Commentary Upon Acts, Part 3 – Title page 6
PART III. The Jewish Story.
Sect. I. A commotion in Samaria. Pilate out of office.
A Great space of time is past since wee heard any newes of Pontius Pilate, and news it is indeed that his malicious and stirring spirit hath not entertained us with some bloody tragedy or other, of all this while. His government draweth now neer its expiration, for he is going upon the tenth yeere of it, and it is a kind of miracle if so mischievous an agent, should part withour acting some mischiefe before his exit, and this at last hee did which put him out of office. There was a certain impostor among the Samaritans (Simon Magus as like as any) that would perswade the people, that in mount Gerizim he could shew them,Ioseph. Ant. l. 1… c. 5. See how Egesippus relateth this story, De excid. Hieros. l. 1. c. 5. holy vessels which Moses had hid and laid up there with his owne hand. The credulous vulgar meet by multitudes at a certain Village called Tira…haba intending when their company was full, to goe see these sacred reliques. But Pilate before-hand takes the passages with his Horse and Foot, and falling upon those that were thus assembled, some he slew, others he took captive and the rest fled. Of those that he captived, hee caused the noblest and most principall to bee put to death. For this fact the chiefe men of Samaria, accuse him to Vitellius, who commands him to Rome, there to answer before the Emperour what should bee objected against him; and in his stead he made Marcellus a friend of his owne, the Governour of Iudea: but before Pilate came to Rome, Tiberius was dead. Yet hath Eusebius put off the testimony that Pilate is said to have given to Tiberius concerning the death and resurrection of Christ, and concerning the wonders wrought by him, till the next yeare following. A relation doubtfull in it selfe, but more then doubtfull in the issue. For first, though it be granted that Pilate bare witnesse to the works and wonders done by Christ, and gave testimony to his resurrection, which yet to beleeve requireth a better evidence then I can find any: Yet secondly, the Epistle that is pretended for this his certificate by *In Anacephal. in biblioth. Patr. tom. 7Hegesippus, cannot be that originall one that Tertullian, and out of him Eusebius do mention, because it is indorsed to Claudius, and not to Tiberius. Thirdly, though both these were confessed and agreed unto, that Pilate wrote a Letter to Tiberius to such a purpose, and that this was the Letter, or some other that Tertullian had seen; yet can I never find the Emperour of so good a nature, and respective a disposition, as to give the desert of goodnesse its due, be it never so eminent and conspicuous, or bee it in what kind soever. Fourthly, and lastly, that which maketh all the rest of the story to bee doubted of, and which may justly hinder the entertainment of it, is, what is added in the common relation of the story. That Tiberius referring this matter to the Senate, with his vote, that Christ should bee numbred among the Gods, and Christianity among their holy things; the Senate crossed him in it with flat contrariety, because Pilate had written of it to him, and not to them. Now in the Stories that have been related before concerning the state and affaires of Rome, and by other stories that might bee produced in other yeares, it is but too miserably evident, that the Senate was in too great a feare and slavery to the Tyrant, then to dare to affront him so palpably and plainly. Pilate after this, as *Chron. ad annum. chr. 41.Eusebius alledgeth out of the Roman Historians, falling into many miseries, ended himself with his own hand, the common and desperate Roman remedy against distresse. *In Chron.Cassiodorus hath placed his death under the Consulship of Publicola and Nerva: And the common report hath given it in, that the place was Vienna.
Sect. 2. Agrippa his journey to Rome.
This Agrippa was the sonne of Aristobulus (who dyed by the cruelty of his father Herod) and hee was a man that had sufficiently tryed the vicissitudes of fortune heretofore, but never so much as hee is about to doe now. A good while agoe hee had lived in Rome, and in the familiarity of Drusus the son of Tiberius: That great acquaintance caused great expences; partly in his own port and pompe, and partly in gifts and beneficence bestowed upon others. When Drusus dyed, then Agrippaes estate is not onelyonly dead, but his hopes also: so that hee is forced to flee from Rome into Iudea for debt and poverty; and thence into a certaine Tower in Idumea for shame and discontent. His wife Cyprus by sollicitation and suing to Herodias, obtaineth Herods favour so farre, that hee was removed to Tiberias, made a chiefe Governour or Officer of the City, and allowance given him for his Diet. But this lasted not long ere Herod and hee fell out; whereupon hee removed away, and betooke himself to Flaccus the then Governour of Syria, who had been his old acquaintance at Rome: Long he had not continu'd there neither, but Aristobulus his brother wrought him out of his favour and abode there. From thence hee went to Ptolomais, intending to have set from thence for Italy, but was forced to stay till hee had borrowed some moneys before: Being now furnished and shipped, hee was againe stopped by Herennius Capito, the Governour of Iamnia, for some money that hee ought to the Treasury of Tiberius. And what must he doe now? Hee must not goe till hee have paid the summe, and when hee hath paid it, then hee cannot goe for want of more. He taketh on him to obey the arrest while it was day, but at night hee cut cables, and set away for Alexandria: There hee reneweth his borrowing againe of Alexander Alabarcha and obtaineth of him five talents for his viaticum: and now this yeare (namely as Iosephus noteth it, the yeare before Tiberius his death) hee setteth away for Italy againe. This Alabarcha is not the proper name of any man, but the title of men that bare Rule over the Jews in Alexandria. For I observe that as Iosephus in one place, calleth it Alabarcha, and Alabarchus, so in another hee calleth it foreign & foreign, fixing it thereby as a title rather to any man that bare such an Office, then as a proper name to any man at all. And if conjecture may read its denotation & Etymology, it seemeth to bee compounded of the Arabick Article Al, which they fix before all their nownes, and the Egyptian word Abrec…, which in that language importeth dignity and honour (as we have observed elsewhere) as may be collected from the proclamation before Ioseph, Gen. 41.43.
