Caligula: Ghost of Christ and the Caesars

If we really want to understand the chronology of Christianity, we cannot begin with Paul, whose avowed foolishness and nonsense divorces itself from both wisdom and history. All the dating of Christianity and the origins of both Christ and Caesar can be traced to Philo, Marcion, and Irenaeus, with Josephus who throws a Julius shaped wrench into all of it. Incredibly, it realigns Christ and Caesar into one missing year.

Philo’s Flaccus appears to provide the blueprint for his other letter about the Caesars, Embassy to Gaius, which provides the blueprint for Josephus, who provides it for Mark, who provides it for Christianity as we know it. But we still have a 3 body problem.

We can start with Marcion, who first published Paul’s letters along with a gospel which is rejected by New Testament canon. Marcion says “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Jesus came down to Capernaum, a city in Galilee and was teaching on the sabbath days” (Marcion 1.1-3). These verses also exhibit an interpolated reference to Pontius Pilate, who will later provide the key to this puzzle.

In our official timeline, Julius Caesar died in 27 BC, Augustus died in 14 AD, Tiberius in 37 AD, and Caligula in 41. Thus Marcion dates the ministry of Christ to about 29 AD when he says “fifteenth year of Tiberius”. But Josephus provides a different chronology of the first three Caesars, adding almost 14 years to the reign of Augustus. According to Josephus, Marcion’s gospel would have begun in 46 AD instead of 29.

Josephus writes: “the Roman empire was translated to Tiberius, the son of Julia, upon the death of Augustus, who had reigned fifty-seven years, six months, and two days” (Wars 2.9.1). Compared to official dates, this places the death of Augustus in 31 AD instead of 14. The death of Tiberius then falls in 54 AD instead of 37: “Tiberius died, after he had reigned twenty-two years, six months, and three days” (2.9.5). And Josephus says Gaius (Caligula) “had reigned three years and eight months, and had been slain by treachery” (2.11.1).

The reign of Augustus described by Josephus is 14 years, 6 months, plus 2 days longer than described by Philo in Embassy to Gaius, and the reign of Tiberius is six months, minus 3 days shorter. Thus Josephus has shortened Caligula’s implied rule of Rome in Philo by 13 years and all but one day! Adding this to the length of Caligula’s reign, we get 16.66 years - the true length of both Caligula and Christ’s tenures.

Church father Irenaeus, first to name the gospels, is also on an accelerated Josephan timeline, placing the birth of Christ in the year we now think of as 15 AD: “our Lord was born about the forty-first year of the reign of Augustus” (Against Heresies 3.21.3). Irenaeus furthermore argued that Christ was almost 50 years old when he died, citing the gospel of John: “‘You are not yet fifty years old,’ they said to [Jesus], ‘and you have seen Abraham!’” (John 8:56). Thus officially speaking, Irenaeus puts the birth of Christ at 15 AD, and his death before 65 AD. If we subtract the 16.66 year discrepancy of Josephus, we get 3 BC up to 48 AD, right on target. Ireneaus also says Jesus was baptized at age 30, which is 45 AD on the official timeline, or 27 AD by Josephus.

Caligula’s birth officially dates to 12 AD, and his death to 41. But the official history of Rome ignores the fact that Josephus shortened Caligula’s reign by over 13 years to make room for [Julius] Caesar and Pilate. Thus, the official birthday of Caligula should be Yule of 3 BC. Indeed he was officially born on the 31st of August. Perhaps August was originally December! This would explains how “July”, named after Caesar’s birth on Yule, ended up in summer! This also ties into Constans I as another Julius and Flavian, who was made Caesar by his father Constantine on December 25, 333 BC.

Compare to the official lifespan of Jesus, which according to official approximation is 5 BC to 30 AD. The official deaths of Christ and Caligula are separated by 11 years. But 29 or 30 AD is actually the date he started his ministry, according to Marcion and Ireneaus. If we assume his birth on the last day of 3 BC (as calculated above), then Jesus/Caligula would have started his ministry on the last day of 28 AD at the earliest. If we add the full 16.66 year regnal length that was reduced by Josephus, we get 45 AD for the death of Jesus Christ, at the age of 47. This concurs exactly with Irenaeus.

In other words, Jesus should have more years on the end of his life, and Caligula more years on the beginning of his life, because they are actually the same person. We should be using the birthday of Christ and the death day of Caligula, with his career beginning some time in 28 AD. On the official historical timeline this is 5 BC to 41 AD, or 45 years. If his birth is relocated effectively at 0 (Yule, 1 BC) then he would have died in 45 AD. Presto change, O, abracadab!

Thus, the Christ described by Ireneaus and the assassinated Gaius Caesar described by Josephus are the same person, and they are both Caligula. Josephus shortened the life of Caligula by 13 years and all but one day and added it to the reign of Augustus. This allowed him to add 16.66 years to the beginning of the timeline of the Caesars. This take us back to the official date of Julius Caesar’s assassination, March 15, 44 BC. Augustus became emperor on January 16, 27 BC. This is a difference of 16 years and 9 months. In the old ten month calendar it would also work out to 16.66 years.

