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<\/a>Diversity in Second-Temple Judean Culture: Josephus (c. 37-100 CE) on the “Judean Philosophies”<\/strong><\/p>\n Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews<\/em>, 18.1.2-6.<\/p>\n 2. The Judeans had three philosophies peculiar to themselves for a long time: that of the Essenes, that of the Sadducees, and the third sort of opinions was that of those called Pharisees.\u00a0 Although I have already spoken about them in the second book of the Judean War<\/em>, I will nonetheless touch upon them now. 3. The Pharisees live a minimalistic life-style, and despise delicacies in diet.\u00a0 They follow the conduct of reason and what that prescribes to them as good for them they do.\u00a0 They also think they ought earnestly to strive to observe reason’s dictates for practice. They also pay a respect to elders, nor are they so bold as to contradict them in any thing which they have introduced.\u00a0 When they determine that all things are done by fate, they do not take away the freedom from men of acting as they think fit, since their notion is that it pleased God to make a temperament, whereby what he wills is done, but so that the will of man can act virtuously or viciously. They also believe that souls are immortal, and that under the earth there are rewards or punishments in accordance with whether they have lived virtuously or viciously in this life.\u00a0 The latter are to be detained in an everlasting prison, but the former shall have power to revive and live again.\u00a0 On account of these doctrines they are able to persuade the body of the people.\u00a0 Whenever they engaged in worship, prayers, and sacrifices, they perform them according to their direction.\u00a0 The cities give great attestations to them on account of their entire virtuous conduct, both in the actions of their lives and also their discourses.<\/p>\n 4. But the doctrine of the Sadducees is this: That souls die with the bodies.\u00a0 Nor do they regard the observation of any thing besides what the law enjoins them.\u00a0 They think it is virtuous to dispute with those teachers of philosophy whom they frequent.\u00a0 However, this doctrine is held by a few, yet by those still of the greatest dignity.\u00a0 But they are able to do almost nothing of themselves, for when they become magistrates, as they are unwillingly and by force sometimes obliged to be, they addict themselves to the notions of the Pharisees, because the multitude would not otherwise bear them.<\/p>\n 5. The doctrine of the Essenes is this: That all things are best ascribed to God. They teach the immortality of souls, and esteem that the rewards of righteousness are to be earnestly striven for.\u00a0 When they send what they have dedicated to God into the temple, they do not offer sacrifices (3) because they have more pure lustrations of their own.\u00a0 For this reason, they are excluded from the common court of the temple, but offer their sacrifices on their own.\u00a0 Yet their way of life is better than that of other men.\u00a0 They also dedicate themselves to agricultural work.\u00a0 It also deserves our admiration how they exceed all other men that focus on virtue, and this in righteousness.\u00a0 They do this to a degree that has never been seen among any other men, neither Greeks nor barbarians, no, not for a little time, so has it (virtue) endured a long time among them. This is demonstrated by that practice of theirs of having all things in common, so that a rich man enjoys no more of his own wealth than the one with nothing at all. There are about four thousand men that live in this way, and neither marry wives, nor are desirous to keep servants.\u00a0 They think the latter tempts men to be unjust, and the former leads to domestic quarrels.\u00a0 But as they live by themselves, they minister one to another. They also appoint certain stewards to receive the incomes of their revenues, and of the fruits of the ground.\u00a0 These are good men and priests who prepare their corn and their food for them. . .<\/p>\n 6. Judas the Galilean was the author\u00a0 of the fourth of the philosophies. These men agree in all other things with the Pharisaic notions, but they have an inviolable attachment to freedom, and say that God is to be their only Ruler and Lord. They also do not value dying any kinds of death, nor indeed do they heed the deaths of their relations and friends, nor can any such fear make them call any man lord. And since this immovable resolution of theirs is well known to many, I will say nothing more about this matter.\u00a0 I am not afraid that anything I have said about them would be disbelieved, but rather fear that what I have said is beneath the resolution they show when they undergo pain. And it was in Gessius Florus’s time that the nation began to grow mad with this view, who was our procurator, and who occasioned the Jews to go wild with it by the abuse of his authority, and to make them revolt from the Romans. And these are the Judean philosophies.