User:Arne Eickenberg/Caesarian origin of Christianity

'''NOTE: Initial content was originally from Wikipedia (article: "Francesco Carotta"), but already based on a version largely written/rewritten by myself. Saved here for future private editing. This version is autonomous.'''

The Roman origin of Christianity is a controversial new theory positing that the historical Christ was Julius Caesar, and that early Christianity developed from the imperial Roman cult of Divus Iulius. Its framework was developed in the late 1980s and 1990s by the Italian linguist and philosopher Francesco Carotta. After a few preliminary releases Carotta's research report was first published in late 1999 in the German book War Jesus Caesar? and in a scientific article in Quaderni di Storia. In the following years his book was translated into Dutch, English and Spanish.

Summary
At the core of Francesco Carotta's research lies a detailed philological synoptical comparison of the ancient sources on Julius Caesar's final years during the Great Roman Civil War with the Gospel narrative, especially with the oldest Gospel of Mark, augmented by comparisons based on archaeological sources, ritualistic and liturgical traditions as well as on iconography. Carotta came to the conclusion that the multiple parallels and similarities between the lives and cults of Caesar and Christ and between the respective primary sources can best be explained by formulating the theory that Jesus Christ is Divus Iulius, the deified Julius Caesar, as he has been transmitted through history. Carotta argues that a cultic and scriptural transformation from ancient Rome to Jerusalem took place, and that the Gospel narrative, its geography, dramatic structure and characters were neither enhanced with an antithetically mimetic Caesarian approximation nor fabricated as a purely mythological amalgam, but had formed as a directly dependent, albeit corrupted retelling of the Great Roman Civil War—from Caesar's crossing of the Rubicon to his assassination, funeral and resurrection, paralleled by Jesus' ministry from the Jordan to his capture, crucifixion and resurrection.

Following Gérard Genette's terminology Carotta maintains that the textual mutation and delocalization came about by diegetic transposition, an error-prone process of copying mistakes, false translations, misreadings, misinterpretations, adaptations and redactions in different cultural contexts for distinct political purposes, which produced the vast amount of divergent early Christian literature, among them the canonical gospels. He further argues that the final metamorphosis of the new religion, which was to reinterpret the Julian imperial founding cult according to the new Flavian theopolitical ideology with special regard to ancient Roman Palestine, was induced under emperor Vespasian and his historian Flavius Josephus, whose vita provided the groundwork for the hagiography of the Apostle Paul in Acts II. According to Carotta Jesus Christ is therefore the Divus Iulius of the Flavians, and Jesus existed historically as Gaius Iulius Caesar.

Conclusion: Diegetic transposition
STEMMA

Reactions
Scholarly reception of Francesco Carotta's book was scarce at first, and journalistic reactions were mixed. Following the Dutch translation of his book, an intensive debate ensued among scientists and journalists in the Netherlands, with the majority praising Carotta's novel and in-depth approach, while two reviewers accused Carotta of writing pseudoscience. Popular recognition grew in the following years, especially due to the English translation and additional articles and lectures. Scholars like Erika Simon, Luciano Canfora or Antonio Piñero have supported Carotta's theory, whereas criticism has remained infrequent and unsubstantial to this day.

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Subpage: RELATED ARTICLES

Contradicting theories and research
Subpage: BIBLIOGRAPHY

Articles

 * Couchoud
 * D. Dormeyer, "Plutarchs Cäsar und die erste Evangeliumsbiographie des Markus", in: R. von Haehling (ed.), Rom und das himmlische Jerusalem, Darmstadt 2000, ISBN 3534145925
 * F. Carotta, "Los evangelios como transposición diegética: una posible solución a la aporía ¿Existió Jesús?", in: A. Piñero (ed.), ¿Existió Jesús realmente?, Madrid 2008
 * English translation

