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How Long Did it Take for
Caesar Gaius to Complete the “Sumptious Funeral” for Caesar Tiberius Before
Crowning Agrippa as King?
Abstract:
The purpose of publishing
here the below excerpt is to shed some light upon the extent of time
represented by Josephus’ words “as soon as Caius was come to Rome, and had
brought Tiberius's dead body with him, and had made a sumptuous funeral for
him, according to the laws of his country” (Josephus, Antiquities XVIII:6:10,)
and thus also to shed some light upon the exact timing of the appointment of Agrippa(I)
as king and likewise upon the timing of the appointment of Caius’ as the
successor of Caesar
Tiberius. The exact timing for these events is important to know in
order to obtain a correct understanding of both Agrippa’s and Caius’ 1st
years of reign as those years are recorded in the works of Josephus. In the
excerpt below I have highlighted in red bold italics
those words that I have found most applicable towards the above stated object.
Said highlighted words are found below under, and
just above, the subheading “Royal Funeral Marches Went by Stages.”
It seems clear from
Josephus’ record in Antiquities that Tiberius died at Caprein or Capreae
(Josephus, Antiquities XVIII:6:4, 8, 10.) If I am not mistaken this is the name
of an island outside the coast of Sorrento near Naples [cf. the name “Nola”
below] in Italy, at a distance of about 130 miles (200 km) southeast of Rome as
the crow flies. Possibly the place where Tiberius lived and died is close to
the place where Caesar Augustus died?
According to the
excerpt below “The whole funeral period for Augustus lasted
from the 19th of August to the 11th or 12th of
September. This means the solemnities lasted just over three weeks.”
It seems reasonable to figure that the time it took Caius to bring “Tiberius's
dead body with him, and” to make “a sumptuous funeral for him, according to
the laws of his country” was of similar duration, i.e. about 24 days,
or at the very least 2 days for conveying the body to Rome by stages (perhaps
most of the distance by ship?) + 7 days of lying in state + 9 days of mourning
= 18 days, does it not?
Thus, if indeed Tiberius died on 4
Adar I/Adar II, 23 CE, then the additional time period referenced by Josephus
by his words “However, there did not many days pass ere he
sent for him to his house, and had him shaved, and made him change his raiment;
after which he put a diadem upon his head, and appointed him to be king
of the tetrarchy of Philip” (Josephus, Antiquities XVIII:6:10,) could still have ended prior to the beginning
of Aviv 1, 23 CE (Adar 4 + 18 days brings us to Adar 22 leaving an additional 7
or 8 days (cf. “not many days”) before the next New Moon,) but a later date
seems more likely, does it not?
If indeed Agrippa’s appointment as king took
place prior to the beginning of Aviv 1, 23, then the “six month” period of
Agrippa’s “condition” of being in bonds would most likely have begun with the
Sixth Month of the year, i.e. Elul 1, 22 CE, making it a little more likely
that also the appointment of Caius, as Tiberius’ successor, took place prior to
the beginning of the civil year beginning with Tishri 1, 22 CE. If so, then
Caius’ 1st year of reign would also have been reckoned by Josephus
from Tishri 1, 22 CE and not from Tishri 1 one year later.
A
“brief excerpt for review purposes” out of the 8th chapter of
the book published among the
“Books Free Online” at http://www.askelm.com/star/index.asp:
The
Star of Bethlehem:
The Star that Astonished the World
Extended Second Edition By Ernest L. Martin, Ph.D.
(Second Edition)
© Ernest L. Martin, Ph. D., 1996
Edited by David Sielaff, 2003
ISBN 0-945657-87-0 (Second Edition)
All rights reserved. Except
for brief excerpts for review purposes, no part of
this book may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means -- electronic
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Chapter 8: Astronomy and the Death
of King Herod
The Funeral of Herod
Josephus said that Herod
ordered his funeral to be the grandest ever bestowed on a king. 6
And Archelaus carried out his father’s wish. 7
The preparations for such a funeral would have taken some time. Josephus shows
that the arrangements for the official procession were begun only after Herod
died. 8 In no way was it possible for a royal funeral to be
arranged in a single day. Indeed, several days would have been needed before
the procession from
It surely took a few days to
prepare for the procession in order for it to proceed. This must be the case
because we are told that all the royal ornaments were brought to
Josephus showed that those
having royal dignity were embalmed, and in
Josephus said the “whole
army” was represented in the procession. 11
For military commanders of the armed forces located throughout the realm to be
summoned to Jericho and given time to arrive would have taken several days, at
least a week and probably longer. There were few pre-arrangements for a massive
funeral procession that Josephus said took place since Herod at first believed
he could find a cure of his sickness while at his winter home in
Once all the official
dignitaries were assembled for the procession, the funeral cortege then moved
toward the Herodian in stages. Notice what Josephus said quoting the eyewitness
account of Nicolas of Damascus.
