Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T20:52:14.526Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Mark 15.16–32: The Crucifixion Narrative and the Roman Triumphal Procession

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 February 2009

T. E. Schmidt
T. E. Schmidt
Affiliation:
(Westmont College, 955 La Paz Road, Santa Barbara, CA 93108, USA)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Robert Gundry, in a new major commentary on Mark, advances convincingly the thesis that the second Gospel is an extended apology for the cross. More specifically, Gundry argues that Mark portrays the passion of Christ as an aspect of his glory. This article intends to follow that thesis up an avenue not travelled in Gundry's commentary – namely the Via Dolorosa, which, I will argue, replaces the Sacra Via of Rome and renders the passion a triumph in a quite literal sense. In other words, I will maintain that details of a particular segment of the crucifixion narrative (Mark 15.16–32) evoke a Roman triumphal procession, and that Mark designs this ‘anti-triumph’ to suggest that the seeming scandal of the cross is actually an exaltation of Christ. In this interpretation, many details of the crucifixion narrative that appear to be incidental are in fact important features in a parabolic drama which a late first-century Roman audience would be uniquely situated to comprehend.

Type
Articles
Information
New Testament Studies , Volume 41 , Issue 1 , January 1995 , pp. 1 - 18
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 The Gospel of Mark. A Commentary on His Apology for the Cross (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1993).

2 While I acknowledge some debate concerning the addressees, I am persuaded that the evidence favours Rome (see Gundry 1039–45) and that this article adds to that evidence.

3 Leiden, : Brill, E. J., 1970. This paragraph summarizes pp. 235–300.Google Scholar

4 Versnel 11–55 argues that an exclamation derived from a pre-Greek word developed independently in Greek and Latin.

5 Versnel (291–3) presents evidence that Zeus and Dionysos are different aspects of the same god.

6 Pliny HN 16.4 explains that Liber invented the symbols of royalty, including the crown; in 16.5 he writes of varieties of plants used for different rewards.

7 6.23 (Zonar. 7.21).

8 Versnel, 56–93.

9 Livy Epit. 10.7.10; Juv. Sat. 10.36; Suet. Aug. 94; Tert. Coron. 13.1; Serv. ad. Verg. Ecl. 10.27.

10 HN 33.111; Serv. ad. Verg. Ecl. 6.22; Isid. Orig. 18.2.6; and Tzetz. Epist. 97 (after Dio Cass.); cf. Plut. Quaest. Rom. 98.

11 Versnel, 38–48.

12 For a chronological survey of triumphs exhibiting features discussed below, see: Livy Epit. 1.10.5; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 2.34.2; Plut. Vit. Rom. 16 (the first triumph of Romulus); App. Pun. 66 (Lucius Scipio, 201 BC); Livy Epit. 36.40.1–14 (Quintus Minucius, 191 BC); 37.59.1–6 (Lucius Scipio, 189 BC); 39.5.13–17 (Marcus Fulvius, 187 BC); 39.8.1–5 (Gnaeus Manlius, 187 BC); 45.38–41 (Lucius Paulus, 167 BC); 45.43.1–9 (Lucius Anicius, 167 BC); Dio Cass. 20 (Zonar. 9.24); Plut. Aem. 32–4 (Aemilius Paulus, 167 BC); Diod. Sic. 31.8.9–12 (Aemilius, 167 BC); 7.21.1–4; App. Mith. 116–17 (Pompey 63 BC); Suet. Iul. 37; Dio Cass. 43.14, 19–22, 42; 44.11 (Julius Caesar); Dio Cass. 51.20.2; 51.21.8–9; App. B. Civ. 5.130 (Octavian, 29 BC); Dio Cass. 59.25.3 (Gaius, AD 40); 60.22.1; 60.23.1 (Claudius, AD 44); Suet. Ner. 25 (Nero, c. AD 60); Dio Cass. 65.12.1a; Joseph. J.W. 7.5.4–5 § 123–57 (Vespasian and Titus, AD 70); see also Tac. Hist. 2.89 (Vitellius enters Rome, AD 68); Livy Epit. 10.7.9 (general description of a triumph); Dion. Hal. 5.47.2–3 (contrast between triumph and lesser ovation); Dion. Hal. 7.72.15–18 (sacrifice at Olympic festival).

