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Caesar's Messiah
CHAPTER 7
The New Root and Branch
Having shown the methods that the Romans used to satirically communicate the real history of their struggle with the messianic Jews,
I can now present the most complex of their works. The reader will
recognize that I have already touched on many of the passages that
make up this satire. These separate elements were designed to be
linked together to create a larger intertextual story.
I refer to this satire as the "new root and branch." It is a vast literary device coursing through the Gospels and three of Josephus'
books. Because it extends over several different books, it is hard to
discover, but this literary device is not unusual in Hebrew literature.
It is, for instance, similar to the way in which the Abraham saga is
continued in the Book of Samuel and the Book of Kings. Through a
series of distinct passages, one character becomes associated with
another character by means of parallel acts or locations, and by
means of similar language.
The purpose of this particular satire is to document that the "root"
and "branch" of the Judaic messianic lineage has been destroyed and
that a Roman lineage has been "grafted on" in its place. This satirical
system actually begins in the Book of Malachi, the final book of the
Old Testament. Malachi means "my messenger" in Hebrew and was
used as an epithet for the prophet Elijah. This is because in Judaic
literature it was predicted that the Messiah would be preceded by the
appearance of Elijah, who would act as the messenger of his coming.
But I shall send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of
the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
Malachi 4:5
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This final passage in the Book of Malachi predicts a coming disaster for the "wicked," one that will leave them destroyed by fire and
with neither "root" nor "branch."
For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all
the proud, yes all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the
day which is coming shall burn them up, says the Lord of
Hosts, [and] will leave them neither root nor branch.
Malachi 4:1
Josephus clearly records that the first part of this prophesy concerning the "wicked" being "burned up," came to pass during the
war with the Romans. He also records that the second part of the
prophesy — that they would be left with neither "root" nor "branch" —
was also fulfilled during Titus' campaign, though not so overtly. To
understand that the "wicked," that is, the messianic rebels, were to
be left with no "root" or "branch," the reader needs to comprehend
perhaps the most complex literary satire ever written.
As noted above, "root" and "branch" were Judaic metaphors used
to denote the messianic lineage. For example, the Genesis Florilegium states:
. . . until the Messiah of Righteousness, the Branch of
David comes, because to him and his seed was given the
Covenant of the Kingdom of his people . . . 120
This root and branch messianic imagery found in the Dead Sea
Scrolls is a continuation of its use by the prophet Isaiah concerning
the coming Messiah, as the following translation from another fragment of the Scrolls shows:
. . . Isaiah the Prophet ... the thickets of the forest will be
felled with an axe and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one. A
staff shall rise from the root of Jesse, {and} a planting from
his roots will bear fruit. . . the Branch of David. 121
The authors of the New Testament continue the messianic root
and branch metaphor, though with a totally different perspective.
Within the New Testament, the root and branch imagery is presented in the context of their being transformed into a different lineage — the lineage of the new Messiah. The "branches" are described
as either being "pruned" or being "grafted onto." Jesus predicts —
echoing the Book of Malachi — that those "branches" that do not
"abide" in the new Judaism he brings will be "burned."
If anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch
and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into
the fire.
John 15:6
Josephus builds on the root and branch imagery in the New Testament by establishing a series of related parallels. As we have seen
so often, these parallels contain puzzles that reveal the names of
unnamed characters. And in every case the name of the unnamed
character is Eleazar. My interpretation of the parallels involving
Eleazar is that they indicate that Eleazar was the name of the individual that the messianic rebels looked to as the "root" foreseen by
Judaic prophesy. Judging from the satire, this individual may actually have existed and have been the spiritual leader of the rebellion.
As is the case with all the typological passages, the root and
branch satire can be recognized by determining the temporal order
in which its events occur, even though they are described in different books. This is the same technique required to solve "the puzzle
of the empty tomb" above, where the reading has to arrange the four
empty tomb texts in chronological order to comprehend the combined story that the texts create. Josephus provides the reader with
a clear path to this temporal understanding.
