IS JESUS THE HISTORICAL FIGURE OF DIVUS JULIUS, THE GOD TO WHICH JULIUS CAESAR WAS ELEVATED?
Framework of the argumentation:
A) ICONOGRAPHY OF CAESAR DO NOT FIT OUR IDEA OF HIM.
In our minds Caesar is a field marshall and a dictator. However, authentic images (statues and coins) portray the idea of the clementia Caesaris, a clement Caesar. The bust of Caesar in the Torlonia Museum resembles Jesus significantly. Even the wreath he wears, the oak wreath of the soter, the Savior, corresponds in form and significance to the crown of thorns worn by the Holy One.
B) JESUS’ LIFE IS CONGRUENT TO THE LIFE OF CAESAR.
Both Julius Caesar and Jesus began their careers in northern countries: Caesar in Gaul, Jesus in Galilee; both cross a fatal river: the Rubicon and the Jordan; both then enter cities: Corfinium and Cafarnaum; Caesar finds Corfinium occupied by a man of Pompey and besieges him, while Jesus finds a man possessed by an impure spirit. There is similarity in structure as well as in place names: Gallia > Galilaea; Corfinium > Cafarnaum; occupied/besieged > possessed (both obsessus inLatin). The similarities remain consistent throughout (when occupation or besieging is referred to in the one text, possession is used in the other, etc.)
[ Extract from the book ‘Jesus was Caesar’, p. 47-50 ]
[ Extract from the book ‘Jesus was Caesar’, p.169-174 ]
C) PEOPLE IN THE STORIES OF CAESAR AND OF JESUS ARE STRUCTURALLY THE SAME PEOPLE, EVEN BY NAME AND LOCATION:
Caesar > Jesus
Pompey > John (the Baptist)
Antonius > Simon
Lepidus > Peter
(Decimus) Junius (Brutus) > Judas
(Marcus Junius) Brutus > Barabbas
Octavianus (Augustus) > John (the disciple)
Nicomedes of Bithynia > Nicodemus of Bethania
Cleopatra > (Mary) Magdalene
Julia (widow of Marius) > Mary
The Senate > The Sanhedrin
Gaul > Galilee
Rubicon > Jordan
Corfinium > Cafarnaum
Rome > Jerusalem
etc.
People and places have the same function in both stories:
Pompey is the political godfather of Caesar and competes with him in the same way John the Baptist does with Jesus.
Antony and Lepidus became Caesar’s successors, the first as flamen, high priest of the Divus Julius cult, the second as pontifex maximus, just as Simon and Peter do with Jesus (they both melt into one figure – Simon Peter).
Decimus Junius Brutus betrays Caesar as Judas betrays Jesus.
The other Brutus is Caesar’s murderer and Barabbas is a murderer.
Octavian is the young Caesar, his posthumously adopted son. John is adopted by Jesus as he is dying on the cross.
Nicomedes of Bithynia was said to have had nightly meetings with Caesar as did Nicodemus of Bethany with Jesus.
Cleopatra had a special relationship with Caesar as did Mary Magdalene with Jesus.
Julia, Caesar’s aunt and widow of Marius plays the same role as Mary, the mother of Jesus.
The Senate is Caesar’s enemy, just as the Council is Jesus’ Satan.
Caesar comes from Gaul, in the north, at the beginning of the Civil War, while Jesus also comes from the north, Galilee, at the beginning of his public life.
Corfinium is the first city Caesar occupies and Cafarnaum is the first city Jesus enters.
Rome is the capital, where Caesar first triumphs and later is assassinated. Jerusalem is the city where Jesus is celebrated on Palm Sunday and later put to death.
Names resemble each other in writing and phonetically – Gallia and Galilaia, Corfinium and Cafarnaum, (Julia) Mària and Marìa, Nicomedes of Bithynia and Nicodemus of Bethania, etc. Other examples are not as obvious but can still be recognized: Junius (Brutus) and Judas, Brutus and Barabbas, Senatus and Satanas, etc., or even ROMA and HieROsolyMA, Antonius and Simona (mirror images, from right to left, as if it were written in Aramaic), etc.
D) CAESAR’S MOST FAMOUS QUOTATIONS ARE FOUND IN THE GOSPELS – IN STRUCTURALLY SIGNIFICANT PLACES.
Most quotes are word for word, sometimes with insignificant differences:
«He who does not take sides is on my side» reoccurs as «For he that is not against us is for us.».
«I am not King, I am Caesar» appears as «We have no king but Caesar».
[ Extract from the book ‘Jesus was Caesar’, p. 182 ]
«The best death is sudden death» appears as «What you are going to do (lead me to death), do quickly».
«Did I save them, that they might destroy me?» is «He saved others; he cannot save himself.»
Only in two cases are there slight, yet meaningful distortions:
«Alea iacta est(o)», «The die is cast», became «… casting (a net into the sea): for they were fishers» (confusion of lat. alea, die, and gr. (h)aleeis, fishers) – the miraculous netting of fish).
«Veni vidi vici», «I came, I saw, I conquered”, changed to «I came, I washed and I saw.» (confusion of enikisa, I won, and enipsa, I washed) – the healing of the blind.