Works discussing Carotta's research

 * T. Hendriks, "Was Jezus Caesar? Receptie vann een historische These", in: De Zwarte Hand 1, Soesterberg 2004, pp. 119–157
 * M. Wyke, Caesar: A Life in Western Culture, London 2007, ISBN 0226921530
 * A. P. J. Hendriks, J. van Friesland, G. W. J. Janssen & P. Pierik, "Wetenschappelijke verbeeldingskracht", in: De Academische Boekengids 69, Amsterdam 2008
 * and F. de Boer, "Criticism of A. van Hooff, Was Jesus Really Caesar?", Utrecht 2008
 * replicas against A. van Hooff, Was Jezus eigenlijk Caesar?, in: De Academische Boekengids 67, Amsterdam 2008

Works using Carotta's research

 * G. W. J. Janssen (ed.), Plutarchus: Biografieën. Deel I: Alexander de Grote, G. Iulius Caesar, M. Tullius Cicero, Demosthenes, Leeuwarden 2006, ISBN 9789076792149
 * P. García González, "Contexto histórico y entendimiento entre confesiones religiosas", Rascafría 2006
 * J. Beaufort, "Arius und Ali. Über die iranischen Wurzeln des Christentums und die christlichen Wurzeln des Islam", 2008 (republished by H. Detering at Radikalkritik, Berlin 2009)
 * P. García González, "Intereses, competencias y niveles de realidad. Diferentes lecturas de las historias de vida", Rascafría 2009
 * E. Zara, "The Chrestianos Issue in Tacitus Reinvestigated", Institute for Higher Critical Studies, 2009

Subpage: EXTERNAL LINKS


 * Francesco Carotta's website
 * Excerpts from Jesus was Caesar (2005)
 * Reviews of Carotta's books including notes and rebuttals
 * Interview with Carotta in die tageszeitung, Berlin, 04-12-2001
 * Interview with Carotta at Η πύλη της αναζήτησης ("Gateway of the Search"), Athens, 01-01-2007
 * original Greek version

Subpage: WORKS

This subpage covers the works by Francesco Carotta.

As author

 * War Jesus Caesar? 2000 Jahre Anbetung einer Kopie, Munich 1999, ISBN 3442150515
 * = Was Jezus Caesar? Over de Romeinse oorsprong van het christendom, Soesterberg 2002 ISBN 9059110692
 * Jesus was Caesar. On the Julian Origins of Christianity, Soesterberg 2005 (extended English edition), ISBN 9059113969
 * Extensive excerpts on Carotta's website
 * Partial Spanish translation of the English excerpts: I. Prima Vista | II. Vidas Paralelas | III. Crux | Excursus: Reorientación | IV. Palabras y milagros | V. Cuadro sinóptico
 * War Jesus Caesar? Eine Suche nach dem römischen Ursprung des Christentums, Kiel 2009 (revised second edition; forthcoming), ISBN 9783937719634
 * XYZ (OFFICIAL SPANISH TRANSLATION)

Other

 * Various books as editor of the Kore publishing house
 * Various books as translator

Academic

 * H. Heide & F. Carotta, "Bologna. Anmerkungen zu einem Modell reformierter Herrschaft", in: Jahrbuch Politik 8, Berlin 1978
 * "Il Cesare incognito / Da Divo Giulio a Gesù", in: L. Canfora (ed.), Quaderni di Storia 57, Milan 2003
 * Alternate version with further iconographical observations ("con aspetti iconografici")
 * "Los evangelios como transposición diegética: una posible solución a la aporía ¿Existió Jesús?", in: A. Piñero (ed.), ¿Existió Jesús realmente?, Madrid 2008 (English translation)
 * F. Carotta with A. Eickenberg, "Orfeo Báquico: La Cruz Desaparecida", in: Isidorianum 35, Sevilla 2009
 * = "Orfeo Báquico: La Cruz Desaparecida", in: XYZ, Sevilla 2009
 * English translation

