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{{short description|Italian writer|bot=PearBOT 5}}
{{COI|date=March 2009}}
{{Infobox person
{{Orphan|date=February 2009}}
| name = Francesco Carotta
'''Francesco Carotta''' (b. 1946<ref>{{cite linked authority file|id=no2005-29212}}</ref> in ], ]) is an Italian former IT entrepreneur, publisher and engineer.<ref>Cf. Carotta's ; cf. also {{cite book |author=Maria Wyke |year=2007 |title=Caesar: A Life in Western Culture |isbn=978-1-86207-662-4 |publisher=Granta |location=London |page=255}}.</ref> Carotta is a co-founder of the German newspaper '']''.<ref>"Cham"; Heide Platen, "Die Legende von der taz aus dem ID", ''die tageszeitung'', 04-17-1984, p. 5.</ref> As author he is best known for his claim that the ] ] was ]. After a few preliminary releases<ref>E.g. in two publications by the author's ''Kore'' publishing house (1988, 1989) as well as in newspaper articles in the ''Stadtzeitung für Freiburg'' (April 1989) and ''die tageszeitung'' (Berlin, 23-12-1991).</ref> Carotta published his views in the German book ''War Jesus Caesar?'' (1999) and in ''Quaderni di Storia'' (2003).<ref>Francesco Carotta, "Il Cesare incognito — Da Divo Giulio a Gesù", in: Luciano Canfora (ed.), ''Quaderni di Storia'' 57, Milan 2003.</ref> His book was also translated into Dutch and English.
| image = FrancescoCarotta.jpg
| image_size = 240px
| alt =
| caption = '''Francesco Carotta (2007)'''
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1946}}
| birth_place = ], ]
| nationality = ]
| citizenship =
| other_names = Cham<br>Cam
| television =
| education = Philosophy, Linguistics
| alma_mater =
| occupation = Journalist
| years_active = 1999-present
| known_for = ] origin of ]<br>] as a ]
| notable_works = ''Jesus was Caesar – On the Julian Origin of Christianity''
| spouse =
| partner =
| children =
| parents =
| relations =
| signature =
| signature_alt =
| website = http://www.carotta.de
| footnotes =
}}
'''Francesco Carotta''' (born 1946 in ], ])<ref>Cf. Carotta's . {{cite linked authority file|id=no2005-29212}}</ref> is an Italian writer who developed a theory that the ] was based on the life of ], that the ] were a rewriting of ] historical sources, and that ] developed from the cult of the deified Caesar. This theory is generally ignored in academic circles.


== Biography ==
==Diegetic transposition==
Francesco Carotta was born in 1946 in Veneto, Italy. Carotta studied ] in ] and ] in ]. In the 1970s he was active as a writer in the cultural-political movements in ], ] and ].<ref>I.a. {{cite journal
After comparing the accounts of ] and the Roman ] in ], ], ] and ] with the ], Carotta came to the conclusion that its account of ] was based on ], the deified ]. He argues that the ] is a corrupted retelling of the Roman civil war — from Caesar's crossing of the Rubicon to his assassination, funeral and ], paralleled by Jesus' ministry from the Jordan to his capture, crucifixion and resurrection. Using a term from ] coined by ],<ref>Gérard Genette, ''Palimpsestes: La littérature au second degré'', Paris 1982</ref> Carotta maintains that a form of "diegetic transposition" (a re-telling of a story in a different spatial and/or temporal context) came about by textual mutation and delocalization, due to a process of copying mistakes, mistranslations, misinterpretations, adaptations and redactions in different cultural contexts for distinct political purposes, which produced the accounts of Jesus in early Christian literature. He further argues that the final metamorphosis of the new religion, which was to reinterpret the ] cult according to ] imperial policies with special regard to ancient Palestine, was induced under ] and historian ], whose writings, he argues, provided the groundwork for the description of the ] in ]. According to Carotta ] is therefore the Divus Iulius of the Flavians.
| last = Mara
| first = Cham
| title = Prolegomena zu einer jeden künftigen Kritik, die als Aufhebung wird auftreten können
| journal = Schwarze Protokolle
| volume = 9
| pages = 2–74
| publisher = Peter-H. Ober
| location = Frankfurt am Main
| date = July 1974
| url = http://www.archivtiger.de/downloads/schwarzeprotokolle/sp9.pdf
| access-date = 16 January 2012}}</ref> In 1980 Carotta headed the Frankfurt-based ''Casa di Cultura Popolare'' as director.<ref>{{cite book
| last = Haberl
| first = Horst Gerhard
| title = Auf und davon: eine Nomadologie der Neunziger
| publisher = Droschl
| year = 1990
| location = Graz
| page = 178
| isbn =3-85420-193-1}}</ref> As executive director and publisher he supported ''Kore'', a Freiburg publisher of ] books and ].<ref>{{cite book
| editor-last1 = Niederländer | editor-first1 = Frank
| editor-last2 = Schulz | editor-first2 = Gabriele
| title = Das Literaturbuch 1993/94. Literarisches Leben in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland
| publisher = Deutscher Kulturrat/Nomos
| year = 1994
| location = Berlin
| page = 183
| isbn = 3-7890-3106-2}} Cf. {{cite book
| title = International Literary Market Place 1994
| publisher = Reed Reference
| year = 1993
| location = New Providence
| pages= 165
| isbn = 0-8352-3347-2}}</ref> He first published his theories in the late 1980s.<ref>I.a. {{Citation
| last = Cam (Francesco Carotta)
| contribution = Madonna mia
| year = 1988
| title = BellaMadonna/Memoria 2089. Almanach vom Kore Verlag
| editor-last = Cam
| pages = 9–15
| place = Freiburg
| publisher = Kore
| isbn = 3-926023-75-9}}. Cf. {{Citation
| last = Cam
| contribution = Verkündigung: Caesars Kreuzigung – Das Evangelium nach Kleopatra
| year = 1989
| title = BellaMadonna/Memoria 2090. Kalenden und Iden. Almanach vom Kore Verlag
| editor-last = Cam
| pages = i-ix
| place = Freiburg
| publisher = Kore
| isbn = 3-926023-76-7}}. Cf. also {{cite news
| last = Cam
| title = Jesus Christus, Caesar incognito
| newspaper = die tageszeitung
| location = Berlin
| page = 20
| date = 23 December 1991}}</ref> In 1999 he presented his theory in the book ''Was Jesus Caesar?'' Since then he has continued his research and written several articles. He has participated in documentary films on Caesar and Christ, given academic lectures, and reconstructed Caesar's funeral ceremony in Spain, based on the historical sources. Carotta lives in ] near Freiburg.<ref>{{cite news
| last = Strohecker
| first = Irina
| title = 'Für einen Forscher gibt es nichts Ärgerlicheres als die Fiktion'
| newspaper = Badische Zeitung
| location = Freiburg
| page = 33
| date = 15 October 2007
| url = http://www.carotta.de/subseite/echo/bz2.html}}</ref>


