Caesar's Messiah

CHAPTER 11

The Puzzle of Decius Mundus

I believe that the Flavians did not intend to have sophisticated people like themselves take their invention, Christianity, seriously. Jose-
phus describes the individuals who fomented the rebellion in Judea
as "slaves" and "scum." These are the individuals that Rome would
have seen as being susceptible to an infatuation with militant Judaism.
It was for this group, hoi polloi, that they created the religion. 

This is why the authors of the New Testament and Josephus felt
free to put in their creations the puzzles and lampoons that "notified" the educated of the true origin of the religion. They did not
believe that the masses — the uneducated slaves and peasants for
whom Christianity was intended — would understand these puzzles,
an assumption that has proven to be correct. However, they certainly
wanted the puzzles to be solved eventually. Only then could Titus'
greatest achievement — that of transforming himself into "Jesus," be
appreciated. 

My interpretation of the following passages is that they create a
puzzle whose solution shows how the puzzles in the New Testament
can be solved. The puzzle itself is quite easy to solve; the only difficult aspect of it is recognizing that the puzzle exists. 

There are three "pieces" to the puzzle. One of these is the Testimonium Josephus, which is the name scholars have given to Jose-
phus' one and only, very short description of the "Christ." The other
two "pieces" of the puzzle are the two tales that immediately follow
the Testimonium. 

To date, scholars have not recognized that the Testimonium and
the two tales that follow it create a puzzle, simply because they have

226

The Puzzle of Decius Mundus 227

failed to see that the three tales must have been created as an interrelated set — that is, they were created in direct relationship to one
another. Once this proposition is understood, it becomes clear that
they form a puzzle whose solution is also obvious. 

Here is the Testimonium and the two odd tales that follow it. 

Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be
Lawful to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful
works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many
of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ. And when Pilate, at the
suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him did not at
first forsake him, for he appeared to them alive the third
day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe
of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day.
About the same time also another sad calamity put the
Jews into disorder, and certain shameful practices happened about the termpLe of Isis that was at Rome. I will now
first take notice of the wicked attempt about the temple of
Isis, and will then give an account of the Jewish affairs.
There was at Rome a woman whose name was Paulina; one
who, on account of the dignity of her ancestors, and by the
regular conduct of a virtuous life, had a great reputation:
she was also very rich; and although she was of a beautiful
countenance, and in that flower of her age wherein women
are the most gay, yet did she lead a life of great modesty.
She was married to Saturninus, one that was every way
answerable to her in an excellent character. Decius Mundus
fell in love with this woman. He was a man very high in the
equestrian order; and as she was of too great dignity to be
caught by presents, and had already rejected them, though
they had been sent in great abundance, he was still more
inflamed with love to her, insomuch that he promised to
give her two hundred thousand Attic drachmae for one
night's lodging; and when this would not prevail upon her,
and he was not able to bear this misfortune in his amours,

228 Caesar's Messiah 

he thought it the best way to famish himself to death for
want of food, on account of Paulina's sad refusal; and he
determined with himself to die after such a manner, and he
went on with his purpose accordingly. Now Mundus had a
freed-woman, who had been made free by his father, whose
name was Ide, one skillful in all sorts of mischief. This
woman was very much grieved at the young man's resolution to kill himself, (for he did not conceal his intentions to
destroy himself from others,) and came to him, and encouraged him by her discourse, and made him to hope, by some
promises she gave him, that he might obtain a night's lodging with Paulina; and when he joyfully hearkened to her
entreaty, she said she wanted no more than fifty thousand
drachmae for the entrapping of the woman. So when she
had encouraged the young man, and gotten as much money
as she required, she did not take the same methods as had
been taken before, because she perceived that the woman
was by no means to be tempted by money; but as she knew
that she was very much given to the worship of the goddess
Isis, she devised the following stratagem: She went to some
of Isis's priests, and upon the strongest assurances [of concealment], she persuaded them by words, but chiefly by the
offer of money, of twenty-five thousand drachmae in hand,
and as much more when the thing had taken effect; and
told them the passion of the young man, and persuaded
them to use all means possible to beguile the woman. So
they were drawn in to promise so to do, by that large sum
of gold they were to have. Accordingly, the oldest of them
went immediately to Paulina; and upon his admittance, he
desired to speak with her by herself. When that was granted
him, he told her that he was sent by the god Anubis, who
was fallen in love with her, and enjoined her to come to him.
Upon this she took the message very kindly, and valued
herself greatly upon this condescension of Anubis, and told
her husband that she had a message sent her, and was to
sup and lie with Anubis; so he agreed to her acceptance of
the offer, as fully satisfied with the chastity of his wife.
Accordingly, she went to the temple, and after she had