“The body
was carried upon a golden bier, embroidered with very precious stones of great
variety, and it was covered over with purple, as was the body itself: he had a
diadem upon his head, and above it a crown of gold; he had also a sceptre in
his right hand. About the bier were his sons and his numerous relations; next
to these the soldiers, distinguished according to their several countries and
denominations; and they were put in the following order: first of all went his
guards, then the band of Thracians, after them the Germans, next the band of
Galatians, every one in their habiliments of war; and behind these marched the
whole army, in the same manner as they used to go out to war, and as they used
to be put in array by their muster-masters and centurions; these were followed
by five hundred of his domestics, carrying spices.” 12
Nothing of such grandeur was
given to the funerals of ordinary people. They were usually buried within a day
and that was the end of the matter. But with kings it was different. An
elaborate procession was designed by Archelaus (at the behest of Herod himself)
for the grandest kind of funeral that any man had ever had. It was majestic
indeed.
The procession set out
toward
This military type of
mourning march was slow. The army marched a mile a day. Many scholars recognize
this fact (e.g. Professor Wikgren of the
A Slow Funeral March
It had to be a slow journey
for other reasons. Since it was customary for biers in royal funeral
processions to be carried on the shoulders of the king’s relatives or important
state officials, the journey took considerable time. Transporting the bier by a
wheeled vehicle was out of the question. Even good roads at the time were
normally paved with cobblestone and ordinary ones were simple dirt tracks with
uneven pavements. With the axles of ancient wagons bolted solidly to their
frames and not having the convenience of springs to soften the jolts,
transporting the king by wagon would have shaken the body into quite an
unceremonial condition. This would have jeopardized even the preservation of
the delicately embalmed state of the body. To prevent such an undignified condition,
it was essential for the close relatives and state officials to carry the
bier. It was customary to place horizontal poles at convenient locations
under the coffin and then place those supports on the shoulders of the
pallbearers.
With this being the case,
the procession was only able to proceed to the Herodian in military “eight
stades” fashion, a Roman mile a day. There was another reason for this.
Funerals were accounted as sacred ceremonies which were conducted in accordance
to strict religious laws. They were holy occasions and people had to act
accordingly. Both Moses and Joshua were told to take off their shoes because
they were standing on holy ground (Exodus 3:5; Joshua
“The women in the procession through the town mourning Demeter went
unshod, and so did the Locrian virgins in approaching the altar of Athene.
In drought a procession and ritual was intended to propitiate the gods by this
token of humiliation and sorrow. Many other instances of this are known. In
actual mourning rites going barefoot was used by both Greeks and
Romans; e.g. Suetonius describes how the young nobles who removed the ashes of
Augustus from the pyre were barefoot. Bion describes Aphrodite wailing
for Adonis as barefoot, and Autonoe was unshod at the death of
Actaion. It was also a token of distraction, as when the Roman vestals fled
from
· emphasis mine 14
With people in the stately
procession having to go barefoot for 25 miles, it can easily be
understood why they proceeded by stages (about a mile a day to the Herodian).
