Flavian World

Aligha van az ókornak még egy olyan ismert alakja, aki ennyiféle – és egymástól ennyire különböző – identitást hordozott magában. Joszéf ben Mattitjáhu néven látta meg a napvilágot Jeruzsálemben, köztiszteletben álló papi család sarjaként, aki anyai ágon a Hasmóneus királyokkal állt rokonságban – és Titus Flavius Josephus néven hunyt el Rómában, a Flavius-ház udvari történetírójaként, akit a kortárs zsidók többsége mélységes megvetéssel sújtott árulásáért. Joszéf/Josephus célja az volt, hogy megírja a nagy háború és népe történetét, azzal a nem is titkolt céllal, hogy a rómaiak ne az egész zsidóságot, és legfőképpen ne a zsidó vallást tegyék felelőssé a Kr. u. 66–73 között zajló felkelés kirobbantásáért. Műveit elsősorban a „művelt közönségnek” szánta. Olvasóit első kézből akarta felvilágosítani arról, hogy kik is a zsidók, miben hisznek, miért hazugok a velük szembeni előítéletek, s hogy miként sodródtak bele a Róma elleni felkelésbe. Flavius Josephus életműve szerencsére ma már csaknem teljes egészében magyarul is olvasható, amihez örömmel ajánljuk a Kedves Olvasónak bevezetőként az első magyar nyelven megjelenő Josephus-monográfiát.

This paper is of a historic and genealogical nature. It is one piece of a gigantic puzzle of ancient history. My work, which includes this paper, was written to lay the groundwork for a new awakening in terms of the study of history, in that it shows by example what may be discovered when history is examined as literature and by following certain specific rules which apply only when history has been done in an entirely different context than has been previously thought. And that is, that it was an inside job. It was an inside job in the sense that it was written by those in power from within a royal oligarchy which had been maintained over the course of thousands of years. This is the correct way to study and learn from history as it was meant to be known at a future date from when the authors had written it. They wrote it in such a way that only those with the same knowledge of what they were doing could truly understand it.

This list covers many of the aliases and pen names that were used from the first century CE, up to near modern times (see my paper, 'Napoleon Bonaparte & The Holy Roman Empire', which, gives his descent from Arrius Piso and his relationship to various popes). By the way, I have often been asked to research and uncover the truth about all of the popes; all the way up to the current pope. I have no interest in revealing the family trees of later day popes. Other researchers are free to do that if they so choose. However, regarding the use of aliases and pen names by notables in history, there are many, many more that are known by me than can be listed here currently. And, many more will be listed in later updates to this list. The reason for giving this list is to help researchers to get on with their work as an aid, so that they may tell just which individual was using which names or whose biographical data was being given by authors using those names. To be able to obtain, deduce and confirm the various aliases being used is time consuming and much more complex than the vast majority of researchers are as yet prepared to do on their own. This has been a monumental task. Due to the requirements involved in uncovering these alias names, only a handful of individuals at this point in time may be able to do this. And, since we all have (at this time) a relatively short lifespan, and due to other factors; not everyone will be able to do this, nor would they want to devote what they must in order to do it correctly. Since I have been studying ancient history and religion correctly (using every required facet involved) for more than 20 years, I have this unique ability. I have already written several research papers explaining just what is needed in order to do this; but I will be writing more so as to better clarify and instruct researchers in this process. A part of this process is compiling individual 'profiles' (an example of one such profile is given near the end of this paper). In the meantime, researchers who have not yet acquired the discipline necessary to do this themselves, will have to rely upon the information which has been given them by those such as myself. Also, for now, I will give what examples I can to help fellow researchers to better understand just how these alias names and pen names have been uncovered and why they were used in the first place. At the end of this paper, you will find some links to research papers that various examples, etc. These aliases are key to understanding the true nature of ancient history and religion, and are necessary to understand ancient texts as the authors themselves did, as well as their extremely well-educated royal readership. As it happens, I have had a huge edge in getting at the truth and true nature of ancient texts, as I have made many important discoveries; including the use of a language inside of language, which is now known as 'The Royal Language'. As you may or may not know, I am the founder of new methodology and processes that comprise a whole new way of studying ancient history which is known as 'The New Classical Scholarship'. What must now be known and accepted by academia is that ancient history and all other literature written in antiquity on up to Medieval times and beyond, was being written by royalty within a synthesized environment known as an Oligarchy, a situation in which has now been termed 'Royal Supremacy'. Those who have yet to learn what I and a few others have regarding uncovering aliases is that a) this is what we were left with, and b) this is the only real means of uncovering the truth in history, and c) what is to be found and learned regarding history is not, and never has been, in our

