A quite different example, only briefly related in our sources, is the
shift of allegiance attributed to Flavius Clemens and his wife Domitilla.
They were accused of “atheism” and “drifting into Jewish ways” (Dio
67.14.1–3) and, as a result, Clemens was executed and his wife exiled.
Some scholars have argued that these two had drifted toward Christianity
rather than Judaism, which is a possible understanding of the accusations,
since Christians were indeed accused of atheism and could broadly be said
to have adopted Jewish ways. Eusebius, later, refers to a Domitilla who
was the niece of Flavius Clemens and who was exiled under Domitian “as
a testimony to Christ” (Hist. Eccl.3.18.4). If the two Domitillas are con-
flated, then she was a Christian, but there is no good reason to do so, and
no evidence that Flavius Clemens was moving toward Christianity rather
than Judaism.
Thus we may have the following: Flavius Clemens and his wife, mov-
ing from paganism toward Judaism, and their niece moving from pagan-
ism (or Judaism?) toward Christianity. In each case, we are dealing with
Roman aristocrats, whose defection would have been seen as a serious
matter at the best of times, but since Flavius Clemens and his wife were also
the parents of Domitian’s designated heirs, political concerns would have
been paramount. Perhaps this, rather than their religious predilections,
was the real problem; some have suggested that the charge of Judaizing was
merely a pretext in a dynastic and political struggle. Yet it remains inter-
esting that defection from paganism—to Judaism or to Christianity—could
plausibly be used as a charge, and could provoke such a severe reaction
from the emperor.
CONCLUSION
What, then, do these defectors tell us about religious rivalry? Certainly not
that, as fast as converts came in one door, apostates left by another. Yet
there was a significant enough number of defectors to alert us to the phe-
nomenon of losing, as distinct from gaining, adherents, and this adds an
important element to our broader consideration of religious rivalries. It
shows, at least, that religious cults did not always satisfy the needs of their
adherents. Moreover, with few exceptions, there was an element of rivalry
between them, at least in the sense that the defectors were pushed or
tugged in the direction of one or more of the competitors. Tiberius Alexan-
der the aristocratic Jewish-Roman general and Timocrates the philosopher
may be exceptions, but in most cases the move out of one religious context
also involved a move into another. In some instances, for both Jews and
Christians, there was strong political pressure to shift allegiance, for exam-