Atomus Explained

Atomus (Greek: Άτομος) was a Cypriot magician who appears in the Antiquities of the Jews by Josephus, working for Felix at Caesarea.^{[1] [2]}

Atomus was Jewish and is described as having been employed by Felix to convince Herod Agrippa II's sister Drusilla to divorce Azizus of Emesa and marry him instead.^[3]

The text reads "Simon" in some Latin manuscripts and Hans Waitz (1904) suggested that the magi may have been identifiable as Simon Magus.^[4] This is not generally accepted as Atomus was a Jew and Simon Magus was a Samaritan.^[5]

References

1. Book: Josephus. Louis H. Feldman. Josephus: Jewish Antiquities, Book XX General Index X. 20 September 2012. 1996. Harvard University Press. 978-0-674-99502-4.
2. Book: Stephen Charles Haar. Simon Magus: The First Gnostic?. 20 September 2012. 2003. Walter de Gruyter. 978-3-11-017689-6. 62–.
3. Book: Arthur E. Palumbo, Jr.. The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Personages of Earliest Christianity. 20 September 2012. 1 May 2004. Algora Publishing. 978-0-87586-296-5. 252–.
4. Waitz, Hans., “Simon Magus in der altchristlichen Literatur”, Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft und die Kunde des Urchristentums 5, pp. 121–143, 1904.
5. Arthur E. Palumbo - The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Personages of Earliest ... 2004 -0875862969 p.252 "H. Waitz suggested that this Atomus or Simon may have been Simon Magus as far back as 1904"