Tiberius Julius Alexander (
fl. 1st century) was an
equestrianThe Roman equestrian order constituted the lower of the two aristocratic classes of ancient Rome, ranking below the Senatorial Order...
governor and general in the
Roman EmpireThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean. The term is used to describe the Roman state during and after the time of the first emperor,...
. Born into a wealthy
JewThe Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
ish family of
AlexandriaAlexandria , with a population of 4.1 million, is the second-largest city in Egypt, and is the country's largest seaport, serving about 80% of Egypt's imports and exports...
but abandoning or neglecting the
Jewish religionJudaism is a set of beliefs and practices originating in the Hebrew Bible , as later further explored and explained in the Talmud and other texts...
, he rose to become
procuratorA promagistrate is a person who acts in and with the authority and capacity of a magistrate, but without holding a magisterial office. A legal innovation of the Roman Republic, the promagistracy was invented in order to provide Rome with governors of overseas territories instead of having to elect...
of
JudeaIudaea is the term used by historians to refer to the Roman province that extended over parts of the former regions of the Hasmonean and Herodian kingdoms of Israel...
(
c. 46 – 48) under
ClaudiusTiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus was the fourth Roman Emperor, a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, ruling from 24 January AD 41 to his death in AD 54...
. While
PrefectPrefect is a magisterial title of varying definition....
of
EgyptThe Roman province of Egypt was established in 30 BC after Octavian defeated his rival Mark Antony, deposed his lover Queen Cleopatra VII and annexed the Ptolemaic kingdom of Egypt to the Roman Empire. The province encompassed most of modern-day Egypt except for the Sinai Peninsula...
(66 – 69), he employed his
legionsThe Roman legion is a term that can apply both as a translation of legio to the entire Roman army and also, more narrowly , to the heavy infantry that was the basic military unit of the ancient Roman army in the period of the late Roman Republic and the...
against the Alexandrian Jews in a brutal response to ethnic violence, and was instrumental in the
EmperorThe Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office: Latin titles such as imperator , augustus, caesar and princeps were all associated with it...
VespasianTitus Flavius Vespasianus, commonly known as Vespasian , was a Roman Emperor who reigned from 69 AD until his death in 79 AD...
's rise to power. In 70, he participated in the
Siege of JerusalemThe Siege of Jerusalem in the year 70 AD was a decisive event in the First Jewish-Roman War. It was followed by the fall of Masada in 73 AD. The Roman army, led by the future Emperor Titus, with Tiberius Julius Alexander as his second-in-command, besieged and conquered the city of Jerusalem, which...
as
TitusTitus Flavius Vespasianus, commonly known as Titus , was a Roman Emperor who briefly reigned from 79 until his death in 81...
' second-in-command.
Early life
Tiberius Julius Alexander was probably born early in the reign of the Emperor
TiberiusTiberius Julius Caesar Augustus, born Tiberius Claudius Nero , was the second Roman Emperor, from the death of Augustus in AD 14 until his own death in 37. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla...
(14 – 37). His father was
AlexanderAlexander the Alabarch, full name Tiberius Julius Alexander Major was an Alexandrian Jewish aristocrat who was one of the pro-Roman leaders of the Alexandrian Jewish community and one of the brothers of the philosopher and historian Philo.-Ancestry and family:Alexander was born and raised in...
, an
AlexandriaAlexandria , with a population of 4.1 million, is the second-largest city in Egypt, and is the country's largest seaport, serving about 80% of Egypt's imports and exports...
n
JewThe Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
who held the office of
AlabarchThe alabarch was the Greek title of an official who stood at the head of the Jewish population of Alexandria during the Hellenistic and early Roman periods.-Etymology:...
; the exact meaning of this term is debated, but it may have denoted a senior customs official. The older Alexander enjoyed Roman citizenship, a rare privilege among the Jews of Alexandria, and therefore passed it to his sons. He also had business connections both with
AgrippaAgrippa I also called the Great , King of the Jews, was the grandson of Herod the Great, and son of Aristobulus IV and Berenice. His original name was Marcus Julius Agrippa, and he is the king named Herod in the Acts of the Apostles, in the Bible, "Herod "...
