Originally posted by ajmusicmedia
One could easily make a case for Mary Magdelene being none other than Cleopatra. She was the prostitute who loved Jesus.
Actually, the Bible doesn't say this. She was proclaimed a prostitute by Pope Gregory in the 6th century.
When Octavian defeated Marc Anthony, Cleopatra killed him,
Actually, he did kill himself. She didn't.
As to the issue of gods and so forth, the Jews never believed in Jesus and in the midrashes he occasionally shows up as some sort of insane
street-corner preacher (these were later additions.) The Christian believe in him becoming a deity may be related to the popular act at that time of
worshipping a popular leader after death. Caesar was worshipped, but Tiberius (very unpopular emperor) wasn't. Claudius was, but Caligua and Nero
wasn't.
In terms of history, this practice went into decline in the West with the Roman emperors, some of whom (Caligula) declared themselves living gods. It
was pretty easy to see that they weren't anything of the sort.
Christianity rose in a culture that was very tolerant of "foreign gods." Their practices were considered odd but not threatening until Nero needed
a scapegoat.
Jesus would not be considered a messiah by the Jews because he was reportedly the son of a deity (the Jewish messiah is fully human.) Although Caesar
might have been a candidate, he wasn't Jewish and wasn't of Jewish lineage and was not a war leader for the Jews. Caesar's worship (and temples)
was pretty well established by 35 BC, long before the reported birth of Jesus. There's no evidence of mandated worship of Caesar, though some of the
later emperors (after the rise of the Chrisitans) may have tried to enforce it.
Anyway, those of you who have the time and space to listen to podcasts (I listen to them in the car), check out the Berkeley series on Ancient Rome.
It's a real delight!
