!Tales reminds us that a little before the birth of Christ. I Ierod had marched an army into Ara bia to redress certain wrongs which he had re ceived; and this proceeding had been so mis represented to Augustus that he wrote a very harsh letter to I Ierod. the substance of which was, that 'it ng hitherto treated him as a friend. he -could now treat him as a subject.' And when sent an embassy to clear himself, the em peror repeatedly refused to hear them, and so Herod was forced to submit to all the injuries I wapapoidas t offered to him (Joseph. rInlig.
Now it may be supposed that the chief of these injuries was the performance of his threat of treating him as a subject, by the degradation of his kingdom to a Roman province. For soon after Josephus incidentally mentions that 'the whole nation of the Jews took an oath of fidelity to C:esar and the king jointly. except boon of the Pharisees, who, through their hostility to the r..gal government, refused to take it ' The date of this transaction is determined by its having been short ly before the death of Pheroras, and coincides with the time of this decree of enrollment and of the birth of Christ. The oath which Josephus mentions would be administered at the same time, according to the usage of the Roman census, in which a return of persons, ages, and properties, was required to be made upon oath, under penalty of confiscation of goods, as we learn from Ulpian. That Cyrenius, a Roman senator and procurator, was employed to make this enrollment, we learn not only- from St. Luke, but by the joint testimony of Justin 'Martyr. Julian the Apostate, and Elise bius; and it was made while Saturninus was presi dent of Syria (to whom it was attributed by Ter tullian) in the thirty-third year of Herod's reign, corresponding to the date of Christ's birth. Cy renius, who is described by Tacitus as 'impiger militia' et acribus ministeriis,"an active soldier and rigid commissioner,' was well qualified for an employment so odious to Herod and his subjects; and probably came to execute the decree with an armed force. The enrollment of the inhabitants, 'each in his own city.' was in conformity with the
wary policy of the Roman jurisprudence. to pre vent insurrections and to expedite the business: and if this precaution was judged prudent even in Italy. much more must it have appeared neces sary in turbulent provinces like and Gali lee.
At the present juncture, however, it appears that the census proceeded no further than the first act, namely, of the enrollment of persons in the Roman register. For I lerod sent his trusty min ister, Nicolas of Damascus, to Rome; who. by his address and presents, found means to mollify and undeceive the emperor. so that he proceeded no further in the design which he had entertained. The census was consequently at this time sus pended: but it was afterwards carried into effect upon the deposal and banishment of Archelaus, and the settlement of Judea as a Roman province. On this occasion the trusty Cyrenius was sent again, as president of Syria, with an armed force, to confiscate the property of Archelaus, and to complete the census for the purposes of taxation. This taxation was a poll tax of two drachmae a head upon males from fourteen, and females from twelve to sixty-live years of age—equal to about fifteen pence of our money. This was the 'tribute money' mentioned in Matt. xvii :24-27. The payment of it became very obnoxious to the Jews, and the imposition of it occasioned the insurrec tion under Judas of Galilee, which Luke himself describes as having occurred! 'in the days of the taxing (Acts v:37).
By this statement 1 hales considers that 'the Evangelist is critically reconciled with the varying accounts of Josephus, Justin Martyr, and Tenni lian and an historical difficulty satisfactorily solved, which has hitherto set criticism at de fiance.' This is perhaps saying too much: but the explanation is undoubtedly one of the best that has yet been given (. nol ysis of Chronology. iii 53; I.ardner's i. 248-329; Robinson. .-1,/dit. to ('olmet. in 'Cvrenius'; Wetstein. Kuinoel. and Campbell, on Luke 11:2, etc.). (See CuRoNoLoGr.)