Who was Flavius Josephus? Answering this one question, leads to answers to virtually all other questions about ancient history. The answer is that he was Arrius Calpurnius Piso, a royal Roman. He wrote under the alias of Flavius Josephus and pretended to be a Jew. He was of Jewish descent, on his mother's side. Please read on and learn.

This is a study regarding traits that are found in clinical psychopaths and the same traits as found displayed by the ancient author known as 'Flavius Josephus'. This paper presents the need to make such information a necessary part of the study of ancient literature.

The emperor Constantine's family is referred to by scholars as either the Constantinian Dynasty, or the Neo-Flavians. The reason that they have been called the 'Neo-Flavians' or New Flavians, is not because scholars have traced back their descent from the Flavian Dynasty of the 1st century, but because members of the family of Constantine used the name 'Flavius'; as if a rebirth of the earlier Flavian Dynasty. Scholars have thought that this was done in an attempt to show themselves triumphant in ways that the earlier Flavian Dynasty had, and not because they were actually descended from that earlier dynasty. But, in reality, that is exactly why they had used the name Flavius among their family members. And this was to show that they knew of their own descent from those earlier Flavians; not to the general public, but to other royal families of the time, who were their relatives-and, many of whom, were also descended from those earlier Flavians. As my research (based upon the work of Sir Ronald Syme, Abelard Reuchlin and others, along with the primary source texts in their original languages), has revealed, the emperor Vespasian was a descendant of King Herod, and therefore, via his branch of that family, a relative (cousin) of King Agrippa II. The evidence for this is overwhelming once it is all brought together and considered; including the fact that Vespasian had his own Herodian relatives leave Judea before his attack upon Jerusalem. Another thing that I had noticed during the process of investigating the Flavian/Herodian connection, is that there was indeed, a family resemblance between King Agrippa II and the Emperor Vespasian; which can be easily seen when viewing certain of their coins side by side. But the purpose of this paper is not to demonstrate the relationship between the Herodians and Flavians, this is just an aspect that I felt that the reader should be aware of as they consider Vespasian as ancestor of the Neo-Flavians. What we need is many more researchers working to reveal the truth in ancient history. That is why I have been working as I have to bring as much of this information to the public, so that there are many aspects of this from which to choose from to get researchers started and so that they have their choice of just where they would like to begin their own work. Bear in mind that the research papers, genealogies, books and other information that I have made available, should all be read as so much of it is connected and will offer the researcher answers where they may not otherwise have them. When one reads and considers my work, such as with the genealogical connections presented in this paper, the reader should think about what I have stated in my other works with regards to how it is possible to reconstruct relationships within ancient royal individuals and the way in which they left that information to us. For instance, I have said that in order to find out just who these individuals actually were and how they were related to each other, one must do a vast amount of research and read all primary documents available (or as close to that as possible), in the original languages-as well as the later citations and references to those individuals (who may also be descendants of those same individuals). Secondary sources (such as that of modern researchers) can also be helpful. The papers of Sir Ronald Syme, for instance, are extremely helpful and important; many of which, were published in JRS [Journal of Roman Studies]. Again, I would like to stress the importance of the researcher building up a cross-referenced database.