<\/p>\n Translation adapted from William Whiston, The Works of Josephus<\/i> [Peabody: Hendrickson, 1987 (1736) (public domain).<\/p>\n _____________________________________________ Tacitus, Annals<\/i>, 15.38-44: On the fire at Rome under Nero c. 64 CE (written c. 109 CE)<\/p>\n 15.38 A disaster followed, whether accidental or treacherously contrived by the emperor, is uncertain, as authors have given both accounts, worse, however, and more dreadful than any which have ever happened to this city by the violence of fire. . . 15.44 But all human efforts, all the lavish gifts of the emperor, and the propitiations of the gods, did not banish the sinister belief that the conflagration was the result of an order. Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular. Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind. Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination, when daylight had expired. Nero offered his gardens for the spectacle, and was exhibiting a show in the circus, while he mingled with the people in the dress of a charioteer or stood aloft on a car. Hence, even for criminals who deserved extreme and exemplary punishment, there arose a feeling of compassion; for it was not, as it seemed, for the public good, but to glut one man’s cruelty, that they were being destroyed ( trans. by A.J. Church and W.J. Brodribb, The Annals by Tacitus<\/i> [London, New York: Macmillan, 1877]; public domain).<\/p>\n Suetonius, Lives of the Caesars: Claudius<\/i>, 25: On disturbances among Jews involving \u201cChrestus\u201d at Rome under Claudius c. 40s- 50s CE (written in 119 CE)<\/p>\n Since the Jews constantly made disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus, he [Claudius] expelled them from Rome. . . He utterly abolished the cruel and inhuman religion of the Druids among the Gauls, which under Augustus had merely been prohibited to Roman citizens; on the other hand he even attempted to transfer the Eleusinian rites from Attica to Rome, and had the temple of Venus Erykina in Sicily, which had fallen to ruin through age, restored at the expense of the treasury of the Roman people (Suetonius, Lives of the Caesars: Claudius<\/i>, 25; trans. by J. C. Rolfe, Suetonius: Lives of the Twelve Caesars<\/i> [LCL; Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1913-1914]; public domain).<\/p>\n Pliny the Younger, Epistles<\/i> 10. 96-97: Letter of Pliny the Younger, Roman governor of Bithynia-Pontus, to Emperor Trajan on the Christians brought before him (written c. 112 CE)<\/p>\n (10.96)\u00a0 Pliny to Trajan:\u00a0 It is my custom, Sire, to refer to you in all cases where I am in doubt, for who can better clear up difficulties and inform me? I have never been present at any legal examination of the Christians, and I do not know, therefore, what are the usual penalties passed upon them, or the limits of those penalties, or how searching an inquiry should be made. I have hesitated a great deal in considering whether any distinctions should be drawn according to the ages of the accused; whether the weak should be punished as severely as the more robust, or whether the man who has once been a Christian gained anything by recanting? Again, whether the name of being a Christian, even though otherwise innocent of crime, should be punished, or only the crimes that gather around it?<\/p>\n In the meantime, this is the plan which I have adopted in the case of those Christians who have been brought before me. I ask them whether they are Christians, if they say “Yes,” then I repeat the question the second time, and also a third — warning them of the penalties involved; and if they persist, I order them away to prison (or: to execution). For I do not doubt that — be their admitted crime what it may — their pertinacity and inflexible obstinacy surely ought to be punished.<\/p>\n There were others who showed similar mad folly, whom I reserved to be sent to Rome, as they were Roman citizens. Later, as is commonly the case, the mere fact of my entertaining the question led to a multiplying of accusations and a variety of cases were brought before me. An anonymous pamphlet was issued, containing a number of names of alleged Christians. Those who denied that they were or had been Christians and called upon the gods with the usual formula, reciting the words after me, and those who offered incense and wine before your image — which I had ordered to be brought forward for this purpose, along with the regular statues of the gods — all such I considered acquitted — especially as they cursed the name of Christ, which it is said bona fide Christians cannot be induced to do.