re: Herod in episode 10
Why was Claudius so taken aback when he was told that Jesus died 15 years ago? How is that significant to the discussion that Herod thinks he himself is the Messiah? TIA.
shareSame year as the death of Livia (29 AD), hence fulfilling the prophecy of Thrasyllus.
shareTiberius' astrologer Thrasyllus predicted that a man will die in a certain year and will be worshipped greater than any god or deity. Livia thought she was going to be that worshipped diety since she was going to die in the predicted year of 29 AD which some scholars have determined as the year-date of the Crucifixion. Claudius learns of this information (from Caligula). So when Claudius receives news about this Joshua Ben Joseph dying in the same year as Livia, he considers the possibility that he might be the destined god.
In Graves' novel CLAUDIUS THE GOD, the information about Joshua Ben Joseph comes from a letter by Herod himself, even noting him sharing the same death year as Livia. However, the novel Claudius makes little response to it, only seeing the Christians as meddlesome and ridiculous.
Oh, and the episode "A God in Colchester" was never Episode 10. It is either Episode 12 (if the Drusus story is a separate episode "Family Affairs") or Episode 11 (if the Drusus story is combined with the Marcellus story in "A Touch of Murder").
Thank you both very much! I hadn't seen that part.
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