Historical Mary?

Who is real Mary? Is there a historical Mary? Is there a character in Josephus or Talmud that could be distantly alluded to from which the character of Mary of gospel accounts can be based upon? Could the character of Mary be modeled around the last princess of Hasmonean dynasty to survive, Mariamne I? Now Mariamne is a very unique character. She is the last of the heirs of Hasmonean dynasty that survived when Herod took control of Judea as the new Jewish king under Roman control. Josephus mentions that she was a very young and beautiful woman and Herod was smitten by her beauty. But obviously she hated Herod as he was responsible for the deaths of her father, grandfather and her father’s brother. Now Josephus says that Herod was able to marry Mariamne after a period of betrothal which extended for around 2-3 years. Talmud says Mariamne committed suicide before Herod was able to marry her. And Herod mourned over her death. But according to Josephus, Herod married Mariamne and had two sons with him, Alexander and Aristobulus both of whom were murdered by Herod in 7 BCE. But Herod murdered Mariamne before that because she suspected her of an affair with Joseph, who is said to be a procurator or administrator with Herod. There is no other information about this Joseph, other than he is somehow related to Herod. Antiquities says that he is the brother of Herod while Wars says that he is the husband of Herod’s sister Salome. Here comes my whacky hypothesis. But could Joseph be Roman procurator of Syria, Gaius Sosius? Joseph is also understood as Joses, Hoses, Hosius and it could well be Sosius too. Sosius assisted Herod in his takeover of Judea from Hasmonean hands. That makes him co-ruler of the region along with him. If Herod was smitten by the beauty of Mariamne, so could have been Sosius too. We know that Mariamne hated Herod, but had to agree to the marriage to him due to pressure from her mother Alexandra. Now if alleged affair of Mariamne with Joseph (in this case Sosius) happen to occur during the period when Herod was betrothed to Mariamne, he would have been mad at Mariamne and would have killed her or she might have committed suicide before the marriage with Herod as Talmudic account says. Now how about gospel writers were imaginative enough to hypothesize that Mariamne indeed was found to be with a baby in the womb from the affair before Herod could have a union with her? Sosius could have helped her from being killed by Herod. He could have secretly helped her escape into Egypt where his close friend Mark Antony is ruling along with Cleopatra. As Mariamne is sole heir of Hasmonean dynasty, if a son is borne to her, he would be a legitimate heir for being king of Jews as Jews did not consider Herod as a legitimate Jew as he was an Idumean. If such a child existed, it would be no wonder that Herod would want to kill that son if Mariamne conceived. That indeed seems a good motif for a plot for a story even if these events may not have occurred.

Now one other way Mariamne I is tied to the gospels is the surname of another Mary, Mary Magdalene. The surname Magdalene is most likely derived from the Hebrew name Magdalos, which means tower. Now when Herod had murdered Mariamne I, he regretted over her death for many months. He couldn’t get over the fact that he lost her even though he was responsible for her murder. So he built a tower in her name in Jerusalem and the tower is called Mariamne tower (Mary Magdalos). Maybe Mary Magdalene was originally the name of Jesus’ mother and later an additional Mary was constructed as his mother and Mary Magdalene might have been converted into his disciple. That is a possibility. 

One other story that the above story would match would be adultery of Jesus’ mother with Roman general in non-Christian sources of historical Jesus. Both Talmud and Celsus accuse that Jesus was born out of wedlock with a Roman General. Roman General who is the culprit in Talmud and Celsus was Tiberius Iulius Abdes Pantera. But if the above story is right, it could be the Roman Procurator of Syria, Gaius Sosius. Since Mariamne I was Jewish princess, it would be shameful to have a child with adultery with Roman general. Hence if Mariamne I actually had a child following adultery, it is natural to describe it as virgin birth. 

I am not saying that this happened this way. It might just be a whacky hypothesis. But this is a possibility that this could have happened or at least became an inspiration for initial aspect of gospel story. Just a thought. Maybe a whacky one too.