Caesar's Messiah: The Roman Conspiracy to Invent Jesus:Flavian Signature Edition (6 page)

Given this patrician cynicism, it is odd that so many members of the Flavian family were recorded as having been among Christianity’s first members. Why was a Judaic cult that advocated meekness and poverty so attractive to a family that practiced neither? The tradition connecting early Christianity and the Flavian family is based on solid evidence but has received little comment from scholars.

The best known of the “Christian Flavians” was (Pope) Clement I. He is described in
The Catholic Encyclopedia
as the first pope about whom “anything definite is known,”
²⁹
and was recorded in early church literature as being a member of the Flavian family.

Pope Clement was the first pope who was referred to by individuals known to history, and who left behind written works. He purportedly wrote the Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians, quoted previously. Thus, Clement is of great significance to the church’s history. In fact, while
The Catholic Encyclopedia
currently lists Clement as the fourth “bishop of Rome,” or pope, this was not the assertion of many early church scholars. St. Jerome wrote that in his time “most of the Latins”
³⁰
held that Clement had been the direct successor of Peter. Tertullian also knew of this tradition; he wrote, “The church of Rome records that Clement was ordained by Peter.”
³¹
Origen, Eusebius, and Epiphanius also placed Clement at the very beginning of the Roman church, each of them stating that Clement had been the “fellow laborer” of the Apostle Paul.

Scholars have seen that the list of popes given by Irenaeus (circa 125–202) that names Clement as the fourth pope is suspect and it is notable that the Roman Church chose to use it as its official history. This list names “Linus” as the second pope, followed by “Anakletus” and then Clement. The list comes from Irenaeus, who identifies “Linus the Pope” as the Linus mentioned in 2 Timothy 4:21. Scholars have speculated that Irenaeus chose Linus simply because he was the last male that Paul mentioned in the epistle, which supposedly was written immediately before Paul’s martyrdom. The provenance of Pope Anakletus may be no better. In Titus, the epistle that immediately follows Timothy in the canon, it is stated, “the bishop shall be irreproachable.” In Greek, “irreproachable” is
anenkletus.
³²

Irenaeus may not have known who the popes between Peter and Clement were and therefore had to invent names for them. If this was the case, then after creating “Linus” as Peter’s successor, “Irreproachable” as the next bishop of Rome, his imagination may have become strained, because the name he chose for the sixth pope in his list was “Sixus.”

It also seems strange that the Roman church chose to use Irenaeus’ list, considering that it originated in the East. The idea that Clement was the second pope is no weaker historically and reflects the papal sequence that was known in Rome. Perhaps early church officials preferred not to use a list stating that Clement was Peter’s direct successor, because of the traditional view that he was a member of the Flavian family.

The notion that Pope Clement was a Flavian was recorded in the
Acts of Saints Nereus and Achilleus
, a fifth- or sixth-century work based on even earlier traditions. This work directly linked the Flavian family to Christianity, a fact that is noted in
The Catholic Encyclopedia
:

Titus Flavius Sabinus, consul in 82, put to death by Domitian [the Emperor Titus’ brother], whose sister he had married. Pope Clement is represented as his son in the
Acts of Saints Nereus and Achilleus
.
³³

Titus Flavius Sabinus’ brother, Clemens, was also linked to Christianity. The
Acts of Saints Nereus and Achilleus
states that Clemens was a Christian martyr. Clemens is believed to have married Vespasian’s granddaughter and his first cousin, Flavia Domitilla, who was yet another Christian Flavian. In the case of Flavia Domitilla there is extant evidence linking her to Christianity. The oldest Christian burial site in Rome has inscriptions naming her as its founder:

The catacomb of Domitilla is shown by existing inscriptions to have been founded by her. Owing to the purely legendary character of these Acts, we cannot use them as an argument to aid in the controversy as to whether there were two Christians of the name of Domitilla in the family of the Christian Flavians, or only one, the wife of the Consul Flavius Clemens.
³⁴

The Talmud records the genealogy of Christianity’s purported first pope differently than does the
Acts of Saints Nereus and Achilleus
. It records that the Flavia Domitilla who was the mother of Clemens (Kalonymos) was not Titus’ niece but rather his sister. This links Peter’s purported successor a generation closer to Titus, perhaps placing him within his very household.
³⁵

Nereus and Achilleus, the authors of their
Acts
, are listed within
The Catholic Encyclopedia
as among the religion’s first martyrs and were also linked to the Flavian family.

The old Roman lists, of the fifth century, and which passed over into the Martyrologium Hiernoymianum, contain the names of the two martyrs Nereus and Achilleus, whose grave was in the Catacomb of Domitilla on the Via Ardeatina …

The acts of these martyrs place their deaths in the end of the first and beginning of the second centuries. According to these legends, Nereus and Achilleus were eunuchs and chamberlains of Flavia Domitilla, a niece of the Emperor Domitian. The graves of these two martyrs were on an estate of the Lady Domitilla; we may conclude that they are among the most ancient martyrs of the Roman Church, and stand in very near relation to the Flavian family, of which Domitilla, the foundress of the catacomb, was a member. In the Epistle to the Romans, St. Paul mentions a Nereus with his sister, to whom he sends greetings.
³⁶

This reference by Paul to a Nereus and his sister is interesting. Tradition maintains that Domitian killed several family members who were Christians, as well as someone named Acilius Glabrio, whom a tradition also claims was a Christian, all of which permits the conjecture that the Nereus mentioned by Paul may have been the author of the
Acts
,
and that the Achilleus Domitian slew may have been Nereus’ literary partner.

