Roman general appointed by
Caligula to replace
Aulus Vitellius as
governor of Syria.
Though his background & qualifications for this position are unknown, the
few deeds of Petronius that were recalled reveal him to have been a
shrewd, sensible and even compassionate governor intent on defusing
volatile situations before they erupt in violence.
When the Jewish population of
Jabneh tore down an altar dedicated to the emperor, Caligula retaliated
by ordering Petronius to erect a statue of the emperor as the embodiment
of Jove in the temple at Jerusalem, by force if necessary. While the
statue was being constructed at Sidon, Petronius led his army to Galilee
to pacify Jews who were in an uproar over news of the immanent
desecration of their sanctuary. Impressed by the passionate pleas of
crowds from Ptolemaïs to Tiberius, he decided to withdraw to Antioch &
appeal to the emperor to rescind his order. Caligula, infuriated by that
request which he viewed as an assault upon his authority, replied by
commanding Petronius to commit suicide. Fortunately for the latter, news
of the megalomaniac emperor's assassination reached Antioch before the
edict ordering his own death.
Before finishing his term as governor,
Petronius responded to the desecration of a Syrian synagogue by ordering
the punishment the youthful Hellenists who had placed an image of the
emperor in it. The fact that these two incidents are the only record of
Petronius' tenure as governor indicates that he was more successful in
keeping peace than most of his successors. While the rest of his
life has been long forgotten, these are enough to prove he was an
extraordinary ruler for his time.
References: Josephus, Antiquities
18.8, 19.6.
_____, War
2.10.
Philo,
Delegation 200-360.
Other resources on line:
Perspective
on the World of Jesus 