Divi Iulii Eventus
Lecture in the ‘Louis Hartlooper Complex’

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Utrecht, Auditorium Louis Hartlooper Complex, Sunday afternoon March, 20th, 3:30 pm

Passion before Easter

Caesar on the cross

by Francesco Carotta
with the assistance of Tommie Hendriks
and
Rev. Pedro García González
with the assistance of Joseph Horvath



FLYER#1


ON THE OCCASION OF THE CULTURAL SUNDAY IN THE LOUIS HARTLOOPER COMPLEX
WITH FOUR MOVIES ON AND ABOUT JESUS CHRIST

WE ALSO ORGANIZE A LECTURE IN THE AUDITORIUM

Passion before Easter
CAESAR
ON THE CROSS

(20th OF MARCH 44 BEFORE CHRIST)


ON SUNDAY, THE 20TH OF MARCH, ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE FUNERAL OF JULIUS CAESAR, THE ITALIAN-GERMAN TECHNICIAN, LINGUIST AND PHILOSOPHER FRANCESCO CAROTTA GIVES A LECTURE ON THE ‘CRUCIFIXION’ AND THE ‘ASCENSION’ OF THIS ROMAN COMMANDER AND SON OF VENUS, WHO FORGAVE HIS ENEMIES AND THEREFORE WAS MURDERED BY THEM.

With the help of a reconstruction thereof Carotta introduces us to the development of the image of the crucified one in Christian iconography and its Julian Origin.

http://www.carotta.de


Sunday afternoon, 20th of March
Admission € 5,– (reservation is requested)
Auditorium Louis Hartiooper Complex
Start 3:30 pm

The book concerned (third edition)
is available at the cash desk

LOUIS HARTLOOPER COMPLEX


FLYER#2



LECTURE

(by Francesco Carotta, 3/20/2005, 3:30 pm in the Louis Hartlooper Complex)


Caesar Torlonia cum corona civica


20th of March 2005, Palm Sunday

On Sunday, the 19th of March 44 before Christ Gaius Iulius Caesar was buried in Rome. At the sight of the wounds, which his murderers had inflicted on the Pontifex Maximus and Son of the Goddess Venus, the people revolted and chased them. That sunday became his resurrection. By the will of the people he was elevated to the gods and that first day towards spring was celebrated as the first day of the new political spring of a world in which following Caesar’s example clemency and love had to rule, also towards the enemies, and precisely towards them.

And till this day on the first sunday after the full moon of spring the church celebrates Easter, the resurrection of the murdered clement Lord.

Caesar had been murdered on the Ides of March, the 15th— coincidentally of the same day as Jesus who died on the 15th of Nissan.

An astounding correspondence.

The plan of the murderers was to drag his body like that of a tyrant through the streets of Rome and then not bury but throw it into the Tiber.
In that case, however, they would have had to quash his acts, which would have meant that they would lose their offices. For Caesar had not only forgiven all those who had fought against him in the civil war but kept resp. raised them to men of position and authority, so that had they quashed his acts they would have lost all their offices to which, considering the mood among the people, which adored Caesar, they hardly could have hoped to be reelected. So they became captives of the clemency of that very Caesar whom they had murdered and had to agree to the funeral of the Pontifex Maximus, nolens volens.
Which became their undoing.

For countless veterans stayed in the city, long-serving soldiers of Caesar, who after their demobilization were waiting for their land allotments. Namely, Caesar solved the old agrarian problem from which Rome had been suffering since the introduction of the so-called republic, by confiscating the latifundia which the senators had seized and distributing land of the state to the veterans, mostly Gauls and Germans whom he made Roman citizens. He did this systematically and thus founded Roman colonies throughout the empire. Here we see the map of the Roman Empire under Caesar’s adoptive son and successor Octavian Augustus.

Imperium Romanum 1 AD

It were those new Roman citizens, Caesar’s veterans, who enforced that despite his assassination he was still elevated to the gods, guarantor in heaven for the new order on earth.
And lo and behold, in the same area, in the same cities founded by Caesar, among the same agrarian population Christianity spread later. Conspicuously the apostle Paul was mainly welcomed in those cities, too.
Here the map of the spreading of Christianity about the year 600.

Christianity ca. 600 AD

Caesar’s funeral took place on the Forum Romanum, center of the city and thus the Empire, i.e. the world at the same time.
But the forum at that time already bore his stamp and was reshaped by him.