Agrippa being arrived at Puteoli, sendeth to the Emperour to Capre… to certifie him of his comming, and of his desire to wait upon him there. Tiberius giveth him admi…sion and entertainment according to his mind: till Letters from Herennius Capi…o spoiled that cheare: For the Emperour understanding by them how he had slipped the collar at Iamnia, from his Officer, and from his owne debt, hee doth flatly forbid him any more accesse unto him till the money bee paid. Now is Agrippa in a worse case then ever: for there is no paltering with Tiberius, though there were with Capito; and no shifting from Capreae, though hee had found such an opportunity at Iamnia. Nor is there any such thought to bee entertained. For now his life and fortunes, and all lay in the hand of Tiberius; and when hee findeth him inclinable to use him kindly, there is no loosing that favour, for want of paying such a summe: Of Antonia the mother of Germanicus, and the old friend and favourer of Bernice the mother of Agrippa, he borroweth the money, and getting out of the Emperours debt, he getteth into his favour againe. Insomuch that hee commendeth him to the converse, acquaintance, and attendance of Caius his Grandchild that was to succeed him.
Sect. 3. His Imprisonment.
Happy might now Agrippa thinke himselfe, if hee can but hold so: For he hath obtained the inward friendship of Caius, and with it retained the outward favour of Tiberius. Antonia and Claudius a future Emperour and all favour him, but hee becomes an enemy to himselfe. Whether it were in love or flattery to Caius, or to himselfe and his owne hopes, hee casteth himselfe into a present danger upon a future expectation. For Caius and hee being very intimate and private together, whether more affectionately, or undiscreetly, hee himselfe best felt; hee brake out into this dangerous wish, That Tiberius might soon die, and Caius as soon come to rule in his stead. These words were heard by Eutychus his servant, and a while concealed; but when Agrippa prosecuted him for stealing some of his cloaths, which hee had stoln indeed, hee then brake forth and revealed all: for fleeing for his theft, and caught and brought before Piso the Sheriffe of the City, and demanded the reason of his flight, hee answered that he had a great secret to impart to Cesar, which concerned his life. Piso therefore sent him bound to Tiberius, who also kept him bound and unexamined a certain season: Now began Agrippa to hasten and spurre on his owne misery and vexation: Whether having forgotten the words that he had spoken, or not remembring the presence of his servant, at the speech; or not suspecting that his tale to Cesar would bee against himself; or which was likelyest, thinking to make his cause the better by his confidence, he solliciteth his old friend Antonia, to urge the Emperour for a tryall of his servant. Tiberius declineth it, though he suspected the matter; not so much belike for Agrippaes sake, as for Caius sake, whom the familiarity that was betwixt them made him suspect to be accessary, if any thing should prove otherwise then well. But being still importuned by Antonia, at last when hee had uttered these words, Let the Gods witnesse O Antonia, that what I shall doe, I doe not of my own mind, but by thy solicitation: Hee commanded Eutychus to bee brought forth, who being examined, confessed readily that such words were spoken by Agrippa to Caius, himselfe being present, adding others no lesse dangerous, that were spoken about young Tiberius. The Emperour as readily beleeved the matter; and presently called out to Macro to bind him. Macro not understanding that he meant Agrippa, prepared to bind Eutychus more strictly for examination: but Tiberius having walked about the place, and comming to Agrippa, it is this man saith he, that I commanded to be bound. And when Macro asked him again who? Why, saith he, Agrippa. Then did Agrippa begin to finde how hee had forwarded his owne mishap, but it was too late. And then did hee begin to pray him now, whom hee lately prayed against, but that was too late also. For Tiberius was not halfe so averse to have tryed his servant, as he is now to forgive the Master: and hee cannot bee much blamed, for he had wished his mischie…, and procured his own. Well, Agrippa is tyed in bands, and led away to prison as hee was, in his purple robes, a garment very incompatible with chaines, unlesse of Gold. Being exceeding thirsty with heate and sorrow, as he went towards the prison, hee spyed one Thaumastus a servant of Caius, carrying a Tankard of water, and hee desired some to drinke; which when the servant freely and readily gave him, If ever, saith hee, I escape and get out of these bonds, I will not faile to obtaine thy freedome, who hast not refused to minister to mee in my misery and chaines, as well as thou didst in my prosperity and pompe. And this his promise he afterward performed.
