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356 "

Alexander ben Mordecai Alexander, Tiberius Julius

THK

.IKWISII

xlvll. ITT-lSt; SiisiMiillil, ffV»f/i.(/('rOr((c/i(j<c/icn II. ;^3l^-;)^^»: schunT, (.«/i.:i<i wl., ni. ;UtH)4'.i.

Liliralur,

An

Enifiish

translation ut tlm IniKimiils Is to !* found In Con's Ancient Froitim-nts, London. IHTti; a Krt'nrh tninslatioii In ItiMimrb, Tertm d'A ii/cuiv (jrcc.i it llomains Hclatlfii au Jmlaixmi, im pp. iViJiH. r..

0.

ALEXANDER (SENDER) BEN MORDECAI

As,sociute nibhi of I'nigue iii llif secmid half His work, "Slicl.iilot sevcMitccnth century. It Bedikot." in llobrcw and Juda'o-German (Amideals, as its title iniiilics. with the stcrdain, IGGT), precepts on the slaughteriugof cattle and inspection

of



till"

of the inner organs. mBi,io<:R.4i'nv



Stelnsclmclder, Cat. Bodl. col. 4397.

L. G.

ALEXANDER BEN MOSES ETHAUSEN. See

Eth

isi;n.

AlkxanhivK



ander's attainments as a philosopher form a worthy sequel to his distinguishecl university career. He

once metaphysician and ]isychologist. and has assimilated both the English and the (Jerman methHis book, "Moral Order and Progress." 1889, ods. is a distinct contribution to ethics; in it Professor Alexander makes an attempt to combine evolutional with Hegelian ethics. He has also written several articles of importance for "Mind." BiBLiouRAPiiv: Jc If. C/iron. July, 1893; Jew. Tear Bmk.lfSS. G. L. is at

SEVERTTS



Ucmian emperor

was

cspcciallv friendly to both Jewsand Christians. It was on tiiisaecount, and not because of his Syrian descent, that the mocking inhabitants of Antioch and Alexandria, while celebrating their festivals, called him a Syrian synagogueoverseer and a high jiriest iSi/nim dir/iisi/ndrfor/iDii et crrliiertim; see ^Elius Lampridius in Ids biography of Alexander Severus, chap, xxviii.). It seems that the emperor was accustomed to announce in advance the names of those whom he wovdii appoint to important positions of state, in the same manner as the .lews an:

them do imto thee"

(Hillel,

Shab.


 * il(/)



and he

as his motto, inculcating it upon liis subjects whenever they were about to infiict a wrong on any one {ibid. .Elius Lampridius. li.). He caused this maxim to be inscribed also upon HisLiberal his pidaco and upon public I)uildAttitude. ings (ibid.). In his jirivate chapel adojjted

it

{lai-ariiim), where he was accustomed pray every morning, he had, besides the images of Apollonius, Orpheus, and Jesus, also an effigy of Abraham (iWd. chap. xxix.). The reign of Alexander

to

tinued

all

con-

He

former privileges of the Jews

(.hidiFia

The

verse in

pririlet/iii niierriirit. ibid.

chap.

xxii.).

Dan. xi. 34. "Now when they shall fall, lliey shall be holpeu with a little help," was interpreted by the Jews, sfiys Jerome, as referring to Severus and Antoninus {J)i' Srtro el Aiitonino), "whom the Jews loved very much." Griltz, in his "Gesch. d. Juden." 4th ed., iv. 453, exjilains the words of Jerome as referring to one emiieror only, Alexander Sev<>rus, whom he identifies with the Antoninus of whose friendly attitude toward Judaism and of his frieud.ship for Judah the Patriarch the Talmudic sources frequently speak. Jerome refers very ])robably to

Alexander Severus and to Antoninus Pius, whom lie mentions after Alexander because he treats history Alexander Severus is mentioned also in the Talmud and .Midrash. Imt in the confused manner not un-



