Why Did Roman Historians Write About Jesus?

Did Jesus exist? Six ancient writers who weren't Christians mention him, and the first is a Roman senator who despised Christians. This is the historical evidence for Jesus outside the Bible, one writer at a time. We start with the Great Fire of Rome in AD 64, Nero, and Tacitus's Annals (15.44): Christus, executed by Pontius Pilate in the reign of Tiberius. Then Josephus on Jesus: James, "the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ", and the famous Testimonium Flavianum, with Origen, Eusebius and the Arabic version of Agapius. Then Pliny the Younger's letter to the Emperor Trajan about Christians singing a hymn to Christ "as though he were a god"; Mara bar Serapion's letter about a "wise king"; Lucian of Samosata and the pyre of Peregrinus at Olympia in 165; and Celsus, whose lost book The True Word survives only in Origen's reply. What the film claims: these writers show that a man called Christ was executed under Pontius Pilate and that his followers soon worshipped him. None of them describes his face, proves a miracle or reports the resurrection as fact. Some lines are shaky: the famous Josephus passage was probably added to by a later copyist, and nobody knows when Mara wrote. Chapters 0:00 Did Jesus exist? Six writers outside the Bible 0:43 The Great Fire of Rome, AD 64 2:08 Tacitus on Jesus: Christus and Pontius Pilate 3:26 Josephus on Jesus: James, the brother of Jesus 4:53 The Testimonium Flavianum: Origen and Eusebius 7:13 Pliny the Younger, Trajan and the Christians 8:41 A hymn to Christ "as though he were a god" 10:14 Mara bar Serapion and the "wise king" 12:02 Lucian and the pyre of Peregrinus at Olympia 13:46 "That crucified sophist" 14:46 Celsus and The True Word 16:24 What the historical evidence for Jesus says On-screen quotations: Tacitus, trans. A. J. Church and W. J. Brodribb (1876); Josephus, trans. William Whiston (1737); Pliny and Trajan, trans. J. B. Firth (1900); Lucian, trans. A. M. Harmon (1936) and H. W. and F. G. Fowler (1905); Origen, trans. F. Crombie; Agapius, trans. S. Pines (1971); "a source of further trouble" quoted from F. F. Bruce (1974). IMAGE CREDITS Works marked * are cropped, reframed or lit for this video. Bust of Nero, Capitoline Museums*: photo by Marie-Lan Nguyen, CC BY 2.5 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/..., via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Bust of Vespasian, Glyptothek, Munich*: photo by José Luiz, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/..., via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Bust of Trajan, Glyptothek, Munich*: photo by José Luiz, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Origen, Contra Celsum (Rome, 1481)*: photo by Francesco Bini, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Roman theatre, Caesarea Maritima*: photo by Zairon, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Public domain / CC0, with thanks: Tacitus, Annals 15.44 in the Codex Mediceus (Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Florence); Josephus, Antiquities (Bibliothèque nationale de France, Latin 8959); Pliny's letters (Keil edition, 1870) and the works of Lucian (Fowler, 1905), via the Internet Archive; the Pilate Stone (photo by BRBurton); Karl von Piloty, Nero on the Ruins of Rome (Lenbachhaus); Hubert Robert, The Fire of Rome; Pierre-Jacques Volaire, The Eruption of Vesuvius (Art Institute of Chicago); Jacques-Louis David, The Death of Socrates (The Metropolitan Museum of Art); the Arch of Titus relief (photo by Laurel Lodged); bust of Plato, Capitoline Museums (photo by Marie-Lan Nguyen); the Colosseum and Forum (photo by Wilfredor). All via Wikimedia Commons. Frames that use the CC BY-SA photos above are shared under the same CC BY-SA licence. Music: "In Good Faith" by Elm Lake (Epidemic Sound). About the visuals Real artworks and manuscripts are shown as photographed, cropped and lit for this video. Scenes of people and places are AI-assisted illustrations made for this channel, not historical objects. Maps use Natural Earth data (public domain). #HistoricalJesus #RomanHistory #ChurchHistory