, grandson of
Herod the GreatHerod , also known as Herod I or Herod the Great Herod , also known as Herod I or Herod the Great Herod , also known as Herod I or Herod the Great (born 74 BC, died 4 BC in Jericho, was a Roman client king of Israel. He is often confused...
, and with
AntoniaAntonia Minor , also known as Antonia the Younger or simply Antonia was a daughter of Roman politician Mark Antony and Octavia Minor, niece of emperor Augustus, and mother of future emperor Claudius.Antonia is one of the most prominent Roman women. She is celebrated for her virtue and beauty...
, mother of the emperor
ClaudiusTiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus was the fourth Roman Emperor, a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, ruling from 24 January AD 41 to his death in AD 54...
. Another prominent member of Tiberius Alexander's family was his uncle, the philosopher
PhiloPhilo , known also as Philo of Alexandria , Philo Judaeus, Philo Judaeus of Alexandria, Yedidia and Philo the Jew, was a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher born in Alexandria....
.
Tiberius' younger brother
Marcus Julius AlexanderMarcus Julius Alexander was a distinguished and wealthy Alexandrian Jewish Merchant.-Ancestry and Family:...
would follow their father into business, becoming a partner in an import-export firm. . Marcus Julius Alexander was the first husband of Herodian Princess Berenice. Marcus died in 43 or 44, leaving no children. Tiberius himself decided differently, setting out upon a military and administrative career in the service of the
Roman EmpireThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean. The term is used to describe the Roman state during and after the time of the first emperor,...
. When introducing Tiberius, the Jewish historian
JosephusJosephus , also known as Yosef Ben Matityahu and, after he became a Roman citizen, as Titus Flavius Josephus, was a first-century Jewish historian and apologist of priestly and royal ancestry who survived and recorded the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70...
condemns him for his impiety and explains that he "did not remain in his ancestral customs". This has traditionally been taken to mean that he became an
apostateApostasy is the formal religious disaffiliation or abandonment or renunciation of one's religion, especially if the motive is deemed unworthy. In a technical sense, as used sometimes by sociologists without the pejorative connotations of the word, the term refers to renunciation and criticism of,...
from
JudaismJudaism is a set of beliefs and practices originating in the Hebrew Bible , as later further explored and explained in the Talmud and other texts...
at an early age, a view which finds some support in his appearance as a character in two of Philo's philosophical dialogues, making arguments against
divine providenceIn theology, Divine Providence, or simply Providence, is the sovereignty, superintendence, or agency of God over events in people's lives and throughout history.-Etymology:...
which Philo attempts to refute. However, some more recent scholars believe that Josephus is criticizing Alexander simply for his decision to take up the service of Rome, placing the interests of the Empire above the Jewish religion.
He nevertheless continued to benefit from his family's connections, which were enhanced after the emperor
ClaudiusTiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus was the fourth Roman Emperor, a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, ruling from 24 January AD 41 to his death in AD 54...
came to power in 41. Agrippa had helped to secure Claudius' accession after the assassination of
CaligulaGaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , more commonly known by his cognomen Caligula , was the third Roman Emperor, reigning from 16 March 37 until his assassination on 24 January 41...
, and was appointed king of
JudeaIudaea is the term used by historians to refer to the Roman province that extended over parts of the former regions of the Hasmonean and Herodian kingdoms of Israel...
. Tiberius' father, who had been imprisoned by
CaligulaGaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , more commonly known by his cognomen Caligula , was the third Roman Emperor, reigning from 16 March 37 until his assassination on 24 January 41...
, was released on Claudius' orders, and his younger brother Marcus became first husband to Agrippa's daughter
BereniceBerenice of Cilicia, also known as Julia Berenice and sometimes spelled Bernice , was a Jewish client queen of the Roman Empire during the second half of the 1st century. Berenice was a member of the Herodian Dynasty, who ruled the Roman province of Judaea between 39 BC and 92 AD...