<\/p>\n Still others there were, whose names were supplied by an informer. These first said they were Christians, then denied it, insisting they had been, “but were so no longer”; some of them having “recanted many years ago,” and more than one “full twenty years back.” These all worshiped your image and the god’s statues and cursed the name of Christ.But they declared their guilt or error was simply this — on a fixed day they used to meet before dawn and recite a hymn among themselves to Christ, as though he were a god. So far from binding themselves by oath to commit any crime, they swore to keep from theft, robbery, adultery, breach of faith, and not to deny any trust money deposited with them when called upon to deliver it. This ceremony over, they used to depart and meet again to take food — but it was of no special character, and entirely harmless. They also had ceased from this practice after the edict I issued — by which, in accord with your orders, I forbade all secret societies.<\/p>\n I then thought it the more needful to get at the facts behind their statements. Therefore I placed two women, called \u201cdeaconesses,\u201d under torture, but I found only a debased superstition carried to great lengths, so I postponed my examination, and immediately consulted you. This seems a matter worthy of your prompt consideration, especially as so many people are endangered. Many of all ages and both sexes are put in peril of their lives by their accusers; and the process will go on, for the contagion of this superstition has spread not merely through the free towns, but into the villages and farms. Still I think it can be halted and things set right. Beyond any doubt, the temples — which were nigh deserted — are beginning again to be thronged with worshipers; the sacred rites, which long have lapsed, are now being renewed, and the food for the sacrificial victims is again finding a sale — though up to recently it had almost no market. So one can safely infer how vast numbers could be reclaimed, if only there were a chance given for repentance.<\/p>\n (10.97)\u00a0 Trajan to Pliny:\u00a0 You have adopted the right course, my dear Pliny, in examining the cases of those cited before you as Christians; for no hard and fast rule can be laid down covering such a wide question. The Christians are not to be hunted out. If brought before you, and the offense is proved, they are to be punished, but with this reservation — if any one denies he is a Christian, and makes it clear he is not, by offering prayer to our gods, then he is to be pardoned on his recantation, no matter how suspicious his past. As for anonymous pamphlets, they are to be discarded absolutely, whatever crime they may charge, for they are not only a precedent of a very bad type, but they do not accord with the spirit of our age (trans. by W.S. Davis, Readings in Ancient History: Illustrative Extracts from the Sources, 2 Vols<\/i>. [Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1912-13]; public domain).<\/p>\n ______________________________________________ Translation by M.R. James, The Apocryphal New Testament: Translation and Notes <\/i>(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924), with adaptations and modernized English.\u00a0 Public domain.<\/p>\n 3 \u201cThe Acts of Paul and Thecla\u201d (1) When Paul went up to Iconium after he fled from Antioch, there journeyed with him Demas and Hermogenes the coppersmith, which were full of hypocrisy, and flattered Paul as though they loved him. But Paul, looking only on the goodness of Christ, did them no evil, but loved them well, so that he sought to make sweet to them all the oracles of the Lord, and of the teaching and the interpretation (of the gospel) and of the birth and resurrection of the Beloved, and related to them word by word all the great works of Christ, how they were revealed to him.<\/p>\n (2) And a certain man named Onesiphorus, when he heard that Paul had come to Iconium, went out with his children Simmias and Zeno and his wife Lectra to meet him, that he might receive him into his house.\u00a0 For Titus had told him what manner of man Paul was in appearance; for he had not seen him in the flesh, but only in the spirit. (3) And he went by the king\u2019s highway that leads to Lystra and stood expecting him, and looked upon them that came, according to the description of Titus. And he saw Paul coming, a man little of stature, thinning hair, crooked legs, of good state of body, with eyoubrows joining, and nose somewhat hooked, full of grace.\u00a0 For sometimes he appeared like a man, and sometimes he had the face of an angel. (4) And when Paul saw Onesiphorus he smiled, and Onesiphorus said: \u201cGreetings, servant of the blessed God.\u201d And he said: \u201cGrace be with you and with your house.