The Puzzle of Decius Mundus 229

supped there, and it was the hour to go to sleep, the priest
shut the doors of the temple, when, in the holy part of it, the
lights were also put out. Then did Mundus leap out, (for he
was hidden therein,) and did not fail of enjoying her, who
was at his service all the night long, as supposing he was
the god; and when he was gone away, which was before
those priests who knew nothing of this stratagem were stirring, Paulina came early to her husband, and told him how
the god Anubis had appeared to her. Among her friends,
also, she declared how great a value she put upon this
favor, who partly disbelieved the thing, when they reflected
on its nature, and partly were amazed at it, as having no
pretense for not believing it, when they considered the
modesty and the dignity of the person. But now, on the third
day after what had been done, Mundus met Paulina, and
said, "Nay, Paulina, thou hast saved me two hundred thousand drachmae, which sum thou mightest have added to
thy own family; yet hast thou not failed to be at my service
in the manner I invited thee. As for the reproaches thou
hast laid upon Mundus, I value not the business of names;
but I rejoice in the pleasure I reaped by what I did, while I
took to myself the name of Anubis." When he had said this,
he went his way. But now she began to come to the sense
of the grossness of what she had done, and rent her garments, and told her husband of the horrid nature of the
wicked contrivance and prayed him not to neglect to assist
her in this case. So he discovered the fact to the emperor;
whereupon Tiberius inguired into the matter thoroughly by
examining the priests about it, and ordered them to be crucified, as well as Ide, who was the occasion of their perdition, and who had contrived the whole matter, which was so
injurious to the woman. He also demolished the temple of
Isis, and gave order that her statue should be thrown into
the river Tiber; while he only banished Mundus, but did no
more to him, because he supposed that what crime he had
committed was done out of the passion of love. And these
were the circumstances which concerned the temple of
Isis, and the injuries occasioned by her priests.

230 Caesar's Messiah

I now return to the relation of what happened about this
time to the Jews at Rome, as I formerly told you I would. 

There was a man who was a Jew, but he had been
driven away from his own country by an accusation laid
against him for transgressing their laws, and by the fear he
was under of punishment for the same; but in all respects
a wicked man. He, then living at Rome, professed to instruct
men in the wisdom of the laws of Moses. He procured also
three other men, entirely of the same character with himself, to be his partners. These men persuaded Fulvia, a
woman of great dignity, and one that had embraced the
Jewish religion, to send purple and gold to the temple at
Jerusalem; and when they had gotten them, they employed
them for their own uses, and spent the money themselves,
on which account it was that they at first required it of her.
Whereupon Tiberius, who had been informed of the thing by
Saturninus, the husband of Fulvia, who desired inquiry
might be made about it, ordered all the Jews to be banished
out of Rome; at which time the consuls listed four thousand
men out of them, and sent them to the island Sardinia; but
punished a greater number of them, who were unwilling to
become soldiers, on account of keeping the laws of their
forefathers. Thus were these Jews banished out of the city
by the wickedness of four men. 152 

First, it should be noted that the two tales that follow the Testimonium are oddly tangential from the narration Josephus has been
engaged in up unto it, which describes Pontius Mates' military
activity in Judea. They stand out both because of their location,
Rome, as well as their lightweight, ribald substance. 

Josephus is here using an unusual Judaic literary structure
called "pedimental composition," in which the different passages
form columns of a temple. Josephus uses a particular pedimental
style of composition in which three pillars form a literary temple. 153
The two side columns are small; both concern issues having to do
with the Jews, and the left-hand column is the famous passage about
Christ. Unfortunately, scholars have focused on the left-hand passage, while ignoring the overall literary composition and the overall

The Puzzle of Decius Mundus 23 1

rhetorical structure, which indicates that the focus of attention
should be on the central column. 

It was another comic stroke for Josephus to use a temple-like
literary structure to describe an account of a temple. This pedimental structure with the focus on the central passage similarly is used
in the Book of Leviticus in which chapters 18 and 20 form the side
columns and chapter 19 forms the central column of a literary temple. 

Moreover, there is a claim within the tales that is verifiably false.
The temple of Isis was not destroyed during this era, a fact that Josephus was aware of. He wrote that Vespasian and Titus had spent the
night before the celebration of the completion of the Judaic war at
the temple of Isis. 154 This led me to question why Josephus knowingly records an obvious spoof as history. 

To begin this analysis, I want to point out what I understand
about the name of the protagonist in the first and longer tale, Decius
Mundus. Mundus is the Latin word for "world," or "earth." The name
Decius Mundus, I believe, is a pun on Decius Mus, the name of a
father and son who were among Rome's greatest military heroes.
Both father and son had "devoted" (devotio) themselves; that is to
say, in the midst of fierce battles they had sacrificed themselves. The
devotio was a religious ritual of the Roman army that was made to all
gods, known and unknown, Roman and enemy. One of its purposes
was to induce the gods of the enemy to defect to Rome. As I have
mentioned, the Romans felt that they were divinely inspired to conquer. By the beginning of the first century C.E., Rome had for hundreds of years fought and conquered not only their enemies, but also
the gods of their enemies. The devotio was a technique for neutralizing their enemies' gods. 

In the ritual, one Roman, together with the legions of the
enemy would be "devoted" to the gods. In effect, one Roman would
sacrifice himself for the good of the many. Thus, Decius Mus offered
himself as a sacrifice to all the gods, agreeing to give up his life in
exchange for their assistance in taking the enemy along with him to
the underworld. 

At first both armies fought with equal strength and equal
determination. After a time the Roman hastati on the left,

232 Caesar's Messiah

unable to withstand the insistency of the Latins, retired
behind the principes. During the temporary confusion created by this movement, Decius exclaimed in a loud voice to
M. Valerius: "Valerius, we need the help of the gods! Come
now, you are a state pontiff of the Roman people — dictate
the formula whereby I may devote myself to save the
legions . . . 