Capitol and Forum Romanum seen from the Palatin

He had opposed the Capitol, the traditional religious center on the hill, place of the temple of Jupiter, with the temple of Venus Genetrix beneath it, opposing God Father with the Goddess Mother, who became the Mother of God after his passing and his elevation to the gods.

Forum Romanum – from the Palatin

In addition two basilicas, one built by himself and one built by one of his enemies, Paulus Aemilius, who he donated the money for it. Yes, Caesar , too, had his Saulus who became his Paulus and who built his church—because the basilica Aemilia became the model for all Christian basilicas, including the Romanic and Gothic cathedrals.

Basilica Aemilia – outside, seen from the temple of Saturnus

Note that the feeling of space is similar to the one of a Christian church as well. Here a reconstruction from the University of Caen:

Basilica Aemilia – interior

That is to say, Caesar had already reshaped the site of the most dramatic and decisive event of his life, namely his postumous fight against his murderers, in a “Christian” manner.
It was to become an event that indelibly molded Christendom, his Easter liturgy.

Caesar’s body was laid out in a simulacrum of the temple of Venus and placed on the rostra at the forum.

Here, on this reconstruction of the University of California, Los Angeles, we see it:

Forum Romanum – from the East

Here, to the left of the tabularium, where the law plates were kept, one must imagine the Capitol.

And now the same forum seen from the basilica Aemila, from this corner:

Forum Romanum – from the Basilica Aemilia

In the back one sees the temple of Saturnus where the state treasure was kept.
This triumphal arc here on the right side was build later, so the Capitol standing behind it was better visible.

The same once more from another perspective:

Forum Romanum – from the Domus Publica

As said before: This triumphal arc was built later and also the temple of Vespasianus, so that the view opened to the Capitol between the temple of Saturnus and the tabularium.
We will show the main scene of the drama, which took place on the rostra, seen from this corner of the basilica Aemilia, as if the illustrator had stood on the roof of the basilica Aemilia.

Shortly back to the picture: Forum Romanum – from the Basilica Aemilia.

And now one must know that this man whose body was laid out on the rostra on the 20th of March 44 for the funeral oration had been the Pontifex Maximus who had conquered Gaul, i.e. in Roman understanding, who had freed the Romans from the Gallic thread which had troubled them since Brennus and his “vae victis”.

Coin: Panoply Pontifex Maximus / Elephant “Caesar”

On the first coin minted by him one sees the panoply of the Pontifex Maximus.
To discern on the front side: The cap of the flamen with the apex, an ax with a shewolf’s teeth, flagellum (scourge) and simpulum (water scoop).
On the back side: An elephant, called “Caesar” in Punic, which is written beneath: Caesar had even appeared with an elephant at the Thames. The elephant is stamping on a “Carnix”, the Gallic war horn—by which the victory over Gaul was documented, i.e. he was the savior of Rome.

But in Rome the symbol of victory was the tropaeum. Tropaion is a Greek word meaning turning point. For it was a cross on which the weapons of the defeated enemy commander were affixed and which was erected on the battle field at the point where the adversarial army had turned to flight. Thus it marked the point of victory as an admonition to the enemies to never cross that point again. Hence the apo-tropaic meaning (averting evil influences and bad luck), which popular belief still attributes to the cross.

Coin: Venus LII / Celtic Cross

Here on the reverse one recognizes that Caesar’s mint masters endeavored to emphasize the cruciformness of the tropaeum by also giving a cruciform shape to the whole composition: a Celtic cross.
On the obverse Venus Genetrix is depicted, his ancestral mother.
Her motherly function is emphasized thus that here Caesar’s age is given at the time of the minting of this coin, no doubt after his victory in Pharsalos: LII, 52, in old Latin writing.

Interestingly enough, this anticipates our present-day manner of dating. Since Caesar was born 100 years before the supposed birth of Christ, we are thus in the year 2105. It indeed is a difference of one century, however, the last two figures—the only ones that are written—remain.

Coin: Venus with Amor / Tropaeum with Gallic couple

On similar coins from the same time one still recognizes Amor on the shoulder of Venus, in fact rather in front of her instead of behind here—like the child at the breast of the Madonna.

Beneath the tropaeum there is a couple, Vercingetorix and the personalized Gallia, probably to awaken pity with the defeated ones and enhance the acceptance of their integration. Caesar named 300 new senators, mostly Gauls.
This design reminds of a depiction of the crucified one with Mary and John beneath him.