"Available evidence has thus far suggested that the actions of Vespasian and Titus with regard to the first Jewish revolt proceeded uninterrupted from conducting the campaign for the conquest of Judea to commemorating it appropriately, in grand manner. Such a run of events does not contradict any of the theories which have been suggested for the Flavian conduct after the conclusion of the war, be it imagined to have been guided by private dynastic requirements (Goodman 2007); by the needs of a state torn until recently by civil war (Yakobson forthcoming); or, finally, by routine protocol in the aftermath of great campaigns of conquest (Gambash 2013).
A newly discovered Flavian aureus, however, carrying the unique legend Iudaea recepta on its reverse, has been interpreted recently as undermining this assumed flow of events, presenting us with a brief moment of different Flavian policy, when a line of commemoration completely opposed to the one eventually adopted was considered and even initiated (Gambash, Gitler, and Cotton 2013). The coin presents Judea as a former province which had temporarily been lost to the empire and was now reintegrated into the provincial system. This would have been in line with Rome’s normal practice, which, in the aftermath of provincial unrest, sought to return as quickly as possible to the antequam situation (Gambash 2012). The suggested paper aims to reevaluate the circumstances in late 70 in light of the new coin and the policy it denotes, examining such aspects as the official status of Judea; the rank of its governor and the nature of its administration; the garrisoning of the province; and retributive measures taken against the Jews in the province and elsewhere.
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This paper helps illustrate the true nature of the New Testament and its authors. It shows that the authors were not holy men at all; but instead, extremely cruel psychopathic murderers who joked about the horrific acts that they had engaged in while torturing and killing people en masse.

See my other papers, articles, essays and books and related material. Current book: 'Piso Christ' (available on Amazon). See the work of all other researchers & scholars who have concluded a Roman origin for the creation of Christianity.

Refer to all references given in the works of Abelard Reuchlin and myself. Also see that of Bruno Bauer, James Ballantyne Hannay, Sir Ronald Syme, Rod Blackhirst, Carrington, and Joseph Atwill. And above all, please share this with others. Thank you. -RP

Abstract: The triumph de Iudaeis had an enormous impact in Flavian Rome. Whereas a considerable amount of bibliography has accumulated over the years, no study examines in detail the issue of the exact date of such a major event. The present article aims to fill this gap, using all the available sources (literary and non-literary) to provide a reliable chronological reconstruction of Titus’s return from the East. The conclusion is that the Flavian triumphal procession over the Judaeans most likely took place in the second half/end of June 71 CE. ********** Riassunto: Il trionfo de Iudaeis ebbe un impatto enorme nella Roma dei Flavi. Sebbene nel corso degli anni si sia accumulata una notevole bibliografia, non esiste alcuno studio che esamini in dettaglio la questione della data precisa di questo evento fondamentale. Il presente articolo mira a colmare tale lacuna, utilizzando tutte le fonti disponibili (letterarie e non) allo scopo di fornire una ricostruzione cronologica attendibile del ritorno di Tito dall’Oriente. La conclusione è che il trionfo giudaico dei Flavi molto probabilmente ebbe luogo nella seconda metà/fine di giugno del 71 d.C.

In the early years of Vespasian’s principate, the authorities of Aegae, in Aeolis, inserted the goddess Isis in the until then rather limited iconographic monetary repertoire of the city. It survived the Flavian dynasty and Isis, in various forms and compositions, became one of the major deities of the local pantheon. On an homonoia issue struck during the reign of Commodus, she even represents the community of the Aegaeans.

A lo largo de su historia el Imperio romano tuvo que hacer frente a numerosas revueltas, debido al enorme territorio que controlaba. De entre los pueblos que las protagonizaron, los hebreos se contaban entre los que con mayor insistencia lucharon por recuperar su independencia. En cuanto a los diversos conflictos que enfrentaron a judíos y romanos, la que, a la postre, seria recordada como la Primera Guerra Judeo-romana (66-73 d.C.) pasó a la historia como el más importante de todos. Ello se debe tanto a que requirió de la participación de dos futuros emperadores al mando de las tropas romanas que debían restablecer la paz en la provincia de Judea, Vespasiano y su hijo Tito, como al hecho de que la ciudad de Jerusalén y el Gran Templo que albergaba acabaron completamente destruidos.