==Caesarian origin of Christianity==
==Reception==
Francesco Carotta's theory runs contrary to all established ]. Carotta postulates that the historical person behind the Biblical figure Jesus Christ was not ], but the Roman statesman ], from whose cult ] developed over the course of several generations.
Initial reactions to the first German edition were limited. Based on Carotta's past as a part-time satirical artist some critics assumed that ''War Jesus Caesar?'' was meant as a parody,<ref>Arno Widman, , in: ''Berliner Zeitung'', 06-28-2000; Albert Sellner, "Ein Stück Welträtsellösung", in: ''Badische Zeitung'', 03-20-2000, p. 28.</ref> while other journalists praised the book,<ref>Helmut Höge, "Er kam, sah und heilte. Römer, Christen, Kult, Weihnachten", in: ''die tageszeitung'' 12-24-1999, p. 19.</ref> calling it "provoking", "astounding" and "meticulous".<ref>Ralf Euler, "Euch ist ein Bobbelsche geboren", in: ], 11-29-1999.</ref> Except for a few statements<ref>E.g. by theologian Rev. Stephan Ch. Kessler S J, who acknowledged the quality of Carotta's book and wrote that "even if one cannot or will not follow the author’s conclusions, one learns much about Roman religiousness, which became the basis of the development of the Christian faith in the European cultural environment." (Cf. .)</ref> scholars and clerics remained silent. Likewise, the publication of the Dutch translation in 2002 failed to draw serious academic attention, although it did create some controversy in the Dutch media.<ref>Hans Ariëns, (Achtergrond), ''Mare'' 19, 02-06-2003, which mentions several negative comments, e.g. by Henk Jan de Jonge, who criticized Paul Cliteur's praise of Carotta's book, stating that the similarities between Jesus and Caesar are simply "accidental similarities" and Carotta's conclusions therefore "nonsensical and unfounded speculation"; for another overview of the Dutch debate by Carotta's translator, see Tommie Hendriks, , in: ''De Zwarte Hand'' 1, Soesterberg 2004, pp. 119–157.</ref>