Now, with the funeral oration for an imperator, i.e. a victorious commander, it was the custom to place the tropaeums, which had been carried along in his triumphal processions, beside his casket. Here this can be well observed on a coin of Caldus.

Coin: Caldus

In the case of Caesar, who had celebrated four triumphs, there certainly were several erected, too.

What the central figure of a tropaeum looked like, can be seen on this miniature model, which is kept in Berlin:

Tropaeum miniature

Fortunately, on a cameo from the Augustan time it is depicted how such a tropaeum was erected:

Gemma Augustea (detail)

We perceive here that the weapons were fastened to the tropaeum before it was erected, that ropes were use for that also, thus a kind of mechanics.
Here beneath sits the defeated couple that we already saw weeping beneath the tropaeum.

And now that we know a little bit more about this Roman custom, back to our drama, the funeral of Caesar.
Antonius, as consul and designated priest of the new God, who Caesar was to become after his passing according to the Senate resolution, was commissioned with the funeral speech and ceremony. In addition to the usual understood tropaea, Antonius also had an atypical and dramatic one made.
It was the custom to make a wax figure of a distinguished deceased one, which was positioned beside the bier, so that he could be seen as he had been in life, capped and gowned, with the regalia of the offices he had held. Now Caesar, however, would have had to wear the king’s costume of the triumphators, with the golden wreath, thus exactly like the tyrant who wanted to make himself king, as his murderers had seen him.

Here Caesar as God King with the golden king’s wreath.

Caesar Godking

So Antonius decided to show the people its beneficient murdered savior.
Here the head of the statue that he ordered erected on the rostra with the oak wreath of the savior and the inscription PARENTI OPTIME MERITO, “to the most meritorious parent” (i.e. of the Empire: fatherland as motherland).

Caesar as Savior

It is the image of the Redeemer. Note the similarity in form and meaning of the oak wreath with the crown of thorns.

But Antonius also wanted to show the people how Caesar’s murderers had mauled him, and so he had a wax figure of the dead made showing him as he had fallen under the daggers and as he had been seen from the roofs of the houses where the people had barricaded in fear when three servants carried him home in his sedan with outstretched arms hanging down laterally.
However, because this wax figure, if lying on the rostra, could not have been seen, he affixed it on a tropaeum which he had erected at the head of the bier, where at first it was covered with the robe in which he had been murdered.

At a certain point of his speech, when the herod read the Senate resolutions which had declared his person sacrosanct and by which the senators commited themselves to personally serve as his body guard, Antonius let the blood-stained and rent toga flutter with a lance, and then uncovered Caesar’s body of wax in order to entirely show the dagger thrusts, especially the mortal one in the side and the blood.
With the help of a mechanism he then let this macabre tropaeum revolve so that all would see it, while a mime wearing the mask of the deceased one as if from the hereafter and in disbelieving astonishment spoke: “Ah, did I save them that they might murder me?”—which the people like the choir in a tragedy repeated.

It did not fail to have its effect. The people got enraged and chased the murderers. Even a friend of Caesar’s, who had the misfortune of bearing the same name as another who had sided with the murderers, was torn to pieces so that no part of the body could be found for the funeral.

Here this scene, reconstructed on the basis of the sources by the Utrechtian artist Pol du Closeau:

“Cross” of Caesar

The bier in form of the Venus-Genetrix-temple, with egg motif, symbol of birth, renascence and resurrection; Caesar’s body lying inside; tropaeum with wax figure, which is just being uncovered by Antonius with the lance. Behind it on the right of the Saturnus temple the Capitol.
By the way, let it be noted here that Capitol classically means “place of a skull” and thus the word Golgotha is a proper translation thereof.
The wax figure is fastened with two nails through the hands, which is obvious since a wax figure had a wooden core which was coated with wax. For that reason it cannot sag, which it also wasn’t supposed to, because it was supposed to depict a stabbed one lying on the floor and it was only erected so that all could see him as he had lain. And naturally for the same reason it did not need a suppedaneum, a footrest, either.

Now we take a look at the development of the Christian “crucified one” in the course of the centuries.

