Commotion, Rebellion, and War. Eusebius of Caesarea’s Narrative of Jewish Violence Against Roman Rule in His Ecclesiastical History

Dahm, Karl

Abstract

This article explores Eusebius of Caesarea's narrative strategies in depicting Jewish history within his own Ecclesiastical History against the background of the intellectual and political environment at the time of its composition: it argues that Eusebius's literary agenda in narrating events from Jewish history was not simply confined to the motif of replacement theology but was indeed much more political in nature than has been realized up to this point. The article argues that Eusebius carefully selected and skillfully manipulated Flavius Josephus's historical accounts in order to portray the Jews as notorious violators of the pax Romana. He thereby evoked a picture of a relationship between Jews and Romans completely anachronistic to his own times, characterized by hostility, violence, and ultimately incompatibility. Eusebius was able to contrast this image with one of Christians as obedient citizens. Christians had never—in the past or present—been guilty of a crimen maiestatis but had always remained loyal proponents of Rome, its emperor, and his subjects. Reshaping Jewish history for his Ecclesiastical History served Eusebius in two respects: First, he could use it apologetically to refute traditional as well as contemporary prejudices against Christians in the immediate aftermath of the "Great Persecution." By deflecting them onto the Jews Eusebius instead presented them as inheritors of a deeply anti-Roman mindset. Second, this anachronistic depiction of shattered Jewish-Roman relations presented him with a fitting narrative for his own vision of a future Christian Roman Empire in the wake of Constantine's rise to power. In this unfolding dream the Jews were nothing more than a mere relic of the past at odds with the rapidly transforming political landscape.

Citation

Dahm, K. (2021). Commotion, Rebellion, and War. Eusebius of Caesarea’s Narrative of Jewish Violence Against Roman Rule in His Ecclesiastical History. Journal of Early Christian Studies, 29(4), 495-523. https://doi.org/10.1353/earl.2021.0036

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 1, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Jan 1, 2022
• Publication Date: 2021-12
• Deposit Date: Jan 29, 2024
• Journal: Journal of Early Christian Studies
• Print ISSN: 1086-3184
• Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 29
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 495-523
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/earl.2021.0036
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2185421