=== ''Jesus was Caesar'' ===
] criticized Carotta for drawing greatly exaggerated conclusions from coincidences.<ref>"Francesco Carotta maintains, on the basis of what he sees as a series of parallels—for example, Jesus and Caesar have the same initials, one crossed the Rubicon while the other crossed the Jordan, etc.—that the Gospels are no more than a second-century C.E. rewriting of the story of Julius Caesar. For a reason that is never explained, someone thought it worthwhile to invent a figure called Jesus Christ, and to give him a life modeled on that of Julius Caesar. Any explanation of why there should be four versions of the career of Jesus is also carefully avoided." (Jerome Murphy-O'Connor, , Glazier (Michael) Inc., 2007, p. 106, ISBN 9780814651735)</ref> Based on information gathered from Carotta's website<ref>], , in: ''The New York Review of Books'' 55 (No. 20), 18-12-2008; Beard criticized Wyke for her "solemn discussion" of Carotta's "eccentric website" as one of the "diminishing returns" in her book.</ref> Maria Wyke, professor of Latin, considered the parallels between Caesar and Jesus demonstrated by Carotta as "sweeping and often superficial", despite their being "detailed and justified at book length"."<ref>{{cite book |author=Maria Wyke |year=2007 |title=Caesar: A Life in Western Culture |isbn=978-1-86207-662-4 |publisher=Granta |location=London |page=255 sq. }}</ref>
The thesis of Carotta's book ''Jesus was Caesar'' is based on a comparison of the ]s, especially the earliest, the ], with the ancient sources about the last years in the life of Caesar and his immediate legacy. Roman sources include ], ], and ], who all relied to some extent on Caesar's contemporary ] and his ] ''Historiae'', which according to Carotta might constitute the "Latin Ur-Gospel". This is augmented by comparisons from ], ], ], ], and ] traditions. Carotta argues that the multiple parallels he sees between the lives and cults of Caesar and Jesus can best be explained by his theory that Jesus is based on the deified Caesar, transformed and mirrored in the eastern ] and ] regions of the ].


Within Carotta's theory the gospels are '']'' after a '']''<ref>Following the ] introduced by {{cite book
The Spanish philologist Antonio Piñero wrote that Carotta's reading of the Gospel as a diegetic transposition was one of the most remarkable and ingenious exercises he had read about the problem of Jesus' historicity, but also noted the complexity of his proposal as a possible problem.<ref>Antonio Piñero, "A modo de síntesis parcial y conclusiones", in: A. Piñero (ed.), ''¿Existió Jesús realmente?'', Madrid 2008, p. 345 sq..</ref>
| last = Genette
| first = Gérard
| author-link = Gérard Genette
| title = Palimpsestes. La littérature au second degré
| publisher = Seuil
| year = 1982
| location = Paris
| isbn = 2-02-006116-3}}</ref> of ] and ] Roman sources (''hypotexts'') on Caesar's life from the beginning of the civil war, the crossing of the ], his ], funeral, and ], conforming to Jesus's mission from the ] to his ], ], and ]. Textually transformed from Rome to ] in Caesar's eastern ] ], the Gospel narrative with its altered geography, dramatic structure, its characters and newly adopted cultural environment, would therefore have been written neither as a ] approximation of Caesarian attributes nor as a ] amalgam, but as a directly dependent, albeit mutated rewriting (''réécriture'') of actual history.


He argues that, following this initial transposition, there was at first a redaction of the Caesarian Ur-Gospel inspired by ] history and theogony, whereby the later ] by ] and ] incorporated (among other ]s) the ], originally transposed from the nativity of Augustus, and the resurrection narrative, according to the chronological-biographical structures in the historical account by ]. Later generations produced more discrete traditions like the ], the ], and the ]. According to Carotta, the ultimate early Christian metamorphosis of the eastern Caesar religion, which was to reinterpret the foundational cult of the ] with regard to the contested Palestine, was provoked by the new ] ] ideology, which also induced the rewriting of the vita of ]'s court historian ] into the ] of ] in the second part of Acts.
===Dutch media controversy===
{{Contradict|about=the relative dates of reviews|section|date=May 2009}}
The heated, but small-scale media controversy in the Netherlands mainly centered around the figure of columnist and philosopher ], who had commented positively on Carotta's work when its translation appeared in 2002. On the television program ''Buitenhof'' Cliteur stated that Carotta's "report is of the same order of importance as the scientific discoveries of Darwin and Galileo" and that "his discovery will turn the entire history of civilization upside down."<ref>Paul Cliteur, interview in: "De geboorte van Jezus Christus", ''Buitenhof'', Nederland 3, 12-01-2002</ref> In a semi-popular university magazine, former senior lecturer of Ancient History at Nijmegen University Anton van Hooff<ref>http://www.proclassics.org/content/view/34/38/</ref> accused Carotta of ] and claimed that his book contained both severe methodological flaws and factual errors.<ref>A. van Hooff, , in: ''De Academische Boekengids'' 67, Amsterdam 2008; for a reaction by Carotta's publisher and translator, see A. P. J. Hendriks ''et al.'', , in: ''De Academische Boekengids'' 69, Amsterdam 2008.</ref> Van Hooff's outspoken statement created annoyed some of the proposal's supporters, and one Peter Veldhuisen used a review to defend the book's scientificity and verifiability.<ref>Peter Veldhuisen, "Bom onder het christendom", in: ''Het Parool'', 02-20-2003, p. 4 sq..</ref> Paul Cliteur replied to Van Hooff's earlier arguments<ref>Paul Cliteur, "Repliek: Hooffsche wetenschap", in: ''De Humanist'', April 2003, p. 54.</ref> and wrote that Carotta presents an "overwhelming amount of material to support his thesis", which for him was the "key to unlocking a lot of mysteries on the spread of Christianity in the Roman Empire".<ref>Paul Cliteur, "Was Jezus Caesar?", in: ''De Humanist'', December 2002</ref> Political publicist and architectural historian Thomas von der Dunk applauded Carotta's "thoroughly researched and documented study",<ref>Thomas von der Dunk, "Bom onder het christendom. De overeenkomst tussen Brutus en Judas", in: ''Vrij Nederland — De Republiek der Letteren'' 14, 04-06-2002, p. 66–69.</ref> while columnist Willem Dijkhuis emphasized the resulting compelling perspective on the European heritage.<ref>Willem Dijkhuis, "De vraag hóe Jezus was. Cultus van goddelijke Caesar opmaat tot Messias-cultus", in: ''Het Financieele Dagblad'', 07-24 juli-2004</ref>


