Josephus sets the scene for the next tragic episode in the Jewish history:
‘Now the occasions of this misery which came upon Jerusalem were Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, by raising a sedition one against the other; for now we lost our liberty, and became subject to the Romans, and were deprived of that country which we had gained by our arms from the Syrians, and were compelled to restore it to the Syrians. Moreover, the Romans exacted of us, in a little time, above ten thousand talents; and the royal authority, which was a dignity formerly bestowed on those that were high priests, by the right of their family, became the property of private men.’
The death of Queen Alexandra Salome in 67 BCE exposed the underlying tensions between her two sons, Hyrcanus and Aristobulus. The young Aristobulus rejected his elder brother’s rule and a civil war ensued, that brought disturbance to the region. They both made an appeal to Pompey, the Roman general and consul, who was conducting war in Syria, enforcing law and order in the region. A dispute in Judea was not welcomed by him. Aristobulus was too strident and he was arrested by Pompey, who then ordered Jerusalem to be taken. On his arrival he found the gates locked against him. Josephus recorded the event:
‘… for he saw the walls were so firm, that it would be hard to overcome them; and that the valley before the walls was terrible; and that the temple, which was within that valley, was itself encompassed with a very strong wall, insomuch that if the city were taken, that temple would be a second place of refuge for the enemy to retire to.’
Hyrcanus saw the opportunity for his own advantage and allowed entrance to Pompey into the area of the city he controlled. The result was a three-month long assault on Jerusalem that destroyed many of its precincts and allowed Pompey to even enter into the Holy of Holies of the Temple – an anathema to the Jews. Over 12,000 Jews were killed before the survivors were allowed to cleanse the Temple of this desecration. Pompey did not give Hyrcanus his expected reward and did not restore him to the kingship. Instead, he was allowed to remain as High Priest and Judea became subject to Rome and paid tribute. The outcome of these events was disastrous for the Jews. Their land was cut up and areas given away, another aspect of history that would repeat itself in modern times. In 37 BCE, the Romans appointed Herod the Great to rule as their puppet king. This was a controversial appointment because he was not considered a true Jew:
‘But at heart Herod, an Idumaean, was more a pagan than a Jew, as his conduct throughout his reign was to show. The Idumaeans were still regarded by the Jews as semi-foreigners…’
Under Herod, the Jewish people never felt truly free and independent, as he acted more in the interests of Rome than the Jewish people. This desire to shrug off the imposition of foreign rule sowed the seeds of groups that would wish to overthrow this occupation and establish a true independent Jewish State. The Pharisees, Sadducees and the Essenes were examples of religious groups who wanted to see a pure religion within a true Jewish Theocracy. As with all groups that adhere to extreme beliefs, they spawned those who would go further and look to bring about their aims through violence and revolt. Therefore, the area suffered from continual outbursts of violence and retaliation that kept the Roman heel on the necks of the people. The hotbed of Jerusalem was a particular problem with the Temple sited there. The decision was taken by Rome to re-site their military headquarters:
‘… the Romans moved the governmental residence and military headquarters from Jerusalem to Caesarea. The centre of government was thus removed from Jerusalem, and the administration became increasingly based on inhabitants of the Hellenistic cities (Sebaste, Caesarea and others).’
This historic information allows us to place another Roman in Judea who would be involved in the harsh repression of the Jewish people – Pontius Pilate. Evidence of his presence was found in the discovery of the Pilate Stone in Caesarea in 1961. The short inscription reads:
‘To the honourable gods (this) Tiberium Pontius Pilate, Prefect of Judea, had dedicated …’
Philo describes Pilate as, ‘a man of a very inflexible disposition, and very merciless as well as very obstinate’. When the leaders of the people threatened to write to the Emperor about his behaviour Philo notes:
‘… as he feared lest they might in reality go on an embassy to the emperor, and might impeach him with respect to other particulars of his government, in respect of his corruption, and his acts of insolence, and his rapine, and his habit of insulting people, and his cruelty, and his continual murders of people untried and un-condemned, and his never ending, and gratuitous, and most grievous inhumanity.’
This attitude towards the Jewish people fomented anger and developed a deep resentment to the Roman authority – resentment that would eventually lead to great tragedy.
