I have a post, simply titled “How many guards at Jesus’ tomb?” that has proved to be one of the most popular ones on this blog, drawing ten thousand visitors or so each year. The bulk of these come during the Easter season. I suspect that there are a lot of churches putting on Passion plays and they’re looking for some guidance on this topic (eg, how many costumes should they make for the guards, and should they be Roman costumes, or Jewish temple guard costumes?)
This year, to enhance the service that this post has evidently provided, I have written a number of other essays that are meant to corroborate various claims made within the post. Hopefully, these essays come soon enough for people to find useful for the Easter 2013 season.
The original post, and the complementary essays, can be read on this site (links below) but have also been compiled into an ebook (cover to the right). I have a couple of other claims that I’d like to eventually corroborate, so this collection of essays could grow.
Kindle | Nook | Smashwords
Original, Main Essay: “How many guards at Jesus’ tomb?”
Supplemental:
- Were they Roman Guards or Jewish Guards?
- The Discipline of the Roman Soldier
- The Romans and Jews: So (un)Happy Together
- Pilate puts Jesus on Trial, the Jews put Pilate on Trial
- Evidence of Jewish Guards at Jesus Tomb
2 comments
11 January 2019
Good day beloved,
I pray you a Blessed 2019, & that this communication finds you well.
I have heard it told that Roman Guards we’re burned alive in their armor for ‘allowing’ prisoners to escape on their watch. I have been unable to find any evidence of this in my research.
Have you found this?
If so, where may I find it?
Your sister in Christ Jesus,
Celeste
Author
Hi Celeste,
I am unaware of that specific punishment for that particular transgression, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t listed somewhere. The Romans were indeed brutal in their punishments, including when they ‘allow’ prisoners to escape on their watch. You can find several instances where severe punishment, including death, is meted out to those who failed in their guarding duties.
I discuss several examples here:
https://sntjohnny.com/front/guards-at-the-tomb-the-discipline-of-the-roman-soldier/2201.html
In that link I refer to Currie’s “Military Discipline of the Romans” (ISBN: 978-1936830-99-2) which is about as comprehensive of a list as you are going to find, but even he only offers summaries. If someone tracked down the full text of the incidents he described, you may in fact find guard burned alive in their armor. I see in one case, a deserter was burned, but without tracking down the full text, I can’t say whether it was in his armor or out of it.
My suggestion would be to start with my own link above and then pick up Currie’s book and roll up your sleeve. The evidence you seek may very well be out there. Let me know if you find it!