * who was regarded high priest by right, though not in fact. On His refusal to plead before this disorderly midnight tribunal, He was struck on the mouth, and failing to extort anything from Him, Annas sent Him across the court-yard to Caiaphas, the de facto high priest.
It was still night, and here took place the second informal and illegal trial, before His worst enemies, the priests and the Sadducees. The false witnesses who endeavored to convict Him of having threatened to destroy the temple, failed, and He preserved unbroken silence until Caiaphas adjured Him by the living God to tell whether He was the Messiah, the Son of God. In answer to this appeal,398
JESUS CRUCIFIED.
He said, “I am.” Then Caiaphas rent His robes, with the cry of “blasphemy and the committee of the Sanhedrin declared Him “guilty of death.”
Jesus was now remanded to the guardroom until day should break, before which time the whole Sanhedrin could not meet. It was during his passage to the guardroom that he met Peter’s eye, who had just denied Him with oaths.
As he waited he was insulted by the violence and coarse derision of the priest’s menials.
When the full Sanhedrin met in the morning they once more failed to fix any charge upon him whatever, save the claim which He repeated, of being the Son of God.
He was then formally condemned to death.
But at this period the Jews had lost all legal right to carry out sentence of death.
Moreover it must be that they desired to avoid responsibility and danger of vepgeance from the many followers of Jesus; and hence handed Him over for execution to the Roman procurator, Pilate. They therefore led Jesus bound to him.
They supposed that he would crucify Jesus perhaps on their bare word, without further enquiry of His guilt or innocence. In this they were mistaken.
Pilate’s colloquy with them failed to establish any charge definite enough to satisfy himself, and after calling Jesus into the praetorium and examining Him he came out to the Jews with the declaration of complete acquittal and said:
“ Ye have brought this man unto me, as one that per-JESUS CRUCIFIED.
399
verteth the people; and, behold, I, having examined him before you, have found ho fajilt in this man touching those things whereof ye accuse him:
No, nor yet Herod: for I sent you to him; and, lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto him.” Luke xxii.
In the wild clamor that ensued he caught the word Galilee, and understanding that Jesus had chiefly taught in Galilee, had sought to rid himself of this dilemma by sending Him to Herod.
Before Herod He maintained the same majestic silence as before Pilate ; and being unable to condemn Him, Herod had arrayed Him in a white robe and sent Him back to the procurator Pilate.* Then began the third and most agonizipg phase of the public trial. Pilate, seated on his bema, declared that, as His innocence was now certain, he would scourge Jesus and dismiss Him.
This was a disgraceful proposal, though due to the desire to save the life of one he saw to be innocent but dictated mainly by fear of another riot.
Pilate’s whole action was practically controlled by his past guilt and the thought of what the Jews, Samaritans and Galileans could prefer against him by way of complaint to Caesar, his master at Rome, and the Senate. He could not therefore afford to turn a deaf ear to the cry of the mob hounded on as they were by the priests and Sanhedrists—for the passover boon of having a prisoner released to
*The reader is referred to the Acts of Pilate II Greek Form, Chap, x, as to the white robe here mentioned.400
JESUS CRUCIFIED.
them, and he vainly tried to induce them to ask for the liberation of Jesus.
But they demanded the rebel and murderer Bar Abbas and shouted for the crucifixion of Jesus, and having obtained Bar Abbas, they took Jesus and horribly scourged Him at the hands of the Roman soldiery, who followed this up with arraying Him in an old crimson robe putting a crown of thorns on His head, and a reed in His hand for a scepter.
When Jesus came forth after this hour of agony, Pilate made one more appeal to their compassion in the words “Behold the man !” and on hearing that He claimed to be the Son of God, he became still more alarmed for Him, and once mor£ questioned Jesus in a private interview.
For some time Jesus would not speak. When He did it was to say that He regarded Pilate as less guilty than the Jews.
As Pilate led Him forth, and saw Him stand before the shameful; yelling multitude in His majesty of solemn woe, he broke forth into the involuntary exclamation, “Behold your king!” But the Jews cried out—“Away with Him ! away with Him, crucify Him ! ’ ’—and the chief priests shouted ‘4we have no king but Caesar”—reminding Pilate that if he “let this man go, he was not a friend to Caesar.”
Pilate then publicly washed his hands in token that he was innocent of this death, and pronounced the fatal order for His crucifixion.
The last judicial act over, Jesus laden with the cross., walking between two robbers, began the march to the Hill of Crucifixion.JESUS CRUCIFIED.
401
And when they came to the place they stripped Him of His garments and girt Him about with a linen cloth, and put a crown of thorns upon His head. Likewise, also, they hanged the two robbers with Him, Dismas on the right and Gestas on the leit.*
' “And sitting down they watched Him there;
“And set up over His head His accusation written, This is Jesus the King of the Jews.
“And they that passed by reviled Him wagging their heads,
“And saying, ‘Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save Thyself. If Thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.’
“Likewise also the chief priests mocking Him, with the scribes and elders, said,
“ ‘He saved others; Himself He can not save. If He be King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.
“ ‘He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now, if He will have Him; for He said, “I am the Son of God.’”
“One of the thieves also, which were crucified with Him, cast the same in His teeth.
“Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.
“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?’ that is
*See Acts of Pilate, la§t line of 1st Greek Form, Chap. ix.
26402
JESUS CRUCIFIED.
to say, ‘My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?’
“Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earth quake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, ‘Truly this was the Son of God.’
“And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath,
“Joseph of Arimathea, an honorable counselor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus.
“And Pilate marveled if he were already dead; and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead.
“And when he knew it of the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph.
“And he brought fine linen, and took him down, and wrapped him in the linen, and laid him in a sepulchre which was hewn out of a rock, and rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulchre.”
Thus ends the story of the crucifixion. His disciples, the companions of His ministry, witnesses of His mighty deeds, hearers of His marvelous words, believers in His bright promises, were now left in despair. The violent hate of the rulers had struck down the personal leader of a spiritual reformation. Death had wrapped the hills of Zion and the hopes of His followers in clouds of impenetrable gloom. But the divine power of that life was not to be over-JESUS CRUCIFIED.
403
come by persecution nor to be subdued by crucifixion. From the cross upon which death had liberated the spirit of the world’s Redeemer, from out the darkness which temporarily obscured the light of future years, there was to come the inspiration of a new age, whose magic reformation would transform ignorance, violence, bigotry and despotism, into peace, brotherly love, intelligence, liberty, and an infinite career of human advancement.
What a poor nucleus for a kingdom were those simple fishermen and those poor women crazed with grief, around that sepulchre, which they might not come too near, guarded by the Roman spear. The history of Christianity large, wide and wonderful as it is, circles around this group of stricken followers. To oae removed into the 19th century, how like a great miracle it seems to go back in thought to the garden and the rock-cut tomb of Jesus, and see those humble mourners who in those glad days of Galilee left all and followed Him: “Certain that the angels’ song was true, that heaven’s joy was come in this sweet, well-beloved Son of Man.’’
From that time forward some of the best intellects of civilization have attempted to account for the rise, progress and triumph of Christianity without an appeal to the supernatural. But this attempt has not yet been able to satisfy the world that Jesus was only an ordinary man, a mere philosopher, whose intuitions into nature’s laws gave Him the power He has404
JESUS CRUCIFIED.
so long wielded over humanity, and set Him far above the past and present of all human teachers.
His ablest critics have said enough of Him to defeat the mere idea of His being only human. No finer words have been penned of Him than those of the great opponents of His supernatural origin.
But this miracle of life, this strange and wonderful phenomenon, carries an element too subtle for the grasp of poor human analysis. “Genius,” “madness,” “disease” and all “anomaly” can not help here. There is a miracle hidden within, and circling round the whole life of Jesus, which, like life’s own secret, is far beyond the analyses of human reach.
Whether in “the poet’s haunt,” whether by “the scholar’s lamp,” or in “the statesman’s scheme,” still “must one steal back to Him who made Christendom,” to rest the heart, and feel that peace which earth can neither give nor take away.
This is the experience of the best amongst mankind since He left who said, “I am the bread of life; he that cometh to Me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst.”
How like a stream these words have watered the waste places of the heart’s desert. The five thousand whom He fed in the desert place were but the nucleus of that unnumbered multitude of hungry ones who have since then eaten at His table spread on the lawns of kings, or by the wilderness where famishing pilgrims rest along the stream of life, and quench their thirst.APPENDIX.
(405)REPORT OF PILATE.
Pontius Pilate to Tiberius Caesar, Emperor, Sends Greeting:
The events of those last few days were of such a character in my province that I have thought I should write concerning them in detail, since I should not wonder if in coming years, they may change the fortune of our nation ; for it seems of late that the gods have ceased to be friends. It is not far from me to say, “Cursed be the day on which I succeeded Valerius Gratus in the government of Judea.”* When I came up to Jerusalem
*It was customary for the Roman procurators to go up to Jerusalem at such a time for the trial of such matters as might come before the Jewish council. And it is most probable that Pilate went up at this time filled with the gravest apprehensions of the results of this very trial of Jesus, For it will be remembered by all who have paid any attention to this department of history that Jesus was by no means an insignificant person at this time.
He had, by his life and teachings, made himself not only obnoxious
(407)408
REPORT OF PILATE.
and occupied the Pretorium, I ordered a banquet to be splendidly prepared, to which I invited the tet-rarch of Galilee with his high priests and his prefects,* * At the appointed time no guests were present, which thing was an insult to my dignity. After a few days it pleased the high priest to call on me. He bore himself gravely and deceitfully. He feigned that his religion forbade him and his companions to sit down and offer up libations with
to orthodox Jewry as an opposer and a destroyer of some time-honored laws and religious ceremonies, but, in the language of today, was looked upon as a political reformer and disturber, whose influence was felt and acknowledged by the masses of the people. And though his acts and his teaching may have been looked upon by the Jews with much uneasy suspicion and even dreadful apprehension, yet they had been done with such prudence, judgment and wisdom that it was difficult to arrest the tide of his influence except by a resort to very arbitrary and very questionable acts on the part of either the Roman or Jewish authorities.
*Pilate was at this time not the most popular governor among the Jews. He had committed several acts of a character very offensive to them in the former years of his administration.
The most natural and politic thing for him to do, therefore, as a shrewd politician, was to court the friendship of the Jewish leaders and officials. And as nothing is better calculated to soften and conciliate men of this type than social feasting, this banquet seems to have been a happy and very natural thought in the mind of Pilate.
The Jews, however, seem to have been quite as skillful in political tact as the governor himself, on this occasion at least, and refused to be brought into any such relation as seems to have been in the mind of the governor Pilate to induce. This appears very fully from the language used immediately after by Pilate:	He “feigned that his
religion forbade him,” etc. This, at least seems to have been Pilate’s view concerning the Jew’s refusal to accept his invitation, although the “excuse” offered by the high priest may have been sincere and most proper.REPORT OF PILATE.
409
the Romans. It seemed to me politic to accept his excuse,* but from that time I was convinced that the conquered were the professed enemies of their conquerors! Of all the cities which had been over-
* Pilate seems determined, by every statement made in this immediate connection, to carry his point with the emperor as against the Jewish priests. His charge against the high priest of grave and well-studied deceit in manner on his visit, of his feigning or lying about not attending the feast, and of his (Pilate’s) being compelled from good policy to accept the “excuse” or lie of the high priest, are all laid down as premises to the conclu'sion which Pilate would impress on the mind of Tiberus, viz: “that the conquered were the enemies of the conquerors," and that this was especially the case in Jerusalem, the stage upon which had been played this terrible drama now big with omens of more seditions in the Roman government of Judea.
It will be remembered by the reader that this was a leading feature in this great trial of Jesus, as related to Pilate and the Jewish priesthood, viz: the settlement of the question as to “who was Caesar’s friend in this matter;” and Pilate is still at work in the settlement of this question by laying before the emperor the exact position of himself, as also of the priesthood as related to the entire matter.
+The difficulty with which Jerusalem’s turbulence was restrained, is well attested by appeals to the history of many events occurriig from the very time of her subjugation till her complete destruction by the Romans.
The madness of her people culminated when it could not listen to such an appeal for peace as was made by their own king Agrippa just before the final and general conflict which resulted in the overthrow and demolition of the city and temple by Titus.
To one who would see the climax of madness in this people, the reader is referred to the masterly speech of Agrippa as quoted in the Summary Appendix of this work.
See also speech of the high priest Ananus as given in the Article on Annas and Caiaphas.4io
REPORT OF PILATE.
come, it appeared to me that Jerusalem was the most difficult to be held in subjection. So turbulent were the people that I was in perpetual fear of a sedition,* for repressing which there was one centurion only, and a small band of soldiers. I had requested aid from the prefect of Syria, who announced to me that he had scarcely sufficient troops for defense of his own province. I fear that the insatiate thirst of conquering beyond what we are able to defend shall lose to us our noble government. Among the many rumors which were borne to my ears, one especially occupied my mind. A young /man had come into Galilee, it was said, teaching with a noble zeal a new law in the name of the gods
*To what degree^ and to what a degraded state the government of the city fell after this, will be seen in a sentence of Josephus, their own historian, descriptive of the timesiof Agrippa and under the high priest Ismael the Son of Fabi.
“About this time king Agrippa gave the high priesthood to Ismael, who was the son of Fabi. And now arose a sedition between the high priests and the principal men of the multitude of Jerusalem; each of whom got them a company of the boldest sort of men, and of those that loved innovations, about them, and became leaders to them; and when they struggled together, they did it by casting reproachful words against one another, and by throwing stones also. And there was nobody to reprove them; but these disorders were done after a licentious manner in the city, as if it had no government over it. And such was the impudence and boldness that had seized on the high priest, tüat they had the hardness to send their servants into the threshing-floors, to take away those tithes that were due to the priests : insomuch that it so fell out that the poorer sort of the priests died for want. To this degree did the violence of the seditious prevail over all right and justice. Antiquities, Book xx, chap, viii, 8.HEAI) OF CHRISTREPORT OF PILATE.
411
who had sent him. At first I feared his design might be to stir up the people against the Romans ; but soon my fears were borne away. Jesus, the Nazarene, spoke more as a friend of the Romans than of the Jews. One day going by the place of Siloam, at which there was a great concourse of people, I saw a young man in the midst of the assembly, who. leaning against a tree, calmly addressed the multitude. I was told that it was Jesus. This I could have easily suspected, such was the difference between him and his hearers. His hair and beard of golden yellow, gave a celestial aspect. He appeared to be about thirty years old. Never have I seen a gentler or more serene countenance.* What a difference between
*There is a description of the personal appearance of Jesus given by Epiphanius, discovered by Tischendorf in the original Greek form, and is as follows.
Christ was exceedingly beautiful in countenance. His stature was fully developed, his height being six feet. He had auburn hair, quite abundant and flowing down mostly over his whole person. His eyebrows were black and not highly arched, his eyes brown, and bright.
, He had a family likeness, in his fine eyes, prominent nose and good color, to his ancestor David, who is said to have had beautiful eyes and a ruddy complexion.
He wore his hair long, for a razor never touched it, nor was it cut by any person except by his mother in childhood. His neck inclined forward a little so that the posture of his body was not too upright or stiff.
His face was full, but not quite so round as his mother’s; tinged with sufficient color to make it handsome and natural; mild in expression, of the blandness of his mother whose features his own resembled. (Cod. Yen. ci. i. Tischendorf.)412
REPORT OF PILATE.
him and those listening, with their black beards and tawny complexion. Since I was unwilling to interrupt him by my presence, I pursued my walking, but gave a sign to my secretary that he should draw near to the crowd and listen.* * The name of my
Epiphanius who spent many years at Bethlehem and gathered many facts concerning Jesus and his mother Mary, thus writes of her : She was of middle stature, her face oval, her eyes brilliant and of an olive tint; her eyebrows arched and black, her hair a pale brown, her complexion fair as wheat.
She spoke little, but she spoke freely and affably. She was grave, courteous, tranquil, in her deportment was nothing lax or feeble.
St. Denis, the Areopagite, who is said to have seen Mary in her lifetime declared that, "'she was of dazzling beauty, that he would have adored her as a goddess had he not known that there was but one God!”
According to Eusebius (Hist. Eccl. viii, 18) the woman who was cured of hemorrhage (Matt, ix, 20.) out of thankfulness erected a brazen statue of Jesus at Caesarea Philippi.
Sozomen states that this statue was destroyed by command of the emperor Julian, who renounced Christianity and became a heathen in religion because of bitterness towards his relatives.
See also Sir Edwin Arnold in “The Light of the World” pp. 140.
*Pilate, like Herod and other Roman officials in Palestine, kept a close watch of course on all persons like John the Baptist and Jesus.
Herod it will be remembered, before whom Jesus appeared during this trial, had put John the Baptist to death, after confining him in prison “lest the great influence John had over the people might put into his power an inclination to raise a rebellion, for the people seemed to do anything that John might advise.” Josephus Antiq. Book 18, 5.
And Pilate leaves his secretary, Manlius, to listen to the worths of Jesus no doubt for the reason that he feared that Jesus might be dealing in matters of politics. He does not wait, himself, but leaves his secretary to listen and report as to what aim Jesus was pressing on the people, and finding out from Manlius that Jesus was not en-REPORT OF PILATE.
4^3
secretary was Manlius. He was the grandson of the leader of the conspirators, who were encamped in Etruria awaiting Cataline. Manlius was an old inhabitant of Judea, and knew the Hebrew language well. He was devoted to me, and worthy of my confidence. On entering the Pretorium, I found Manlius, who related to me the words spoken at Si-loam. Never have 1 heard from the Portico, nor in the works of the philosophers, anything that can be compared with the maxims of Jesus. When a certain one of the rebellious Jews, who are so numerous in Jerusalem, asked him whether it were lawful to give tribute to Caesar, Jesus answered: “Render unto Caesar the things which are his, and unto God the things which are God’s.”
It was on account of the wisdom* * of this saying
gaged in any revolutionary mission he gives himself no further concern in relation to the matter, but rather favors the sentiments entertained and expressed by Jesus by granting him the largest permission to teach and preach, and make disciples.
*Pilate was doubtless a political friend to Jesus.
His appointment by Tiberius to the office of Procurator makes it certain that he was of the same political sentiment with the emperor, and we know that Tiberius was a liberal, a man of the people and in favor of popular rights. He was no man for patrician privileges.
