Early Judaism- A Comprehensive Overview

of Alexandrian advisors, especially a certain Helicon. Ultimately, neither

embassy achieved its goal of receiving an official answer from Gaius. At the

time of his murder, the issue was still open. Claudius finally settled the

matter when he ordered both sides to behave but told the Jews that they

lived in a city not their own and warned them not to aim for more than

what they had (CPJ153; the edict of Claudius, as reported by Josephus in

Ant.19.280-91 is much more positive toward the Jews than the papyrus,

and is of doubtful authenticity).

Roman Jews also experienced mixed relations with their non-Jewish

neighbors. The Jewish community in the city of Rome was composed

mostly of the descendants of slaves brought to the capital after Pompey’s

conquest in 63b.c.e.and that of Gaius Sosius in 37. This community had

expanded during the early Principate, and under Augustus many of these

slaves received their freedom. Despite their new liberty, these Jews largely

remained within the lower classes of the city, living across the Tiber in

Trastevere. Yet even in the face of the usual toleration granted by the gov-

ernment, the Jews of Rome periodically experienced official persecution,

such as their expulsion under Tiberius (Tacitus,Annales11.85; Suetonius,

Tiberius36; Josephus,Ant.18.65-84) and later under Claudius (Acts 18:2;

Suetonius,Claudius25; Dio 60.6). During both expulsions, it is unlikely

that many Jews actually went farther than Rome’s suburbs. Even if they

did, the Jewish community quickly returned. By the end of the Roman pe-

riod, as evidenced by the catacombs in Rome, a large Jewish population in-

habited the city.

Judea between the Revolts

The tragic outcome of the Great Revolt substantially changed life in Judea,

but it also had a strong ripple effect on the Diaspora as well. Jerusalem and

the Temple were destroyed and the priesthood disbanded. The Sanhedrin

ceased to function, and the old ruling class vanished. Although Herod

Agrippa II was rewarded for his loyalty in 75c.e.with additional territory

in Lebanon and theornamenta praetoria,he received no new territory in

Judea. And yet, Jewish life managed to continue. The prestige of the priest-

hood persisted, and individual priests were still receiving tithes, but as

their religious utility declined, so too did their influence and power. It is

highly likely that the Jews of this period continued to hope for a restora-

tion of the Temple. Both Josephus and the author of1 Clementwrite under

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chris seeman and adam kolman marshak

EERDMANS -- Early Judaism (Collins and Harlow) final text
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