Early Classical Authors on Jesus

Introduction

Margaret H. Williams examines how classical writers saw and portrayed Jesus, engaging with the fact that as the originator of a new (and still existing) world religion, Jesus of Nazareth, otherwise known as Christus (Christ), is an individual of indisputable historical significance.

Controversy and Reactions

Williams shows how from the outset Jesus was a controversial figure. Contemporary Jews in the Roman province of Judaea tended either to adore or to abhor him. When in due course his fame spread throughout the wider Roman empire, reactions to him there among both Jews and non-Jews were no less divergent.

Different Depictions by Classical Writers

Each of the early classical writers who makes mention of him, the historian Tacitus, the biographer Suetonius, the epistolographer Pliny and the satirist Lucian, takes a different view of him and presents him in a different way. Williams considers these different depictions and questions why these writers had such differing views of Jesus.

Analyzing the Perspectives

To answer this question Williams examines not only the different literary conventions by which each of these writers was bound but also the social, cultural and religious contexts in which they operated.