Petronius and the Emperor’s Statue

At this time an uproar had arisen at Alexandria between the Jewish inhabitants and the Greeks, and three envoys were chosen from each of the quarreling parties, who came to Gaius. One of the envoys of the people of Alexandria was Apion. He spoke many slanders against the Jews, and among other things he charged them with neglecting the honors due to Caesar: while everyone subject to the Roman empire built altars and temples to Gaius, and in every other respect received him as they received the gods, these Jews alone thought it a disgrace to set up statues in his honor or to swear by his name. Apion said many such harsh things, hoping to provoke Gaius to anger against the Jews, as was likely enough. But Philo, the head of the Jewish embassy, a man distinguished in every respect, brother of Alexander the alabarch and no novice in philosophy, was ready to undertake a defense against these accusations. Gaius stopped him and ordered him out; and he was in such a rage that it was plain he was about to do them some very great harm. So Philo, having been insulted in this way, went out and told the Jews who were with him to take courage, since Gaius’s words showed anger against them, but in reality had already set God against himself. [a]

Gaius took it very badly that he should be despised in this way by the Jews alone. He sent Petronius to be governor of Syria, succeeding Vitellius in that office, and ordered him to invade Judea with a large body of troops: if the Jews would accept his statue willingly, he was to set it up in the temple of God; but if they were obstinate, he was to conquer them in war and then do it. So Petronius took over the government of Syria and hurried to obey Caesar’s letter. He gathered as many auxiliaries as he possibly could, took with him two legions of the Roman army, and came to Ptolemais, where he wintered, intending to begin the war in the spring. He also wrote to Gaius telling him what he had resolved to do, and Gaius praised him for his readiness and ordered him to go on and make war on them if they would not obey his commands. But many tens of thousands of Jews came to Petronius at Ptolemais to present their petitions to him, that he would not force them to transgress and violate the law of their forefathers. “But if you are wholly determined to bring this statue and set it up, first kill us, and then do what you have resolved. For while we are alive we cannot allow things to be done that are forbidden us by the authority of our lawgiver, and by our forefathers’ judgment that such prohibitions are a matter of virtue.” But Petronius was angry with them and said, “If I were emperor myself, free to follow my own inclination, and had then planned to act this way, these words of yours would be justly spoken to me. But as it is, Caesar has sent me, and I am bound to carry out his decrees, because disobeying them will bring certain destruction on me.” Then the Jews replied, “Since you are so minded, Petronius, that you will not disobey Gaius’s letters, neither will we transgress the commands of our law. We trust in God’s goodness, and by the labors of our ancestors we have kept the law unbroken until now; so we will by no means let ourselves become so fearful as to transgress, for fear of death, laws that God has determined are for our good. If we fall into misfortunes, we will bear them in order to preserve our laws, knowing that those who face danger have good hope of escaping it, because God will stand on our side when we undergo hardships out of regard for him and endure the uncertain turns of fortune. But if we were to give in to you, we would be greatly reproached for our cowardice, as men who showed themselves ready to transgress their law; and we would incur the great anger of God as well, who, as you yourself would judge, is greater than Gaius.” [e]

When Petronius saw from their words that their resolve would be hard to shake, that without a war he would not be able to serve Gaius in the dedication of his statue, and that there would be a great deal of bloodshed, he took his friends and the servants about him and hurried to Tiberias, wanting to learn how the affairs of the Jews stood. And many tens of thousands of Jews met Petronius again when he reached Tiberias. They thought they would be running a terrible risk if they went to war with the Romans, but judged the transgression of the law to be of far greater consequence; and they begged him by no means to reduce them to such distress, nor to defile their city by dedicating the statue. Then Petronius said to them, “Will you make war on Caesar, then, without considering his great preparations for war and your own weakness?” They replied, “We will not by any means make war on him; but we will die before we see our laws transgressed.” And they threw themselves down on their faces, stretched out their throats, and said they were ready to be killed. They did this for forty days on end, and in the meantime they left off tilling their land, even though the season of the year required them to sow it. So they held firm in their resolve, and set themselves to die willingly rather than see the statue dedicated. [g]