Related to his research

 * Cam (F. Carotta), "Madonna mia", in: Cam (ed.), BellaMadonna/Memoria 2089. Almanach vom Kore Verlag, Freiburg im Breisgau 1988, pp. 9–15, ISBN 3926023759
 * Cam & Blumenteig, "Jesses! Madonnenerscheinung in der Wiehre", in: Stadtzeitung für Freiburg 4 (magazine), April 1989, pp. 22–24
 * Cam, "Verkündigung: Caesars Kreuzigung — Das Evangelium nach Kleopatra", in: Cam (ed.), BellaMadonna/Memoria 2090. Kalenden und Iden. Almanach vom Kore Verlag, Freiburg im Breisgau 1989, pp. i–ix, ISBN 3926023767
 * Cam, "Jesus Christus, Caesar incognito", in: die tageszeitung ("Die Wahrheit"), 12-23-1991, p. 20

Not related to his research

 * Various political and other articles for newspapers and journals in Italy and Germany
 * Various self-published works (Kore publishing house)

Reviews

 * "Christus ein Mythos?", review of G. Courtney (1992), Et tu, Judas? Then fall Jesus, Kirchzarten 2002 (English translation)

Academic

 * F. Carotta with W. von Ungern-Sternberg & E. W. Stegemann (dir.), Roman origins of Mark's Gospel, Theological Seminar, University of Basel, 06-12-2006
 * F. Carotta with A. Piñero (dir.), ¿Existió Jesús realmente? — El Jesús de la historia a debate, El Escorial, Complutense University Madrid (Summer Courses), 07-31-2007

General

 * Jezus Christus = Julius Caesar — Theologen in verwarring ("Tumult": lecture & debate), Lutherse Kerk, Utrecht, 11-28-2002
 * Sull'Origine Giuliana del Cristianesimo, Conference, Offnadingen, March 2005
 * F. Carotta with Rev. P. García González, Caesar on the Cross. Passion before Easter, Auditorium Louis Hartlooper Complex, Utrecht, 03-20-2005

Historical reconstruction

 * F. Carotta & P. García Gonzalez, Funus Caesaris, a reconstruction of Caesar's funeral, Kirchzarten/Rascafría 2006
 * "The Christ Child in the Resurrection" (supplement), Kirchzarten/Rascafría 2006
 * "Recovering praetexta" (supplement), Kirchzarten/Rascafría 2006, including:
 * Passio: 0.1. Prolegómenos | 0.2. Preparativos | 0.3. Flagelación del ciudadano del Novum Comum | 0.4. Clemencia Cesaris | 0.5. Hybris | 0.6. Rey
 * Funus (Script/Guion): part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6

Other

 * Various comics and satirical illustrations
 * Satirical publications, e.g. in: BellaMadonna/Memoria. Almanach vom Kore Verlag ("Central Organ of the Society for the Promotion of Apparitions of the Madonna"), Freiburg im Breisgau

Subpage: FILMOGRAPHY

''This subpage covers the filmography of Francesco Carotta.

Notable appearances

 * Hessenstudio Live, interview (Germany, H3, 12-29-1999)
 * N3 Kulturjournal, report (Germany, N3, 03-01-2000)
 * Ontbijt Televisie, report (The Netherlands, KRO, 04-01-2002)
 * Hein Hansen, Jezus van Nazareth was Julius Caesar, interview (documentary, The Netherlands, Nova TV, 12-23-2002)
 * Jan van Friesland, The Gospel of Caesar (Het Evangelie van Caesar), a documentary feature about Carotta's research (2007/2008)
 * The Gospel of Caesar at the Internet Movie Database
 * Stuart Clarke, XYZ, interview (documentary, United Kingdom, History Channel/Channel 4, 00-00-2009)
 * Emilio Ruiz Barrachina, Yo, Jesús 2.0, interview (documentary feature, Spain, XYZ, 00-00-2010), supplement to El discipulo

Writing credits

 * J. van Friesland & F. Carotta, The Gospel of Caesar (2008)

Subpage: TIMELINES

Timeline of the transformation of the cult of Divus Iulius into Christianity. XYZ

Subpage: ADVANCED

Further examples of the theory. Advanced level.

Subpage: GALLERY

Gallery of images related to the theory and/or used in the article.