We also know that the rulers among the Jews sympathized with the Roman aristocracy. Huidekoper, the highest authority on this subject, informs us that: The aristocracy at Jerusalem, as depicted by Josephus and the New Testament writers, were, with slight exceptions more devoted to class privileges than the common welfare.
Herod, the Great, and Herod Agrippa Senior, who were closely in league with the patricians, found support in the aristocracy of Judea, rather than among the lower and middle classes- Huide-koper’s Judaism at Rome pp. 96.414
REPORT OF PILATE.
that I granted so much liberty to the Nazarene, for it was in my power to have him arrested and exiled to|Pontus ; but this would have been contrary to the justice which has always characterized the Romans. This man was neither seditious nor rebellious. I extended to him my protection,* unknown, perhaps,
It cannot be otherwise than that politically Jesus, Pilate and Tiberius were one, as against aristocracy in Judea and patricianism at Rome. And it is for this reason that Pilate speaks as he does in the language referred to by this note.
We quote here in point a paragraph and a note from Huidekoper’s Judiasm at Rome pp. 188.
As a first step towards crippling Tiberius, the Senate expelled the Jews and their converts from Rome or Italy, after having impressed four thousand of their younger men and shut them up in Sardinia, an * island under Senatorial contnol^ where they would be unavailable for the popular party. The Senate also instituted an inquisition which, as we may infer from the fears of Seneca’s father, must have been unsparing, touching any who held Jewish views, and we can safely infer that it would have shown little or no justice to political opponents. Tiberius at once exerted himself to protect the Jews, in such provinces as he controlled.
“Action was also held touching expulsion of the Egyptian and Jewish religions, and a decree was enacted by the Senate, ‘that four thousand freedmen of suitable age, who were infected with that [the Jewish] superstition, should be deported to the island of Sardinia to restrain the robbers thei'e, and, if they perish by the severity of the climate, the loss would be a cheap one; that the others should quit Italy, unless before a fixed day they had renounced their profane rites.’ ”—Tacitus, An. 2, 85. If the former “perished” it was probably by murder.
Some of these freedmen, instead of being born Jews, may originally have been Gentiles. Dio Cassius says: “I do not know whence this appellation (Jews) originated, but it applies to such OTHER MEN AS ARE DEVOTED TO THEIR INSTITUTIONS, EVEN IF FROM OTHER NATIONS.“—Dio Cass. 37, 17.REPORT OF PILATE.
415
to himself. He was at liberty to act, to speak, to assemble and address the people, to choose disciples unrestrained by any pretorian mandate. Should it ever happen—may the gods avert the omen—I say should it ever happen that the religion of our ancestors* be supplantecLby the religion of Jesus, it will
*The decline in “the religion of our ancestors” mentioned here by Pilate had already begun at Rome as early as A. D. 47 and the effect •f “foreign superstitions” viz, Jewish and Christian influences was felt to an alarming extent. We give here a picture of the Roman religion as practiced by the ancient Romans with so much devotion, and also a mention by Tacitus of the declining state of religious affairs ten years after Pilate’s government of Judea.
Here is the picture of the life of a well-born Roman, from “The Ancient City,” by M. Fustel de Coulanges: “Each one of his daily actions is a rite; his whole day belongs to his religion. Morning and and evening he invokes his fire, his penates, and his ancestors; in leaving and entering his house he addresses a prayer to them. Every meal is a religious act, which he shares with his domestic divinities.
“He leaves his house, and can hardly take a step without meeting some sacred object—either a chapel, or a place formerly struck by lightning, or a tomb; sometimes he must step back and pronounce a prayer; sometimes he must turn his eyes and cover his face, to avoid the sight of some ill-boding object.
“Every day he sacrifices m his house, every month in his curia several months a year, with his gens or his tribe. Above all these gods, he must offer worship to those of the city. There are in Rome more gods than citizens.
“He offers sacrifices to thank the gods; he offers them, and by far the greater number, to appease their wrath. *	*	* There is a
festival for seed-time, one for harvest, and one for the pruning of the vines. Before corn has reached the ear, the Roman has offered more than ten sacrifices, and invoked some ten divinities, for the success of his harvest. He has, above all, a number of festivals for the dead, because he is afraid of them. He never leaves his own house without looking to see if any bird of bad^ augury appears. There are words which he dares not pronounce for his life. If he exper-4i 6
REPORT OF PILATE.
be to this noble toleration that Rome shall owe her premature obsequies; while I, miserable wretch, shall have been the instrument of what the Hebrews call providence, and we, destiny.
iences some desire, he inscribes his wish upon a tablet, which he places at the feet of the statue of a divinity.
“He steps out of his house always with his right foot first. He has his hair cut only during the full moon. He carries amulets upon his person. He covers the walls of his house with magic inscriptions against fire. He knows of formulas for avoiding sickness, and of others for curing it, but he must repeat them twenty-seven times, and spit in certain fashion at each repetition.
“He does not deliberate in the senate if the victims have not given favorable signs. He leaves the assembly of the people if he hears the cry of a mouse. He renounces the best-laid plans if he perceives a bad presage, or if an ill-omened word has struck his ear; he is brave in battle, but on condition that the auspices assure him the victory.
“This Roman, whom we present here, is not the man of the people, the feeble-minded man whom misery ¿fnd ignorance have made superstitious. We are speaking of the patrician, the noble, powerful, and rich man. This patrician is, by turns, warrior, magistrate, consul, farmer, merchant; but everywhere and always he is a priest, and his thoughts are fixed upon the gods. ”
In the days of Pilate’s procuratorship this state of affairs had greatly declined—and as stated above, his fear of “the religion of his ancestors being supplanted by the religion of Jesus” was being now realized only ten years after his departure from Judea.
Tacitus tells us, under A. D. 47, Claudius “called the attention of the senate to the college of soothsayers, that the oldest [religious] science of Italy might not die out through neglect. [He said that] ‘often during adverse circumstances of the republic [persons] had been - sent for, by whose direction ceremonies had been re-established and thereafter more correctly conducted; [that] the nobility, primores, of Etruria had of their own accord, or under prompting from the Roman Fathers retained the knowledge and taught it to their slaves, in familias propagasje, which was now more negligentlyREPORT OF PILATE.
417
But this unlimited freedom granted to Jesus provoked the Jews ; not the poor, but the rich and powerful. It is true that Jesus was severe on the latter ; and this was a political reason, in my opinion, why I should not control the liberty of the Nazarene. “Scribes and Pharisees,” he would say to them, “you are a race of the vilest sort. You are like painted sepulchres.” At other times he would deride the proud alms of the publican, saying to him that the mite of the widow was greater in the eye of God. New complaints were made daily at the Pretorium concerning the insolence of Jesus. I was even informed that some misfortune would befall him ; that it would not be the first time that Jerusalem had stoned those who called themselves prophets, and that if the Pretorium should refuse justice, appeal would be made to Caesar. Nevertheless, my conduct was pleasing to the Senate, and I was promised*aid after the Parthian war was ended. Since I wa^ too weak to suppress a sedition, I resolved upon a plan to give quiet to the city, yet not to lay aside the authority of the Pretorium. I
done because of public apathy towards good arts, and because FOREIGN SUPERSTITIONS ARE GAINING STRENGTH. All things indeed, are at present [he said] prosperous, but thanks should be given to the benignity of the gods.’
“That the sacred rites should not, through uncertainity touching [the manner of] their observance, be obliterated by [existing] prosperity, it was thereupon enacted by the senate that the chief priests should examine what observances of the soothsayers ought to be retained and put upon a better footing.”—Tacitus, An. 11, 15; Huide-koper’s, Judaism at Rome, p. 225.
274i8
REPORT OF PILATE.
sent a message to Jesus, desiring that he should come to me at the Pretorium. You know that the Spanish,* mixed with the Roman blood is in my veins, equally incapable of fear and childish emotion. # When the Nazarene made his appearance I was walking in my basilic, and my feet seemed fastened with an iron hand to the marble pavement, and I trembled in every limb as a culprit, while he was calm—the Nazarene—calm as innocence. When he came up to me he stopped, and by a sign seemed to say, “I am here.” For awhile I contemplated with admiration and awe this extraordinary typ$ of man, unknown to the many painters who have given form and figure to all the gods and heroes.
“Jesus,” said I to Him at length, and my tongue faltered, “Jesus of Nazareth, I have granted you for the last three years ample freedom of speech, nor do I regret it. Your words are those of a sage. I
•This mention of “Spanish blood” by Pilate, is a singular one, and it is not known whether he was by descent a Spaniard or not.
Many of the chief Romans were natives of Spain. Trajan, the Emperor, was born near Seville.
The House of Pilate, at Seville, is an edifice of interest in this connection, inasmuch as it was erected on the plans of the dwelling of Pilate at Jerusalem. It was built on a foundation of earth brought from Pilate’s old House at Jerusalem, by the first Marquis, of Tarifa,—sufficient earth being brought from the site of the old edifice to form the foundations of the building at Seville, which was erected, as before stated, on the plans of the very house that was occupied by Pilate at Jerusalem, and, therefore, gives us a good idea of the very palace in which he lived, while he made headquarters in the latter city.REPORT OF PILATE.
419
know not whether you have read Socrates and Plato,* but this I do know, that there is in your discourses a majestic simplicity that elevates you far above these philosophers. The emperor is informed of it, and I his humble representative in this country, am glad of having allowed the liberty of which you are so worthy. However, I must not conceal from you that yonr discourses have raised up against you
*Socrates, though one of the wisest Greeks, did not teach any system of philosophy, but aimed rather to put his disciples in the way oi finding the truth for themselves. He was unattractive in person, humble and simple in life; he received no payment for his teachings, but taught^in the street or the market-place, wherever any chose to listen. The greatest of his disciples was Plato, the founder of the Academic School, so called because his lectures were given in the grove of Academus, npar a gate at Athens.
We ^re indebted to Plato for most of what we know of Socrates; for a great portion of his writings is made up of dialogues, in which Socrates had part. His own Philosophy is the highest and purest of which the ancient world could boast.	'
Socrates was condemned on a false charge of having introduced a new worship and corrupted the Athenian youth. Socrates was, in fact, too wise to believe in all the superstitions of the Greeks; but he was also too prudent to destroy the childish faith of his pupils until they were able to receive something better in the place of it. He refused(to accept his life onlhe condition of forbearing to teach; for the great aim and passion of his life was to promote virtue and wisdom in the youP'j.
He spent thirty days of his imprisonment in cheerful converse with his friends, expressing to the last his firm conviction of the soul’s immortality. When the appointed moment arrived, he drank the poison hemlock and calmly expired. (See Thalheimers Gen. His.)
Pilate mentions to Jesus here, moreover, that his character had been made known to the Emperor Tiberius; which is not unlikely, as Tiberius was a lover of any information concerning great characters—like Jesus—Socrates and Plato.420
REPORT OF PILATE.
powerful and inveterate enemies. Nor is this surprising. Socrates had his enemies, and he fell a victim to their hatred. Yours are doubly incensed against you, on account of your sayings and on account of the liberty extended toward you. They even accuse me of being indirectly leagued with you for the purpose of depriving the Hebrews .of the little civil power which Rome has left them. My request—I do not say my order—is, that you be more circumspect in the future, and more tender in arousing the pride of your enemies, lest they raise against you the stupid populace, and compel me to employ the instruments of justice.”
The Nazarene calmly replied: “Prince of the earth, your words proceed not from true wisdom. Say to the torrent, stop in the midst of the mountain home, because it will uproot the trees'of the valley. , Thie torrent will answer you, that it must obey the laws of the Creator. God alone knows whither flows the torrent. Verily, I say unto you, before the rose of Sharon blossoms the blood of the just shall be spilt.”
“Your blood shall not be spilt,” replied I, with emotion. “You are more precious in my estimation, on account of your wisdom, than all the turbulent and proud Pharisees, who abuse the freedom granted them by the Romans, conspire against Caesar and construe our bounty into fear. Insolent wretches, they are not aware that the wolf of the Tiber* sometimes clothes himself with the skin of
*The “Wolf of the Tiber” is doubtless an allusion to Romulus andREPORT OF PILATE.
421
the sheep. I will protect you against them. My Pretorium is open to you as an asylum.”
Jesus carelessly shook his head, and with a grace and divine smile said: “When the day shall have come, there will be no asylum for the Son of Man, neither in the earth nor under the earth. The asylum of the just is there” (pointing to the heavens.) “That which is written in the books of the prophets must be accomplished. ’ ’
“Young,man,” answered I mildly, “you oblige me to convert my request into an order. The safety of the province which is confided to my care requires it. You must observe more moderation in your discourses. Do not infringe. My orders, you know. May happiness attend you. Farewell.”
“Prince of earth,” replied Jesus, “I come not to bring war into the world, but peace, love and char-
his twin brother, Remus.
Romulus was the mythical founder of Rome and the first king. The children, according to legend, were born of the vestal virgin Rhea Sylvia by the god Mars.
Rhea Sylvia was the daughter of Numitor, rightful heir of the king of Alba, but deprived by his brother.
Exposed with his brother Remus, Romulus was suckled by a she-wolf and afterward brought up by a shepherd.
The “Wolf of the Tiber” seems to be another name for the “Emperor of Rome,” or is spoken in allusion to him, and “clothes himself with the skin of a sheep" an Elusion to the mild policy of Tiberius— toward the Jews—at Jerusalem.
The Romans, though rich and luxurious, were hardly less brutal than the wolves whom tradition made their foster-brothers. Their favorite sport was to see the bravest of their captives fight with wild beasts, or butcher each other in the arena, “to make a Roman holiday. ”422
REPORT OF PILATE.
ity. Persecution proceeds not from me. I expect it from others, and will meet it in obedience to the will of my Father, who has shown me the way. Restrain, therefore, your worldly prudence. It is not in your power to arrest the victim at the foot of the tabernacle of expiation.”	So saying he disap-
peared like a bright shadow behind the curtains of the basilic.
To Herod, who is reigning, in Galilee, the enemies of Jesus addressed themselves, to wreak their vengeance on the Nazarene. Had Herod consulted his own inclination, he would have ordered Jesus immediately to be put to death ; but though proud of his royal dignity, yet he was afraid of committing an act that might diminish his influence with the Senate. Herod called on me one day at the Preto-rium, and on rising to take his leave, after some insignificant conversation, he ask#d me what was my opinion concerning the Nazarene. I replied that Jesus appeared to be one of those great philosophers that great nations sometimes produce, that his doctrines are by no means sacrilegious, and that the intention of Rome was to leave him to that freedom of speech which was justified by his actions. Herod smiled maliciously, and saluting me with an ironical respect, he departed. The great feast of the Jews was approaching, and their intention was to avail themselves of the popular exultation which always manifests itself at the solemnities of the Pass-over. The city was overflowing with a tumultuous populace clamoring for the death of the Nazarene. My emissaries informed me that the treasure of theREPORT OF PILATE.
423
Temple had been employed in bribing the people. The danger was pressing. A Roman centurion had been insulted. I had written to the prefect of Syria for a hundred foot-soldiers and as many cavalry He had declined. I saw myself alone with a handful of veterans in the midst of a rebellious city, too weak to suppress a disorder, and having no other choice left but to tolerate it. They had seized upon Jesus, and the seditious rabble, although they had nothing to fear from the Pretorium, believing, with their leaders, that I winked at their sedition, continued vociferating, “Crucify him! crucify him!” Three powerful parties had combined together at that time against Jesus. First the Herodians and the Sadducees, whose seditious conduct seemed to have proceeded from double motives. They hated the Nazarene, and were impatient of the Roman yoke. They could never forgive me for having entered their holy city with banners that bore the image of the Roman emperor,* and although in this
* Josephus, the Jewish historian, who was by no means friendly to Pilate, yet furnished these facts:	The Roman soldiers came from
Caesarea to Jerusalem by night—possibly to diminish chances of offence. The Jews objected to the images on their standards.
Pilate after finding the matter might cause trouble, .sent, though not without delay, the images back to Caesarea.
He found that the city needed water, and that a large sum of money was lying in the temple useless, or probably worse than useless, since unprincipled men must have found means to misuse it. He took the money, made an aqueduct (Antiq. 18: 3, 2.), and repressed the mob which followed. See Huidekoper’s Judiaism at Rome p. 516, Note 45.424
REPORT OF PILATE.
instance I had commited a fatal error, yet the sacrilege did not appear less heinous in their eyes. Another grievance, also rankled in their bosoms. I had proposed to employ a part of the treasure of the Temple in erecting edifices of public utility. My proposal was scowled at. The Pharisees were
Josephus gives us this account of the affair:—But now Pilate, the Procurator of Judea, removed the army from Cesarea to Jerusalem, to take their winter-quarters there, in order to abolish the Jewish laws. So he introduced Caesar’s effigies, which were uqon the ensigns, and brought them into the city; whereas our law forbids us the very making of images; on which account the former procurators were wont to *nake their entry into the city, with such ensigns as had not those ornaments. Pilate was the first who brought those images to Jerusalem, and set them^p there; which was done without the knowledge of the people, because it was done in the nighttime; but as soon as they knew it, they came in multitudes to Cesarea, and interceded with Pilate many days, that he would remove the images; and when he would not grant their requests, because it would tend to the injury of Caesar, while yet they persevered in their requests, on the sixth day he ordered his soldiers to have their weapons privately, while he came and sat upon his judgment-seat; which seat was so prepared in the open place of the city, that it '¡concealed the army that lay ready to oppress them; and when the Jews petitioned him again, he gave a signal to the soldiers to encompass them round, and threatened that their punishment should be no less than immediate death, unless they would leave off disturbing him, and go their ways home; but they threw themselves upon the ground, and laid their necks bare, and said they would take their death very willingly, rather than the wisdom of their laws should l e transgressed; upon which Pilate was deeply affected with their firm resolution to keep their laws inviolable, and presently commanded the images to be carried back from Jerusalem to Cesarea.
But Pilate undertook to bring a current of water to Jerusalem, and did it with the sacred money, and derived the origin of the stream from the distance of two hundred furlongs. However the Jews were not pleased with whaj hqjd been done about this water;REPORT OF PILATE.
