The Jewish Revolt and the Destruction of Jerusalem

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The Jewish Revolt and the Destruction of Jerusalem

• The Jewish People in the Roman World

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Jews as a People of Exile

• Independent Kingdom (Saul, David, Solomon)
  1020-922 BCE
• Schism (922) 10 Northern Tribes (Israel) and 2
  Southern Tribes (Judah)
• Assyrian Deportation of Israel 722 BCE
• Babylonian Reduction of Judah 587 BCE
• Babylonian Captivity 587-539 BCE
• Second Temple Period circa 515 BCE- 70 CE

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The Kingdom of Saul
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Kingdom of David and Solomon
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A Small State in a Sea of the Great Hellenistic
Powers
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The Coming of Rome

• Hasmonean Dynasty from 2nd Century BCE
• Maccabees
• Pharisees middle-class separatists who oppose
  Hasmoneans (synagogues)
• Sadducees aristocracy which controls the Temple
  and provides the priests
• Pompey the Great uses Hasmoneans as puppets
• Marc Antony, and later Octavian/Augustus, support
  Herod as client king (from 37 BCE)

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Judaism in the Roman World

• Sources of Potential Conflict

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The Exclusivity of Judaism

• Roman Syncretism as Contrast

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Jewish Anomalies from a Roman Perspective

• Sacred Text as Sole Truth
• People of Israel as Gods Chosen
• Dietary Taboos
• Circumcision

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Augustus knew that a large part of Romewas
occupied and inhabited by Jewsthat they have
places for proper meetingsHowever he did not
banish them from Rome or deprive them of their
Roman citizenshipbecause they were careful to
maintain their identities as Jews.Philo of
Alexandria (Hellenized Jew ca. 20 BCE-50 CE),
Embassy to Gaius (Caligula) 155-158
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Non-Participation in Imperial Cult as Subversion
(?)The emperor Tiberius suppressed foreign
cults, such as the Egyptian and Jewish religions,
by forcing those who embraced such superstitions
to burn their religious vestments and all their
holy objects. Using required military service as
a pretext, he assigned young Jews to provinces
with harsher climates. Other men of that same
racehe banished from the city.Suetonius,
Tiberius, 36
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Claudius Edict to Alexandrians (41 CE)I
entreat you, Alexandrians, to behave tolerantly
and benevolently to the Jews, since they have
lived in the same city as you for many years, and
not to abuse the religious rites which they
practice in the worship of their godI order the
Jews not to agitate for more indulgence than they
enjoyed in the pastOtherwise I will prosecute
them in every way as transmitters of a general
disease infecting the whole world.
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The First Jewish Revolt against Rome

• Parallels in Britain and Gaul in the 60s?
• Siege and Capture by Titus in 70 CE
• Destruction of the Temple in 70 CE
• Masada (70-73 CE)
• Triumph and Arch of Titus
• Further Revolts in 115-117 and 132-135 CE

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Roman PrejudiceAt whose house did you have
your dinner of vinegar and beans? What shoemaker
shared with you his leeks and the lips of a
boiled sheep? You wont answer? Speak or Ill
kick you. In what Jews prayer house can I find
you?Juvenal, Satires, 3
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The First Jewish Revolt
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Flavian Coins Judaea Capta (Captured Judaea)
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Masada
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The Arch of Titus