Judaism in the Roman Empire

In his chapter on Roman religious policy James Rives presents evidence that points to a lack of a cohesive policy on how religions were treated in the Roman Empire. Furthermore, most of the interaction between Roman authorities and religious groups under their rule would have been reactionary in nature. Most notably if an individual or group were seen as disruptive to the status quo. As Rives has discussed in other chapters, the socio-economic elite were the same people in charge of religious affairs, so any group that appeared to threaten this established hierarchy as dealt with accordingly. However, up until the first century the Jewish people in the Roman Empire were granted a fair amount of freedom when it came to religious practices. Rives partially explains this phenomenon in stating, “…some people looked upon Judaean tradition with fascination or even admiration, partly because it was perceived as an ancient and exotic “oriental” tradition…” Much like the Roman fascination with all things Egyptian, they viewed the ancient traditions of the Jewish people with a certain reverence that allowed the Jews to go against many Roman religious norms. This difference in religious norms would eventually cause confrontation, as was discussed in both the Warrior and Rives readings. The Jewish historian Josephus cites several exemptions from normal Roman life in his title Antiquities, “…his fellow-Jews cannot undertake military service since they are not able to bear arms or march on the days of the Sabbath. Nor can they obtain the traditional foodstuffs to which they are accustomed. I, therefore, like the governors before me, grand them exemption from military service and allow them to observe their native customs…” (Warrior, 14.5, pg. 165) This relationship of benevolent respect of tradition began to deteriorate in the first century, largely due to the aforementioned concern of the Roman authorities to maintain rule and order. During the first century, there were a series of disturbances and uprisings in Judaea that required notable military responses. In reference to the cause of this unrest, Rives states, “…the Roman governors of Judaea were not especially competent in dealing with Judaean sensibilities, and some were overtly hostile. On the other side, some Judaean extremists regarded the mere fact of Roman rule as a challenge to the rule of god.”

In his writings, Histories, Tacitus encapsulates many of these Roman ideas regarding the Jewish people. He states, “In these everything that we regard as sacred is held to be profane. On the other hand they permit things that for us are taboo.” He continues, “These rites, whatever their origin, are maintained by their antiquity.” In these passages he outlines not only the superiority of Roman religious practices, but also why Jewish rituals were allowed to exist when they seemed to go against everything that being a pious Roman consisted of.

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