425
the avowed enemies of Jesus. They cared not for the government. They bore with bitterness the severe reprimands which the Nazarene for three years had been throwing out against them wherever he had gone. Too weak and pusilanimous to act by themselves, they had embraced the quarrels of the Herodians and the Sadducees. Besides these three parties I had to contend against the reckless and profligate populace, always ready to join a sedition, and to profit by the disorder and confusion that followed from it. . Jesus was dragged before the high priest and condemned. It was there that the high priest Caiaphas performed a derisory act of submission. He sent his prisoner to, me to pronounce his condemnation to death and secure his execution. I answered him that as Jesus was a Galilean, the affair came in Herod’s jurisdiction, and ordered him to be sent thither. The wily tjetrarch professed humility, and protesting his preference to the Lieuten-
ant! many ten thousands of the people got together, and made a clamour against him, and insisted that he should leave otf that design. Some of them also used reproaches, and abused this man, as crowds of such people usually'do. So he habited a great number of his soldiers in their habit, who carried daggers under their garments, and sent them to a place where they might surround them. So he bade the Jews himself go away; but they boldly casting reproaches upon him, he gave the soldiers that signal which had been beforehand agreed on; who laid upon them with much greater blows than Pilate had commanded them, and equally punished those that were tumultuous; and those that were not; nor did they spare them in the least; and since the people were unarmed, and were caught by men prepared for what they were about, there was a great number of them slain by this means, and others of them ran away wounded; and thus an end was put to this sedition. Antiq. chap, ij, Book xviii.426
REPORT OF PILATE.
ant of Caesar, he committed the man to my hands. Soon my palace assumed the aspect of a besieged citadel. Every moment increased the number of the seditionists. Jerusalem was inundated with crowds from the mountains of Nazareth. All Judea appeared to be pouring into the devoted city. I had taken a wife*—a girl from among the Gauls, who pretended to see into futurity, weeping and throwing herself at my feet—“Beware said she to me, “beware and touch not that man, for he is holy. Last night I saw him in a vision. He was walking on the waters. He was flying on the wings of the winds. He spoke to the tempest and to the fishes of the lake ; all were obedient to him. Behold ! the torrent in Mount Kedron flows with blood, the statues of Caesar are filled with the filth of Ge-moniae, the columns of the Interium have given away and the sun is veiled in mourning like a vestal in the tomb. O, Pilate, ¡evil awaits thee if thou wilt not listen to the prayer of thy wife. Dread the curse of the Roman Senate, dread the powers of Caesar. ’ ’
By this time the marble stairsf groaned under the
*The wife of Pilate mentioned here is also alluded to in the ’’Acts of Pilate” as Procle or Procula, is said by Sir Edwin Arnold in his “Light of the World” to have been of patrician blood, and descended from the great Claudian family of which Tiberius Caesar was also a member.
It is possible there may have been some blood-relationship between this woman and the emperor, and that through it Pilate received his appointment as procurator of Judea.
+There is a celebrated staircase consisting of twenty-eight marble steps in the chapel of the church of St. John Lateran at Rome,REPORT OF PILATE.
427
weight of the multitude. The Nazarene was brought back to me. I proceeded to the hall of justice, followed by my guard, and asked the people in a severe tone what they demanded. “The death of the Nazarene,’ ’ was their reply. “For what crime ?’ ’ “He has blasphemed. He has prophesied the ruin of the Temple. • He calls himself the Son of God, the Messiah, promised to the Jews.” “Roman justice,” said I, “punishes not such offenses with death. ’ * “Crucify him, crucify him ! ’ ’ beached forth the relentless rabble. The vociferations of the infuriated mob shook the palace to its foundations. There was but one who appeared to be calm in the midst of the vast multitude. It was the Nazarene. After many fruitless attempts to protect him from the,fury of his merciless persecutors, I adopted a measure which at the moment appeared to me to be the only one that could save his life. I ordered him to be scourged ; then calling for an ewer, I washed my hands in the presence of the multitude, thereby signifying to them my disapproval of the deed. But in vain. It was his life that these wretches thirsted for.
brought thither by the empress Helena A. D. 325, said to be the stairway which Jesus several times ascended and descended when he appeared before Pilate, and doubtless the same spoken of here as, “still stained with the blood of the Nazarene.”
Multitudes of pilgrims, bearing roses in their hands, and kissing each step as they ascended to the top on their knees, have passed since then up this flight of marble steps made sacred by the feet of Jesus.
Martin Luther once ascended these stairs and thought he heard a voice saying, “the just shall live by faith.”428
REPORT OF PILATE.
Often in our civil commotions have I witnessed the furious animosity of the multitude, but nothing could be compared to what I witnessed in the present instance. It might have been truly said that on this occasion all the phamtoms of the infernal regions had assembled at Jerusalem. The multitude appeared not to walk. It was borne off and whirled as a vortex, rolling like living waves from the portals of the Pretorium even unto Mount Zion, with howlings such as were never heard in the seditions of Panonia,* or in the tumults of the forum. By degrees the day darkened like a winter’s twilight, such as had been at the death of the great Julius Caesarf It was likewise towards the ides of March
*This allusion to the seditions of Panonia was doubtless made by Pilate in compliment to Tiberius. It was during the four serious campaigns which this rebellion cost Rome, that Tiberius showed himself at his best as a general. In alluding to these palmy days of his military career by a mere word let drop, Pilate directs a deserved compliment that could not fail to stir the heart of Caesar with the memory of a proud recollection, as well as impress him with the difficulties under which Pilate must have often labored in the seditious and turbulent {iots ever breaking out among the Jews.
+The darkening of the sun, a very unusual and long one, occurring at the time of the great Julius Caesar’s assassination, is mentioned by Mark Antony in a letter of his to Hyrcanus the Jewish high-priest about 42 B. c., and preserved to us by Josephus and is as follows: “I am therefore satisfied, both by your actions and your words, that you [Hyrcanus] are well disposed toward us [Antony’s party]; and I understand that your conduct of life is constant and religious, so that I reckon you as our own; but when those that were adversaries to you and to the Roman people [the enemies and slayers of Coesar] abstained neither from cities nor temples, and did not observe the agreement they had made and confirmed by oath, it wasREPORT OF PILATE.
429
I, the continued governor of a rebellious province, was leaning against a column of my basilic contemplating through the dreary gloom these fiends of torture dragging to execution the innocent Nazarene. All around me was deserted. Jerusalem had vomited forth her indwellers through the funeral gate that leads to the Gemonica. An air of desolation and sadness enveloped me. My guards had joined the cavalry, and the centurion to display a shadow of power, was endeavoring to keep order. I was left alone, and my breaking heart admonished me that what was passing at that moment appertained rather to the history of the gods than to that of man. A loud clamor was heard proceeding from Golgotha, which, borne on the winds, seemed to announce an agony such as had never been heard by mortal ears. Dark clouds lowered over the pinnacle of the Temple, and settling over the city, covered it as with a veil. So dreadful were the signs that were seen, both in the heavens and on the earth, that Dionysius,* the Areopagite, is reported to have
not only on account of our control with them, but on account of all mankind in commom, that we have taken vengeance on these authors of great injustice towards men, and of great wickedness towards the gods, for the sake of which we suppose that it was that the sun turned away his light from us, as unwilling to view the horrid crime they were guilty of in the case of Ccesar. (See Josephus Amtiq. Book xiv, chap, xiii, 3.)
•Dionysius, the Areopagite was a native of Athens, and a member of the Areopagus, where he sat when St. Paul was brought before it,.and delivered his famous speech respecting “tjjie unknown God,” which is said to have been the means of converting Dionysius.430
REPORT OF PILATE.
exclaimed, “Either the auther of nature is suffering, or the universe is falling apart.” Toward the first hour of the night I threw my mantle around me and went down into the city toward the gates of Golgotha. The sacrifice was consummated. The multitude was returning home ; still agitated, it is true, but gloomy, taciturn and desperate. What it had witnessed had caused terror and remorse. I also saw my little Roman cohort pass by mournfully, the standard-bearer having veiled his eagle in token of grief, and I overheard some of the soldiers murmuring strange words, which I did not understand. Others were recounting prodigies almost similar to those which had so often smitten the Romans by the will of the gods. Sometimes groups of men and women would halt, then looking back towards Golgotha would remain motionless in expectation of witnessing some new prodigy. I returned to the Pretorium, sad and pensive. On ascending the stairs, the steps of which were still stained with the blood of the Nazarene, I perceived an old man in a suppliant posture, and behind him several women in tears. He threw himself at my feet and wept bitterly. It is painful to see an old man weep.
“Father,” said I to him mildly, “who are you, and what is your request?”
“I am Joseph of Arimathea,” replied he, “and
According to some accounts he was made bishop of Athens and is said to have suffered martyrdom about A. D. 95.REPORT OF PILATE.
431
am come to beg of you upon my knees the permission to bury Jesus of Nazareth.”
“Your prayer is granted»” said I to him, and at the same time ordered Manlius to take some soldiers with him to superintend the interment, lest it should be profaned.
A few days after, the sepulchre was found empty. His disciples published all over the country that Jesus had risen from the dead, as he had foretold. A last duty remained for me to perform, and that was to communicate to Caesar these deplorable events*
I did it oil the same night that followed the fatal catastrophe, and had just finished the communication when day began to dawn. At that moment the sound of clarions playing the air of Diana struck my ear. Casting my eye toward the Caesarean gate I beheld a troop of soldiers, and heard at a distance other trumpets sounding Caesar’s march. It was the reinforcement that had been promised me*—two thousand chosen troops—who to hasten their arrival had marched all night, “It has been decreed by the fates,” cried I, wringing my hands, “that the great iniquity should be accomplished ; that for averting the deeds of yesterday, troops should arrive today. Cruel destiny, how thou sportest with the affairs of mortals.” It was but too true what the Nazarene had exclaimed while writhing on the cross, “All is consummated.”
* See page 14S of the Acts of Pilate where 500 of these soldiers were given the priests to guard the sepulchre.SUMMARY OF ROMAN DECREES.
The decrees which follow are important to one who would understand that portion of history which is closely connected with the trial and crucifixion of Jesus. The jurisdiction of the Sanhedrin over the ecclesiastical affairs of the people, the rights and privileges of the high priests, and of all officials connected with the oversight of religious matters, will be gathered from these decrees which were made especially for setting forth such rights, privileges and powers.
Jesephus, after having quoted at great length the decrees of the magistrates of the Laodiceans, of Publius Servilius to the magistrates, senate and people of the Milesians, those of Pergamus, Halicarnassus, Ephesians, and others, speaks of these decrees as follows:
“Now there are many such decrees of the senate and imperators of the Romans, and those different from these before us, which have been made in favor of Hyrcanus, and 6f our nation; as also, there have been more decrees of the cities, and rescripts of the
(432)SUMMARY.
433
pretors to such epistles as concerned our rights and privileges, and certainly such as are not ill-disposed to what we write, may believe that they, are all to this purpose, and that by the specimens which we have inserted, for since we have produced evident marks that may still be seen, of the friendship we have had with the Romans, and demonstrated that those marks are engraven upon columns and tables of brass in the capitol, that are still in being, and preserved to this day, we have omitted to set them all down, as needless and disagreeable; for I can not suppose any one so perverse as not to believe the friendship we have had with the Romans, while they have demonstrated the same by such a great number of their decrees relating to us; nor will they doubt of our fidelity as to the rest of those decrees, since we have shown the same in those we haye produced.” (Antiq., Book XIV, Chap, x, 26.)
Below are given some decrees of Julius Caesar concerning the Jews.
Josephus informs us that these records “are laid up in the public places of the cities, and are extant still in the capital, and engraven upon pillars of brass; nay, besides this, Julius Caesar made a pillar of brass for the Jews of Alexandria, and declared publicly that they were citizens of Alexandria. Out of these evidences will I demonstrate what I say; and will now set down the decrees made both by the senate and by Julius Caesar, which relate to Hyrcanus and to The Jews.”
“Caius Julius Caesar, imperator and high priest, and dictator the second time, to the magistrates, senate, and people of Sidon, sendeth greeting. If you be in health, it is well. I also and the army are well. I have sent you a copy of that decree, registered on the tables, which concerns Hyrcanus, the son of Alexander, the high priest and ethnarch of the Jews, that it may be laid up among the public records; and I will that it be openly proposed in a table of brass both in Greek and in Latin. It is as follows: I, Julius Ccesar,434
SUMMARY.
imperator the second time, and high priest, have made this decree, with the approbation of the senate: Whereas Hyrcanus, the son of Alexander the Jew, hath demonstrated his fidelity and diligence about our affairs, and this both now and in former times, both in peace and in war, as many of our generals have borne witness, and came to our assistance in the last Alexandrian war, with fifteen hundred soldiers; and when he was sent by me to Mithridates, showed himself superior in valour to all the rest of that army :—for these reasons I will that Hyrcanus, the son of Alexander, and his children, be ethnarchs of the Jews, and have the high priesthood of the Jews for ever, according to the customs of their forefathers, and that he and his son be our confederates ; and that besides this, everyone of them be reckoned among our particular friends. I also ordain,, that he and his children retain whatsoever privileges belong to the office of high priest, or whatsoever favours have been hitherto granted them ; and if at any time hereafter there arise any questions about the Jewish customs, I will that he determine the same : and I think it not proper that they should be obliged to find us in winter quarters, or that any money should be required of them. ”
“THE DECREES of Caius Caesar, consul, containing what hath been granted and determined, are as follows:—That Hyrcanus and his children bear rule over the nation of the Jews, and have the profits of the places to them bequeathed : and that he, as himself the high priest and ethnarch of the Jews, defend those that are injured; and that ambassadors be sent to Hyrcanus, the son of Alexander the high priest of the Jews, that may discourse with him about a league of friendship and mutual assistance; and that a table •of brass, containing the premises, be openly proposed in the capitol, and at Sidon, and Tyre, and Askelon, and in the temple, engraven in Roman and Greek letters: and that this decree may also be communicated to the questors and pretors of the several cities, and to the friends of the Jews: and th&t the ambassadors may have presents made them, and that these decrees be sent everywhere. ” ,
“CAIUS C-dSSAR, imperator, dictator, consul, hath granted, that out of regard to the honour, and virtue, and kindness of the man, and for the advantage of the senate, and of the people of Rome, Hyrcanus, the son of Alexander, both he and his children, be high priests and priests of Jerusalem, and of the Jewish nation, by the same right, and according to the same laws, by which their progenitors have held the priesthood.SUMMARY.
435
“CAIUS C-tfLSAR, consul the fifth time, hath decreed, That the Jews shall possess Jerusalem, and may encompass that city with walls, and that Hyrcanus, the son of Alexander, the high priest and ethnarch of the Jews, retain it in the manner he himself pleases: and the Jews be allowed to deduct out of their tribute, every second year the land islet [in the Sabbatic period], a corus of that tribute: and that the tribute they pay be not let to farm, nor that they pay always the same tribute.”
“CAIUS CAESAR, imperator the second time, hath ordained, That all the country of the Jews, excepting Joppa, do pay a tribute yearly for the city Jerusalem, excepting the seventh, which they call the Sabbatical Year, because thereon they neither receive the fruits of their trees, nor do they sow their land; and that they pay their tribute in' Sidon on the seventh year [of that Sabbatic period,] the fourth part of what was sown ; and besides this, they are to pay the same tithes to Hyrcanus and his sons, which they paid to their forefathers. And that no one, neither president, nor lieutenant, nor ambassador, raise auxiliaries within the bounds of Judea, nor may soldiers exact money of them for winter quarters, or under any other pretence, but that they may be free from all sorts of injuries ; and that whatsoever they shall hereafter have, and are in possession of, or have bought, they shall retain them all. It is also our pleasure th?.ti the city Joppa, which the Jews had originally when they made a league of friendship with the Romans, shall belong to them, as it formerly did.
Below we subjoin extracts of the decrees of Mark Antony, and, after him, of Augustus Caesar.
“MARCUS ANTONIUS, imperator, to the magistrates, senate, and people of Tyre, sendeth greeting. 1 have sent you my decree, of which I will that ye take care that it be engraven on the public tables, in Roman and Greek letters, and that it stand engraven in the most illustrious places, that it may be read by all. Marcus Anton-ius, imperator, one of the triumvirate over the public affairs, made the declaration :—Since Caius Cassius, in this revolt he hath made, hath pillaged that province which belonged not to him, and was held by garrisons there encamped, while they were our confederates, and hath spoiled that nation of the Jews which was in friendship with the Roman people, as in war ; and since we have overcome his madness by arms, we now correct by our decrees and judicial determination's, what he hath laid waste, that those things may be restored to436
SUMMARY.
our confederates ;'and a«! for what hath been sold of the Jewish possessions, whether they be bodies or possessions, let them be released; the bodies into that state of freedom they were originally in, and the possessions to their former owners. I also will, That he who shall not comply with this decree of mine, shall be punished for his disobedience ; and if such a one be caught, I will take care that the offenders suffer condign punishment. ”
THE SAME thing did Antony write to the Sidonians, and the Antiochians, and the Ardians.
“CAESAR AUGUSTUS, high priest and tribune of the people, ordains thus:—Since the nation of the Jews hath been found grateful to the Roman people, not only at this time, but in time past also, and chiefly Hyrcanus the high priest, under my father Caesar the emperor, it seemed good to me and my counsellors, according to the sentence and oath of the people of Rome, that the Jews have liberty to make use of their own customs, according to the law of their forefathers, as they made use of them under Hyrcanus the high priest of Almighty God ; and that their sacred money be not touched but be sent to Jerusalem, and that it be committed to the care of the receivers at Jerusalem ; and that they be not obliged to go before any judge on the Sabbath-day, nor on the day of the preparation to it, after the ninth hour : but if any one be caught stealing their holy books, or their sacred money, whether it be out of the synagogue or public school, he shall.be deemed a sacrilegious person, and his goods shall be brought into the public treasury of the Romans- And I give order, that the testimonial which they have given me, on account of my regard to that piety which I exercise toward all mankind, and out of regard to Caius Marcus Censorinus, together with the present decree, be proposed in that most eminent place which hath been consecrated to me by- the community of Asia at Ancyra. And if any one transgress any part of what is above decreed, he shall be severely punished.” This was inscribed upon a pillar in the temple of Caesar.
Below will be found an edict of the emperor Claudius, concerning the Jews, and also a letter.
EDICT.
“Tiberius Claudius Caesar, Augustus, Germanicus, high priest, tribune of the people, chosen coflsul the second time, ordains thus:—SUMMARY.