". . . Janus, Jupiter, Father Mars, Quirinus, Bellona,
Lares, New Gods, Native Gods, deities to whom belongs the
power over us and over our foes, and ye, too, Divine Manes,
I pray to you, I do you reverence, I crave your grace and
favour that you will bless the Roman People, the Quirites,
with power and victory, and visit the enemies of the Roman
People, the Quirites, with fear and dread and death. In like
manner as I have uttered this prayer so do I now on behalf
of the common-wealth of the Quirites, on behalf of the
army, the legions, the auxiliaries of the Roman People, the
Quirites, devote the legions and auxiliaries of the enemy,
together with myself to the Divine Manes and to Earth." 

... To those who watched him in both armies, he
appeared something awful and superhuman, as though
sent from heaven to expiate and appease all the anger of
the gods and to avert destruction from his people and bring
it on their enemies. All the dread and terror which he carried with him threw the front ranks of the Latins into con-
fusion which soon spread throughout the entire army. This
was most evident, for wherever his horse carried him they
were paralyzed as though struck by some death-dealing
star; but when he fell, overwhelmed with darts, the Latin
cohorts, in a state of perfect consternation, fled from the
spot and left a large space clear. The Romans, on the other
hand, freed from all religious fears, pressed forward. 155 

Decius Mus' famous self-sacrifice was performed to "free the
Romans from all religious fears." To accomplish this he offered his
life to both the gods of the Romans (the Quirites) and the gods of
his enemies. This technique was aimed at "appeasing" the gods of
Rome's enemies and thus freeing the Romans from concerns about

The Puzzle of Decius Mundus 233 

whether these gods would give divine assistance to their enemies.
Notice that Decius also appealed to "new gods." I suspect that
Decius "Mundus" or Decius "World" would have been understood
by a patrician as a pun calling to mind Decius Mus on a worldwide
scale. This wordplay to show a larger scale for Decius Mus is made
clearer by the fact that "mus" means "mouse" in Latin. If a playwright created a character named Napoleon World, it would be
obvious which character in history he was lampooning. Decius was
perhaps Rome's most famous war hero and all patricians were aware
of his exploits. For example, the Roman satirist Juvenal, writing
during the Flavian era, waxed glowingly about the heroics of Decius
Mus. Juvenal clearly understood that his audience was familiar with
Decius and his devotio, as he refers to both without explanation. 

In the story, the author writes that Decius Mundus had a "resolution to kill himself, (for he did not conceal his intentions to
destroy himself from others)." Decius Mundus is, thus, parallel to
both Decius Mus and Jesus in that none of them concealed from others their intention to destroy themselves. Josephus has placed this
idea in parenthesis, underscoring the importance of it. This revelation makes clearer the connection between Decius Mus and Decius
Mundus. A Roman patrician would have understood a character
named Decius Mundus as a lampoon of Decius Mus. 

It also establishes a parallel between Decius Mundus and Jesus.
This parallel is clear because Jesus went out of his way to make others aware of his coming self-sacrifice. "You know that after two days
is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified." [Matthew 25, 26] 

The following passage from the Gospel of John likens Jesus' selfsacrifice to the devotio of Decius Mus. Notice that Caiaphas, the
priest who will later oversee Jesus' crucifixion, states that one man
should die for the people, and that the whole nation perishes not. This
is the very definition of the devotio. Also, Caiaphas makes clear his
belief that Jesus must be sacrificed to save all "the children of God,"
expressing the idea of a devotio on a worldwide scale. 

Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? forthis man doeth many miracles.

234 Caesar's Messiah

If we Let him thus alone, all men will believe on him:
and the Romans shall come and take away both our place
and nation. 

And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high
priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all, 

Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man
should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish
not. 

And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest
that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that
nation; 

And not for that nation only, but that also he should
gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad. 

John 1 1 :47-52 

From the perspective of the Flavians, Jesus' self-sacrifice is much
like a devotio. The religion that Jesus established with his death certainly helped to neutralize the militaristic, messianic Judaism that
the Flavians fought against. In fact, to the Flavians, whereas Decius
Mus' sacrifice had only helped save a Roman legion, Jesus' sacrifice
can be said to have helped to save the whole Roman world (mundus). 

An interesting historical point to this line of thought is that
while Jesus is certainly meant to be understood as the Messiah
whom Daniel predicted would be "cut off," the real meaning behind
Jesus' self-sacrifice may lie not in Judaism, as has been universally
believed, but in a rite of the Roman religion, as a spoof of the devotio. 

Whether this conjecture regarding the comic meaning of the
name Decius Mus is correct, it is the case that "Decius," the name of
Rome's most famous self-sacrifice, is the name of the hero of the tale
that directly follows the Testimonium, Josephus' description of history's most famous self-sacrifice. I will show below that Decius
Mundus and Jesus share a much more profound and unique parallel. 

The clearest clue Josephus provides to inform us that we are
dealing with a puzzle is that both the story of Decius and Paulina
and the story of Fulvia have the same plot. As I have shown, parallels within the New Testament and War of the Jews are significant. In
both tales, wicked priests deceive a woman of "dignity" and in both

The Puzzle of Decius Mundus 235

tales the woman's weakness for religion is exploited. Further, not
only do both stories have the same plot, but they also contain a
number of elements that are interchangeable. Both of these deceived
women of dignity, amazingly have husbands named Saturninus.
Both these husbands named "Saturninus" just happen to know the
Emperor Tiberius, to whom each husband goes to complain about
what has been done to his wife. In both tales, among other punishments, Tiberius then "banishes" one or more of the perpetrators. 