.
Career until 63
Despite the disadvantages posed by his Alexandrian and Jewish origin, Tiberius Alexander was evidently well enough connected for an
equestrianThe Roman equestrian order constituted the lower of the two aristocratic classes of ancient Rome, ranking below the Senatorial Order...
career in Roman public life. The first position he is known to have held, beginning in about 42, was that of
epistrategus of the
ThebaidThe Thebaid or Thebais is the region of ancient Egypt containing the thirteen southernmost nomes of Upper Egypt, from Abydos to Aswan...
, one of the three regions into which the Roman province of Egypt was divided. This was an administrative and judicial post involving no military command. He could have maintained contact with his brother Marcus, who was trading in the same area until his premature death in 43 or 44.
A promotion came in
c. 46, when Alexander was appointed procurator of Judea by Claudius. The province had returned to direct Roman rule only after the death of Agrippa in 44, and the tenure of Alexander's predecessor
Cuspius FadusCuspius Fadus was the Roman procurator of Iudaea Province between AD 44 and AD 46. He is mentioned by Josephus.He was succeeded in 46 by Tiberius Julius Alexander.-External links:*...
had been marked by unrest, so Alexander's Jewish background may have marked him as a more acceptable governor. Less trouble is attested during his office, although he did condemn James and Simon, sons of an earlier rebel named
Judas of GalileeJudas of Galilee or Judas of Gamala led a violent resistance to the census imposed for Roman tax purposes by Quirinius in Iudaea Province around AD 6. The revolt was crushed brutally by the Romans...
, to
crucifixionCrucifixion is an ancient method of painful execution in which the condemned person is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead...
. It was also at this time that Judea was afflicted by a severe
famineA famine is a widespread scarcity of food that may apply to any faunal species, which phenomenon is usually accompanied by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality...
. In 48 he was succeeded by
Ventidius CumanusVentidius Cumanus was the Roman procurator of Iudaea Province from AD 48 to c. AD 52. A disagreement between the surviving sources, the Jewish historian Josephus and the Roman Tacitus, makes it unclear whether his authority was over some or all of the province...
.
Alexander's subsequent activities are unknown until the reign of
NeroNero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, also called Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus, was the fifth and last Roman emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great uncle Claudius to become heir to the throne...
, when he served as a staff officer under the prominent general
Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo-Descent:Corbulo was born in Italy into a senatorial family. His father had the same name and his mother was named Vistilia, who came from a family who held the praetorship.-Under Caligula:...
during campaigns against
ParthiaParthia is a region of north-eastern Iran, best known for having been the political and cultural base of the Arsacid dynasts, after which the Arsacid Empire is then also known as the 'Parthian Empire'....
. In 63 he was dispatched along with Corbulo's son-in-law to escort the
ArmeniaArmenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
n king
TiridatesTiridates I was King of Armenia beginning in AD 53 and the founder of the Arshakuni Dynasty, the Armenian line of the Arsacid Dynasty. The dates of his birth and death are unknown. His early reign was marked by a brief interruption towards the end of the year 54 and a much longer one from 58...
to the Roman camp, on the first stage of his journey to receive the status of client king from Nero.
Prefecture of Egypt
In May 66, Nero appointed Alexander as
PrefectPrefect is a magisterial title of varying definition....
of
EgyptThe Roman province of Egypt was established in 30 BC after Octavian defeated his rival Mark Antony, deposed his lover Queen Cleopatra VII and annexed the Ptolemaic kingdom of Egypt to the Roman Empire. The province encompassed most of modern-day Egypt except for the Sinai Peninsula...
