The Alexandrian Conflict of AD 38 as στάσις in Philo’s In Flaccum
Abstract
In In Flaccum Philo defines as στάσις the anti-Jewish attack of the year AD 38 by which the rights of residence and free worship that the Jews claimed to possess since the founding of Alexandria are violated. One of the main arguments used by the Greeks and Egyptians is the illegitimacy of the possession of rights by the Jews because of their status as foreigners. Consequently, specialized historiographical studies have focused their analysis on the debate on the citizenship status of the Jews in Alexandria in the first century. The present work will move from this perspective of study in order to focus on the understanding of the philosophical and ideological implications of Philo’s interpretation regarding the anti-Jewish offensive. For this, the concept of στάσις that comes from classical Greek philosophy will be analyzed. This term expresses in Plato and Aristotle the factious struggle between fellow citizens for rights and privileges with a violence similar to that of a war against foreigners. Thus, an attempt will be made to demonstrate that Philo uses the term στάσις in the classical Greek philosophical sense to demonstrate that anti-Jewish violence is an internal war and, therefore, an attempt to subvert the Roman legal order.Downloads
References
Aristóteles (1968). Aristotelis Ἀθηναίων πολιτεία. Ed. Oppermann, H. Leipzig: Teubner.
Aristóteles (1984). Constitución de los Atenienses. Pseudo Aristóteles. Económicos. Trad. García Valdez, M. Madrid: Gredos.
Philo Alexandrinus (1906-1962). Philonis Alexandrini Opera quae supersunt. Vol. VI. Ed. Cohn, L. y Reiter, S. Berlín: De Gruyter.
Philo of Alexandria (2003). Philo’s Flaccus: the first pogrom: introduction, translation, and commentary. Trad. Van der Horst, P. W. Leiden - Boston: Brill.
Filón de Alejandría (2009). Contra Flaco. Embajada a Gayo. Trad. Torallas Tovar, S. En: Martín, J. P. (ed.). Filón de Alejandría. Obras Completas. Vol. V. Madrid: Editorial Trotta, 177-301.
Platón (1967-1968) Platonis Opera. Vol. I, III, IV y V. Ed. Burnet, J. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Platón (2010 [1983]). Menéxeno. Trad. Acosta, E. En: Diálogos II:Gorgias. Menéxeno. Eutidemo. Menón. Crátilo. Madrid: Gredos.
Agamben, G. (2017). Stasis: la guerra civil como paradigma político. Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires: Adriana Hidalgo.
Agamben, G. (2018). Homo sacer I. El poder soberano y la vida desnuda. Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires: Adriana Hidalgo.
Arancibia Carrizo, J. P. (2020). “La ‘stásis’ y la tragedia de la democracia”, Hybris. Revista de Filosofía 11.1, 79-111. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.3872132.
Chantraine, P. (1970). Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque. Histoire des mots. Vol. II. París: Éditions Klincksieck.
Collins, J. J. (2005). “Anti-Semitism in Antiquity? The case of Alexandria”. En: Idem. Jewish cult and Hellenistic culture: essays on the Jewish encounter with Hellenism and Roman rule. Leiden - Boston: Brill, 181-201.
Druille, P. (2015). “La situación cívica de los judíos en los tratados de Filón”, Synthesis 22, 1-14.
Druille, P. (2017). “'El enemigo público’: causas y consecuencias del uso de la metáfora de la enemistad en los escritos de Demóstenes y de Filón de Alejandría”. En: Raquel Miranda (ed.). Metáfora y episteme: hacia una hermenéutica de las instituciones. Neuquén - Buenos Aires: Círculo Hermenéutico, 89-110.
Finley, M. I. (1962). “Athenian Demagogues”, Past & Present 21, 3-24.
Finley, M. I. (1984). La Grecia antigua: economía y sociedad. Barcelona: Crítica.
Gallego, J. (2014). “La crisis de la democracia ateniense a través del teatro trágico”, Argos 37, 62-90.
García Cataldo, H. E. (2009). “Historia y política en Aristóteles: Constitución de Atenas y Política”, Byzantion Nea Hellás 28, 13-29. DOI: 10.4067/S0718-84712009000100001.
Gambetti, S. (2009). The Alexandrian Riots of 38 C.E. and the Persecution of the Jews: A Historical Reconstruction. Leiden - Boston: Brill.
Gehrke, H.-J. (1985). Stasis: Untersuchungen zu den inneren Kriegen in den griechischen Staaten des 5. und 4. Jahrhunderts v. Chr. Munich: C.H. Beck.
Gruen, E. S. (2004). Diaspora: Jews amidst Greeks and Romans. Cambridge - Londres: Harvard University Press.
Liddell, H. G., Scott, R. y Jones, H. S. (1996). Greek-English Lexicon. Nueva York: Oxford University Press.
Martín, J. P. (2009). “Introducción General”. En: Idem. Filón de Alejandría. Obras Completas. Vol. I. Madrid: Trotta, 9-87.
Ritter, B. (2015). “The Stasis in Alexandria in 38 CE and Its Aftermath”. En: Wright, B. G. (ed.). Judeans in the Greek cities of the Roman Empire: rights, citizenship and civil discord. Leiden - Boston: Brill, 132-183.
Smallwood, M. (1976). The Jews Under Roman Rule. Leiden: Brill.
Van der Horst, P.W. (2003). Philo’s Flaccus: the First Pogrom. Leiden - Boston: Brill.
1. The authors who publish in this magazine accept the following conditions:
-
They retain the copyright and grant to the magazine the right of the first publication, with the work registered under the Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License that allows third parties to use what is published as long as they mention the authorship of the work and the first publication in this magazine.
-
They can make other independent and additional contractual agreements for the non-exclusive distribution of the version of the article published in this magazine (eg. include it in an institutional repository or publish it in a book) provided that they clearly indicate that the work was first published in this journal.
-
They are allowed and recommended to publish their work on the Internet (for example on institutional or personal pages).
2. AutoArchive Conditions. Authors are allowed and encouraged to distribute post-print electronic versions of their manuscripts because it promotes their circulation, a possible increase of quotation and a major reach among the Academic community. Color RoMEO: blue.