In 6 BCE an event occurred that not only would shake the Jewish world but would impact on the whole of world history – the birth of Yeshua haMashiach as he was called by his first followers – the Jew would become known in the wider world as Jesus Christ.1 The historical reality of the man is well attested in ancient sources outside the Bible. Tacitus, a historian of the Roman Empire, Josephus, the Jewish historian, Lucian, a Greek satirist, Celsus, a Greek philosopher and opponent of Early Christianity and Pliny the Younger, a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome, all refer to him.
In 6 CE, Cyrenius, a Roman consul, was sent to Judea. Josephus wrote, ‘Cyrenius came himself into Judea, which was now added to the province of Syria’. Here was the first move by Romans to begin a process to remove Judea as a separate entity, grouping it with Syria for economic and administration purposes. This trend continued to provoke hostility among the Jewish community. Again, Josephus records:
‘Yet was there one Judas, a Gaulonite, of a city whose name was Gamala, who, taking with him Sadduc, a Pharisee, became zealous to draw them to a revolt, who both said that this taxation was no better than an introduction to slavery, and exhorted the nation to assert their liberty; as if they could procure them happiness and security for what they possessed, and an assured enjoyment of a still greater good, which was that of the honour and glory they would thereby acquire for magnanimity.’
The Roman attitude to the Jews was becoming increasingly intolerant and in Rome, Tiberius forced 4,000 Jews into his army and called for all Jews to abjure their religion. Their refusal resulted in their expulsion from Rome in 19 CE.
In 24 CE, Jesus began his public ministry and many Jews followed him, believing him to be their Messiah. They had expectations of him not only as a religious leader but as the one who would remove the Romans from their land and establish the Jewish kingdom. The growing frictions between his followers and the rest of the Jewish community brought further causes for Roman action against the population in Judea. This would lead to the crucifixion of the leader of the Jesus community by Pilate in 27 C.E.2 This Roman execution would become the basis of much persecution of Jews, with the false charge of Deicide, God killers. From it would come many pogroms, the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition and ultimately the Holocaust. It was not until 1962 that Paul VI issued Nostra Aetate, in which the Catholic Church at last repudiated the idea.
In 37 CE, the Jews of Alexandria were treated in a way that would become familiar across the world and down the centuries. Philo records the events there:
‘Since, therefore, the attempt which was being made to violate the law appeared to him to be prospering, while he was destroying the synagogues, and not leaving even their name, he proceeded onwards to another exploit, namely, the utter destruction of our constitution, that when all those things to which alone our life was anchored were cut away, namely, our national customs and our lawful political rights and social privileges, we might be exposed to the very extremity of calamity, without having any stay left to which we could cling for safety, for a few days afterwards he issued a notice in which he called us all foreigners and aliens, without giving us an opportunity of being heard in our own defence, but condemning us without a trial; and what command can be more full of tyranny than this? He himself being everything--accuser, enemy, witness, judge, and executioner, added then to the two former appellations a third also, allowing anyone who was inclined to proceed to exterminate the Jews as prisoners of war. So when the people had received this license, what did they do? There are five districts in the city, named after the first five letters of the written alphabet, of these two are called the quarters of the Jews, because the chief portion of the Jews lives in them. There are also a few scattered Jews, but only a very few, living in some of the other districts. What then did they do? They drove the Jews entirely out of four quarters, and crammed them all into a very small portion of one; and by reason of their numbers they were dispersed over the sea-shore, and desert places, and among the tombs, being deprived of all their property; while the populace, overrunning their desolate houses, turned to plunder, and divided the booty among themselves as if they had obtained it in war. And as no one hindered them, they broke open even the workshops of the Jews, which were all shut up because of their mourning for Drusilla, she was the sister of the emperor, and at her death her brother ordered that divine honours should be paid to