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the Romans called him empebarion, which means 1.346 among them the wine-drinker. This one Gaius, his nephew, during his illness, put many clothes over him and suffocated him. Gaius Julius Caesar ruled for 7 years. This one was very prone to rage; who, once walking around the marketplace and seeing mud in the road, brought Flavius Vespasian, who was then aedile, the one who ruled after these things, and as if he were neglecting public affairs, ordered the mud to be thrown onto his garment; which signified that he would receive the state in turmoil. And in the reign of the same Gaius, Agrippa, king of Judea, and Simon Magus are baptized by Philip, one of the seven deacons. But Gaius is slain by Claudius. In his time Cornelius, the first of the Gentiles, is baptized by Peter, and Paul, the chosen instrument, is revealed as an apostle through a revelation of Jesus Christ. Claudius reigned 13 years and 9 months. This man, being a coward, caused all who approached him to be searched, lest they have a dagger. And at banquets armed men stood by him as a guard; from which this also became the custom for the remaining emperors. In his time there was also Apollonius of Tyana, a Pythagorean philosopher, an enchanter. This man, having come to Byzantium, being summoned by the locals, charmed snakes and scorpions not to strike, gnats not even to be present, horses not to be haughty nor indeed to become wild against one another or against anyone. And 1.347 he charmed the river Lycus so that it would not, by flooding, damage Byzantium. At that time an Egyptian bandit led the sicarii into the desert, whom Felix the governor pursued. And he named them sicarii from the sicae, which are small daggers, which they carried secretly in order to strike those they met by stealth. At which time an island of 30 stadia was blown up between Thera and Therasia. This man founded a city, calling it Claudiopolis after his own name, and he expelled the Jews from Rome. In his time, during the feast of Passover, when a disturbance occurred in Jerusalem, thirty thousand were found who had been trampled to death alone. This man not only tyrannized the Jews, but also, killing all the notable men in Rome, he took their property. In addition to these things, having legislated a rule of slaves, he permitted them to accuse their masters, if they should perceive any offense in them. And from this a terrible calamity befell the whole world, as slaves subjected their masters to great punishments. But indeed, also turning to madness, he committed certain lawless acts. And having killed the murderers of Gaius, he was slain by his own wife with poison.
In his time James the son of Zebedee was martyred, and Mark the evangelist wrote his gospel at the encouragement of Peter, and having been sent to Egypt by him, he first 1.348 established a church and founded many monasteries, which were then called semneia, as Eusebius Pamphili says that we know Mark was the first to have written the gospel in Egypt and to have established the first church in Alexandria itself. And such a multitude of believers there, both men and women, was established from the first attempt through a most philosophical and most intense ascetic practice, that Philo the most wise deemed their pursuits and assemblies and all the other conduct of their excellent life worthy of a treatise, as he had been an eyewitness, hearer, and companion of the apostle Peter in Rome. For, approving the life of the ascetics among us, he greatly extols and reveres the apostolic men of his time, who were, as it seems, of Hebrew origin and had been well instructed beforehand in the ascetic practice and way of life of the Essenes, which indeed differed exceedingly from the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. for these, being descended from Jonadab the son of Rechab, the
