The Christian Church and the Jews of the Diaspora Imperial Pronouncements
Given the thorough treatment of this topic in Linder’s excellent study of
Roman imperial enactments,^4 all that is required here is a brief survey to re-
mind ourselves of the essential features of Jewish legal status in the Christian
empire, and to note any features of imperial pronouncements which reflect
either circumstances in any particular locality or region, or the general na-
ture of Jewish-Christian relations. It should be stressed that the theme of
this paper is the Jewish diaspora of the Greek East, and it concerns neither
the circumstances of Jews in Rome and the Latin West,^5 nor the Jewish com-
munity of Palestine and its Patriarch (fully discussed in an excellent work
by Martin Jacobs).^6 Given this restricted regional focus, it therefore needs to
be stressed also that, with minimal exceptions, all the ‘‘laws’’ issued by late
Roman emperors were in fact letters written to officials holding office in
particular regions. Especially after the division of , it also makes a fun-
damental difference whether the ‘‘law,’’ or letter, concerned was issued from
Italy (Rome or Ravenna) or from Constantinople. The consolidation of these
laws into a single series in theTheodosian Codeof created an illusion. In
reality there were two separate, but loosely related, spheres of legislation.
The essentials of the legal status of Jews and Jewish communities in fact
remained the same as they had been since Constantine: () Jewish worship
conducted by Jews was legal; () the conversion of Christians, including
Christian slaves owed by Jews, was illegal and subject to penalties; the rulings
varied as to whether Jewish ownership of Christian slaves was permitted at
all; () attacks on synagogues were illegal, and subject to penalties; () inter-
marriage between Jews and Christians was forbidden; () decisions on mem-
bership of Jewish communities were a matter for Jewish authorities; () cer-
tain officials of Jewish communities were exempt from curial obligations;
() Jewish law applied only to issues of Jewish religious rules, unless both
parties in a civil suit agreed on arbitration under Jewish law.
Without it being necessary to enter into all the details here, a new context
. A. Linder,TheJewsinRomanImperialLegislation, edited with introduction, translation,
and commentary ().
. See above all L. Rutgers,The Jews in Late Ancient Rome: Evidence of Cultural Interaction
in the Roman Diaspora(); B. Blumenkranz,Juifs et Chrétiens dans le monde occidental, –
(); D. Noy,Jewish Inscriptions of Western EuropeI:Italy, Spain, Gaul(), II:City
of Rome(); S. Bradbury,Severus of Minorca: Letter on the Conversion of the Jews();
M. Williams, ‘‘The Jews of Early Byzantine Venusia,’’JJS (): .
. M. Jacobs,Die Institutionen des jüdischen Patriarchen().