Josephus also provided other statements to help the reader recognize that the two stories are to be understood as parallel and
therefore interchangeable. First, he reverses the order in which he
states that he will describe them. 

About the same time also another sad calamity put the
Jews into disorder, and certain shameful practices happened about the temple of Isis that was at Rome. 

I will now first take notice of the wicked attempt about
the temple of Isis, and will then give an account of the Jewish affairs. 

Further, at the beginning of the third story Josephus claims to
be returning to an episode about the Jews "at Rome" as he had "formerly" stated. 

I now return to the relation of what happened about this
time to the Jews at Rome, as I formerly told you I would. 

However, it was the "shameful practices at the temple of Isis'
that Josephus previously claimed to have occurred "at Rome," not
the episode regarding the Jews. Josephus does not mention where
the "sad calamity [that] put the Jews into disorder" occurred. He last
mentioned the Jews in a story regarding their persecution by Pontius Pilate in Judea. Josephus appears to be treating the two stories
as though they are interchangeable. In doing so he continues the
strange "logic" that exists between them, since their only significant
differences are in the names of some of the elements in them. 

It is also notable that Paulina "began to come to the sense of the
grossness of what she had done, and rent her garments." The rending of garments is a well-known Jewish expression of grief and is

236 Caesar's Messiah 

actually required by Jewish religious law in some instances. In the
Gospel of Mark, for example, when the High Priest who questions
Jesus hears him refer to himself as the "Son of Man," he rends his
garments. He does this because in the Sanhedrin it states that a
judge who has heard blasphemous words must do so. The Talmud
recounts ten "sad accidents" for which Jews are instructed to rend
their garments. Josephus also records numerous occasions in his
histories where Jews rend their garments as an expression of grief.
Therefore, why would Paulina, a member of the cult of Isis, be the
one to rend her garments and not Fulvia, the Jew, when she has the
same experience? 

There is another clue, a parallel that links the Testimonium to
the tale of Decius Mundus. It is one of the most significant parallels
that I will present to the reader in this work. 

The Testimonium describes Jesus' resurrection, stating that he
"appeared to them alive again on the third day." Decius Mundus also
appears to Paulina on the third day. There is, of course, a difference.
Whereas Jesus appears on the third day to show that he is a God,
Decius appears on the third day to announce that he is not a god. 

It is implausible that something as unusual as two "third-day
divinity declarations" would wind up next to one another by chance.
The Testimonium contains the only non-New Testament first-century description of the life of Jesus. The probability that a mirror
opposite of Jesus' resurrection, a singular event in literature, would
occur by chance in the paragraph following its only historical documentation is, I believe, too low for consideration. In fact, in all of literature these are the only two stories I am aware of that describe anyone coming on a "third day" to proclaim that he is or is not a god.
The only rational explanation is that this mirror-opposite parallel
has, for some reason, been placed next to the Testimonium deliberately. 

Another connection between Decius and Jesus is the fact that
Anubis, the god Decius pretends to be, is a god with many parallels
to Christ. Anubis, like Jesus, is a son of god, and is referred to as the
"Royal Child" within the cult of Isis. More importantly, Anubis is a
god who comes back from the dead. The cult of Isis actually celebrated his death at the hands of Set and his subsequent resurrection.

The Puzzle of Decius Mundus 237

The myth of Anubis' resurrection also contains, like that of Jesus, a
strong eschatological message. 

All three stories are described as occurring "at about same
time," which links them to one another temporally. While it is
hardly unusual for events to be said to occur at about the same time,
Josephus links the Fulvia story to the Testimonium in another, more
unique way. In the passage he writes 

There was a man who was a Jew, but he had been driven
away from his own country by an accusation laid against
him for transgressing their laws, and by the fear he was
under of punishment for the same; but in all respects a
wicked man. He, then living at Rome, professed to instruct
men in the wisdom of the laws of Moses. 

There is a known individual who was a Jew and had been driven
away from his own country and had had accusations laid against
him for transgressing the laws of the Jews. He was also under fear of
punishment for these transgressions and was known to have lived at
Rome, and professed to instruct men in his understanding of the
laws of Moses. The character is, of course, the Apostle Paul. 

But, when the seven days were nearly over, the Jews from
the province of Asia, having seen Paul in the Temple, set
about rousing the fury of all the people against him. 

They laid hands on him, crying out, "Men of Israel,
help! help! This is the man who goes everywhere preaching
to everybody against the Jewish people and the Law and
this place . . ." 

The excitement spread through the whole city, and the
people rushed in and gates were immediately closed. 

But while they were trying to kill Paul, word was taken
up to the Tribune in battalion, that all Jerusalem was in a
ferment. 

He instantly sent for a few soldiers and their officers,
and came down among the people with all speed. At the
sight of the Tribune and the troops they ceased beating Paul. 