13 Dio Cass. 58.11.1–3.

14 Dio Cass. 64.20.2–21.2. Cf. Dio Cass. 12 (Zonar. 8.20), where Aemilius (225 BC) brings captives to the city and mocks them for ‘having sworn not to remove their breastplates until they had ascended to the Capitol’. Tac. (Hist. 3.67–8) writes with a similarly ironic touch of Vitellius putting on mourning dress and leaving the palace in procession, carried in a litter.

15 One of the references is to a triumph celebrated by Nero soon after his accession. ‘All along the route victims were slain [and] the streets were sprinkled from time to time with perfume’ (Suet. Ner. 25.2). See also Rybert, Inez Scott, Rites of the State Religion in Roman Art (Rome: American Academy, 1955)Google Scholar figs. 81c, 82d (possibly) for depictions of incense being carried in a triumphal procession. On the sacrifice of human captives during a triumph, see Joseph, . J.W. 7.5.6 §§ 154–5Google Scholar; Dio Cass. 6.23 (Zonar. 7.21); App. Mithrad. 116–17; Plut. Aem. 32–4. Alternately, Hafemann, Scott J. (Suffering and Ministry in the Spirit. Paul's Defense of His Ministry in II Corinthians 2.14–33 [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990] 35–49)Google Scholar explains the apparent change of metaphors as a slight one from the death of the victims in a triumphal procession to the imagery of OT sacrifice as a pleasing aroma to God.

16 See Suet. Calig. 19.3 (Gaius, AD 40); Dio Cass. 62.4.3 (Nero, AD 66); Tac. Hist. 2.59 (Vitellius, AD 68); Joseph. J.W. 7.5.4 § 123 (Vespasian & Titus, AD 71).

17 Gundry (940) proposes that Mark wants to draw attention to the extent of the rejection of Jesus in fulfilment of 10.33–4. He draws a connection to the specification of the ‘whole council’ in 14.55 and 15.1. One might add to this the specification of ‘all’ the disciples fleeing in 14.27. Against this view, the crowd in the immediately preceding 15.6–15 is not so defined, and thus Mark misses a golden opportunity to include ‘all’ the Jewish people in this scheme. Moreover, it is questionable that the praetorium would be understood as inclusive with respect to gentiles. Acknowledgement of the fulfilment theme, however, does not conflict with the triumph theme.

18 Livy Epit. 10.7.9; 30.15.11; Dio Cass. 62.4.3–6.2; 62.20.2–6; Dion. Hal. 5.47.2–3; Suet. Tib. 17; Ner. 25; Plut. Aem. 34.4; cf. the same in reverse order in App. Pun. 66; Joseph. J.W. 7.5.4 §§ 123–57; see also generally ‘triumphal attire’ or ‘triumphal crown’, Suet. Ner. 13; Dio Cass. Hist. (Zonar. 7.21) 6.23; 51.20.2; or simply ‘purple robe’, Livy Epit. 27.4.8; 31.11.11. The robe was always a purple robe, but it appears that eventually (at least second century BC) a particular robe was used, embroidered in gold and probably taken from the statue of Jupiter in the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus. The crown was originally a wreath of laurel or oak, later a wreath of gold taken from the aforementioned statue of Jupiter. In procession, the triumphator would often ride holding the ceremonial golden wreath while an attendant held another crown over his head.

There may be an additional element of mockery in the fact that thorns are used to form the crown, since different kinds of foliage were employed for different awards (Pliny HN 16.5). The thorns may constitute a soldierly comment on the worth of kingship over the Jews.

