Page:The Archko Volume (1896).djvu/33

Rh show clearly that the whole of the Jewish doctrines, records and all, were then in possession of the Romans.

Nero refused to believe in these things, which he might have done if he had taken the pains to look into those sacred treasures of learning that were on file in the Senate chamber; but Origen says Nero was only moved by ambition, with the love of destruction before his eyes. He never stopped to consider nor consult the opinions or wishes of others. Here, again, I found an unintentional reference to these things. Now the reader must remember that the records were there at that time, for no one disputed the fact; but in proving the unnecessary hostility of Nero, Origen makes mention of these other facts, showing the records to be in the city of Rome, how they came there, and what they taught; that is, a part of these records were brought from Jerusalem and were the writings of the Jews and the Romans who had been officers in the Jewish kingdom by Roman authority, and these were Roman officers, which made them a part of and responsible to the Roman government. Can any intelligent man believe that these men would have been allowed to transact the business of the Romans and no records be made of it in the archives of the government? Such a thing is most absurd. The reader will bear in mind that government among the Jews, Greeks, and Romans was much more strictly administered than in this country, and all such records as referred to the actions of the courts and the government officers had