==== Reception ====
When a few academics were asked for their opinion in a short article of the ] newspaper, they backed Van Hooff's position.<ref>http://www.mareonline.nl/2003/19/10.html</ref>
Carotta's book and its translations have drawn little serious academic attention. Except for few ] write-ups<ref>E.g. {{Citation
| last = Euler
| first = Ralf
| title = Euch ist ein 'Bobbelsche' geboren
| newspaper = Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung
| date = 29 November 1999
| url = http://www.carotta.de/subseite/echo/fas.html}}; {{Citation
| last = Höge
| first = Helmut
| title = Er kam, sah und heilte
| newspaper = die tageszeitung
| page = 19
| date = 24 December 1999
| url = http://www.carotta.de/subseite/echo/taz.html}}; {{Citation
| last = Sellner
| first = Albert
| title = Ein Stück Welträtsellösung
| newspaper = Badische Zeitung
| page = 28
| date = 20 March 2000
| url = http://www.carotta.de/subseite/echo/bz.html}}; {{Citation
| last = Widmann
| first = Arno
| title = Jesus – Julius
| newspaper = Berliner Zeitung
| date = 28 June 2000
| url = http://www.carotta.de/subseite/echo/berliner.html }}.</ref> the first German edition of Carotta's book was not reviewed.


Outside of Germany his theory drew little response, while the 2003 Dutch translation caused a controversial and at times heated debate in the ] media: historian ], philosopher ] and philosopher ] were among those who supported Carotta's theory, while philosopher Willem J. Ouweneel, theologian Matthijs de Jong, historians Marc van Uytfanghe and Anton van Hooff,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.skepsis.nl/carotta.html |title=Atheïstisch bijgeloof |author=Anton van Hooff |work=] 15(4) |publisher=] |date=December 2002}} (including a 4 November 2007 addendum)</ref> and the ''Dutch Bible Society'' dismissed the book.<ref>For earlier summaries of the Dutch debate cf. also {{Citation
==Notes==
| last = Ariëns
| first = Hans
| title = Jezus Christus, alias Julius Caesar
| journal = Mare
| volume = 19
| date = 6 February 2003
| url = http://www.mareonline.nl/2003/19/10.html
}}. Cf. {{Citation
| last = Hendriks
| first = Tommie
| title = Was Jezus Caesar? Receptie van een historische These
| journal = De Zwarte Hand
| volume = 1
| pages = 119–157
| year = 2004
| url = http://www.carotta.de/subseite/echo/dzh.html }}.</ref> The discussion was revived briefly when a feature documentary about Carotta's research was released in 2007.<ref>See IMDb references in the ''External links'' below.</ref> In an issue of the Dutch magazine ''Quest Historie'' dealing with conspiracy theories, theologian Annette Merz, while acknowledging the similarities between the lives of Jesus and Caesar, was quoted as arguing that Carotta would have to refute non-Christian sources for the existence of Jesus.<ref>{{cite journal
| last = Lobosco
| first = Roberto
| title = Was Jezus Christus eigenlijk Julius Caesar? Goddelijke Dubbelganger
| journal = Quest Historie
| volume = 3
| issue = 1
| pages = 68–71
| publisher = G+J Uitgevers
| location = Diemen
| year = 2010
| issn = 1877-6302}}</ref>

] priest ] criticized Carotta for avoiding explanations on why the "figure called Jesus Christ" would have been "invented" and given a "life modeled on that of Julius Caesar", and "why there should be four versions of the career of Jesus".<ref>{{cite book
| last = Murphy-O'Connor
| first = Jerome
| title = Jesus and Paul: Parallel Lives
| publisher = Glazier (Michael) Inc.
| year = 2007
| location = Collegeville
| page = 106
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=bzlUoV2GtoUC&pg=PA106
| isbn = 978-0-8146-5173-5 }}</ref> ] Maria Wyke called Carotta's views "eccentric" and described the connections between Caesar and Jesus listed by him as "sweeping and often superficial parallels, however detailed and justified at book length".<ref>{{cite book
| last = Wyke
| first = Maria
| title = Caesar: A Life in Western Culture
| publisher = Granta
| year = 2007
| location = London
| page = 255 sq.
| isbn = 978-1-86207-662-4}}</ref> Spanish philologist ] called Carotta's reading of the gospels as a diegetic transposition an "ingenious exercise" but also noted several methodological shortcomings which made the theory "completely implausible".<ref>{{Citation
| last = Piñero
| first = Antonio
| author-link = Antonio Piñero
| contribution = A modo de síntesis parcial y conclusiones
| year = 2008
| title = ¿Existió Jesús realmente?
| editor-last = Piñero
| editor-first = Antonio
| page = 345 sq.
| place = Madrid
| publisher = Raíces
| isbn = 978-84-86115-64-7}}.</ref>