437
Upon the petition of king Agrippa and king Herod, who are persons very dear to me, that I would grant the same rights and privileges should be preserved to the Jews which are in all the Roman empire, which I have granted to those of Alexandria, I very willingly comply' therewith ; and this grant I make not only for the sake of the petitioners, but as judging those Jews for whom I have been petitioned worthy of such a favour, on account of their fidelity and friendship to the Romans. I think it also very just that no Grecian city should be deprived of such rights and privileges, since they were preserved to them under the great Augustus. It will therefore be fit to permit the Jews, who are in all the world under us, to keep their ancient customs without being hindered so to do. And I do charge them also to use this my kindness to them with moderation, and not to show a contempt of the superstitious observances of other nations, but to keep their own laws only. And I will, that this decree of mine be engraven on tables by the magistrates of the cities and colonies, and municipal places, both those within Italy and those without it, both kings and governors, by the means of the ambassadors, and to have them exposed to the public for full thirty days, in such a place, whence it may be plainly read from the ground. ”
This form was so known and frequent among the Romans, that it used to be thus represented at the bottom of their edicts by the initial letters only, U. D. P. R. L. P. Unde De piano Recte Legi Pos-sit; “Whence it may be plainly read from the ground.”
LETTER.
“Claudius Caesar, Germanicus, tribune of the people the fifth time, and designed consul the fourth time, and imperator the tenth time, the father of his country, to the magistrates, senate, and people, and the whole nation of the Jews, sendeth greeting. Upon the presentation of your ambassadors to me by Agrippa my friend, whom I have brought up, and have now with me, and who is a person of very great piety, who are come to give me thanks for the care I have taken of your nation, and to entreat me, in an earnest and obliging manner, that they may have the holy vestments, with the crown belonging to theiti, under their power,—I grant their request, as that excellent person Vitellius, who is very dear to me, had done before me. And I have complied with your desire, in the first place, out of regard to that piety which I profess, and because I would have every one worship God according to the laws of their own country :43»
SUMMARY.
and this I do also, because I shall hereby highly gratify king Herod and Agrippa junior, whose sacred regards to me, and earnest goodwill to you, I am well acquainted with, and with whom I have the greatest friendship, and whom I highly esteem, and look on as a person of the best character. Now I have written about these affairs to Cuspius Fadus, my procurator. The names of those that brought me your letter are Cornelius, the son of Cero, Trypho, the son of Thendio, Dorotheus, the son of Nathaniel, and John, the son of John. This is dated before the fourth of the calends of July, when Rufus and Pompeius Sylvanus are consuls. ”
The foregoing decrees are sufficient to illustrate the disposition of their writers toward the government of the Jewish people, so far as the matters related in them are concerned.
Moreover they serve to show us the manner and style of such public writings as made between the Romans and the Jews, and the care taken to preserve them, on pillars, monuments and tablets.
Besides these public edicts, many letters concerning minor matters of personal concern are preserved to us, which passed between the officials of both governments.
The truth is, at some periods of their history, after the days of Julius Caesar on to the times of Tiberius and Claudius, a sort of family connection subsisted between the great Houses of the Jews and their Roman rulers/
In the case of Agrippa the great-grand-son of Herod the Great, we have an instance, as well as in his father, Agrippa the Great, of most intimate and friendly intercourse between the emperors and senate of Rome and the Jewish kings or governors.
It was the custom of the Roman Government to live with and treat the heads of foreign Houses inSUMMARY.
439
the provinces, so as to gain them over to the Romans entirely, and to more easily and completely assimilate these provincial territories.
We shall set down here a proof of how far this had been done in his case, by Agrippa’s great speech, to the Jews, to dissuade them from war with the Romans ; and because, in this speech we have an authentic account of the extent and strength of the Roman Empire when the Jewish war began, and much other history illustrative of the Roman attitude toward the Jews before and at this time ; and because it especially illustrates the stubborn tenacity with which the Jews clung to the idea of resistance to their Roman masters.
This Agrippa is the “King Agrippa” mentioned in the Acts of Apostles chap, xxvi, and before whom Paul made his defence, and who said to Paul, “almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.” He was a most admirable man, and as Paul puts it “expert m all questions and customs which are among the Jews.” Wherefore Paul besought him “to hear (him) most patiently.”
“Had I perceived that you were all zealously disposed to go to war with the Romans, and that the purer and more sincere part of the people did not propose to live in peace, 1 had not come out to you, nor been ~o bold as to give you counsel; for all discourses that tend to persuade men to do what they ought to do is superfluous, when the hearers are agreed to do the contrary. But because some are earnest to go to war because they are young, and without experience of the miseries it brings; and because some are for it, out of an unreasonable expectation of regaining their liberty, and because others hope to get by it, and are therefore earnestly bent upon it; that in the confusion of your affairs they may gain what belongs to those that are too weak to resist them, I have’thought proper to get you all440
SUMMARY.
together, and to say to you what I think to be for your advantage; that so the former may grow wiser, and change their minds, and that the best men may'come to no harm by the ill conduct of some others. And let not any one be tumultuous against me, in case what they hear me say do not please them; for as to those that admit of no cure, but are resolved upon a revolt, it will still be in their power to retain the same sentiments after my exhortation is over ; but still my discourse will fall to the ground, even with relation to those that have a mind to hear me, unless you will all keep silence. I am well aware that they make a tragical exclamation concerning the injuries that have been offered you by your procurators, and concerning the glorious advantages of liberty; but before I begin the inquiry, who you are that must go to war, and who they are against whom you must fight,—I shall first separate those pretences that are by some connected together ; for if you aim at avenging yourselves on those that have done you injury, why do you pretend this to be a war for recovering your liberty? but if you think all servitude intolerable, to what purpose serve your complaints against your particular governors? for if they treated you with moderation, it would still be equally an unworthy thing to be in servitude. Consider now the several cases that may be supposed, how liitle occasion there is for your going to war. Your first occasion is, the accusations you have to make against your procurators: now here you ought to be submissive to those in authority, and not give them any provocation: but when you reproach men greatly for small offences, you excite those whom you reproach to be your adversaries ; for this will only make' them leave off hurting you privately, and with some degree of modesty, and to lay what you have waste openly. Now nothing so much damps the force of strokes as bearing them with patience ; and the quietness of those who are injuried diverts the injurious persons from afflicting. But let us take it for granted that the Roman ministers are injurious to you, and are incurably severe; yet are they not all the Romans who thus injure you ; nor hath Caesar, against whom you are going to make war, injuried you: it is not by their command that any wicked governor is sent to you ; for they who are in the west cannot see those that are in the east; nor indeed is it easy for them there, even to hear what is done in those parts. Now it is absurd to make war with a great many for the sake of one; to do so with such mighty people, for a small cause; and this when these people are not able to know of what you complain : nay, such crimesSUMMARY.
441
as we complain of may soon be corrected, for the same procurator will not continue forever ; and probable it is that the successors will come with more moderate inclinations. But as for war, if it be once begun, it is not easily laid down again, nor borne without calamities coming therewith. However, as to the desire of recovering your liberty, it is unreasonable to indulge it so late ; whereas you ought to have laboured earnestly in old time that you might never have lost it; for the first experience of slayery was hard to be endured, and the struggle that you might never have been subject to it would have been just; but that slave who hath been once brought into subjection, and then runs away, is rather a refactory slave than a lover of liberty; for it was then the proper time for doing all that was possible, that you might never have admitted the Romans into your city when Pompey came first into the country. But so it was, that our ancestors and their kings, who were in much better circumstances than we are, both as to money and strong bodies, and valiant souls, did not bear the onset of a small body of the Roman army And yet you who have not accustomed yourselves to obedience from one generation to another, and who are so much inferior to those who first submitted in your circumstances, will venture to oppose the entire empire of the Romans; while those Athenians, who, in order to preserve the liberty pf Greece, did once set fire to their own city who pursued Xerxes, that proud prince, when he sailed upon the land, and walked upon the sea; and could not be contained by the seas ; but conducted such an army as was too broad for Europe; and made him run away like a fugitive in a single ship, and brake so great a part of Asia at theLesser Salamis, are yet at this time servants to the Romans; and those injunctions which are sent from Italy, become laws to the principal governing city of Greece. Those Lacedemonians also, who got the great victories at Thermopylae and Platea, and had Agesilaus for their king, and searched every corner of Asia, are contented to admit the same lords. These Macedonians also, who still fancy what great men their Philip and Alexander were, and see that the latter had promised them empire over the world, these bear so great a change, and pay their obedience to those whom fortune hath advanced in their stead. Moreover, ten thousand other nations there are, who had greater reason than we to claim their entire liberty, and yet do submit. You are the only people who think it a disgrace to be servants to those to whom all the world hath submitted. What sort of an army do you rely on? What are442
SUMMARY.
the arms you depend on? Where is your fleet, that may seize upon the Roman seas? and where are those treasures which may be sufficient for your undertakings? Do you suppose, I pray you, that you are to make war with the Egyptians, and with the Arabians? Will you not carefully reflect upon the Roman empire? Will you not estimate your own weakness? Hath not your army been often beaten even by your neighbouring nations, while the power of the Romans is invincible in all parts of the habitable earth? nay, rather, they seek for somewhat still beyond that; for all Euphrates is not sufficient boundary for them on the east side, nor the Danube on the north; and for their southern limit, Libya hath been searched over by them, as far as countries uninhabited, as is Cadiz their limit on the west; nay, indeed, they have sought for another habitable earth beyond the ocean, and have carried their arms as far as such British islands as were never known before. What, therefore, do you pretend to? Are you richer than the Gauls, stronger than the Germans, wiser than the Greeks, more numerous than all men upon the habitable earth?—What confidence is it that elevates you to oppose the Romans? Perhaps it will be said, it is hard to endure slavery. Yes; but how much harder is this to the Greeks, who were esteemed the -noblest of all people under the sun? These, though they inhabit in a large country, are in subjection to six bundles of Roman rods. It is the same case with the Macedonians, who have juster reason to claim their liberty than you have. What is the case of five hundred cities of Asia? do they not submit to a single governor, and to the consular bundle of rods? What need I speak of the Heniochi, and Colchi, and the nation of Tauri, those that inhabit the Bosphorus, and the nations about Pontus, and Meotis, who formerly knew not so much as a lord of their own, but are now subject to three thousand armed men, and where forty long ships keep the sea in peace, which before was not navigable, and very tempestuous? How strong a plea may Bithynia, and Cappadocia, and the people of Pamphylia, the Lycians, and Cilicians, put in for liberty! but they are made tributary without an army. What are the circumstances of the Thracians, whose country extends in breadth five days’ journey, and in length seven, and is of a much more harsh constitution, and much more defensible than yours, and, by the rigour of its cold, sufficient to keep off armies from attacking them? do not they submit to two thousand men of the Roman garrisons? Are not the Illyrians, who inhabit the country adjoining, as far as Dalmatia and the Danube,.SUMMARY.
443
governed by barely two legions? by which also they put a stop to the incursions of the Dacians; and for the Dalmatians, who have made such frequent insurrections, in order to regain their liberty, and Hvho could never before be so thoroughly subdued, but that they always gathered their forces together again, and revolted, yet are they n6w very quiet under one Roman legion. Moreover, if great advantages might provoke any people to revolt, the Gauls might do it best of all, as being so thoroughly walled round by nature ; on the east side by the Alps, on tjie north by the river Rhine, on the south by Pyrenean mountains, and on the west by the ocean.—Now, although these Gauls have such obstacles before them to prevent any attack upon them, and have no fewer than three hundred and five nations among them, nay have, as one may say, the fountains of domestic happiness within themselves, and send out plentiful streams of happiness over almost the whole world, these bear to be tributary to the Romans, and derive their prosperous condition from them; and they undergo this, not because they are of effeminate minds, or because they are of an ignoble stock, as having borne a war of eighty years, in order to preserve their liberty,—but by reason of the great regard they have to the power of the Romans, and their good fortune which is of greater efficacy than their. arms. These Gauls, therefore, are kept in servitude by twelve hundred soldiers, who are hardly so many as are their cities; nor hath the gold dug out of the mines of Spain been sufficient for the support of a war to preserve their liberty, nor could their vast distance from the Romans by land and by sea do it ; nor could the martial tribes of the Lusitanians and Spaniards escape; no more could the ocean, with its tide, which yet was terrible to the ancient inhabitants. Nay, the Romans have extended their arms beyond the Pillars of Hercules, and have walked among the clouds, upon the Pyrenean mountains, and have subdued these nations ; and one legion is a sufficient guard for these people, although they were so hard to be conquered, and at a distance so remote from Rome. Who is there among you who hath not heard of the great number of the Germans? You have, to be sure, yourselves seen them to be strong and tall, and that frequently, since the Romans have them among their captives everywhere ; yet these Germans, who dwell in an immense country, who have minds greater than their bodies, and a soul that despises death, and who are in rage more fierce than wild beasts, have the Rhine for the boundary of their enterprises, and are tamed by eight Roman legions. Such of tfiem as were taken captive444
SUMMARY.
became their servants ; and the rest of the entire nation were obliged to save themselvess by flight. Do you also, who depend on the walls of Jerusalem, consider what a wall the Britons had ; for the Romans sailed away to them, and subdued them while they were encompassed by the ocean,, and inhabited an island that is not less than the continent of this habitable earth, and four legions are a sufficient guard to so large an island and why should I speak much more about this matter,—while the Parthians, that most warlike body of men, and lords of so many nations, and encompassed with such mighty forces, send hostages to the Romans ; whereby you may see if you please, even in Italy, the noblest nation of the east, under the notion of peace, submitting to serve them. Now, when almost all people under the sun submit to the Roman arms, will you be the only people that make war against them? and this without regarding the fate of the Carthaginians, who, in the midst of their brags of the great Hannibal, and the nobility of the Phenician original, fell by the hand of Scipjo. Nor indeed have the Cyrenians, derived from Lacedemonians, nor the Marmaridae, a nation extended as far as the regions uninhabitable for the want of water, nor have the Syrtes, a place terrible to such as barely hear it described, the Nasamons and Moors, and the immense multitude of the Numidians, been able to put a stop to the Roman valour ; and as for the third part of the habital earth (Africa), whose nations are so many that it is not easy to number them, and which is bounded by the Atlantic Sea and the Pillars of Hercules, and feeds an innumerable multitude of Ethiopians, as far as the Red Sea, these have the Romans subdued entirely. And besides the annual fruits of the earth, which maintain the multitude of the Romans for eight months in a year,this, over and above, pays all sorts of tribute, and affords revenues suitable to the necessities of the government. Nor do they, like you, esteem such injunctions a disgrace to them, although they have but one Roman legion that abides among them ; and indeed what'occassion is there for showing you the power of the Romans over remote countries, when it is so easy to learn it from Egypt in your ov,n neighbourhood? This country is extended as far as the Ethiopians and Arabia the Happy, and borders upon India ; it hath seven millions five hundred thousand men, besides the inhabitants of Alexandria, as may be learned from the revenue of the poll-tax ; yet it is not ashamed to submit to the Roman government, although it hath Alexandria as a grand temptation to a revolt, by reason it*is so full of people and of riches, and isSUMMARY.
445
besides exceeding large, its length being thirty furlongs, and its breadth no less than ten; and it pays more tribute to the Romans in one month than you do in a year ; nay, besides what it pays in money, it sends corn to Rome that supports it four months in a year : it is also walled round on all sides, either by almost impassable deserts, or seas that have no havens, or by rivers, or by lakes ; yet have none of these things been found too strong for the Roman good fortune; however, two legions that lie in that city are a bridle both for the remoter parts of Egypt, and for the parts inhabited by the more noble Macedonians. Where then are those people whom you are to have for your auxiliaries? Must they come from the parts of the world that are uninhabited? for all that are in the habitable earth are under the Romans. —Unless any of you extend his hopes as far as beyond the Euphrates, and suppose that those of your own nation that dwell in Adiabene will come to your assistance, but certainly these will not embarrass themselves with an unjustifiable war, nor, if they should follow such ill advice, will the Parthians permit them so to do : for it is their concern to maintain the truce that is between them and the.Romans, and they will be supposed to break the covenant between them, if any under their government march against the Romans. What remains, therefore, is this, that you have recourse to divine assistance; but this is already'on the side of the Romans ; for it is impossible that so vast an empire should be settled without God’s providence. Reflect upon it, how impossible it is for your zealous observations of your religious customs to be here preserved, which are hard to be observed, even when you fight with those whom you are able to conquer ; and how can you then most of all hope for God’s assistance, when, by being forced to transgress his law, you will make him turn his face from you? and if you do observe the custom of the Sabbath-days, and will not be prevailed on to do any- thing thereon, you will easily be taken, as were your forefathers by Pompey, who was the busiest in his siege on those days on which the besieged rested : but if in time of war you transgress the law of your country, I cannot tell on whose account you will afterward go to war ; for your concern is but one, that you do nothing against any of your forefathers; and how will you call on God to assist you, when you are voluntarily transgressing against his religion? Now, all men that go to war, do it either as depending on divine or human assistance; but since your going to war will cut off both those assistances, those that are for going to war choose*evident446
SUMMARY.
destruction. What hinders you from slaying your children and wives with your own hands, and burning this most excellent native city of yours? for by this mad prank you will, however, escape the reproach ■of being beaten; but it were best, O my friends, it were best, while the vessel is still in the haven, to foresee the impending storm, and not to set sail out of the port into the middle of the hurricanes; for we justly pity those who fall into great misfortunes without foreseeing them; but for him who rushes into manifest ruin, he gains reproaches instead of commiseration. But certainly no one can imagine that you can enter into a war as by agreement, or that when the Romans have got you under their power, they will use you with moderation, or will not rather, for an example to other nations, burn your holy city, and utterly destroy your whole nation ; for those of you who will survive the war, will not be able to find a place whither to flee, since all men have the Romans for their lords already, or are afraid they shall have hereafter. Nay, indeed, the danger concerns not those Jews that dwell here only, but those of them that dwell in other cities also ; for there is no people upon the habitable earth which has not some portion of you among them, whom your enemies will slay, in case you go to war, and on that account also ; and so every city which hath Jews in it will be filled with slaughter for the «ake only of a few men, and they who slay them will be pardoned; but if that slaughter be not made by them, consider how Wicked a thing it is to take arms against those that are so kind to you. Have pity, therefore, if not on your children and wives, yet upon this your metropolis, and its sacred walls ; spare the temple, and preserve the holy house, with its holy furniture, for yourselves; for if the Romans get you under thqir power, they will no longer abstain from them, when their former abstinence shall have been so ungratefully requited. I call to witness your sanctuary, and the holy angels of God, and this conntry common to us all, that I have not«kept back any thing for your preservation ; and if you will follow that advice which you ought to do, you will have that peace which will be common to you and to me; but if you indulge your passions, you will run those hazards which I shall be free from. ”
This speech of Agrippa’s in behalf of the Jews as well as in the interests of Rome, did not effect its purpose however.
