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Julianne Rach Prof. Howe HIST 303 12/19/2018 the Burden of Proof: Examining the Reliability of Sources Regarding Neronian Perse

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Julianne Rach Prof. Howe HIST 303 12/19/2018 the Burden of Proof: Examining the Reliability of Sources Regarding Neronian Perse Rach 1 JuliAnne Rach Prof. Howe HIST 303 12/19/2018 The Burden of Proof: Examining the Reliability of Sources Regarding Neronian Persecution The Roman Emperor Nero Claudius Caesar, known as Nero, is infamous for a variety of heinous acts, primarily his persecution of Christians. Tacitus reports that this persecution started after the Great Fire of Rome in 64 CE, which Nero supposedly blamed the Christians for starting. Throughout the following centuries, Nero’s persecution of Christians became accepted as a fact that just added to the extensive list of his misdeeds, all of which served to portray Nero in a negative light. However, there has been a shift in scholarship to evaluate the historicity of this Christian persecution. This discussion starts with Brent Shaw’s groundbreaking thesis from 2015, including his discourse with Christopher Jones, within which they debate the veracity of the Christian persecution under Nero. Different aspects of the problem include evaluation the possibility of Christian interpolation in Tacitus, as written about by Richard Carrier, and Biblical depictions of persecution through Paul, which Paula Fredriksen discusses. An academic interaction between Brent Shaw and Christopher Jones comprises the main literature examining Christian persecution. In his 2015 essay, “The Myth of Neronian Persecution,” Brent Shaw argues that Nero did not instigate a great persecution of Christians after blaming them for the Great Fire of Rome.1 The foundation of Shaw’s argument is truly 1 B. Shaw, “The Myth of Neronian Persecution,” JRS 105 (2015): 73-100. ​ ​ ​ Rach 2 illustrating the insufficiency of a commonly held belief. The idea of Christian persecutions comes only from one source, Tacitus, and Shaw repeatedly states that the burden of proof should fall on those who wholly believe one source on such an important topic.2 However, in building this case, Shaw himself struggles with the burden of proof. Part of his main assertion is that no other authors from that time period mention the Christian persecution. Using what is missing from the extant literature, while interesting, is nevertheless an argumentum ex silentio, and ​ ​ therefore not entirely credible. Shaw is able to make his argument because, while he is presenting a new and somewhat shocking hypothesis, he is not merely challenging the believed facts of history but also the way that historians, and others, have considered history. Shaw’s essay calls for a reflection on the historical community and the way historians consider the historicity as opposed to historiographical aspects of sources. Shaw could have taken this farther, with his inclusion of Nero. While Shaw does touch on the concept of the Myth of Nero, and how people love to hate him, he could have used this to poignantly display the bias commonly held by historians. From there, Shaw could have tied in the bias of these ancient historians as a way of evaluating the historiographical content within the primary sources, and the implications they have on the veracity of Neronian persecution. Nevertheless, Shaw’s overall argument in both essays is convincing and well thought out, focusing in on a small but integral detail, the name of Christians, to bring down such a widely accepted assertion. Shaw’s essay introduces the main components and arguments in the foreground of scholarly thought concerning Christian persecution, and consequently is an integral part of the conversation, although as Christopher Jones noticed, it does still have its faults. Jones points out 2 Ibid., 92-93. Rach 3 some of these faults in his essay, "The Historicity of the Neronian Persecution: A Response to Brent Shaw."3 In response to a main part of Shaw’s evidence, that the Christians were too small to be recognized as a group in Rome, Jones cites Paul’s letter to the Romans as evidence of a Christian population in Rome.4 However, Shaw’s use of Paul’s letters as evidence provides some problems. A few of these problems Shaw also addresses, such as the fact that Paul never specifically refers to the group receiving his letters as “Christians.”5 However, Jones is also disregarding the fact that Paul never explicitly states how many people he is writing to. While there may have been a Christian community in Rome, it was a big city and what may have constituted a large following for a new religion which started with only twelve main disciples may have been relevant in the larger scheme of Roman life. While Jones does offer some interesting rebuttals to Shaw, they lack support or development. While most of Jones’s contradictions were trivial and satisfactorily addressed by Shaw, Jones simply ignores a significant part of Shaw’s argument. The lack of other sources, besides Tacitus, which mention Christian persecution is one of Shaw’s most integral and convincing claims. Yet, Jones does not even acknowledge this aspect of Shaw’s paper. Jones disregarded a crucial aspect of Shaw’s paper, and in doing so failed to craft a convincing critique of Shaw’s work. Therefore, the merit of Jones’s essay lies more in the opportunity it presented Shaw to elaborate and clarify than the assertions presented by Jones. In order to address Jones’s rebuttal, Shaw published another essay, "Response to Christopher Jones: The Historicity of the Neronian Persecution." Shaw begins this essay by 3 C. Jones, “The Historicity of Neronian Persecution: A Response to Brent Shaw,” New Testament Studies 63 ​ ​ (2017): 146-152. 