Religion
In reply to the discussion: Ancient Confession Found: 'We Invented Jesus Christ' [View all]leveymg
(36,418 posts)to propagate as a means to pacify the slave population. Such cooptation doesn't necessarily have to be founded in a complete fabrication, and it would hardly be surprising if Josephus, who was apparently a talented propagandist, had this very thing in mind when he began to create the legend.
There is no question that the Jesus cult, if one may use the term, once established is recorded as a contemporaneous fact starting with Paul. I would be curious to see some historical evidence that it was the elites who had a seminal role in incubating Christianity, rather than merely acting opportunistically by later propagating it widely around the Empire.
One may be an agnostic on this subject, and both admit for the possibility that Jesus the prophet actually existed, but that the Roman elites were largely responsible for later spreading the legend of Jesus the Christ.