The other keys to recognizing the satire are the same ones that
are used throughout the New Testament and War of the Jews. These
are parallel locations and conceptual parallels. Further, some of the
principles from the Roman sciences of botany and homeopathic
medicine are used in the "root and branch" satire. Roman medicine
considered that whatever made you sick could sometimes cure you.
For instance, one treatment for a scorpion bite was to apply mashed
raw scorpion to the wound. Roman botany considered that by introducing tamed specimens into a colony of wild plants, a hybrid and
lamer plant would result.
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Pedanius Dioscorides, the chief physician and botanist accompanying Vespasian and Titus in Judea, was familiar with both of
these scientific principles. They are key elements in the "root and
branch" satire.
Pedanius was justly famous for pioneering the first documented
use of anesthesia and the first medical use of electric shock therapy
(using electric eels to generate the current). He also wrote a textbook on botany that became the basis for modern herbalism and
identified hundreds of medicinal plant roots — "many very serviceable roots," as he put it — that had not previously been known to
medical science. As one of Rome's leading scientists, Pedanius
would certainly have advised Titus on what Josephus calls the "useful science" 122 of expelling demons from apparently insane people.
One of the elements of the root and branch satire is the strange
plant that Josephus calls rue; it has a root by the name of "baaras."
This root, baaras, has the power to dispel demons, defined by Josephus as the "spirit of the wicked."
That Josephus mentions a plant named rue is significant, since
rue is one of the plants that Pedanius studied and wrote about. In
his textbook On Herbalism, he explains the dangers of the wild, or
mountain rue, and the benefits of the domesticated, or garden rue,
which grew near fig trees and could be safely eaten.
Pedanius' gardening technique is, essentially, the core of the
Roman pacification strategy documented in the root and branch
satire: the Romans attempted to "domesticate" the Jews by pruning
the root of their demonic wickedness, the Messiah Eleazar, and then
grafting in the root that is Jesus, which has the power to dispel
demons.
A quote from Titus recorded by the fourth-century Christian
writer Sulpcius Severus mentions his understanding of the importance of the "root" to the Jews and Christians.
Titus is said to have first summoned a council and deliberated whether or not he should destroy such a mighty temple .. . Titus himself said that the destruction of the temple
was a prime necessity in order to wipe out more completely
the religions of the Jews and Christians for they urged that
these religions, though hostile to each other, nevertheless
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sprang from the same sources; the Christians had grown
out of the Jews; if the root were destroyed, the stock would
easily perish (Christianos ex ludaeis exitisse radice sublata
stirpem facile perituram).
To begin the analysis, I would first note the elements from the
New Testament that are used in the root and branch satire. These
concepts are so well known that I feel it is unnecessary to include
the related texts and only provide the following list.
Root and branch elements in the New Testament:
1. The messianic lineage is described as being "pruned"
2. There is a prediction that the messianic lineage will be grafted
onto
3. Jesus' capture occurs on the Mount of Olives
4. Three are crucified but one survives
5. Joseph of Arimathea takes survivor down from the cross
The analysis continues by presenting each of the component
passages that make up the satire in turn.
The following passage takes place at the fortress Herodian. It
occurs before the siege of Jerusalem and tells the story of an Eleazar
who, like his namesake at Masada, commits suicide. For clarification, I present the following list of concepts in the passage that are
elements in the larger satire.
Location: Thecoe and Herodian
1. Eleazar
2. Pitched camp at Thecoe
3. Refusal to surrender
4. Suicide
Nor was it long ere Simon came violently again upon their
country; when he pitched his camp at a certain village
called Thecoe, and sent Eleazar, one of his companions, to
those that kept garrison at Herodian, and in order to per-
suade them to surrender that fortress to him. The garrison
received this man readily, while they knew nothing of what
he came about; but as soon as he talked of the surrender
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of the place, they fell upon him with their drawn swords, till
he found that he had no place for flight, when he threw himself down from the wall into the valley beneath; so he died
immediately.