her and carried off all that they found there, and bore it openly through the middle of the market-place as if they had only been making use of their own property. And the cessation of business to which they were compelled to submit was even a worse evil than the plunder to which they were exposed, as the consequence was that those who had lent money lost what they had lent, and as no one was permitted, neither farmer, nor captain of a ship, nor merchant, nor artisan, to employ himself in his usual manner, so that poverty was brought on them from two sides at once, both from rapine, as when license was thus given to plunder them they were stripped of everything in one day, and also from the circumstance of their no longer being able to earn money by their customary occupations.’3
Even allowing for hyperbole, the situation was one that would repeat itself and demonstrate why Jewish communities were forced to extreme measures simply to survive and drove them to hope for a place of safety and security. In Rome itself, the Emperor Claudius associated Christians with all Jews and banished them from Rome in 50. Vespasian, a rising Roman star who would become Emperor, was sent to wage war in Judea and Syria and it was in 66 that the first Roman-Jewish war, known as the Great Revolt, began. Ever since the Romans occupied Judea, their rule had been brutal, oppressive and intolerant of any dissent. By 66, the emerging Zealots had become more and more determined to bring liberty and freedom to their nation. A group known as the Sicarii massacred a troop of Romans at Masada, a hilltop fortress. At Caesarea, disputes between Greeks and Jews erupted and the Roman authorities refused to intervene. The Zealots therefore took matters into their own hands and attacked and defeated the Roman troops. The insensitive reaction by the Romans in Jerusalem led to further rebellion against the Roman forces and after their fleeing to Beth Horon, the rebel forces attacked and inflicted a devastating defeat on Rome killing 6,000 troops. The response from Rome was immediate and bloody. In 67, Vespasian was dispatched to deal with the revolt and along with his son, Titus, brought over 60,000 troops into the area. He swept through the land taking towns that surrendered and destroying those that resisted. Gradually, the Jews were forced to retreat south to Jerusalem. There civil conflict broke out and the Zealots killed leaders and citizens who had any connection or sympathy with the Romans and they fortified the city ready to resist any further Roman advance. Internal politics, murder and intrigue called Vespasian back to Rome. Titus carried on the war against the Jews driving more and more refugees to Jerusalem. It was a bloody prolonged siege of Jerusalem that followed, with Titus determined to break the will and morale of the city’s defenders. One method was crucifixion of anyone trying to flee. The scene was one from hell, as Max Dimont noted:
‘To make sure that no food or water supply would reach the city from the outside, Titus completely sealed off Jerusalem from the rest of the world with a wall of earth as high as the stone wall around Jerusalem itself. Anyone not a Roman soldier caught anywhere in this vast dry moat was crucified on the top of the earthen wall in sight of the Jews of the city. It was not uncommon for as many as five hundred people a day to be so executed. The air was redolent with the stench of rotting flesh and rent by the cries and agony of the crucified. But the Jews held out for still another year, the fourth year of the war, to the discomfiture of Titus.’
By 70, the siege had succeeded and Titus destroyed the city walls and more importantly destroyed the Temple, the Jews’ most holy and sacred place. He took away the treasures within the Temple and proceeded back to Rome for a victory march. A victory tower was erected in the city showing his looting of the Temple. A defeated and devastated people, scarred by the atrocities of Titus, nevertheless settled back again under Roman domination. The destruction of the Temple had huge implications for the Jews and the practice of their religion, to which it was central. The hatred and resentment towards Rome burned under the surface. After the destruction, the Romans turned their attention to those who would still resist. In 73, the then governor, Flavius Silva, sent troops to Masada to deal with the Sicarii. He besieged the fortress with 5,000 soldiers and the 900 or so Jews were hemmed in with little food or water. To take the fortress, a huge ramp had to be built of mud and stones; this ramp can still be seen today. Before the Romans eventually entered the fortress, the remaining Jews committed suicide rather than be taken alive by them, though there is dispute about the number of those who died.
