peror Augustus, in reference to the notorious intrigues and murders that
took place in the household of Herod, famously observed that “it’s better
to be Herod’s pig than his son.” That quip implies that the Jewish dietary
restriction was well known among the Romans. Satirists indeed had a field
day with it. Petronius, author of theSatyricon,concluded that, if Jews don’t
touch pork, they must worship a pig-god. And Juvenal characterized Judea
as a place where a long-standing indulgence permits pigs to reach a ripe
old age. As for circumcision, it provided much grist for the jokesters’ mill.
Philo reports that circumcision called forth considerable ridicule from
non-Jews. Among the instances of this was Juvenal’s claim that Jews are so
exclusive that they would not even give directions in the street to anyone
who was not circumcised. None of this amounts, as has often been
thought, to “anti-Semitism.” It represents mockery rather than animosity.
But it demonstrates that Diaspora Jews had no qualms (and no fears)
about practicing their conventional customs, thereby denoting their differ-
ences from Gentiles.
In fact, what struck pagan writers most was not Jewish assimilation
but Jewish separateness. That emerges in Juvenal’s quip noted above. It re-
curs also in a comment by his contemporary, the historian Tacitus, who
claimed that Jews took up circumcision precisely in order to express their
distinctiveness from all other people. The impression of Jewish separatism
appears, in fact, as early as the first extant Greek writer to take note of the
Jews, Hecataeus of Abdera, a historian of the late fourth centuryb.c.e.
Hecataeus, in an account generally favorable to Jews, indicates that they
tended to keep to themselves and shun the company of others.
The uncommon character of their customs both provided bonds
among Diaspora Jews everywhere and announced their differences from
other peoples. The surviving evidence underscores this again and again.
The collection of an annual tax to be sent to the Temple from Jewish com-
munities throughout the Mediterranean exemplifies it. So does the regular
celebration of festivals that mark major milestones in the history of the na-
tion. The Jews of Egypt kept the Passover at least as early as the fifth cen-
tury, as the Aramaic papyri from Elephantine attest. Scattered testimony
reveals observance of Shavuot, Sukkot, and Yom Kippur in Jewish commu-
nities outside Palestine, conspicuous links to ancient tradition. Later feasts
have strong Diaspora connections. The Purim festival began in the Persian
period, according to the book of Esther, and was celebrated annually by the
Jews of Persia. A comparable anniversary occurred in Alexandria to cele-
brate a Jewish triumph, according to the narrative of 3 Maccabees. And the108erich s. gruenEERDMANS -- Early Judaism (Collins and Harlow) final text
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