War, 4, 9.5
The following passage is also part of the satire. The reader should
recognize it as the passage 1 analyzed above, which led me to understand that the name of the Messiah captured on the Mount of Olives
was Eleazar. One of the elements that makes the root and branch
satire so difficult to comprehend is that it uses the solutions to other
puzzles as components. In other words, a reader must first solve the
puzzle that reveals that the "certain young man" captured on the
Mount of Olives was named Eleazar to be able to move forward and
see the even larger story that the captured Eleazar is a part of.
For clarification, I present the following list of the elements in
the story that are part of the satire.
Location: Mount of Olives
1. Eleazar
2. Pedanius (physician)
3. Pedanius hangs Eleazar down from his hand as he "carries
him away"
4. Capture occurs on the Mount of Olives
5. The fact that Eleazar is ordered to be "pruned"
Many of the seditious were so pressed by the famine . . .
that they got together, and made an attack on those Roman
guards that were upon the Mount of Olives ... But the
Romans were apprised of their coming to attack them
beforehand ... and one whose name was Pedanius spurred
his horse on their flank with great vehemence, and caught
up a certain young man belonging to the enemy by his
ankle, as he was running away; the man was, however, of a
robust body, and in his armor; so low did Pedanius bend
himself downward from his horse, even as he was galloping away, and so great was the strength of his right hand,
and of the rest of his body, as also such skill had he in
horsemanship. So this man seized upon that his prey, as
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upon a precious treasure, and carried him as his captive to
Caesar . . . whereupon Titus admired the man that had
seized the other for his great strength, and ordered the
man that was caught to be pruned for his attempt against
the Roman wall. 123
The following passage is one of the most important in the works
of Josephus because in it he records his parallel to the crucifixion of
Jesus in the New Testament. It occurs after the siege of Jerusalem but
before the passage describing Eleazar's capture and release at
Macherus. Its temporal orientation relative to the other events in the
root and branch satire is crucial, and to make this more difficult to
see, the event is recorded in Josephus' autobiography and not in War
of the Jews. However, Josephus did provide — for the alert reader — a
path to understanding, when his crucifixion scene occurred relative
to the other events in the satire. He did so with the statement "Moreover, when the city Jerusalem was taken by force, I was sent by Titus,"
which indicates that the event occurred after the capture of the "certain young man" on the Mount of Olives by Pedanius but before the
siege of Macherus, which occurred after Titus had left Judea.
This relative placement is also crucially important for the overall parallel sequence between Jesus' ministry and Titus' campaign. In
other words, as in the New Testament, the "three are crucified, one
survives" episode occurs after the Mount of Olives capture but
before the condemnation of Simon and the sparing of John, which
Titus learned of by letter after he had left Jerusalem. 124
The following list contains the elements that are used in the
root and branch satire from the passage below, describing three Jews
who are crucified and one who survive at Thecoa.
Location: Thecoa
1) Three are crucified but one survives
2) Joseph bar Matthias takes survivor down from the cross
3) Pitched camp at Thecoe
4) Physician
Moreover, when the city Jerusalem was taken by force, I
was sent by Titus Caesar, to a certain village called Thecoa,
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in order to know whether it were a place fit for a camp; as I
came back, I saw many captives crucified, and remembered
three of them as my former acquaintance. I was very sorry
at this in my mind, and went with tears in my eyes to Titus,
and told him of them; so he immediately commanded them
to be taken down, and to have the greatest care taken of
them, in order to their recovery; yet two of them died under
the physician's hands, while the third recovered.
Josephus Life, 26
Following Titus' return to Rome, Josephus describes a valley
next to the fortress Macherus in which a "magic root" that could dispel demons grew. The following list contains the elements in that
passage that are used in the satire.
