Editing Tacitus on Jesus (section)

==The passage and its context==
[[File:Siemiradski Fackeln.jpg|thumb|''[[Nero's Torches]]'', by [[Henryk Siemiradzki]] (1876)]]
[[File:MII.png|thumb|Part of the page from the 11th century codex containing ''Annales'', [[wikisource:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 15#44|xv. 44.3–8]], the passage with the reference to Christians (Florence, [[Laurentian Library]], Plut. 68.2, f. 38''r'')]]
The ''[[Annals (Tacitus)|Annals]]'' passage ([[wikisource:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 15#44|15.44]]), which has been subjected to much scholarly analysis, follows a description of the six-day [[Great Fire of Rome]] that burned much of Rome in July 64&nbsp;AD.{{sfn|Brent|2009|p=32-34}} The key part of the passage [[wikisource:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 15#44|reads as follows]] (translation from Latin by [[Alfred John Church|A. J. Church]] and W. J. Brodribb, 1876):
{{verse translation|Sed non ope humana, non largitionibus principis aut deum placamentis decedebat infamia, quin iussum incendium crederetur. ergo abolendo rumori Nero subdidit reos et quaesitissimis poenis adfecit, quos per flagitia invisos vulgus Chrestianos appellabat. auctor nominis eius Christus Tibero imperitante per procuratorem Pontium Pilatum supplicio adfectus erat; repressaque in praesens exitiabilis superstitio rursum erumpebat, non modo per Iudaeam, originem eius mali, sed per urbem etiam, quo cuncta undique atrocia aut pudenda confluunt celebranturque. igitur primum correpti qui fatebantur, deinde indicio eorum multitudo ingens haud proinde in crimine incendii quam odio humani generis convicti sunt.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/tacitus/tac.ann15.shtml | title=Tacitus: Annales XV}}</ref>|But all human efforts, all the lavish gifts of the emperor, and the propitiations of the gods, did not banish the sinister belief that the conflagration was the result of an order. Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judæa, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular. Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind.}}

Tacitus then describes the torture of Christians:
{{blockquote|Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination, when daylight had expired. Nero offered his gardens for the spectacle, and was exhibiting a show in the circus, while he mingled with the people in the dress of a charioteer or stood aloft on a car. Hence, even for criminals who deserved extreme and exemplary punishment, there arose a feeling of compassion; for it was not, as it seemed, for the public good, but to glut one man's cruelty, that they were being destroyed.<ref>[[wikisource:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 15#44|Tacitus, The Annals, book 15, chapter 44]]</ref>}} 
The exact cause of the fire remains uncertain, but much of the population of Rome suspected that [[Emperor Nero]] had started the fire himself.{{sfn|Brent|2009|p=32-34}} To divert attention from himself, Nero accused the Christians of starting the fire and persecuted them, making this the first documented confrontation between Christians and the authorities in Rome.{{sfn|Brent|2009|p=32-34}} Tacitus suggested that Nero used the Christians as scapegoats.{{sfn|Barnett|2002|p=30}}

As with almost all ancient Greek and Latin literature,<ref>L.D. Reynolds, N.G. Wilson, ''Scribes and Scholars. A Guide to the Transmission of Greek and Latin Literature'', Oxford 1991</ref> no original manuscripts of the ''[[Annals (Tacitus)|Annals]]'' exist. The surviving copies of Tacitus' major works derive from two principal manuscripts, known as the ''[[Medicean]] manuscripts'', which are held in the [[Laurentian Library]] in [[Florence]], Italy.<ref name=Pitman4 >''Cornelii Taciti Annalium, Libri V, VI, XI, XII: With Introduction and Notes'' by Henry Furneaux, H. Pitman 2010 {{ISBN|1-108-01239-6}} page iv</ref> The second of them (Plut. 68.2), as the only one containing books xi–xvi of the ''Annales'', is the oldest witness to the passage describing Christians.<ref name=Francis96 >Newton, Francis, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=dgU9AAAAIAAJ&pg=PP1 The Scriptorium and Library at Monte Cassino, 1058–1105]'', {{ISBN|0-521-58395-0}} Cambridge University Press, 1999. "The Date of the Medicean Tacitus (''Flor. Laur.'' 68.2)", p. 96-97.</ref> Scholars generally agree that this codex was written in the 11th century at the [[Order of Saint Benedict|Benedictine]] abbey of [[Monte Cassino]] and its end refers to ''Abbas Raynaldus cu...'' who was most probably one of the two abbots of that name at the abbey during that period.<ref name=Francis96 />