While matters stood like this, Aristobulus, King Agrippa’s brother, and Helcias the Great, and the other leading men of that family with them, went in to Petronius and begged him, since he saw the resolve of the people, not to make any change and so drive them to despair, but to write to Gaius. He should tell him that the Jews had an insurmountable aversion to receiving the statue; how they had stayed on with him and left off tilling their land; that they were not willing to go to war with him, because they were not able to, but were ready to die gladly rather than allow their laws to be transgressed; and how, if the land remained unsown, robbery would spring up, since they would be unable to pay their tribute. In this way Gaius might be moved to pity, and not order anything barbarous to be done to them, nor think of destroying the nation; and if he remained unbending in his former intention of bringing war on them, he could then undertake it himself. So Aristobulus and those with him pleaded with Petronius. Petronius was moved partly by the urgent appeals that Aristobulus and the rest with him made, and by the great importance of what they asked, and the earnestness of their pleading; and partly by the firmness of the Jews’ opposition, which he saw for himself. He thought it a terrible thing to be such a slave to the madness of Gaius as to kill so many tens of thousands of men only because of their reverence toward God, and afterward to spend his life expecting punishment. So Petronius, I say, thought it much better to write to Gaius of their unyielding resolve, and to bear his anger for not having carried out his letter at once; for perhaps he might persuade him. If Gaius held to his first mad resolve, Petronius would then take up the war against them; and even if Gaius should turn his anger against him, it was fitting for virtuous men to die for the sake of such vast numbers of people. Accordingly, he decided to listen to the petitioners in this matter. [h]

He then called the Jews together at Tiberias, and they came, many tens of thousands of them. Standing before them, he declared that the present campaign was not his own decision but the emperor’s command, and that the emperor’s wrath would fall without delay on those who dared to disobey his orders, and that immediately; and that it was fitting for himself, who had obtained so high a rank by the emperor’s grant, not to oppose him in anything. “Yet I do not think it right to have such regard for my own safety and honor as to refuse to sacrifice them for your preservation, since you are so many. I would be serving the excellence of your law, which, as it has come down to you from your forefathers, you think worth fighting for, and the supreme majesty and power of God, whose temple I would not dare to let fall into contempt through the authority of those who rule. So I will send to Gaius and let him know what your resolve is, and I will support your petition as far as I am able, so that you will not have to suffer for the honest purpose you have set yourselves. And may God be your helper, for his authority is beyond all the schemes and power of men; may he secure for you the preservation of your ancient laws, and may he not be robbed of any of his accustomed honors by human designs against his will. But if Gaius is provoked and turns the violence of his rage on me, I will rather undergo all the danger and suffering that may come on my body and my fortunes than see so many of you perish while you are acting so nobly. So go, every one of you, about your own work, and set about cultivating your land. I will send to Rome myself, and I will not refuse to serve you in everything, both by myself and through my friends.” [l]

When Petronius had said this and dismissed the assembly of the Jews, he asked their leading men to look after their farming, to speak kindly to the people, and to encourage them to hope well for their affairs. In this way he quickly made the people cheerful again. And now God showed his presence to Petronius, and signified to him that he would give him his help in his whole undertaking. For no sooner had he finished the speech he made to the Jews than God sent down heavy showers of rain, against all human expectation. That day had been clear, and the sky gave no sign of any rain; indeed, the whole year had suffered a great drought, and men despaired of any water from above even when at times they saw the sky overcast with clouds. So when such a great quantity of rain came, and in an unusual way, without any other reason to expect it, the Jews hoped that Petronius would by no means fail in his petition for them. As for Petronius, he was greatly astonished when he saw that God plainly cared for the Jews and had given very clear signs of his appearing, so much so that even those who were earnestly inclined to the contrary had no power left to deny it. This too was among the other things he wrote to Gaius, all of which tended to dissuade him and to beg him by every means not to drive so many tens of thousands of these men to despair. If he killed them — for without war they would by no means allow the laws of their worship to be set aside — he would lose the revenue they paid him and would be publicly cursed by them for all ages to come. Moreover, God, who was their ruler, had shown his power most plainly on their account, a power of his that left no room for doubt. This was the business in which Petronius was now engaged. [n]