Whilst the Jews in Judea suffered the ignominy of Roman rule, their fellow Jews throughout the world were faring no better. The claims against them, that they murdered people, usually Christians, and drank their blood in rituals which became known as the Blood Libel, were surfacing more and more. These claims of drinking blood were made by the ignorant who did not understand the Jewish Law and tradition. Murder was prohibited because of the preciousness of life and secondly there was strict prohibition on the consumption of any blood, demanding all animals be drained of it before eating because the ‘life was in the blood’. It was also a strange charge by Christians who themselves celebrated the sacrifice of the mass, in which they believed they drank Christ’s blood. Poets like Juvenal were writing anti-Semitic pieces based on obvious ignorance of how Jews actually lived and worshipped. Josephus would take up his pen against Apion, to refute the slurs and misunderstandings against his people. Apion was not alone in the misunderstanding of the Jewish people. Tacitus was another whose polemic showed that he neither understood the Jews or their religion and he took their observances as an affront to his own culture. Commenting on the wars against them he went on to write:
‘This worship, however introduced, is upheld by its antiquity; all their other customs, which are at once perverse and disgusting, owe their strength to their very badness. The most degraded out of other races, scorning their national beliefs, brought to them their contributions and presents. This augmented the wealth of the Jews, as also did the fact, that among themselves they are inflexibly honest and ever ready to shew compassion, though they regard the rest of mankind with all the hatred of enemies. They sit apart at meals, they sleep apart, and though, as a nation, they are singularly prone to lust, they abstain from intercourse with foreign women; among themselves nothing is unlawful. Circumcision was adopted by them as a mark of difference from other men. Those who come over to their religion adopt the practice, and have this lesson first instilled into them, to despise all gods, to disown their country, and set at nought parents, children, and brethren. Still they provide for the increase of their numbers. It is a crime among them to kill any newly-born infant. They hold that the souls of all who perish in battle or by the hands of the executioner are immortal. Hence a passion for propagating their race and a contempt for death. They are wont to bury rather than to burn their dead, following in this the Egyptian custom; they bestow the same care on the dead, and they hold the same belief about the lower world. Quite different is their faith about things divine. The Egyptians worship many animals and images of monstrous form; the Jews have purely mental conceptions of Deity, as one in essence. They call those profane who make representations of God in human shape out of perishable materials. They believe that Being to be supreme and eternal, neither capable of representation, nor of decay. They therefore do not allow any images to stand in their cities, much less in their temples. This flattery is not paid to their kings, nor this honour to our Emperors. From the fact, however, that their priests used to chant to the music of flutes and cymbals, and to wear garlands of ivy, and that a golden vine was found in the temple, some have thought that they worshipped father Liber, the conqueror of the East, though their institutions do not by any means harmonize with the theory; for Liber established a festive and cheerful worship, while the Jewish religion is tasteless and mean.’4
This was a common theme across all the countries where the Jews resided. Their attempts to live peaceably and practice their faith was misinterpreted and they were often simply abused because of anti-Semitic prejudice.
Wherever the Romans ventured and Jews were found there was trouble. The destruction of the Temple caused a great bitterness and revolts spread across the Roman Empire. The reply from Rome was brutal and these revolts came to nothing. It was during the Emperor Trajan’s reign such revolts saw the destruction of Roman temples, particularly in Cyrene and Egypt. Appian the Greek historian writes of the situation as ‘war’:
‘Once, during a night, when I was trying to make an escape from the Jews during the war in Egypt and tried to reach Arabia Petraea across a branch of the river, where a vessel was ready to bring me to Pelusium, I had an Arab as guide.’
Trajan sent his general, Quietus, to deal with the problem and his time in Judea saw great brutality. The death of Trajan in 117 brought his cruelty to an end and the accession to power of Hadrian. He wanted to stop the disturbances in the Empire and one act in this was to remove Quietus from Judea and have him executed. Initially, it seemed that the Jews in Judea might have respite from persecution under his rule, but this was a vain hope. Rather, around 130, he conceived a plan to turn Judea into a pagan territory and establish a temple to Jupiter on the site of the ruins of the Temple. The reasons for this are mixed but they were due to Hadrian’s attempt to assert himself and Rome as the final power. This was not only to the Jews but to the growing Christian influences that were being established. His actions in Jerusalem with building the Jupiter temple, banning male circumcision and renaming the area Aelia Capitolina, after his own family name, brought a bloody response. Both Jews and Romans died in great numbers. Dio Cassius reported, ‘the whole of Judea became a desert’. Hadrian’s decisions would lead to one of the great Jewish tragedies and leave a historical legacy that continues to haunt the modern era in the Middle East.
In 132, Simeon bar Kochba emerged as a leader of an organised revolt against Tinnius Rufus and the Rome he represented. He even over-struck Roman coins with the inscription, ‘Year 1 of the liberty of Jerusalem’. Whilst the Jews revolted, the Christian population refused to join them and remained separate from the war. Bar Kochba waged a running guerrilla battle with the Romans from the Judean hills and also through direct attacks in towns and villages. The Romans suffered many losses. Rufus disappeared from the scene and it is not known what happened to him. Hadrian believed there was a danger that the revolt might succeed so he brought his general Severus from Britain. With this move he also brought one third of the Roman army into Judea and with these overwhelming odds, the rebels retreated to the Betar fortress to the south-west of Jerusalem. The Romans laid siege to the fortress and with their overwhelming military might the fortress fell. The Romans had a lesson to teach and on taking the city they went on a destructive rampage. Men, women and children were all put to the sword and the historic writings refer to it as a massacre. In all, the revolts caused the death of well over a half of a million Jews. Dio Cassius is graphic:
‘Five hundred and eighty thousand men were slain in the various raids and battles, and the number of those that perished by famine, disease and fire was past finding out. Thus nearly the whole of Judaea was made desolate, a result of which the people had had forewarning before the war. For the tomb of Solomon, which the Jews regard as an object of veneration, fell to pieces of itself and collapsed, and many wolves and hyenas rushed howling into their cities. Many Romans, moreover, perished in this war. Therefore Hadrian in writing to the senate did not employ the opening phrase commonly affected by the emperors, ‘If you and your children are in health, it is well; I and the legions are in health.’’