En el año 66 d.C. numerosos factores se unieron al odio que sectores radicales hebreos sentían hacia sus conquistadores romanos, provocando la caída del procurador de Judea, Gesio Floro, y la derrota del Legado de Siria, Cestio Galo, en Beth Horón, quien acudió con sus tropas a pacificar la región sin conseguirlo. El movimiento fue cobrando fuerza tras estos éxitos, y Jerusalén se convirtió en el epicentro del independentismo judío. Roma no podía permanecer pasiva ante estos acontecimientos y Nerón envió allí a Vespasiano, un general experimentado, para acabar de una vez por todas con el problema. La resistencia implacable que demostraron los rebeldes y los problemas políticos que, durante ese tiempo, se produjeron en Roma, provocaron que la conquista final quedara en manos de su capaz hijo Tito quien, a la postre, consiguió conquistar Jerusalén y acabar con la revuelta. El gran triunfo que se celebró en Roma para conmemorar la victoria era lo que la nueva dinastía Flavia necesitaba para afianzar su poder. Sin embargo, la campaña no finalizó hasta el año 73 d.C., tras la toma de la fortaleza de Masada, donde los últimos insurrectos prefirieron suicidarse antes de ser derrotados. El enfrentamiento se saldaría con una enorme pérdida de vidas, tanto entre los soldados romanos como entre los insurrectos judíos y la población civil. Gracias a la obra de Flavio Josefo, podemos reconstruir lo sucedido para poder así conocer con detalle uno de los grandes episodios de la Historia Antigua.

Plusieurs documents, de natures archéologique et épigraphique, indiquent qu'à partir de la fin du Ier siècle p.C., en Italie et au moins en Germanie, Isis et la Mère des dieux sont associées au sein de sanctuaires doubles où chacune possède son propre temple. Derrière cette situation originale, il faut retrouver la volonté de Vespasien de placer son pouvoir sous le double patronage de la Mère des dieux et d'Isis et, ainsi, de le légitimer doublement. Expression d'une Realpolitik mûrement réfléchie, ce choix participa à la consolidation du pouvoir flavien et à l'affirmation de la dynastie.

This is something that I had discovered many years ago, but which had remained only in my own private notes until I began sharing this information with others after the year 2000. I finally wrote it out as a genealogical chart as a means to demonstrate some of the discoveries of the New Classical Scholarship (NCS). King Herod is still generally thought of by scholars today as being an Idumean. Though, his ancestors married into the royal house living and ruling in Idum (Edom/Idom/Idumia), his actual royal ancestry (through a male line) descended from Eleazar Auran. And therefore, King Herod was actually a descendant of Hasmoneas (via Eleazar Auran's father, Mattathias) through a collateral line of the Hasmoneans (or Maccabees). He was also, therefore, already a closely related cousin of Mariamne I, his wife, who was the last ruling descendant of the Hasmonean rulers. Though this information is found within the works of Flavius Josephus, he also made it fairly difficult to find-which is why no one had ever written about finding and knowing about this until I did. He (Flavius Josephus) had good reason for both giving this information and cleverly hiding it by giving it out of chronological order and in disjointed passages. He, Flavius Josephus (aka Arrius Calpurnius Piso) wanted to confuse his non-royal readers and prevent them, for as long as possible, from piecing together crucial pieces of information such as this, because he, himself, was a descendant of this very line. These were his own ancestors. He also wanted to paint a much different picture of the Pharisees than was actually true. It is only by having a great deal of knowledge and information about the Pharisees (and the other Jewish sects of the time) that one can begin to weed through and correctly perceive, the truth about the Jewish sects, and be able to tell just where he (Flavius Josephus) lied and misled his readers regarding them.