Subpage: VIDEO

Excerpt from The Gospel of Caesar.

Subpage: ADDENDUM

Related research
Jesus Christ and Julius Caesar were already associated in the Gospel. In his Divina Commedia Dante Alighieri equated their respective betrayers, and in his play Julius Caesar William Shakespeare created at least one possibly deliberate allusion to the Biblical narrative, when the abstemious Caesar shared wine with the conspirators, which has been regarded as a hint at the Last Supper. Christ's and Caesar's corresponding initials were widely debated in Mediaeval and Renaissance times as late as Victor Hugo.

Today the close ties between early Christianity and the Roman imperial cult have been a recurring theme in scientific publications for more than a century, beginning with books by Alexander del Mar and Gustav Adolf Deissmann. However, only few authors like Bruno Bauer proposed a Roman origin of Christianity, and at first even fewer actually noted direct parallels between Christ and Julius Caesar. Later researchers into the cult of the emperor often stated similarities between the story of Christ and the life of Caesar and Augustus respectively, especially Lily Ross Taylor and Henri Jeanmaire. Graeco-Roman origin and mimesis theories from the mythical school also presented parallels between Christ and the deities, cults and legends of the ancient Mediterranean region, which were also commonly associated with Julius Caesar or the imperial cult, like the Dionysian Mysteries. Others showed more specific accordances, e.g. that core elements of Christian scripture and theology like the Savior as Son of God had been directly copied from the imperial cult, which forced historians and theologians to find suitable explanations for these correlative phenomena, the most common being that early Christians including the evangelists chose to mimic the Roman cults and copy their terminology as a form of antithetical ideological protest against the worldly empire of Caesar as god.

The Latin Ur-Gospel
While the Vetus Latina manuscripts of the New Testament and the later Vulgata had always had ecclesiastical priority over the Greek editions, parts of the early Christian Church had furthermore maintained that the original Gospel of Mark had been written at Rome in Latin ten (or alternatively twelve) years after the death of Christ. This corresponds to Carotta's claim that the Latin Ur-Gospel is the Historiae by Asinius Pollio, the Caesarian parts of which would have been published exactly ten to twelve years after Caesar's death and resurrection, since the work's redaction began at the earliest in 35 BC, followed by a consecutive serial publication until approximately 30 BC.

In the 16th century Cardinal Wilhelm Sirlet assumed from ancient codices that the original Gospel of Mark had been written in Latin. His view was supported by Caesar Baronius, who especially emphasized the many Latin words, which had been graecized in the Gospel of Mark. In later times the theory of a Latin origin of the Gospel was occasionally mentioned, e.g. by Max Meinertz, who thought it significant that Greek words in the Gospel were literally explained by Latin terms.

In the 1920s Paul-Louis Couchoud, an adherent of the mythical school of Jesus' historicity, demonstrated in a widely unnoticed philological essay that the original Greek Gospel of Mark was already a translation based on a Latin Ur-Gospel. XYZ MORE SUMMARY

Sermo castrensis
Cancik?

Ethelbert Stauffer
Before Carotta it was the German Protestant theologian Ethelbert Stauffer, who produced the most substantial research into the accordances between Caesar and Christ and their religions respectively. Stauffer focused primarily on Caesar's divine grace and forgiveness (Clementia Caesaris) and on the ritual content of his funeral.

Christ and the Clementia Caesaris
Orosius, Hist. 6.17.1; http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/orosius/orosius6.shtml#17

Improperia
During Caesar's funeral an uncustomary laudatio funebris was delivered by Mark Antony, who was the designated flamen Divi Iulii, highpriest of the deified Caesar. His oration included lamentation over the deceased Roman savior and lord, praise for his divine deeds, but also accusations and reproach against his enemies. He was answered with dirges sung by choirs among the crowd. During the funeral lament the voice of an invisible Caesar—possibly belonging to an archimimus—resounded and uttered a verse of Ajax bemoaning his unfair defeat and the treachery of his companions, quoted from Pacuvius' play The Arms of Achilles—"Oh! Have I saved them that they might murder me?"—, which was meant to mythologize Caesar's undeserved assassination upon his resurrection as god during the funeral. The choirs replied with verses from the Latin version of Electra by Atilius. It has been shown that the general structure of this ritual is mirrored by the Good Friday improperia, which contain lamentation, praise for divine deeds, and probrum ("reproach", "disgrace"), furthermore also a dialog between the priest and a Latin-Greek double choir, as well as similarly structured songs like the Popule meus: "My people! What have I done to you? How have I offended you?".

