<Return
to Contents> <Return
to Syllabus>
P.
LETTER OF CLAUDIUS TO THE ALEXANDRIANS
H. I. Bell, Jews
and Christians in
(Please note that the translator has attempted to reproduce the flavour of the scribal curiosities of the Greek text. The reader may wish to supress stray letters by surrounding them with brackets { } or adding between < > what the scribe has omitted. Roman names have been Romanized and Claudianisms maintained.)
Lucius Aemilius Rectus says:
Since all the city was not abele to
be present at the revelation of the
most sacred and beneficial letter
5 ta the city because of its size,
I thought it nesessary to publish
the letter that man by man each
understanding the letter you may
wonder at the majesty of our god Caesar
10 and for
his [[agree]] goodwill toward the city
be grateful. L 2 of Tiberius Claudius
Caesar Sebastos
Germanicus autokrator,
month of Neos Sebasto<s> 14.
(Column) 2
Tiberius Claudius Caesar Sebastos Germanicus
autokrator archiereus
15 supreme,
having the tribunician power, consul designate, to the city
of the Alexandrines, greeting. Tiberius Claudius
Barbillus Apollonios son of Artimidoros,
Chairemon son of Leonidas, Marcus Iulius Asclepiades,
Gaius Iulius Dionysio<s>,
Tiberius Claudius Phanias, Pasion son of Potamon,
Dionysios son of Sabbion,
Tiberius Claudi<u>s, Apolloni<o>s son of
Ariston, Gaius Iulius Apollonios, Hermaļskos
20 son of
Apollonios, tha ambassadors from you, after delivering the decree to me,
went on extensivley about the city drawing my
attention to the goodwill
towards us, which for some time, as you should know
well, has been held in
trust with me; for you are eusebeis (respectful) in regard to the Sebastoi, as has
become evident to me from many things, especially
how you are both eager about my
25 house
and how eagerness is returned, of which ‑ I mention the lat‑
est, passing over others ‑ the greatest witness is
my own brother,
Germanicus Caesar,
when he spoke to you publicly in a most genuine voice.
Therefore, I did happily accept the honours granted me
by you
even though I am not prroneto such things. Furst of
all I leeave it to you to
30 treat
my birthday as sebaste in the
manner that you yourselves pro‑
posed, also to the erection in several places of
statues of
me and my kin I agreee; for I seae
you are
towards my house. Of the twin g[old]en statues,
however,
35 the one
of the Claudian‑Sebastan Peace, as was suggested
and as my most hon[our]ed friend Barbillus entrea[t]ed
while I demured
on account of s[ee]min[g] too arrogant, shall be set
up at
3
the other, moreover, in a manner you see fit shall
process on eponymous
days among you; moreover, a throne shall accompany
[[and i]] it
40 adorned
with any decoration you wishe. It might, then, perrhaps be silly
after accepting such honours as these to refuse the
establishment of a Claudian tribe
and groves according to the custom of Egyp; therefore,
I
also grante these things to [[us]] you; moreover, if
you wish
you may erect an equestrian statue of Vitrasius Pollio
my procurator. Moreover, regarding the
45 erecti[o]n
of the four horse chariots trance into
the chora you wishe to set up for me,
I agreee to setting up one near the place called
Taposiris in Lybia,
another near Pharos in
in Egyp . But my own high priest and the building of a
temple
I deprecat , not wishing to be arogant to min of my
own day,
50 for
sacred things and the like are granted by every
age to the gods alone as special honors in my
opini[o]n.
About the requests, however, which you have been eag‑
er to get from me I deciede as follows: all who became
epheboi up to
my leadership I cun[[fir]]firme, and I protecte for
them the citizenship of the
55 Alexandrines
with the prevliges and indulginces of the polis,
to all except any who have escaped your notice as born from slaves
while becoming epheboi; and no less with
respect to other matters I wishe to be
confirmed everything graciously granted you by leaders
before my time
and kings and prefects just as [the] god Sebastos had
confirmed.
4
60 The neokoroi of the the temple in
Sebastos I wishe to be chosen by lot in the manner as
thos in Kanopos
of the same god Sebastos are chosen by lot. About the
polit‑
cal offices becoming triennial you seam to me [[y]] to
have planned
quit well; forchons out of fear of rendering account
of governing badly
65 well
behave more moderately with uss for the
duration of their
offices. About
the boule, however, whatever may have been your
situation under
the old kings I would have nothing to say; that, however, under the
Sebastoi before
me you haad none you know clearly. As a novel
business now set before me for the furst time and as unclear if it
70 will be
useful to the polis or my affairs I wrote to Aemilius Rectus
to investigate and to informe me if it is necessery
that the institution be established,
and, if it should be rite to draw one together, the
manner to do it.
But for the riot and uprising against the Judaeans (=Ioudaioi), rather, if the truth be
told, the war, which of the two sides was responsible,
even though
75 your
envoys strove for great honour from the confrontation,
and especially Dionysios son of The[o]n, still
I did not want to have a strict investigation, while
storing up in me
unrepentant rage against the ones starting again.
But I announcee frankly that, unless you put a stop to
this des‑
80 tructive,
relentless rage against each other, I shall be forced
to show whot a benevolant leader is when turned toward
righteous rage.
For this I yet again still beare witness that Alexandrines, on the one hand,
behav gently and kindly with the Judeans, the
inhabitants of the same city from a long time ago,
5
85 and not
be disrespectful of the customs used in the ritual
of their god,
but let them use ther customs
as in the time of the god Sebastos even as I myself,
after hearing
both sides, have confirmed; to the Judians
I geive strict orders not to agitate for
90 they
had before, nor as though dwel‑
ling in two cities to send in future two delegations,
whych had not ever been done before; nor intrude in the
gymnasiarchic or kosmetic contests
reaping the fruits of their households while enjoing
95 the abundance
of benfits without envy in a foreign polis;
nor to introduce or bring in Judaeans from
or sailing down from Egyp, from which I shall
be forsd to have serious suspicions; or else I
shall take vengence on them in every way as though
100 rousing
up some common plague on the world. If
after you stand aside from these things you both
should
wish to live together with gentleness and kindnes
towards each other,
I shall send
forth to the hihest degree providence for the city
as belonging to or household from bygone times.
105 I bear
witness to my companion Barbillus always showing regar[d]
for us (you ?) before me, and who just now with
complete zeal
for honour has consult[ed] about the contest about
you,
and to Tiberius Claudius Archibios my compan[ion.]