1.5.1
V. Φέρε δὲ ἤδη, μετὰ τὴν δέουσαν προκατασκε τῆς προτεθείσης ἡμῖν ἐκκλησιαστικῆς ἰατορίας λοιπὸν ἀπὸ τῆς ἐνσάρκου τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡ ἐπιφανείας οἷά τινος ὁδοιπορίας ἐφαψώμεθα, τοῦ λόγου πατέρα θεὸν καὶ τὸν δηλούμενον αὐ Ἰησοῦν χριστὸν τὸν σωτῆρα καὶ κύριον ἡμῶν, οὐράνιον τοῦ θεοῦ λόγον, βοηθὸν ἡμῖν καὶ αυνε τῆς κατὰ τὴν διήγησιν ἀληθείας ἐπικαλεσάμε ἢν δὴ οὗν τοῦτο δεύτερον καὶ τεσσαρακοστὸν ἔ τῆς Αὐγούστου βασιΛείας, Αἰγύπτου δ’ ὑποτα καὶ τελευτῆς Ἀντωνίου καὶ Κλεοπάτρας, εἰς ὑστάτην ἡ κατ’ Αἴγυπτον τῶν Πτολεμαίων λῆξε δυναστεία, ὄγδοον ἔτος καὶ εἰκοστόν, ὀπὴν ὁ σωτὴρ καὶ κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς ὁ χριστὸς τῆς τότε πρώτης ἀπογραφῆς, ἡγεμονεύο Κυρινίου τῆς Συρίας, ἀκολούθως ταῖς περὶ αὐ προφητείαις ἐν Βηθλεὲμ γεννᾶται τῆς Ἰουδα ταύτης δὲ τῆς κατὰ Κυρίνιον ἀπογραφῆς τῶν παρ’ Ἑβραίοις ἐπισημότατος ἱστορικῶν Φ ὑίος Ἰώσηπος μνημονεύει, καὶ ἄλλην ἐπισυνά ἱστορίαν περὶ τῆς τῶν Γαλιλαίων κατὰ αὐτοὺς ἐπιφυείσης χρόνους αἱρέσεως, ἧς καὶ ἡμῖν ὁ Λουκᾶς ἐν ταῖς Πράξεσιν μνήμην ὧδέ λέγων πεποίηται “ μετὰ τοῦτον ἀνέστη Ἴου ὁ Γαλιλαῖος ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις τῆς ἀπογραφῆς, καἰ ἀπέστησε λαὸν ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ· κἀκεῖνος ἀπώλετο, καὶ πάντες δάοι ἐπείσθησαν αὐτῷ, διεσκορπίσθησαν.” τούτοις δ οὖν καὶ ὁ δεδηλωμένος ἐν ὀκτωκαιδεκάτῳ τῆς Ἀρχαιολογίας συνᾴδων ταῦτα παρατίθεται κατὰ λέξιν· “ Κυρίνιος δὲ τῶν εἰς τὴν βουλὴν συναγομένων, ἀνὴρ τάς τε ἄλλας ἀρχὰς ἐπιτετελεκὼς καὶ διὰ πασῶν ὁδεύσας ὕπατος γενέσθαι τά τε ἄλλα ἀξιώματι μέγας, σὺν ὀλίγοις ἐπὶ Συρίας παρῆν, ὑπὸ Καίσαρος δικαιοδότης τοῦ ἔθνους ἀπεσταλμένος καὶ τιμητὴς τῶν οὐσιῶν γενησόμενος.” καὶ μετὰ βραχέα φησίν· “ Ἰούδας Γαυλανίτης ἀνὴρ ἐκ πόλεως ὄνομα Γαμαλά, Σάδδοκον Φαρισαῖον προσλαβόμενος, ἠπείγετο ἐπὶ ἀποστάσει, τήν τε ἀποτίμησιν οὐδὲν ἄλλο ἢ ἄντικρυς δουλείαν ἐπιφέρειν λέγοντες καὶ τῆς ἐλευθερίας ἐπ᾿ ἀντιλήψει παρακαλοῦντες τὸ ἔθνος.” καὶ ἐν τῇ δευτέρᾳ δὲ τῶν ἱστοριῶν τοῦ Ἱουδαϊκοῦ πολέμου περὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ ταῦτα γράφει· “ ἐπὶ τούτου τις ἀνὴρ Γαλιλαῖος Ἰούδας ὄνομα εἰς ἀποστασίαν ἐνῆγε τοὺς ἐπιχωρίους, κακίζων εἰ φόρον τε ῾Ρωμαίοις τελεῖν ὑπομενοῦσιν καὶ μετὰ τὸν θεὸν οἴσουσι θνητοὺς δεσπότας. ” ταῦτα ὁ Ἰώσηπος.
V. So then, after the necessary preliminaries to the history of the Church proposed by us, let us begin, as if starting a journey, with the appearance of our Saviour in the flesh, after invoking God, the Father of the Logos, and Jesus Christ himself, our Saviour and Lord, the heavenly Logos of God, to give us help and assistance to the truth in the narrative. It was, then, the forty-second year of the reign of Augustus, and the twenty-eighth year after the subjection of Egypt and the death of Antony and Cleopatra (and with her the Egyptian dynasty of the Ptolemies came to an end), when our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ, in accordance with the prophecies concerning him, was born in Bethlehem of Judaea, at the time of the first census which then took place, while Quirinius was governor of Syria. This census in the time of Quirinius, Flavius Josephus, the most famous of the historians among the Hebrews, also mentions, and joins to the narrative another concerning the sect of the Galileans which arose at the same time. Our own Luke has also mentioned this in one place in the Acts, saying, “After this man arose Judas the Galilean, in the days of the census, and led away the people after him, and he perished, and all who obeyed him were dispersed.” In agreement with this, in the eighteenth book of the Antiquities the writer referred to also gives the following detail: “And Quirinius, one of those called to the Senate, who had filled the other offices and passed through all of them to become consul, and was otherwise of high rank, reached Syria with a small staff, having been sent by Caesar to administer the people and to make a valuation of their property.” And a little later he says, “And Judas, the Gaulonite, a man of a city called Gamala, taking with him Zadok, a Pharisee, was eager for revolt, saying that the valuation led to nothing else than outright slavery, and exhorting the nation to rally for freedom.” And in the second book of the History of the Jewish War he writes concerning the same man: “At this time a Galilean, Judas by name, was inciting the inhabitants to revolt, blaming them if they would endure to pay tribute to the Romans and, after God, to endure mortal masters.” So far Josephus.