Philo of Alexandria - Books and Journals

54 part two
9778. H.DixonSlingerland,Claudian Policymaking and the Early
Imperial Repression of Judaism at Rome, South Florida Studies in the
History of Judaism 160 (Atlanta 1997), esp. 65–110 and passim.
This book on Claudius’ policymaking starts from the claim (made by Momigliano)
that examination of Claudius in terms of his relationship with Jews and
their religion provides privileged entry into the appreciation of his policy making
as a whole. Of central importance in the study is the statement of Suetonius
in Claudius 25.4 that ‘since the Jews constantly made disturbances at the instigation
of Chrestus, he [Claudius] expelled them from Rome’. The author argues
that ‘Chrestus was neither Jesus nor any other such messianic figure, and, consequently,
that the practically universal interpretatio christiana has taken Claudius
25.4 out of context. This study intends to restore the claim of Suetonius to various
settings genuinely appropriate to it.’ A significant role in the investigation
is played by Philo’s Legatio, besides Josephus, Acts of the Apostles, Dio Cassius,
Orosius, and Eusebius’ Chronicle. Chapter 3 (pp. 65–87) is entitled ‘Pre-
Claudian Repression from between the Lines of the Jewish Sources’: the main
source is here Philo’s Legatio, from which several passages are quoted (in translation)
and discussed. In the fourth chapter (pp. 89–110), ‘Fundamental Reflections
of Claudian Policy making vis-à-vis Roman Jews and Judaism’, a central
piece of evidence is Legat. 155–158. The author concludes that, whereas modern
scholarship tends to draw the false conclusion that trouble-making Roman
Jews were in great measure responsible for their own repeated difficulties, the
available Gentile and Jewish sources show the regular object of governmental
hostility to have been Jewish religiosity rather than any presupposed inclination
to disorder or violence. (HMK)
9779. P. Stefani, ‘La spiritualità dell’Esodo negli scritti giudaici dell’epoca
del secondo Tempio,’ in L’Esodo nella Bibbia, Dizionario di Spiritualità
Biblico-Patristica 17 (Rome 1997) 88–103, esp. 98–101.
Philo is chosen as representative of the whole of Hellenistic Judaism, and
his thought is analysed by means of three themes: Exodus, the life of Moses,
and the Pascha. Philo’s interpretation of the Exodus account can be regarded as
an alternative in comparison with those of the messianic movements, because
the latter concentrate on the historical account, where Philo adds a moral and
psychological aspect which falls outside the historical account. Nevertheless
Stefani maintains that our philosopher does not reduce the letter of the Bible
to ‘pure atemporal myth’, because he retains the belief in the specific nature of
the history of the Jewish people. (RR)
9780. G. E. Sterling, ‘The Bond of Humanity: Friendship in Philo
of Alexandria,’ in J. T. Fitzgerald (ed.), Greco-Roman Perspectives on
Friendship, Society of Biblical Literature Resources for Biblical Study 34
(Atlanta 1997) 203–223.