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The Roman historian and senator Tacitus referred to Christ, his execution by Pontius Pilate, and the existence of early Christians in Rome in one page of his final work, ''Annals'' (written ''ca.'' AD 116), book 15, chapter 44.〔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〕 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.〔Stephen Dando-Collins 2010 ''The Great Fire of Rome'' ISBN 978-0-306-81890-5 pages 1-4〕 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.〔〔Robert Van Voorst, ''Jesus Outside the New Testament: An Introduction to the Ancient Evidence'', Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2000. p 39- 53〕 Scholars generally consider Tacitus' reference to the execution of Jesus by Pontius Pilate to be both authentic, and of historical value as an independent Roman source.〔''Jesus and His Contemporaries: Comparative Studies'' by Craig A. Evans 2001 ISBN 0-391-04118-5 page 42〕〔''Mercer dictionary of the Bible'' by Watson E. Mills, Roger Aubrey Bullard 2001 ISBN 0-86554-373-9 page 343〕〔''Pontius Pilate in History and Interpretation'' by Helen K. Bond 2004 ISBN 0-521-61620-4 page xi〕 Eddy and Boyd state that it is now "firmly established" that Tacitus provides a non-Christian confirmation of the crucifixion of Jesus.〔 However, Richard Carrier has suggested that the line mentioning Christ by name is a Christian interpolation.〔Carrier, Richard (2014) "The Prospect of a Christian Interpolation in Tacitus, Annals 15.44" ''Vigiliae Christianae'', Volume 68, Issue 3, pages 264 – 283 (an earlier and more detailed version appears in Carrier's ''Hitler Homer Bible Christ'')〕〔Carrier, Richard (2014) ''On the Historicity of Jesus'' Sheffield Phoenix Press ISBN 978-1-909697-49-2 pg 344〕 Historian Ronald Mellor has stated that the ''Annals'' is "Tacitus's crowning achievement" which represents the "pinnacle of Roman historical writing".〔''Tacitus' Annals'' by Ronald Mellor 2010 ISBN 0-19-515192-5 Oxford page 23〕 Scholars view it as establishing three separate facts about Rome around AD 60: (i) that there were 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 Judea.〔〔 These facts however are so narrowly established (see "Other Roman sources" below) that they are subject to much scrutiny, including that of reports of Pilate's rank, the spelling of key words or Tacitus' actual sources. ==The passage and its context== The ''Annals'' passage (15.44), which has been subjected to much scholarly analysis, follows a description of the six-day Great Fire of Rome that burned much of Rome in July 64 AD.〔''A political history of early Christianity'' by Allen Brent 2009 ISBN 0-567-03175-6 pages 32-34〕 The key part of the passage reads as follows (translation from Latin by A. J. Church and W. J. Brodribb, 1876):
Tacitus then describes the torture of Christians. The exact cause of the fire remains uncertain, but much of the population of Rome suspected that Emperor Nero had started the fire himself.〔 To divert attention from himself, Nero accused the Christians of starting the fire and persecuted them, making this the first confrontation between Christians and the authorities in Rome.〔 Tacitus never accused Nero of playing the lyre while Rome burned – that statement came from Cassius Dio, who died in the 3rd century.〔 But Tacitus did suggest that Nero used the Christians as scapegoats.〔 No original manuscripts of the ''Annals'' exist and the surviving copies of Tacitus' works derive from two principal manuscripts, known as the ''Medicean manuscripts'', written in Latin, which are held in the Laurentian Library in Florence, Italy.〔''Cornelii Taciti Annalium, Libri V, VI, XI, XII: With Introduction and Notes'' by Henry Furneaux, H. Pitman 2010 ISBN 1-108-01239-6 page iv〕 It is the ''second Medicean manuscript'', 11th century and from the Benedictine abbey at Monte Cassino, which is the oldest surviving copy of the passage describing Christians.〔Newton, Francis, ''The Scriptorium and Library at Monte Cassino, 1058–1105'', ISBN 0-521-58395-0 Cambridge University Press, 1999. "The Date of the Medicean Tacitus (''Flor. Laur.'' 68.2)", p. 96-97. ()〕 Scholars generally agree that these copies were written at Monte Cassino and the end of the document refers to ''Abbas Raynaldus cu...'' who was most probably one of the two abbots of that name at the abbey during that period.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Tacitus on Christ」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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