Fldrus, the procurator, had so enraged them that,SUMMARY.
447
while they acknowledged Caesar’s right to rule, they could not bear the insolence and oppression of this man any more than they did that of Pilate or any other procurator.
The 'procurator was generally the man against whom they set themselves, so far as uprisings against Caesar were concerned. His acts were seized upon on every opportunity of this sort, until at last a general conflict was inaugurated to end only with the end of the Jewish state.
We have indicated very forcibly too, just here, the truth of what is so often alluded to b^ Pilate, both in his Reports and in the Acts of Pilate, that, “of all the cities under Roman rule none was so difficult to be kept at peace as was Jerusalem,” and that the Jews were and had been “always rebellious” not only against their present rulers, but of old, “against God himself.”
It has been our »purpose in giving these long extracts to show how intimate was the knowledge, of Rome with all Jewish affairs and what almost daily communication passed between Jerusalem and Rome during these times, and of what great consideration especially the Jewish province was held by her Roman masters.
It has been too generally believed and much too frequently taught, that at this time, during the lifetime of Jesus, and for long before and long after that, the little province of Judea and indeed that all Palestine amounted to nothing in the eyes of Rome, was not deserving of notice, and amounted to but little more than a far off and thinly populated desert.448
SUMMARY.
That criticism which has done its utmost to belittle every thing Jewish, and to reduce to the lowest ebb all the historical surroundings of Jesus of Nazareth, has left a very false impress on the mind of many as to every thing with which His life vyas connected.
It is for this reason mainly that we have thought best to introduce herein the persons so prominently and intimately connected with the actual trial of Jesus and to give somewhat of their character, as also those other persons of a later time, that have given prominence to certain Records left concerning that trial; and this is our only excuse for what might seem to the reader the bringing in of superfluous matter.
Every one of them named in this volume from Tiberius the emperor, to Tischendorf the literary discoveror, bears a necessary part to the history that circles around the cross on which Jesus hung as a Jewish peasant teacher, but who was taken down dead to arise the Universal Impulse of Good, and who has made immortal in history and in memory every thing he touched.
No more interesting study has ever been undertaken than that of the life of Jesus, and the rise and early progress of that system of religion founded upon His death and resurrection.
No subject has employed so much of the ablest intellect of the world, none that has so steadily grown under the opposition of skilled and powerful opponents, and, none which to-day makes so plausible a prophecy of dominating finally the soulsSUMMARY.
449
of humanity, in individual, social and religious life.
That it sits at the helm of the highest empires, the greatest kingdoms and the proudest Republics of today cannot be denied. It was not altogether reared in obscurity, in weakness, and among the poor and ignorant as some have taught.
Its founder, Jesus, walked not altogether among the lazzaroni of Palestine. His companions and associates, some of His confidential ones and His entertainers had houses and homes, and orchards and vineyards, and palaces and parks.
Genius and goodness, intelligence and purity may have often in this world • ‘no where to lay its head” in individual or personal ownership ; but greatness anywhere, especially in the head and in the heart, makes the man who owns it a welcome guest hot only with Martha and Lazarus, but with Zacheus and the immaculate and uplifted pharisee.
Moral greatness, like the Sun, gilds alike hovel and palace, it draws toward itself the dew drop and the flower it bends, it makes the whole world gladder for its coming. Jesus was welcome at the Preto-rium of Pilate, in the home of rich Zacheus, or in the fisherman’s tent.
He taught even in the Temple, or by the wayside, and the sea-shore alike. He sought no personal notoriety, but seemed most pleased when ministering to the humblest of His people. His chosen followers were men and women of the lowly walks of life. All may "wonder why the priests should persecute Him, and must be surprised how rapidly His teachings spread throughout the world.
29450
SUMMARY.
He must have had some great friends like the rich Joseph of Arimathea, and the ruler Nicodemus and the haughty Magdalene, that could bring enough spices about his grave, 2000 years ago, to make the perfume there so sweet and lasting, even until this hour.
There, the secret lies. Strong souls were those that He had conquered.
Hearts of oak and more than oak, fortress like, and manned by legions of bad angels, had they been, to become the strong captives and devoted servants Of Christ.
Seven archangels of Death sang the enchantments of passion in the garlanded gateways leading to the throne of insatiate love in that heart of the woman of Magdala. Voluptuous in that silken Alhambra of Astarte, she, sat in that golden prison of enticement whose gate was but “the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.”
Kings and legates were visitors there, revelling in shame’s glory, till the Sun of Righteousness shone upon that heart of Magdalen, and cleared the temple of her soul by vanquishing those seven sirens of death.
We need not blush should any words paint the battle scene on Mary’s heart when the wand of Jesus’ word cut away the gilded folds of passion’s sin, and. naked in the sunlight of conscience, bade the evil spirits’ depart, never to return.
Because she had the strength to see these go away and shed no tear at their departing, therefore ’twas she received sight first to see the two angels ofSUMMARY.
451
the Resurrection sitting on the throne of Death where He had lain, who conquered death and hell and the grave.
Such was the heroine who became the first herald of the resurrection.
Such souls were Peter, James and John and Paul, the immortal captains on the field of a moral conflict that requires the best strength of men.
The world has had its Xerxes and its Xenophons, its Alexanders and its Napoleons, but these were men of muscle only, of physical powers, and intellectual might. The great moral world needed yet greater captains.
He came when the Roman eagles percfied upon the pinnacles of power the wide world over, in every capital; when hate and war and butchery had done their best to conquer the hearts of men, and to press humanity into one great empire.
He came to assail and subdue the central citadel of humanity, which, left untaken, leaves no hope of peace. That citadel was the heart of man, the human will, next highest power to God.
The statesmanship of this world will yet, if it have not already done, do Him the honor of that mighty conception which He began in practice, and that will yet be fulfilled in universal peace among all nations, by subduing this central citadel of the powers of this world.
The inventions of peace shall become outwardly so terrible yet, that the butchery of battles shall be unknown.452
SUMMARY.
The Peace Congress international shall arbitrate all disputes.
Love shall reign—peace shall shine unclouded on land and sea, and the angels’ word, “good will among men,” the key note of universal song—then shall be realized that poem of Isaiah, singing of Messiah:
“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid) and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little* child shall lead them.
A nd the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
A nd the suckling child shall play on the hole of the asp and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cock-atrice's den.
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all His holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the paters cover the Sea."—Isaiah X.--6, 71	9 •
*Artd Jesus called a little child unto him; and set him in the midst of them,
And said, Verily T say unto you, Except you be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Whosoever therefore skall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.—Matt. XVIII. 2. 3. 4. 10.SPEECH OF ANANUS.
Ananus II was the son of Annas before whom Jesus was brought.	He held the high priest’s office three
months in A. D. 62. He was displaced by King Agrippa for his attempt to spread Sadduceeism, which doubtless he imbibed from his father.
His speech is of great interest to one who would study the mind of a politician and a Sadducee. The reader should compare his remarkable speech given below with that of his king, Agrippa II, given in these pages. Ananus was put to death by the Zealots, A. D. 67.
And now, when the multitude were gotten together to an assembly, and every one was in indignation at these men’s seizing upon the sanctuary, at their rapine and murders, but had not yet begun their attacks upon them (the reason of which was this*—that they imagined it to be a difficult thing to suppress these zealots, as indeed the case was) Ananus stood in the midst of them, and casting his eyes frequently at the temple, and having a flood of tears in his eyes, he said,—“Certainly, it had been good for me to die before I had seen the house of God full of so many abominations, or these sacred places that ought not to be trodden upon at random, filled with the feet of these blooc(-shedding villians ; yet do I, who am clothed with the vestments of the high priesthood, and am called by the most venerable name of high priest, still live, and am but too fond of living, and cannot endure to undergo a death which would be the glory of my old age ; and if I were the only person concerned, and, as it were, in a desert, I would give up my life, and that alone for God’s sake; for to what purpose is it to live among a people insensi-
(453)454
SPEECH OF ANANUS.
ble of their calamities, and where there is no notion remaining of any remedy for the miseries that are upon them? for when you are seized upon, you bear it! and , when you are beaten, you are silent! and when the people are murdered, nobody dare so much as send out a groan openly! O bitter tyranny that we are under! But wh£ do I complain of the tyrants? Was it not you, and your sufferance of them, that have nourished them? Was it not you that overlooked those that first of all got together, for they were then but a few, and by your silence made them grow to be many ; and by conniving at them when they took arms, in effect armed them against yourselves? You ought to have then prevented their first attempts, when they fell a reproaching your relations ; but by neglecting that care in time, you have encouraged these wretches to plunder men. When houses were pillaged nobody said a word, which was the occasion why they carried off the owners of those houses; and when they were drawn through the midst of the city, nobody came to their assistance. They then proceeded to put those whom you have betrayed into their hands, into bonds. I do not say how many, and of what characters those men were whom they thus served, but certainly they were such as were accused by none, and condemned by none ; and since nobody succoured them when they were in bonds, the consequence was, that you saw the same persons slain. We have seen this also; so that still the best of the herd of brute animals, as it were, have been still led to be sacrificed, when yet nobody said one word, or moved his right hand for their preservation. Will you bear, therefore, will you bear to see your sanctuary trampled on? and will you lay steps for these profane wretches, upon .which they may mount to higher degrees of insolence? Will you not pluck them down from their exaltation? for even by this time, they had proceeded to higher enormities, if they had been able to overthrow any thing greater than the sanctuary. They have seized upon the strongest place of the whole city ; you may call it the temple, if you please, though it be like a citadel or fortress. Now, while you have tyranny in so great a degree walled in, and see your enemies over your heads, to what purpose is it to take counsel? and what have you to support your minds withal? Perhaps you may wait for the Romans, that they may protect our holy places: are our matters then brought to that pass? an^ are we come to that degree of misery, that our enemies themselves are expected to pity us? O wretched creatures! will not you rise up, and turn upon 'those that strike you ; which you maySPEECH OF ANANUS.
455
observe in wild beasts themselves, that they will avenge themselves on those that strike them. Will you not call to mind, every one of you, the calamities you yourselves have suffered? nor lay before your eyes what afflictions you yourselves have undergone? and will not such things sharpen your souls to revenge? Is therefore that most honourable and most natural of our passions utterly lost, I mean the desire of liberty? Truly, we are in love with slavery, and in love with those that lord it over us, as if we had received that principle of subjection from our ancestors! yet did they undergo many and great wars for the sake of liberty, nor were they so far overcome by the power of the Egyptians, or the Medes, but that they still did what they thought fit, notwithstanding their commands to the contrary. And what occasion is there now for a war with the Romans? f I meddle not with determining whether it be an advantageous and profitable war or not.) What pretence is there for it? Is it not that we may enjoy our liberty? Besides, shall wernot bear the lords of the habitable earth to be lords over us, and yet bear tyrants of our own country? Although I must say that submission to foreigners may be borne, because fortune has already doomed us to it, while submission to wicked people of our own nation is too unmanly, and brought upon us by our own consent. However, since I have had occassion to mention the Romans, I will not conceal a thing that, as I am speaking, comes into my mind, and affects me considerably ;—it is this, that though we should be taken by them (God forbid the event should be so!) yet we can undergo nothing that will be harder to be borne than what these men have already brought upon us. How then can we avoid shedding of tears, when we see the Roman donations in our temples, while we withal see those of our own nation taking our spoils, arid plundering our glorious metropolis, and slaughtering our men, from which enormities those Romans themselves would have abstained ; to see those Romans never going beyond the bonds allotted to profane persons, nor venturing to break in upon any of our sacred customs; nay, having a horror on their minds when they view at a distance those sacred walls, while some that have been born in this very country, and brought up in our customs, and called Jews, do walk about in the midst of the holy places, at the very time when their hands are still warm with the slaughter of their own countrymen. Besides, can any one be afraid of a war abroad, and that, with such as will have comparatively much greater moderation than our own people have? For truly, if we may suit our words to456
SPEECH OF ANANUS.
things they represent, it is probable one may hereafter find the Romans to be the supporters of our laws, and those within ourselves the subverters of them. And now I am pursuaded that every one of you here comes satisfied before I speak, that these overthrowers of our liberties deserve to be destroyed, and that nobody can so much as devise a punishment that they have not deserved by what they have done, and that you are all provoked against them by, those their wicked actions, whence you have suffered so greatly. But perhaps many of you are affrighted at the multitude of those zealots, and at their audaciousness, as well as at the advantage they have over us in their being higher in place than we are ; for these circumstances, as they have been occasioned by your negligence, so will they become still greater by being still longer neglected; for their multitude is every day augmented, by every ill man’s running away to those that are like to themselves, and their audaciousness is therefore inflamed, because they meet with no obstruction to their designs. And for their higher place, they will make use of it for engines also, if we give them time to do so ; but be assured of this, that if we got up toifight them, they will be made tamer by their own consciences, and what advantages they have in the height of their situation, they will lose by the opposition of their reason; perhaps also God himself, who hath been affronted by them, will make what they throw at us return against themselves, and these impious wretches will be killed by their own daits : let us but make our appearance before them, and they will come to nothing. However, it is a right thing, if there should be any danger in the attempt, to die before these holy gates, and to spend our very lives, if not for the sake of our children and wives, yet for God’s sake and for the sake of his sanctuary. I will assist you, both with my counsel and with my hand ; nor shall any sagacity of ours be wanting for your support j nor shall you see that I will be sparing of my body neither.”—Josephus’ Wars., B. IV., C. III.Letters of Pliny and Trajan.
One hundred and twenty-two letters written between Pliny, the governor of Bithynia, and his emperor, Trajan, have been preserved to the present. These letters contain much valuable history on the topics of that time. The details which they contain concerning Roman provincial governors, their duties of office, their trials before the senate for acts of maladministration, and many other facts, make them invaluable to this volume. One of these epistles, which is especially devoted to the early Christians, and which was written by Pliny to Trajan, A. D. 104, has been referred to by every history of the Christian church. Along with some others of special interest, this letter is here given in full.
The reader has cause for surprise when he comes to know, that one or two letters only have come down to modern times from Pontius Pilate, during his legthy term of service as procurator at Jerusalem, to his emperor, Caesar, while from almost the same time, Pliny, during his brief governorship of eighteen months, wrote scores of letters to the emperor, Trajan,
(457)458 LETTERS OF PLINY AND TRAJAN.
and the emperor wrote as many to him in return, which correspondence is still preserved.
Pilate and Pliny held exactly the same official positions under the Roman government, and stood in identically the same official relation to their respective emperors. Each of them was governor of his province under the immediate direction of the emperor, and not under that of the senate. (Suetonius in Augustus, Chap. 47.) (Masson’s Life of Pliny, p. 133.) (Pliny’s letter to Trajan, lxxvi.) No confusion should occur in this judgment, though Pilate is called procurator, while Pliny is spoken of as proconsul. At the time of Pliny’s writing to Trajan, he was governor of Bithynia, a “provincia Caesaris,” an imperial province, under the emperor’s immediate administration, and not a proconsular province under the control of the senate through praetors, and proconsuls chosen in the ordinary method of election. This immediate relation of Pliny to the emperor is set forth most explicitly in his letters, and determines beyond question the similarity of relation of Pilate and Pliny to the Roman emperors. All readers and scholars accept without question the correspondence of Pliny and Trajan; the same reasonableness must receive in like manner the documents given in this volume as passing from Pilate to Tiberius, written as they were within the same century of Roman history as were Pliny’s regarding the very same subjects, and under circumstances similar in almost all respects; indeed, there is vastly greater reason for such correspondenceLETTERS OF PLINY AND TRAJAN. 45^
on the part of Pilate and Tiberius, considering Pilate’s governorship of a decade of years over Judea, surrounded as he was by administrative difficulties far greater than those encountered by Pliny in Bithynia.
PLINY’S LETTER TO TRAJA’N CONCERNING THE CHRISTIANS.
LETTER XCVII. (A. D. 104.)
“It is my invariable rule, sir, to refer to you in all matters where I feel doubtful; for who is more capable of removing my scruples, or informing my ignorance? Having never been present at any trials concerning those who profess Christianity, I am unacquainted not only with the nature of their crimes, or the measurement of their punishment, but how far it is proper to enter into an examination concerning them. Whether, therefore, any difference is made usually with respect to ages, or no distinction is to be observed between the young and the adult; whether repentance entitles them to a pardon; or if a man has been once a Christian, it avails nothing to desist from this error; whether the very profession of Christianity, unattended with any criminal act, or only the crimes themselves inherent in the profession are punishable; on all these points I am in great doubt. In the meanwhile, the method I have observed towards those who have been brought before me as Christians is this:	I asked them whether they460 LETTERS OF PLINY AND TRAJAN.
were Christians; if they admitted it, I repeated the question twice, and threatened them with punishment; if they persisted, I ordered them to be at once punished, for I was persuaded, whatever the nature of their opinions might be, a contumacious and inflexible obstinacy certainly deserved correction. There were others also thought before me possessed with the same infatuation, but being Roman citizens, I directed them to be sent to Rome.
