References by Roman historian and senator Tacitus to Christ
The Fire of Rome, by Karl von Piloty, 1861. According to Tacitus, Nero targeted Christians as those responsible for the fire.
Part of a series on
Jesus in Christianity
Christ
Christology
Names and titles
Life of Jesus
Gospels
Gospel harmony
Places
Virgin birth
Nativity
Baptism
Ministry
Sermon on the Mount
Miracles
Parables
Humiliation
Execution
Burial
Resurrection
Ascension
Obedience
Heavenly Session
Intercession
Apparitions and visions of Jesus
Second Coming
Jesus in Islam
Masih
Gospel
Names and titles
Mary
Disciples
Death
Mahdi
End times
Background
Background to the New Testament
Language spoken by Jesus
Jesus' race / genealogy
Mental health of Jesus
Jesus in history
Chronology
Historical Jesus
Quest for the historical Jesus
Historicity
Sources for the historicity of Jesus
Reliability of the Gospels
Mythology
Jesus myth theory
Criticism
Unknown years
Relics
Perspectives on Jesus
Christian
Jewish
Talmud
Islamic
Ahmadi
Manichaean
Mandaean
Josephus
Tacitus
Bar-Serapion
Jesus in culture
Life in art
Life of Christ Museum
Depiction
Jesuism
Christianity portal
Islam portal
v
t
e
The Roman historian and senator Tacitus referred to Jesus, his execution by Pontius Pilate, and the existence of early Christians in Rome in his final work, Annals (written c. AD 116), book 15, chapter 44.[1]
The context of the passage is the six-day Great Fire of Rome that burned much of the city in AD 64 during the reign of Roman Emperor Nero.[2] The passage is one of the earliest non-Christian references to the origins of Christianity, the execution of Christ described in the canonical gospels, and the presence and persecution of Christians in 1st-century Rome.[3][4]
There are two points of vocabulary in the passage. First, Tacitus may have used the word "Chrestians" (Chrestianos) for Christians, but then speaks of "Christ" (Christus) as the origin of that name. Second, he calls Pilate a "procurator", even though other sources indicate that he had the title "prefect". Scholars have proposed various hypotheses to explain these peculiarities.
The scholarly consensus is that Tacitus's reference to the execution of Jesus by Pontius Pilate is both authentic, and of historical value as an independent Roman source.[5][6][7] However, Tacitus does not reveal the source of his information. There are several hypotheses as to what sources he may have used.
Tacitus provides non-Christian confirmation of the crucifixion of Jesus.[8][9] Scholars view it as establishing three separate facts about Rome around AD 60: (i) that there was a sizable number of Christians in Rome at the time, (ii) that it was possible to distinguish between Christians and Jews in Rome, and (iii) that at the time pagans made a connection between Christianity in Rome and its origin in Roman Judaea.[10][11]
Tacitus is one of the non-Christian writers of the time who mentioned Jesus and early Christianity along with Flavius Josephus, Pliny the Younger, and Suetonius.[12]
^P. E. Easterling, E. J. Kenney (general editors), The Cambridge History of Latin Literature, page 892 (Cambridge University Press, 1982, reprinted 1996). ISBN 0-521-21043-7
^Stephen Dando-Collins (2010). The Great Fire of Rome. ISBN 978-0-306-81890-5. pp. 1–4.
^Brent 2009, p. 32–34.
^Van Voorst 2000, p. 39–53.
^Evans 2001, p. 42.
^Watson E. Mills, Roger Aubrey Bullard (2001). Mercer Dictionary of the Bible. ISBN 0-86554-373-9. p. 343.
^Helen K. Bond (2004). Pontius Pilate in History and Interpretation. ISBN 0-521-61620-4. p. xi.
^Mykytiuk, Lawrence (January 2015). "Did Jesus Exist? Searching for Evidence Beyond the Bible". Biblical Archaeology Society.
^Eddy & Boyd 2007, p. 127.
^Dunn 2009, p. 56.
^Cite error: The named reference AntiochRome was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
The Roman historian and senator Tacitus referred to Jesus, his execution by Pontius Pilate, and the existence of early Christians in Rome in his final...
Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus (/ˈtæsɪtəs/ TAS-it-əs, Latin: [ˈtakɪtʊs]; c. AD 56 – c. 120), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely...
study and establish the historicity of Jesus include Jewish sources such as Josephus, and Roman sources such as Tacitus. These sources are compared to Christian...
sources on the person of Jesus (the letters of Paul and the Gospels) and there are also Jewish and Roman sources (e.g. Josephus, Suetonius, Tacitus, Pliny...
Historicity of Jesus History of early Christianity Mara bar Serapion onJesus Roman Judaea Sources for the historicity of JesusTacitusonJesus Josephus,...
negative tone of Tacitus' comments on Christians makes the passage extremely unlikely to have been forged by a Christian scribe and the Tacitus reference is...
of Jesus, such as Josephus onJesus and Tacituson Christ. In the gospels, the ministry of Jesus starts with his Baptism by John the Baptist. Jesus came...
Therefore, considering Jesus divine, as “God the Son”, is forbidden. Judaism's rejection of Jesus as the Messiah is based on Jewish eschatology, which...
The religious perspectives onJesus vary among world religions. Jesus' teachings and the retelling of his life story have significantly influenced the...
crucifixion of Jesus in the Testimonium. Early in the second century another reference to the crucifixion of Jesus was made by Tacitus, generally considered...
The unknown years of Jesus (also called his silent years, lost years, or missing years) generally refers to the period of Jesus's life between his childhood...
the Roman historian Tacitus (early 2nd century), who simply says that he put Jesus to death. Two additional chapters of Tacitus's Annals that might have...
In Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God as chronicled in the Bible's New Testament, and in most Christian denominations he is held to be God the Son...
titles are used to refer to Jesus in the New Testament. In Christianity, the two names Jesus and Emmanuel that refer to Jesus in the New Testament have...
There exists a consensus among scholars that the language of Jesus and his disciples was Aramaic. Aramaic was the common language of Judea in the first...
Suetonius' Nero 16, while others hold that they refer to the Tacitus passage, or both (Nero & Tacitus) passages. In Roman usage, the word superstitio refers...
to estimate the date of the crucifixion of Jesus. One uses non-Christian sources such as Josephus and Tacitus. Another works backwards from the historically...
historical Jesus. Since the 18th century, three scholarly quests for the historical Jesus have taken place, each with distinct characteristics and based on different...
Jesus research. Early non-Christian sources that attest to the historical existence of Jesus include the works of the historians Josephus and Tacitus...
Islam, Isa ibn Maryam (Jesus), in the Quran. Islamic scholars emphasize the need for Muslims to follow the name of Isa (Jesus), whether spoken or written...
The New Testament provides two accounts of the genealogy of Jesus, one in the Gospel of Matthew and another in the Gospel of Luke. Matthew starts with...
The tomb of Jesus is the place where Jesus was entombed after his death. According to the gospel accounts, the tomb originally belonged to Joseph of Arimathea...
both Josephus and Tacitus...agree with the Christian accounts on at least that basic fact." According to Herzog 2005, pp. 1–6, Jesus was baptized by John...
tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians, or Chrestians, by the populace" (Tacit. Annals XV, see TacitusonJesus). Suetonius...
The Jesus bloodline refers to the proposition that a lineal sequence of the historical Jesus has persisted, possibly to the present time. The claims frequently...
both Josephus and Tacitus;... agree with the Christian accounts on at least that basic fact. Schäfer, Peter (13 September 2009). Jesus in the Talmud. Princeton...
Global Information