The Gospel of Mark and Plutarch's Caesar
The interpretation of the Gospel in the context of the ancient Graeco-Roman biography has been a common topos in modern scholarship. In addition, the textual dependency of Mark's gospel on Roman sources was further corroborated by Detlev Dormeyer, who verified that the Markan gospel and Plutarch's Caesar biography are based on a common genre pattern that probably originated with the Historiae by Asinius Pollio, whose work served as the basis for many later historical sources—often verbatim, as in the case of Appian's Roman History. Dormeyer demonstrated striking parallels between Caesar's biography and the Gospel of Mark in terms of the genre of the Roman vita: Their dramatic structures are in full accordance XYZ MORE SUMMARY

Before 2002
Initial reactions to the first German edition of War Jesus Caesar? were mixed. Based on Carotta's past as a part-time satirical artist some feuilleton critics and former colleagues assumed that his book was meant as a science parody, while other journalists praised the book, calling it "provoking", "astounding" and "meticulous". Archaeologist and peer reviewer Erika Simon wrote that Carotta's research ties with preexisting publications on the tight interconnections between Christianity and the Roman world empire, but "goes further and reveals new connections which have never been seen that way." She hoped that Carotta's book would contribute "that we remain open to questions concerning early Christianity". Except for few statements other scholars and clerics remained silent, which only changed with the English and Dutch translation, the latter spawning an often heated controversy in some academic and journalistic circles of the Netherlands.

The Dutch controversy
The Dutch debate, which lasted for several years to this day, was for the most time characterized by a strong partisan rift between journalists and between scholars, with one faction at times resorting to hostile vilification, and the other partially indulging in excessive eulogies.

Philosopher and columnist Paul Cliteur had refuted the initial criticism by former academic history lecturer Anton van Hooff, who rejected the theory although he had never read the book. Cliteur wrote that Carotta presented an "overwhelming amount of material […] to support his thesis", which for him was the "key to unlocking a lot of mysteries on the spread of Christianity in the Roman Empire". Sylvain Ephimenco called Carotta's book a "sensation". He wrote that some of the arguments might be "farfetched", some however "compelling" and "more than plausible", and also expressed his worries that recounting simply a summary of Carotta's arguments could rather weaken the theory. In a short classical review for the Dutch Library Service J. Kleisen wrote that Carotta's very popular book demonstrated an "overwhelming quantity […] of striking, almost systematic parallels" between Christ and Caesar. He noted as significant that the cult of Divus Iulius vanished as soon as Christianity surfaced. The reader would be able to determine whether the argument that the worship of Caesar was replaced by that of Christ is stronger than the unprovable historical existence of Jesus of Nazareth. Philosopher Andreas Kinneging stated the "extreme importance" of Was Jezus Caesar?, which "provides [for] a new opening to the research on the accounts of Jesus' life", a view that was shared by many commentators: Political publicist and architectural historian Thomas von der Dunk applauded Carotta's "thoroughly researched and documented study", while Willem Dijkhuis emphasized the compelling nature of the resulting perspective on the European heritage. Professor of Future Studies Wim J. de Ridder stated that Carotta "participates in the development of normative future models which the elite of church and state considers undesirable", but which for the "average citizen [will be] experienced as inspirational". Classicist Gerard Janssen wrote that "Carotta has developed an extremely interesting and major theory, which will further require profound examination and verification or falsification."

