Koddaroi and Xurēsitauroi in the letters of Apollonius of Tyana

Among the letters of the sage Apollonius of Tyana, of the first century CE, are eight that berate the Sardians for their civil strife. Two of the letters refer to two Sardian groups that are at odds with one another, the Koddaroi and the Xurēsitauroi . At the core of this article is an etymological argument that Koddaroi means 'the foreskinned', and that Xurēsitauroi , from two Greek words meaning 'shaving' and 'genitals', refers not to depilation but to the shaved look of the glans penis resulting from circumcision. If my hypothesis is correct, we have a new piece of evidence for Jewish-Gentile tensions in the first-century Diaspora in Asia Minor. I also show that my hypothesis fits well with Apollonius's remarks in letters 39 and 40. And if my interpretation of letter 41 is correct, there is a reference there to Sardian Jews owning some Jewish slaves - which again would be a new testimony, this time on the issue of slavery among the ancient Jews

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