The first preserved crucifixion scene is on an Italic ivory box from the year 420, which is kept in London, the famous London box:

London box

We perceive here that the “crucified one” hangs just as straight, and not sagging, held by nails through the hands, which would be impossible for a crucified one, because they would tear through the hands, the more so as—oh astonishment!—there is no suppedaneum, no footrest.
But the artist very well knew the effect of gravity, as can be seen on the left in Judas hanging himself.
On the right there is also a man with a lance. However, his name is not Antonius but Longinus—as Cassius Longinus, who inflicted the mortal dagger thrust on Caesar. Consistently he does not lift the toga like Antonius but stabs in the side.

During all of the first millenium the depiction of Jesus on the cross remained so. The following are depictions from Carolingian time, eighth century:

Crucifixion, Carolingian

tenth century:

Crucifixion, 10th century

The crucifix of San Damiano, which spoke to Saint Frances, twelfth century:

Crucifix, San Damiano

No one sags. The only thing that was done to justify this was to give him a suppedaneum—since the end of the fifth century.

Only with Giotto and the incipient Renaissance does the crucified one begin to sag—despite a suppedaneum.

Crucifixion, Giotto

And from then on there is no stopping anymore: He sags more and more—as here with Rembrandt:

Crucifixion, Rembrandt

and Rubens:

Crucifixion, Rubens

It is conspicuous however, that then the image of the crucified one makes that of the cross disappear. Here with Rubens the cross shape is no longer visible, the top part disappears from the picture.

Michelangelo very well noticed it and stressed that such a crucified one does not need a cross at all anymore but a special device composed of a post with a bifurcation or delta on top of it.

Crucifixion, Michelangelo

In order to prevent that and save the cross and the crucified one, one has meanwhile sorted it out and developed this novel, awry cross –

Crucifixion, Grünewald

– whose beams bend and which our pope likes to carry.

Cross Pope – Cross isolated / with Pope

Now, it’s not that the ancient ones didn’t know how a truly crucified man hangs on a cross. E.g. there are preserved seal stones and gems from the third century which depict truly crucified ones, here two of them, the one from the Orphic cult, the other less clear, at any rate both certainly non-Christian.

Crucified ones from the third cent.

As one sees they sag, have a suppedaneum and are fastened on the cross with ropes around the wrists and not with nails through the hands.

With the question why it is that Christians have always depicted their “crucified one” so differently and atypically the experts on early Christian archaeology are at a loss, and opine, that probably one didn’t want to depict as a suffering or dead one but as the one who is already about to resurrect, who already overcomes death.
The question remains whether our present-day Christians perhaps do not want him to resurrect anymore?

In any case, today’s film-makers—Mel Gibson (The Passion of the Christ), Pier Paolo Pasolini (The Gospel according to Matthew), Norman Jewison (Jesus Christ Superstar), Cecil B. DeMille (King of Kings)—regardless of which tendency for their Jesus movies adopt the figure of the crucified one mostly from the Renaissance time –

Movie scenes + Giotto

– or—as the Monty Python team (The life of Brian)—from the ancient crucified ones.

Life of Brian + ancient crucified one

But they do have the pretension of rendering the original situation from the first century. Why don’t they go back to the prototypes? Instead they cumulate projection on projection and even have Jesus speak Aramaic—while it is proven that no line of the Gospel was ever translated from the Aramaic.

Now one might perhaps believe that it is so in Christian iconography but that the Christians have always believed in the crucifixion, after all it is written in the creed.
A glance at the original version of the Credo of the Council of Nicaea, 325, convinces us that at that time there was no talk of crucifixion and neither of Pontius Pilatus. Only that he had suffered: pathonta, passus est:

Credo – original

Only with the following Nicaeno-Constantinopolitanum, 381, both appear:

Credo – forma recepta, the official creed

With the noteworthy consequence that the numerous Christians who did not want to accept the unheard of had to be branded as heretics, who however, having been sent into the desert, formed up there and came back as Muslims.
And lo and behold, the Quran denies that Jesus was crucified:

“He was not crucified but only an effigy was shown to them.”
(Sura 4.157).

One may wonder what happened between the Council of Nicaea 325 and the Nicaeno-Constantinopolitanum of 381 that brought about that turn.
Something very simple and momentuous: Constantine, the first Christian emperor had forbidden the crucifixion in the entire Empire, so that images of truly crucified ones, as we have seen above from the third century, disappeared from the eyes of the people and instead in remembrance an atypically “crucified one” like Divus Iulius alias Jesus could now appear as a real crucified one—the more so as he was the only one who was still depicted: The people simply had no possibility of comparision anymore.

And finally we take a look at a scene which occured on that day.

