sponsor of the event) in order to attract merchants. All fairs during the
later empire had to receive permission from the emperor (MacMullen 1970,
334). The sponsor of the fair, including the king, prevented other fairs from
being held in the same locale in order to reduce competition. One procon-
sul of Asia, for instance, announced that in Tetrapyrgia “an agora[was
established] for goods for sale on the fifteenth of the month. Let no other
city whatsoever in Maeonia anticipate Tetrapyrgia in holding a market”
(SEG13, 518; ca. 250/270 CE, as cited in MacMullen 1970, 335n. 10). The rea-
son for this prohibition was that a fair’s success depended upon the pres-
ence of vendors, and a wide range of elements needed to be included in
order to enrich the gathering. MacMullen writes: “Efficiency required that
they [vendors] be brought together in large numbers, whether once every
seven, or eight, or thirteen, or thirty days, or less frequently still. To this end
a variety of other purposes were adopted: assemblies for worship, specta-
cles and entertainments, elections, or assizes” (1970, 341).
RABBINIC TEXTUAL EVIDENCE
The period under investigation in this chapter is covered by the Mishnah,the
Tosefta,and the Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmuds. Modern scholarship fre-
quently treats the historical information in these documents with a high
degree of suspicion, because it appears that the opinions presented are
essentially ahistorical. Some material is presented anonymously, while
some is associated with specific Sages. Even when we can locate these
Sages historically between the first century BCEand the sixth century CE,
accurate transmission of the sayings attributed to them is still debated.
A number of scholars assume that some Mishnaic sayings might be
dated close to the time of their textual redaction. This view does not con-
sider any saying secure until (at the earliest) the early third century CE,
which is the accepted publication date for the Mishnah, although “publica-
tion” is a term debated by many scholars. It is unclear whether the Mish-
nahwas committed to writing and disseminated widely by its assumed
editor, Rabbi Judah the Prince, or whether he compiled one copy only. The
manner of his editorial decisions, a murky subject introduced as early as
the tenth century through the response of Rav Sherira Gaon from Babylo-
nia, is also debated in the scholarly literature (see Weiss 1904, 87–89;
Lieberman 1950, 81–99; Zlotnick 1988). In any case, other students of these
texts are vehemently opposed to any such perspective. According to these
scholars, if the text claims that a certain rabbi authored a particular say-
ing, the accuracy of that claim should be accepted, in the absence of any
proof to the contrary.
Is the Pagan Fair Fairly Dangerous? 75