\u201d But Demas and Hermogenes were envious, and stirred up their hypocrisy even more, so that Demas said: \u201cAre we not servants of the Blessed, that you did not salute us in the same way?\u201d And Onesiphorus said: \u201cI do not see in you any fruit of righteousness, but if you are such, come also into my house and refresh yourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n (5) And when Paul entered into the house of Onesiphorus, there was great joy, and bowing of knees and breaking of bread, and the word of God concerning abstinence and the resurrection.\u00a0 For Paul said:<\/p>\n \u201cBlessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are those who keep the flesh chaste, for they shall become the temple of God. Blessed are those who abstain, for God shall speak to them. Blessed are those who have renounced this world, for they shall be well-pleasing to God. Blessed are those who possess their wives as though they had them not, for they shall inherit God. Blessed are those who have the fear of God, for they shall become angels of God. (6) Blessed are those who tremble at the oracles of God, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are those who receive the wisdom of Jesus Christ, for they shall be called sons of the Most High. Blessed are those who have kept their baptism pure, for they shall rest with the Father and with the Son. Blessed are those who have compassed the understanding of Jesus Christ, for they shall be in light. Blessed are those who for love of God have departed from the fashion of this world, for they shall judge angels, and shall be blessed at the right hand of the Father. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy and shall not see the bitter day of judgement. Blessed are the bodies of the virgins, for they shall be well-pleasing to God and shall not lose the reward of their chastity, for the word of the Father shall be to them a work of salvation in the day of his Son, and they shall have rest world without end.<\/p>\n (7) And as Paul was saying these things in the midst of the assembly in the house of Onesiphorus, a certain virgin, Thecla \u2013 whose mother was Theocleia and who was betrothed to a man named Thamyris \u2013 sat at the window intently, and listened night and day to Paul\u2019s teaching concerning chastity.\u00a0 And she did not move from the window, but was led onward by faith, rejoicing exceedingly.\u00a0 And further, when she saw many women and virgins entering in to Paul, she also desired earnestly to be accounted worthy to stand before Paul\u2019s face and to hear the word of Christ.\u00a0 For she had not\u00a0 seen what Paul looked like, but only heard his speech.<\/p>\n (8) Now as she stayed at the window, her mother sent to Thamyris, and he came with great joy as if he were already to take her to wife. Thamyris therefore said to Theocleia: \u201cWhere is my Thecla?\u201d And Theocleia said: \u201cI have a new tale to tell you, Thamyris.\u00a0 For for three days and three nights Thecla does not arise from the window, neither to eat nor to drink. \u00a0But looking earnestly as it were upon a joyful spectacle, she so attends to a stranger who teaches deceitful and various words, that I marvel how the great modesty of the maiden is so deeply troubled. \u00a0(9) O Thamyris, this man upsets the whole city of the Iconians, and your Thecla also, for all the women and the young men go in to him and are taught by him. He says that a person must fear only one God and live chastely. And my daughter, too, like a spider at the window, bound by his words, is held by a new desire and a fearful passion.\u00a0 For she hangs upon his words, and the maiden is captured. But go to her and speak to her; for she is betrothed to you.\u201d<\/p>\n (10) And Thamyris went to her \u2013 on account of both his love for her and his fear due to her ecstatic state \u2013 and said: \u201cThecla, my betrothed, why do you sit here like this? And what passion is it that hold you in amazement.\u00a0 Turn to your Thamyris and be ashamed.\u201d And her mother also said the same: \u201cThecla, why do you sit here like this, looking downward and answering nothing, but as one stricken?\u201d And they wept bitterly, Thamyris because of the loss of a wife, Theocleia of a child, and the maidservants of a mistress.\u00a0 There was, therefore, great confusion of mourning in the house. And while all this was so, Thecla turned not away, but listened carefully to the speech of Paul.<\/p>\n (11) But Thamyris leapt up and went forth into the street and watched those who went in to Paul and came out. And he saw two men striving bitterly with one another, and said to them: \u201cYou men, tell me who you are, and who is inside with you, who makes the souls of young men and maidens to err, deceiving them that there may be no marriages but they should live as they are. I promise therefore to give you much money if you will tell me of him.