Epigr. 37 Sh. B., a ferocious attack against Domitian, guilty of having put discredit on his gens, is the only poem in the whole corpus of Martial preserved exclusively by indirect tradition, within Juvenal's scholia vetustiora. It is printed at the end of the Liber Spectaculorum since Scriverius' first edition (1619), in spite of the patent incoherence of this ecdotic behaviour. In fact, because of his cruelty to Domitian, the distich's composition date is unanimously placed after his killing (96 C.E.). Martial's autorship is generally accepted. However a careful evaluation of the epigrammatist' postdomitianic poetic strategies and a close linguistic, metric and stilistic analysis of the distich show that the ascription is highly unlikely. It could descend from a mere scholiast's error, but the hypothesis of a pseudo-epigraphic work should not be disregarded: the text in fact could have been written by an evil rival aimed at discrediting the poet among the imperial court.

Epigr. 37 Sh. B., una feroce aggressione a Domiziano, reo di aver disonorato la sua gens, è l'unico componimento dell'intero corpus di Marziale a essere tramandato solo per via indiretta, all'interno degli scholia vetustiora a Giovenale. È stampato in coda al Liber Spectaculorum fin dalla prima edizione di Scriverius (1619), nonostante l'evidente incoerenza di questa scelta ecdotica. Infatti, per via della sua ferocia contro Domiziano, il distico è unanimemente collocato dopo la sua uccisione (96 d.C.). La paternità marzialiana non è per lo più stata messa in discussione. Tuttavia un'attenta valutazione delle strategie poetiche postdomizianee dell'epigrammista e un'analisi ravvicinata del distico sotto il punto di vista linguistico, metrico e stilistico dimostrano che l'attribuzione è altamente improbabile. Essa potrebbe discendere da un errore dello scoliasta, ma non va trascurata neanche l'ipotesi di un prodotto pseudoepigrafo: il testo potrebbe infatti essere stato composto da un malevolo intenzionato a screditare il poeta presso la corte imperiale.

La legitimidad es un espacio político en continua construcción. Sin embargo, el respeto al legado augústeo y la explotación de su recuerdo, en aras de proyectar una imagen de continuidad con la casa imperial precedente, son constantes en la actuación política de Vespasiano y sus hijos. El propósito del presente trabajo es analizar el papel de de los símbolos y referentes ideológicos augústeos en la construcción y consolidación del Principado flavio a través de su reflejo en la documentación hispana. En particular, a través del estudio de un conjunto de inscripciones procedentes de la Bética, fechadas entre el reinado de Vespasiano y Domiciano, dedicadas a los miembros de la familia imperial y a divinidades asociadas a ellas, como Venus y Apolo.
    Un aspecto sumamente interesante es el perfil de los dedicantes: exmagistrados que elevan su agradecimiento a los emperadores flavios por la obtención de la ciudadanía romana en el marco del nuevo ordenamiento institucional. Por tanto, el análisis de estas dedicatorias constituye una excelente oportunidad para evaluar la recepción por parte de estas oligarquías municipales de la propaganda oficial flavia. A su vez, nos permitirá reflexionar cómo la difusión de estos modelos imperiales, y en particular aquellos orientados a la exaltación dinástica, influyen en el comportamiento y la proyección pública de estas élites sociales.

Nummi restituti (Restitution coins) appeared in Roman imperial mintage thanks to the Flavian mints, operating in the times of Titus and Domitian. The authoress shares the thesis that the Restitution coins, apart from their commemorative function, expressing the tribute to memory — of
pre-Flavian members of the Roman imperial house, their successes and virtues, as well as the Roman senate or earlier coin types — served also as a medium of ideological contents. Their production might have fulfilled an ideologically justified political need — an intention of ensuring the continuity of the pre-Flavian emperors’ politics and the legitimization of the Flavian dynasty. The authoress looks for a selection criterion of the prototypes for the Restitution coins and points to the possible key of choosing those prototypes which may have been military successes of predecessors crowned by triumphal honours.

