|
1. Now when Claudius had taken out of the way all those soldiers
whom he suspected, which he did immediately, he published an
edict, and therein confirmed that kingdom to Agrippa which Caius
had given him, and therein commended the king highly. He also
made all addition to it of all that country over which Herod, who
was his grandfather, had reigned, that is, Judea and Samaria; and
this he restored to him as due to his family. But for Abila
of Lysanias, and all that lay at Mount Libanus, he bestowed them
upon him, as out of his own territories. He also made a league
with this Agrippa, confirmed by oaths, in the middle of the
forum, in the city of Rome: he also took away from Antiochus that
kingdom which he was possessed of, but gave him a certain part of
Cilicia and Commagena: he also set Alexander Lysimachus, the
alabarch, at liberty, who had been his old friend, and steward to
his mother Antonia, but had been imprisoned by Caius, whose son
[Marcus] married Bernice, the daughter of Agrippa. But when
Marcus, Alexander's son, was dead, who had married her when she
was a virgin, Agrippa gave her in marriage to his brother Herod,
and begged for him of Claudius the kingdom of Chalcis.
2. Now about this time there was a sedition between the Jews and
the Greeks, at the city of Alexandria; for when Caius was dead,
the nation of the Jews, which had been very much mortified under
the reign of Caius, and reduced to very great distress by the
people of Alexandria, recovered itself, and immediately took up
their arms to fight for themselves. So Claudius sent an order to
the president of Egypt to quiet that tumult; he also sent an
edict, at the requests of king Agrippa and king Herod, both to
Alexandria and to Syria, whose contents were as follows:
"Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, high priest, and
tribune of the people, ordains thus: Since I am assured that the
Jews of Alexandria, called Alexandrians, have been joint
inhabitants in the earliest times with the Alexandrians, and have
obtained from their kings equal privileges with them, as is
evident by the public records that are in their possession, and
the edicts themselves; and that after Alexandria had been
subjected to our empire by Augustus, their rights and privileges
have been preserved by those presidents who have at divers times
been sent thither; and that no dispute had been raised about
those rights and privileges, even when Aquila was governor of
Alexandria; and that when the Jewish ethnarch was dead, Augustus
did not prohibit the making such ethnarchs, as willing that all
men should be so subject [to the Romans] as to continue in the
observation of their own customs, and not be forced to transgress
the ancient rules of their own country religion; but that, in the
time of Caius, the Alexandrians became insolent towards the Jews
that were among them, which Caius, out of his great madness and
want of understanding, reduced the nation of the Jews very low,
because they would not transgress the religious worship of their
country, and call him a god: I will therefore that the nation of
the Jews be not deprived of their rights and privileges, on
account of the madness of Caius; but that those rights and
privileges which they formerly enjoyed be preserved to them, and
that they may continue in their own customs. And I charge both
parties to take very great care that no troubles may arise after
the promulgation of this edict."
3. And such were the contents of this edict on behalf of the Jews
that was sent to Alexandria. But the edict that was sent into the
other parts of the habitable earth was this which follows:
"Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, high priest,
tribune of the people, chosen consul the second time, ordains
thus: Upon the petition of king Agrippa and king Herod, who are
persons very dear to me, that I would grant the same rights and
privileges should be preserved to the Jews which are in all the
Roman empire, which I have granted to those of Alexandria, I very
willingly comply therewith; and this grant I make not only for
the sake of the petitioners, but as judging those Jews for whom I
have been petitioned worthy of such a favor, on account of their
fidelity and friendship to the Romans. I think it also very just
that no Grecian city should be deprived of such rights and
privileges, since they were preserved to them under the great
Augustus. It will therefore be fit to permit the Jews, who are in
all the world under us, to keep their ancient customs without
being hindered so to do. And I do charge them also to use this my
kindness to them with moderation, and not to show a contempt of
the superstitious observances of other nations, but to keep their
own laws only. And I will that this decree of mine be engraven on
tables by the magistrates of the cities, and colonies, and
municipal places, both those within Italy and those without it,
both kings and governors, by the means of the ambassadors, and to
have them exposed to the public for full thirty days, in such a
place whence it may plainly be read from the ground.
|
|