\u00a0 For I am a chief man of the city.\u201d\u00a0 (12) And Demas and Hermogenes said to him: \u201cWho this man is, we know not; but he defrauds the young men of wives and the maidens of husbands, saying: \u2018You have no resurrection unless you continue in chastity, and defile not the flesh but keep it pure.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 (13) And Thamyris said to them: \u201cCome, you men, into my house and refresh yourselves with me.\u201d And they went to a costly banquet with much wine, great wealth, and a brilliant table. Thamyris made them drink, for he loved Thecla and desired to take her as a wife.\u00a0 At the dinner Thamyris said: \u201cTell me, you men, what is his teaching, that I also may know it, for I am considerably afflicted concerning Thecla because she loves the stranger so much, and I am defrauded of my marriage.\u201d<\/p>\n (14) And Demas and Hermogenes said: \u201cBring him before Castelius the governor as one that persuads the multitudes with the new doctrine of the Christians, and so he will destroy him and you will have your wife Thecla. And we will teach you of that resurrection which he asserts, that it is already come to pass in the children which we have, and we rise again when we have come to the knowledge of the true God.\u201d\u00a0 (15) But when Thamyris heard this from them, he was filled with envy and wrath.\u00a0 He rose up early and went to the house of Onesiphorus with the rulers and officers and a great crowd with clubs, saying to Paul: \u201cYou have destroyed the city of the Iconians and my betrothed, so that she will not have me.\u00a0 Let us go unto Castelius the governor.\u201d And all the multitude said: \u201cAway with the wizard, for he has corrupted all our wives.\u201d And the multitude rose up together against him.<\/p>\n 16 And Thamyris, standing before the judgement seat, cried aloud and said: \u201cOh proconsul, this is the man \u2013 we know not where he comes from \u2013 who forbids maidens to marry.\u00a0 Let him declare before you why he teaches such things. And Demas and Hermogenes said to Thamyris: \u201cSay that he is a Christian, and so you will destroy him.\u201d But the governor kept his mind steadfast and called Paul, saying to him: \u201cWho are you, and what do you teach?\u00a0 For it is no light accusation that these men bring against you.\u201d (17) And Paul lifted up his voice and said: \u201cIf I am this day examined regarding what I teach, listen, oh proconsul. The living God, the God of vengeance, the jealous God, the God that has need of nothing, but desires the salvation of men, has sent me, that I may sever them from corruption and uncleanness and all pleasure and death, that they may sin no more. For this reason God has sent his own child, whom I preach and teach that men should have hope in him who alone has had compassion upon the world that was in error;\u00a0 that men may no more be under judgement but have faith and the fear of God and the knowledge of sobriety and the love of truth. If then I teach the things that have been revealed to me by God, what wrong have I done, oh proconsul?\u201d And the governor having heard that, commanded Paul to be bound and taken away to prison until he should have leisure to hear him more carefully.<\/p>\n (18) But at nightime Thecla took off her bracelets and gave them to the doorkeeper, and when the door was opened for her she went into the prison, and gave the jailer a mirror of silver and so went in to Paul and sat by his feet and heard the wonderful works of God. And Paul feared not at all, but walked in the confidence of God.\u00a0 And her faith also was increased as she kissed his chains.<\/p>\n (19) Now when Thecla was sought by her own people and by Thamyris, she was looked for through the streets as one lost, and one of the fellow-servants of the doorkeeper told that she went out that night. And they examined the doorkeeper and he told them that she was gone to the stranger in the prison.\u00a0 And they went as he told them and found her as it were bound with him, in affection. And they went forth from there and gathered the multitude to them and showed it to the governor.<\/p>\n (20) And he commanded Paul to be brought to the judgement seat.\u00a0 But Thecla rolled herself upon the place where Paul taught when he sat in the prison. And the governor commanded her also to be brought to the judgement seat, and she went exulting with joy. And when Paul was brought the second time the people cried out more vehemently: \u201cHe is a sorcerer, away with him!\u201d But the governor heard Paul gladly concerning the holy works of Christ.\u00a0 And he took counsel, and called Thecla and said: \u201cWhy won\u2019t you marry Thamyris, according to the law of the Iconians?