Sect. IIII. The death of Thrasyllus the Mathematician.
This man Thrasyllus had indeared himselfe to Tiberius, by his skill in Astrologie long agoe, even while hee lived in Rhodes, before the death of Augustus, but with the imminent hazard and perill of his owne life. For Tiberius being very much given to those Chaldean and curious arts, and having got leasure and retirednesse in Rhodes for the learning and practise of them, hee partly called, and partly had offered to him, those that professed to bee skilfull in that trade and mystery. His way to try their skill was desperate and terrible, but such a one as best befitted such as would take upon them to foresee things to come, and it was this: when hee consulted of any businesse, saith Tacitus, hee used the top of his house, and the privacy of one onelyonly servant, a man utterly unlearned, and of a strong bulke of body: when hee had a mind to try any mans skill, this Lubber was to goe before him over craggy, steepe and dangerous Rocks that hung over the Sea, and over which his house stood: and as they returned againe, if there were any suspition that the Prognosticator had given an answer fraudulent or lying, hee flung him into the Sea, lest hee should reaveale the secret that hee had beene questioned upon. Thrasyllus at his first comming, being brought to this dangerous tryall, and having presaged Tiberius should bee Emperour, and having foretold other things to come, hee was asked by him whether hee could calculate his owne nativitie; which when hee went about to doe, and had set a figure, upon the sight and study upon it, hee was first in a muse and then in a feare, and the more hee viewed it, the more hee feared: and at last cryed out that some strange and suddaine danger was neer and ready to seize upon him. Then Tiberius imbracing him commended his skill, secured him against the danger, and retained him ever after for his intimate familiar. This yeer (as Dion doth place it) befell this great Wizzards death, and as it proved, a forerunner of the Emperours: With whom hee did more good with one lie, neere his latter end, then hee had done with all his Astrologicall truths (if he ever told any) all his life long. For assuring him by his skill, that hee should yet live ten yeers longer, though in his heart hee thought no such thing, hee caused him to bee slack and remisse in putting divers men to death, whose end hee had hastned, had hee knowne the haste of his owne, and so they escaped.
Sect. V. Warre betwix… Aretas and Herod.
There had been a long grudge betwixt Aretas the King of Arabia Petraea, and Herod the Tetrarch, and a field had beene fought between them before this. For Herod having put away his wife which was Aretas daughter, and having taken Herodias (the wife of his owne brother Philip and hee yet living) in her stead, it is no wonder if Aretas dogged him for revenge for this indignity to his Daughter and himselfe. Wherefore hee beginneth to quarrell with him and to seek occasion of warre, by challenge of a territory controvertible, and they come to a pitched battell, in which Herods Army is utterly overthrown, by meanes of some treachery wrought by some fugitives from his brother Philips Tetrarchy which had taken up Armes to fight under his colours: And here, as Iosephus hath observed. It was the observation of divers that this his Army utterly perished through Gods just punishment upon him for the murder of Iohn the Baptist. And it is worth the marking, that this overthrow took beginning from men of that country whence Herodias the causer of that murder, and of the present disquietnesse had come. Herod upon this defeat, doubtfull of better successe at another time, for it may bee his conscience told him this was but deserved, betaketh himselfe by letters to Tiberius, certifying him of the accident, and it is likely, not without much aggravation. The Emperour either displeased at the fortune of Aretas in his victory, or at his audaciousnesse in stirring so within the Empire, or at both together, sendeth angry letters to Vitellius the Governour of Syria, charging him to undertake the warre, and either to bring the rebellious King prisoner alive, or to send his head to Rome. But before the designe came to maturity, Tiberius that had thus threatned another mans life had lost his owne, as will appeare hereafter: when this first battell was that was so fatall to Herod, it shall not bee insisted on to question, but that this brewing towards a new warre, befell in this yeer, is apparent sufficiently by the sequell.
THE ROMAN, and JEWISH STORY, FOR The Yeare of Christ 38. And of Tiberius 23. The first yeer also of Cajus Caligula. Being the Yeare of the World 3965. And of the City of Rome, 790. Consuls
Cu. Proculus Acerronius.
C. Pontius Nigrinus.
London, Printed by R. C. for Andrew Crooke, 1645.