“But this crime spreading (as is usually the case) while it was actually under prosecution, several instances of the same nature occurred. An anonymous information was laid before me, containing a charge against several persons, who upon examination denied they were Christians, or had ever been so. They repeated after me an invocation to the gods, and offered religious rites with wine and incense before your statue (which for that purpose I had ordered to be brought, together with those of the gods), and even reviled the name of Christ: whereas there is no forcing, it is said, those who are really Christians into any of these compliances; I thought it proper, therefore, to discharge them. Some among those who were accused by a witness in person at first confessed themselves Christians, but immediately after denied it; the rest owned, indeed, that they had been of that number formerly, but had now (some above three, others more, and a few above twenty years ago) renounced that error. They all worshiped your statue and the images of the gods, uttering imprecations atLETTERS OF PLINY AND TRAJAN.	461
the same time against the name of Christ. They affirmed the whole of their guilt, or their error was, that they met on a stated day before it was light and addressed a form of prayer to Christ, as to a divinity, binding themselves by a solemn oath, not for the purposes of any wicked design, but never to commit any fraud, theft, or adultery, never to falsify their word, nor deny a trust when they should be called upon to deliver it up; after which it was their custom to separate, and then reassemble, to eat in common a harmless meal. From this custom, however, they desisted after the publication of my edict, by which, according to your commands, I forbade the meeting of any assemblies. After receiving this account, I judged it so much the more necessary to endeavor to extort the real truth, by putting two female slaves to the torture, who were said to officiate in their religious rites; but all I could discover was evidence of an absurd and extravagant superstition. I deemed it expedient, therefore, to adjourn all further proceedings, in order to consult you. For it appears to be a matter highly deserving, more especially as great numbers must be involved in the danger of these prosecutions, which have already extended, and are still likely to extend, to persons of all ranks and ages, and even of both sexes. In fact, this contagious superstition is not confined to the cities only, but has spread its infection among the neighboring villages and country. Nevert'heless, it still seems possible to restrain its progress. The temples, at least, which462 LETTERS OF PLINY AND TRAJAN.
were once almost deserted, begin now to be frequented, and the sacred rites, after a long intermis-sipn, are again revived, while there is a general demand for the victims, which till lately found very few purchasers. From all this it is easy to conjecture what numbers might be reclaimed if a general pardon were granted to those who shall repent of their error. ’ ’
Caius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, usually called the younger Pliny, was born at Como, A. D. 61 or 62, and died universally esteemed, A. D. 115.
After the death of his father he was adopted by his uncle Caius Plinius Secundus, Pliny the elder, the well-known author of Natural History.
Pliny’s early education was most carefully conducted ; and he began life as a pleader at the Roman bar at the age of eighteen. It was in the same year he lost his uncle, who perished in A. D. 79, in the eruption of Vesuvius. He served two years after as military tribune in Syria. In the reign of Domitian he was made quaestor, and later on praetor.
When Nerva acceded to the throne, Pliny renewed his practice at the bar, and became so successful a pleader that he came under the notice of Trajan, the succeeding emperor, who henceforward became his great friend, and under whom he was made pro-consul, A. D. 100. His great Panegyric on Trajan, delivered at this time, and the only work besides his letters which has been preserved, is one of the masterpieces of that age. His last public office was the pro-LETTERS OF PLINY AND TRAJAN. 463
praetorship of Pontica, about A. D. 103-105. Nothing is known of his life after this.
TRAJAN’S REPLY TO PLINY CONCERNING THE CHRISTIANS.
LETTER XCVIII.
“You have adopted the right course, my dearest Secundus, in investigating the charges against the Christians who were brought before you. It is not possible to lay down any general rule for all such cases. Do not go out of your way to look for them.' If, indeed, they should be brought before you, and the crime is proved, they must be punished; with the restriction, however, that where the party denies he is a Christian, and shall make it evident that he is not, by invoking our.gods, let him (notwithstanding any former suspicion) be pardoned upon his repentance. Anonymous informations ought not to be received in any sort of prosecution. It is introducing a very dangerous precedent, and is quite foreign to the spirit of our age.”
It was an ancient and fixed law of the Roman government not to suffer any unlicensed assemblies of the people. Livy, the historian, calls the attention of the Romans to the fact that “your ancestors did not allow assemblies to convene by chhnce or choice; but that wherever such were met, there should be present a proper and lawful director.” (lxxxv, C. 75.) The464 LETTERS OF PLINY AND TRAJAN.
Christians in Pliny’s province had rendered themselves obnoxious to the ancient and settled laws of the Roman state by assembling themselves without authority.
Foreign religious ceremonies, that is, ceremonies against the state religion of Rome, were unlawful. (Livy, xxxix, C. 16.)
Hence, after Pliny’s edict, he writes the emperor: ‘ ‘ From this custom, ” of assembling themselves, ‘ ‘ however, they desisted after the publication of my edict, by which, according to your commands, I forbade the meeting of any assemblies.”
Hence, there is found a communication of Pilate’s to the emperor Tiberius, in which there is this language in reference to Jesus: “I extended to him my protection, unknown, perhaps, to himself. He was at liberty to act, to speak, to assemble and address the people, to choose disciples unrestrained by any pretorian mandate.”
The reader should not be misled or confused by the special edicts found in this volume, that were made in favor of the Jewish religion or the grants of 1 privileges under it, made by Roman emperors at different times, and under various political changes. This the emperors and senate often did for political reasons; but under these edicts, by these grants, Jesus enjoyed no privilege. His was “a new religion’ ’ not the Jewish; and therefore to call together assem? blies, was, under the Roman law, obnoxious, unless he was specially allowed to do so by Roman authority.LETTERS OF PLINY AND TRAJAN. 465
The established religion of the Romans was, according to the judgment of their best writers, no more and no less than “an engine of state which could not be shaken without the utmost danger to their civil government.” Cicero says :	“The institutions
of the fathers must be defended; it is the part of wisdom to hold fast the sacred rites and ceremonies.” (DeLegibus.)
This principle was not peculiar to the Romans. For it has been long laid down as a universal truth in politics that, “wherever the religion of any state falls into disregard and contempt, it is impossible for that state to subsist long.”
Acting upon this fundamental principle of civil, rather than religious consideration, as a matter of state, and not of speculation, there is no wonder that such interest should have been shown, as is manifested in the letters of Pliny and his emperor concerning the new religion, though named by them “a mere super-stitution,” nor can it be doubted that like communications must have taken place between Pilate and his emperor, Tiberius, while conducting the affairs of state in the very capital in which the Founder of this “superstition” had wrought it out and died for it but a few decades before.466	LETTERS OF PLINY AND TRAJAN.
PLINY TO TRAJAN:
LETTER XLVI.
The citizens of Nicomedia, sir, have expended three millions three hundred and twenty-nine sesterces in building an aqueduct, but, not being able to finish it, the works are entirely falling to ruin. They made a second attempt in another place, where they laid out two millions. But this likewise is discontinued; so that, after having been at an immense charge to no purpose, they must still be at further expense in order to be accommodated with water. I have examined a fine spring from whence the water may be conveyed over arches (as was attempted in their first design) in such a manner that the higher as well as the level and lo,w parts of the city may be supplied. There are still remaining a few of the old arches, and the square stones, however, employed in t’he former building, may be used in turning the new arches. I am of opinion part should be raised with brick, as that will be the easier and cheaper material. But that this work may not meet with the same ill-success as the former, it will be necessary to send here an architect, or some one skilled in the construction of this kind of water-works. And I will venture to say, from the beauty and usefulness of the design, it will be an erection well worthy the splendor of your times.LETTERS OF PLINY AND TRAJAN. 467
PLINY TO TRAJAN.
LETTER XXIV.
After your late sacred father, sir, had in a noble speech, as well as by his own generous example, exhorted and encouraged the public to acts of munificence, I implored his permission to remove the several statues which I had of the former emperors to my corporation, and at the same time requested permission to add his own to the number. For as I had hitherto let them remain in the respective places in which they stood when they were left to me by several different inheritances, they were dispersed in distant parts of my estate. He was pleased to grant my request, and at the same time to give me a very ample testimony of his approbation. I immediately, therefore, wrote to the decurii to desire they would allot a piece of ground upon which I might build a temple at my own expense, and they, as a mark of honor to my design, offered me the choice of any site I might think proper. However my own ill-health in the first place, and later that of your father, together with the duties of that employment which you were both pleased to entrust me, prevented my proceeding with that design. But I have now, I think, a convenient opportunity of making an excursion for that purpose, as my monthly attendance ends on the 1st of September, and there are several festivals in the month following. My first request, then^468 LETTERS OF PLINY AND TRAJAN.
is that you would permit me to adorn the temple I am going to erect with your statue, and next (in order to the execution of my design with all the expedition possible), that you would indulge me with leave of absence. It would ill become the sincerity I profess, were I to dissemble that your goodness in complying with this desire will at the same time be extremely serviceable to me in my own private affairs. *	*	* i shall be indebted to your indul-
gence then, sir, for the expedition of my word of piety and the settlement of my own private affairs, if you will be pleased to grant me leave of absence for thirty days. I can not give myself a shorter time as the town and estate of which I am speaking lie above a hundred and fifty miles from Rome.
TRAJAN TO PLINY.
LETTER XXV.
You have given me many private reasons, and every public one why you desire leave of absence, but I need no other one than that it is your desire, and I doubt not of your returning as soon as possible to the duty of an office which so much requires your attendance. As I would not seem to check any instance of your affection towards me, I shall not oppose your erecting my statue in the place you desire, though in general I am extremely cautious in giving any encouragement to honors of that kind.LETTERS OF PLINY AND TRAJAN. 469
PLINY TO TRAJAN.
LETTER LXXVII.
“I have been pressed by some persons to take upon myself the. inquiry of causes relating to claims of freedom by birthright, agreeably to a rescript of Domitian’s to Minucius Rufus, and the practice of former proconsuls. But upon ctosting my eye on the decree of the senate, concerning cases of this nature, I find it only mentions the proconsular provinces. I have therefore, sir, deferred interfering in this affair till I shall receive your instructions as to how you would have me proceed.”
The Roman provinces in the times of the emperors were of two sorts, those which were distinguished by the name of the provinciae Caesaris and the provinciae senatus. The provinciae Caesaris, or imperial provinces, were such as the emperor, for reasons of policy, reserved to his own immediate administration, or of those whom he thought proper to appoint ; the provinciae senatus, or proconsular provinces, were such as he left to the government of proconsul’s or praetors chosen in the ordinary method of election. Of the former kind was Bithynia, at the time when our author presided. (Masson’s Life of Pliny, p. 133, Melmoth.)470
LETTERS OF PLINY AND TRAJAN.
TRAJAN TO PLINY.
LETTER LXXVIII.
If you will send me the decree of the senate, which occasioned your doubt, I shall be able to judge whether it is proper you should take upon yourself the inquiry of causes relating to claims of freedom by birthright.
TRAJAN TO PLINY.
LETTER XLV11.
Care must be taken to supply the city of Nicomedia with water, and that business, I am well persuaded, you will perform with the diligence you ought. But really it is no less incumbent upon you to examine by whose misconduct it happened that such large sums have been thrown away upon this, lest they apply the money to private purposes, and the aqueduct in question, like the preceding, should be begun, and afterward left unfinished. You will let me know the result of your inquiry.JERUSALEM IN THE DAYS OF JESUS.
“If,” says Edershiem', “the dust of ten centuries could have been wiped from the eyelids of those sleepers, and one of them who thronged Jerusalem in the highday of its glory, during the reign of Solomon, had returned to its streets, he would scarcely have recognized the once familiar city. Then, as now, a Jewish king reigned who bore undivided rule over the whole land; then, as now, the city was filled with riches, and adorned with palaces and architectural monuments; then, as now, Jerusalem was crowded with strangers from all parts of the earth.
“Solomon and Herod were each the last Jewish king over the land of promise (Agrippa’s short reign being omitted). Solomon and Herod each built the temple, but with the son of David began, and with the Idumean, Herod, ended the kingdom.
“The sceptre of Judah, promised so long ago, had passed to where the nations were to gather under its sway. The temple which Solomon built was the first, the temple which Herod reared was the last.
“The ruins of its burning, which the Roman torch kindled forty years after the death of Christ, were
(471)472 JERUSALEM IN THE DAYS OF JESUS.
never to be restored. The four companion hills on which the city was built, the deep clefts by which it was surrounded, the Mount of Olives, rising in the east, were the same as a thousand years ago. There, as of old, were the pool of Siloam and the royal garden, the very wall that had then surrounded the city. The Jebusite fort, the City of David, Mount Zion, was now the priests’ garden. Ophel, and the Royal Palace and stables, had been thrown into the colonnade known as the Royal Porch.
“Passing through it, and out of the west gate of the temple, we stand on the immense bridge which spans the Tyropoeon and connects the eastern with the western hills of the city. Here we can best mark the outstanding features and note the changes.
“On the right as we look northward are (on the eastern hill) Ophel, the priests’ quarter and the temple, oh, how beautiful and enlarged! rising terrace upon terrace, surrounded by massive walls; a palace, a fortress, a shining sanctuary of marble and glittering gold. And beyond it frowns the old fortress of Baris, rebuilt by Herod, and named after his patron, Antonia, This is the Hill of Zion. Right below is the cleft of the Tyropoeon, and here creeps up northward the lower city of Acra, like a crescent widening into almost a square suburb.
“Across the Tyropoeon westward rises the upper city, a city of palaces. Here at the other end of the great bridge which connects the temple with the upper city is the palace of Maccabees; beyond it theJERUSALEM IN THE DAYS OF JESUS. 473
Xystos, or vast colonnade enclosure, where popular assemblies are held; then the palace of Ananias the high priest, and nearest to the temple the council chamber and public archives. Behind it westward rise terrace upon terrace the mansions of the upper city, till quite in the northwest corner of the city we reach the palace of Herod, built for himself, almost a city and a fortress, flanked by three high towers and enclosing spacious gardens. Beyond it again, and outside the city walls both the first and second, stretches all north of the city the new suburb of Be-zetha. Here on every side are gardens and villas; here passes the great northern road. Out there they must have laid hold on Simon the Cyrenian, and here must have led the way to the place of crucifixion.”
Such was the city of Jerusalem when in His boyhood at twelve years Jesus went up with His parents to the feast; such it was when from Olivet He wept over the hollowness and lack of spirit which filled the priesthood of that day.
Such was it when Pilate lived and Jesus stood on trial before a foreign political judge to receive sentence. Such her temple, walls and hills, and the very road over which He bore His too-heavy cross on toward Calvary.ROME IN HER GLORY.
The city of Rome had been standing 750 years
*
when Jesus was born. As kingdom, republic and empire she had lived to attain to the dominion of the world when He was crucified. At this time her destinies were in the hands of one man, her emperor. He was high priest of her religion, head of her senate, and general-in-chief of her army. Within the city, transformed in one short reign from brick to marble, a population of 2,000,000 souls dwelt. Boundless wealth and unbridled luxury characterized her as mistress of the world. Of her treasury, Lucan, one of her poets, wrote:
“ At length the sacred storehouse open laid The hoarded wealth of ages past display’d;
There might be seen the sums proud Carthage sent,
Her long impending ruin to prevent;
There heap’d the Macedonian treasures shone,
What great Flaminius and Aemilius won From vanquished Philip and his hapless son.
There lay what flying Pyrrhus lost, the gold Scorn’d by the patriot’s honesty of old;
Whate’er our parsimonious sires could save:
What tributary gifts rich Sj'ria gave;
The hundred Cretan cities’ ample spoil;
What Cato gathered from the Cyprian isle.
Riches of captive kings by Pompey borne In happier days his triumph to adorn,
From utmost India, and the rising morn;
Wealth infinite.”
(474)ROME IN HER GLORY.
475
Tables of statistics compiled in the fifth century give in part the vastness of Rome. They enumerate two capitals, two great raqe courses, two great meat markets, three theatres, two amphitheatres, four splendid gymnasia for gladiators, five naumachiæ for naval combats, fifteen nymphaea or palaces of fountains, eleven great thermae or bathing establishments, five hundred .and eighty-six public baths upon a smaller scale, thirteen hundred and fifty-two water basins and fountains. Of public works of other kinds are mentioned two great obelisks and many smaller ones; four hundred and twenty-three temples, twen-ty-eight libraries, ten chief basilicas, seventeen hundred and ninety-seven palaces and forty-six thousand six hundred and two large houses. There were also in the city two colossi, twenty-two great equestrian statues, eighty gilt and seventy-four ivory statues of the gods, and three thousand seven hundred and eighty-five bronze statues of emperors and distinguished men. The size of the larger buildings may be indicated by some figures. The theatre of Balbus contained eleven thousand five hundred and ten seats ; that of Marcellus, seventeen thousand five hundred and eighty seats ; and the theatre of Pompey twenty-two thousand eight hundred and eighty seats ; the great Stadium of Domitian had twenty-three thousand and eighty seats; the amphitheatre of Titus, known as the Colosseum, contained eighty-seven thousand seats, and the Circus Maximus no fewer than three hundred and eighty thousand seats, the largest structure ever erected for spectacular purposes.CRUCIFIXION.
Crucifixion was an ancient Oriental mode of inflicting the death penalty applied in rare instances by the Greeks and more commonly by the Romans; by both Greeks and Romans considered an infamous form of death, and reserved in general for slaves and highway robbers.
Among the Romans the instrument of death was properly either a cross in form now so familiar, or the cross known as St. Andrew’s; sometimes a standing tree was made to serve the purpose.
The person was attached to the cross either by nails driven through the hands and feet or by cords, and was left to die of exhaustion or received the mercy of a quicker death according to circumstances.
The peculiar atrocity of crucifixion was that a man might live three or four days in this horrible condition upon the tree of anguish. The hemorrhage of the hands very soon ceased and was not mortal. The true cause of death was the unnatural position of the body which induced a hideous disturbance of the circulation, fearful pains in the head and heart, and fin-
(476)CRUCIFIXION.
477
ally rigidity of the limbs. Men of strong constitutions died only of hunger.
The principal idea of this cruel punishment was not to kill the criminal directly by absolute lesions, but to expose the victim nailed up by the hands of which he had not known how to make proper use, and let him slowly die on the tree.
The delicate constitution of Jesus saved Him from this slow agony. Every thing leads to the belief that in His case death was produced by rupture of blood vessels after suffering three hours.
The Romans fastened the body to the cross either by cords or nails (Smith’s Gr. and Roman Antiq., p. 370). Josephus says that nailing was the common practice in Palestine (Bell. Jud. ii, 14, §9). “Florus chastised many with scourges and afterwards crucified them. He had the boldness to scourge men of equestrian rank before the judgment seat, and then to nail them to the cross. Livy, the Latin historian, relates that “after they had been scourged the accused were fastened to crosses” (Livy, xxxiii, 36). This shows the practice on the part of the Roman governors of Palestine. Compare, also, Josephus in Bell. Jud. vi: “The soldiers through rage and hatred fastened their captives to crosses, some in one manner and some in another, in mockery; and on account of the great number there was not room enough for the crosses, nor crosses enough for the bodies. ”
Plutarch, de Sera Numinis Vindicata, ii, p. 554,478
CRUCIFIXION.
says:	“And each of the malefactors sentenced to
capital punishment carries his own cross.”