This is not to suggest that the soldiers themselves were self-consciously staging a mock triumph. Lane, W. (The Gospel according to Mark [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974] 559)Google Scholar finds support in 1 Maccabees for the robe and crown as signifiers merely of Hellenistic vassal kingship. It should be noted, however, that while these texts all mention the purple robe, only one mentions a crown (1 Mace 10.20; cf. 10.62–4; 11.58; 14.43–5). Tiridates, king of Armenia, was crowned as part of a triumph for Nero (Dio Cass. 63.4.3–6.2; Suet. Ner. 13), but the account mentions only Nero as wearing purple.

19 Gundry (940, 942) assumes this in remarking that the soldiers must have employed one of their own red cloaks to simulate royal purple. But even if this occurred, Mark's lack of explanation leaves an image which would be remarkable to his audience.

20 Matthew, apparently recognizing the difficulty here, has Jesus dressed in ‘scarlet’ (κοκκίνην, 27.28), probably a soldier's cloak.

21 Dio Cass. (Zonar. 7.21) 6.23; 63.4.3–6.2; Tac. Hist. 1.27; 2.59, 89; Livy Epit. 36.40.1–14; 37.59.1–6; 39.5.13–17; 45.38–41; 45.43.1–9. There is a familiar tradition of the soldiery following in the train of the triumphator singing mocking songs – presumably to express the victor's humility: see App. Pun. 66; Livy Epit. 4.20.2; 4.53.11; 7.3.8; Dio Cass. 43.19–22; Dion. Hal. 7.72.11; Plut. Aem. 34.4. But this practice appears to fade or disappear as the divine imperator becomes consistently the triumphator.

22 Cf. Dio Cass. 62.20.2–6; and see Suet. Calig. 22.3, where Gaius is hailed as Jupiter Latiaris.

23 Luke 24.50; John 10.3; Acts 5.19; 12.17; 16.37; 16.39; 21.38.

24 Plaut. Mil. Glor. 2.4.6–7: ‘… you'll soon have to trudge out beyond the gate in that attitude … arms outspread, with your gibbet on your shoulders’; Plut. De sera 554A: ‘every criminal who goes to execution must carry his own cross’; Artem. Oneir. 2.56: ‘… it signifies that he will carry a cross. For the cross is like death and the man who is to be nailed to it carries it beforehand’. For a detailed account of crucifixion in the NT world and extensive bibliography, see Kuhn, H.-W., ‘Die Kreuzesstrafe während der frühen Kaiserzeit. Ihre wirklichkeit und Wertung in der Umwelt des Urchristentums’, ANRW 2.650–793.Google Scholar

25 The verb is used consistently in Mark for the sick or objects being carried: 1.32; 2.3; 4.8; 5.27–8; 7.32; 9.17–20; 12.15–16. The only exceptions are references to the blind being brought to Jesus, which may be a formulaic consistency with other healing stories; and the ass being brought for the triumphal entry (11.2, 7).

26 The names occur in Rom 16.13; 1 Tim 1.20; and 2 Tim 4.14; see the discussion of various conjectures as to the significance of 15.20b in Gundry 953–4.

27 Ryberg figs. 54a, 54b, 55, 56, 58, 61a, 64, 65, 69a, 78a, 81b, 81d, 82a, 96b.

28 On Rome, see Hengel, M., Crucifixion (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1977) 54.Google Scholar Gundry (955) argues for the Mt of Olives in Jerusalem based on the connection to a ‘place of counting’ and the visibility of the temple from it (cf. 15.39); see Martin, E. L., Secrets of Golgotha (Alhambra, California: Ask, 1988) 12–19, 43–64.Google Scholar A further argument: it would be natural for the Romans to choose a place visible from the temple to display the consequences of disobedience to their law.

29 The only other translation of a proper name is in 3.17, where Mark draws attention to the disciples as the ‘sons of thunder’.

30 Gundry (955) makes this point, citing Judg 9.53; 2 Kgs 9.35; 1 Chr 10.10; elsewhere the term refers to numbering (‘counting heads’).