Josephus’ Wars makes no mention of Jesus Christ or Paul, but it does cite and rely upon Philo, who aside from Paul, reveals the oldest roots of Christianity. Josephus obviously relies on Philo’s Flaccus (and his Embassy to Gaius, which appears to be a mostly interpolated recapitulation of Flaccus). Flaccus provides all the elements of Caesarean divinity offending the Jews, which became the story of Pilate in Embassy, which became the story of Pilate in Josephus and the gospel of Jesus Christ.

But in Philo’s original “Flaccus”, the besieged Jews are in Alexandria, not Jerusalem, and there is no talk of chronology. The original part of “Embassy to Gaius” is actually the very end of it, which is Flaccus’s letter to Gaius Caesar (Caligula). Read Flaccus to better understand the origins of Christianity. The early part of Embassy says Tiberius “enjoyed the supreme power by land and sea for three and twenty years” and gives the reign of Augustus as “three and forty years”. This chronology matches the official timeline, unlike Josephus. It seems Pilate has been interpolated into both Josephus’ Wars and Philo’s Embassy. The origin of Pilate can only be Mark or Wars.

The Caesarean double dip in Wars of the Jews is obvious. Josephus says about Caligula (Gaius Caesar): “when Caius had reigned three years and eight months, and had been slain by treachery, Claudius was hurried away by the armies that were at Rome to take the government upon him (Wars 2.11.1). Earlier, he said about the “great” Caesar, without ever calling him Julius: “There, was at this time a mighty war raised among the Romans upon the sudden and treacherous slaughter of Caesar by Cassius and Brutus, after he had held the government for three years and seven months” (Wars 1.11.1).

Thus we conclude Josephus has been interpolated with anachronistic content about Pilate and [Julius] Caesar, subtracting 16.66 years from the reign of Caligula, thereby enabling the chronology of Julius Caesar, who was assassinated 16.66 years before Augustus became the first emperor. The same discrepancy occurs in early Christianity, as Ireneaus say Jesus lived to be almost 50. Gaius, Julius, Jesus Christ: these are all the same person. Caligula.

We have more to uncover, including another possible secret identity suggested by Philo’s “Flaccus”, but must save it for another day. For now we will conclude with a tantalizing piece of evidence. This is the Delphi Inscription in Athens from Claudius Caesar to Gallio. The text invites Gallio, a “friend and proconsul” of the emperor Claudius, to invite prominent imperial citizens to Athens to restore its glory. This text shows undeniable connections to both Acts and Paul.

Possibly the oldest explicitly Christian document, Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians, officially dates to 51 AD according to the Book of Acts. David Lertis Matson writes:

“Since Paul founded the Thessalonian community just prior to coming to Corinth in AD 50, one can estimate, based on certain chronological data, that Paul wrote 1 Thessalonians some seventeen years after his conversion when he was already a seasoned missionary and mature theologian.”

-What Paul Preached at Thessalonica and Why It Matters

There’s our 16.66 year Josephan time warp again! Since the book of Acts is an obvious pastiche of other literature, and the works of Josephus in particular, the connection is no surprise. In fact, Paul’s trial by Gallio in Acts is a remake of Christ’s trial by Pilate:

“When Gallio was proconsul of Achaea, Paul the Apostle was brought in front of him by the Jews of Corinth with the accusation of having violated Mosaic Law. Gallio, however, was indifferent towards religious disputes between the Jews and Jewish Christians; therefore, he dismissed the charges against Paul (denegatio actionis) and had both him and the Jews removed from the Court.”

-wikipedia [Acts 18:12-17)]

According to Tacitus, Gallio, brother of the Senecas, was attacked in the Senate by Clemens, who accused him of being a "parricide and public enemy". The Senate tells Clemens to cool it, but when another one of Gallio’s brothers kills himself, Gallio is suspected of doing the same. Wikipedia says “Gallio seems to have committed suicide, perhaps under instruction in 65 AD.^” Gallio’s death in 65 AD exactly matches the year of Christ’s death using Ireneaus on the official timeline.

And great, now Caligula is Socrates too.

But remembering that the official timeline has had 16.66 years added to it by Josephus, the death of Gallio falls right into place with Caesar and Christ. Acts is a liar; if anything, Gallio was on trial circa 49 AD. His name just clues us in all the more: Jesus comes from Galilee and Julius from Gallia, and Paul also wrote his second rhapsody to the Galatians, or Kelts. The other Julius Caesar (son of Constantine) was killed after getting a little too frisky with the Kelts.

Kaligula, as we better call him, is literally the “little Kelt” and not the little boot. His real nickname was possibly Gallio. He is Jesus Christ, and Julius Caesar, and Constans I. And if my suspicions are correct, he is also Alexander the Great, or Alexander III, son or grandson of Croesus, who we also know as Cyrus and Priam of Troy.

And he is also Flaccus, the libel of soft and droopy, but that is a story for tomorrow, if we are fortunate enough to greet the day.

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