Gessius Florus

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The province of Judea in the 1st century AD

Gessius Florus was a Roman knight and, as the successor to Lucceius Albinus, the last of the seven procurators in Judea . His term of office 64–66 AD ended with the outbreak of the first Jewish uprising against Rome.

Life

Gessius Florus, who came from Klazomenai , apparently received the office of Roman procurator in Judea through the relationship between his wife Cleopatra and the Empress Poppaea Sabina . In his work on the Jewish war, the Jewish historian Flavius ​​Josephus names the administration of Florus as one of the main causes of the uprising of the Jews against the Romans, the cruelty of which far exceeded that of his predecessors. Florus is described by Josephus as follows:

"In his cruelty he knew no compassion, in his nefariousness no shame, and never has anyone so turned the truth into a lie or devised cleverer means to achieve criminal intentions."

In April / May 66 AD, Florus plundered the temple treasures by seventeen talents , probably to compensate for the falling tax revenues. This led to demonstrations and public ridicule of the governor. Florus then set out for Jerusalem to punish the Jews. The military was used in the act of revenge. The Roman soldiers looted the market and any house and caused a great bloodbath. Florus also insisted on a humiliation of the Jews at which the Jewish people should give a solemn reception to two cohorts who came to Jerusalem. Florus instructed the soldiers' officers not to return the greeting of the locals. When the people expressed their displeasure at the lack of a greeting, the Roman soldiers beat the crowd. In the following street battles, the Romans got into dire straits and had to retreat to their camp on Herod's King's Square. Florus then offered the Jewish authorities to leave the city and leave a cohort behind. He reported to the Syrian governor Cestius Gallus that the Jews had experienced the apostasy from Rome. At the same time, letters reached Gallus from leading personalities in Jerusalem who complained about the atrocities of Florus. After Gallus found out about the situation, he looked for the blame on Florus and notified Nero. At the same time, the Zealots conquered Masada and the daily sacrifices for the emperor of two sheep and one ox for the good of the Roman emperor were refused. Josephus sees this as the real beginning of the war. Nothing further is known about the impeachment and death of Florus.

See also

swell

  • Flavius ​​Josephus: De bello Iudaico , Greek / German, ed. and with an introduction and annotations by Otto Michel and Otto Bauernfeind , 3 vol., 1959–1969.

literature

  • Gessius Florus. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 4, Metzler, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-476-01474-6 , Sp. 1019.
  • Klaus Bringmann : History of the Jews in Antiquity. From the Babylonian exile to the Arab conquest. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-608-94138-X , p. 247f.
  • AHM Jones: Procurators and Prefects in the Early Principate . In: Studies in Roman Government and Law . Oxford 1960, pp. 115-125.
  • Ute Schall : The Jews in the Roman Empire . Regensburg 2002, pp. 200ff., 206ff. and p. 355, ISBN 3-7917-1786-3 .
  • E. Mary Smallwood: The Jews under Roman rule: from Pompey to Diocletian . Leiden 1976.

Remarks

  1. ↑ Tacitus , Historien 5,10,1.
  2. ↑ Flavius ​​Josephus , Jüdische Antiquities 20,252f.
  3. ↑ Flavius ​​Josephus: Jewish War 2,14,2-2,17,6.
  4. ↑ Flavius ​​Josephus: Jewish War 2,14,2.
  5. ↑ Flavius ​​Josephus: Jewish War 2.20.
  6. ↑ Flavius ​​Josephus: Jewish War 2,17,2.
personal data
SURNAME Gessius Florus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Florus, Gessius
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Procurator of Judea
DATE OF BIRTH 1st century
PLACE OF BIRTH Klazomenai
DATE OF DEATH 1st century