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18. Caligula, the Imperial Cult, and Philo's Legatio

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18. Caligula, the Imperial Cult, and Philo's Legatio 18. Caligula, The ImperialCult, and Philo’s Legatio Jewishexperience in the earlyRoman Empire wasnot always asmooth and un- troubled one. But one event stands out with highdrama and great notoriety.It represented aterrifying, memorable, and, in many ways,inexplicable act on the part of the imperial power:the emperorGaius Caligula’sorder to install a statue in the Temple in Jerusalem.The episode left adeepimpression upon Philo, acontemporary of this shatteringdecision, who recounted it at length in his Legatio ad Gaium. The account,fascinating and frustrating,presents nu- merous problems,onlyafew of which can be addressed here—and even fewer solved.¹ But they do afford avaluable avenue for an assessment of Philo as ahis- torian and the natureofhis narrative. Asummary of the relevant text is in order.² Twofundamental motifs run through Philo’sinterpretation of events: Gaius’svirulent hatred of Jews and his insatiable desire to demonstrate and broadcast his divinity.The two incen- tivescombined when the emperorissued instructions to place astatue of himself in the Temple. Aparticularincidentprovided the pretext.Recent gentile immi- grants to Jamnia, acityofmixed population, soughttoingratiate themselves with the emperor by setting up amakeshift altar of brick, adeliberate affront to the Jewish inhabitants.Asexpected, the Jews toreitdown. Word reached Here- nnius Capito, procurator in the region,who sent off areport to Rome. Caligula, after promptingfrom his most dubious advisers, the freedman Helikon and the actor Apelles, reacted with over-kill. He would teach the Jews alesson. Instead of the paltry altar in Jamnia, he would set astatue in the holysanctuary itself in Forsome discussions of the subject,see John P. V. D. Balsdon, TheEmperor Gaius (Oxford: Clarendon Press, ), –;Arnold H. M. Jones, TheHerods of Judea (Oxford: Clarendon Press, ), –;E.Mary Smallwood, “The Chronology of Gaius’ Attempt to Desecrate the Temple.” Latomus (): –;Emil Schürer, TheHistoryofthe JewishPeople in the Age of Jesus Christ, vol. I(rev. ed. by Geza Vermes and FergusMillar (Edinburgh:T&T Clark, ), –;E.Mary Smallwood, TheJews under Roman Rule (SJLA ;Leiden: Brill, ), – ;Per Bilde, “The Roman Emperor Gaius (Caligula)’sAttempt to Erect his Statue in the Temple of Jerusalem.” StudTheol (): –;AnthonyA.Barrett, Caligula: the Corruption of Power (London: Batsford, ), –;Daniel R. Schwartz, Agrippa I (TSAJ ;Tubingen: Mohr Siebeck, ), –, –;MonikaBernett, Der Kaiserkult in Judäa unter den Her- odiern und Römern (WUNT ;Tubingen: Mohr Siebeck, ), –.And see the val- uable text and commentary of the Legatio ad Gaium by E. Mary Smallwood, PhilonisAlexandrini, Legatio ad Gaium (Leiden: Brill, ). Philo, Legat. –. 398 18. Caligula, The ImperialCult, and Philo’s Legatio Jerusalem. And he would make his statement quite unequivocally. The princeps gave ordersbyletter to P. Petronius,governor of Syria, to take half his army, two full legions, to implementthis directive.³ Petronius was caught in abind. He could hardlydisobey adirect mandate from the emperor,especiallyone convinced of his divinity who would brook no opposition. Yethealso knew that Jewish resistance would be ferocious and horrific, not onlyfrom thosedwelling in Judaea but from the countless multi- tudes in the diaspora, thereby setting off aconflagration that could be over- whelming. The legatehad one piece of good luck. Caligula did not send astatue from Rome nor did he demand that one alreadyavailable in Syria be transported to Jerusalem. This allowed Petronius to commission anew work of art from ex- pert craftsmen in Sidon, providing awelcome respiteand giving time for reflec- tion and reconsideration. The Roman governor called upon Jewish leaders and appealed to sweet reason. Much better to yield on this issue than to risk massa- cre. Of course, the priestsand elders would not hear of it.Nocompromise was possiblewith so fundamental aprinciple at the very coreoftheir existence and identity.Avast multitudeofJews descended upon Petronius’ headquarters in Phoenicia,unarmed but defiant,readytolay down their lives, men, women, and children alike, rather than suffer the unspeakable horror of the Temple’s defilement.⁴ Instead of pushing matters to the brink, Jews requested of Petronius thathe permitthem to send an embassy to Rome,thus to dissuade the emperor of his purpose. Petronius declined the plea but,being areasonable and sympathetic man, said thathewould write aletter to the emperor himself. The missive ad- vised Caligula to delayhis purpose. Since harvest time approached, whyrun the risk of Jews burningthe crops and ravaging the land, especiallyasCaligula plannedatrip to the Near East with his vast entouragewhich needed to be fed and housed in style? The arrivalofthe letter in Rome sparked afit of rage.The emperor fumed at his appointee’sinsubordination. He fired off aletter in return, one that concealed his fury,couched in pleasant and encouragingtones, but re- iterating,his desire to have the statue installed as soon as possible. Disaster still seemed inevitable.