Caesar's Messiah

Caesar's Messiah is a 2005 book by Joseph Atwill that argues that the New Testament Gospels were written by a group of individuals connected to the Flavian family of Roman emperors: Vespasian, Titus and Domitian. The authors were mainly Flavius Josephus, Berenice, and Tiberius Julius Alexander, with contributions from Pliny the Elder. Although Vespasian and Titus had defeated Jewish nationalist Zealots in the First Jewish–Roman War of 70 AD, the emperors wanted to control the spread of Judaism and moderate its political virulence and continuing militancy against Rome. Christianity, a pacifist and pro-Roman-authority religion, was their solution.

Atwill's Jesus mythicist theory contradicts the mainstream scholarly view that while the Gospels include many mythical or legendary elements, these are religious elaborations added to the biography of a historical Jesus who did live in the 1st-century Roman province of Judea, was baptized by John the Baptist and was crucified by the order of the Roman Prefect Pontius Pilate. Moreover, the work has been thoroughly rejected even by the minority of historians who support mythicist positions, such as Richard C. Carrier.

1st century Flavian Christians

There is evidence that the Flavian family was involved with early Christianity. It is claimed that the Roman theology of Victory fueled the family's goal to destroy Jerusalem and their imperial ambition. It is not clear who was the first Flavian to convert to Christianity; possible converts include Vespasian's nephew Titus Flavius Clemens and his wife Flavia Domitilla. According to the legendary sixth-century Acts of Saints Nereus and Achilleus, Pope Clement I—whose name clearly references the Flavian family—was the son of Titus Flavius Sabinus.