The sixth hour: Crucifixion darkness and cataclysm in the Gospel of Matthew. The historical approach and solution
by DIVVS·IVLIVS
[ARTICLE REMOVED FOR COPYRIGHT REASONS]
Forthcoming book:
DIE SECHSTE STUNDE
Synopsen zum historischen Ursprung der Wunder und Naturkatastrophen in der Passion Christi
Verlag Ludwig (Kiel 2013)
Publisher’s URL: http://www.verlag-ludwig.de/
Social: http://www.facebook.com/DieSechsteStunde
Lots of really great information here. Thanks much for posting. I was just compiling source quotations comparing Roman stories of Romulus, Julius Caesar, and Augustus to Christian stories of Jesus, and I stumbled across your blog. VERY useful.
—DIV·IVL]
[ed. Thank you. We're glad to be of help. Romulus would only be tertiary, because he lived hundreds of years earlier, but there are echoes of Romulan history in later times: There is one striking parallel to Caesar, namely the assassination. Livy (I think it was him) reports that in his time the people were still talking about Romulus' assassination at the hand of the senators, who tore him to pieces on the Forum Romanum. (His vanishing and return as Quirinus is obviously a later legend, because he was after all the deified founder of Rome.) This is probably one of the main reasons why the people took control of the funeral and created an impromptu cremation of Caesar right there in the Forum, and not on the Campus Martius. And that's also the reason why (as Appian reports) they hunted down the two Cinnae, tore them to pieces and devoured their raw flesh like in a Dionysian diasparagmós ritual—day of the Dionysian Liberalia—, which created the mental connection in earliest Christianity between Caesar's last supper (wine/blood and body/bread) and the funeral on the Liberalia, with Caesar's effigy on the tropaeum eventually reinterpreted as a real crucifixion: The Eucharist seems to be an amalgamation of the bread and wine at the last supper (associated with the death of the Lord), the liba tradition at the Liberalia, and the ritual eating of raw human flesh (Cinna).
So Romulus is important, e.g. also with regard to Caesar's deification during his lifetime: If I recall correctly, a statue of Caesar was placed in (or right next to) the temple of Quirinus, because Caesar was the founder of the new Rome—and Augustus finished the job, with Augustus being meant as a paraphrase of Romulus. (Originally they wanted to call Octavian "Old Romulus".)
In any case, if you're interested in the gargantuan amount of direct parallels between Caesar and Christ, then you should probably look into Francesco's book Jesus was Caesar. The link to the extensive book excerpts is in the right column ("Websites"). If you find nice parallels that you think we haven't found yet, you can (only if you like!) post it in the comment section of the blog's Library. Good hunting. There's a still a lot to unearth.
Hi There,
I happened to find your reference to the “passion of Caesar” being repeated by Arius of Alexandria, a reading sourced from Athanasius’s Discourse. I happen to agree that the following is attributable to Arius and is being cited by Athanasius [ed.: snip. Dear mountainman, please refer to your private messages at the forum. The quote is most probably by Athanasius himself, not by Arius, but it doesn't change the argument about the accordance between Mark Antony's letter in Josephus and the Athanasius source. Nevertheless, it is a mistake in the article, and it will be corrected with the next update. Best, DIV·IVL.]
A delicious piece of scholarship. It’s wonderful, Arne! Vielen Dank dafür.
The Evangelists did neither invent nor exaggerated the Jesus happenings: they ‘only’ made the historical Caesarian events look supernatural and metaphysical. Even that was already extant to a great extent in the primary sources.
That civilisation may not sink, its great battle lost, (…) Our master Caesar is in the tent … – W.B. Yeats
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This is a very good post with some amazing information. I’m currently researching a scrip and novel, and this has helped immensely.
Thank you x
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