In our last installment, we introduced a study of paganism as context around the life of Jesus. An understanding of paganism is important to anyone trying to understand Judaism or Christianity, because, in a sense, Judaism was a refined version of paganism, and, of course, Christianity came directly out of the Judaic tradition.
I'll reiterate that "paganism" is a fairly fluid term, and that we are using it perhaps somewhat narrowly here. We are defining paganism as "ancient polytheistic religions which were transactional in their mode of interface with the divine." The term "pagan" applies to myriad cultures and myriad specific theologies, many of which we will study individually by the time our work is done. For now, we're focusing on the paganism of the Roman Republic and Roman Empire.
Today, along those lines, I'd like to introduce you to a Roman whose name will be spoken by historians for as long as human history exists: Pompey the Great.
Without further ado...
Mr. Magnus Goes to Jerusalem
or...
The Sullying of the Holy of Holies
Part I
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, or Pompey for short, led one of the best attested lives of ancient Rome. He is best known for being a member of the First Triumvirate, along with Marcus Licinius Crassus and one Gaius Julius Caesar. Pompey's alliance with Crassus and Caesar is what ultimately gained Caesar the authority to go conquesting in Gaul for ten years, which is ultimately what led to the downfall of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Empire*.
As we said, Pompey's life is remarkably well attested, including the years before his alliance with a young man named Caesar and a rich man named Crassus. That's lucky for us, because today we're focusing in on events that occured just a few years before the First Triumvirate.
In 63 BC, Pompey the Great, without breaking a sweat, made a Roman province of Judea. We are going to focus in on this pivotal moment in history, for reasons that will become apparent in the context of our study of paganism and of our broader study of the first-century Judeo-Christian world.
Let's start with some background data. Early in his military career, Pompey fought successful campaigns in North Africa, Spain, and even on the Italian peninsula. Pompey was the one credited with putting down the rebellion of the escaped slave Spartacus, and of having the Appian Way lined with the crucified bodies of the defeated slave army. He didn't actually deserve the credit for the crushing of the slave rebellion, however, since Crassus had led several legions against Spartacus for months before Pompey had arrived on the scene. Pompey took the credit anyway, adding it to his list of victories.
In 66 BC, as he was wrapping up a famed campaign against pirates in the eastern Mediterranean, Pompey was granted sweeping command over the Roman forces that were then engaged in the Third Mithridatic War in what is now Turkey. Pompey left the sea, relieved one Lucius Licinius Lucullus of his eastern command, and took control of the war. This was all per the terms of a newly signed law, the "lex Manilia," which was passed because Rome had lost confidence in Lucullus' abilities and/or fidelity.
On the day the lex Manilia was passed, Pompey became the most powerful human on the planet. He then commanded the vast majority of Roman military forces, both land and sea. On his way out, Lucullus accused Pompey of being a "vulture," drawing a parallel between Pompey's "victory" over Spartacus and what was his now impending victory over Mithridates.
When Pompey displaced Lucullus at the front of the eastern conflict, he defeated Mithridates VI of Pontus with relative ease. Mithridates committed suicide upon realizing his defeat.
"I was almost there," Lucullus whines at us through history.
Lucullus' grumbling didn't leave Pompey any worse for the wear. The general immediately set his sights on Armenia, as the lex Manilia had expanded the purview of the eastern command to include a new offensive against Tigranes the Great of Armenia.
Tigranes easily surrendered to the might of Pompey. For his surrender, he was allowed to live and to keep the rule of his territory as a paying client of Rome.
After subduing Armenia, Pompey turned back west and waged war against Antiochus I Theos, the king of Commagene. He subdued Antiochus and made an alliance with him, and then headed back north toward the Caucasus Mountains where he fought Albanians, Iberians, and others, subduing (at least, temporarily) all who opposed him.
When Pompey had the region around the Caucasus Mountains under control, his focus then zeroed in on political instability to his south, which might threaten the longevity of his new conquests. The land of Syria had been controlled for centuries by the Seleucid Empire, but the Seleucid Empire was in divided tatters in 65 BC, and Pompey was concerned that factionalization in Syria might lead to military action against his newly conquered Armenia.
Further investigation on Pompey's part revealed more discord even further south, in a little place we call Judea. None of this agreed with Pompey, and he resolved to go south.
We'll now leave Pompey for just a moment to take a closer look at the discord in Judea.
From 76 to 67 BC, Judea was independently ruled by the Hasmonean Queen, Salome Alexandra. Her husband, Alexander Jannaeus, had died in 76, leaving her the throne. (History notes that her husband had been diseased from over-drinking.) Acting upon Jannaeus' advice, upon his death, Alexandra went to Jerusalem and endeared herself to the Pharisees there by granting them some of her regal authority. This allowed her to maintain her husband's throne and influence for nine years before her death. When Alexandra, Queen of Judea, died, she left behind two sons: Hyrcanus and Aristobulus.