⁵ Afortuitous or providential event then intervened. Agrippa I, grandson of Herod, afriend and successfulcourtier of Gaius who had recentlybeen awarded rule over much of the land of Palestine, was in Rome when matters came to a Philo, Legat. –. Philo, Legat. –. Philo, Legat. –. 18. Caligula, The ImperialCult, and Philo’s Legatio 399 head. The emperor informed him of his decision and denouncedAgrippa’sfellow Jews as being the onlynation to denyhis divinity.Agrippa, stunned and shocked in disbelief, fell into acoma.⁶ After recovery,hecould not face Caligula but wrote him along letter,recounted in Philo’stext.The king outlined Jewish loyalty to Rome, including sacrifices on behalf of the emperors, and detailed Roman favors over the years to Jews, includingsupport for and handsome gifts to the Temple. And he made clear the deep significance of attachment to ancestral traditions which keep the Temple inviolate, expressingreadiness to give up all possessions and life itself rather than witness its desecration.⁷ The emperorgreeted this letter with mixedresponse. He retained his wrath towardthe Jewishnation, the one people who refused to recognize his divinity. But he made the key concession to his friend Agrippa.Gaius rescinded his order to Petronius and sent aletter that terminatedany further action that might un- dermine the authority of the Temple. The letter,however,contained an added clause thatboundthe Jews in turn. Anyone in the areas nearJerusalem who wishedtoset up altars,shrines, images, or statues in honor of the emperor should be allowed to do so. If Jews should seek to prevent this, Petronius had full authority to punishthem or to send them to Rome for punishment.⁸ That would seem to settle the matter.But not quite. Caligula shortlythere- after regretted his compliance, resurrected his earlier decision, and directed the construction of anew colossal imageinRome to be shipped by sea and erect- ed surreptitiouslybefore the Jewishpeople realized what was happening.This would involve transformation of the Temple into ashrine dedicated to Gaius himself.⁹ So ends the narrative,somewhat abruptly and disconcertingly,as Philo returns to his discussion of the legatio on behalf of the Alexandrian Jews. As we know,the plans for the Temple did not materialize because Gaius convenientlydied before they could be implemented. We know this, however, not from Philo but from Josephus—whose account is still more problematical. That will not be treated here.¹⁰ We stick to Philo. He provides us with more than enough problems. Philo, Legat. –. Philo, Legat. –.SolomonZeitlin, “Did Agrippa Write aLettertoGaius Caligula?” JQR, (/): –,doubts that such alettercould have been written in the fashion presented in Philo’saccount.But this rests on his presumption that Gaius was amaniacal believer in his own divinity and that Agrippa would not have dared use the languageattributed to him. Philo, Legat. –. Philo, Legat. , . Jos. B. J. .–;Jos. A. J. .–.See the comparisons of Philo’sand Josephus’s accounts in the works listed above, n. .See also SteveMason, Flavius Josephus,Judean War 400 18. Caligula, The ImperialCult, and Philo’s Legatio Whyshould Caligula have adeep-seatedhatred of Jews?What would prompt immigrants to Jamnia to provoke Jews by setting up an altartothe em- peror?How provocative reallywas that? Wasitenough to justify destroyingthe altar and defying the emperor?Did this deed suffice in turn to rouse the fury of Gaius to such an extent that he ordered astatue to be placed in the Temple, an altogether unprecedentedact?And to implementit, did he requirethe forceof two Romanlegions, removing half the garrison of the provinceofSyria? Would P. Petronius,governor of the province, drag his feet,risk the wrath of the emperor, and become weak-kneedatthe idea of diasporaJews coming from all over the Mediterranean and from beyond the Euphratestoencircle his troopsand assault them?Was it aheavenlyblessing that Gaius did not send an alreadyconstructed statue but gave Petronius time to arrangefor a new one, thus providing respite for reconsideration?Did ahugethrongof Jews show up in Phoenicia, baring theirthroats,and persuade Petronius to alter the resolve of his sovereign?Did Agrippa fortuitouslyhappen to be in Rome at this crucial moment,intime to dissuade Caligula from his dastardly deed?Did the emperor,having reversed himself at the importuning of his friend, then reverse himself again almost immediatelythereafter,and order anew statue to be enshrined
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