Saint Caligula??!

[Geon]

The Dialogues and Storm Clouds Brewing

This section owes a great deal to some of the comments made earlier. I hope you continue to enjoy it!
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As the months passed Caligula became more and more disturbed in spirit over two matters. First, the pagan priests of Rome were becoming increasingly angry at him for he now refused to come to the temples on feast days to sacrifice. The priests became convinced that some great calamity would befall Rome if the Emperor did not return to the worship of the gods and frequently told him so. Eventually, Caligula ordered them banished from his presence and would not allow them in the palace. In their anger the priests tried to stir up the Senate against Caligula to remove him but as of yet the Senate refused to move against him. Indeed many of the senators rebuked the priests and told them “This is the Emperor and he will worship whatever god or gods seem good to him!”

In addition to this the Emperor was more and more disturbed as he saw the large number of brothels in the city. Of old such sights would have thrilled him but now they disturbed him as his new faith taught that sexual immorality and promiscuity must be avoided. Because of this Caligula began to seriously think that the brothels and prostitutes should be banned from Rome.

On account of the pagan priests and the brothels Caligula decided to consult Clement to find out how he should deal with these matters. Clement after much prayer said to the Emperor, “The matters you speak of are not small ones. You are the Emperor and at your word a man may live or die. You have asked me no small thing and I am reluctant to give an answer lest I say something that is not the will of the Lord. Therefore I counsel you mighty Caligula to send a letter to the holy men in Jerusalem, namely the Apostles. They are worthy men and wise in both the Scriptures and in the wisdom of our Lord Jesus, and they may well be able to guide the Emperor in these matters.” The Emperor agreed but asked Clement to write a letter by way of introduction. Clement agreed and wrote the First Letter which has come to be called The Introduction of Clement, which is the first letter in the Dialogues of the Apostles and the Emperor.

 

[Yuelang]

Ah great, now we would have St Peter and co... Thinking their best about what will Jesus do over an Emperor's decree...

I guess much earlier article about "Necessary Evils" on brothels and such...

 

[MerryPrankster]

And now we're running into the first possible signs of trouble. Nobody will care about an emperor who feeds the poor and he can always have a pagan associate handle the temple stuff, but if he gets the notion to close down or even regulate over-much the brothels in Rome (freeborn prostitutes only?), he might make some powerful enemies.

 

[MerryPrankster]

Here's something to think about:

Some years ago, I posted a WI that the Romans, rather than trying to force Christians to offer sacrifices to the Emperor or the pagan gods on pain of death, instead imposed something resembling the Islamic jiziyah on them, with the idea the monies from the tax would be used to pay for additional sacrifices.

Carlton_Bach said this wouldn't work. It was the juju that was important, not the money. I would imagine the concern was that people weren't sacrificing, and fewer people offering more sacrifices wouldn't count in the eyes of the gods.

Furthermore, persecution of Christians in ancient Rome wasn't a continuous thing until the very end. Usually it was some local thing--claiming Christians' "impiety" was responsible for a plague or loss of a battle.

So...

Basically if you want Caligula to get into real trouble, have some disaster happen on his watch and wait for everybody to blame his new religion for it. If Caligula is assassinated or coup'd for something that is clearly not his fault, even better for the martyrdom crowd.

 

[mrmandias]

. Indeed many of the senators rebuked the priests and told them the Emperor had a right to decide for himself what god or gods he would worship.

Anachronistic. A hagiography written before the 20th or 21st C. isn't going to have language like this. Same objection, although less so, to the language about 'his new fait, sexual immorality, etc.' Yes, yes, butterflies, but your prior excerpts have been pitch perfect to an OTL hagiography. These parts aren't.

 

[Geon]

Suggestion

Mrmandias

I have read your suggestion and you will note the sentence in question has been changed. I hope this looks better.

Geon

 

[Yuelang]

nice, that feels better

still waiting for more updates...

btw, which apostole(s) will hold dialogue with our good emperor? if you had some in mind, I may be able to do some photoshop of them too

 

[mrmandias]

Mrmandias

I have read your suggestion and you will note the sentence in question has been changed. I hope this looks better.

Geon

Well done. Much better.

 

[Geon]

Introduction to the Dialogues

The following section departs from the style of the hagiography briefly to describe the writing of the Dialogues I mentioned in the last section and hint at how said Dialogues affected thinking in the Christian church down through the years. Note-that some of the footnotes could probably be improved. If anyone has suggestions pleas let me know.
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The Dialogues of the Apostles and the Emperor is one of the oldest extant books of the New Testament Apocrypha. There is clear evidence that copies of it existed back as far as the early 2nd century. Indeed one copy of the text claims a pedigree that takes it back to the imperial archives.