Several writers mention the fact of a small board with a notification of the offense being attached to criminals. Sueton. Vit. Calig., § 34: “At a public feast in Rome upon a slave’s having stolen a silver coin from one of the couches, he was at once delivered to the executioner, and his hands being cut he was led about among the guests of the feast, carrying before him a title declaring the cause of his punishment.” As to this titulus or incription being placed upon the cross of the malefactor, Hesychius makes the statement: “A board, a tablet was written; and it was also placed upon the cross.”
Petronius Arbiter says:	“A soldier watched the
crosses lest some one should carry off the bodies for burial.” (Satyr, c. 111.)
Ulpian says:	“The bodies of those who suffer
capital punishment are not to be refused to their friends And the divine Augustus writes in the tenth book of his life that he also observed this rule. But at this day the bodies of the persons in question are not buried, unless permission has first been sought and granted. And sometimes it is not granted, especially in the case of those condemned for treason.” (Digest, xlviii, Tit. 24, DeCadav. Punit., § 1.)
It will be recalled by the reader, here, that Jesus was crucified for high treason, and therefore it may have been that Joseph of Arimathea, though a member of the Sanhedrin, had to * ‘beg the body of Jesus’ ’CRUCIFIXION.
479
for burial and get Pilate’s permission, although “the Jews were very careful in regard to burials, so much so that they even took down and buried before the sun went down those who had been condemned and crucified.” (Josephus DeBell. Jud. iv, 5, §2.)JEWISH REGARD FOR THEIR LAW.
The following abstract shows the Jewish feeling towards the law at the time of the Crucifixion:
‘ ‘The reason why the constitution of this legislation . was ever better directed to the utility of all than other legislations was this:	That Moses did not make re-
ligion a part of virtue, but he saw and he ordained other virtues to be parts of religion; I mean justice and fortitude, and temperance, and a universal agreement of the members of the community with one another; for all our actions and studies and all our words (in Moses’ statement) have a reference to piety towards God.
“What are the things that we are commanded or forbidden? They are simply and easily known. The first command is concerning God, and affirms that God contains all things, and is a Being every way perfect and happy, self-sufficient and supplying all other beings ; the beginning, the middle and the end of all things. He is manifest in His works and benefits and. more conspicuous than any other Being whatsoever; but as to His form and magnitude He is most obscure. All materials, let them be ever so costly, are
(480)PHARISEEJEWISH REGARD FOR THEIR LAW. 481
unworthy to compose an image for Him; and all arts are unartful to express the notion we ought to have of Him. We can neither see nor think of anything like Him; nor is it agreeable to piety to form a resemblance of Him. We see His works, the light, the heaven, the earth, the sun and the moon, the waters, the generations of animals, and the productions of fruits.
“These things hath God made, not with His hands, not with labor, nor as wanting the assistance of any to co-operate with Him ; but as His will resolved they should be made and be good also, they were made and became good immediately. All men ought to follow this Being, and to worship Him in the exercise of virtue; for this way of the worship of God is the most holy of all.
“There ought also to be but one temple for one God ; for likeness is the constant foundation of agreement. This temple ought to be common to all men, because He is the common God of all men. His priests are to be continually about His worship, over whom he that is first by his birth is to be their ruler perpetually. His business must be to offer sacrifices to God, together with those priests that are joined with him to see that the laws be observed, to determine controversies, and to punish those that are convicted of injustice; while he that does not submit to him shall be subject to the same punishment as if he had been guilty of impiety towards God Himself.
3i482 JEWISH REGARD FOR THEIR LAW.
“It deserves our inquiry what should be the occasion of this unjust management, and of these scandals about the Deity. I suppose it to be derived from the imperfect knowledge the heathen legislators had at first of the true nature of God; nor did they explain even so far as they did comprehend of it; nor did they compose the other parts of their political settlements according to it, but omitted it as a thing as of very little consequence, and gave leave both to the poets to introduce what gods they pleased, and those subject to all sorts of passions, and to the orators to procure political decrees from the people for the admission of such foreign gods as they thought proper. The painters, also, and statuaries of Greece, had therein great power* as each of them could contrive a shape (proper for a god); the one to be formed of clay and the other by making a bare picture of such a one; but those workmen that were principally admired had the use of ivory and of gold as the constant materials for their new statues (whereby it comes to pass that some temples are quite deserted, while others are in great esteem, and adorned with all the rites of all kinds of purification). Besides this, the first gods who have long flourished in the honors done them are now grown old (while those that flourished after them are come in their room as a second rank, that I may speak the most honorably of them I can), nay, certain other gods there are who are newly introduced and newly worshiped (as we, by way of digression, have said already, and yet haveJEWISH REGARD FOR THEIR LAW. 483
left their place of worship desolate); and for their temples, some of them are already left desolate and others are built anew, according to the pleasure of men, whereas they ought to have preserved their opinion about God and that worship due to Him immutably the same.
“But while we, ourselves, are persuaded that our law was made agreeably to the will of God, it would be impious for us not to observe the same; for what is there in it that anybody would change, and what can be invented better, or what can we take out of other laws that will exceed it? Perhaps some would have the entire settlement of our government altered. Where shall we find a more righteous constitution than ours? while this makes us esteem God to be the Governor of the universe and permits the priest to be the administrator of the principal affairs, and, withal, intrusts the government over the other priests to the chief high priest himself, which priests our legislator, at their first appointment, did not advance to that dignity for their riches, or any abundance of other possessions, as to the gifts of fortune; but he intrusted the management of divine worship to those that exceeded others in an ability to persuade men, and in prudence of conduct. These men had the main care of the law and of the other parts of the people’s conduct committed to them, for they were the priests who were ordained to* be the spectators of all, and the judges in doubtful cases, and the punishers of those that were condemned to suffer.484 JEWISH REGARD FOR THEIR LAW.
“Now, as for ourselves, I venture to say that no one can tell of so many; nay, not more than one or two that have betrayed our laws; no, not out of fear of death itself; I do not mean such an easy death as happens in battles, but that which comes with bodily torments and seems to be the severest kind of death of all. I think those that have conquered us have put us to such deaths, not out of their hatred to us when they had subdued us, but rather out of their desire of seeing a surprising sight, which is this— whether there be such men in the world who believe that no evil is to them so great as to be compelled to do or to speak anything contrary to their own laws. Nor ought men to wonder if we are more courageous in dying for our laws than others are; for other men do not easily submit to the easier things in which we are instructed; I mean working with our hands and eating but little and being contented to eat and drink, ri&t at random or at every one’s pleasure, or being under inviolable rules in lying with our wives, in magnificent furniture; and again in the observation of our times of rest, while those that can use their swords and put their enemies to flight can not bear to submit to such laws about their way of living, whereas our being accustomed willingly to submit in these instances renders us fit to show our fortitude upon other occasions.
“I omit to speak concerning punishments, and how many ways of escaping them legislators have afforded malefactors by ordaining for adulteries fines in moneyJEWISH REGARD FOR THEIR LAW. 485
should be allowed, and for corrupting virgins they need only marry them; also what excuses they have made in denying the facts if any one inquire into them; for amongst most nations it is a studied art how men may transgress their laws, but no such thing is allowed amongst us; for though we be deprived of our wealth, of our cities, and of other advantages we have, our law continues immortal; nor can any Jew go so far from his own country nor be so affrighted at the severest lord as not to be more affrighted at the law than at him. If, therefore, this be the disposition we are under, with regard to the excellency of our laws, let our enemies make us this concession—that our laws are most excellent—and that if still they imagine that though we so firmly adhere to them yet are they bad laws notwithstanding ; what penalties then do they deserve to undergo who do not observe their own laws which they esteem so far superior? Whereas, therefore, length of time is esteemed to be the truest touchstone in all cases, I would make that a testimonial of the excellency of our laws, and of that belief thereby delivered to us concerning God; for as there has been a very long time for this comparison, if any one will compare its duration with the duration of the laws made by other legislators, he will find our legislator to ‘have been the most ancient.” (Jos., Apion, Book I.)POLITICS,
PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION AND SOCIETY
IN THE
REIGN OF AUGUSTUS CAESAR.
Detailed quotations are not necessary here. Roman history generally is referred to in the fullest establishment of what is given in this place. The reign of Augustus Caesar, in which Jesus was born, was not only the climax but the crisis of Roman history. The ancient world had become fully ripe in all that belonged to politics, philosophy and religion. Society, so far as it could be led by these as then taught, had reached the limit beyond which it could not go.
The acquisition of more territory by the empire was felt to be not desirable or politic. Rome and its destinies were in the hands of one man, who was head of the senate, high priest in religion, and gen-eral-in-chief of a standing army estimated at about 350,000.
The city of Rome, a city of marble, held within its limits nearly two millions of people. Of these one-half were slaves, and of the rest a vast majority were freedmen and their descendants, or foreigners. Slavery was not such as we knew it a few decades ago ;
(486)UNDER AUGUSTUS.
487
but a mass of cruelty, oppression on the one side, and of cunning and corruption on the other. Syrian and Greek corruption poisoned the very fountains of life, while the native, free citizens were idle, dissipated, and sunken to the lowest depravity in morals. Two hundred thousand persons at one time were supported at the public cost under the reign of Augustus.
The old Roman stock through corruption, but mainly from cessation of marriage, was rapidly decaying.
As to the provinces the policy of the empire was to destroy all separate nationalities, and to make herself the center of attraction around which should revolve all that was political, civil and religious. To this the only real resistance came from the Jews. In Rome, at least, the issue lay between stoicism and epicureanism: stoicism that turned all higher aspirations selfward; epicureanism that sank them all in the enjoyment of the moment. Both of these led ultimately to atheism and despair. Older stoicism it is true did hold that “the soul would for a time after death hold a separate existence, in the case of wise men, till the general destruction of all things;“ yet the doctrine among the later stoics was that “immediately after death the soul returned into ‘the world-soul’ of which it was a part.’’ Even this hope was beset by so many misgivings as to shear it of all hope and comfort. We are told that Cicero was the only one who defended the immortality of the soul. But even he writes as one overwhelmed with doubts.488
UNDER AUGUSTUS.
Virgil, the greatest of Latin poets at the time, is painted by the English Laureate as “majestic in his sadness at the doubtful doom of human kind," while Horace made open fun of an immortal life.
Among the Greeks history shows that “practically the upshot was the same, the only healthier tendency coming from the Neo-Platonic school." In such a condition of affairs real religion was impossible. The only religion on which Rome insisted was the deification and worship of the emperor, the only resistance to which, as has been said, came from Judea and from Britain (Dollinger’s Heidenthum und Judenthum, p. 611). Not only the emperors, but their wives and paramours, children and creatures of their vilest lusts, were deified.
The ancient Roman religion had long given place, to foreign rites. Tacitus, as already remarked in a note of former pages, tells us that Claudius “called the attention of the senate to the college of soothsayers, that the oldest religion science of Italy might not die out through neglect." He also tells us “that the sacred rites should not, through uncertainty touching their observance, be obliterated by existing prosperity, it was enacted by the senate that the chief priests should examine what observance of the soothsayers ought to be retained and put upon a better footing." (Tac. Ann., ii, 15.)
Among the most repulsive symptoms of general decay in religion may be reckoned prayers for the death of a rich relative in order to enjoy the riches ofUNDER AUGUSTUS.
489
such an one; horrible blasphemies uttered against the gods who refused to answer prayers offered up for the mere gratification of lusts; and on the tombs of children such inscription as: “To the unjust gods who robbed me of life,” and on that of a girl of twenty, “I lift my hands against the god who took me away, innocent as I am.”
The idea of conscience, as we understand it, was unknown to heathenism. • Social relations were indeed terrible. The very few who have seen a part of these as depicted of the time from some of the households of Herculaneum and Pompeii alone can appreciate the degradation to which social life had sunk, in the sanctity of marriage, in female dissipation and general dissoluteness, abortion, murder of newly-born children and unnatural vices which even the greatest philosophers practiced. . The slave was entirely unprotected. Nameless cruelties were practiced on male and female, the old and sick being cast out to perish from want. The poor had neither hospital nor almshouse provided for the multitudes of them that crowded the city. The noblest spirits of the time felt that the state of affairs was utterly hopeless. Seneca longed for some hand from without, to lift up from the mire of despair; Cicero painted in glowing colors the enthusiasm that would greet the embodiment of true virtue; and Tacitus declared human life “one great farce.”
In Judaea, in the worship of the Temple, in the morals of society, in short, in all Jewish affairs, the490
UNDER AUGUSTUS.
conditions were much as we have seen them under the reign of Annas and Caiaphas. Politics was Roman, philosophy was largely a mixture of Grecian notions and Jewish tradition, and religion was cut into Phari-seeism, Sadduceeism and other widely differing sects.
The doctrine of immortality, the hope of another and a better state than that of this earthly life was seemingly gone from the world. Such were the conditions when Jesus came, such were politics, philosophy and religion in the reign of Augustus, and such the tangled problem of human welfare when the light of a higher life was established by Jesus, and preached afterward by His Apostles.INDEX.
A
Aaron, first high priest, 244.
Abraham, Covenant with, the idea of nationality dates from, 18.
Achimas, a high priest, 262.
Acts of Pilate: The official records of his administration in Judea» especially of the trial of Jesus, made to the emperor according to Roman law, and deposited in the Archives of Rome, 5, 6; mentioned by Justin Martyr, the philosopher, in his First Apol-ogy to the Roman emperor and Senate, A. D. 138, 6; by Ter-tullian, the great Roman lawyer, A. D. 200, 6, 7; «by Eusebius, the father of church history, A. D. 311, 331; by Chrysostom, A. D. 385, and later, by Orosius, 334; oldest existing manuscripts of date of A. D. 424, 17; first used by Tischendorf at Turin, North Italy, 83; Justin’s statements concerning, 325; Tertullian’s statements, 328; Eusebius, 331; statements, 330; Chrysostom’s, 333; Orosius, 334; Lardner’s remarks on, 335; Rawlinson’s remarks, 10; Tischendorf’s account of, 185; Lit-tell’s discussion of, 193, 217.
Acts, False, of the enemies of the Christians, 10; described by Eusebius, 332.
Ærarium, under temple of Saturn, whât was kept in. 9.
Agrippa I, King, sends letters to Caius and causes the banishment of Herod Antipas, 233, 234.
Agrippa II, King, his great speech to the Jews, 439.
Alexander the Great at Jerusalem before the high priest, adores the name on his mitre, 239.
Alexander, king and high priest, 246.
Ananus, son of Annas, his speech, 453.
Annas, appointed high priest by Cyrenius, A. D. 7, 256; presi-
(49O492
INDEX.
dent of the Sanhedrin, 253; bazaars of his sons, 251; his dark deeds, 252, 253.
Antoninus Pius, emperor to whom Justin’s Apology was made, 325-
Antony, Mark, his letter to the high priest concerning the death of Julius Caesar, 428.
Antipas, Herod, 30.
Appointments of Tiberius, 285.
Apology of Justin Martyr naming the Acts of Pilate, 325.'
Aristobulus III, high priest, 247; put to death by Herod the Great, 247.
Arrest of Jesus no mere municipal arrest by police or priestly guard, but by order of Pilate, 38, 39.
Augustus Caesar, his decrees concerning the Jews, 436.
Authenticity of Acts discussed, 193, 217.
Axioramus, a high priest, 262.
Azarias, a high priest, 262.
B
Babylon, Judah’s return from, 27.
Banquet at the house of Simon, Jesus at, 394.
Bar Abbas, the robber, demanded for release instead of Jesus, 105.
Betrothal of Joseph and Mary strictly examined by Pilate, 96,97; the law pertaining to, 95.
Bible, Sinai, discovered by Tischendorf—description of, 377.
Blasphemy, nature of, 47; the penalty for, 48.
C
Caesar, Augustus, his decrees concerning Jewish rights and privileges inscribed on a pillar in his temple, 436.
Caesar, Caius, Caligula, banishes Herod Antipas, 234.
Caesar, Claudius, his edict and letter, 436; King'Agrippa I very dear to, 438; his edicts engraved on tables, 437.
Caesar, Julius, his edicts in favor of the Jewish people, 433; laid up among the public records, written on a table of brass in Latin and Greek, 434.
Casar, Tiberius, as a soldier, 265; as an emperor, 266; the likeness from his statue, 266; his true character as drawn from original sources, 267; encouraged freedom of speech, 268; his moral earnestness, 270; was frugal and temperate, 275; hisINDEX.
493
benevolence, 276; courteous and kindly, 278; abhorred all brutalizing games, 279; a conscientious man who tried to do right, 280; looked upon power as a trust, 283; was a man of justice, 284; his retirement to Caprise nearly seventy years old, accompanied by men of refinement and learning, 287, 288, 289.
Caesarea, Philippi, Jesus’ statue erected there, but destroyed by the apostate emperor Julian, 412.
Caiaphas, Joseph, the high priest with Annas, appointed by Valerius Gratus A. D. 25, 255; but the shadow and deputy of Annas, 256; at the trial of Peter and John, 257.
Capreae, the island of, the place of Tiberius’ retirement, 287.
Captain of the Host of God, a name of Jesus, 25.
Cause of Jesus’ arrest, 39, 44; chief priests, a list of, 262; Josephus’ account of, 244, 245.
Claudia Procula, Pilate’s wife, her dream, 236.
Coptic-Sahidian papyrus and Latin palimpsest — fifth century manuscripts of the Acts of Pilate, 85; first used by Tischen-dorf, rare character of, give the strongest documentary confirmation of the Acts of Pilate, 189.
Correspondence of our Acts of Pilate with those known to Justin and Tertullian, even in their details, 187.
Cross, the form of, 476.
Crucifixion, notes on the custom of, with full details of, 476,477.
Czar, Alexander II, emperor of Russia, his patronage of Tisch-endorf in literary labors, 375, 376.
D
David’s house, so feared by the emperors that “ a strict watch was kept for all those who claimed descent from it,” 40.
David’s Son the popular title of Jesus, 31.