When Paul was going up the steps, he had to be carried
by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob;

238 Caesar's Messiah

I could not discover that he had done anything for
which he deserved to die; but as he has himself appealed to
the Emperor, I have decided to send him to Rome. 156 

That the wicked man in the Fulvia story can be seen as a lam-
poon of Paul seems difficult to dispute. 157 Josephus links the Fulvia
story to the Testimonium in yet another way. 

These men persuaded Fulvia, a woman of great dignity, and
one that had embraced the Jewish religion, to send purple
and gold to the temple at Jerusalem . . . 

Purple was the royal color in the first century. Sending purple to
the temple at Jerusalem suggests that the ruse the wicked priests use
to fool Fulvia somehow involves a king, or a person of royal rank,
among the Jews. Perhaps one who is religious as well as secular.
Because Josephus has indicated that this event occurs at "about the
same time" that Jesus lived, he would be at least a candidate for the
one referred to as royal. Indeed, since the reference to purple occurs
on the same page as the Testimonium, the only historical description
of Jesus, what other "king of the Jews" can possibly come to mind? 

So Jesus came out, wearing the wreath of thorns and the
purple cloak. 

Then they began to march up to Him, saying in a mock-
ing voice, "Hail, King of the Jews!" 

John 19:3 

All the "clues" above work together to suggest that some relationship exists among all three stories. For example, the Testimonium seems related to the Decius story because they share third-day
divinity declarations. Likewise, the Fulvia story must be related to
the Decius story because they share the same plot, the name of both
husbands is the same, etc. The parallels and interchangeable elements within the three stories show that the author has deliberately
established some relationship among them that is not apparent on
the surface, some problem the reader must attempt to "solve." In
other words, the three stories are a puzzle.

The Puzzle of Decius Mundus 239

Once the three stories are seen as a puzzle the solution becomes
obvious. Josephus actually has Decius Mundus state the solution to
the puzzle within the lampoon: 

. . . value not the business of names . . . 

Decius did not value "the business of names" and took the name
of Anubis. To solve the puzzle of Decius, the reader need only do the
same. 

To solve the puzzle, the reader must simply switch the names of
the characters and religions that Josephus has identified as parallel,
so that while the stories will be the same, the names of the characters will be different. This technique is used throughout the New
Testament and War of the Jews. The name of a character in one story
is given to a character in another, parallel tale. 

In the story of Decius Mundus simply switch the name of the
character Paulina, who is a member of Cult of Isis, with Fulvia from
the third story, who is a member of the Jewish religion. Notice that
Josephus has actually shown us that these two characters are interchangeable. Both women have an experience with wicked priests;
both have husbands with the same name; both husbands appeal to
Tiberius; and both women share the quality of dignity. 

Josephus has also indicated that the cult of Isis and the Jewish
religion are interchangeable by deliberately reversing which story he
tells first and which religion was "at Rome." 

The reader can now replace the name of the character "Decius
Mundus" with "Christ" from the first story, the Testimonium. Again,
Josephus has shown that the names are interchangeable by the par-
allel attributes of these two characters. They both claim to be gods,
they both make revelations regarding their divinity on the third day;
and they both have made public resolutions to sacrifice themselves. 

The new Decius Mundus story, created by switching the names
of the characters and religions Josephus has identified as interchangeable, can be summarized as follows: 

Decius Mundus, a Roman, is desirous of Fulvia, a Jew of dignity,
whom he cannot seduce with money. Learning that her weakness is
her religion, he pays wicked priests to convince her that he is the

240 Caesar's Messiah 

Christ, so that he can "screw" her. On the third day, he reappears to
tell her he is not really the Messiah but received pleasure by pretending to be a god. The Jews are then banished and their temple
destroyed. 

While this new story is still a satire, it is one whose meaning can
easily be grasped. The translation that I offer is as follows: 

Rome desires Judea but cannot tempt it with wealth because of
the staunch religious convictions of its people. Therefore, a Roman
fools the Jewish Zealots into believing that he is the Christ. He pays
wicked priests to help him carry out the plot. The authors of Christianity "enjoy" the experience of pretending to be the Messiah. 

The unnamed Jew in the final tale who "professed to instruct
men in the wisdom of the laws of Moses' is identified as Paul in the
parallel description in Acts 25 given above. Josephus also assists the
reader with this identification by beginning the parallel stories with
descriptions of the genders of "Paulina" and the "Jew at Rome."
Once the reader knows that the stories are designed to have interchangeable elements, it is not difficult to see that by switching their
genders Paulina can become Paul, which completely clarifies the
identity of the "Jew at Rome." 

The story created by solving the puzzle reveals how Caesar
fooled the Jews into calling him "Lord" without their knowing it by
simply switching his name to Jesus — the great secret of Christianity.
It also reveals the keys to understanding the comic story within the
New Testament — a character may take on another name, stories that
share parallels can be combined to create another story, and an
unnamed character in one passage will have the same name as a
character in a parallel passage. 

While the puzzle is simple, the technical idea behind it is ingenious. The story that emerges when the reader reverses the inter-
changeable characters and religions can be read literally as the historical event Josephus recorded. Thus, Josephus, as he reminds the
reader so often, has written the "truth." 