Location: Baaras
1) A root that can dispel demons
2) The fact that this root must be hung down from the hand of
its captor as he "carries it away"
Now within this place there grew a sort of rue that deserves
our wonder on account of its largeness, for it was no way
inferior to any fig tree whatsoever, either in height or in
thickness; and the report is, that it had lasted ever since the
times of Herod, and would probably have lasted much
longer, had it not been cut down by those Jews who took
possession of the place afterward. But still in that valley
which encompasses the city on the north side there is a
certain place called Baaras, which produces a root of the
same name with itself. Its color is like to that of flame, and
towards the evenings it sends out a certain ray like lightning. It is not easily taken by such as would do it, but
recedes from their hands, nor will yield itself to be taken
quietly, until either the urine of a woman, or her menstrual
blood, be poured upon it; nay, even then it is certain death
to those that touch it, unless any one take and hang the root
itself down from his hand, and so carry it away. It may also
be taken another way, without danger, which is this: they
dig a trench quite round about it, till the hidden part of the
root be very small, they then tie a dog to it, and when the
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dog tries hard to follow him that tied him, this root is easily
plucked up, but the dog dies immediately, as if it were
instead of the man that would take the plant away; nor after
this need any one be afraid of taking it into their hands. Yet,
after all this pains in getting, it is only valuable on account
of one virtue it hath, that if it be only brought to sick persons, it quickly drives away those called demons, which are
no other than the spirits of the wicked, that enter into men
that are alive and kill them, unless they can obtain some
help against them. 125
Immediately following the description of the magic root Josephus describes another incident involving an Eleazar at one of the
Herodian fortresses, Macherus.
The following elements from the passage are part of the satire.
Location: Macherus
1. Herodian fort
2. Eleazar
3. The fact that Eleazar is carried away in his armor
4. The fact that Eleazar survives his crucifixion
Now a certain person belonging to the Roman camp, whose
name was Rufus, by birth an Egyptian, ran upon him suddenly, when nobody expected such a thing, and carried him
off, with his armor itself; while, in the mean time, those that
saw it from the wall were under such an amazement, that
Rufus prevented their assistance, and carried Eleazar to
the Roman camp. So the general of the Romans ordered
that he should be taken up naked, set before the city to be
seen, and sorely whipped before their eyes. Upon this sad
accident that befell the young man, the Jews were terribly
confounded, and the city, with one voice, sorely lamented
him, and the mourning proved greater than could welt be
supposed upon the calamity of a single person. 126
When Bassus perceived that, he began to think of using
a stratagem against the enemy, and was desirous to aggravate their grief, in order to prevail with them to surrender
the city for the preservation of that man. Nor did he fail of
his hope; for he commanded them to set up a cross, as if he
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were just going to hang Eleazar upon it immediately; the
sight of this occasioned a sore grief among those that were
in the citadel, and they groaned vehemently, and cried out
that they could not bear to see him thus destroyed. Whereupon Eleazar besought them not to disregard him, now he
was going to suffer a most miserable death, and exhorted
them to save themselves, by yielding to the Roman power
and good fortune, since they now conquered all other people. These men were greatly moved with what he said, there
being also many within the city that interceded for him,
because he was of an eminent and very numerous family;
so they now yielded to their passion of commiseration, contrary to their usual custom. Accordingly, they sent out
immediately certain messengers, and treated with the
Romans, in order to surrender the citadel to them, and
desired that they might be permitted to go away, and take
Eleazar along with them. Then did the Romans and their
general accept of these terms . . . Bassus thought he must
perform the covenant he had made with those that had surrendered, he let them go, and restored Eleazar to them.
The famous depiction of the siege of Masada is also part of this
satirical theme. Its elements are
Location: Masada
1. Herodian fort
2. Eleazar
3. Not surrendering leads to suicide
This fortress was called Masada. It was one Eleazar, a
potent man, and the commander of these Sicarii that had
seized upon it. He was a descendant from that Judas who
had persuaded abundance of the Jews, as we have formerly
related, not to submit to the taxation when Cyrenius was
sent into Judea to make one.