There this no doubt that what the Romans did in Judea was genocide. It was followed by Hadrian imposing harsh rules on the Jews. He burned their sacred scrolls and erected statues of Jupiter on their sacred places. He was determined to wipe out completely any sign of Jews or Judaism. He would not let the Jews live in or enter Jerusalem except once a year and he outlawed many of their religious practices. He had felt the humiliation through the effectiveness of the revolt in its early stages and was determined that it would never happen again. J.E. Taylor wrote:
‘Up until this date the Bar Kochba documents indicate that towns, villages and ports where Jews lived were busy with industry and activity. Afterwards there is an eerie silence, and the archaeological record testifies to little Jewish presence until the Byzantine era, in En Gedi. This picture coheres with what we have already determined … that the crucial date for what can only be described as genocide, and the devastation of Jews and Judaism within central Judea, was 135 C.E. and not, as usually assumed, 70 C.E., despite the siege of Jerusalem and the Temple’s destruction.’
Not only was he intent on destroying this people but went further – he renamed the area Syria Palestina. It is suggested that Palestine was a name used by Herodotus as early as the fifth century BCE, but it is more likely the term used by him should be Philistia, as the Greek word used is that for the Hebrew word for the region and connected to the Philistines.5 It can also be suggested that it was an attempt to remove the sacred link that the rebelling Jewish people had with the land, as it was commonly called Judea by the Jews. What is clear is that since this name change, the area now becomes known as Palestine in common use in the Roman world. Hadrian died in 138; his death brought Antonius Pius to rule and his reign was a blessed relief to the Jewish people. A delegation to the Emperor by Jewish rabbis brought a repeal of many of the laws and restrictions Hadrian had imposed. They were again allowed to enter Jerusalem and many returned from other countries to live once more in their homeland. However, Antonius forbade Gentiles to join with Jews in their practices. The use of the Temple site by Rome for their gods continued but the Jewish religion was once more allowed to thrive with a new learning centre established. One minor revolt was attempted but was quickly put down and the area had relative peace throughout Antonius’ reign. He died in 161 and his successor Marcus Aurelius said of him ‘Remember his qualities, so that when your last hour comes your conscience may be as clear as his.’
Under Marcus Aurelius, the Jews continued to enjoy a relatively happy existence being free to enjoy their religion. However, beneath the surface there was always that tension of wanting to be free and independent as a country. Aurelius is alleged to have said when he visited the area, ‘These people are even more restless than the Marcomanni, the Quadi and the Samaritans.’ His visit there in 175 was during a period of violence generated by internal Roman politics in which the Jews refused to be involved. It is also during this period we find a writer using ‘Palestinians’ to refer to the Jews as the Roman term became more common. The subsequent centuries saw the Jewish people and their religion enjoying great freedoms and throughout the Roman Empire they flourished in religion and wealth. In the second and third centuries, the coming and goings of emperors did cause some discontent but in general there were no major revolts against Roman rule. The coming of Diocletian in the third century saw him expand the geographical area of what was known as Palestine to include Arabia. It was during Diocletian’s rule that the Roman Empire was split into the Western and Eastern administrative areas, effectively creating two empires. However, from Hadrian to Diocletian, whilst proselytising by Jews was restricted by Rome, the Jewish people enjoyed liberty of religious practice and controlled governance in their homeland.
