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The Sculpture in front of the Lateran as described by Benjamin of Tudela and Magister Gregorius

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 September 2012

Paul Borchardt
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Extract

The English Magister Gregorius, and the Spanish Jew, Benjamin ben Jonah of Tudela, lived towards the end of the twelfth century Our knowledge of the former's description of Rome is due to G. McN. Rushforth, who attempts to date his visit to Rome more precisely but has to admit that this is not possible. He can only say that it took place in the latter part of the twelfth or the earlier part of the thirteenth century. The visit of Rabbi Benjamin can be fixed more exactly. He mentions Alexander III as Pope : he made his entry into Rome on the 23rd of November, 1165, and was driven out again in 1167 but returned in 1177. On passing through Bari he mentions that the city had been destroyed by King William of Sicily (1156) It was rebuilt by William the Good in 1169, so that his visit to Rome must have been before this. When he travels to Lesser Armenia, he names as its ruler Thoros, who died in December 1167 or February 1168. As by this time he had travelled through Greece and Constantinople, and along the coast of Asia Minor to Lesser Armenia we may reasonably date his visit to Rome in the year 1166.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Roman Studies , Volume 26 , Issue 1 , 1936 , pp. 68 - 70
Copyright
Copyright ©Paul Borchardt 1936. Exclusive Licence to Publish: The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies

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References

1 ‘Magister Gregorius, De Mirabilibus Urbis Romae : a new description of Rome in the twelfth century,’ JRS IX (1919), 14 ff.Google Scholar I have to thank Mr. Rushforth for translating this article from the German.

2 Op. cit., p. 17.

3 Journal asiatique, Série v, xviii (1861), 345Google Scholar (and plate facing), 356.

4 Adler, M. N., The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela (London, 1907), p. 1Google Scholar.

5 See my article, ‘Benjamin of Tudela,’ in Encyclopaedia judaica (Berlin, 1929), iv, 130Google Scholar.

6 “Geographical Commentary on Benjamin of Tudela's Travels in the Twelfth Century” (now in the hands of Prof. Gibb, School of Oriental Studies, London).

7 Op. cit., p. 22.

8 Nichols, F. M., Mirabilia Urbis Romae, The Marvels of Rome (London, 1889), p. 62Google Scholar.

9 Op. cit., p. 63.

10 Geschichte der Juden in Rom (Berlin, 1896), I, 295Google Scholar.

11 Historische Versuche (Berlin, 1847), p. 21Google Scholar.

12 Op. cit., pp. 23, 24.

13 Adler, op. cit., Hebrew text, 8 (reading of the MSS. in the British Museum and the Biblioteca Casanatense, Rome).

14 de Rossi, G. B., Piante di Roma (Rome, 1879), pl.1Google Scholar.

15 The identification may have been encouraged by the hair of the Spinario : cf. II Sam. xiv, 26.

16 The name Samson may also have come from the tradition, mentioned by Gregorius and the Mirabilia, that the Colossus represented the sun god, phoebus; for the Hebrew Shimshon means ‘ sun's man.’

17 Hülsen-Egger, , Römiscbe Skizzenbücher von Martin v. Heemskerck (Berlin, 1913)Google Scholar, i. fol. 11r.

18 Hülsen, Chr., La Roma antica di Ciriaco d'Ancona (Rome, 1907)Google Scholar, pl. vii.

19 Asher, A., The Itinerary of Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela (London, 1840), p. 41Google Scholar, based on the earliest printed edition (Constantinople, 1543) and the improved one of Ferrara (1556): ‘Opposite St. John Lateran stands a statue of Shimshon with a lance of stone in his hand, also that of Absalom …’ Asher has overlooked the word ‘and’ : the word ‘ball’ is also quite plain in his Hebrew text (p. 11, 1). Adler, following the MSS. mentioned above (note 13), has (p. 7) : ‘In front of St. John Lateran there are statues of Samson in marble, with a spear in his hand, and of Absalom.’ It is obvious that he has merely altered slightly Asher's English translation.

The German edition, by Martinet, A. (‘Reisetagebuch von Rabbi Benjamin von Tudela’ in the Jabresbericht des Kgl. Lyceums zu Bamberg, 1858 : the anastatic reproduction (Berlin, 1918, p. 7)Google Scholar omits the statement) has : ‘Opposite the Lateran is a figure of Samson holding a stone ball in his hand, and Absalom.’ Martinet followed the edition printed at Freiburg in 1583, a reproduction of the original Constantinople edition of 1543.

Grünhut, L. and Adler, M. N.Die Reisebeschreibungen von Rabbi Benjamin von Tudela (Jerusalem, 1903: Hebrew text and German translation)Google Scholar, using the same MSS. as Adler (see above, p. 69, note 13), has: ‘And in front of St. John Lateran is a figure of Samson with a stone ball in his hand, and also a figure of Absalom.’ Here, again, the ‘and’ has been omitted, though the ball of stone is correctly rendered. It must, then, have been Grünhüt's observation which enabled him to correct Asher's mistake about a lance.