7,8,1
Finally, Josephus records his last story about "Eleazar"; this time
he is located in Rome. We can be certain that the event occurred in
Rome because Josephus states that the event occurred in the presence of Vespasian's sons — notice the plural. Since Domitian did not
travel to Judea, this fact establishes that the event took place after Titus
had returned to Rome. In the passage, Eleazar is using a magic root
to remove demons from captives. Its elements within the satire are
Location: Rome
1. Eleazar
2. Magic Root
3. Demons cannot pass through water
... for I have seen a certain man of my own country, whose
name was Eleazar, releasing people that were demoniacal
in the presence of Vespasian, and his sons, and his captains, and the whole multitude of his soldiers. The manner
of the cure was this: He put a ring that had a root of one of
those sorts mentioned by Solomon to the nostrils of the
demoniac, after which he drew out the demon through his
nostrils . . . And when Eleazar would persuade and demonstrate to the spectators that he had such a power, he set a
little way off a cup or basin full of water, and commanded
the demon, as he went out of the man, to overturn it, and
thereby to let the spectators know that he had left the man. 127
To begin the interpretation of the root and branch satire, I would
note that all the passages above involve a character named "Eleazar."
In the passages that occur at Herodian, Macherus, Masada, and
Rome, Josephus names the character overtly. In the case of the
"young man" who was "carried away" at the Mount of Olives, I have
already shown the puzzle that leads to this conclusion. The crucified
man who survived at Thecoa and the "magical root" of Baaras are
also part of the satirical system regarding Eleazar. This is an example of the same motif that I discussed previously regarding the various Marys and Simons. In other words, all the Eleazars are part of a
single satirical element.
The passages work together to create a story describing the
Roman capture of the messianic root of the Jews — Eleazar — and
then their "pruning" of him and transforming him into Jesus, the
demon-dispelling, pro-Roman Messiah.
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The parallel that indicates that Eleazar is the "root" is quite
overt. The reader must recall the method by which Josephus states
someone may capture the magic root baaras — that is, the "Son" —
without killing himself: "... it is certain death to those that touch
it, unless any one take and hang the root itself down from his hand,
and so carry it away."
This is the precise, and implausible, method used by Pedanius
to procure Eleazar on the Mount of Olives: "... so low did Pedanius
bend himself downward from his horse . . . and so great was the
strength of his right hand ... So this man seized upon that his prey,
as upon a precious treasure, and carried him as his captive to Caesar."
Notice the parallel language "down," "hand," and "carried away."
As his depiction of the "magic root" does, Josephus' preposter-
ous description of Pedanius' capture of the "certain young man" on
the Mount of Olives stretches credulity. This literary device alerts
the reader that the tales are not literal history and that, therefore, he
or she should look for another type of meaning. In this instance, the
parallel methods by which they are captured identifies, metaphorically, that Eleazar is, like baaras, a dangerous "root." This identification is also facilitated by the name of the root — baaras — which
means "son." Further, the satirical capture by Pedanius of the Jewish Messiah, who is the "root" to the messianic rebels, contributes to
the overall satirical theme and the wit. Because Pedanius was the
Romans' most renowned root specialist, he would have been, of
course, the one chosen to handle such a dangerous one.
The meaning of the tale of the "magic root" of baaras within the
root and branch satire is also easy to understand. It documents the
existence of a metaphorical "root" that had the power to remove
demons — obviously the Jesus of the New Testament, the only individual in history with such power. The Romans would graft this
demon-dispelling "root" onto Eleazar once they had "pruned" him,
thereby transforming the "root" that had infected so many with a
demonic spirit into one that had the power to remove demons.
Parallels also indicate that the individual who survived his crucifixion at Thecoa was the Messiah. This individual would have
been a "Christ" because, like his "type" in the New Testament, he
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was the sole survivor among three crucified men. The two must be
among the few individuals in history to have survived a crucifixion.
Further, a "Joseph of Arimathea" arranged for both survivors to
be taken down from the cross. This is to say that the last names of
the two Josephs — "Josephus Bar Matthias" and "Joseph of Arimathea" — are homophonically similar. "Arimathea" is an obvious
play on Josephus' last name, "Bar Matthias," which is quite similar
to the "Iscariot/Sicarii" pun noted above. The Gospel of Barnabas, a
noncanonical Gospel from the middle ages, does not even bother
with this word play and states that the name of the individual who
took Jesus down from the cross was "Joseph of Barimathea." "Joseph
of Arimathea" is also identified as the "type" of Josephus bar
Matthias by his job description — counselor. (Luke 23:50)
The individual who survived his crucifixion at Thecoa is also
linked to the Eleazar captured on the Mount of Olives by the physician Pedanius in that Josephus states that it was a physician who
restored him to life. Pedanius was the physician who accompanied
Titus to Judea and therefore would have been the physician at Thecoa. Finally, the Eleazar who committed suicide at the fortress Herodian had pitched camp at Thecoa previously and had, thus,
answered the question Josephus asked about whether Thecoa was a
"fit place to camp."