Constantine became a Christian on his deathbed and most of his successors felt they had to follow his lead, having a direct effect on the Jewish people. Their homeland now became the focus as a Christian centre with Constantine’s mother Helena particularly seeking to establish places of pilgrimage. The Jewish people became those who had rejected Jesus and new laws were enacted to show Judaism as an inferior and unacceptable faith. In 321, the status of Jews began to change. From a protected people who were recognized as being citizens of Rome, new laws began to erode that status. In 329, he passed a law against joining the Jewish faith:
‘We want the Jews, their principals, and their patriarchs informed, that if anyone-once this law has been given-dare attack by stoning or by other kind of fury one escaping from their deadly group and raising his eyes to God’s cult [Christianity], which as we have learned is being done now, he shall be delivered immediately to the flames and burnt with his associates. But if one of the people [a Christian] shall approach their nefarious sect and join himself to their conventicles [synagogues], he shall suffer with them the deserved punishments.’6
‘If someone shall become Jew from Christian and shall be joined to sacrilegious assemblies, we decree that his property shall be vindicated to the fisc’s [state treasury’s] dominion once the accusation has been proven.’7
Constantine, in the Council of Nicaea, made the separation of Christianity from Judaism complete, in that it took decisions to separate the practices and doctrines and even the celebration of feasts. He gave status to the Bishops of the Church who grew more and more anti-Semitic and stood in opposition to the Jews. It has to be noted that ever since the time of Jesus, there were great tensions between his followers and those that rejected him. Constantine died in 337 and his death would bring in a turbulent period for Rome. The Empire would go through a period of divisions and reunions until its eventual collapse.
Julian became Emperor in 361. His abandonment of Christianity brought him the title ‘Apostate’ by the Christian world. However, the Jewish people fared well under him. His first act was to announce a religious amnesty which would allow all religions to exist. In doing so, he also removed the heavy burden of taxation that had been imposed on pagans and Jews, declaring that ‘ye are all brothers, one of another: God is the common Father of us all’. In Jerusalem he also established magistrates who would look after the affairs of the people. The Talmud confirms them and refers to them as Aristoi.8 Whilst showing remarkable support for the Jewish people and their religion he wrote polemic letters against Christianity. The historical records do show that he had an excellent grasp of the Jewish and Christian Scriptures. The early Church Fathers in their various dialogues also refer to an intention of Julian to rebuild the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. There is also some support for the view that a start was made on the construction. A remarkable letter from Julian to the Jewish community in Jerusalem that showed his commitment to establish the Jews securely in their own homeland and rebuild Jerusalem:
‘To the Community of the Jews,
More oppressive for you in the past than the yoke of dependence was the circumstance that new taxes were imposed upon you without previous notice, and you were compelled to furnish an untold quantity of gold to the imperial treasury. Many of these hardships I myself noticed, but I learned more from the tax-rolls that were being preserved to your detriment, which I happened to light upon. I myself abolished a tax which was about to be levied upon you, and thus put a stop to the impious attempt to bring infamy upon you; with my own hands did I commit to the flames the tax-rolls against you that I found in my archives, in order that no one might ever spread such a charge of impiety against you. The real author of these calumnies was not so much my ever-to-be remembered brother Constantius, as those men who, barbarians in mind and atheists in heart were entertained at his table. With my own hands have I seized these persons and thrust them into the pit, so that not even the memory of their fall shall remain with us. Desiring to extend yet further favours to you, I have exhorted my brother, the venerable Patriarch Julos, to put a stop to henceforward no one will be able to oppress your people by the collection of such imposts, so that everywhere throughout my kingdom you may be free from care; and thus, enjoying freedom, you may address still more fervent prayers for my empire to the Almighty Creator of the Universe, who has deigned to crown me with his own undefiled right hand. It seems to be the fact that those who lead lives full of anxiety are fettered in spirit, and do not dare to raise their hands in prayer. But those who are exempt from all cares, and rejoice with their whole hearts, are better able to direct their sincere prayers for the welfare of the empire to the Mighty One, in whose power it lies to further the success of my reign, even according to my wishes. Thus should you do, in order that when I return safely from the Persian war, I may restore the Holy City of Jerusalem, and rebuild it at my own expense, even as you have for so many years desired it to be restored; and therein will I unite with you in giving praise to the Almighty.’9
The anti-Semitic works of the early church fathers are littered with references to Julian’s attempt to raise the Temple and their invectives against it include supposed miracles that prevented it. The truth is that the letter was written six months before his death and his death alone was the reason for the Temple not being rebuilt. Julian’s reign was short lived, ending in 363, and one wonders what changes there would have been to the Jewish people’s future if he had succeeded in his aims?
