Roman Judaea

« Rendez à César ce qui est à César et à Dieu ce qui est à Dieu » : cette phrase bien connue des Évangiles s’éclaire d’un jour nouveau à mesure que se poursuivent les enquêtes historiques portant sur la fiscalité en Judée du tournant de notre ère.
Cette première synthèse complète sur la fiscalité de Judée invite à se demander si cette matière froide et technique ne serait pas, au contraire, une matière brûlante, « éveilleur de révoltes », à la fois un reflet et un condensé des complexités économiques, politiques, sociales voire théologiques ?
Quels sont les impôts prélevés ? Quels sont les moyens de paiement ? Est-il vrai que le temple de Jérusalem n’acceptait que les shekels de Tyr ? Pourquoi l’impôt romain dérangeait-il les contemporains de Jésus ? Quelle est la place des relations financières dans l’histoire politique de la Judée ? Ces questions, parmi tant d’autres, reçoivent ici une réponse à la fois à jour des découvertes les plus récentes et accessible au public spécialiste autant que curieux.

This is the final typescript (AAM) of a chapter now published in Antony Augoustakis, Emma Buckley, and Claire Stocks, eds., Fides in Flavian Literature, “Phoenix Supplementary Series.” Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 45–67. In exploring Josephus' portraits of Vespasian and Titus, and rejecting the common view that these amount to formulaic adulation, it asks how such descriptions could have been seen as loyal and faithful.

The article looks at the royal coinage of the Roman client king Herod the Great (40/37 – 4 BC) of Judaea. Herod was an avowed friend and loyal ally of Rome and the Emperor, and his political acts as well as his building programme contain many aspects expressive of a pro-Roman attitude. In the area of material culture the adoption of Roman goods, materials and techniques can be demonstrated. This technology transfer can be described by the term Romanization. The aim of this article is to evaluate Herod’s royal bronze coinage iconographically in terms of his relations with Rome. It is apparent that, while the presumption of pro-Roman imagery is common among researchers, critical appraisal shows that Rome in fact played no role in the coinage struck under the King. Rather, Herod presents himself as a Jewish king in the tradition of the Hasmoneans. Rome is not a subject and the coins do not represent evidence of Romanization.

Why is Jesus missing from the historical record? Jesus was an influential king (the King of the Jews) and probably the most famous monarch of the last two millennia, so why can we not find archaeological evidence for his life? The answer is that historians and theologians have been looking in the wrong location and era.

Following 25 years of research, Ralph Ellis has discovered that Jesus was actually a prince of Edessa in northern Syria, who tried to become the king of Judaea. Not only does this minor monarch have a very similar life-history to the biblical Jesus, he also has the same names.

But this novel identification would have been rejected by the Church, even if they had discovered it, because the wise pauper prince of peace was actually a wise warrior monarch. So if any Christian had the opportunity to meet their hero god-figure, King Jesus, they would dismiss him as an impostor.

Núm.: XV Reservados todos los derechos. Ni la totalidad ni parte de este libro puede reproducirse o transmitirse por ningún procedimiento electrónico o mecánico, incluyendo fotocopia, grabación magnética o cualquier almacenamiento de información y sistema de recuperación, sin permiso escrito del Secretariado de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Sevilla. © SECRETARIADO DE PUBLICACIONES DE LA UNIVERSIDAD DE SEVILLA 2011 Porvenir, 27 -41013 Sevilla. Tlfs.: 954 487 447; 954 487 452; Fax: 954 487 443 Correo electrónico: secpub4@us.es Web: http://www.publius.us.es © JUAN MANUEL CORTÉS COPETE, ELENA MÚÑIZ GRIJALVO, ROCÍO GORDILLO HERVÁS (coords.) 2011 © DE LOS TEXTOS SUS AUTORES 2011

Jesus is one of the central figures of history, but we actually know very little about his life with any certainty. This article, which is extracted from my book in progress (Inventing God: How Religion Shaped Our Western World), lists the outer limits of what is likely known about the historical Jesus.