ALEXANDER

Jews

whole Hoinan empire.

rctrogressively.

to the chair of logic and iiliilo.sophy at Owen's College, Manchester, and in 1890 became one of the examiners in philosophy at London I'niversity. Alex-

from

iniU'cd, a ha|)py period for the

as well as for the

Mosks,

burn in Sydney. New South Wales, lie was educated at Wesley College, .lu'ly (1. 18')!). >[eibourne, after which he attended the .Alclbourne University, where lie made an e.xeellcnt academic record, and in 1877 gained a Balliol scholarship for classics, two years later achieving the distinction of a "double first." In 1H81 he took a tirst-class in the final school of classical honors and became a fellow in Lincoln College, O.xford. Subse(|Uently he became tutor at Lincoln Colleg<'. but resigned in 1890 to study experimental psychology tuider Miinsterbcrg in Freil)urg. In July, 18!)3. he was apjiointed psvehologisl

Severus was,

356

.Metaphysician and

i;kn

ALEXANDER, SAMTJEL

ENCYCLOPEDIA

common

in

these authorities.

A

certain Justina,

daughter of "Severus, son of Antoninus." is said to have told "IJabbi" that she was married at an extraordinarily early age (Niddali, i-iii). "Severus, the son of Antoninus." Ijccame, according to the TalniudCAb. Zanili, Wn), emperor during In the Tal- the life of his father, and through the

mud.

of the latter. At this time . toninus jiromised " Habbi " that Tiberias should be raised to the rank of a colony. Since Severus appears in these passages to have been friendly toward the Jews, it is rather surprising that the selection of his reign as an era to count from wiis looked upon as a punishment on Israel (Midrash Shir ha Shirim Zutta. ed. Bnber, i. C. Berlin. 1894; also

"Jew.

tjnart.

account

this

elTorts

68.")). He is mentioned in having reigned eighteen years, al-

I{ev." vi.


 * is

tlKJUgh he actually reigned only thirteen. ( lllier jiassages in the rabliiuical writings, in which DTl'IDX is mentioned, refer perhaps to ^'KU^s. The ambitious mother of .Vlexander Severus, Mamma'a, seems also to have found a |ilace in rabbinical literature. A passage in the Hebrew Apoealyp.se of Elijah (published by .M. Iiuttenwicser. Leipsic, 1897, and previously in Jellinek's "Bet liaMiilrash." iii. 05-G8), wherein a Uomaii emperor is called, in veiled words, the son of a slave named Gigit, appears to refer to Mamm.ea, whose name may be construed to mean a " i)ipe " or " tube." Mammtea, who, while in Antioch, was wont to discuss religious matters with Origen (Gibbon, " Decline and Fall of the Konian Empire." cliai>. xvi.), ])robably took an interest in Jewish matters also, and in this way became known to the Jews. sj'Dagogue in Home was called the Syna-

A

gogue

The Severus DITIDT

of

Severus (D1T1DNT, also

It was so called either out of gratitude to Severus, or because a scroll of the Law, presented by Alexander Severus to the Temple in Jerusalem, was preserved here. Variants of this scroll from the ^lasoretic text are contained in " Bereshit Habbati

XnL"''J3).

Synagogue,

(see A. E|)stein, in " Monalsschrift," neq.



188.").

]ip. 'A'il it

"Recueil desTravaux Rediges en I'Homieur de

D. Chwolson," pp. i^ctucq.. Berlin, 1809). Although proved beyond a doubt that Alexander Severus was favorabi v inclined toward the Jews, nevertheless the opinion o"f Griltz (4th ed., iv. 224). that the Talmudic tradition which describes "Rabbi" and "Antoninus" as on terms of intimate friendship refers to Alexander Severus (in which case " Rabbi " would mean Judah II. ), is open to serious doubt. For in the first place it is historically certain that Alexander Severus refused to bear the name of Antoninus; secondly, the Talmudic passiiges quoted above it is