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ἐμπεβάριον αὐτὸν Ῥωμαῖοι ἐκάλουν, ὃ σημαίνει 1.346 παρ' αὐτοῖς τὸν οἰνοπότην. τοῦτον Γάϊος ὁ ἀδελφιδοῦς ἐν τῇ νόσῳ αὐτοῦ ἱμάτια πολλὰ περιθεὶς ἀπέπνιξεν. Ἐκράτησε δὲ Γάϊος Ἰούλιος Καῖσαρ ἔτη ζʹ. οὗτος ἦν μοι χικώτατος πάνυ· ὃς περιιών ποτε τὴν ἀγορὰν καὶ ἰδὼν πηλὸν ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ ἤγαγε Φλάβιον Οὐεσπασιανόν, ἀγορανόμον τότε ὄντα, τὸν μετὰ ταῦτα βασιλεύσαντα, καὶ ὡς ἀμελοῦντα τῶν κοινῶν τὸν πηλὸν εἰς τὴν ἐσθῆτα βληθῆναι ἐκέλευσεν· ὅπερ ἐσήμανε τὰ κοινὰ τεταραγμένα αὐτὸν παραλήψεσθαι. ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς τοῦ αὐτοῦ Γαΐου βασιλείας Ἀγρίππας βασιλεὺς τῆς Ἰουδαίας καὶ Σίμων ὁμάγος βαπτίζεται ὑπὸ Φιλίππου, ἑνὸς τῶν ἑπτὰ διακόνων. Γάϊος δὲ ὑπὸ Κλαυδίου σφάζεται. ἐπὶ τούτου Κορνήλιος πρῶτος ἐξ ἐθνῶν βαπτίζεται ὑπὸ Πέτρου, καὶ Παῦλος, τὸ τῆς ἐκλογῆς σκεῦος, δι' ἀποκαλύψεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἀπόστολος ἀνα δείκνυται. Κλαύδιος ἐβασίλευσεν ἔτη ιγʹ μῆνας θʹ. οὗτος δειλὸς ὢν πάντας τοὺς προσιόντας αὐτῷ ἐποίει ἐρευνᾶσθαι, μή τι ξιφί διον ἔχωσι. καὶ ἐν τοῖς συμποσίοις ὡπλισμένοι εἰς φυλακὴν παρει στήκεισαν αὐτῷ· ἐξ οὗ καὶ εἰς τοὺς λοιποὺς βασιλεῖς εἴθιστο γί νεσθαι τοῦτο. ἐπὶ τούτου καὶ Ἀπολλώνιος ὁ Τυανεὺς ἦν, φιλό σοφος Πυθαγόρειος, στοιχειωματικός. οὗτος ἐν Βυζαντίῳ ἐλθών, παρακληθεὶς ὑπὸ τῶν ἐντοπίων, ἐστοιχείωσεν ὄφεις μὲν καὶ σκορ πίους μὴ πλήσσειν, κώνωπας μηδὲ παρεῖναι, ἵππους μὴ κατωφρυῶ σθαι μήτε μὴν ἀγριαίνεσθαι κατ' ἀλλήλων ἢ καὶ κατά τινος. καὶ 1.347 Λύκον δὲ τὸν ποταμὸν ἐστοιχείωσεν ὥστε μὴ πλημμυρήσαντα τὸ Βυζάντιον καταλυμήνασθαι. Τότε Αἰγύπτιος λῃστὴς ἐξήγαγεν εἰς τὴν ἔρημον τοὺς σικα ρίους, οὓς μετῆλθε Φήλιξ ὁ ἡγεμών. σικαρίους δὲ αὐτοὺς ὠνό μασεν ἀπὸ τῶν σικαρίων, ἅ ἐστι μαχαίρια μικρά, ἃ ἐπεφέροντο κρυφῇ εἰς τὸ λαθραίως τοὺς παρατυγχάνοντας πλήττειν. καθ' ὃν καιρὸν μεταξὺ Θήρας καὶ Θηρασίας νῆσος ἀνεφυσήθη στά δια λʹ. Οὗτος πόλιν ἔκτισεν, ἐπὶ τῷ ἰδίῳ ὀνόματι καλέσας αὐτὴν Κλαυδίου πόλιν, καὶ Ἰουδαίους τῆς Ῥώμης ἀπήλασεν. ἐπὶ τούτου κατὰ τὴν ἑορτὴν τοῦ πάσχα συγχύσεως γενομένης ἐν Ἱεροσο λύμοις μόνοι πατηθέντες καὶ ἀποθανόντες εὑρέθησαν τρισμύριοι. οὗτος οὐ μόνον Ἰουδαίους ἐτυράννει, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάντας τοὺς ἐν Ῥώμῃ ἐπισήμους ἀναιρῶν ἐλάμβανεν αὐτῶν τὰς οὐσίας. πρὸς τούτοις καὶ δουλοκρατίαν νομοθετήσας ἐπέτρεψε κατηγορεῖν τῶν δεσποτῶν, εἴ τι συνίδοιεν αὐτοῖς πλημμέλημα. κἀντεῦθεν δεινὴ συμφορὰ κατειλήφει τὴν οἰκουμένην πᾶσαν, τῶν οἰκετῶν μεγάλαις τιμωρίαις ὑποβαλλόντων τοὺς δεσπότας. οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰς μανίαν ἐκτραπεὶς ἄθεσμά τινα διεπράττετο. φονεύσας δὲ τοὺς φονεῖς Γαΐου ἀνῃρέθη ὑπὸ τῆς ἰδίας γυναικὸς φαρμάκῳ.
Ἐπὶ τούτου Ἰάκωβος ὁ Ζεβεδαίου ἐμαρτύρησε, καὶ Μάρκος δὲ ὁ εὐαγγελιστὴς τὸ κατ' αὐτὸν εὐαγγέλιον προτροπῇ Πέτρου συνεγράψατο, καὶ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ σταλεὶς ὑπ' αὐτοῦ, πρῶτος ἐκ 1.348 κλησίαν πηξάμενος, πολλὰ μοναστήρια συνεστήσατο, ἅπερ σε μνεῖα τότε προσηγορεύθησαν, καθώς φησιν Εὐσέβιος ὁ Παμφίλου ὅτι Μάρκον πρῶτον ἴσμεν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ τὸ εὐαγγέλιον συγγεγραφέ ναι καὶ ἐκκλησίαν πρῶτον ἐπ' αὐτῆς Ἀλεξανδρείας συστήσασθαι. τοσαύτη δὲ τῶν αὐτόθι πεπιστευκότων πληθὺς ἀνδρῶν τε καὶ γυ ναικῶν ἐκ πρώτης ἐπιβολῆς συνέστη δι' ἀσκήσεως φιλοσοφωτάτης καὶ σφοδροτάτης, ὡς καὶ συγγραφῆς ἀξιῶσαι τὰς διατριβάς τε καὶ συνελεύσεις καὶ πᾶσαν ἄλλην τοῦ ἀρίστου βίου διαγωγὴν Φί λωνα τὸν σοφώτατον, ὡς καὶ αὐτόπτην τοῦ ἀποστόλου Πέτρου καὶ αὐτήκοον καὶ συνόμιλον ἐν Ῥώμῃ γενόμενον. τῶν γὰρ παρ' ἡμῶν ἀσκητῶν ἀποδεχόμενος τὸν βίον, ἐκθειάζει σφόδρα καὶ σε μνύνει τοὺς κατ' αὐτὸν ἀποστολικοὺς ἄνδρας, ἐξ Ἑβραίων, ὡς ἔοικε, γεγονότας καὶ τῶν Ἐσσαίων τὴν ἄσκησιν καὶ πολιτείαν εὖ μάλα προακουτισθέντων, ἥτις γε τῶν γραμματέων καὶ Φαρισαίων τὴν δικαιοσύνην ἐξ ἐπιμέτρου διενέστηκεν. ἀπὸ γὰρ Ἰωναδὰμ υἱοῦ Ῥιχὰβ καταγόμενοι οὗτοι τὴν