The study of ancient Judaism has enjoyed a steep rise in interest and publications in recent decades. However, much of this study has focused on the ideas and beliefs represented in ancient texts, with only limited study regarding the daily lives and material culture of Jewish individuals and their communities. The nascent institution of the synagogue formed an increasingly important venue for communal gathering and daily or weekly practice. This collection of essays is intended to bring together a broad spectrum of new archaeological and textual data with various emergent theories and interpretive methods in order to address the need to understand the place of the synagogue in the daily and weekly procedures, community frameworks, and theological structures in which Judaeans, Galileans, and Jewish people in the Diaspora lived and gathered. The interdisciplinary studies will be of great significance for anyone studying ancient Jewish belief, practice, and community formation.

In this paper, the possible date of introduction of denarii to Roman Judaea and the Decapolis will be discussed. In the light of recently-published coin evidence ideas about the importance of the Roman monetary system to the area in the Late Republican and Early Imperial period are presented. This paper benefits from the newly-published archaeological and numismatic evidence from Khirbet Qumran in Israel, and a survey of major excavation reports from the Decapolis cities. In this respect, this summarising study represents a continuation of several monographs on the subject.

Os judeus ficaram conhecidos como o “povo do livro”. Eis um atributo de fato para um grupo social que fundamentou sua moral e sua ética sob vastas coletâneas de escrituras como a Torah e o Talmud. Agora imaginemos os judeus como um povo que não nos deixou seus escritos, ou mesmo, como uma sociedade cuja estrutura comunitária não existe mais – costumes, ritos, etc. Este trabalho buscará analisar a visão do outro sobre os judeus, mais especificamente, a visão do historiador latino Tácito (55-120 E.C.) que dedicou esse rico relato, porém breve, acerca dos judeus, seus ritos e sua origem. Essas informações nos chegam através de sua famosa obra Histórias, no quinto livro, entre os capítulos II e V. O objetivo deste trabalho é contribuir para as discussões acerca das leituras sobre o “outro” no mundo antigo, neste caso, do romano para com o judaico.

A perspective on the nature of the Roman legal order in the provinces and the status of local laws and practices under Roman rule. These questions are explored through a series of case studies from Roman Egypt, including the well-known petition of Dionysia (P. Oxy. II 237).

Werner Eck Herrschaft, Widerstand, Kooperation: Rom und das Judentum in Judaea/Palaestina vor dem 4. Jh. n. Chr. Im Jahr 638 n. Chr. fiel Jerusalem in die Hände der muslimischen Araber; damit ging eine lange Epoche zu Ende. Judaea hatte bis zu diesem Zeitpunkt mehr als 700 Jahre unter der Herrschaft Roms gestanden. 63 v. Chr. war Gnaeus Pompeius, der später das Cognomen Magnus erhielt, im Osten des Mittelmeers erschienen, wo er fast wie ein Autokrat agieren konnte. Er gliederte das hasmonäische Königreich in das römische Imperium ein, allerdings noch nicht als direkt beherrschten Raum; die Familie der Hasmonäer behielt die Macht in ihrer Hand, doch sie und das Volk waren dem Willen Roms unterworfen. Die Herrschaft Roms endete erst mit der Eroberung von Caesarea Maritima, dem zweiten zentralen Ort der gesamten Region, im Jahr 640 n. Chr. Das Land kehrte nie mehr unter die Herrschaft von Konstantinopel, dem Neuen Rom im Osten, zurück. Diese 700 Jahre waren geprägt von langem heftigem Widerstand vieler Juden gegen die römische Herrschaft, von offener Rebellion und schließlich der späten, aber klaren Einsicht, dass es möglich war, innerhalb des politischen System des Imperium Romanum als Juden nicht nur zu überleben, sondern sogar mit Rom letztendlich zu kooperieren. 1 Die Präsenz Roms in Judaea begann als eine indirekte. Denn die unmittelbare Herrschaft Roms im nahen Osten beschränkte sich seit 63 v. Chr. zunächst auf die Provinz Syrien, also den Raum nördlich von Judaea; von dort aus konnte man den 1 Die Literatur zur Thematik Rom und Judaea ist enorm. Hier werden nur einige wenige Werke angeführt, die dem Verfasser im gegebenen Kontext wichtig erscheinen: Emil Schürer: The history of the Jewish people in the age of Jesus Christ, Bd. 1., durchges. u.