A lo largo de su historia el Imperio romano tuvo que hacer frente a numerosas revueltas, debido al enorme territorio que controlaba. De entre los pueblos que las protagonizaron, los hebreos se contaban entre los que con mayor insistencia lucharon por recuperar su independencia. En cuanto a los diversos conflictos que enfrentaron a judíos y romanos, la que, a la postre, seria recordada como la Primera Guerra Judeo-romana (66-73 d.C.) pasó a la historia como el más importante de todos. Ello se debe tanto a que requirió de la participación de dos futuros emperadores al mando de las tropas romanas que debían restablecer la paz en la provincia de Judea, Vespasiano y su hijo Tito, como al hecho de que la ciudad de Jerusalén y el Gran Templo que albergaba acabaron completamente destruidos. En el año 66 d.C. numerosos factores se unieron al odio que sectores radicales hebreos sentían hacia sus conquistadores romanos, provocando la caída del procurador de Judea, Gesio Floro, y la derrota del Legado de Siria, Cestio Galo, en Beth Horón, quien acudió con sus tropas a pacificar la región sin conseguirlo. El movimiento fue cobrando fuerza tras estos éxitos, y Jerusalén se convirtió en el epicentro del independentismo judío. Roma no podía permanecer pasiva ante estos acontecimientos y Nerón envió allí a Vespasiano, un general experimentado, para acabar de una vez por todas con el problema. La resistencia implacable que demostraron los rebeldes y los problemas políticos que, durante ese tiempo, se produjeron en Roma, provocaron que la conquista final quedara en manos de su capaz hijo Tito quien, a la postre, consiguió conquistar Jerusalén y acabar con la revuelta. El gran triunfo que se celebró en Roma para conmemorar la victoria era lo que la nueva dinastía Flavia necesitaba para afianzar su poder. Sin embargo, la campaña no finalizó hasta el año 73 d.C., tras la toma de la fortaleza de Masada, donde los últimos insurrectos prefirieron suicidarse antes de ser derrotados. El enfrentamiento se saldaría con una enorme pérdida de vidas, tanto entre los soldados romanos como entre los insurrectos judíos y la población civil. Gracias a la obra de Flavio Josefo, podemos reconstruir lo sucedido para poder así conocer con detalle uno de los grandes episodios de la Historia Antigua.

This article, in memory of Alla Kushnir-Stein, discusses a newly discovered aureus, bearing a previously unattested legend, Iudaea recepta, and an equally unattested combination of iconographic elements on its reverse, issued immediately after the fall of Jerusalem in September 70 CE. The idea of recepta, conveyed in both legend and iconography, was the re- subjugation of an old province, indeed precisely what one would have expected after a revolt was put down. This message must have been deliberately suppressed soon after the coin was issued, in favor of the capta type associated with the acquisition of new territory.

Since Bernays in 1861, scholars have disputed Josephus’ account in Bell. Iud. 6.252 that a Roman soldier during the siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE acted on ‘some supernatural impulse’ when he threw a piece of burning wood into the Temple, thus starting the fire that destroyed it. The vast majority of scholars have followed Bernays in giving more credence to the account of the Christian chronographer Sulpicius Severus, who in his Chronica reports that Titus ordered that the Temple be burned. Many a priori assumptions have come into play when examining Josephus’ narrative, which instead appears unequivocally clear, consistent and substantially trustworthy.

The Flavian period is represented in the original Victor A. Adda collection through a considerable assemblage of 30 aurei of Vespasian, Vespasian and Titus, Titus and Domitian. Of these, two are included in the group now at the Israel Museum: an aureus of Vespasian, presenting a heifer on its reverse; and an aureus of Domitian, showing a kneeling captive on the reverse. These two coins are nevertheless linked in numerous ways to themes apparent in the original collection. Furthermore, they stand to represent some of the main features of the Flavian dynasty and its distinct characteristics, including their peculiar minting ideology.