The release of The Gospel of Caesar, a documentary feature film about Carotta's research, reignited the original controversy, in part because Janssen also endorsed Carotta's theory in the film. Based on a random and sketchy overview of Carotta's research by theologian Matthijs de Jong, the Dutch Bible Society NBG (Nederlands Bijbelgenootschap) distanced themselves from Carotta in a press release, in which they declared that his book placed itself outside of the scientific discussion and that it was eccentric fiction disguised as science. While most scholars and critics like theologians Jacobine Geel and Rob van Houwelingen had found a more moderate tone with regard to the theory, van Hooff harshly criticized Janssen and his students for participating in the documentary and for publicly debating Carotta's "superstition". In the most extensive Dutch article on the theory to date, van Hooff attempted to show that Carotta's book contained severe methodological flaws and factual errors, and accused its author of being a pseudoscientist, whereas Peter Veldhuisen had attested scientificity and verifiability a few years earlier. The editor of the university magazine De Academische Boekengids eventually lost neutrality in the controversy and refused to host a scholarly debate for Carotta and his Dutch colleagues, and only a short and redacted rebuttal of van Hooff's article was permitted. Van Hooff's unscientific methods of criticism were also rejected by Cliteur, who even compared his actions to fanaticism, stalking and libel.

Reception since 2005
Theologian and priest Jerome Murphy-O'Connor superficially criticized Carotta for avoiding explanations of his theory and also expressed doubt concerning the parallels between Jesus' and Caesar's life. Based on information gathered from Carotta's website Maria Wyke, professor of Latin, considered the parallels between Caesar and Jesus demonstrated by Carotta as "sweeping and often superficial", despite their being "detailed and justified at book length". She summarized that "Caesar is no longer the shadow of Christ, but Christ the shadow of Caesar." Commentating on Wyke's book, classical reviewer Peter Stothard called Carotta's interpretation of Mark's gospel as a corrupt retelling of the Roman civil war "highly notable" in the reception theory form of historical scholarship. Historian and classical philologian Luciano Canfora called Jesus was Caesar an "original book" and added another argument to Carotta's framework by showing that both Caesar and Christ only narrowly escaped the desecration of their bodies. Carotta's conclusions were fully endorsed by classical philologian and peer reviewer Fotis Kavoukopoulos, who called them "a paradigm shift in the history of religion". Anthropologist Francisco Rodríguez Pascual stated that Carotta's theory is a very important working hypothesis, which closes a gap that has never been heuristically investigated from this angle. New Testamentarian philologian Antonio Piñero stated that a diegetic transposition was "almost impossible" due to the severe cultural differences displayed in the Roman and Biblical sources, and that Carotta's theory would create "uncertainty". He later wrote that the theory of the Gospel as a diegetic transposition was one of the most remarkable and ingenious exercises he had read about the problem of Jesus' historicity, but also noted its complexity as a possible problem.

Popular reception
From the beginning, Carotta's book was frequently mentioned and discussed on the internet, where reactions were mixed and often partisan. The new theory was temporarily embraced by proponents of chronological criticism and also utilized for atheist and even anti-Christian writings, whose authors occasionally engaged in debates with supporters of Carotta's research. Furthermore, e-mail discussions between Carotta, Richard Carrier and Earl Doherty were made public on an internet board. While some authors questioned the seriousness of the new theory altogether, others felt compelled to write reviews. Classicist and author of historical childrens' literature María García Esperón praised Carotta's work on her weblog, and Peter Stothard substantiated the new theory's notability (see above).

Film
In 2007 the documentary feature film Het Evangelie van Caesar premiered in Utrecht, Netherlands. It was directed and produced by political journalist Jan van Friesland and co-financed by Dutch public television broadcaster VARA. The English version The Gospel of Caesar premiered in 2008 and was screened at several European film festivals. The film generally documents Carotta's research and the reactions to his theory, but also emphasizes Carotta's collaboration with a Spanish priest in reconstructing and staging the funeral of Julius Caesar according to the historical sources.