The Papers in this volume, edited by David Jacobson and Nikos Kokkinos, are based on presentations at an international two-day conference held at Spink & Son in London on 13-14 September, 2010. The period covered spans the Roman conquest of Judaea by Pompey through to the last major Jewish uprising against Rome under Shimon Bar-Kokhba, encompassing the age of the Herods and the birth of Christianity. These contributions focus on the relations between Rome and Judaea as reflected in the numismatic record, during this momentous period of history. The past few decades have seen considerable advances in numismatic scholarship dealing with this period, partly stimulated by archaeological exploration and numerous coin finds, which have shed light on these historical events and associated political, social and economic issues.
My article, entitled "The Significance of the Caduceus between Facing
Cornucopias in Herodian and Roman Coinage" is reproduced in full below.

Herod's appointment as Rome’s client ruler of Judaea in 40 BCE marked a step change in that territory's political, economic and cultural development, being brought from the periphery into the mainstream of the Graeco-Roman world. Josephus presents Herod (the Great) as a loyal client of Rome, ever eager to please Augustus and his deputy, Marcus Agrippa, while adopting the trappings of hellenistic monarchy. This study delves into Herod's role as a member of Rome's client network, as it existed in the last decades of the 1st century BCE, comparing and contrasting his activities in relation to two other prominent client kings, Archelaus Philopatris of Cappadocia and Juba II of Mauretania.

This thesis demonstrates that the emperor Augustus (31 BC to AD 14) did encourage and instigate marriage-alliances between Roman client kings, as suggested by the sources. Analysis of the marriage-alliances formed before Augustus’ reign reveals a number of characteristics that did not apply to many of the marriage-alliances formed during Augustus’ reign and beyond. New or modified characteristics have assisted in the determination of which marriage-alliances were arranged by the emperor. Furthermore, this thesis also assesses the possible aims that compelled Augustus to arrange or encourage these marriages, how this policy complied with the emperor’s other beliefs and policies regarding marriage in general, and whether his policy was continued by his successors. Finally the repercussions and problems that arose from binding the client kings together through intermarriage are examined and the policy assessed in terms of success or failure. The study of Augustus’ policy of intermarriage between client kings also illuminates the nature and role of client kings within the framework of the principate and shed further light on their relationship with the emperor.

The chronography of Josephus, as presented in his major work the Jewish Antiquities, with significant additions in his Against Apion, covered the entire past of his nation. The antiquity of the Jews was defended by use of Graeco-Oriental chronographical sources, beginning with Manetho. Josephus claimed that Jacob lived some 1000 years (and Moses nearly 500) before the Fall of Troy, the earliest event thought as historical by Greeks. This event he placed at c. 1120 BC, lower than Eratosthenes’ canonical 1183 BC, but within the wider Greek estimates extending from 1335 to c. 937 BC. Given Josephus’ dating of the beginning of Solomon’s reign to 1129 BC, the king had to be contemporary with Troy. This synchronism, recorded in the Tyrian Annals, is not explicitly spelt out by the Jewish historian for understandable reasons. The Annals followed a ‘low’ chronology, placing the Trojan War in the 10th century, incompatible with the ‘high’ chronology originally employed by Josephus placing it in the 12th. The problem of absolute chronology was intensified by the internal difficulties of Biblical dating, such as the Fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians, the baseline for all calculations back in time, which had been set higher than reality, producing an error of 73 years. To this Josephus added various erroneous time-lengths back to Moses, including the addition of 40 years to the reign of Solomon. Such inflations in the ‘absolute’ chronology meant that significant ‘relative’ links, previously discussed in the Antiquities, had to be downplayed in Apion. This included the friendship of Solomon with the ‘Queen of Sheba’ and the identity of king ‘Shishak’ who invaded Jerusalem after Solomon’s death. Manetho placed the Fall of Troy in the reign of ‘Thouoris’, i.e. the female pharaoh Tausret. Had Josephus known the gender of Thuoris, he would have jumped to the opportunity to identify her with the Queen of Sheba, instead of the remote Nitocris. This would have provided him with the desired synchronism of Solomon with Troy from the Phoenician record. It would also have provided him with a powerful pharaoh following Thuoris, to identify with ‘Shishak’, namely ‘Rhampsinitos’ – almost certainly Ramesses III.

