Writing the Jews out of History: Pseudo-Hegesippus, Classical Historiography, and the Codification of Christian Anti-Judaism in Late Antiquity

Abstract

Scholarly narratives of the development of Christian anti-Jewish thinking in antiquity routinely cite a number of standard, well-known authors: from Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Justin Martyr in earlier centuries to Eusebius, John Chrysostom, Ambrose, Jerome, and Augustine in the fourth and early fifth centuries. The anonymous author known as Pseudo-Hegesippus, to whom is attributed a late fourth-century Latin work called On the Destruction of Jerusalem (De Excidio Hierosolymitano), rarely appears in such discussions. This has largely to do with the fact that this text and its author are effectively unknown entities within contemporary scholarship in this area (scholars familiar with Pseudo-Hegesippus tend to be specialists in medieval Latin texts and manuscripts). But “Pseudo-Hegesippus” represents a critical contribution to the mosaic of Christian anti-Jewish discourse in late antiquity. De Excidio's generic identity as a Christian piece of classical historiography makes it a unique form of ancient anti-Jewish propaganda. This genre, tied to De Excidio's probable context of writing—the wake of the emperor Julian's abortive attempt to rebuild the Jerusalem Temple, resurrect a robust Judaism, and remove Christians from public engagement with classical culture—renders De Excidio an important Christian artifact of both anti-Judaism and pro-classicism at the same time. This article situates Pseudo-Hegesippus in a lineage of Christian anti-Jewish historical thinking, argues that De Excidio codifies that discourse in a significant and singular way, frames this contribution in terms of its apparent socio-historical context, and cites De Excidio's later influence and reception as testaments to its rightful place in the history of Christian anti-Judaism, a place that modern scholarship has yet to afford it. As a piece of classical historiography that mirrors not Christian historians—like Eusebius and others—but the historians of the broader “pagan” Greco-Roman world—like Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, Sallust, Livy, and Tacitus—De Excidio leverages a cultural communicative medium particularly well equipped to undergird and fuel the Christian historiographical imagination and its anti-Jewish projections.

Cannibal Maria in the Siege of Jerusalem: New approaches

“…Finally, she eats her own son, a nursing infant, publicizing this act and offering to share her meal with the combatants. This central episode, so effective that it shames some of the insurgents and provokes Titus into a frenzy of pity and horrified determination, not only takes inspiration from secular Greek and Roman literary tropes (inter alia, Bay, 2021; Chapman, 2005); it also fulfills Hebrew Biblical curses. Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and Ezekiel all foresee times of famine when, brought low by disobedience and wrongdoing, some portion of the people Israel will starve to the point that they will eat their children.…”

Anti‐Judaism versus anti‐Semitism: The racialization of Jews in late antiquity

“…20 20 For more on this point, see (Bay, 2021). The Christian anxieties around Julian's abortive attempt to rebuild the Jewish Temple are further demonstrated by the large number of works that make a point of emphasizing the failure of the project as a divine sign of the election of Christians over against God's rejection of the Jews.…”

“…For example, in the Reichenau catalog that is produced around 822 CE, the title of the text is de bello Judaico libri V excerpti de historia Josephi(Pollard, 2015, pp. 77-78).20 For more on this point, see(Bay, 2021). The Christian anxieties around Julian's abortive attempt to rebuild the Jewish Temple are further demonstrated by the large number of works that make a point of emphasizing the failure of the project as a divine sign of the election of Christians over against God's rejection of the Jews.…”