These epitaphs appear to be for men who once had been Jews but now
were Christians. Their Jewish origin is indicated by their names in the first
two cases and by the declaration that they were de Judeisin the third. Yann
le Bohec thought the first and third examples were Jewish converts to
Christianity. The second he thought to be a converted pagan Jewish sym-
pathizer, though it could as easily refer to a Jew (Figueras 1990, 205) or to
a Christian Judaizer (Kant 1987, 707). The Christian element in each case
is the appearance of the chi-rho symbol. It is not certain that Jews com-
monly used the name of Moses at this time, and a name is not always a reli-
able indicator of origin. Tomasz Devda (1997, 257–60) thinks that Jews
did not use Moses until the late Byzantine period. Margaret H. Williams
(1997, 274) counters with examples from the fourth century on, though the
name is not always certainly transcribed (on use of names as indicators in
inscriptions, see G.H.R. Horsley 1987). Le Bohec argues, on the other hand,
that non-Jews were unlikely to use this name at a time when anti-Semi-
tism was rabid in North Africa. Even so, the third example remains clear.
From Italy around the same time (fourth to fifth century CE) we have
a fairly uncomplicated example (CIJI2 643a=Noy 1993/1995:1.8):
Here lies Peter, also called Paprio, son of Olympus the Jew, and the only
one of his family (gens) who has deserved to attain the grace of Christ.There is no doubt that this is an example of Jewish conversion to Christian-
ity. That Peter truly was the only one of his family (genscould also mean
nation) to convert is likely, given the other evidence we have for Jewish con-
verts in the post-Constantine era. The timing of these defections—during
the period when Christianity was becoming increasingly dominant as the
official religion of the empire—should be noted. There is nevertheless no
reason to suppose that these changes of loyalty were cynical acts of conven-
ience. Many other things may have motivated them, but, as usual, the epi-
taphs remain frustratingly silent.
Of course, a much earlier, but more controversial, example would be
Paul—worth a large section alone, but one that would deflect us too far from
our overall theme. Most scholars judge Paul to have been an apostate from
Judaism (Gaston 1987, 76–79; Segal 1990, 223, 290; Barclay 1995a; though
for a different view, see Dunn 1998). Many other Jewish Christians would
likewise be grist for our mill, if we knew about specific cases beyond the first
few decades of Christianity, but we do not. Moreover, for the purposes of
this chapter, the period when Christianity was still largely a sectarian move-
ment within Judaism is less important.