The name of the place where the crucifixion occurred — Thecoa — is also part of the satirical system. Thecoa, or Theo Coeus, is
the name of the Roman god of the questioning intellect. The point
being made here is that the irrational Jewish Messiah was taken to
the place of a discerning or questioning intellect. There he was, as
Titus ordered, "pruned" and, as Paul described, "grafted onto" with
a new "root" and was thus transformed into a Messiah deemed
rational by the Romans.
Knowing that the "magic root" was named Eleazar, as was the
man who survived his crucifixion at Thecoa, and knowing the time
sequence with which these events took place, enables the reader to
perceive the satire that all the passages work together to create.
The Eleazar captured by Pedanius on the Mount of Olives is
taken to Thecoa, where he is "hung on a tree" — that is crucified —
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and, as Titus has ordered, "pruned." The botanist and physician
Pedanius then grafts the magic root of baaras onto him. This process
transforms Eleazar from a "root" that causes the Jews to be possessed by a demonic spirit into the "root" that dispells demons.
Eleazar has become Jesus.
Once this Eleazar has been satirically pruned and grafted onto
at Thecoa, he is "given back" to the Jews at Macherus. In this way
the Romans introduce a "tame," or domesticated, plant into a field
of wild ones to decrease the wildness of later generations. Of note is
the fact that, at this point, the satire takes the story of Jesus beyond
the story line of the Gospels and begins to describe the implementation of Christianity by the Romans. This satirical introduction of
the domesticated "Jesus" takes place in the passage that immediately
follows the description of the "magic root." In that passage the
Roman general Bassus seeks to make the Jews inside the Herodian
fortress Macherus surrender by threatening to crucify Eleazar in
front of them. Those Jews who "accept these terms" are permitted to
survive and Bassus then restores "Eleazar" — obviously, the Eleazar
"carried away" at the Mount of Olives and treated by the physician
at Thecoa — to them and they go on their way. In other words, those
Jews who accept the tamed Messiah and his pro-Roman doctrines
are allowed to live.
At Masada, however, another Eleazar, a parallel to the Eleazar at
Herodian, refuses to surrender and commits suicide. The point is
that refusal to surrender and accept the new Judaism is tantamount
to suicide. With this Eleazar's death, Josephus is also terminating the
"root" and "branch" of the Maccabean lineage so that it will not
compete against the "domesticated" messianic lineage newly established by Rome.
Josephus concludes the "root and branch" satire with the
description of yet another Eleazar, one who performs exorcisms at
Rome. This Eleazar uses the "magic root" to pull demons out of captives, clearly indicating captured messianic Jews. This image represents a complete victory for the Roman "homeopathic" approach to
the problem of the messianic "root" that caused Jews to be possessed
by "demons."
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The "root" that caused the Jewish rebels to be infected has been
domesticated by Pedanius and can therefore now be used to cure
them of the disease it brought about. This image is both the fulfillment of the prophecy of Malachi — which foresees that the wicked
will be left with no "branch" or "root" — and the conclusion of the
satire that began in the New Testament concerning the "root."
Further, the passage concludes the comic theme regarding the
inability of demons to pass through water, which began in the
demons of Gadara passage above and ends here with the demonic
spirit knocking over the basin full of water as it leaves the prisoners.
These prisoners were the 2,000 rebels who were captured at Gadara.
Being demonically possessed, they could not pass through water and
therefore did not drown. As the demon leaves them, it concludes the
joke by knocking over the water basin.
The passage is also Josephus' last depiction of the "domesticated" Christ that the Romans created and it provides us with their
vision of his future. He is at Rome, working for the imperial family
by calming the rebellious, just as he has been for the last 2,000 years.
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