31 ‘Skull’ is also rendered in Latin as calvaria (Vulg. 15.22). Celsus (Med. 8.1) employs caput and calvaria interchangeably, calvaria technically for the bone under the scalp (2x), caput more commonly for whole head (9x); in 7.7.15.C he employs calvaria more consistently. In Livy Epit. 23.24.2 skull (calvam) and head (capite) are used in same sentence; in Pliny HN 30.53 calvaria is used for a dog's skull.

32 Pliny (HN 14.92) describes myrrhed wine as the finest. Elsewhere he writes of myrrh used for scent and mixed with wine, but he never describes it as a sedative. Sour wine or vinegar (15.36) was understood to deaden pain (e.g., Pliny HN 23.24–7). Dioscor. Ped. (De mater, med. 1.52–64) describes various ointments employing myrrh which are occasionally mixed with wine and various other ingredients. But although he describes raw myrrh as having a soporific effect (1.64.3), in combination with other substances including wine he does not ascribe this quality to it. Instead, myrrh in these concoctions appears generally to operate externally to reduce throat inflammation. B. Sanh. 43a, citing Ps 68.22, refers to wine with frankincense as a drug offered to (presumably crucified) criminals by ‘the noble women of Jerusalem’. The last phrase may constitute a connection, albeit a weak one: if myrrhed wine had a sedative effect for which we lack documentation, its provision may signify an expensive sacrifice of devotion along the lines of 14.3–9. This possibility, however, does not preclude a reference to the theme of triumph.

33 For libation just prior to the sacrifice see Ryberg 143 and figs. 45d, 45e, 51, 61b, 64, 67, 68, 75a, 75b, 76, 77, 86, 93. For simultaneous libation, see figs. 66, 90, 91. For libation on the bull itself, see figs. 17b, 97c. For texts describing wine used in sacrifice, see Dion. Hal. 7.72.15–18; Juv. 12.8; Cato Agr. 132,134; Ov. Fast. 4.778.

34 Versnel, 392.

35 Ibid., 386–8, 393. Versnel links σωτήρ in Roman parlance to ‘one who bears good fortune’ and παρουσία to the adventus of emperors. See n. 48 below on the emperor as σωτήρ.

36 G. Delling, ‘ὣρα’, TDNT 9.680; cf. John 11.9 on the daylight being divisible by twelve.

37 Matt 20.3; Acts 2.15. Similarly, ‘the sixth hour’ (15.33; Matt 27.45; Luke 23.44; cf. John 19.14) appears to serve as a general designation for ‘midday’: Matt 20.5; John 4.6; Acts 10.9.

38 Gundry (945, 957–8) argues that the ‘third hour … sixth hour … ninth hour’ reference is intended to stress the shortness of the time on the cross. The double triadic reference may also be suggestive of the completeness (i.e., divine plan) of the events.

39 Joseph. J.W. 7.5.4 § 123: ‘At the break of dawn (περί αύτήν άχομένην ἤδη τήν ἕω) Vespasian and Titus issued forth, crowned with laurel and clad in the traditional purple robes.’ Dio Cass. 63.4.3: ‘Everything had been thus got ready during the night; and at daybreak (ἅμα τῇ ήμέρᾳ) Nero, wearing the triumphal garb and accompanied by the senate and the Praetorians, entered the Forum.’ Plut. Aem. 34.4: ‘On the third day, as soon as it was morning (ἔωθεν μέν εύθύς) … [the procession began]]. To my knowledge, no other accounts of triumphs make references to the time of a triumph's beginning. It commonly ended with an evening banquet (e.g., Dio Cass. [Zonar. 7.21] 6.23; App. Pun. 66).

40 Dio Cass. 54.3.6–7 (involving crucifixion following procession through the Forum); 73.16.5; Suet. Calig. 32.2; Dom. 10; Juv. Sat. 6.230; Pliny Ep. 6.10.3; 9.19.3.

