could the 'impulsore Chresto' be a suetonian invention?
Posted: Tue May 08, 2018 8:22 am
Recently I have read on Vridar about the question of the historicity of Boudicca and the possibility that the entire story was a mere Roman propaganda meant to exalt Rome by apparently exalting the (invented) greatness of the his (invented) adversary.
If there is something that is surprising (=not expected, = not probable) about the impulsore Chresto affair, is the fact that the riotous rebel named Chrestus is described as an IMPULSOR as a direct contrast against the EXPULSOR: the same Emperor (!) Claudius.
Not even Spartacus is so exalted by putting him in so explicit terms of DIRECT contrast against the Roman power.
So I wonder if there is a precise pattern here, the same pattern that could be applied about Boudicca: an exaltation of the presumed Jewish enemy of Rome in Rome itself (a Christus/Chrestus) insofar the same Imperator is exalted, among the rows.
If this was the goal of Suetonius (and Tacitus also?) then all that was necessary for him is simply to know what ''Christus'' meant in a Jewish view read by Roman lens: the figure of a celestial anti-Roman warrior who was able to galvanize a lot of Jews against the authorities.
If there is something that is surprising (=not expected, = not probable) about the impulsore Chresto affair, is the fact that the riotous rebel named Chrestus is described as an IMPULSOR as a direct contrast against the EXPULSOR: the same Emperor (!) Claudius.
Not even Spartacus is so exalted by putting him in so explicit terms of DIRECT contrast against the Roman power.
So I wonder if there is a precise pattern here, the same pattern that could be applied about Boudicca: an exaltation of the presumed Jewish enemy of Rome in Rome itself (a Christus/Chrestus) insofar the same Imperator is exalted, among the rows.
If this was the goal of Suetonius (and Tacitus also?) then all that was necessary for him is simply to know what ''Christus'' meant in a Jewish view read by Roman lens: the figure of a celestial anti-Roman warrior who was able to galvanize a lot of Jews against the authorities.