However, despite this claim to antiquity there is clear evidence that this document has seen revisions and additions over the centuries. Some of these revisions such as the “second letter” of Caligula which claims to see a vision of Rome as the “New Jerusalem” pictured in Revelation are clearly meant to bolster the position of Rome in the medieval world. This same “second letter,” would later be a major reason many of the leaders in the Protestant Reformation would initially reject the Dialogues’ canonicity.

The authenticity of the Dialogues has never been debated by most serious New Testament scholars. While there were a number in the 19th century in the “higher criticism” area that believed the Dialogues were written at least a century after the events they describe more recent archeological discoveries as well as the unearthing of a copy of the Dialogues relatively unedited which dates back to the early 2nd century (see above) have more or less discredited this view.

For many years the Church was of a mixed mind about whether the Dialogues should be considered canonical. The Western Church included them in its canon just after the Acts of the Apostles and before Romans.The Eastern Church did not include them.

The question was not fully resolved until the Council of Trent. After much debate it was agreed that while the Dialogues were genuine they “did not substantially contribute to the teaching of the New Testament, nevertheless they remain useful for the moral teaching they provide.”[1] Among leaders of the Reformed church the revised versions of the Dialogues initially did not comment them to the New Testament canon.However, after a century or so the Dialogues were accepted on the same level as the Deuterocanonical books of the Old Testament, “useful for guiding moral behavior but not for doctrine.”

The Dialogues are divided into the following sections.

1. Introductory Letter by Clement – Clement writes to the Apostles in Jerusalem and tells them of the conversion of Caligula to the faith. He also tells of Caligula’s faith and good works and briefly shares the concerns Caligula will deal with in his letter.
2. The Emperor’s letter – Caligula gives a testimony of his life both prior to his illness and then afterword. He contrasts his “perverse and evil lifestyle” before he came to the faith with what he has now become. He then asks the Apostles the two questions that he is concerned about.
a. As Emperor of Rome he is responsible to “set a good example before the people.” Part of this involves sacrificing to the pagan gods of Rome. Is it right therefore for him even though no longer believing in the pagan gods to sacrifice to them
b. Rome is “filled with houses of evil pleasure”, as Caligula calls the houses of prostitution. While he does not care for these places he is concerned for those in Rome. Should he expel the prostitutes from Rome?
3. The Apostles’ Response – The response of the Apostles, which is signed by Peter first of all offers thanksgiving for the Emperor’s coming to the faith and urges him to continue in his growth in grace. It also warns him that for someone in power such as him there will be many temptations to sin, “Remember that the first shall be last, and the last first,” is repeated 7 times during the Response. The Response then deals with the matters the Emperor asked about.
a. First in regard to sacrificing to the old pagan gods it reminds the Emperor that these are not “true” gods. And that he will serve a better example to the people by refraining from sacrificing to or even acknowledging them. Caligula is warned however that this will not be popular with many in Rome and he is cautioned to not say much about this in public, lest what he says be used against him.
b. As to closing the houses of prostitution, Peter takes a surprisingly mild tone. Caligula is not responsible for the behavior of all those in Rome, but he is responsible for the care of his own soul. He [and Clement] are reminded in the letter to avoid sexual immorality and to encourage their brethren in the faith to do the same.
-From An Introduction to the Dialogues by Professor Norman Bateman [fictional name], pages 1-2, Zondervan Press, 2003.

[1] From The Deliberations of the Council of Trent on Holy Scripture
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[Blackfox5]

I have the feeling that there are strong pro-Republican sympathies arising in the Senate at this time. There were various half-hearted attempts to restore the Republic in the Julio-Claudian period.

The Romans took their religion very seriously, and failure to observe the proper rites not only threatened the Roman family, but the Roman state. The Emperor favoring some Jewish heretics is one thing, but letting them dictate policy of the Roman state is another especially when they worship someone executed in a way reserved for the worst criminals and traitors.

Ironically, Caligula not acting like a murderous madman, but imposing a foreign religion may lead to an earlier death than he experienced in this timeline.

 

[Blackfox5]

I just had a thought. The easiest way for Caligula to help the Christians (who at this time, are still defined by their Judaism) is not to make changes in Rome. It is to make changes in the province of Judaea, especially in regards to Jerusalem and the Temple.

IOTL, the Emperor Claudius technically restored Jewish independence by making Herod Agrippa king of the Jews. It was still a Roman client state and controlled by Rome, but no longer directly. This was revoked after Herod Agrippa died.

If Caligula did something similar and removed those Roman policies that enraged the religious Jews, it would have a big impact. It would probably seem like a miracle to many, and would greatly change the reputation the followers of Jesus among the Jews. Restoring Jewish control of their own homeland peacefully would seem like something the Messiah would have done.

