“From a philological point of view, chresto not only can be the Latin ablative of the Greek chrêstos, ‘the good (person)’,
but also that of chrêston, ‘the good (thing), goods’ or
of chrêstês, which means ‘speculator’, ‘usurer’.”
Can chresto be the Latin ablative of the Greek chrêstos, ‘the good (person)’ ?
Can chresto be the Latin ablative of the Greek chrêston, ‘the good (thing), goods’?
Can chresto be the Latin ablative of the Greek chrêstês, which means ‘speculator’, ‘usurer’?
Is there any etymology of chresto that leads to speculator or usurer?
Thank you.
Dr. Ehrman,
An Italian linguist wrote, “From a philological point of view,
chresto not only can be the Latin ablative of the Greek chrêstos, ‘the good (person)’,
but also that of chrêston, ‘the good (thing), goods’ or
of chrêstês, which means ‘speculator’, ‘usurer’.
It is still in use today in urban Rome:
far(ci) la cresta means ‘profiteer’, ‘to demand an extortionate price’.
To a friend in Italy, I wrote:
I have a language question. Here is the sentence: “It is still in use today in urban Rome: far(ci) la cresta means ‘profiteer’, ‘to demand an extortionate price’.
Does far(ci) la cresta have anything to do with speculation, profiteering, price gouging? Thank you.
His reply:
Think of “far(ci) la cresta” as “make a mark up of your sale without letting you aware of.”
Questions:
Can chresto be the Latin ablative of the Greek chrêstos, ‘the good (person)’ ?
Can chresto be the Latin ablative of the Greek chrêston, ‘the good (thing), goods’?
Can chresto be the Latin ablative of the Greek chrêstês, which means ‘speculator’, ‘usurer’?
Thank you.
(Yes, this does relate to whether or not Nero punished construction speculators when Rome burned and it relates to the possibility that Claudius also had a problem with or dislike of speculators.)
Bart:
I”m not sure I understand the question. Tacitus Annals 15.44 doesn’t use the word chresto: ergo abolendo rumori Nero subdidit reos et quaesitissimis poenis adfecit quos per flagitia invisos vulgus Christianos appellabat. auctor nominis eius Christus Tiberio imperitante per procuratorem Pontium Pilatum supplicio adfectus erat. He’s talking about Christianos, who are named after Christus. Is this what you’re asking about?
BDEhrman
FreedomBen
evgendob
Robert
1 Guest(s)
Second, before 1915, in 1902 Georg Andresen commented on the appearance of the first ‘i’ and subsequent gap in the earliest extant, 11th century, copy of the Annals in Florence, suggesting that * * the text had been altered, and an ‘e’ had originally been in the text, rather than this ‘i’. * * “With ultra-violet examination of the MS * * * the alteration was conclusively shown. * * *
Even if some people were using the “e” spelling for the “i” spelling, Van Voorst has stated that it was unlikely for Tacitus himself to refer to Christians as Chrestianos i.e. “useful ones”.
= = =
Furthermore,
Suet. Claud. 25.4: Iudaeos impulsore chresto assidue tumultuantis Roma expulit.
shows chresto, not Chresto ,and more importantly not christo or Christo.
‘…the Jews, who caused constant turmoil at the instigation of usury/speculation, he [Claudius] expelled them from Rome.’
So this brings us back to the original three questions:
Can chresto be the Latin ablative of the Greek chrêstos, ‘the good (person)’ [the useful person]?
Can chresto be the Latin ablative of the Greek chrêston, ‘the good (thing), goods’?
Can chresto be the Latin ablative of the Greek chrêstês, which means ‘speculator’, ‘usurer’?
Thank you.
Christians and Jews were not being burned before the fire in Rome, the burning punishment was suited to arsonists.