\u201d\u00a0 But she stood looking earnestly upon Paul and, when she did not answer, her mother Theocleia cried out, saying: \u201cBurn the lawless one, burn her that is no bride in the midst of the theatre, that all the women which have been taught by this man may be afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n (21) And the governor was greatly moved, and he scourged Paul and sent him out of the city, but Thecla he condemned to be burned. And immediately the governor arose and went to the theatre.\u00a0 And all the multitude went to the dreadful spectacle. But Thecla, looked for Paul as the lamb in the wilderness looks about for the shepherd.\u00a0 And she looked upon the multitude and saw the Lord sitting, appearing like Paul, and said: \u201cAs if I were not able to endure, Paul is come to look upon me.\u201d And she earnestly paid heed to him, but he departed into the heavens.<\/p>\n (22) Now the boys and the maidens brought wood and hay to burn Thecla, and when she was brought in naked, the governor wept and marvelled at the power that was in her. And they laid the wood, and the executioner told her to climb upon the pyre.\u00a0 And she, making the sign of the cross, went up upon the wood. And they lighted it, and though a great fire blazed forth, the fire took no hold on her.\u00a0 For God had compassion on her, and caused a sound under the earth and a cloud overshadowed her above, full of rain and hail.\u00a0 And its contents poured out so that many were in peril of death, and the fire was quenched, and Thecla was preserved.<\/p>\n (23) Now Paul was fasting with Onesiphorus and his wife and their children in an open sepulchre on the road that leads from Iconium to Daphne. And when many days were past, as they fasted, the boys said to Paul: \u201cWe are hungry.\u201d And they had no money to buy bread, for Onesiphorus had left the goods of this world and followed Paul with all his house. But Paul took off his upper garment and said: \u201cGo, child, buy several loaves and bring them.\u201d And as the boy was buying, he saw his neighbour Thecla, and was astonished, and said: \u201cThecla, where are you going?\u201d And she said: \u201cI seek Paul, for I was preserved from the fire.\u201d And the boy said: \u201cCome, I will bring you to him, for he mourns for you and prays and fasts now for six days.\u201d<\/p>\n (24) And when she came to Paul in the sepulchre, he was bowing his knees and was praying and saying: \u201cO Father of Christ, let not the fire take hold on Thecla, but spare her, for she is yours.\u201d\u00a0 She, standing behind him, cried out: \u201cO Father that made heaven and earth, the Father of your beloved child Jesus Christ, I bless you because you have preserved me from the fire, that I might see Paul.\u201d And Paul arose and saw her and said: \u201cO God the knower of hearts, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, I bless you that you have speedily accomplished that which I asked of you, and have heard me.\u201d\u00a0 (25) And there was much love within the sepulchre, for Paul rejoiced along with Onesiphorus and all of them. And they had five loaves, herbs, and water, and they rejoiced for the holy works of Christ. And Thecla said to Paul: \u201cI will cut my hair all the way around and follow you whereever you go.\u201d \u00a0But he said: \u201cThe time is ill-favoured and you are beautiful.\u00a0 Beware lest another temptation take you, worse than the first, and you endure it not but play the coward.\u201d And Thecla said: \u201cOnly give me the seal in Christ, and temptation shall not touch me. And Paul said: \u201cHave patience, Thecla, and you will receive the water.\u201d<\/p>\n [II. At Antioch]<\/i><\/p>\n (26) And Paul sent away Onesiphorus with all his house to Iconium, and so took Thecla and entered into Antioch.\u00a0 As they entered in, a certain Syriarch [leader of the city], Alexander by name, saw Thecla and was enamoured of her, and would have bribed Paul with money and gifts. But Paul said: \u201cI don\u2019t know the woman you are speaking about, neither is she mine.\u201d But as he was of great power, he himself embraced her on the street.\u00a0 And she refused his advances, but sought after Paul and cried out bitterly, saying: \u201cForce not the stranger, force not the handmaid of God. I am of the first of the Iconians, and because I would not marry Thamyris, I am cast out of the city.\u201d And she caught at Alexander and ripped his cloak and took the crown from his head and made him a laughing-stock.<\/p>\n (27) But loving her and being ashamed of what had happened to him, he brought her before the governor.\u00a0 When she confessed that she had done this, he condemned her to the beasts.\u00a0 But the women were greatly amazed, and cried out at the judgement seat: \u201cAn evil judgement, an impious judgement!