 

[Yuelang]

For many years the Church was of a mixed mind about whether the Dialogues should be considered canonical. The Western Church included them in its canon just after the Acts of the Apostles and before Romans.The Eastern Church did not include them.

Unless you imply that the Western Church and Eastern Church are different from what was in our OTL, it would be much more likely to both that claim as successors of Rome to actually induce them in their canon, but yeah, Protestant Reformation kicking them out of their canon is a nice touch.

But well, unless "Eastern Church" ITTL means "Non Roman / Persian / Even far eastern" Church... because Eastern Roman Empire, if exist, will definitely pick a very strong link of their empire with Christianity, and Caligula's letters should done the trick well.

And IMHO, even Protestants aren't likely to merely reject this as canon, maybe some synopsis should exist in Acts of Apostoles, but yeah, more "earthly" advices could be kicked out.

 

[Geon]

Two Decrees

Here we return to the hagiography style. And Caligula decides on a few matters.
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After Caligula received the letter from the Apostles he spent much time considering how to best put the letter into practice. After several days spent in prayer Caligula summoned a scribe and wrote two letters. The first was entitled A Decree Regarding the Worship of the Gods. In the decree Caligula declared that all in Rome should follow the religion they believed to be most excellent, but that no one should be forced to do worship to any of the gods against his will. The decree further declared that none should be persecuted because they worshiped gods other than those considered the “official” gods of Rome. In this way Caligula declared that both the Jews and of the Christians were to be allowed to worship their own God in what way seemed best to them.

The second decree of the Emperor was entitled A Decree on Sexual Morality. Caligula declared here that prostitution “made cheap the marriage bed.” He urged young men not to seek out prostitutes for doing so only made the women they took as brides “seem common, compared to those harlots who constantly seek to make themselves visions to lust after.” He urged married men to not visit the brothels for he said, “In visiting the brothels they dishonor their wives and their families.”[1] And Caligula concluded the decree by declaring that from this day on there would be a tax of one denarius per visit to the brothels of Rome. He then ordered that tax collectors should be appointed to ensure this tax was collected.

[1] Note-neither letter has survived. However both were quoted extensively both by Suetonius and Tacitus as well as by Gregory I and other early church leaders.

 

[mrmandias]

I continue to be amazed at this TL. The tone is so right.

 

[Geon]

A Year Passes

Here is another update and storm clouds are gathering.
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In the year that followed the Emperor’s kindnesses and compassion brought him much acclaim among the people. He would regularly give generously to the poor and invite them to feasts at the palace along with the senators of Rome. He often would distribute fresh loaves of bread to the beggars in the streets disguised as a beggar himself for he did not wish his good deeds to be often trumpeted about.

In the Senate many marveled at the Emperor’s insistence on honesty and integrity in all their deliberations. Caligula declared that all the Senate’s deliberations should always be open to the people of Rome to witness and demanded that the Senators should not make a pledge they knew they would be unable to fulfill.“ As firm as the word of Caligula,” became a well-known phrase at this time and has remained so to this day.

But Caligula refused to enter the pagan temples even during the traditional feast days of sacrifice to the gods. Rather he and his cousin Tiberius would withdraw into quiet places outside of Rome or to be with the brethren during these times. This further angered the priests and many of them became convinced that a great terror would fall on Rome if the Emperor did not sacrifice to the gods. But their entreaties to the Emperor went unheard. Thus did many among the priests begin to plot the death of the Emperor.

 

[Tyg]

Oh, wow. Governing Rome is going to be awfully difficult after Caligula's murder--the masses or the mob will be furious, and the easiest way to placate them will be to hand over or punish the cabal of priests responsible for the plot. That could critically weaken traditional Roman religious institutions in the long term.

 

[thekingsguard]

I'm still in awe how Caligula has turned into a sympathetic figure.

 

[mrmandias]

Oh, wow. Governing Rome is going to be awfully difficult after Caligula's murder--the masses or the mob will be furious, and the easiest way to placate them will be to hand over or punish the cabal of priests responsible for the plot. That could critically weaken traditional Roman religious institutions in the long term.

Is there really such a thing as a separate class of priests? It probably suits the writer of the hagiography to say so, but in reality I thought Roman priests were mostly just Senators and other representatives of influential families.

 

[FrozenMix]

I'm still in awe how Caligula has turned into a sympathetic figure.

In reality, while he was likely a real piece of work, Suetonius was quite full of shit when it came to him. A lot of the stories are ridiculous or just out of context.

 

[Tyg]

Is there really such a thing as a separate class of priests? It probably suits the writer of the hagiography to say so, but in reality I thought Roman priests were mostly just Senators and other representatives of influential families.

It gets complicated. Traditional Roman religious practice was strongly integrated with the governing aristocracy, but not completely so.