Caligula

[Kris]

I happened to read a short article about Caligula and how he tried to erect statues of himself in the Jewish Temple. When I was looking at Wiki (which I know isn’t the most reliable source for info!) it stated this:

Caligula ordered the erection of a statue of himself in the Jewish Temple of Jerusalem,[100] a demand in conflict with Jewish monotheism.[101] In this context, Philo wrote that Caligula "regarded the Jews with most especial suspicion, as if they were the only persons who cherished wishes opposed to his".[101]

The Governor of Syria, Publius Petronius, fearing civil war if the order were carried out, delayed implementing it for nearly a year.[102] Agrippa finally convinced Caligula to reverse the order.[98] But Caligula issued a second order to have his statue erected in the Temple of Jerusalem. In Rome, another statue of himself, of colossal size, was made of gilt brass for such temple. The Temple of Jerusalem was then transformed into a temple for Caligula, and it was called the Temple of illustrious Gaius the new Jupiter.[103]

This is written by Philo. Just about every article I read after this one indicated that the statues were never erected due to the Jews rebelling against the idea. The wiki article references two attempts while the others only reference one.

If the statue did get erected, what happened to it?

[Ben C. Smith]

I happened to read a short article about Caligula and how he tried to erect statues of himself in the Jewish Temple. When I was looking at Wiki (which I know isn’t the most reliable source for info!) it stated this:

Caligula ordered the erection of a statue of himself in the Jewish Temple of Jerusalem,[100] a demand in conflict with Jewish monotheism.[101] In this context, Philo wrote that Caligula "regarded the Jews with most especial suspicion, as if they were the only persons who cherished wishes opposed to his".[101]

The Governor of Syria, Publius Petronius, fearing civil war if the order were carried out, delayed implementing it for nearly a year.[102] Agrippa finally convinced Caligula to reverse the order.[98] But Caligula issued a second order to have his statue erected in the Temple of Jerusalem. In Rome, another statue of himself, of colossal size, was made of gilt brass for such temple. The Temple of Jerusalem was then transformed into a temple for Caligula, and it was called the Temple of illustrious Gaius the new Jupiter.[103]

This is written by Philo. Just about every article I read after this one indicated that the statues were never erected due to the Jews rebelling against the idea. The wiki article references two attempts while the others only reference one.

If the statue did get erected, what happened to it?

I believe the statues, both of them, were actually constructed: the first one in Sidon and the other in Rome. Caligula decided against moving the one from Sidon because it would have to travel over land and would receive the harshest opposition all along the way; the one in Rome he would have moved in by ship, hopefully with the element of surprise.

But I do not think either statue made it into the temple in Jerusalem. The temple had been prepared for the statue's arrival, but the statue never arrived. In the key passage that the Wikipedia article is citing, Philo says that the synagogues (in Alexandria) received statues, but never says the same about the temple in Jerusalem. He writes, "So great therefore was his inequality of temper towards every one, and most especially towards the nation of the Jews to which he was most bitterly hostile, and accordingly beginning in Alexandria he took from them all their synagogues there, and in the other cities, and filled them all with images and statues of his own form; for not caring about any other erection of any kind, he set up his own statue every where by main force; and the great temple in the holy city, which was left untouched to the last, having been thought worthy of all possible respect and preservation, he altered and transformed into a temple of his own, that he might call it the temple of the new Jupiter, the illustrious Gaius." This merely states that Caligula altered the temple (perhaps creating space for the new statue and setting up the other accoutrements of worship), not that the statue was actually installed.

According to Josephus in Antiquities 18.8.1-9 the ship was already underway with the statue, but news of Caligula's death reached Petronius, who had been charged with the installation of the statue, before the statue itself.

I have no idea what would have become of the two statues once Caligula was dead.

[arnoldo]

This source would support the hypothesis that the statues were destroyed.
https://blackbird.vcu.edu/v12n2/gallery ... gula.shtml