\u201d And Thecla asked of the governor that she might remain a virgin until she should fight the beasts.\u00a0 A certain rich queen, Tryphaena by name, whose daughter had died, took her into her keeping, and had her for a consolation. \u00a0(28) Now when the beasts were led in procession, they bound her to a fierce lioness, and the queen Tryphaena followed after her.\u00a0 But the lioness, when Thecla was set upon her, licked her feet, and all the people marvelled. Now the title of her accusation was: \u201cGuilty of sacrilege.\u201d And the women with their children cried out from above: \u201cO God, an impious judgement is happening in this city.\u201d<\/p>\n And after the procession Tryphaena took her again. For her daughter Falconilla, who was dead, had said to her in a dream: \u201cMother, you shall take in my stead Thecla the stranger that is desolate, that she may pray for me and I be translated into the place of the righteous.\u201d\u00a0 (29) When therefore Tryphaena received her after the procession, she also bewailed her because she was to fight the beasts the next day.\u00a0 She loved her closely as her own daughter Falconilla, and said: \u201cThecla, my second child, come, pray you for my child that she may live for ever, for this have I seen in a dream.\u201d And she without delay lifted up her voice and said: \u201cO my God, Son of the Most High who is in heaven, grant to her according to her desire, that her daughter Faleonilla may live for ever.\u201d And after she had said this, Tryphaena bewailed her, considering that so great beauty was to be cast unto the beasts.<\/p>\n (30) And when it was dawn, Alexander came to take her \u2013 for it was he that was giving the games \u2013 saying: \u201cThe governor is set and the people trouble us.\u00a0 Give me the one who is to fight the beasts that I may take her away. But Tryphaena cried aloud so that he fled away, saying: \u201cA second mourning for my Falconilla comes about in my house, and there is none to help, neither child, for she is dead, nor kinsman, for I am a widow. O God of Thecla my child, help you Thecla.\u201d<\/p>\n (31) And the governor sent soldiers to fetch Thecla.\u00a0 And Tryphaena did not leave her, but herself took her hand and led her up, saying: \u201cI did bring my daughter Falconilla to the sepulchre, but you, Thecla, do I bring to fight the beasts.\u201d And Thecla wept bitterly and groaned unto the Lord, saying: \u201cLord God in whom I believe, with whom I have taken refuge, that saved me from the fire, reward Tryphaena who has had pity on your handmaid, and has kept me pure.\u201d<\/p>\n (32) There was therefore a tumult, a voice of the beasts and shouting of the people and of the women which sat together, some saying: \u201cBring in the sacrilegious one!\u201d And the women were saying: \u201cAway with the city for this unlawful deed! Away with all us, you proconsul! It is a bitter sight, an evil judgement!\u201d<\/p>\n (38) But Thecla, being taken out of the hand of Tryphaena, was stripped and a girdle put upon her, and she was cast into the stadium.\u00a0 And lions and bears were set against her. And a fierce lioness running to her lay down at her feet, and the crowd of women cried aloud. And a bear ran upon her, but the lioness ran and met him and tore the bear apart. And again a lion, trained against men, which was Alexander\u2019s, ran upon her, and the lioness wrestled with him and was slain along with him. And the women bewailed even more, seeing that the lioness also that helped her was dead.<\/p>\n (34) Then they put in many beasts while she stood and stretched out her hands and prayed. And when she had ended her prayer, she turned and saw a great tank full of water, and said: \u201cNow it is time that I should wash myself!\u201d And she cast herself in, saying: \u201cIn the name of Jesus Christ do I baptize myself on the last day!\u201d And all the women seeing it and all the people wept, saying: \u201cCast not yourself into the water.\u201d\u00a0 So that even the governor wept that so great beauty should be devoured by seals. So, then, she cast herself into the water in the name of Jesus Christ, and the seals, seeing the light of a flash of fire, floated dead on the top of the water. And there was about her a cloud of fire, so that neither did the beasts touch her, nor was she seen to be naked.<\/p>\n (35) Now the women, when other more fearful beasts were put in, shrieked aloud, and some cast leaves, others nard, others cassia, and some balsam, so that there was a multitude of odours.\u00a0 And all the beasts that were struck by it were held as it were in sleep and did not touch her, so that Alexander said to the governor: \u201cI have some bulls exceeding fearful.\u00a0 Let us bind the criminal to them.\u201d And the governor, frowning, allowed it, saying: \u201cDo what you will.