A rereading of an oft-quoted passage of Epiphanius reveals that this author miscalculated the date of the destruction of Jerusalem, assigning it wrongly to 81/82. Therefore, when placing Hadrian’s journey to the East 47 years after the destruction, he was referring to Hadrian’s well-documented long journey to the East in 128–132 and not to a putative journey in 117. This receives further confirmation in other statements Epiphanius makes on the Crucifixion, the destruction of Jerusalem, the appearance of Aquila and the geographic scope of Hadrian’s journey, and combines well with the available epigraphic evidence.

The study of the portraiture of Roman client kings in the Greek East is only in its infancy. This article examines some overlooked coin images of two Herodian kings, Agrippa I and Herod of Chalkis, and of the Nabataean king Aretas IV. These are full-length images of these dynasts and thus unique views of dress, poses, gesture, body types, etc., all of which complemented the portrait head to form a coherent self-image of royalty. The aim is to place the portraits more firmly in the stylistic landscape of early Roman imperial portraiture; and secondly to explore these fulllength images of local dynasts, their costumes and body types.

The paper is devoted to one ostracon from Masada. It offers a new interpretation of the name that was part of the so-called “Lots” and suggests that it derives from Greek. This reading positions the ostracon as part of a large group of names that comprised the onomasticon of Judaea during the Hellenistic and Early Roman periods: the nicknames and, more notably, the masqueraded nicknames. Moreover, the paper further reflects on the physiognomic aspect of the nickname under discussion in the context of the “physiognomic consciousness” of the period. Such nicknames formed statutory markers, both in Judaea and Rome, most notably amongst the elite circles. In addition, they were most popular in military institutions and even more so among close militia groups, in particular during periods of crisis such as the days leading up to and during the revolt. The paper suggests that these extreme conditions served as a catalyst and were conducive to the large number of nicknames uncovered at Masada.
Finally, archeological data, revised and updated through advanced testing and dating methods, has not provided a clear-cut answer. Although most scholars believe that the Bar Kokhba Revolt did not spread to the Galilee, there are others who consider this to be a realistic scenario. In this article, I focus on the latter point of view, and seek to present a comprehensive review of the data, accumulated from a wide range of studies, in support of this theory. I also provide possible interpretations of references to places in the Galilee linked to the revolt, as echoed in the literature of the Talmudic sages. In addition, I review archeological findings from the Galilee, albeit scarce, that relate to this period. Above all, I focus on new evidence emerging from studies undertaken of the Galilee hiding complexes that provides a valuable, comparative perspective in relation to the Judean hiding complexes that have been dated to the time of the revolt. With respect to these hiding complexes, there is value in further examination of their geographical distribution across the Galilee, as well as an analysis of archeological findings unearthed there. For example, recent excavations undertaken in two ancient settlements in the Galilee have uncovered evidence pointing to the period of the revolt. This further research may shed significant light on the Galilee’s part; even if the Galilee may not have taken part in this event, hiding complexes were prepared for the possibility it would, like in the Judea region.

This article discusses the iconographic source of the eagle, which Herod set on the façade of the Temple. First, I shall examine the account given by Josephus, comparing the two versions of the episode, in War and in Antiquities. The main body of the article, however, concentrates on numismatics, focusing on the issue minted by Herod in Jerusalem, which depicts an eagle with closed wings. This eagle is identical to that represented on the Tyrian sheqel, an issue used in the Temple. This iconography traced its source to the earlier depiction of the eagle with closed wings, symbol of Zeus, which appear on Ptolemaic coins. Thus, an in-depth analysis of contemporary numismatic data makes clear that there is no evidence whatsoever that King Herod, though the depiction of an eagle, wished to emphasize his allegiance to Rome and that its iconographic source was Eastern-Hellenistic.

