Ethnic Identity properly be written as simply a stage in Jewish history;^58 perhaps the most
drastic change in the period is precisely the Christianisation of the landscape
of the Holy Land, and the erection of Christian churches and monuments at
sites associated not only with the New but also with the Old Testament.^59
In broad terms, the nature of Christian communal structures, under their
bishops, is clear. It is much less certain (as mentioned earlier) how the self-
governing Greek cities of these provinces now functioned, and how far they
retained their pagan public cults, and their traditional calendars of festivals
and of athletic and artistic competitions. Similarly, while it is clear that much
of Jewish communal life centred on the synagogue, there are major histori-
cal questions about the actual authority exercised by the rabbis, the nature
of Jewish internal communal jurisdiction, and the anomalous power of the
patriarchs. The repeated appearance of the Jewish patriarchs in the imperial
legal pronouncements of the late fourth century and the first half of the fifth,
which are collected in theCodex Theodosianus, is clear evidence of a recog-
nised public status, and of an authority extending in some respects beyond
Palestine.^60 But this authority was anomalous precisely because it had no
specific geographical expression. Even more problematic is the question of
what, if any, collective organisation the Samaritans possessed, going beyond
local synagogue congregations.^61
In what sense did language serve as a marker of the distinctive identities
of these rival religious communities? For the still (in principle) pagan Greek
cities, as we have seen, there is nothing to suggest that ‘‘the Syrian language’’
was allowed to play any part in their public life. There are no reports suggest-
ing this, and to the best of my knowledge there are no published examples of
pagan public inscriptions in a Semitic language from this period.^62 By con-
. Thus, for instance, M. Avi-Yonah,The Jews under Roman and Byzantine Rule: A Politi-
cal History of Palestine from the Bar Kochba War to the Arab Conquest() (a highly revealing
title). Compare, however, G. Stemberger,JüdenundChristenimHeiligenLand:Palästinaunter
Konstantin und Theodosius().
. This process is visible immediately, for instance, in Jerome’s translation and updating
of Eusebius’Onomasticon,orinhisEp. , with its account of Paula’s journey through
Palestinein/.
. For the evidence, see the excellent collection and discussion of the relevant legal
textsbyA.Linder,The Jews in Roman Imperial Legislation().
. For a useful collection of the various types of evidence relating to the Samaritans,
see A. D. Crown, ed.,The Samaritans().
. I am very grateful to Sebastian Brock, however, for the information that there are as
yet unpublished examples of Syriac inscriptions on pagan mosaics, apparently from private
houses, from Israel, which may date to the fourth or fifth century.