The new Decius Mundus story created by switching the names
found in the three tales fits naturally into the history Josephus is
relating. It connects to the passages before it that have to do with the
Jews' reaction to Caesar's effigies in Jerusalem and the Roman effort

The Puzzle of Decius Mundus 241

to buy favor with the Jews. The stories that it replaces do not connect to the passages before them, are incoherent, and have a sense of
fantasy. Josephus has, as he reminded us so often, written the
truth — the truth was just contained in a puzzle. 

The puzzle's main purpose was to show the method by which
the true identities of the characters in the New Testament and War
of the Jews can be known, which is simply to combine the stories
that contain parallels. This technique reveals the identities of the
"certain young man" captured on the Mount of Olives, Mary's
unnamed son whose flesh was eaten, the Apostles Simon and John
and, ultimately, Jesus himself. Also notice that Decius' seduction of
Paulina occurs "in the dark," like Mary Magdalene's mistaking
Lazarus' tomb for that of Jesus, described previously. 

The Testimonium is found in Antiquities of the Jews, Josephus'
second work of history, which he purportedly wrote during the reign
of Titus' brother Domitian. If Christianity was created by the Flavians so that Caesar could secretly become the Messiah, then Domitian could have seen himself as "Jesus" once he became emperor, following Titus' death. Domitian's obsession with his divinity was well
known. He demanded, for example, to be addressed by members of
the Roman senate as "Master and god." Thus, Domitian, while overseeing the production of Antiquities of the Jews, may have been the
basis for the character Decius Mundus. 

This conjecture is supported by an interesting parallel between
episodes in the life of Domitian and the tale of Decius Mundus. The
Flavians overthrew Vitellius, the last of the Julio-Claudian emperors,
with a battle that took place in Rome in 69 C.E. During the battle
Domitian became trapped behind enemy lines. To escape, he donned
a mask of Anubis, exactly as Decius Mundus does, and pretended to
be a priest of Isis. 

Also of interest is the passage from the Decius Mundus story
regarding the character named "Ide." 

... as well as Ide, who was the occasion of their perdition ... 

The ancient Roman calendar celebrated the Ides of the month
on the fifteenth of March, May, July, and October. In the other
months the Ides occur on the thirteenth. Nisan, which actually overlaps March and April, is usually translated as April. Josephus dates
the Passover to the fourteenth of Nisan. 

As now the war abroad ceased for a while, the sedition
within was revived; and on the feast of unleavened bread,
which was now come, it being the fourteenth day of the
month Xanthicus [Nisan], when it is believed the Jews were
first freed from the Egyptians . . . 158 

I suggest that the phrase "the occasion of their perdition" is
wordplay referring to the Ides of Nisan, the date of Jesus' crucifixion
as recorded in the Gospel of John, which is the Gospel Josephus uses
to link dates from his history to the crucifixion — the date of the
"perdition." 

In any event, my interpretation of the three stories resolves
many longstanding questions about how they relate to one another.
This theory reconciles all the many elements within the three stories
that have struck. Further, this interpretation resolves the longstanding debate over how the three stories relate to the passages that are
immediately before and after them. 

The first sentence in the story of Decius Mundus states that
"another sad calamity threw the Jews into disorder." "Disorder" in
Greek (thorubeo) also appears in the first two passages in the chapter, which immediately precede the Testimonium. By starting with a
reference to "another disorder," the story of Decius Mundus seems
to ignore the Testimonium. This fact has led some scholars to suspect
that the Testimonium was therefore inserted into Antiquities by later
Christian redactors. 

G. A. Wells in The Jesus Myth argues this point in the following 

way: 

The word (disorder) connects this introduction of 4 (the tale
of Decius Mundus), with the "uproars" specified in 1 and 2.
Thus 3 — the passage about Jesus — occurs in a context
which deals with uproar bringing danger or misfortune to
the Jews. That 4 follows immediately after 2 is obvious from
the opening words of 4 — "Another calamity." There is no
possible reference to 3.

The Puzzle of Decius Mundus 243

Wells' argument is only one of the various ways in which scholars have tried to explain the strange positioning of the Testimonium.
In this case, Wells suggests two reasons for suspecting that the Testimonium was inserted by later Christian redactors between the Decius
story and the preceding passage regarding Pilate. His first argument
is that since the word "disorder" occurs in passages one and two and
is not found in the third passage of the chapter, the Testimonium, and
but reappears in passage four, this suggests that four should come
after two. Wells also argues that since the expression "another calamity," which begins passage four, cannot be referring to the Testimonium, it must originally have followed the second passage, which in
fact, describes a calamity. 

Many scholars have noticed this apparent lack of continuity
between the Testimonium and the chapter that contains it. H. St. John
Thackeray in his 1929 work on Josephus argues, like Wells, that the
lack of continuity on the subject of "disorder" suggests to him that
redactors, to make history conform to their faith, created and
inserted the Testimonium. Thackeray concludes that the argument
that the Testimonium may have been inserted by redactors "carries
great weight." 

Scholars like Thackeray and Wells have mistakenly seen a lack
of continuity between the Testimonium and the two stories that fol-
low it and the rest of Josephus' history simply because they have
failed to recognize that the three stories could only have been created
in direct relationship to one another and are not independent tales. 