Josephus describes the sons thusly, in Antiquities of the Jews:
Now, as to these two sons, Hyrcanus was indeed unable to manage public affairs, and delighted rather in a quiet life; but the younger, Aristobulus, was an active and a bold man...When she died, Alexandra left the throne to Hyrcanus, the oldest son, but Aristobulus immediately made war against his brother until he agreed to cede the throne to him. Perhaps everything would have been ship-shape for the brothers at this point, if not for the nagging of one of Hyrcanus' friends, Antipater. Antipater whispered in Hyrcanus' ear every day that the throne should have been his, and that Aristobulus was plotting to kill him out of paranoia. Antipater told Hyrcanus to flee to Arabia to make an alliance with Aretas, a king there. Hyrcanus obliged, and snuck out of Jerusalem during the night to meet the Arabian king in a place called Petra.
In Petra, Hyrcanus and Antipas begged Aretas to wage war on Aristobulus and to reinstall Hyrcanus as the King of Judea. In return for their help, the Arabians would receive back several cities that Hyrcanus' father had won from them in battle years before. Aretas agreed to this proposal, and soon led a force of fifty thousand against Aristobulus' forces. This was around 67 BC.
Aristobulus suffered an early and crushing defeat in the field against Aretas before retreating to Jerusalem. He was deeply wounded by the fact that many of his men defected to the side of his brother early on in the conflict. Aretas' men followed Aristobulus to Jerusalem, and laid siege to the city. Soon, the only people that remained on the side of Aristobulus were the priests. Together, they holed up behind the Temple walls as Aretas surrounded them.
As Josephus records it, during the siege on the Temple, the Passover came. Actually, let's just hear it from Josephus:
While the priests and Aristobulus were besieged, it happened that the feast called Passover was come, at which it is our custom to offer a great number of sacrifices to God; but those that were with Aristobulus wanted sacrifices, and desired that their countrymen without would furnish them with such sacrifices, and assured them they should have as much money for them as they should desire; and when they required them to pay a thousand drachmas for each head of cattle, Aristobulus and the priests willingly undertook to pay for them accordingly.Can you imagine this sight? Aretas' occupying army is making a mess of Jerusalem as it lays siege to the Temple. The citizens of Jerusalem are probably hiding indoors as much as possible, anxious about the troops walking through their city. Aristobulus' priests are behind the Temple walls worrying about the wrath of God if they don't make the proper sacrifices for Passover in a few days, and the two brothers sit on the edge of their respective seats.
I want to see this movie.
So, the priests shout over the walls at the Jewish civilians. They say "please, bring us some cows to the wall so we can rope them over for sacrifice on Passover! We will pay anything. Yes, even up to one thousand drachmas for one cow! The sacrifices must be made per our agreements with God!"
The people of Jerusalem respond "ok, we will certainly bring you the necessary animals for the sacrifices. First, just... throw the drachmas over in a basket, yeah?"
Aristobulus has his men toss the money over.
Hyrcanus' guys pick up the money and walk away, never to return with the sacrificial animals the money was to have purchased.
A bold and sneaky play.
The priests were furious. We'll go back to Josephus:
...when the priests found they had been cheated, and that the agreements they had made were violated, they prayed to God that he would avenge them on their countrymen. Nor did he delay that their punishment, but sent a strong and vehement storm of wind, that destroyed the fruits of the whole country, until a modius of wheat was then bought for eleven drachmas.Amazing.
The very next thing Josephus mentions after this divine storm is Pompey's impending presence in the north, which brings us full circle. Josephus says:
In the meantime Pompey sent Scaurus into Syria, while he was himself in Armenia, and making war with Tigranes.We'll wrap this up for now. Next time, Pompey, Aristobulus, Hyrcanus, and Aretas all have a date with destiny, in part two of Mr. Magnus Goes to Jerusalem or... The Sullying of the Holy of Holies.
Until then, let's get back to our Beatitudes.
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Matthew 5:8
8 Blessed are the clean of heart,
for they will see God.
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Today we read the Sixth Beatitude. Jesus has been telling his followers who he thinks are the most blessed of humanity. Today in Matthew, Jesus tells his followers that the "clean of heart" are blessed.
What would "cleanliness of heart" have meant to Jesus? Well, the original Greek word used here is "katharos" which could mean "clean," "clear," or "pure," which may give us some indication.
When I read this Beatitude, it makes me think of Jewish culture, and of the Essenes in particular. Recall that the Essenes, a sect of Jews that existed during the time of Jesus, were obsessed with ritual purity and cleanliness. They ritually bathed themselves at least once daily, and undertook severe measures to guarantee the purity of their eating and drinking vessels. They were obsessed with cleanliness so much so that they could not use the bathroom on their Sabbath day.
Could Jesus be referring to a similar kind of anxiously guarded ritual purity? If so, how does one purify the heart specifically? The Essenes understood purification of the body as being accomplished by bathing, but one cannot physically bathe one's heart...
This verse also makes me think of the cleanliness or purity of the bloodline that some Jews sought to maintain by only marrying other Jews. Generally, I would say that cleanliness and purity were ideals of the ancient Jewish peoples.
Perhaps having a clean or pure heart means to have an undivided heart. Perhaps a clean heart is simply pure in its ambition. It's difficult to determine fundamental meaning here.
Next week, we'll read my favorite Beatitude, which is somewhat easier to understand. Until then, let me know what you think "clean of heart" meant.
Thank you for reading. Please share this writing.
Love.
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* Seriously, like, the most important moment in western history.
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