=== Expanded theory and other works ===
During a 2008 lecture and in a subsequent article Carotta presented an extension of his theory, which interprets the gospels as a diegetic transposition.<ref>{{Citation
| last = Carotta
| first = Francesco
| contribution = Los evangelios como transposición diegética: una posible solución a la aporía '¿Existió Jesús?'
| year = 2008
| title = ¿Existió Jesús realmente?
| editor-last = Piñero
| editor-first = Antonio
| pages = 101–124
| place = Madrid
| publisher = Raíces
| url = http://www.carotta.de/subseite/texte/articula/Escorial_es.pdf
| isbn = 978-84-86115-64-7}}. English version: .</ref> In 2009 Carotta wrote an article in which he supported the arguments for the authenticity of the so-called ''Orpheos Bakkikos'', a supposedly ] early Christian amulet showing the ] of Christ.<ref>{{Citation
| last = Carotta
| first = Francesco
| last2 = Eickenberg
| first2 = Arne
| title = Orfeo Báquico: la cruz desaparecida
| journal = Isidorianum
| volume = 35
| issue = 18
| pages = 179–217
| year = 2009
| url = http://www.carotta.de/subseite/texte/articula/Orfeo_Baquico.pdf
| issn = 1131-7027 }}. English version: .</ref> Carotta postulates that the lost amulet showed the funerary wax effigy of Caesar, presented on a ''tropaeum''. In a 2011 article Carotta argued for a restitution of the ] (17 March) as the correct date of Caesar's funeral ceremony, and for a dismissal of the chronology developed by 19th century German scholars.<ref>{{Citation
| last = Carotta
| first = Francesco
| last2 = Eickenberg
| first2 = Arne
| title = ''Liberalia tu accusas!'' Restituting the ancient date of Caesar's ''funus''
| journal = Revue des Études Anciennes
| volume = 113
| issue = 2
| pages = 447–467
| year = 2011
| url = http://www.carotta.de/subseite/texte/articula/LiberaliaTuAccusas_en.pdf
| issn = 0035-2004 }}.</ref> In a 2012 book containing earlier and new articles he argued that ] was the mother of Christianity and possibly the author of the ur-gospel.<ref>{{Citation
| last = Carotta
| first = Francesco
| contribution = Fulvia: die Mutter des Christentums?
| year = 2012
| title = War Jesus Caesar? – Artikel und Vorträge. Eine Suche nach dem römischen Ursprung des Christentums
| editor-last = Carotta
| editor-first = Francesco
| pages = 109–177
| place = Kiel
| publisher = Ludwig
| isbn = 978-3-937719-63-4}}</ref>

Carotta argues that the number ] in the Book of Revelation refers to Cleopatra. In a book published in October 2024 ,<ref>Carotta, Francesco, 666 Die Offenbarung des Johannes als Verklärung der Taten Octavians, Uitgeverji Aspekt, Oktober 2024, {{ISBN|979-8227192691}}, p. 17-32: «666 – Die Zahl des Tieres».</ref> obsolete historical assumptions (Nero, Domitian, etc.) are rejected by showing that only CLEOPATRA explains all three variants found in the manuscripts: 616, 666 and 665.<br>
ΚΛΕΟΠΑΤΡΑ Θ(εα) – Κ' 20 + Λ' 30 + Ε' 5 + Ο' 70 + Π' 80 + Α' 1 + Τ' 300 + Ρ' 100 + Α' 1 + Θ' 9 = 616<br>
ΚΛΕΟΠΑΤΡΑ Θ(εα) N(εωτερα) – Κ' 20 + Λ' 30 + Ε' 5 + Ο' 70 + Π' 80 + Α' 1 + Τ' 300 + Ρ' 100 + Α' 1 + Θ' 9 + Ν' 50 = 666<br>
And with non-repeated counting of Α' 1: ΚΛΕΟΠΑΤΡΑ Θ(εα) N(εωτερα) – Κ' 20 + Λ' 30 + Ε' 5 + Ο' 70 + Π' 80 + Α' 1 + Τ' 300 + Ρ' 100 (+ Α' 1) + Θ' 9 + Ν' 50 = 665

== Selected works ==

=== Books ===
* ''Jesus was Caesar: On the Julian Origin of Christianity. An Investigative Report''. Soesterberg: Aspekt, 2005 (revised), {{ISBN|90-5911-396-9}} (; ).
* ''Was Jesus Caesar? – Artikel und Vorträge. Eine Suche nach dem römischen Ursprung des Christentums''. Kiel: Ludwig, 2012, {{ISBN|978-3-937719-63-4}}.