Another individual linked to both Christianity and the Flavian family was Bernice, the sister of Agrippa, who is actually described in the New Testament as having known the Apostle Paul. She became Titus’ mistress and was living with him at the Flavian court in 75 C.E., the same time Josephus was purportedly writing
Wars of the Jews
.  Of interest is that Bernice’s name in Greek is Berenice, pronounced Beh-reh-nih-kee, and in Hebrew her name is Veronica.  It is also of note that the early Christian cult of Veronica is headquartered at the palace of Bernice in Rome.

Flavius Josephus, an adopted member of the family, also had a connection to the beginnings of Christianity. His works provided the New Testament with its primary independent historical documentation and were certainly read by his imperial patrons. In fact, Titus ordered the publication of
Wars of the Jews
. In his autobiography, Josephus writes that Titus
“
was so desirous that the knowledge of these affairs should be taken from these books alone, that he affixed his own signature to them and gave orders for their publication.”
³⁷

Perhaps the most unusual connection between Christianity and the Flavians, however, is the fact that Titus Flavius fulfilled all of Jesus’ doomsday prophecies. As mentioned above, the parallels between the description of Titus’ campaign in
Wars of the Jews
and Jesus’ prophecies caused early church scholars to believe that Christ had seen into the future. The destruction of the temple, the encircling of Jerusalem with a wall, the towns of Galilee being “brought low,” the destruction of what Jesus described as the “wicked generation,” etc., had all been prophesied by Jesus and then came to pass during Titus’ military campaign through Judea—a campaign that, like Jesus’ ministry, began in Galilee and ended in Jerusalem.

Thus the Flavians are linked to Christianity by an unusual number of facts and traditions. Early church documents flatly state that the family produced some of the religion’s first martyrs, as well as the pope who succeeded Peter. The Flavians created much of the literature that provides documentation for the religion, were responsible for its oldest known cemetery, and housed individuals named in the New Testament within their imperial court. Further, the family was responsible for Jesus’ apocalyptic prophecies having “come to pass.”

These connections clearly deserve more attention than they have received. Some explanation is required for the numerous traditions linking an obscure Judean cult to the imperial family—connections that include not merely converts to the religion, but, if the
Acts of Nereus and Achilleus
and Eusebius are to be believed, the direct successor to Peter.

If Christianity was invented by the Flavians to assist them in their struggle with Judaism, it would merely have been a variation upon a long-established theme. Using religion for the good of the state was a Roman technique long before the Flavians. In the following quote, which could well have been studied by the young Titus Flavius during his education at the imperial court, Cicero not only prefigures much of Christian theology but also actually advocates for the state to persuade the masses to adopt the theology most appropriate for the empire.

We must persuade our citizens that the gods are the lords and rulers of all things and what is done, is done by their will and authority; and they are the great benefactors of men, and know who everyone is, and what he does, and what sins he commits, and what he intends to do, and with what piety he fulfills his religious duties.

Cicero,
The Laws
, 2:15–16

Rome attempted not to replace the gods of its provinces but to absorb them. By the end of the first century, Rome had accumulated so many foreign gods that virtually every day of the year celebrated some divinity. Roman citizens were encouraged to give offerings to all these gods as a way of maintaining the Pax Deorum, the “peace of the gods,” a condition that the Caesars saw as beneficial to the empire.

The Romans also used religion as a tool to assist them in conquest. The leader of the Roman army, the consul, was a religious leader capable of communicating with the gods. The Romans developed a specific ritual for inducing the gods of their enemies to defect to Rome. In this particular ritual, the
devotio,
a Roman soldier, sacrificed himself to all the gods, including those of the enemy. In this way the Romans sought to neutralize their opponents’ divine assistance.

Thus, when Rome went to war with the Zealots in Judea it had a long tradition of absorbing the religions of its opponents. If Romans did invent Christianity, it would have been yet another example of neutralizing an enemy’s religion by making it their own, rather than fighting against it. Rome would simply have transformed the militant Judaism of first-century Judea into a pacifist religion, to more easily absorb it into the empire.

In any event, it is certain that the Caesars did attempt to control Judaism. From Julius Caesar on, the Roman emperor claimed personal authority over the religion and selected its high priests.

Caius Julius Caesar, imperator and high priest, and dictator sendeth greeting …

I will that Hyrcanus, the son of Alexander, and his children … have the high priesthood of the Jews for ever …

and if at any time hereafter there arise any questions about the Jewish customs, I will that he determine the same…
³⁸

Roman emperors appointed all the high priests recorded within the New Testament from a restricted circle of families who were allied to Rome. By selecting the individual who would determine any issue of “Jewish customs,” the Caesars were managing Jewish theology for their own self-interest. Of course, what other way would a Caesar have managed a religion?

Rome exercised control over the religion in a way that was unique in the history of its provincial governments. Rome micromanaged Second Temple Judaism, to the extent of even determining when its priests could wear their holy vestments.

… the Romans took possession of these vestments of the high priest, and had them reposited in a stone-chamber …

and seven days before a festival they were delivered to … the high priest …

Josephus,
Antiquities,
18, 4, 93-94

In spite of these efforts, Rome’s normal policy of absorbing the gods of its provinces did not succeed in Judea. Judaism would not permit its God to be just one among many, and Rome was forced to battle one Jewish insurrection after another. Having failed to control Judaism by naming its high priests, the imperial family would next attempt to control the religion by rewriting its Torah.

I believe they took this step and created the Gospels to initiate a version of Judaism more acceptable to the Empire, a religion that instead of waging war against its enemies would “turn the other cheek.”

The theory of a Roman invention of Christianity does not originate with this work.  Bruno Bauer, a 19th-century German scholar, believed that Christianity was Rome’s attempt to create a mass religion that encouraged slaves to accept their station in life. In our era, Robert Eisenman concluded that the New Testament was the literature of a Judaic messianic movement rewritten with a pro-Roman perspective. This work, however, presents a completely new way of understanding the New Testament.