Meanwhile King Agrippa, who was now living at Rome, rose more and more in Gaius’s favor. Once he gave a dinner for him, and took care to surpass everyone else both in expense and in such preparations as would give him the most pleasure. It was so far beyond the means of others that Gaius himself could never equal it, much less surpass it, such care had Agrippa taken in advance to outdo all men, and above all to make everything pleasing to Caesar. Gaius admired his intelligence and his magnificence, that he should strain himself to do everything to please him even beyond the expense he could bear, and he wanted not to fall behind Agrippa in the generosity he had shown in order to please him. So when Gaius had drunk freely of the wine and was merrier than usual, he said this during the feast, after Agrippa had drunk to his health: “I knew before now how great a regard you have had for me, and how great a kindness you have shown me, even at the risks you ran under Tiberius on that account; nor have you left anything undone to show your goodwill toward us, even beyond your means. So it would be a shameful thing for me to be outdone by your affection. I want, therefore, to make it up to you for everything in which I have fallen short before; for all I have given you that can be called my gifts is small. Everything that may add to your happiness will be at your service, and gladly, as far as my power reaches.” That is what Gaius said to Agrippa, thinking he would ask for some large territory or the revenues of certain cities. But although Agrippa had prepared in advance what he would ask, he had not revealed his intention, and he answered Gaius at once: that it was not out of any hope of gain that he had paid his respects to him before, against the orders of Tiberius, nor did he now do anything concerning him for his own advantage or in order to receive anything from him; and that the gifts Gaius had already given him were great, beyond the hopes even of a presumptuous man. “For although they may be beneath your power as the giver, they are greater than my desires and my rank as the receiver.” Gaius was astonished at Agrippa’s attitude, and pressed him all the more to make a request for something with which he might gratify him. Agrippa replied, “Since you, my lord, declare that you are so ready to give, and that I am worthy of your gifts, I will ask nothing that concerns my own happiness, for what you have already given me has made me excel in that. But I ask for something that will make you renowned for piety, win the Divinity’s help for your plans, and be an honor to me among those who hear of it, as showing that I have never once failed to obtain what I asked of you. My petition is this: that you think no more of dedicating the statue you have ordered Petronius to set up in the Jewish temple.” [o]

So Agrippa ventured to cast the die on this occasion, so great did the matter seem to him, as indeed it was, though he knew how dangerous it was to speak this way; for had Gaius not approved it, it would have cost him nothing less than his life. But Gaius was much taken with Agrippa’s courtesy. Besides, he thought it dishonorable to be caught in a falsehood before so many witnesses, on a point where he had so eagerly pressed Agrippa to become a petitioner, since it would look as though he already regretted what he had said. He also greatly admired Agrippa’s virtue in not asking him at all to enlarge his own dominions, whether with greater revenues or other authority, but caring for the public peace, for the laws, and for the Divinity itself. So he granted him what he had asked. He also wrote to Petronius, praising him for assembling his army and then consulting him about these matters. “If, then, you have already set up my statue, let it stand. But if you have not yet dedicated it, do not trouble yourself any further about it. Dismiss your army, go back, and attend to the affairs I sent you for at first, for I no longer have any need for that statue to be erected. I have granted this as a favor to Agrippa, a man I honor so very greatly that I cannot refuse what he wants, or what he has asked me to do for him.” That is what Gaius wrote to Petronius, and it was before he received Petronius’s letter informing him that the Jews were very ready to revolt over the statue, and that they seemed resolved to threaten war on the Romans and nothing else. Gaius was greatly displeased that any attempt should be made against his authority. He was a slave to base and vicious conduct on every occasion and had no regard for what was virtuous and honorable; and against whomever he resolved to show his anger, and for whatever cause, he would not let himself be restrained by any warning, but thought indulging his anger a real pleasure. So he wrote to Petronius: “Since you value the presents the Jews have made you more than my commands, and have grown insolent enough to serve their pleasure, I order you to be your own judge, and to consider what you must do now that you are under my displeasure. For I will make you an example to the present age and to all ages to come, so that they will not dare to oppose the commands of their emperor.”

This was the letter Gaius wrote to Petronius. But Petronius did not receive it while Gaius was alive, for the ship that carried it sailed so slowly that other letters reached Petronius before it, from which he learned that Gaius was dead. For God would not forget the dangers Petronius had undertaken for the sake of the Jews and of his own honor. In his indignation at what Gaius had so insolently attempted in claiming divine worship for himself, God took him away; and Rome and the whole empire, especially those of highest rank in the senate, joined in paying Petronius his reward, because Gaius had vented his anger on them without restraint. For he died not long after he had written Petronius the letter that threatened him with death. As for the occasion of his death and the nature of the plot against him, I will relate them as this history goes on. Now the letter that informed Petronius of Gaius’s death came first, and a little afterward came the one that ordered him to kill himself with his own hands. He rejoiced at the timing of Gaius’s death, and marveled at God’s providence, which without the least delay had at once rewarded him for his regard for the temple and for the help he had given the Jews to escape the dangers they were in. In this way Petronius escaped a danger of death that he could not have foreseen. [r]