Notes
Outline
The Jewish Revolt and the Destruction of Jerusalem
The Jewish People in the Roman World
Jews as a People of Exile
Independent Kingdom (Saul, David, Solomon): 1020-922 BCE
Schism (922): 10 Northern Tribes (Israel) and 2 Southern Tribes (Judah)
Assyrian Deportation of Israel: 722 BCE
Babylonian Reduction of Judah: 587 BCE
Babylonian Captivity: 587-539 BCE
Second Temple Period: circa 515 BCE- 70 CE
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The Coming of Rome
Hasmonean Dynasty from 2nd Century BCE
Maccabees
Pharisees: middle-class separatists who oppose Hasmoneans (synagogues)
Sadducees: aristocracy which controls the Temple and provides the priests
Pompey the Great uses Hasmoneans as puppets
Marc Antony, and later Octavian/Augustus, support Herod as client king (from 37 BCE)
Judaism in the Roman World
Sources of Potential Conflict
The Exclusivity of Judaism
Roman Syncretism as Contrast
Jewish Anomalies
from a Roman Perspective
Sacred Text as Sole Truth
People of Israel as “God’s Chosen”
Dietary Taboos
Circumcision
“Augustus knew that a large part of Rome…was occupied and inhabited by Jews…that they have places for proper meetings…However he did not banish them from Rome or deprive them of their Roman citizenship…because they were careful to maintain their identities as Jews.”

Philo of Alexandria (Hellenized Jew ca. 20 BCE-50 CE), Embassy to Gaius (Caligula) 155-158
Non-Participation in Imperial Cult as Subversion (?)

“The emperor Tiberius suppressed foreign cults, such as the Egyptian and Jewish religions, by forcing those who embraced such superstitions to burn their religious vestments and all their holy objects. Using required military service as a pretext, he assigned young Jews to provinces with harsher climates. Other men of that same race…he banished from the city.”

Suetonius, Tiberius, 36
Claudius’ Edict to Alexandrians (41 CE)

“I entreat you, Alexandrians, to behave tolerantly and benevolently to the Jews, since they have lived in the same city as you for many years, and not to abuse the religious rites which they practice in the worship of their god…I order the Jews not to agitate for more indulgence than they enjoyed in the past…Otherwise I will prosecute them in every way as transmitters of a general disease infecting the whole world.”
The First Jewish Revolt against Rome
Parallels in Britain and Gaul in the 60s?
Siege and Capture by Titus in 70 CE
Destruction of the Temple in 70 CE
Masada (70-73 CE)
Triumph and Arch of Titus
Further Revolts in 115-117 and 132-135 CE
Roman Prejudice

“At whose house did you have your dinner of vinegar and beans? What shoemaker shared with you his leeks and the lips of a boiled sheep? You won’t answer? Speak or I’ll kick you. In what Jew’s prayer house can I find you?”

Juvenal, Satires, 3
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