This has to be the case because the barefoot carriers of the bier being
relatives of Herod or dignitaries of the realm were not accustomed to going
barefoot. With their tender feet they could not have gone much further in a day
carrying the heavy weight of the bier. This would mean that the funeral
procession from
The Army of Herod Governed the Funeral March
Some people, on the other
hand, have thought that Josephus meant that only the army went a mile from
To give stateliness to the
procession, Josephus shows it journeyed from
Royal Funeral
For royal funeral
processions to proceed by stages, with each stage being a daily stopping of the
procession, is well attested for this period. When
Herod’s benefactor, the emperor Augustus, died at Nola in southern
Starting from Nola, senators
from the various communities along the route carried the body of Augustus by
night from one town to the next until it reached the outskirts of
The funeral of Herod would
no doubt have had a solemnity certainly equal to Augustus and it was probably
even more grand. Herod had an excessive feeling of personal worth and he
ordered his funeral to be “most splendid.”
19
It was to be “a majestic funeral such as no other
king ever had.” 20
And we are told by Archelaus, that Herod did indeed obtain his wishes. 21
And with royal Jewish funerals the official time of mourning for the general
public was thirty days (called a Sheloshim) and this was followed by a
further seven days mourning period for the family of Herod. While the Roman time of mourning was for only nine days (with
Augustus’ procession and funeral rites taking just over three weeks),
Herod’s funeral ceremonies lasted much longer to accord with biblical and
Jewish mourning customs.
Royal Funerals Involve Much Preparations
One thing for certain, royal
funerals took time to accomplish. This is the case even today. Witness the
funeral ceremonies a few years back associated with Emperor Hirohito of
Something similar to this
would have taken place with the funeral of Herod. When Herod’s younger brother
Pheroras died, Herod himself “prepared him for
burial and brought him to Jerusalem, where he provided a burial place and
ordered a solemn mourning for him.” 22
And later, when Herod’s son Philip died, “his
body was carried to the tomb that he himself had built before he died and there
was a costly funeral.” 23
These ancient solemnities are not practiced in modern Jewish customs. The
funeral and mourning services of Prime Minister Rabin (who was recently
assassinated) occupied only seven days, but ancient funerals were much longer.
A Thirty Day Mourning Period
Let us look at the important
mourning periods which accompanied Herod’s funeral rites. These necessary
religious ceremonies show that just over a four-week period elapsed from
the death of Herod until he was finally buried at the Herodian. Note the
periods of public and private mourning. This point is a very significant factor
in determining the interval of time between Herod’s death and his burial. The
fact is, there were two types of mourning periods that were accomplished
at the death of a king or someone who was of national prestige. As mentioned
before, the first was a public mourning period of thirty days begun immediately
after the death of an important person (Numbers
There is such an example in
the Bible itself of the various ceremonies associated with the death of a
prominent person. We need to look at the mourning periods involved in the wake
of this person’s death, and also the procession that accompanied the person to
his final resting place. The biblical example is that of Jacob, the father of
Joseph. Immediately at the death of Jacob in
Long Mourning Periods for Dignitaries
While the
public mourning period for the Romans was normally only nine days,
the Jews were subjected to an extended period of time. From the time of Jacob
onward, public mourning lasted thirty days. As I have shown, that thirty day
mourning period was known as a Sheloshim. It was common for all
dignitaries in
If a military commander such
as Josephus was given a Sheloshim at the announcement of death, we can
be utterly assured that King Herod was given a similar Sheloshim by his
son Archelaus and the people of
This is a very important
indication regarding our question of the interval of time between Herod’s death
and the end of the public mourning which happened near the time of Herod’s
burial at the Herodian. 27
This fact standing alone shows there had to be just over four weeks
between Herod’s death and his burial, and this dovetails remarkably with the 28
to 30 days or so (traveling about a mile a day) for the funeral procession to
reach the Herodian from Jericho.
But there is even more. Once
Herod was buried, then Archelaus and the immediate family had to undergo their
further seven days’ private mourning period. 28
After those seven days, a funeral feast was then ordered by Archelaus for the
people of
The Passover of the Jews
Josephus records that other
things took place in
Now for an important point.
Because it is clear that Archelaus resumed his normal duties as king before
the start of the Passover season, this proves conclusively that both the Sheloshim
(thirty days) mourning period and the personal and private
mourning period of seven days were fully completed before Passover. This is
important is because some people have imagined that the mourning periods for
the dead ceased if the Passover season came on the calendar before the mourning
periods were fulfilled. This is true, but in this case we find from the records
of Josephus himself that the mourning periods (both of them) were entirely
fulfilled before the Passover that year commenced. This is proof
positive that there were at least five weeks of time between Herod’s
death and the start of Passover in the year that Herod died.