== See also ==
* ]
* ]

== Notes ==
{{reflist|2}} {{reflist|2}}


== External links ==
==Publications==
*
*{{worldcat id|id=lccn-no2005-29212}}
* {{IMDb name|3027305}}
*F. Carotta, "Verkündigung: Caesars Kreuzigung — Das Evangelium nach Kleopatra", in: Cam (ed.), ''Memoria 2090 — Kalenden und Iden'', Freiburg 1989
*F. Carotta, ''War Jesus Caesar? 2000 Jahre Anbetung einer Kopie'', Munich 1999 (= ''Was Jezus Caesar? Over de Romeinse oorsprong van het christendom'', Soesterberg 2002)
*F. Carotta, , review of G. Courtney (1992), ''Et tu, Judas? Then fall Jesus'', Kirchzarten 2002 ()
*F. Carotta, , in: L. Canfora (ed.), ''Quaderni di Storia'' 57, Milan 2003
*F. Carotta, ''Jesus was Caesar. On the Julian Origin of Christianity'', Soesterberg 2005 (extended English edition) ISBN 90-5911-396-9
*F. Carotta, , in: A. Piñero (ed.), , Madrid 2008 ()
*F. Carotta, "Orfeo Báquico: La Cruz Desaparecida", Écija/Madrid/Kirchzarten/Berlin 2009 ().


{{Authority control}}
==External links==
*
* at metafysiko.org
*], , a documentary feature film about Carotta's research (2008)
**{{imdb title|id=1238743|title=The Gospel of Caesar}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Carotta, Francesco}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Carotta, Francesco}}
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Latest revision as of 17:50, 5 November 2024

Italian writer
Francesco Carotta
Francesco Carotta (2007)
Born1946 (age 78–79)
Veneto, Italy
NationalityItalian
Other namesCham
Cam
EducationPhilosophy, Linguistics
OccupationJournalist
Years active1999-present
Known forCaesarian origin of Christianity
Gospel as a diegetic transposition
Notable workJesus was Caesar – On the Julian Origin of Christianity
Websitehttp://www.carotta.de

Francesco Carotta (born 1946 in Veneto, Italy) is an Italian writer who developed a theory that the historical Jesus was based on the life of Julius Caesar, that the Gospels were a rewriting of Roman historical sources, and that Christianity developed from the cult of the deified Caesar. This theory is generally ignored in academic circles.

Biography

Francesco Carotta was born in 1946 in Veneto, Italy. Carotta studied philosophy in France and linguistics in Germany. In the 1970s he was active as a writer in the cultural-political movements in Frankfurt, Bologna and Rome. In 1980 Carotta headed the Frankfurt-based Casa di Cultura Popolare as director. As executive director and publisher he supported Kore, a Freiburg publisher of feminist books and women's literature. He first published his theories in the late 1980s. In 1999 he presented his theory in the book Was Jesus Caesar? Since then he has continued his research and written several articles. He has participated in documentary films on Caesar and Christ, given academic lectures, and reconstructed Caesar's funeral ceremony in Spain, based on the historical sources. Carotta lives in Kirchzarten near Freiburg.

Caesarian origin of Christianity

Francesco Carotta's theory runs contrary to all established theories on the historical Jesus. Carotta postulates that the historical person behind the Biblical figure Jesus Christ was not Jesus of Nazareth, but the Roman statesman Gaius Julius Caesar, from whose cult Christianity developed over the course of several generations.

Jesus was Caesar

The thesis of Carotta's book Jesus was Caesar is based on a comparison of the gospels, especially the earliest, the Gospel of Mark, with the ancient sources about the last years in the life of Caesar and his immediate legacy. Roman sources include Appian, Plutarch, and Suetonius, who all relied to some extent on Caesar's contemporary Gaius Asinius Pollio and his lost Historiae, which according to Carotta might constitute the "Latin Ur-Gospel". This is augmented by comparisons from archaeology, numismatics, iconography, liturgy, and ritual traditions. Carotta argues that the multiple parallels he sees between the lives and cults of Caesar and Jesus can best be explained by his theory that Jesus is based on the deified Caesar, transformed and mirrored in the eastern Hellenistic and judaizing regions of the Roman Empire.

Within Carotta's theory the gospels are hypertexts after a diegetic transposition of Latin and Greek Roman sources (hypotexts) on Caesar's life from the beginning of the civil war, the crossing of the Rubicon, his assassination, funeral, and deification, conforming to Jesus's mission from the Jordan to his arrest, crucifixion, and resurrection. Textually transformed from Rome to Jerusalem in Caesar's eastern veteran colonies, the Gospel narrative with its altered geography, dramatic structure, its characters and newly adopted cultural environment, would therefore have been written neither as a mimetic approximation of Caesarian attributes nor as a mythological amalgam, but as a directly dependent, albeit mutated rewriting (réécriture) of actual history.

