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The Problem of Quirinius census Matt. 2:1 places the birth of Jesus in the reign of Herod the Great who, according to Josephus, died in 4 BC. The latest possible date for the birth of Jesus was before the death of Herod the Great on November 27, 4 BCE Luke 2:2 places the trip of Joseph and Mary during the governorship of Quirinius, giving the census as the occasion for Jesus' birth in Bethlehem. Josephus (Antiquities 15.1.1) tells us of Quirinius being made ruler of Syria and coming to take a census of the Jews after the dismissal of Archelaus as ruler of Judea in AD 6. The earliest historical account we have of Quirinius comes from an inscription found in Pisidian Antioch known as Res Gestae - 'The Deeds of Augustus Caesar by Augustus'. The inscription places him as council in 12 B.C. This position was attained by only two prominent Romans every year and they governed as the Roman heads of state. The inscription reads as follows: "A great crowd of people came together from all over Italy to my election, more then had ever gathered before in Rome, when Publius Sulpicius (Quirinius) and Gaius Valgius were consuls." (Res Gestae 10) Quirinius was by no means a small figure in Roman politics or in his association with Augustus, Tiberius and Caius Caesar. So respected was Quirinius to the Caesar's that upon his death in 22 A.D. Tiberius honored him before the entire Senate. The following is his tribute as recorded by the Roman historian Tacitus: 1 Around this time, he (Tiberius Caesar) requested that the Senate pay tribute to the death of Sulpicius Quirinus with a public funeral. . . . A tireless soldier, who had by his faithful services become consul during the reign of Augustus, and later was honored for his victory concerning his assault on the fortresses of the Homonadenses in Cilicia (The province of Cilcia is located just northwest of neighboring Syria.) Inscription from base of statue at Pisidian Antioch: C. CARISTA(NIO) C.F. SER. FRONT(ONI) CAESIANO IULI(O) PRAEF(ECTO) FAB(RUM) PONT(IFICI) SACERDOTI PRAEFECTO P. SULPICI QUIRINI DUUMV(IRI) PRAERECTA M. SERVILI HUIC PRIMO OMNIUM PUBLICE D(ECURIONUM) D(ECRETO) STATUA POSITA EST. Source: Ramsay, Bearing of Recent Discovery, p. 235. 4. Papyrus Edict of C. Vibius Maximus, AD 104: (transliterated Greek) G(AIOS YI)BIO(S MAXIMOS EPA)RC(OS) AIGYPT(OY LEGEI) THS KAT' OI(KIAN APOGRAFHS E)NESTW(SHS) ANAGKAION (ESTIN PASIN TOI)S KATH' H(NTINA) DHPOTE AIT(IAN EKSTASI TWN HEAUTWN) NOMON PROSA(GGELLE)STHAI EPA(NEL)THEIN EIS TA HEAU(TWN E)FESTIA HIN(A) KAI THN SUNHTHH (OI)KONOMIAN TH(S APO)GRAFES PLHRWSWSIN KAI TH PROS(HKOU)SH AUTOIS GEWRGIAI PROSKARTERHSO(SIN). Source: Deissmann, Light from the Ancient East, p. 271. Text restored by Ulrich Wilcken. 2 Another approach has been to accept that this is the ‘first’ census that occurred while Quirinius was legate, but that Quirinius had been legate (or in some other way ‘in charge of Syria’) prior to his appointment in connection with the famous census in 6 C.E. In connection with this suggestion, it is common to mention a fragmentary inscription known as the ‘Lapis Tiburtinus’. It reads: …(R)EGUM QUA REDACTA IN POT SENATU(S) … AUGUSTI POPULIQUE ROMANI SUPPLICATIONES BINAS OB RES PROSP … … IPSI ORNAMENTA TRIUMPH … … … PRO CONSUL ASIAM PROVINCIAM OP DIVI AUGUSTI (I)TERUM SYRIAM ET PH…. Source: Corpus Inscriptorum Latinum 14:3613. See Schurer, History of the Jewish People I;1, p. 354. The gist of it is that it refers to someone who was ‘legate a second time in Syria’. Scholars and historians trying to solve the dilemma of Luke 2:2 found this helpful to their quest to resolve the problem. However, it does not in fact state clearly that the person in question was ‘legate of Syria a second time’, but only that the person was ‘legate a second time, in Syria’, which could easily mean that the person was previously legate, but not of Syria. Be that as it may, the only two periods prior to 6 C.E. when we do not know who was legate of Syria, and thus Quirinius could theoretically have served in this position, are prior to 10 B.C.E. and between 4-1 B.C.E. A second (or I should say first) stint by Quirinius as legate of Syria during either of these periods could potentially make Luke internally consistent on this point, and it would agree with Matthews account. The Decree by Augustus Caesar Augustus ruled from 44 BCE to 14 CE. An edict of Caesar Augustus decreeing a census for purposes of taxation for all the inhabited earth, or essentially the Roman Empire, is recorded by Dio Cassius.4 By 5 CE the military expenditures for the widespread Roman legions exceeded income, and "Augustus lacked funds for all these troops." (Dio Cassius, Roman History LV 24:9) No tax plan was accepted at that time. In 6 CE Augustus established a "military treasury. . . . Now Augustus made a contribution himself toward the fund and promised to do so annually, and he also accepted voluntary contributions from kings and certain communities; but he took nothing from private citizens, . . . but this proved very slight in comparison with the amount being spent." ( Roman 3 History LV 25:3-4) To overcome this deficit, Augustus "established the tax of 5%, on the inheritances and bequests which should be left by people at their death to any except very near relatives or very