of the people’s liberation from Egyptian bondage again by the agency of Moses (and
Aaron) figured prominently in their identity. Pagan Latin (e.g. Tac. Hist.5.1–13)
and especially Greek authors (e.g. Apion as cited in Josephus, Against Apion) appear
to know that these elements were at the core of the identity of the Jews they encoun-
tered (see M. Stern 1974 – 84: I. nos. 163a–77). And, as we know from Philo (e.g.
Special Laws, Allegorical Interpretations, Moses, Questions and Answers on Exodus,
Creation, Abraham, etc.), and Josephus (Antiquities,Against Apion, and Life), Diaspora
Jews felt compelled to defend the integrity of the biblical narratives against pagan
detractors (like Apion) who sought to delegitimize the Jews by mocking or attack-
ing these narrative elements.
Biblical monotheism among Diaspora JewsThe question of what monotheism did or did not mean to Jews in (late) antiquity
is complex; it is not a subject to be dealt with at length in this chapter. On the basis
of their biblical tradition, Greco-Roman Diaspora Jews understood that their alle-
giance was to one God, and one God only, YHWH. Certainly many, perhaps even
the overwhelming majority of, Diaspora Jews (and Jews of the Land of Israel) under-
stood no other gods to exist; this conception of monotheism is entirely consistent
with biblical Judaism’s reading of the biblical literature and with the view of the final
redactors of the Torah of Moses in the fifth century bce(see Kugel 2003). This
YHWH-alone tendency is a highly salient (and perhaps the least understood) char-
acteristic of Diaspora Jews for their pagan neighbors. Inveterate critics of the Jews
among pagan Latin and Greek authors characterize Jewish monotheism as atheism,
since the reality of “the gods” seems to them to be denied by the Jews among them
(e.g. Tac. Hist.5.13; Dio 67.14.1–2; Barclay 1996: 312).
Moreover, the matter is not one of belief and theology alone. The fact that Jews
did not offer sacrifices even to YHWH in their synagogues may have reinforced
the grounds for characterizing Diaspora Jews as atheists. More important still,
Jews did not (directly) participate in the civic cultic rites of their cities, including
the imperial cults as they emerged in the late Roman, pre-Christian empire. Since
pagan festivals and cults, on the one hand, and athletic games, on the other, were
sometimes related, many scholars, such as Barclay, for one, conclude that Roman
Diaspora Jews would have avoided the amphitheater and stadium and their games,
further emphasizing their “otherness” on the religious and civic fronts simultane-
ously. But the arguments adduced by Barclay (1996: 236 –7), for example, are prob-
lematic. He concludes that when the formal Jewish community of Cyrenaica in the
first century cesupport “the amphitheater” and vote to have dedicatory inscriptions
placed therein (Lüderiz 1983: 70 –2; see also Harland 2003), a Jewish communal
building is probably designated, not the civic structure of Cyrenaica. But Barclay
must admit that such a designation for a Diaspora Jewish communal building would
be unique in all the extant evidence for Greco-Roman Diaspora Jews and Judaism.
More significant still, evidence is far from univocal on Jews’ alleged avoidance of
athletic games and theatrical performance and their civic venues. Philo seems to have
acquired a thorough gymnasium education, which would have included training
360 Jack N. Lightstone