The documentary received mainly positive reactions. The reviewers at the Leeds International Film Festival described the film as a "mesmerising", "thrilling" and "utterly intriguing look" at Carotta and his "controversial idea". Gerry van der List called it a "relentlessly original" film. The documentary also revived the scholarly debate on Carotta's theory in the Netherlands (see above).

Theater
In a background paper for the Dark Lady Players anthropologist and dramaturgical theorist John Hudson partially supported Carotta's observations and wrote that passages in the Gospel were "based on events in the history of Julius Caesar", for example the pericopes of Jesus walking over the water and his triumphant entry into the city on horseback, which has also been noted by other scholars. The clearest parallels were to be found in the death, apotheosis and worship of Caesar: Hudson agreed both with Ethelbert Stauffer's conclusion that the Easter liturgy follows Caesar's funeral and with Carotta's analysis that the passion and crucifixion account is also modeled on this event, where a wax figure of the deceased was shown to the people on a cruciform tropaeum, including the geographical transposition of Capitolium to "Golgotha" (see main article). Hudson also augmented Carotta's research by showing that the sun over the cities darkened after Caesar's and Christ's death in both accounts. Although Hudson acknowledged a direct modeling on Caesarian sources, including the passion and Resurrection, which are central to Christianity, he maintained that these dependencies are merely part of a broad cluster of Roman hypotexts, which were rewritten into the Gospel as a Roman satire, especially by including material from The War of the Jews by Flavius Josephus.

Francesco Carotta
Francesco Carotta is an Italian industrial engineer, linguist and philosopher as well as a former IT entrepreneur, editor and publisher, who now works as a classical historian, philologian, archaeologist and Biblical researcher. As a classical scholar he is best known for his controversial theory that the historical Jesus was Julius Caesar.

Biography
Carotta was born in 1946 in Ca'Zen near Lusia (Polesine), Veneto, Italy, to a mother, who was a dressmaker from a family of farmers, and a father, who was an artist painter and the local socialist mayor from a family of entrepreneurs. Carotta entered a Redemptorist seminary in Bussolengo, Verona, but was soon discharged "due to critical thinking". He registered with a technical college instead and received an Italian diploma as a chemical-industrial engineer.

After working as a laboratory technician he moved to France to study philosophy at the University of Burgundy, Dijon, where he also worked as a medical technologist. He completed his studies with a Licence ès-Lettres in philosophy. After 1968 he studied polemology in Strasbourg and taught philosophy in Mulhouse. He later moved to Germany to study linguistics, Romance languages, German language and literature at the Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, where he attained his ancillary degree as state-certified interpreter and translator.

Carotta stayed in Frankfurt, where he worked as a teacher of languages, interpreter, translator and junior lecturer at the university. In these times he also supervised social initiatives, founding educational programs and centers for gastarbeiters and Italian culture. He became active in left-wing political groups that had formed in the wake of the protest movement of 1968, and he freelanced for an alternative publishing house, a communal cinema and the ID Informationsdienst.

In the 1970s he returned to Italy where he worked as a journalist for several magazines and newspapers. In Bologna he co-founded Radio Alice, the first free radio station in Europe. In Rome he supported one of the initial environmentalist movements in Italy. He remained active in both Italy and Germany, and as a senior member of the 1978 Berlin Tunix Congress he became co-founder of the renowned newspaper die tageszeitung, for which he remained an occasional author over the years under his pseudonyms Cham or Cam.

In the 1980s Carotta moved to Freiburg im Breisgau, where he founded the IT company Legenda Informationssysteme, which specialized on OCR and EDP for press archives and documentation centers. In Paris he worked for Cora, a company specializing on linguistic technology and artificial intelligence. In Freiburg he became editor and managing director of the Kore publishing house.

At the University of Freiburg Carotta then studied ancient history, archaeology and classical philology. His primary focus on Laurentius Valla later shifted to new humanistic research on the cult of Divus Iulius, the deified Julius Caesar, and its influence on early Christianity. In the 1990s he left both of his companies in order to pursue his research full-time, which eventually led to the 1999 publication of his report on the Roman origin of Christianity in the book War Jesus Caesar?.