To argue that the Testimonium was inserted into Jewish Antiquities by later Christian redactors who placed it by chance between the
stories about Pilate's "disorders" and the tale of Decius Mundus is
illogical. This is because such an argument is based solely upon the
perceived gap in continuity on the subject of "disorders" and ignores
the continuity created by the parallel "third-day" appearances of
Jesus and Decius. Since riots were common in the works of Josephus
and third-day declarations regarding divinity are unique in literature, this parallel is clearly more important. It connects the Testimonium to the story of Decius in a far stronger manner than the lack of
the word "disorder" in the Testimonium suggests a disconnect.

244 Caesar's Messiah

Therefore, all three stories must have been created together. This
small chain of logic has far-reaching consequences because it also
demonstrates a purpose for their joint creation. If one accepts that
they are a related set created for some purpose, this interpretation
seems the only one possible. 

It is useful to list the problematic or seemingly incoherent
aspects of the three stories that this interpretation resolves to show
how much explanatory power it possesses. 

The first resolution to a "problem" I want to show is the unnatural manner in which the Testimonium and its two following tales fit
into the narration of Josephus' history the problem of a gap in continuity that Wells and Thackeray noted above. To clarify for the
reader the nature of this discontinuity, I present the following
sequence: 

18:35 Pilate arrives in Judea to abolish Jewish laws 

18:55-59 Pilate introduces imperial images in the temple, 

causing a "tumult"
18:60-62 Pilate tries to build an aqueduct, causing another 

"tumult" 

18:63-64 The Testimonium appears 

18:65-80 The Decius Mundus story appears 

18:81 -84 The Fulvia story appears 

18:85-7 Pilate has a confrontation with the Samaritans 

18:88-9 Pilate is removed as procurator 

When the sequence of events is viewed in this manner, it is easy
to see why scholars like Wells and Thackeray have questioned
whether later redactors inserted the Testimonium. The historical narration both before and after the Testimonium is exclusively about
Pilate. Notice, however, that the Decius and Fulvia stories also stand
out. None of the stories in this "set" discusses Roman activity in
Judea, the theme of the surrounding passages. This interpretation of
the "puzzle" resolves this lack of continuity in Josephus' narration.
Further, the satire revealed by this solution fits perfectly into the
flow of the narration. 

This interpretation also resolves the apparently inappropriate
opening words of the Decius story, "Another calamity." As mentioned

The Puzzle of Decius Mundus 245

above, many scholars have believed that this phrase could not possibly relate to the Testimonium and Jesus. However, within the con-
text of my explanation, the positioning of the phrase makes perfect,
though ironic, sense. The Romans invented Christianity for the
express purpose of bringing a calamity on the Jews and throwing
them into disorder. Readers will recall how in the "Son of Mary" passage Mary uses the word "calamity" to describe the effect that her
son becoming a "by-word to the world" will have upon the Jews. 

Come on; be thou my food, and be thou a fury to these seditious varlets, and a by-word to the world, which is all that is
now wanting to complete the calamities of us Jews. 

The three passages that make up the puzzle are related to the
two passages that precede the Testimonium in another way. The first
two passages of the short five-passage chapter satirically state the
reasons that the Flavians invented Christianity, as well as the fact
that by inventing the religion, the Romans were, in effect, taking
over the Sicarii movement. Below are these two passages. 

1. BUT now Pilate, the procurator of Judea, removed the
army from Cesarea to Jerusalem, to take their winter quarters there, in order to abolish the Jewish laws. So he intro-
duced Caesar's effigies, which were upon the ensigns, and
brought them into the city; whereas our law forbids us the
very making of images; on which account the former procurators were wont to make their entry into the city with such
ensigns as had not those ornaments. Pilate was the first
who brought those images to Jerusalem, and set them up
there; which was done without the knowledge of the people,
because it was done in the night time; but as soon as they
knew it, they came in multitudes to Cesarea, and interceded
with Pilate many days that he would remove the images;
and when he would not grant their requests, because it
would tend to the injury of Caesar, while yet they persevered in their request, on the sixth day he ordered his sol-
diers to have their weapons privately, while he came and
sat upon his judgment-seat, which seat was so prepared in
the open place of the city, that it concealed the army that lay

246 Caesar's Messiah

ready to oppress them; and when the Jews petitioned him
again, he gave a signal to the soldiers to encompass them
routed, and threatened that their punishment should be no
less than immediate death, unless they would leave off disturbing him, and go their ways home. But they threw themselves upon the ground, and laid their necks bare, and said
they would take their death very willingly, rather than the
wisdom of their laws should be transgressed; upon which
Pilate was deeply affected with their firm resolution to keep
their laws inviolable, and presently commanded the images
to be carried back from Jerusalem to Cesarea. 

2. But Pilate undertook to bring a current of water to
Jerusalem, and did it with the sacred money, and derived
the origin of the stream from the distance of two hundred
furlongs. However, the Jews were not pleased with what
had been done about this water; and many ten thousands of
the people got together, and made a clamor against him,
and insisted that he should leave off that design. Some of
them also used reproaches, and abused the man, as
crowds of such people usually do. So he habited a great
number of his soldiers in their habit, who carried daggers
under their garments, and sent them to a place where they
might surround them. So he bid the Jews himself go away;
but they boldly began casting reproaches upon him, he gave
the soldiers that signal which had been beforehand agreed
on; who laid upon them much greater blows than Pilate had
commanded them, and equally punished those that were
tumultuous, and those that were not; nor did they spare
them in the least: and since the people were unarmed, and
were caught by men prepared for what they were about,
there were a great number of them slain by this means, and
others of them ran away wounded. And thus an end was put
to this sedition. 159 

The two passages satirically confirm the entire premise regard-
ing Christianity. The Jews would not worship Roman emperors and
were not swayed by violence; therefore, Rome was forced to
"become" the Sicarii movement. The satirical description of the
Romans becoming Sicarii is described above in the phrase:

The Puzzle of Decius Mundus 247

So he habited a great number of his soldiers in their habit,
who carried daggers under their garments. 