Foreign taxes were hated in Judaea, it seems, by a people proud to pay from its funds the cult of the temple of Jerusalem. Such an idea, widespread as it is in historiography, indeed finds its roots inside the ancient sources, but is it historical? Exploring various sources and recent discoveries (texts from the literary tradition, Dead Sea Scrolls, coins, inscriptions, archaeological remains) and borrowing from transdisciplinary methodology (sociology, social psychology, fiscal law), this book aims to study taxation in Hellenistic and Roman Judaea as a fundamental part of political history of the region. Since taxes are a marker of domination, a few Jewish groups wondered whether it was permitted to pay tribute to foreign master while they already paid a compulsory offering to God. However, such a discourse was multiform, it was not universally shared and changed according to groups and conjunctural evolutions, sometimes visible, sometime invisible following historical events. Moreover, far from being consubstantial to Ancient Judaism, this idea was the product of a political instrumentalization, a rhetorical tool used in order to motivate people to insurrection. Born at the time of Maccabees, it was inherited in more or less radical ways by diverse schools in the Roman era. Yet, on the other hand, it is nowhere to be seen beyond speeches, even those most hostile to tribute raised taxes after taking power, using the former tribute to their own advantage. By confronting this omnipresence of anti-tax protest in the speeches, with the data on the actual taxation during this period, this book sheds light on the distance between politics and everyday life and endeavours to bring into question some well-accepted elements. For instance, that the tribute was oppressive, that population was impoverished by the foreign exploitation of resources, or that the masters of the region only searched their interests and not the consent of the taxpayers.

https://ausoniuseditions.u-bordeaux-montaigne.fr/collections/catalogue?coll=Scripta%20antiqua

Arguments have been presented by Donald T. Ariel (2011) for the minting of the "year two" and "year three" bronze units (prutot) by John of Gischala's faction and its Zealot allies. These coins bear the hallmark of a procuratorial issue in their design. The exceptional "year four" silver quarter sheqel similarly owes its design to two linked procuratorial coins, so if John of Gischala (Gush Ḥalav) was behind the minting of the abovementioned bronzes one wonders if the same applied to these rare and short-lived quarter sheqels. The choice of the specific procuratorial issues for these coin types is also discussed.

This chapter offers a new perspective for the study of
a unique group of bronze coins found at Gamla. As the
only known Jewish currency from the Jewish War to
have been struck outside Jerusalem, the coins provide
a rare insight into the conditions and motivations of
the Jewish rebels in the Golan, independent of the
testimony of Josephus. The motif and inscription that
appear on the coins support the notion of religiousideological
convictions being the primary cause for the
revolt. Yet, the actual circumstances in which the coins
were minted remain obscure. Based on an examination
of the events in Galilee and Golan between January
and September 67 CE, this study challenges the
accepted dating of the coins to the one-month period of
Vespasian’s siege, and proposes instead an association
with the earlier, longer and unresolved blockade of
Gamla by the Herodian ruler Agrippa II.

F ROM the moment of its first publication in 19031 the career inscription of C. Velius Rufus has been the subject of a great deal of attention and scholarly debate.2 Why this should have been so is clear enough: the text records the career of a man who, beginning as a centurion (probably not in the ranks), not on rse to the coveted primipilate but went on to important independent field commands and an administrative career which culminated in major procuratorial governorships. More important still for historians of the period, the career included special commands which shed vital new light on the otherwise often obscure warfare of the reign of Domitian. The interpretation and chronology of the career as it appears in standard textbook treatments of the period may be said to be essentially that of Ritterling as modified and refined by a succession of eminent scholars, notably Syme, Pflaum and Dobson.3 This mainstream interpretation was summarized most recently by the last of these in I978.