poor persons, representing that he had found this tax set down in Caesar's memoranda. It was, in fact, a method which had been introduced once before, but had been abolished later, and was now revived. In this way, then, he increased the revenues." (Roman History LV 25:56) In 6 CE Caesar Augustus issued a worldwide decree that for a second time there would be a 5% inheritance tax on estates, something beyond the normal taxation. Such a taxation would require a census to register transferable assets, such as land, and to record genealogies to establish "very near relatives." As the benefactor, this taxation would have had the full support of the Roman military. Josephus noted the effects on non-citizens of this decree in Judea in 6 CE: "Now Cyrenius, a Roman senator, and one who had gone through other magistracies, and had passed through them till he had been consul, and one who, on other accounts, was of great dignity, came at this time into Syria, with a few others, being sent by Caesar to be a judge of that nation, and to take an account of their substance. Coponius also, a man of the equestrian order, was sent together with him, to have the supreme power over the Jews. Moreover, Cyrenius came himself into Judea, which was now added to the province of Syria, to take an account of their substance, and to dispose of Archelaus' money; but the Jews, although at the beginning they took the report of a taxation heinously, yet did they leave off any further opposition to it." (Ant. XVIII 1:1) However, to the north, "a certain Galilean, whose name was Judas, prevailed with his countrymen to revolt; and said they were cowards if they would endure to pay a tax to the Romans, and would, after God, submit to mortal men as their lords." (Wars II 8:1) And, later he wrote of "Judas who caused the people to revolt, when Cyrenius came to take an account of the estates of the Jews." (Ant. XX 5:2) Caesar's 5% tax was to be on the estates, as noted by Josephus. The census attached to this taxation was also noted by Luke: "Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the census, and drew away some people after him, he too perished, and all those 4 who followed him were scattered." (Acts 5:37) The peoples of Judea and Galilee were already being taxed, and yet they protested this taxation. What was different this time? When Pompey conquered Jerusalem in 63 BCE, Judea came under Roman tribute. (Ant. XIV 4:4; Wars I 7:6) Although Herod later collected his own heavy taxes, some portion would have gone to Rome. It has been contended that Rome had no ability for direct taxation in Herod's territory,5 but, Augustus could interfere in local taxation. When Samaria remained loyal to Caesar after the death of Herod the Great, he "eased of one quarter of its taxes, out of regard to their not having revolted." (Wars II 6:3; also Ant. XVII 11:4) There had been ongoing taxation throughout the Roman provinces. Augustus' worldwide decree in 6 CE established an additional tax to support his troops. As noted by Dio, this was the second attempt at such a taxation, as it "had been introduced once before, but had been abolished later, and was now revived." Justin Martyr, who was born in about 105 CE, wrote to defend the Christians against persecution, and appealed, "Now there is a village in the land of the Jews, thirty-five stadia from Jerusalem, in which Christ was born, as you can ascertain also from the registries of the taxing under Quirinius your first procurator in Judea." (First Apology, 34) Here is an appeal to the public registries, which have, unfortunately, been lost. Luke went on to say that, "all were proceeding to register for the census, everyone to his own city." (Luke 2:3) It has seemed a problem that the Jewish method of returning to one's own tribal headquarters to be "numbered" was used for a census under Herod.14 The Romans usually took a census in one's home town.15 However, in a census for inheritance taxation it would be expected that this would be conducted where the tribal records were kept, no matter who conducted the census. Joseph was a descendent of David of the tribe of Judah. David's ancestral home was in Bethlehem, and in that town the land records and genealogies required for such a census would have been located. Or, simply, Joseph was born in Bethlehem but then lived in Nazareth. Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem to register for this census, and there Jesus was born. 5 Did people actually have to return to the town of their birth for a Roman census? Yes – we found evidence in archeology: Another census was uncovered from 48 A.D. which also records a return of the people to their native land for the census. It reads as follows: "I Thermoutharion along with Apollonius, my guardian, pledge an oath to Tiberius Claudius Caesar that the preceding document gives an accurate account of those returning, who live in my household, and that there is no one else living with me, neither a foreigner, nor an Alexandrian, nor a freedman, nor a Roman citizen, nor an Egyptian. If I am telling the truth, may it be well with me, but if falsely, the reverse. In the ninth year of the reign of Tiberius Claudius Augustus Germanicus Emperor." It is interesting to note that these two census accounts required a person to return to their homeland to be registered. 6