El objetivo del presente trabajo es profundizar en el estudio del papel asumido por las mujeres de la familia imperial dentro de las estrategias de legitimación y deslegitimación del Principado de Domiciano, convencidos de que su estudio permite obtener una mejor comprensión de la trascendencia histórica de su programa político e ideológico.

Índice:
Introducción
1. Vehículos de la propaganda oficial, víctimas de la campaña contra el emperador. Fuentes y perspectivas de estudio
2. El papel de las Mujeres de la familia en la creación y consolidación de la nueva casa imperial (69-81 D. C.)
        2.1. La configuración de una domus Augusta flavia. Alianzas matrimoniales y estrategias de legitimación política y dinástica (69-79 d. C.)
        2.2. La divinización de Vespasiano, los honores póstumos a Flavia Domitila I y la asociación de Flavia Julia (79-81 d. C.)
3. La evolución del proyecto político domiceaneo a través de las representaciones femeninas del régimen imperial (81-96 d. C.)
        3.1. Domus Augusta y Domus Divina. Conmemoración familiar, proyección celeste y crisis dinástica (81-83 d. C.)
        3.2. Las Augustas y la búsqueda de un sucesor. La equiparación del estatus dinástico de la emperatriz Domicia y de Flavia Julia, sobrina del emperador (83-89 d. C.).
        3.3. De la muerte y apoteosis de Julia al asesinato de Domiciano. El papel de las mujeres en el final de una dinastía (89-96 d. C.)
4. Conclusiones

La Primera Guerra Judeo-romana se convirtió en uno de los conflictos más importantes que Roma tuvo que afrontar en el siglo I d.C. Su inicio propició la llegada de la Dinastía flavia al poder y su fin la consolidó. La amenaza rebelde hizo peligrar la estabilidad de la frontera oriental del Imperio romano. En este contexto, si bien, la batalla de Beth Horon no ha sido tan conocida y estudiada, su importancia fue capital pues proporcionó a los judíos su principal victoria frente a Roma y propició que la insurrección se generalizara, pues se vio como una señal del apoyo divino.

Dentro del marco proporcionado por los juegos del anfiteatro flavio, el pequeño ciclo de tres epigramas acerca de las proezas del bestiarius Carpóforo sintetiza y ejemplifica lo
que Fitzgerald (2007) denomina “las estrategias del espectáculo”; particularmente, el modo en que estos ludi retomaron el acervo mítico para actualizarlo (y negarlo) en su
presente histórico-político.
Me propongo analizar en profundidad esta problemática mediante el análisis detallado de uno de los tres poemas del ciclo, el número 32 (28/7) del Liber spectaculorum, en
donde Marcial compara la muerte de varios animales feroces a manos del gladiador Carpóforo con el aniquilamiento de monstruos míticos por parte de Hércules y otros héroes.

Este trabajo fue presentado en las V Jornadas de Reflexión "Monstruos y Monstruosidades" (Buenos Aires, 2014).

"The question of whether Titus ordered the burning of the Temple as Sulpicius Severus reports or whether the burning was caused by a soldier acting upon some “supernatural impulse” as Josephus relates [War 6.252] has been debated ever since Bernays in 1861 argued that the former version should be preferred. Leoni gives a very detailed history of scholarship on this question, pointing out how many a priori considerations have led to distrust Josephus. In the end he insists that Josephus’ reliability has to be judged case by case and that with regard to the burning of the Temple his account appears substantially trustworthy" (Joseph Sievers, in Journal for the Study of Judaism in the Persian, Hellenistic and Roman Period 34.2 (2003), p. 228).

