ALIAS IDENTITIES IN ANCIENT HISTORY

ALIAS IDENTITIES IN ANCIENT HISTORY (12/09/99) by Roman Piso

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(How and Why they were Used)
HOW THEY DID IT:

An example of how they did this was given in this style; each family member wouldhave a profile containing personal and otherwise identifying data. This kind of informationwould consist of things like info about their careers, who they were related to, when andwhere they were born, who their immediate family members were and/or their ancientancestors, etc. All of this was done for specific reasons and left not under one identity,but several. In this way, they could say whatever they wish and no one would be the wiserunless they were of the family.
At this point in time, it is uncertain as to whether or not the family formed a committee todecide the alias names for family members and/or just how much of what kind of datawould be delivered (given out in public works) via each alias; or if the individuals inquestion were able to make those decisions themselves. But, we will share our preliminaryopinions about this now in this article.

Some things that tend to make us lean towards the opinion that a committee was set up todecide these and other things are; a) This is something that they were very serious aboutdoing, b) doing this by committee would assure that each individual would receive thecredit (acclaim) due them as decided by the group rather than any individual, and c) doingit in this way would also help prevent arguments within the family (or the theory wouldsuggest that at least), and d) there is no doubt this area needs to be better researched, butwe can offer up the fact that some of the aliases and their accompanying data appears tohave been assigned or left to later generations to place into their writings. And lastly, e)it would seem that a committee would be needed just for the purpose of avoiding confusion.Remember they had to contend with recently past family members who they would haveto assure of their "fame", and the current (contemporary) generations, and those yet tohave their own careers.

One of the other things that would have to be decided is just how far a person’s identityshould be hidden. Meaning, just how many aliases they would need in which to divideout all of the data for each particular person. It is precisely because history was done(left to us) in this way, that Roman history NEVER gives all of the data out about anyindividual under their public identity. The information that will allow persons to find outthe true relationship of these persons to each other is given in ways that cannot bediscovered or realized without first determining what alias names are the alter names ofany given person who would otherwise only be known to us under their public names.

WHY THEY DID IT:

We realize that the way in which ancient history has been examined has been done in avery limited way that does not allow one to venture beyond certain concepts and think"outside the box" as the phrase goes these days. In fact, the very thought of Romanauthors having used pseudonyms or alias names flies in the face of that very limitedmindset. Perhaps that is why this has not been explored in the way in which it shouldhave been before now. They did this, so as to give information about themselves andyet not arouse public suspicion over the fact that all of the persons who were writinghistory and becoming emperors were all related to each other - this way, they couldhide this fact and make it appear that many diverse persons were writing as this wouldgive the false impression of an amount of ‘freedom’ existing in the Roman empire (andthereby give ‘hope’ to the masses). And, this way, they could also retain power for theirown family without the populace being any the wiser.

Time and time again, we encounter records of officiations of alias identities in differentplaces for different things, apparently within the lifetimes of those Roman aristocrats, authors and rulers. What this may mean is that not only were the writers fooling us, thereaders; but they and others using aliases in their own day were actively deceiving wholetowns, cities and provinces in their everyday lives!

There are many examples that can be cited, one that comes immediately to mind is thatof Arrius Piso. Abelard Reuchlin says of Piso in this booklet "The True Authorship ofthe New Testament," that; "Piso also shows his presence in these provinces (Pontusand Bithynia) - and also via Pliny’s (Pliny the Younger) letters. As Claudius Ariston(a form of Aristo/Arrius), he was the leading citizen of Ephesus (in Bithynia). That wasthe chief city of the province of Asia, located southwest of Bithynia. As (Flavius) Archippus, the philosopher, Piso had been honored by Emperor Domitian; the emperor"commended" him to Pliny (Lappius Maximus) in Bithynia; and he ordered Pliny(Terentius Maximus) to buy him a farm near Prusa. And the people of Prusa voted himas Archippus, as statue."

Now, if we had that statue of Flavius Archippus, we would be able to see just what ArriusPiso looked like at that time! Little did the people of that town know WHO they werereally honoring!
Overlapping or transposing characters (lives): the best example of the writers pointing usto what to do in order to discover what was being done and find out just who was whomregardless of the aliases that they were using is that which we are given by "Plutarch" byhis showing us how to "compare lives" with his work "Parallel Lives" (of the NobleGreeks and Romans), which consists of a listing and comparison of 46 famous ancientGreeks and Romans.

We have answered elsewhere WHY they had to use alias names, but why was it (as weare finding) that they had used so many different aliases? One reason that has alreadybeen stated was simply to make it appear to the public that there were many more peoplewriting in their time than there actually were. But the underlying reason was because theycould not give too much information out about themselves (to the public) as any one"person"… or in any one place (book/work), as it would be too apparent just who theyreally were and what it was that they were doing. They were doing something wrong, verywrong. They were deliberately deceiving the public and feeding them lies.

What we are saying is that in other words, it was not in their best interest to make it ‘easy’to find these things out as that would be defeating the purpose… the whole idea of whatthey were doing. This, the alias names, was the solution to their dilemma of ‘wanting’ to tellwho they were and what they had did, and at the same time being able to do that withoutjeopardizing the "institution" that they had in place.

The bottom line was that it worked and allowed them the ability to say things aboutthemselves , promote ideas, etc. under one identity that would be too much to reveal tothe public as their public identity. With aliases, they could say as much as they wantedand still preserve their family lineage and much more without anyone researching historyever being the wiser, at least until now.

NOTES:
See "The True Authorship of the New Testament," by Abelard Reuchlin, ©1986, Chapter titled "The Creation of the Church," pages 9-12.

Footnote: Apparently, many average Roman citizens met and knew Arrius Piso as he hadgained their confidence and made their acquaintance (using other identities). It may wellhave been that since he traveled extensively and often that he had different names that heused in different places.

He states in his own works that the Jews (meaning the Pharisees) had many opportunities tokill him before he could make the new religion - and he taunts them about this. It seems thathe was not content with fooling people with only his literary works, but also in his own reallife as well.
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For more information on specifics you will want to get a copy of the booklet titled 'TheTrue Authorship of the New Testament', by Abelard Reuchlin. You can send for this for$5.00 from: The Abelard Reuchlin Foundation, P.O. Box 5652, Kent, WA 98064 Theprice of this barely covers the cost of printing and postage. Because many libraries arerun by Christians and those who are adverse to anything that contradicts their own personalbeliefs, this booklet is in very few libraries at this point in time. This is strong informationand many persons wish to keep it out of the public eye. You can see a sample of a page from the booklet on this site:

TRUE AUTHORSHIP
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