He argues that, following this initial transposition, there was at first a redaction of the Caesarian Ur-Gospel inspired by Augustan history and theogony, whereby the later synoptic gospels by Matthew and Luke incorporated (among other pericopes) the Nativity of Jesus, originally transposed from the nativity of Augustus, and the resurrection narrative, according to the chronological-biographical structures in the historical account by Nicolaus of Damascus. Later generations produced more discrete traditions like the Gospel of John, the Acts of the Apostles, and the Book of Revelation. According to Carotta, the ultimate early Christian metamorphosis of the eastern Caesar religion, which was to reinterpret the foundational cult of the Julian imperial dynasty with regard to the contested Palestine, was provoked by the new Flavian theopolitical ideology, which also induced the rewriting of the vita of Vespasian's court historian Flavius Josephus into the hagiography of Saint Paul in the second part of Acts.

Reception

Carotta's book and its translations have drawn little serious academic attention. Except for few feuilleton write-ups the first German edition of Carotta's book was not reviewed.

Outside of Germany his theory drew little response, while the 2003 Dutch translation caused a controversial and at times heated debate in the Dutch media: historian Thomas von der Dunk, philosopher Andreas Kinneging and philosopher Paul Cliteur were among those who supported Carotta's theory, while philosopher Willem J. Ouweneel, theologian Matthijs de Jong, historians Marc van Uytfanghe and Anton van Hooff, and the Dutch Bible Society dismissed the book. The discussion was revived briefly when a feature documentary about Carotta's research was released in 2007. In an issue of the Dutch magazine Quest Historie dealing with conspiracy theories, theologian Annette Merz, while acknowledging the similarities between the lives of Jesus and Caesar, was quoted as arguing that Carotta would have to refute non-Christian sources for the existence of Jesus.

Dominican priest Jerome Murphy-O'Connor criticized Carotta for avoiding explanations on why the "figure called Jesus Christ" would have been "invented" and given a "life modeled on that of Julius Caesar", and "why there should be four versions of the career of Jesus". Latinist Maria Wyke called Carotta's views "eccentric" and described the connections between Caesar and Jesus listed by him as "sweeping and often superficial parallels, however detailed and justified at book length". Spanish philologist Antonio Piñero called Carotta's reading of the gospels as a diegetic transposition an "ingenious exercise" but also noted several methodological shortcomings which made the theory "completely implausible".

Expanded theory and other works

During a 2008 lecture and in a subsequent article Carotta presented an extension of his theory, which interprets the gospels as a diegetic transposition. In 2009 Carotta wrote an article in which he supported the arguments for the authenticity of the so-called Orpheos Bakkikos, a supposedly syncretistic early Christian amulet showing the Crucifixion of Christ. Carotta postulates that the lost amulet showed the funerary wax effigy of Caesar, presented on a tropaeum. In a 2011 article Carotta argued for a restitution of the Liberalia (17 March) as the correct date of Caesar's funeral ceremony, and for a dismissal of the chronology developed by 19th century German scholars. In a 2012 book containing earlier and new articles he argued that Fulvia was the mother of Christianity and possibly the author of the ur-gospel.

Carotta argues that the number 666 in the Book of Revelation refers to Cleopatra. In a book published in October 2024 , obsolete historical assumptions (Nero, Domitian, etc.) are rejected by showing that only CLEOPATRA explains all three variants found in the manuscripts: 616, 666 and 665.
ΚΛΕΟΠΑΤΡΑ Θ(εα) – Κ' 20 + Λ' 30 + Ε' 5 + Ο' 70 + Π' 80 + Α' 1 + Τ' 300 + Ρ' 100 + Α' 1 + Θ' 9 = 616
ΚΛΕΟΠΑΤΡΑ Θ(εα) N(εωτερα) – Κ' 20 + Λ' 30 + Ε' 5 + Ο' 70 + Π' 80 + Α' 1 + Τ' 300 + Ρ' 100 + Α' 1 + Θ' 9 + Ν' 50 = 666
And with non-repeated counting of Α' 1: ΚΛΕΟΠΑΤΡΑ Θ(εα) N(εωτερα) – Κ' 20 + Λ' 30 + Ε' 5 + Ο' 70 + Π' 80 + Α' 1 + Τ' 300 + Ρ' 100 (+ Α' 1) + Θ' 9 + Ν' 50 = 665

