Philo's Embassy to Gaius

Philo gives an account in five books of what happened to the Jews under Gaius. In it he describes Gaius’s madness, how he proclaimed himself a god and committed countless outrages as emperor; the miseries of the Jews under him; and the embassy that he himself undertook to the city of Rome on behalf of his countrymen in Alexandria. He tells how, when he stood before Gaius to plead for the laws of his fathers, he came away with nothing but laughter and mockery, and very nearly ran the risk of losing his life. [a] Josephus also mentions these things, in the eighteenth book of his Antiquities, writing word for word as follows: “When factional strife arose at Alexandria between the Jews who live there and the Greeks, three envoys were chosen from each faction and came before Gaius. [b] One of the Alexandrian envoys was Apion, who said many slanderous things against the Jews, among them that they neglected the honors due to Caesar. All others who were subject to Roman rule, he said, set up altars and temples to Gaius and in every other way received him as they did the gods; these alone thought it a disgrace to honor him with statues and to swear by his name. Apion said many harsh things, by which he hoped Gaius would be stirred up, as was likely. Philo, the leader of the Jewish embassy, a man of renown in every way, the brother of Alexander the alabarch and no stranger to philosophy, was ready to proceed to a defense against the charges. But Gaius shut him off, ordering him out of his sight, and he was so furious that it was plain he meant to do them some great harm. Philo went out, treated with great insolence, and told the Jews who were with him that they must take courage: Gaius was angry with them, but in fact he was already ranging himself against God.”

So much for Josephus. Philo himself, in the work he wrote called the Embassy, gives an exact account of what was done by him at that time, in detail. I will pass over most of it and set down only those things that will show readers plainly what befell the Jews, both at once and not long after, because of their daring deeds against Christ. First, then, he records that in Tiberius’s reign at Rome, Sejanus, one of the most powerful men at the emperor’s court at the time, made every effort to destroy the whole nation utterly; and that in Judea Pilate, under whom the crime against the Savior was dared, attempted something concerning the temple at Jerusalem, which was still standing then, contrary to what the Jews’ law allowed, and threw them into the greatest turmoil. [c]