\u201d And they bound her by the feet between the bulls, and put hot irons under their bellies that they might be the more enraged and kill her. They then leaped forward; but the flame that burned about her burned through the ropes, and she was as one not bound.<\/p>\n (36) But Tryphaena, standing by the arena, fainted at the entry, so that her handmaids said: \u201cThe queen Tryphaena is dead!\u201d And the governor stopped the games and all the city was frightened and, falling at the governor\u2019s feet, Alexander said: \u201cHave mercy on me and on the city, and let the condemned go, lest the city perish with her.\u00a0 For if Caesar hears this, he will destroy us and the city, because his kinswoman the queen Tryphaena has died at the entry.\u201d\u00a0 (37) And the governor called Thecla from among the beasts, and said to her: \u201cWho are you? And why is it that not one of the beasts has touched you? But she said: \u201cI am the handmaid of the living God, and reason is that I have believed in his Son in whom God is well pleased, for whose sake not one of the beasts has touched me. For he alone is the goal of salvation and the substance of life immortal.\u00a0 For he is a refuge for those that are tossed about, a relief for the oppressed, and a shelter for the despairing.\u00a0 In a word, whoever does not believe on him shall not live, but die everlastingly.<\/p>\n (38) And when the governor heard this, he commanded garments to be brought and said: \u201cPut on these garments.\u201d And she said: \u201cThe one who clothed me when I was naked among the beasts will, in the day of judgement, clothe me with salvation.\u201d And she took the garments and put them on. And the governor immediately issued out an act, saying: \u201cI release to you Thecla the godly, the servant of God.\u201d And all the women cried out with a loud voice and as with one mouth gave praise to God, saying: \u201cOne is the God who has preserved Thecla\u201d, so that with their voice all the city shook.<\/p>\n (39) And Tryphaena, when she was told the good news, met her with much people and embraced Thecla and said: \u201cNow do I believe that the dead are raised up.\u00a0 Now I do believe that my child lives.\u00a0 Come in, and I will make you heir of all my substance.\u201d Thecla therefore went in with her and rested in her house eight days, teaching her the word of God, so that most of the maid-servants also believed, and there was great joy in the house.<\/p>\n [III. At Myra and beyond]<\/i><\/p>\n (40) But Thecla yearned after Paul and sought him, sending about in all places.\u00a0 And someone told her that he was at Myra. And she took young men and maids.\u00a0 She clothed herself and sewed her mantle into a cloak after the fashion of a man and departed into Myra.\u00a0 There she found Paul speaking the word of God, and went to him. But, when he saw her and the people that were with her, he was amazed, thinking in himself: \u201cHas some other temptation come upon her?\u201d But she perceived it, and said to him: \u201cI have received the washing, oh Paul.\u00a0 For he that has worked together with you in the gospel has worked with me also to the point of my baptizing.\u201d<\/p>\n (41) And Paul took her by the hand and brought her into the house of Hermias, and heard everything from her, with the result that Paul marveled much, and those who heard were confirmed and prayed for Tryphaena. And Thecla arose and said to Paul: \u201cI am going to Iconium.\u201d And Paul said: \u201cGo, and teach the word of God!\u201d \u00a0Now Tryphaena had sent her much apparel and gold, which she left with Paul for the ministry of the poor.<\/p>\n (42) But she herself departed to Iconium. And she entered into the house of Onesiphorus, and fell down upon the floor where Paul had sat and taught the oracles of God, and wept, saying: \u201cO God of me and of this house, where the light shone upon me, Jesus Christ the Son of God, my helper in prison, my helper before the governors, my helper in the fire, my helper among the beasts, you are God, and unto you be the glory for ever. Amen.\u201d<\/p>\n (43) And she found Thamyris dead, but her mother living. And she saw her mother and said to her: \u201cTheocleia, my mother, can you believe that the Lord lives in the heavens? For whether you desire money, the Lord will give it you through me, or your child, look, I am here before you.\u201d And when she had so testified, she departed unto Seleucia, and after she had enlightened many with the word of God, she slept a good sleep.<\/p>\n
\n<\/a>
\n Early Jesus-followers Through Greco-Roman Eyes: Tacitus, Pliny and Others<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n<\/a>\u201cThe Acts of Paul and Thecla\u201d from the Acts of Paul<\/i> (second century CE)<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n[I. At Iconium]<\/i><\/p>\n