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Paul in Rome: a Case Study on the Formation and Transmission of Traditions

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Paul in Rome: a Case Study on the Formation and Transmission of Traditions PAUL IN ROME: A CASE STUDY ON THE FORMATION AND TRANSMISSION OF TRADITIONS Pablo Alberto Molina A dissertation submitted to the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Classics in the College of Arts and Sciences. Chapel Hill 2016 Approved by: James Rives Bart Ehrman Robert Babcock Zlatko Plese Todd Ochoa © 2016 Pablo Alberto Molina ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Pablo Molina: Paul in Rome: A Case Study On the Formation and Transmission of Traditions (Under the direction of James Rives) Paul is arguably the second most important figure in the history of Christianity. Although much has been written about his stay and martyrdom in Rome, the actual circumstances of these events — unless new evidence is uncovered — must remain obscure. In this dissertation I analyze the matter from a fresh perspective by focusing on the formation and transmission of traditions about Paul’s final days. I begin by studying the Neronian persecution of the year 64 CE, i.e. the immediate historical context in which the earliest traditions were formed. In our records, a documentary gap of over thirty years follows the persecution. Yet we may deduce from chance remarks in texts written ca. 95-120 CE that oral traditions of Paul’s death were in circulation during that period. In chapter 2, I develop a quantitative framework for their contextualization. Research has shown that oral traditions, if not committed to writing, fade away after about eighty years. Only two documents written within that crucial time frame have survived: the book of Acts and the Martyrdom of Paul (MPl). These texts present discrepant versions of Paul’s death that I term respectively the “anti-Judaic” and “anti-Neronian” traditions. Despite Acts’ canonical status, it is Nero’s portrayal as Paul’s arch-enemy in MPl that would capture the imagination of Christians for centuries to come. The apostle’s martyr cult, which is still in existence, constitutes another important tradition. The evidence for its earliest phase is extremely scarce; hence, I attempt to reconstruct its development by analogy with the cult of the Argentinean folk saint iii Difunta Correa. The last chapter examines the enduring traditions of late antiquity, a period in which new stories emerged about places in Rome where Paul had been active and about people converted by him. These fictional stories were transmitted through the Middle Ages as if they were true and some of them have endured to our day. All in all, the dissertation explores two overarching themes about the social role of traditions: (1) some traditions, once set in motion, acquire a life of their own, and (2) the group that controls them acquires invaluable political influence. iv Para Lala y Tana, in memoriam v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, I want to thank my advisor Dr. James Rives. James’ mentorship has been instrumental to the success of this project. Time and again, he has provided me with invaluable assistance, pointing out paragraphs that needed rearrangement, suggesting words that fit better what I wanted to express and showing potential pitfalls to avoid. On a human level, I am deeply grateful for his kindness, enthusiastic interest in my dissertation and continuous encouragement. I hope that some of his keen sense of good scholarship has rubbed off on me. I would also like to thank Dr. Bart Ehrman; two term papers that I wrote for his classes in forgery and textual criticism form the basis of portions of Chapters 3 and 5. Bart was generous with his time and read earlier drafts of the first three chapters. His perceptive criticisms have helped me to sharpen my writing. Dr. Babcock inspired my interest in late antiquity, hagiography and textual transmission. Several of the authors that I studied in his engaging classes are featured in Chapter 5. In the initial stages of my research, Dr. Plese and Dr. Ochoa gave me useful tips for parts of Chapter 4 in which I ventured into the Acts of Paul and South American folk-saints. Thanks to a Berthe Marti Travel Award, in May 2015 I spent a week in Rome, visiting sites relevant to my research and examining manuscripts in the Vatican Library. In September of that year, I delivered a paper about the ending of the book of Acts at the KCL- UNC Colloquium in London. I want to thank Steven Cosnett, who was in the audience, for bringing the Acts of the Alexandrian Martyrs to my attention. My 2015-2016 Royster Fellowship gave me the financial resources and time needed to write the dissertation. In early March 2016, I delivered a paper on vi the forged correspondence between Paul and Seneca at the University of Neuchâtel; the insightful comments of Dr. Aubert, my generous and gentle host, helped me to improve parts of ch. 5.2. I also appreciate the assistance of Dr. Camerlenghi at Dartmouth College and Dr. Hughes at Loyola University who shared some of their newest research findings with me. Likewise, Dr. David Eastman kindly gave me permission to use his recent translation of the Martyrdom of Paul. I would not have reached this stage in life without the loving care of my grandmother and aunt, to whom I dedicate this work; they raised me and always encouraged me to do my best in my different pursuits. Last, my gratitude goes towards my wife and children for their daily affection. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 1: THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ................................................................... 7 1. Paul’s Stay in Rome, ca. 57-64 ............................................................................................ 7 2. The Neronian Persecution of Christians after the Fire of 64 CE ....................................... 14 3. The Historical Record during the First Decades after the Neronian Persecution ................................................................................................................................ 22 CHAPTER 2: A MODEL FOR THE FORMATION OF UR-TRADITIONS ............................. 29 1. Definition of Terms: Memories and Traditions ................................................................. 30 2. Oral Traditions in Antiquity............................................................................................... 39 3. A Model for the Early Transmission of Traditions of Paul’s Final Days .......................... 47 4. Earliest Allusions and References to Paul’s death (ca. 95 to 200 CE) .............................. 58 CHAPTER 3: THE ANTI-JUDAIC TRADITION OF ACTS ..................................................... 71 1. Pauline Traditions within Acts’ Theological Framework .................................................. 73 2. The Anti-Judaic Tendency of the Western Text of Acts ................................................... 79 3. Acts’ Depiction of Jews as Paul’s Mortal Enemies ........................................................... 83 4. The Analogous Passages Luke 24:10-27 and Acts 28:17-29............................................. 88 5. The Double Meaning of Acts 28:29................................................................................... 95 6. The Early Reception of Acts and Verse 28:29................................................................... 99 7. The Larger Context of Acts’ Anti-Judaic Tradition ........................................................ 108 CHAPTER 4: THE MARTYR CULT AND ANTI-NERONIAN TRADITIONS .................... 116 1. Paul, a Roman Martyr ...................................................................................................... 117 2. Early Christian Martyr Cult in its Pagan Context ............................................................ 130 viii 3. Difunta Correa: a Model for the Early Martyr Cult (and Martyr Stories) of Paul’s Death ............................................................................................................................ 138 4. The “Martyrdom of Paul” ................................................................................................ 150 CHAPTER 5: THE ENDURING TRADITIONS OF LATE ANTIQUITY .............................. 166 1. Historia Sacra: Paul and Peter in Rome ........................................................................... 167 2. Seneca: Paul’s Literary Friend and Victim of Nero......................................................... 176 3. Gervasius and Protasius: Disciples of Paul, Victims of Nero .......................................... 192 4. Later Martyrdom Accounts and Their Popularity in the Middle Ages ............................ 201 5. The Force of the Tradition ............................................................................................... 216 CONCLUSIONS......................................................................................................................... 224 APPENDIX 1.a: CHRISTIAN DEMOGRAPHICS ................................................................... 229 APPENDIX 1.b: THE RELIABILITY OF TACITUS’ ACCOUNT ......................................... 241 APPENDIX 2.a: SUETONIUS AND THE THREE-GENERATION REACHBACK ............................................................................................................................ 245 APPENDIX 2.b: PAULINE COMMUNITIES .......................................................................... 247 APPENDIX 2.c: ACCOUNTS OF NOBLE
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