If one were conservative in
estimating the interval of time between the lunar eclipse (which occurred just
after the two rabbis were executed) and the arrival of the springtime Passover,
one has to allow (at a bare minimum) ten weeks. But, to be reasonable,
one has to admit that a few days more would make the historical scenario fit
better. It would allow for a more comfortable timetable. The interval of time
was probably near twelve weeks.
The Importance of this Information
The above historical events
can easily be seen in the records of Josephus. And importantly, they allow us
to determine the exact eclipse of the Moon that Josephus was referring to. It
will also help us to eliminate in a decided way the principal eclipse that most
all modern theologians have erroneously accepted as the one intended by
Josephus.
For the past 200 years it has
been common for theologians to accept the partial lunar eclipse on the
night of March 13, 4 B.C.E. as the one referred to by Josephus. But they are
wrong. Since lunar eclipses can only occur at Full Moon, the interval of time
from the Full Moon day of March 13, 4 B.C.E. to the beginning of Passover in 4
B.C.E. (the next Full Moon day) is a period of only twenty-nine days on
the Jewish calendar. In no way, shape or form can all the many events
associated with Herod’s death and funeral as recorded by Josephus be squeezed
into that short twenty-nine day period.
This major difficulty in
accepting the March 13th eclipse has been noted by the Roman
historian, Timothy Barnes. 31
To alleviate the problem, some scholars have suggested that the Passover to
which Josephus referred was that of the next year, 3 B.C.E. But the Passover a
year hence is far too remote for consideration. Among other things, Josephus
said the people at that following Passover were still mourning for the two
rabbis that Herod killed on the eve of the eclipse. This would hardly have been
the case some 13 months later. Also, Josephus shows that the new king,
Archelaus, went to
All these events prove that
the Passover after the eclipse of Josephus was the very next Passover, not one
year away. But they also prove that the eclipse of March 13, 4 B.C.E. cannot be
the one mentioned by Josephus because it is impossible to compress those
historical and ritualistic requirements into a period of twenty-nine days!
In the next chapter I will
give further information that will show the only eclipse that can possibly fit
the historical scenario that Josephus recorded from the eyewitness account of
Nicolas of Damascus whom he quoted. It was that of January 10, 1 B.C.E. As a
matter of fact, we do not need exact chronological dates given in the text of
Josephus to determine the time of Herod’s death. The historical context in
which that lunar eclipse was mentioned is sufficient enough to give us the
precise period for the death of Herod. It occurred somewhere between the
eclipse of January 10, 1 B.C.E. and the following springtime Passover.
When this fact is recognized
by historians today, even that “dark decade” over which classical historians
lament in regard to the fragmentary history of the early Empire of Rome will be
greatly illuminated and made clear. Astronomy is the key to it all, and it is time
to pay attention to it.
1
Josephus, Antiquities XVII–167.
2 Ibid.
3
Josephus, War I.657.
4
Josephus, Antiquities XVII.174.
5 Ibid.,
177.
6 Ibid.
and also Josephus, War I.670.
7
Josephus, Antiquities XVII. 196.
8
Josephus, War I.670.
9 Josephus,
Antiquities XVII.198.
10
Josephus, War I.184.
11
Josephus,
12
Ibid., 198.
13
Ibid., 199.
14
The Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, XI.475.
15
This was suggested by Douglas Johnson in Chronos, Kairos, Christos.
16
Suetonius, Augustus, 100.
17
Toybee, Death and Burial in the Roman World, 45.
18
Ibid., 50–51.
19
Josephus, Antiquities XVII.177.
20
Ibid.
21
Ibid.
22
Ibid.
23
Ibid.
24
Josephus, Antiquities IV.78.
25
War, III.437.
26
Josephus, Antiquities XVII.311.
27
Ibid.
28
Josephus, Antiquities XVII.200.
29
Ibid., 232–233; Josephus, War II.27–28.
30
Josephus, Antiquities XVII.233.
31
T. Barnes, Journal of Theological Studies, XIX (1968) 209.
32
Josephus, Antiquities XVII.218–219.
33
Ibid.
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