Mysterium Tiberieum

[ricus suavus]

When Italian archaeologists excavating the ruins of the ancient city of Caesarea Maritima on the coast of Israel in 1961 found half of an inscribed stone slab in or near the ruins of the theater on the beach, they noticed it contained some very significant yet discrepant information. It read (speculations parenthesized): "(CAESAREA)S TIBERIEUM / (PONT)IUS PILATUS / (PRAEF)ECTUS IUDA(EAE) / (CONSECRETAT)". In translation it stated that Pontius Pilatus (the fully Latin version of his name) the prefect of the Judeas, consecrated a temple of Tiberius in Caesarea. Now one of the first things one notices about what is obviously the significantly remaining portion of the inscription is that in the text Pilate refers to himself by the gernerically political term of "prefect", not the more specific and actual title of "procurator" familiar from the gospels. Of even more interesting significance is his use of the name or term in the plural of "Judeas" for obviously more than one. We know of only one from historical sources; that containing the holy city of Jerusalem. But a closer study will reveal why Pilate said this. We know from the histories of the Jewish priest and author Flavius Josephus that Pilate was the procurator of Judea AND Samaria, which were grouped into one district or subprovince belonging to the province of Syria. Pilate was not a provincial Roman governor or legatus as people popularly conceive him. He was subject to the authority of the governor of the province of Syria of which these areas were considered politically or technically a part of, seperated geographically and politically by the tetrarchy of Galilee. That is why in the "Luke" gospel Jesus is described as having been born during the census when Cyrenius was governor of Syria, not when Coponius was procurator of Judea; and why Josephus states Pilate was sent to Rome to answer charges before the Emperor of cruelty to the Samaritans by Vitellius, the legate of Syria, who consequently both deposed Caiaphas and appointed a new chief priest as well as a new procurator. Pilate was playing on the notorious animosity of the Jews and the Samaritans by referring to both Judea AND Samaria (in which territory the district capital, Caesarea Maritima was situated) as if to further incite the Judeans by considering the Samaritans to be equally as much Jews as them. It's well known the Samaritans considered themselves to be Jewish. To Pilate's mind it was probably nothing more than the division of north and south Judea. It's also well known how inconsiderate he was of foreign religious sensibilities. Which leads to the most fascinating fact of all: his consecration of the Tiberieum to Emperor-worship. The word "consecretat" is itself significant. It implies Pilate's role as priest of the Emperor whose temple he sanctified FOR the god, not dedicated TO the god. Perhaps this is why the "John" Gospel mentions that the Jews threatened him with being "no friend of Caesar" if he released Jesus; which is exactly WHY he WOULD NOT have wanted to. The word, which is at the bottom or last line of the inscription, is almost obliterated by erosion but an accent mark over the first capital 'E' giving it the Latin long 'A' sound can be discerned as well as a less clear one over the second 'E'. Also the shape of certain letters such as the 'S', 'C' and the ending 'TAT' can be recognized in a sharply shadowed black/white photograph of the text. The ironically interesting thing though about the message is not any indications of Pilate's attitudes to Jews and Christians (the latter religion's story nonbelievers regard as legendary anyway), but how this solidly authentic contemporary official artifact of Roman imperial politics disproves a statement from one of the most famous Roman historians close to this period, Tacitus. He states in his "Annals" that Tiberius did not allow temples to be built to him anywhere in the Empire except one at Smyrna because he detested sycophancy and knew he was no god. But apparently Tacitus didn't know about the temple built by Pilate at Caesarea standing for three-quarters of a century before he wrote. And that's where the mystery comes in. Where in Caesarea was it? Since it was not found in situ originale, it has to be deduced from whatever other archaeological discoveries of ruins are made of the city. Fortunately, it has always been obviously right under the noses of archaeologists who have instead recognized it for something very different. On a rock terrace promontory of land jutting out into the sea near the theater and surrounded by the remains of both an artificial and a natural rock wall with some stairs at the narrow landward neck, is a rectangular, sloping pit; the deeper lower end of which occasionally fills with seawater. Scholars have claimed this was either the piscina (fish pool) of King Herod's palace or even the swimming pool itself of the palace. The low gradient slope of the depression would definitely argue against both, especially for the latter case as there are not the usual steps into it as seen in the swimming pool of Herod's winter palace at Jericho and of numerous mikvahs or ritual purification baths. However, it is the proper size and shape for the dimensions of a Roman temple built to an emperor during his lifetime. In addition, and as if in confirmation, there are numerous limestone slabs of the same color and dimension as those of the Pilate inscription slab scattered in the area around it as if having formed the pavement of the precinct court where the inscription itself would have been placed instead of in the temple edifice pediment as was customary. He was thus probably demonstrating his humility before a tyrannical emperor busy conducting treason purges back in Rome by having worshippers walk on his name and authority up to the altar and temple of Caesar. Ironically, neither does Josephus make mention of this emperor temple, except for that of Augustus in the harbor, so we don't know when during Pilate's tenure it would have been built. But it is probable that it would have been when Tiberius was becoming the murderously maniacal suspicious paranoid obsessive that the ancient historians describe him as after the conspiracy of his Praetorian Praefect Sejanus to assume the regnum. This did not occur until 31 A.D., the traditonal year of Christ's crucifixion. Tiberius had temporarily retired from active rule to the island of Capri off the coast below Rome around the year 26, so it's possible that Sejanus who served as a sort of co-emperor in this period until his downfall did have something to do with Pilate's appointment as procurator of Judea. If so, perhaps Pilate tried to distance himself from the disgraced Sejanus by "groveling before Tiberius" so to speak. Amd the temple gleaming white in the sun as if rising from the surf of the sea might have been the inspiration to the Christian gospel authors like Paul's companions who would have seen it coming into port, for the story of Christ's parable of the wise man who built his house on rock istead of on sand while the wind and the waves battered it but it did not sink or fall. Since Caesarea was the one city not destroyed during the Jewish rebellion against Rome, the building would still have been intact at the end of the first Christian century. Not wind and waves, but the hand of man who built it and believed in it and then exchanged its destruction for belief in a new god is what destroyed it. But the essential mystery, the site of Pilate's Tiberieum, has been solved, and archaeologists and scholars should now recognize the site from now on for what it really is. As Christ himself supposedly said, "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's..."

Edited August 13, 2006 by ricus suavus

[Gaius Octavius]

Pilate demonstrated his humility by having worshipers walk on Tiberius' name?