Death, by the Romans, regarded as “ an eternal sleep ” in the time of Jesus, 3.
Death of Julius Caesar, darkness at, 428.
Decrees of Roman emperors concerning the Jews, 435, 438.
Denis, Saint, his description of the beauty of Mary, 412.
Departure of Jesus from Capernaum on his last journey, 393.
Details of the Acts of Pilate given by Justin and Tertullian are all found in the text of the Acts, 187.494
INDEX.
Dictionnaire Universel quoted on Tischendorf’s visit to Turin, and use of the fifth century manuscripts of Acts of Pilate, 83,84.
Documentary confirmation of^the text of the Acts of Pilate stronger than that of any ten works of the collective Greek classic literature, 189.
Documents of this book, whence derived, 2; their contents deal with what, 2.
Dionysius, the Areopagite, exclamation at the phenomena attending the crucifixion, 429.
Doctrine of Jesus, 389.
Dysmas or Dismas, one of the robbers crucified with Jesus, 109; legend of his having met Jesus in infancy in Egypt, 109.
E
Earliest mention of Acts of Pilate, 325, 327.
Eating the first meal in the promised land, 25.
Edicts of Roman emperors, 435, 438.	'
Editions of Acts of Pilate examined in the text given in this volume, 86.
Egypt, Israel’s slavery in, 22; departure from, 24.
Emperor of Rome at the time of Augustus—his vast power as head of the Senate, general-in-chief of the army, and high-priest of religion, 486.
Empire and extent of Rome as given in King Agrippa’s speech, 441, 442, 443.
Entry of the promised land, date of, 25; triumphal of Jesus into Jerusalem, 394.
Ephron, field of, where Abraham was buried, 20.
Epiphanius’ description of the personal appearance of Jesus and his mother, Mary, 412.
Eusebius’ account of the attempt to destroy the Acts of Pilate, 33332 ? sketch of, 365.
Evidence, laws of, 204, 206.
Execution, power of taken from the Jews, 78, 79, 80.
Explicitness of Tertullian’s testimony to the Acts of Pilate, 186.
F
Facts, interesting, about Annas, 252, 253; about money-changers temple tribute, 249; profits from exchange, 250; to whom it went, 251.INDEX.
495
False Acts^ of Pilate to defeat the influence of those used by Christians in the time of Maximin, 331.
False witness, law of, 57.
Fathers, early Christian, their testimony to the Acts of Pilate 325-334-
Fidelity of the Jew to his law given by Josephus, 480.
First and Fourth commandments those under which Jesus was tried, 48, 49, 53.
Flaccus an associate of Tiberius in his retirement, 289.
Fornication, in the birth of Jesus, charge of by Jewish priests, 93; discussed before Pilate, 95, 96, 97; the law of Moses concerning, 95-
Freedom of speech advocated by Tiberius, 268.
G
Galilee, most of the public life of Jesus spent in, 33.
Geneology of the house of David closely watched by Roman rulers, 40.
Gistas one of the persons crucified with Jesus, 142.
God, Jewish notion of as given by Josephus, 481; duty of all men to follow, 481.
Gods meaning divine influence, 146.
Gospels in reference to Acts of Pilate, 208, 209, 210.
Government, Jesus’ idea of, 34; opposed to Pilate’s idea of, 36.
Governor of the Universe, a name of God, 483; permits the priest to be administrator of principal affairs, 483; appointed by Tiberius, no one while he was alive ever charged with or prosecuted for malversation in office, 285.
Governors of Provinces, two kinds, 220, 221; had to make reports to Rome and keep copies in the province where they resided, 5, 6.
Gratus, Valerius, appoints Caiaphas to the priesthood, 255.
Great Sanhedrin, the, who could be members of, 74, 75.
Greek word used by Justin to indicate genuine Acts of Pilate, 187.
H
Health of Caesar, by the, a common mode of oath, 97, 159.
Herod the Great, the foremost politician of the Jews at his time, 30; his murders in his own family, of the innocents of Beth-496
INDEX.
lehem, 31; he was the model of Annas, 37; miniature picture of, 31; items of his reign referred to, 30.
Herod, Antipas, the tetrarch, kills John the Baptist, 31; why he took no part in condemnation of Jesus, 32; his visit to the Roman emperor to obtain a kingdom fails, and is banished, 231, 232. 233, 234.
Herod, Philip, 30; his divorced wife, Herodias, banished with Herod Antipas, 255.
High priests, how they began, who they were and their number, 244; thirteen up to the building of Solomon’s Temple, eighteen from the days of Solomon till the captivity of Babylon, 244-246; a list of the high priests, 262; golden mitre of the, inscribed with the name of God, adored by Alexander the Great, 239; was in existence in the days of Josephus, 240; a great deal of the furniture of the priests delivered to Titus, 240, 241; Alexander’s vision of the high priest Jaddua, 241; degeneracy of the priesthood in and after Annas’ and Caiaphas’ time, 247-253-
High treason, Jesus charged with before the two highest courts
' on earth, 67.
Honors paid Tischendorf, 378,
House of David’s line closely watched to prevent the claims of any descendant as king, 40.
Huidekoper, Prof. F., his very valuable notes on the character of Tiberius quoted by special permission, 267-323.
Hyrcanus, a famous high priest, 246, 247.
I
Idea, the great, of Jesus, 386.
Identity of the Acts of Pilate, known to Justin and Tertullian, with those given in this volume, 187, 188, 189, 193.
Immortality among philosophers at Rome, taught only by Cicero, 487, 488.
Independence of Judaea, 29.
Individuality of Jesus, highest yet attained in any age, 388.
Infraction of the first and fourth commandments punishable by death, 48.
Ink, of the Sinai Bible, 377.
Isaac, covenant of Abraham renewed with, 20.INDEX.
497
Island, of Capre®, residence of Tiberius in, 293.
Ishmael, a high priest, 262.
Israel, divided, 26.
Issus, a high priest, 262.
Italy, North Tischendorf, in at Turin, 83; University of, 84.
J
Jericho, first city taken by Joshua, 25; passed by Jesus on his last journey, 394.
Jerusalem under David, Solomon, 380, 382; burned by Nebuchadnezzar, 27; rebuilt under Nehemiah, 28; in the days of Herod the King—description of, 471, 473.
Jesus, the name of four of the high priests, 262.
Jesus Christ, names of: Shiloh, Seed, Captain of God’s Host, Son of David, 31; political fear of, by Herod, 31; his kingdom unique, 36; the central idea of all prophecy, 63; came when his country was under the yoke of Rome, 380; His early education one of sadness, 381, 382, 383; human as well as divine, and loved his country, his kinsmen and friends, 384; his love of little children, his eloquence, his poverty, his high lineage, 385; did not hope for a temporal re-establishment of the Jewish state, 386; stood alone in his idea of the reign he urged 387; the vista of his end, Gethsemane, Golgotha, Aceldama 387; in the dells of Galilee, and the . sun-set mountain sides, by the lake and everywhere broke upon him, the cranium crowned with the cross, 388; his Sermon on the Mount has not yet been surpassed, 389; text of his first sermon, 391; is summoned before a committee of the Sanhedrin, 393; a life of peril, flight and concealment, 393; Peter’s great confession, 393» Jesus starts for the last pdssover and. arrives at Bethany six days before, 394; at a banquet there, 394; his .triumphal entry of Jerusalem, his speech before entering it, 394; his last four days before the crucifixion, 396, 397, 402; remarks on his life, 403, 404.
John the Baptist killed for political reasons, 31.
Joseph, the name of three high priests, 262.
Joseph of Arimathea begs the body of Jesus, 144.
Josephus—quoted, 30.
Judah, the kingdom, kings and captivity of, 26; return from Babylonian exile, 27; the lion of, 24.498
INDEX.
Judas, fifty-second high priest, also called Aristobulus, 246. Justin Martyr, his apology to the Emperor and Senate of Rome, 325, 326, 327; sketch of, 354.
K
King, the charge of being the cause of Jesus’ death, 107, 13S, 168.
Kingdom of Heaven, “not of this world,” 64, 65; what meaning Pilate gave to it, 60; great danger of mistaking its true meaning, 42, 62, 63.
Kingdom of, Israel at the first, 26; divided, 26; not looked for by Jesus, under a temporal re-establishment, 386.
L
Laesa Majestas, the Roman law of high treason, 59, 81.
Lardner’s remarks on the acts of Pilate, 335, 353.
• Law, Jewish, classified, 47; laws of Sabbath-breaking and blas-phemj', criminal, capital offenses, and penalty death, 48, 49; Jesus tried under, 50; not to be treated as other offenses, 50; provisions of, in favor of the accused, 54, 55; against false witnesses, 57, 58; Pilate knew all about, 66; of warning would-be evil-doers has no equal in ancient or modern law, 55; concerning betrothal, 95; women’s evidence, law of, 103; Jewish regard for, 480.
Laws of crucifixion, 476, 479.
Lazarus, his resurrection, 103.
Lex, Julia, required the Governor of a Province to deposit copies of his accounts in the Province and send another to Rome, 5,6.
List of high priests, 262.
Longinus name of soldier who speared the side of Jesus, 124.
M
Malachi, book of, quoted, 28.
Manlius, Pilate’s secretary, 413.-
Mark Antony, his letter to the Jewish high priest Hyrcanus. concerning the death of Caesar, 428.
Mary, the mother of Jesus, her character aspersed by the Jewish rabbis, 94; her lament at the cross, 140; driven away by the Jews, 141; her personal appearance as given by Epiphanius, 412,
Mary Magdalene, her outcry at the crucifixion of Jesus, 146; threatens to go to Rome to see Caesar, 147; the first herald ofINDEX.
499
the resurrection, 451; entertains Pilate and his wife three years after the crucifixion, 147.
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John harmonized by Acts of Pilate, 141.
Maximin, Roman Emperor, aids in destruction of the Acts of Pilate, 331.
Messiah, claim of being, a capital offense not to be tried by regular rules of the law, 50.
Money-changers in every village, 249; their charges, 250.
Moses, the greatest leader of any age, 22, 23; Sanhedrin, in the days of, 72, 73.
Mother of God, a designation of Mary, probably translated under this title by the translator of the Acts of Pilate into Greek, 145, 146.
Mount Mambre, where Jesus taught his disciples after the resurrection, 183. See Bible accounts of this historic place, where Abraham and the patriarchs were buried; where he entertained the three angels who promised the birth of Is' ^.c, etc., etc.—(Gen. xviii.)
Murder of the infants of Bethlehem, 107.
N
Nazarene, the name often used by Pilate to designate Jesus, 411, 414, 417, 418, 420, 422, 423, 425, 430; yet, not in the title over the head of Jesus on the cross, 108, 169.
Nebuchadnezzar, takes Jerusalem, 27.
Nerva, the great jurist and friend of Tiberius in his retirement, 289.
New Hampshire, size of the Kingdom of Israel, 26.
Nichodemus’ speech to Pilate, 100; summoned by Pilate, 104; priests at the house of, 1x8; his speech in the Sanhedrin, 115.
O
Oath required by Pilate of the Jews, 97; priests refuse to swear to the illegitimacy of Jesus, 97.
Offense of Jesus not a petty but a political offense, 38, 39.
Officers appointed by Tiberius, 284; no one of his governors, while he was alive, charged with or prosecuted for malversation in office, 285.500
INDEX.
Old Testament prophecies quoted by Justin in connection with Acts of Pilate, 8, 325, 326, 327; Sinai copy discovered by Tischendorf, 373; oldest copies of the, 85.
Oldest copies of Acts of Pilate, 83.
Onias I, thirty-ninth high priest; II, forty-third high priest; III, forty-fifth, high priest; IV, forty-seventh high priest, 162.
Orosius, testimony of to the Acts of Pilate, written in fifth century, 334.
P
Palm Sunday the day of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, four days before his crucifixion, 384.
Panonia, seditions of, 428.
Passover eaten in Canaan, 25.
Personal appearance of Jesus, 411; of Mary, his mother, 412.
Papyrus copy of the Acts of Pilate, 86.
Peyron, the orientalist, 83.
Phannias, the last high priest, 262.
Philip’s principality, 30.
Phineas, the third high priest, 262.
Pillar of Fire, 24.
Pilate, perhaps a descendant of the Samnit^ general, Telesinus, 218; German legend of, 219; made procurator of Judea A. D. 25-26, 220; builds an aqueduct at Jerusalem, 424; his sentence of Jesus to scourging and crucifixion, 138; orders the title of Jesus' offense inscribed in Latin, Greek and Hebrew, 169; his official Acts concerning the crucifixion, 88; his report to Tiberius, 407; his opinion of Jesus, to Herod, 422.
Political sentiments of Tiberius, Pilate and Jesus in many things the same, 413.
Political situation at the time of Jesus’ trial, 17.
Pliny, the Younger, his letters to the emperor Trajan, 457.
Pompey reduces Palestine to a Roman tributary, 29.
President of the Sanhedrin, 51, 77.
Priests, high, reign6, names and dates of, 262.
Procula, Claudia, Pilate’s wife, 236.
Procurator, or governor of a Roman province—two kinds, procurators Csesaris, and procurators Senatus, 458; Pilate and Pliny were of the former kind, 458..
Proselyte defined to Pilate by the high priests, 96.INDEX.
501
Prolegomena of Tischendorf, 83.
Promised land first entered by the Israelites, 25.
CL
Qualifications of a member of the Sanhedrin, 74.
Questions concerning the Acts of Pilate: have we tlje same Acts known to the early Fathers, 193; were the old copies seen by these Fathers authentic, 197-217.
Questions of Pilate to Jesus, 60, 65, 66.
Quirinius, taxing under, 256; governor of Syria, 29.
R
Rahab, helped to take Jericho, one of the four females named in the geneology of Jesus, 26.
Rawlinson, George, on the Acts of Pilate, 10; political position of Palestine in the days of Jesus, 29.
Religious views of Tiberius, 287; Annas, 247.
Rhodes, life of Tiberius at, 278.
Right side of Jesus speared, 143.
Riches of Rome, 474, 475.
Rome in the days of Jesus, 29; rules over Palestine, 29; her considerate government over, as seen in her many decrees in favor of the Jewish people, 432; in her glory, 474, 475, et seq.
Rules of law suspended in the trial of Jesus, 50.
Rules of evidence, 204.
S
Sanhedrin, the Great, its origin and constitution, 69; discussion of its early existence, 7°» 71» 72> made up of three classes, priests, elders and lawyers, 72; counterpart of the Roman Senate, in early times, 73; early jurisdiction of, 75, 76; powers under the Roman rule, 79; who was president of, 51.
Saturn, temple of, the Roman Treasury and Archives, 6; what was preserved in, 9.
Saul, the first king, 69; was president of the Sanhedrin in his reign, 69.
Sentence of Pilate, 107,138, 168.
Seraiah, thirty-first high priest, 262.
Shallum, twenty-eighth high priest, 262.
>Simon I, fortieth high priest, 262; II, forty-fourth; III, fiftieth,502
INDEX.
IV, fifty-ninth; V, sixty-seventh, and VI, seventy-first high priest, 262.
S. P. R. explained, 90, 91.
Schaff, Dr. Philip, estimate of Tischendorf, 216.
Smith, Dr. William, Greek and Roman Antiquities quoted: Secular Hist, of the Jews, History of the Bible (p. 960), 40.
Socrates, his character, teaching and death, 419.
Soldiers of Roman governor called out for the arrest of Jesus, 38.
Speech of Ananus, the priest, to the Jews concerning rebellion against Rome, 453, 456; of King Agrippa on same, 439.
Stanley Dean, sketch of Mount Gerizim, 260.
Statue of Jesus at Caesarea Phillippi, erected by the woman healed; destroyed by Emperor Julian, 412; of Tiberius Caesar; 266, 312; of emperors and principal persons at Rome, 475.
Strabo, the Greek historian’s account of the Jewish priesthood, 253-
Suetonius, a political enemy of the emperor Tiberius, 264.
Superscription written over the head of Jesus by Pilate, 169.
T
Tacitus, the Latin historian, on Tiberius, 293.
Temple of Solomon burned by Nebuchadnezzar, 27; rebuilt by Herod the First, 471.
Tertullian, the Roman lawyer, his testimony to the Acts of Pilate, 328; sketch of, 360.
Tetrarch, Herod, the character of, 31; banished, 234.
Tiberius, Caesar, sketch of, 263; as a child, 265; as a general, 265; as emperor, 266; as a man of learning, 289, 290; the aspersions of his character by historians explained, 290; why his true character not generally known, 267, 268,
Tischendorf, his remarkable discoveries, 371, 375; honored bv the learned of Europe, 378; His comments on the Acts of Pilate, 185; sketch of his labors, 370, 378.
Text of the Acts of Pilate corroborated by testimony of the strongest character, 189.
Theocracy, the, under Moses, 18.
Trajan, the Emperor, his letters to Pliny, 463.
Treasury of Rome, where kept, 9.
Treason, high, Jesus crucified under charge of, 67, 107, 138, 167.INDEX.
503
Trial of Jesus not conducted according to regular rules of law, because of his singular claim, 50; irregularities of, discussed,
52> S3-
U
University of Breslau confers title on Tischendorf of Doctor of Theology, for restoration of text of a palimpsest of the Bible of 5th century, 371; of Turin, where he first used 5th century copies of the Acts of Pilate, 83, 84.
Urias, twenty-fifth high priest, 262.
Uzzi, sixth high priest, 262.
V
Valerius Gratus, procurator of Judaea, his various changes in the high-priesthood, 255.
Villas, built by Tiberius at Capreae, 288.
Vision of Alexander the Great at Dios, in Macedonia, 241.
Vitillius, President of Syria, 79.
W
Walsh, Dr., quoted, 109.
Warning, antecedent, 54.
Washington, D. C., facsimile of Sinai Bible at, 377.
Watch, guarded crosses by Roman law, 478.
White robe put on Jesus by Herod, 137.
Witchcraft, forbidden by Jewish law, 48.
Witnesses who were incompetent under Jewish law, 57; false witnessed, liable to death in capital trials, 57, 58.
Wolf of the Tiber, 421.
Women, with Mary and John driven from the cross by the Jews, 140, 141.
Women, not competent as witnesses in the days of Jesus, 99.
Z
Zerubbabel made Governor of Judea after the return from Babylonian captivity, 27.
Zion, heights of, historic of death, 380.