, one of the two most prestigious posts available to an equestrian along with Prefect of the Praetorian Guard. He may have benefitted from a
philhellenicPhilhellenism was an intellectual fashion prominent at the turn of the 19th century, when it promoted Europeans like Lord Byron to lend their support for the Greek movement towards independence from the Ottoman Empire...
tendency in equestrian appointments under Nero, but his experience of Egypt must also have commended him. However, any hope that he would be able to quell the recurring conflicts in his province between Greek and Jewish populations proved to be short-lived. The year he assumed office saw the outbreak of the
First Jewish-Roman WarThe first Jewish-Roman War , sometimes called The Great Revolt , was the first of three major rebellions by the Jews of Iudaea Province against the Roman Empire .It began in the year 66 initially because of Greek and Jewish religious tensions...
in Judea, and aggression inevitably spilled over into the large Jewish community of Alexandria. An outbreak of ethnic violence during a Greek assembly escalated when the Greeks took prisoners, leading the Jewish side to threaten to burn the assembled Greeks to death. Alexander sent mediators to calm the Jews, warning he would have to use the
Roman legionThe Roman legion is a term that can apply both as a translation of legio to the entire Roman army and also, more narrowly , to the heavy infantry that was the basic military unit of the ancient Roman army in the period of the late Roman Republic and the...
s if violence continued. The threat was ineffective, and
JosephusJosephus , also known as Yosef Ben Matityahu and, after he became a Roman citizen, as Titus Flavius Josephus, was a first-century Jewish historian and apologist of priestly and royal ancestry who survived and recorded the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70...
describes the outcome:
A less violent side to Alexander's government is demonstrated by other evidence. Over a century after his time, his administrative decisions were still being cited as precedents. Some of these are known from a surviving
edictAn edict is an announcement of a law, often associated with monarchism. The Pope and various micronational leaders are currently the only persons who still issue edicts.-Notable edicts:...
issued on July 6
68Year 68 was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar.-Roman Empire:*June 8—The Roman Senate accepts emperor Galba.*June 9—Roman Emperor Nero commits suicide....
, less than a month after Nero's death. This denounces, and introduces measures against, a variety of abuses including inaccurate tax assessments, malicious prosecutions and the imprisonment of debtors by private creditors. The edict's only allusion to the
chaotic political situationThe Year of the Four Emperors was a year in the history of the Roman Empire, AD 69, in which four emperors ruled in a remarkable succession. These four emperors were Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian....
comes as a call for trust in the benevolence of the new Emperor,
GalbaServius Sulpicius Galba , also called Servius Sulpicius Galba Caesar Augustus, was Roman Emperor for seven months, from 8 June 68 until his murder...
, and his ability to put right the wrongs of the past. Alexander was making representations to Galba on behalf of the provincials, presumably representing the desired reforms as the price of loyalty from this vital grain-producing province.
Neither Galba nor his successor
OthoFor other uses, see Otho .Marcus Salvius Otho , also called Marcus Salvius Otho Caesar Augustus, was Roman Emperor from 15 January to 16 April 69, the second emperor of the Year of the four emperors....
survived long in office. In April 69,
VitelliusAulus Vitellius Germanicus, born Aulus Vitellius and commonly known as Vitellius , was a Roman Emperor who reigned from 16 April 69 to 22 December of the same year...
was recognized as Emperor by the
Roman SenateThe Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic. According to the Greek historian Polybius, our principal source on the Constitution of the Roman Republic, the Roman Senate was the predominant branch of government...
, but his opponents were beginning to rally behind
VespasianTitus Flavius Vespasianus, commonly known as Vespasian , was a Roman Emperor who reigned from 69 AD until his death in 79 AD...
, commander of the Roman forces conducting the war in Judea. The loyalties of Alexander, who commanded two legions and had control of the grain shipments from Alexandria to Rome, were of crucial importance. Fortunately for Vespasian, Alexander was willing to correspond with him secretly; go-betweens suspected by modern historians include Berenice (soon to be lover of Vespasian's son
TitusTitus Flavius Vespasianus, commonly known as Titus , was a Roman Emperor who briefly reigned from 79 until his death in 81...
