Quirinius
Publius Sulpicius Quirinius (c. 51 BC – AD 21), also translated as Cyrenius,
Life
Born into an undistinguished family, son of Publius Sulpicius Quirinus and paternal grandson of Publius Sulpicius Quirinius, from
Sometime between 12 and 1 BC, he led a campaign against the
By 1 AD, Quirinius was appointed tutor to Augustus' grandson
After the banishment of the ethnarch
The Jews already hated their pagan conquerors, and censuses were forbidden under Jewish law.
There is a reference to Quirinius in the Gospel of Luke chapter 2, which links the birth of Jesus to the time of the Census of Quirinius, although this contradicts the time of Jesus' birth described in the Gospel of Matthew, which is ten years earlier, under the reign of Herod the Great, who died in the year 4 BC.[15] The time of the census of Quirinius is also inconsistent with Luke chapter 1, in which Herod is described as still being alive a little more than a year before Jesus's birth. Most critical scholars judge Luke to be inconsistent with the historical evidence.[16] Quirinius served as governor of Syria with authority over Judaea until 12 AD, when he returned to Rome as a close associate of Tiberius. Nine years later he died and was given a public funeral.
Archaeology
The earliest known mention of his name is in an inscription from 14 AD discovered in Antioch Pisidia known as Res Gestae Divi Augusti ('The Deeds of the Divine Augustus'), which states: "A great crowd of people came together from all over Italy to my election, ... when Publius Sulpicius (Quirinius) and Gaius Valgius were consuls."[17] Two other inscriptions also found in Pisidian Antioch (Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae 9502–9503) mentioned Quirinius as a Duumvir, when Marcus Servilius was a Roman consul in 3 AD.[18]
The discovery of coins issued by Quirinius as governor of Syria, bearing the date "the 36th year of Caesar [Augustus]" (5/6 AD counted from the Battle of Actium) confirmed his position there.[19] The census that he conducted in Syria has been confirmed by an inscription on the Stele of Quintus Aemilius Secundus[20] purchased in Beirut in 1674 and brought to Venice, commemorating a Roman officer who had served under him stating among other achievements: "By order of the same Quirinius I took a census of the city of Apamea".[19]
Historical accounts
The Roman historian Tacitus wrote in his Annals Book III that when Quirinius died in 21 AD, Tiberius Caesar "requested that the Senate pay tribute...with a public funeral", and described him as a "tireless soldier, who had by his faithful services become consul during the reign of Augustus, ... [and] later was appointed to be an adviser to Caius Caesar in the government of Armenia..."[21] The Jewish historian Josephus wrote in more detail about the census of Judea around 6 AD that Quirinius undertook as the governor of Syria.[22]
See also
Notes
- ^ King James Version of Luke 2:2, a back-transliteration of the Greek Κυρήνιος.
- ^ Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book XVIII, Chapter 1: "Cyrenius came himself into Judea, which was now added to the province of Syria, to take an account of their substance ..."
- ^ Erich S. Gruen, "The Expansion of the Empire under Augustus" in The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume X: The Augustan Empire, 43 BC – AD 69, (Cambridge University Press, 1996) page 168.
- ^ Erich S. Gruen, "The Expansion of the Empire under Augustus" in The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume X: The Augustan Empire, 43 BC – AD 69, (Cambridge University Press, 1996) pages 153–154; see also Ronald Syme, The Roman Revolution, (Oxford University Press, 1939, reissued 2002), page 399. Justin K. Hardin, Galatians and the Imperial Cult, (Mohr Siebeck, 2008) page 56, suggests that it is uncertain whether Quirinius actually served as legate; he may have served only as a military general.
- ^ Justin K. Hardin, Galatians and the Imperial Cult, (Mohr Siebeck, 2008) page 56.
- ^ Livius.org: "P. Sulpicius Quirinius"
- ^ Robin Seager, Tiberius (Blackwell Publishing, 2005), page 129.
- ^ Francesca Santoro L'Hoir, Tragedy, Rhetoric, and the Historiography of Tacitus' Annales (University of Michigan Press, 2006), page 177.
- ISBN 978-0-664-25727-9. Retrieved June 13, 2010.
Thus in 6 or 7 AD, Augustus commissioned the newly appointed Legate of Syria, Quirinius, to carry out the census
- ^ Erich S. Gruen, "The Expansion of the Empire under Augustus" in The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume X: The Augustan Empire, 43 BC – AD 69, (Cambridge University Press, 1996) pages 157
- ^ Golinkin, David (December 2008). "Does Jewish Law Permit Taking a Census?". The Schechter Institutes. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
- ^ Jewish Encyclopedia: QUIRINIUS, P. SULPICIUS: "The assessment caused great dissatisfaction among the Jews (ib.), and open revolt was prevented only by the efforts of the high priest Joazar (ib. 2, § 1). The levying of this assessment resulted, moreover, in the revolt of Judas the Galilean and in the formation of the party of the Zealots (Josephus, "B. J." vii. 8, § 1; Lucas, in Acts v. 37). Josephus mentions the assessment in another passage also ("Ant." xx. 5, § 2)."
- ISBN 0-674-39731-2, page 274: "Josephus connects the beginnings of the extremist movement [called the Zealots by Josephus] with the census held under the supervision of Quirinius, the legate of Syria, soon after Judea had been converted into a Roman province (6 AD)."
- ^ Ac 5,37
- ^ Brown 1977, p. 17.
- ISBN 9780567018403.
- ^ Argubright 2013, p. 6.
- ^ Argubright 2013, pp. 8–9.
- ^ ISBN 978-0567018403.
- ^ CIL III, 6687 = ILS 2683
- ISBN 978-0979214813.
- ^ Argubright 2013, p. 7.
Bibliography
- Brown, R.E. (1977). The Birth of the Messiah: A Commentary on the Infancy Narratives in Matthew and Luke. Doubleday & Company.