Editing Tacitus on Jesus (section)

===Christians and Chrestians===
[[File:Highlight of MII.png|thumb|180px|Detail from the page of the Codex Laurentianus Mediceus 68.2 (f. 38''r'') containing ''Annales'' xv. 44.4: in the word 'Christianos' the gap between the 'i' and 's' is highlighted]]

The passage states:

{{blockquote|...&nbsp;called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin&nbsp;...}}

In 1902 Georg Andresen commented on the appearance of the first 'i' and subsequent gap in the earliest extant, 11th century, copy of the ''Annals'' in [[Florence]], suggesting that the text had been altered, and an 'e' had originally been in the text, rather than this 'i'.<ref>[[Georg Andresen]] in ''Wochenschrift fur klassische Philologie'' 19, 1902, col. 780f</ref> "With ultra-violet examination of the MS the alteration was conclusively shown. It is impossible today to say who altered the letter ''e'' into an ''i''."<ref name="Boman">J. Boman, ''[http://brepols.metapress.com/content/y4m58q8x60600153/ Inpulsore Cherestro? Suetonius' Divus Claudius 25.4 in Sources and Manuscripts] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130104012946/http://brepols.metapress.com/content/y4m58q8x60600153/ |date=2013-01-04 }}'', Liber Annuus 61 (2011), ISSN 0081-8933, [[Studium Biblicum Franciscanum]], Jerusalem 2012, p. 355, n. 2.</ref> Since the alteration became known it has given rise to debates among scholars as to whether Tacitus deliberately used the term "Chrestians", or if a scribe made an error during the [[Middle Ages]].{{sfn|Van Voorst|2000|p=44-48}}{{sfn|Bromiley|1995|p=657}} It has been stated that both the terms Christians and Chrestians had at times been used by the general population in Rome to refer to early Christians.<ref name=Lampe12 >''Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries'' by Peter Lampe 2006 {{ISBN|0-8264-8102-7}} page 12</ref> [[Robert E. Van Voorst]] states that many sources indicate that the term Chrestians was also used among the early followers of Jesus by the second century.{{sfn|Bromiley|1995|p=657}}{{sfn|Van Voorst|2000|p=33-35}} The term Christians appears only three times in the [[New Testament]], the first usage ([[wikisource:Bible (American Standard)/Acts#11:26|Acts 11:26]]) giving the origin of the term.{{sfn|Bromiley|1995|p=657}} In all three cases the uncorrected [[Codex Sinaiticus]] in Greek reads ''Chrestianoi''.{{sfn|Bromiley|1995|p=657}}{{sfn|Van Voorst|2000|p=33-35}} In [[Phrygia]] a number of funerary stone inscriptions use the term Chrestians, with one stone inscription using both terms together, reading: "''Chrestians for Christians''".{{sfn|Van Voorst|2000|p=33-35}}

[[Adolf von Harnack]] argued that Chrestians was the original wording, and that Tacitus deliberately used ''Christus'' immediately after it to show his own superior knowledge compared to the population at large.{{sfn|Bromiley|1995|p=657}} Robert Renehan has stated that it was natural for a Roman to mix the two words that sounded the same, that Chrestianos was the original word in the ''Annals'' and not an error by a scribe.<ref name="Robert Renehan 1968 pp. 368-370">Robert Renehan, "Christus or Chrestus in Tacitus?", La Parola del Passato 122 (1968), pp. 368-370</ref><ref>''Transactions and proceedings of the American Philological Association'', Volume 29, JSTOR (Organization), 2007. p vii</ref> Van Voorst has stated that it was unlikely for Tacitus himself to refer to Christians as Chrestianos i.e. "useful ones" given that he also referred to them as "hated for their shameful acts".{{sfn|Van Voorst|2000|p=44-48}} Eddy and Boyd see no major impact on the authenticity of the passage or its meaning regardless of the use of either term by Tacitus.{{sfn|Eddy|Boyd|2007|p=181}}

Whatever the original wording of Tacitus, another ancient source about the Neronian persecution, by [[Suetonius]], apparently speaks of "Christians": "In Suetonius' ''Nero 16.2'', '{{lang|la|christiani|italic=no}}', however, seems to be the original reading."<ref name="Boman" />