4 Ibid., 151. 5 B. Shaw, “ "Response to Christopher Jones: The Historicity of the Neronian Persecution," New Testament Studies ​ 64 (2018): 231-242. Rach 4 defining “persecution,” as he believes that the root of Jones’s counterargument comes from their differing ways of considering persecution. Shaw says; “I would argue that persecution must designate a type of action where an agency uses force to harass and punish a specific group (often, as in this instance, a religious one) which it recognizes and wishes to repress for being that group.”6 Working with this definition, Shaw reasserts his claim that there was no great persecution of Christians under Nero. Proof of one such persecution would require evidence not just that Christians called themselves Christians, but also that the Roman officials called them by this name and persecuted them as a group for their identity.7 This definition of persecution qualifies a significant part of both Jones’s and Shaw’s essays, and serves as the working definition for this paper. Further illustrating the inadequacies of Jones’s argument, Shaw draws attention to the differing levels of credibility between histories and religious texts, such as the Bible. Histories and other such works were relatively fixed and thus more credible than the fluid authorship of the Bible.8 Shaw was able to apply Jones’s often trivial refutations not only to reassert but also to strengthen his assertion, and to provide further scholarship and research into Christian persecutions under Nero. Another way of addressing the issue of Christian persecution in Rome is through analyzing the authenticity of Tacitus as the main source. Richard Carrier’s argument in “The Prospect of Christian Interpolation in Tacitus, Annals 15.44” contributes well to study of the ​ ​ historicity of Christian persecution under Nero, since he argues that Annals 15.44 is the product of Christian Interpolation.9 Both Carrier and Shaw draw from the same sources and focus on 6 Ibid., 232. 7 Ibid., 232. ​ 8 Ibid., 232-234. ​ 9 R. Carrier, “The Prospect of Christian Interpolation in Tacitus, Annals 15.44,” Vigiliae Christianae 68, No. 3 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ (2014): 264-283. Rach 5 similar evidence, and develop the concept of Tacitus as the main source on Christian persecution to set up their argument. Thus, when considering the Christian persecution, the possibility of Christian interpolation is an integral facet which deserves to be explored and included in the conversation.10 However, the similarities of the two papers continue in their faults. Carrier also relies on an argumentum ex silentio, within which he devotes a significant portion of his essay to ​ ​ dissecting the other sources and their explicit lack of mention of Neronian persecution. However, Shaw and Carrier differ in their opinions on the authenticity of this passage of Tacitus. In discussing the possibility of interpolation, Shaw states; “such modest modernizations occur outside of this particular passage, however, and so are typical of the writer.”11 It is interesting that an aspect which Carrier places as the focal point of his essay is flippantly dismissed in a few sentences by Shaw. Shaw’s repudiation of the concept of Christian interpolation in Tacitus truly indicates the dissention among scholars relating to the topic of interpolation in Tacitus. Therefore, the potential for interpolation in this critical passage of Tacitus should be evaluated and analyzed further by any scholar attempting to research the topic of Christian persecution under Nero. Another essential aspect of the persecution of Christians under Nero is actually presented in the Bible, specifically with the character of Saul/Paul who was originally on a mission to persecute Christians.12 Neither Shaw nor Carrier address the persecutions mentioned in the Bible, aside from the isolated deaths of Peter and Paul. Even though their essays focused on the 10 Ibid., 274. ​ 11 Shaw, “Neronian Persecution,” 87. 12 In Acts Chapter 22, Paul/Saul describes his former life. In this life, Paul used to be called Saul, and he used to persecute Christians. One day, Paul was on the road to Damascus and Jesus appeared to him, and struck him blind. Paul’s sight was restored when he followed Jesus’s instructions and arrived in Damascus. After this encounter, Saul changed his name to Paul and became a Christian.
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