Executing John the Baptist

[Maiorianus]

As to the Gospel of Mark, we know nothing about the author, who chose to remain anonymous, except what later Christian tradition tells us. The Latinisms found in the text are common for the literature of the period. They do not necessarily suggest a type of audience, since they are also found in the Hebrew literature, including the Mishnah (including the "speculator") and Talmuds.

Just on this point: the evidence we have is limited, but by crossreferencing it, it seems to point a certain kind of audience. In order:

1. The latinisms: Mark uses them more than the other synoptic Gospels, ie he has kenturio where, in the same episode, Luke has ekatontarchis (Mark, 15,39 and Luke 23, 47). True, Latinisms in themselves ar just an indication, not firm evidence (and in addition Luke's Greek is generally considered more polished than Mark's one);

2. Mark feels the need to explain Jewish traditions (as in 7,3-4) to his audience, which suggest a non-Jewish audience. Equally, he translates aramaic words;

3. It is true that the Gospel is anonymous (and a lot has been debated about its author), but all initial testimonies about it (Papias via Eusebius, Iraeneus, Clemens Alexandrinus and the anti-marcionite Prologue) suggest a Mark closely associated with Peter and who wrote around the time Peter was in Rome. In this respect, Mark's insistence on persecutions and endurance to them (eg in 8, 34-38; 10, 38-39; 13, 9-13) is seen as confirmation of a connection to the Christian community in Rome