The study of the military in the Roman provinces of Judaea is not the most accessible topic. Though the data upon which scholars rely is familiar (e.g., epigraphs, papyri, ancient historians), its study requires significant methodological deviations from biblical studies. This article summarizes key points relevant for scholars of both Jewish antiquity and early Christianity. First, it provides a summary of recent developments in the social history of the Roman army in the Near East, attending especially to the question of the role and function of soldiers in that region. Second, this article provides a brief social history for all military units in Judaea before it was renamed Syria Palaestina in 130 ce (four legions, 14 infantry cohortes, and five cavalry alae), based on the latest discoveries. Finally, the article concludes with a section discussing two issues specific to New Testament studies: the presence of an Italian cohort in Judaea (Acts 10) and the issue of the Augustan cohort in Judaea and Batanaea (Acts 27).

More than 680 bronze coins from the excavations of Qumran are described, catalogued and explained, as far as it is possible. The paper includes analyses of the coins with regard to circulation of coins and economy. Surprisingly, Qumran had a very well developed monetary economy in the Hellenistic and Roman period, which contradicts the view of an isolated community. Also, the site of Khirbet Qumran appears according to the coins have been destroyed after AD 68, probably at the same time as Masada AD 73.

The online review www.sehepunkte.de invited a review of Being Jewish  in Galilee 100-200 CE. An Archaeological Study (Turnhout: Brepols Publishers NV 2019). While trying to be concise, I still wrote twice as much as their compact format requires. So, I radically abbreviated the version they will publish and, following the advice of the editor, make available here the longer version (still quite short for such a rich and complex book).

This is the final typescript (AAM) of a chapter that will appear in Nicholas Allen, ed., Passion, Persecution and Epiphany in Early Jewish Literature.
After surveying the range of senses of Greek pathos, from suffering to emotion, incidentally arguing that the pathe of 4 Maccabees are much more instances of suffering than emotions (as usually translated), this essay explores the senses of this key term in Josephus' Judaean War. It finds that, although Josephus fuses the two senses, suffering is primary; emotion (suffering of the mind) follows from that.
Finally, this emphasis on suffering connects with a deeply tragic view of political relations, which today we would call 'realist'.

Alla morte di Giuba I, sconfitto nel 46 a.C. da Cesare, nella guerra contro Pompeo, la Numidia divenne Provincia romana e Giuba II, ancora bambino, venne portato a Roma prigioniero e messo in mostra al pubblico romano durante il trionfo del suo generale. Qui ricevette un'educazione aristocratica e, nel 19 a.C., conobbe Cleopatra II Selene, figlia di Cleopatra e Marco Antonio. Nel 25 a.C., Augusto restaurò il regno di Numidia cui annesse i territori della Mauretania, rimasta senza re dopo la morte senza eredi di Bocco II. Giuba II e la consorte divennero i sovrani di questo regno sotto tutela romana, ponendo la propria capitale a Iol Caeserea 5 .

Unpublished MPhil thesis submitted June, 2021.

Abstract:
The subject of this thesis is the history of the rulers known colloquially as Roman ‘client kings’ and their families. These large, complex kin groups became increasingly interconnected in the late Hellenistic and early Roman imperial periods and combined institutional locality and parochial engagement within their kingdoms with broadened horizons and declared belonging to a new, oikumenical royal class. There emerged a new, highly distinctive transregional royal aristocracy at the edge of the Roman world.

The primary contention of the thesis is historiographical: that this is a historical phenomenon and a profitable domain of enquiry not hitherto recognised as such. Secondly, that the formation of transregional links and oikumenical belonging was an active choice by the families in response to a changing environment of risk, rather than a mere epiphenomenon of integration or Roman imperialism; I am particularly interested in the shift towards transregional exogamy in the early first century BC and in families’ regimes of property holding and transmission of capital. Thirdly, that this marked a distinctive phase in the history of royalty itself, as late Hellenistic basileia became more narrowly and differently defined compared to ‘high Hellenistic’ kingship.

This is the English Original of ‘Prawda i wyobrażenie w (starożytnej) historii‘ (Truth and Imagination in [Ancient] History), translated into Polish by Maciej Owczarzak and colleagues for a three-part essay on https://testimonia.pl. Maciej requested after watching my two-part illustrated podcast, hosted by Derek Lambert on his Mythvision YouTube channel: Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7dBExyQigs. Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onnnEknXCxs. On 29 June 2021 I've replaced the original paper with a corrected version.