The Flavian period is represented in the original Victor A. Adda collection through a considerable assemblage of 30 aurei of Vespasian, Vespasian and Titus, Titus and Domitian. Of these, two are included in the group now at the Israel Museum: an aureus of Vespasian, presenting a heifer on its reverse; and an aureus of Domitian, showing a kneeling captive on the reverse. These two coins are nevertheless linked in numerous ways to themes apparent in the original collection. Furthermore, they stand to represent some of the main features of the Flavian dynasty and its distinct characteristics, including their peculiar minting ideology.

In her 2005 article, “Portraying the Temple in Stone and Text: The Arch of Titus and the Epistle to the Hebrews,” Ellen Bradshaw Aitken argues that the Christology of Hebrews can be correlated with Roman imperial history, specifically with the triumph of the Flavians — Emperor Vespasian and his sons, the future emperors Titus and Domitian — and the propaganda campaign that secured their legitimacy. She concludes that Hebrews uses the details of the triumph in order to subvert imperial claims and, by juxtaposing them with the actions of Jesus, to show that Christ is the true and superior imperator.1 In this essay, I intend to build on her work by giving additional arguments for the validity of her thesis and by showing that the Melchizedek material of Hebrews also fits into the context of this connection between Jesus and the Flavians. I will show that Melchizedek, Jesus, and the Flavian emperors can be correlated in Hebrews, and that they can all be described as King and Priest of Salem. I am not arguing that Hebrews was written purely as an anti-imperial tract, but rather that Hebrews hits certain notes that would likely have raised Flavian associations for its first audience.

What does it take to do the kind of work with ancient genealogies that I and a few others have? It takes time and dedication, and intense focus. After many years of observation and actual reconstruction of various ancient genealogies, it has now become second-nature to me. I've trained myself to know, almost by instinct, how to get the answers to complete various ancient genealogies that others would have abandoned and simply given up on; and I have completed them in many instances, in only a few hours. I remember when I had no idea where to look or what to look for. So, I have come a very long way indeed. There are several key items that I have learned that are essential to finding out just where an individual had belonged in terms of time, place and family. One of the main things that I had discovered is that all of these were left to be discovered, on purpose. That is, deliberately. They were made difficult, but not impossible. That is because the individuals who left these records, did so purposefully. Now, how and why would they do this, or even be able to? That is what anyone working with these genealogies should know before they even start. Today, we are hearing a lot of talk about 'oligarchy'. And many people today, imagine that it only really applies to certain wealthy families today; but they are not used to thinking of that in terms of our past history; at least not in a universal sense. But that is exactly what the case was. Who were the "us" and "them" of the past? Who were the "haves" and the "have nots"? Well, think about it. It was most certainly the royalty who were the "haves", it was not the common people. It was royalty who were keeping track of not only their own ancestry, but also of their fellow royals. To make the type of world in which ancient royalty needed in order to preserve what they had gained, that 'edge' over non-royals, wealth, privilege, and power, they needed to create an alternate reality for those who were not royal; in order to placate them and keep them in their place. That is, to prevent them from uprising and overthrowing them. So, they made it appear that royals and other leaders of all kinds came from the general populace, that they could rise from the ranks, and that they, the royals, were not perpetually protecting the royal 'right' of their privileged families. And one way of doing that was to make it appear that those who were writing were of all walks of life, that there was not a monopoly on it by royalty; but that is exactly what was happening. Royalty were the only ones who were leaving us written records, while making it appear that this was not so. And, they were not writing about anonymous commoners, but about their own family and their fellow royals. Now, once a researcher such as myself realizes this, we then understand that they also left both answers and clues to unravel just who they were. It was purposeful. They not only wrote the histories of their own families and left accounts of their individual actions, but they also made a point of protecting and preserving them; which is why so many of them have survived to this day. Granted, some were lost along the way, but one way that they got around this was to cross-reference much of their work. That is, they gave more than one account of various family members by making use of alias names for those individuals. Case in point, Arrius Calpurnius Piso. He and his family had created a number of alternate names for him. So many, in fact, that I doubt that even I yet know all of them.