Selected works

Books

See also

Notes

  1. Cf. Carotta's CV. Date information sourced from Library of Congress Authorities data, via corresponding WorldCat Identities linked authority file (LAF).
  2. I.a. Mara, Cham (July 1974). "Prolegomena zu einer jeden künftigen Kritik, die als Aufhebung wird auftreten können" (PDF). Schwarze Protokolle. 9. Frankfurt am Main: Peter-H. Ober: 2–74. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  3. Haberl, Horst Gerhard (1990). Auf und davon: eine Nomadologie der Neunziger. Graz: Droschl. p. 178. ISBN 3-85420-193-1.
  4. Niederländer, Frank; Schulz, Gabriele, eds. (1994). Das Literaturbuch 1993/94. Literarisches Leben in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Berlin: Deutscher Kulturrat/Nomos. p. 183. ISBN 3-7890-3106-2. Cf. International Literary Market Place 1994. New Providence: Reed Reference. 1993. p. 165. ISBN 0-8352-3347-2.
  5. I.a. Cam (Francesco Carotta) (1988), "Madonna mia", in Cam (ed.), BellaMadonna/Memoria 2089. Almanach vom Kore Verlag, Freiburg: Kore, pp. 9–15, ISBN 3-926023-75-9. Cf. Cam (1989), "Verkündigung: Caesars Kreuzigung – Das Evangelium nach Kleopatra", in Cam (ed.), BellaMadonna/Memoria 2090. Kalenden und Iden. Almanach vom Kore Verlag, Freiburg: Kore, pp. i–ix, ISBN 3-926023-76-7. Cf. also Cam (23 December 1991). "Jesus Christus, Caesar incognito". die tageszeitung. Berlin. p. 20.
  6. Strohecker, Irina (15 October 2007). "'Für einen Forscher gibt es nichts Ärgerlicheres als die Fiktion'". Badische Zeitung. Freiburg. p. 33.
  7. Following the literary theory introduced by Genette, Gérard (1982). Palimpsestes. La littérature au second degré. Paris: Seuil. ISBN 2-02-006116-3.
  8. E.g. Euler, Ralf (29 November 1999), "Euch ist ein 'Bobbelsche' geboren", Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung; Höge, Helmut (24 December 1999), "Er kam, sah und heilte", die tageszeitung, p. 19; Sellner, Albert (20 March 2000), "Ein Stück Welträtsellösung", Badische Zeitung, p. 28; Widmann, Arno (28 June 2000), "Jesus – Julius", Berliner Zeitung.
  9. Anton van Hooff (December 2002). "Atheïstisch bijgeloof". Skepter 15(4). Stichting Skepsis. (including a 4 November 2007 addendum)
  10. For earlier summaries of the Dutch debate cf. also Ariëns, Hans (6 February 2003), "Jezus Christus, alias Julius Caesar", Mare, 19. Cf. Hendriks, Tommie (2004), "Was Jezus Caesar? Receptie van een historische These", De Zwarte Hand, 1: 119–157.
  11. See IMDb references in the External links below.
  12. Lobosco, Roberto (2010). "Was Jezus Christus eigenlijk Julius Caesar? Goddelijke Dubbelganger". Quest Historie. 3 (1). Diemen: G+J Uitgevers: 68–71. ISSN 1877-6302.
  13. Murphy-O'Connor, Jerome (2007). Jesus and Paul: Parallel Lives. Collegeville: Glazier (Michael) Inc. p. 106. ISBN 978-0-8146-5173-5.
  14. Wyke, Maria (2007). Caesar: A Life in Western Culture. London: Granta. p. 255 sq. ISBN 978-1-86207-662-4.
  15. Piñero, Antonio (2008), "A modo de síntesis parcial y conclusiones", in Piñero, Antonio (ed.), ¿Existió Jesús realmente?, Madrid: Raíces, p. 345 sq., ISBN 978-84-86115-64-7.
  16. Carotta, Francesco (2008), "Los evangelios como transposición diegética: una posible solución a la aporía '¿Existió Jesús?'", in Piñero, Antonio (ed.), ¿Existió Jesús realmente? (PDF), Madrid: Raíces, pp. 101–124, ISBN 978-84-86115-64-7. English version: "The Gospels as diegetic Transposition: A possible Solution to the Aporia 'Did Jesus exist?'".
  17. Carotta, Francesco; Eickenberg, Arne (2009), "Orfeo Báquico: la cruz desaparecida" (PDF), Isidorianum, 35 (18): 179–217, ISSN 1131-7027. English version: "Orpheos Bakkikos — The Missing Cross".
  18. Carotta, Francesco; Eickenberg, Arne (2011), "Liberalia tu accusas! Restituting the ancient date of Caesar's funus" (PDF), Revue des Études Anciennes, 113 (2): 447–467, ISSN 0035-2004.
  19. Carotta, Francesco (2012), "Fulvia: die Mutter des Christentums?", in Carotta, Francesco (ed.), War Jesus Caesar? – Artikel und Vorträge. Eine Suche nach dem römischen Ursprung des Christentums, Kiel: Ludwig, pp. 109–177, ISBN 978-3-937719-63-4
  20. Carotta, Francesco, 666 Die Offenbarung des Johannes als Verklärung der Taten Octavians, Uitgeverji Aspekt, Oktober 2024, ISBN 979-8227192691, p. 17-32: «666 – Die Zahl des Tieres».

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