10 PHILO'S POLITICS
Jews in Alexandria. This "second treatise" must be identified with In
Flaccum, a distinct writing whose purpose and audience might well
have been different from the other. We are thus thrown back upon in
ternal evidence for its purport.
The document shows clearly that it was written for a gentile reader,
and for one not familiar with Alexandria. With details quite superflu
ous for a Jew of Alexandria Philo explains the way in which certain
quarters of the city were assigned to Jews;^19 how an attack against
Jews in Alexandria would be felt by Jews throughout the Empire;^20 the
organization of Jews under a council as set up by Augustus;^21 how the
method of punishment was varied in the city for offenders of different
social ranks;^22 the Jewish custom of keeping their women, especially
their virgins, in close confinement;^23 Jewish simplicity of living;^24 the
feast of the tabernacles.^25 The way in which each of these matters is ex
plained makes it extremely likely that Philo was writing for a gentile,
and probably for a Roman, audience.
Further, In Flaccum tells us that it was written after the death of
Gaius. In two passages^26 Gaius is denounced sharply, while in the sec
ond of the two Philo speaks of him definitely in the past tense. Yet
Tracy^27 has noticed that elsewhere in the treatise Philo speaks of Gaius
with profound respect. Whereas in Legatio it will appear that Philo's
invective is directed against Gaius himself, here it is directed against
Flaccus, while the imperial office, even with a Gaius in power, is shown
to be an instrument, however unwitting, of the will of God. The thesis
of the document is perfectly plain: it is a bold warning that any pre
fect will bring himself to the gutter if he deals unfavorably with God's
chosen people. "Flaccus is an unmistakable witness," wrote Philo in his
last sentence, "that the race of Jews does not lack the protection (hm-
Koupia) which comes from God." Philo's tone is completely respectful.
He will join the Jews in honorific decrees to the emperors, and support
an equitable prefect to the end. There is no hint of a buried hatred of
Roman rule as such. But the treatise is the expression of a Jew with an
intense conviction of racial superiority, and in this it harmonizes per
fectly with the more concealed utterances to which we shall come in the
next chapter. With great dignity it points out the traditional rights of
- Viae,, 55. 20. Ibid., 45. 21. Ibid., 74.
- Ibid., 78 ff. 23. Ibid., 89. 24. Ibid., 91.
- Ibid., 116. 26. Ibid., 13, 180. 27. Op, cit., 30.