The individuals whose "habit" included "daggers under their
garments" were, of course, the Sicarii. 

And when they had joined to themselves many of the Sicarii,
who crowded in among the weaker people (that was the
name of such robbers as had under their bosoms swords
called Sicae) 160 

The effect of Christianity is also recorded within the satire. Its
effect was to end the rebellion. 

And thus an end was put to this sedition. 

When determining the strength of a theory it is useful to consider how much "explanatory power" it possesses. The following list
demonstrates just how many "puzzles" this interpretation resolves. 

This interpretation 

•resolves Josephus' perceived confusion over which religion
was "at Rome" 

•resolves why Paulina, of the cult of Isis, and not Fulvia, the 

Jew, is the one to rent her garments
•resolves why Josephus recorded that the temple of Isis was 

destroyed, though he was aware that no such destruction had 

occurred 

• resolves why the women in the different stories both have
husbands named Saturninus who know the emperor 

•resolves why the Decius story and the Fulvia story have the
same plot 

•resolves why a character has the unusual name "Decius
Mundus" 

• resolves why a character has the unusual name "Ide" 

• resolves the parallel use in the Testimonium and the Decius
story of the expression "received with pleasure" 

•resolves the unusual parallels between the wicked Jew in the
Fulvia story and the Apostle Paul

248 Caesar's Messiah

• explains why Decius Mundus did not conceal his resolution to
kill himself 

• and most importantly, this interpretation explains how the
two "third-day divinity declarations" in literature happen to
be placed next to one another. 

There is yet another parallel in the Decius Mundus tale and the
Testimonium, a parallel only apparent when one reads the passages
in their original Greek. In the Testimonium, Jesus is described as a
teacher of people who "accept the truth with pleasure." The Greek
word for pleasure that Josephus uses is hedone, the root for the Eng-
lish word "hedonism." Scholars have puzzled over Josephus' use of
hedone here. Hedone usually denotes sensual or malicious pleasure,
and "to accept the truth with hedone" is a strange concept. The sen-
tence that Josephus wrote in Greek could just as well be translated
"received the truth with malicious pleasure." 

The verb Josephus uses in this phrase is dechomenon, which
means to receive, the phrase in Greek reading hedonei talethe
dechomenon. In the Decius Mundus tale, Decius also receives some-
thing with "sensual pleasure." Decius receives the plot Ide hatches
to enable him to seduce Paulina with sensual pleasure — hedone, the
Greek reading dechomenou ten hiketeian hedonei. 

The same verb, dechomenou (meaning "to accept or receive"), is
used with hedone in the Testimonium. This creates yet another paral-
lel between the Testimonium and the Decius story. Based on the con-
text provided by the Decius story, a logical conjecture is that this
verb/noun combination creates the idiom "getting screwed." I have
been unable to confirm this conjecture by another example from
classical Greek, however. 

Hedone is also used in an interesting manner with another word.
Josephus concludes his Preface to War of the Jews with the following
statement; 

Tauta panta perilabon en hepta bibliois kai medemian tois
epistamenois ta pragmata kai paratuchousi toi polemoi
katalipon e mempseos aphormen e kategorias, tois ge ten
aletheian agaposin, alia me pros hedonen anegrapsa. Poie-

The Puzzle of Decius Mundus 249

somai de tauten tes exegeseos archen, hen kai ton kepha-
laion epoiesamen. 161 

Whiston's translation into English is as follows: 

I have comprehended all these things in seven books, and
have left no occasion for complaint or accusation to such as
have been acquainted with this war; and I have written it
down for the sake of those that love truth, but not for those
that please themselves [with fictitious relations]. And I will
begin my account of these things with what I call my First
Chapter. 

The reason Whiston places brackets around the phase "please
themselves [with fictitious relations]" above, was to alert the reader
that it is an inaccurate translation. The Greek words that Josephus
uses here, hedonen anegrapsa, do not mean "please themselves with
fictitious relations" but rather please themselves with registering.
When used in connection with a person, as it is here, the stem word,
anagrapho, means to register or record names. Whiston arbitrarily
inserted the phrase [with fictitious relations] into his translation
because he believed that this is the idea Josephus actually meant. A
literal translation of the sentence would read as follows; 

. . . and I have written it down for the sake of those that love
truth, but not for those that please themselves with regis-
tering names. 

While Whiston found this translation incoherent, from my per-
spective it makes complete sense, as the technique used by the
authors of the New Testament and the works of Josephus to turn
Judaism into Christianity was the switching, or "unregistering," of
names. Decius became Anubis and Titus became Jesus. Neither val-
ued much "this business of names." Josephus' seeming "incoheren-
cies" are very significant and are meant to be translated exactly as
they were written.

• Chapter 12: The Father and the Son of God