), and an Egyptian official named Basilides. On July 1 Alexander became the first to make a decisive move against Vitellius: on receipt of a letter from Vespasian, he instructed his forces to take the
oath of allegianceAn oath of allegiance is an oath whereby a subject or citizen acknowledges his/her duty of allegiance and swears loyalty to his/her monarch or country. In many modern oaths of allegiance, allegiance is sworn to the Constitution. In particular, in the United States presidents, judges, and military...
to Vespasian as Emperor. His lead was followed by legions throughout the eastern empire, and the anniversary of Vespasian's accession was later celebrated on this date.
Siege of Jerusalem
Vespasian moved rapidly to Egypt, leaving the Jewish war under the command of Titus. At the same time Alexander, as a proven commander with experience of Jewish affairs, was sent by Vespasian to join Titus as his chief of staff and adviser, second only to Titus himself. By April 70,
JerusalemJerusalem is the capital of Israel and its largest city in both population and area, with a population of 747,600 residents over an area of if disputed East Jerusalem is included...
was
under siegeThe Siege of Jerusalem in the year 70 AD was a decisive event in the First Jewish-Roman War. It was followed by the fall of Masada in 73 AD. The Roman army, led by the future Emperor Titus, with Tiberius Julius Alexander as his second-in-command, besieged and conquered the city of Jerusalem, which...
by four legions, and even after the city walls were overcome, the defenders held out in the
TempleHerod's Temple in Jerusalem was a massive expansion of the Temple Mount platform and major expansion of the Jewish Temple by King Herod the Great around 19 BCE...
. Alexander, the offspring of a pious Jewish family, whose own father had donated the gold and silver for the Temple gates, now found himself in a position of command against his former brothers in that very sanctuary.
Despairing of any siege operation against the Temple's massive walls, Titus had the gates burnt down. At the ensuing council of war, when it was debated whether to destroy the entire Temple, Alexander voted with the majority who favored preservation. In the event, this made no difference; as the fighting raged on the following day, a Roman soldier hurled a burning brand into a chamber of the Temple itself. The Temple was consumed by the flames.
Later career
By this time, Vespasian's position in Rome was secure. The details of Alexander's career under the new emperor remain unclear. A damaged papyrus refers to Alexander as holding the position of "
Praetorian PrefectPraetorian prefect was the title of a high office in the Roman Empire. Originating as the commander of the Praetorian Guard, the office gradually acquired extensive legal and administrative functions, with its holders becoming the Emperor's chief aides...
", which is open to two interpretations. It could indicate his rank during Titus' campaign in 70, which would mean that he held his own independent
imperiumImperium in a broad sense translates as 'power'. In ancient Rome the concept applied to people and meant something like 'power status' or 'authority' or could be used with a geographical connotation and meant something like 'territory'...
(commanding power). According to another view, it means that he became Prefect of the Praetorian Guard at Rome, which in later years became a common position for former Prefects of Egypt. In either case, Alexander attained a position in the Roman Empire that was unparalleled for a man of Jewish birth, not to mention one who suffered from the further stigma of an Egyptian origin. The
xenophobicXenophobia is a dislike and/or fear of that which is unknown or different from oneself. It comes from the Greek words ξένος , meaning "stranger," "foreigner" and φόβος , meaning "fear." The term is typically used to describe a fear or dislike of foreigners or of people significantly different from...
speaker of
JuvenalThe Satires are a collection of satirical poems by the Latin author Juvenal written in the late 1st and early 2nd centuries A.D.Juvenal is credited with sixteen known poems divided among five books; all are in the Roman genre of Satire, which, at its most basic in the time of the author, comprised...
's first
Satire, composed in the late 1st or early 2nd century, complains of passing the
ForumThe Roman Forum , sometimes known by its original Latin name, is located between the Palatine hill and the Capitoline hill of the city of Rome. It is the central area around which the ancient Roman civilization developed...
's
triumphalThe Roman triumph was a civil ceremony and religious rite of ancient Rome. Its origins and development remain obscure: ancient Roman historians placed the first triumph in the mythical past...
statues, "where some Egyptian Arabarch's had the nerve to set up his titles. At his image it's right to do more than piss!" This is very likely a reference to Alexander.
Further reading