Thallus was a historian who wrote a three-volume history of the Mediterranean world in the mid-1st century AD. Unfortunately, none of his original works have survived, but fragments of his writings are preserved in the works of later authors who quoted him. One such reference is made by the Christian historian Julius Africanus in the 3rd century AD. In his work [[Schaff2017-cc|"Chronography"]], Africanus quotes Thallus as having written about the darkness that occurred during the crucifixion of Jesus, and he suggests that Thallus attributed the darkness to a solar eclipse. However, Africanus also notes that this explanation is implausible, since a solar eclipse could not have occurred during the full moon of the Passover festival, which is when Jesus was crucified according to the Gospels. Africanus then goes on to say that Thallus also wrote about an earthquake that occurred during the crucifixion, which he describes as a "great earthquake" that took place in "Bithynia and other regions". However, Africanus himself casts doubt on this claim, stating that the earthquake was "in my opinion, clearly shown to be erroneous" because it did not occur in the vicinity of Jerusalem, where the crucifixion took place. > [!quote] [[Schaff2017-cc]] > “On the whole world there pressed a most fearful darkness; and the rocks were rent by an earthquake, and many places in Judea and other districts were thrown down. This darkness Thallus, in the third book of his History, calls, as appears to me without reason, an eclipse of the sun.” Thallus, a mid-1st-century historian, indirectly contributes to the historical context surrounding the crucifixion of Jesus through fragments cited by later scholars like Julius Africanus. While Thallus' original works are lost, his recorded attempt to rationalize the darkness during Jesus' crucifixion as a natural solar eclipse is significant. Africanus challenges Thallus' interpretation, pointing out the astronomical impossibility of an eclipse occurring during the Jewish Passover, aligning instead with the Gospel narratives describing supernatural darkness. Additionally, Thallus mentions a "great earthquake" affecting regions like Bithynia, distinct from the localized seismic events reported in Judean accounts of the crucifixion.