41 Depictions of lictors carrying placards during triumphal processions are evident on the Arch of Titus (Ryberg fig. 79b) and the Arch of Benevento (a procession of Trajan, Ryberg fig. 82b–c). These show that such placards, which were carried on poles approximately eight feet in height, were about the same size that one would expect for a placard attached to a cross: approximately one foot in height and two feet in width. Dio Cass. 62.20.2–6 describes wooden panels borne aloft upon which were inscribed Nero's victories; App. Mithr. 2.117 and Pliny HN 7.26 describe tablets or banners recording Pompey's conquests; cf. the pictographs (almost certainly accompanied by inscriptions) described for Vespasian's triumph following the Jewish War (Joseph, . J.W. 7.5.5 §§ 139–47).Google Scholar

42 Nicklesburg, G. W. E. (‘The Genre and Function of the Markan Passion Narrative’, HTR 73 [1980] 172)Google Scholar cites this passage as evidence that Jesus’ throne is the cross. Gundry (960) objects that sitting on a throne (10.35–40) and hanging on a cross do not equate. The more relevant equation, however, involves elevation coupled with right and left placement.

43 Joseph. J.A. 6.11.9 § 235: Abner and Jonathan are seated at Saul's right and left; in the underlying biblical text (1 Sam 20.25) Jonathan is standing and Abner is seated at Saul's side, with neither right nor left specified. Similarly, Josephus reinforces the Roman affirmation of Herod's kingship (c. 28 BC) by reporting that ‘when the Senate adjourned, Antony and Caesar went out with Herod between them … in order to sacrifice and to deposit the decree in the Capitol’ (J.A. 14.14.5 § 388).

44 See Livy Epit. 10.7.9; 30.15.11; Dio Cass. 62.4.3–6.2; Tac. Hist. 2.59; Suet. Tib. 17.

45 There are of course numerous instances of dignitaries being placed at the side or near the imperator as a show of solidarity of power. For examples in the context of triumphs, see Dio Cass. 63.4.3–6.2; App. B. Civ. 5.48; Suet. Claud. 24.

46 Mark's triads are often ascensive. In the passion narrative, see 14.32–42, 60–4, and 66–72; earlier examples include 4.20; 9.43–8; 12.2–6; 13.9, and 13.32.

47 ‘Cry of Dereliction or Cry of Judgment: Mark 15:34 In Context’, Bulletin for Biblical Research 4 (1994) 1–11.Google Scholar

48 It should be noted that the reaction of the centurion is not only to the rending of the temple veil but to the series of portents beginning with the darkness (v. 33) and especially the loud cry (v. 37). Such portents often accompanied the deaths of important figures to affirm their posthumous divinization: see Dio Cass. 56.29.3–4; Plut. Caes. 69.3–4; Suet. Iul. 88; Claud. 46; Vesp. 23.4. For similar portents generally, see Dio Cass. 44.17.2; 51.17.4–5; Lucian Peregr. 39; Paus. Ach. 25.3; Ov. Met. 7.200–6; Verg. G. 1.475.

49 Payne, R. (The Roman Triumph [London: Abelard-Schuman, 1962]Google Scholar, esp. 175–80 on Trajan) describes further development beyond the scope of this paper. By the second century, triumphal sacrifice was occurring directly to the emperor, who was increasingly depicted in statuary in divine attitude and dress.

50 Taylor, L. R., The Divinity of the Roman Emperor (Middletown, Connecticut: American Philological Association, 1931) 246.Google Scholar In an appendix (270–83), Taylor documents scores of ascriptions of divinity to Augustus, including the title σωτήρ. See also Versnel, 56–93 for an extended argument for the identification of the triumphator as Jupiter and the suppression of explicit identification out of republican sympathies.

51 Ryberg (fig. 79a) shows Titus in a triumph similarly posed, in a chariot drawn by four horses and with a winged figure holding a crown over his head.