When the people saw how badly the murderers had mauled his body, they tried to lynch them, and burnt Caesar’s body thereat on the forum.

Caesar’s resurrection

Here, on this coin one sees the fire beneath the body, while the dead sits up hinting at a resurrection. Behind him, the winged Victoria as a sign of victory over death and the murderers. On the right, Selene, the moon, symbol of resurrection, since the moon dies again and again, new moon, and waxes anew. With two torches in her hands, one pointed upward and the other down, as the afterglow and the dawn.

The Good Friday figures in our Catholic churches have the same structure:

Good Friday figures

Note the position of Jesus’ body which also hints at the resurrection. Beneath the fire has given way to a flamboyant decoration. The angels with wings, as Victoria. The Mater Dolorosa in the same function as Selene.

An ascension isn’t missing either:
Here on the left that of the deified Caesar, that is to say Divus Iulius. On the right that of the Christ: Both ascend into heaven on a carriage drawn by horeses, as Helios.
Interestingly, this is the first depiction of the ascension of Christ, painted on the vault of the mausoleum of the Iulii, in the necropolis beneath the basilica of Saint Peter’s in Rome—coincidentally exactly in the middle of the church built above it.

Apotheosis of Divus Julius – Ascension of the Christ-Helios

If you are not tired yet, we can show you that the central Christian images which the people revers from time immemorial and which do not appear in the Gospel are perfectly found with Caesar.

1. So, for instance, the Easter fire which signifies the moment of the resurrection of Christ—at the moment when the Easter candle is lit on the Easter fire, “Christos anesti, Christ is risen” is shouted. In the Gospel there is no such fire, with Caesar’s funeral there is.

Caesar’s resurrection

2. The depicitons of Christ, who reaches out his hand to God father in heaven. In the Gospel nothing of that kind is written, but with Caesar, for in his last dream exactly this is said to have appeared to him.

Caesar’s dream

3. And the famous Pietà-group. Nothing of that in the Gospel. However, with Caesar: the last dream of Calpurnia, his wife, who in the last night dreamt that she was holding the body of her husband streaming with blood—which indeed happened the next day.

Calpurnia’s dream

Thank you very much for your attention.
If there are any questions, please.


***

FINAL ADDRESS

by Rev. PEDRO GARCÍA GONZÁLEZ
3/20/2005, 5:30 pm in the Louis Hartlooper Complex, Utrecht


Ladies and gentlemen,

I am a Spanish priest. I work in the field of the inter-religious dialog, particularly with Muslims.

I have heard there are some problems here in Holland in the dialog with Islamic people.

When we read the Koran, as you know the Koran says that Jesus was not crucified. Is this another problem for this dialog?

In Sura 4, verse 157 it says:


“… And they did not crucify him, but a simulacrum, an effigy, was made of him.
And those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow…”

If we look at the Gospel with the eyes of the Koran, we discover that many passages, which are commonly translated with crucified, in Greek and Latin they have not the same meaning.

1.– In the Gospel of John (20:25-28) it says:

“Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe”.


But the Greek says: “ton topon tôn hêlôn”, “the place of the nails”

Why does it not say “wounds”, but “place of the nails”?

In the same Gospel, the answer is only this: “Reach your finger here, and look at my hands”

Were it real hands of flesh or hands made out of one of wood or of wax?

2.– In Acts 2:23 it says:

“And by wicked hands have crucified and slain”


But the Greek “prospêxantes” does not mean “crucified”, but “affixed”, and in Latin “affigentes” is the same: “affixed”.

3.– Also in Acts 4:10 it says:

“… whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead”


But the classical Greek word “estaurôsate” means “fenced with stakes (pales)” or “put up stakes (for a pyre)”.

4.– In the Apocalypsis (Revelation) 1:7 it says:

“Every eye shall see Him and they also which pierced him”


But in Greek it says “exekentêsan”, in Latin “pupugerunt”,
both words mean “stabbed him”.

All this words would refer to Caesar, who was stabbed, whose simulacrum (effigy) of wax with a wood structure, was fixed on a cruciform “tropaeum” (trophy) and whose body was burnt on a pyre.

On this basis we can talk with people much better than if we stick to the common translation.

With our work we have now a new approach to a dialog with other religions (beginning with the Islamic people), on the basis of the historical truth, correct translation and not of projections and distortions.

We have tried it. The new generations will do it.

And we will stage the true Passion.

Thank you very much.