Following Julian, the Roman Empire entered a turbulent phase and in general the main religious concerns were in disputes about Paganism and Christianity, with Christianity usually in the ascendancy. For the Jewish people in their homeland, they were left in relative peace. Laws were brought in to control the perceived disadvantages of Christian slaves with the Jews forbidden to have them. Laws on marriage banning any Jew marrying a Christian and having property rights were also framed against Jews. However, laws were also passed to prevent abuses towards Jews by Christians and there was protection offered to their Synagogues.
In the fourth century, many attempts were made to accuse the Jews of killing Christians. However, the evidence is clear that these stories were fabrications and the deaths were due to the persecutions of Diocletian. There is of course the possibility that certain Jews did harass Christians, but there are no notable records anywhere that this was widespread or common. However, there was a revolt in Diocaesarea in 351 by some Jews. This was not against Christians but due to the continued friction against the Roman occupation. The heavy Roman response destroyed the city. One major intervention on Jewish religion and their status was made by Justinian in 553. He immediately displayed his opposition to the Jews on his accession. He gave the Christian bishops magisterial authority:
‘But the Jews are not even to have their own judges, and are to be subject to Roman courts; moreover the Roman princes judge the Jewish leaders, who only seem to be leaders among their own people. But this, too, is to be noted, that the Jews have no champion in law who is a qualified judge, but all their affairs are idle and collapsing and full of folly.’10
Justinian issued a new law that brought the use of Greek in Synagogues alongside Hebrew and also banned the Jewish Mishnah. It also brought in ‘the harshest punishments’ for anyone introducing ‘ungodly nonsense’. In effect it was promoting Christianity over the Jewish faith. The picture across the Roman Empire was mixed, depending on the level of anti-Semitism from Christians in any given area. Everett Seaver rightly concludes:
‘The fourth century was the age of the great conflict between the church and the synagogue. The church fathers from Eusebius to Augustine tried to show that the Jews were wicked and depraved monsters, fit only to be an evil and eternal example to pious Christians. ‘The Jew’ became a fearsome theological abstraction to suit the propaganda purposes of the victorious church. The anti-Semitic propaganda of the church leaders gradually spread to their flocks, and the Christian record was marred by atrocities against the Jews from the middle of the fourth century on: typical acts of violence were the forced conversions on Minorca, the destruction of the synagogue at Callinicum, the massacre at Edessa, and the expulsion of the Jews from Alexandria. Under pressure from Christian zealots, the imperial administration gradually succumbed to the rising tide of anti-Jewish feeling.’
Despite all this, in the Jewish homeland there was a relatively peaceful existence as the western Emperors changed. The Jewish people had a homeland but not the freedom to control their own destiny.
To a large extent, the Justinian legal codes held in the Eastern Empire, the Byzantium, into the ninth century. The Persians had always had ambitions to expand their empire and there were a number of clashes between the Byzantium and the Sasanian Empire of Persia. These conflicts spread across the Middle East. In 608, a violent persecution of Jews led to a revolt that was put down. Following internal revolts, in 610 Tyre and Acre also saw revolts. As a result, large numbers of Jews were massacred. The Christians were heavily involved and the Jews now saw Byzantium as a Christian Empire enemy. In the same year, Heraclius came to power and began to push back against the Persians. However, in 613, Shahrbaraz succeeded in conquering Antioch. Then with Jewish help he went on to occupy Jerusalem without much resistance. As Neusner wrote:
‘At Tyre and Acre in 610 Jews attempted to support the invading armies. [Persians] The Jewish community at Tyre was massacred in retaliation. In Acre the Jews destroyed churches and homes and forcibly converted a priest who had been notorious for his anti-Judaism. As Iranian armies advanced on Palestine, therefore, none could have been surprised at the enthusiastic Jewish response.’
In 614, the city was in the hands of the Persians and Jews. The record after this victory does neither the Persians nor the Jews any credit. The victorious army slaughtered 60,000 Christians. The Persians also took 37,000 ‘skilled workmen’ from among the remaining Christians back to Persia. The Jews left behind went through the city and destroyed all the Christian churches to ‘sanctify the city’. The Jews were hoping that the Persians would give them their own country back. However, the very strong Christian lobby brought about a Byzantium/Persian alliance. The outcome was that because the Jewish followers of Judaism were in the minority, the Persians did not grant them their wishes. Neusner is right to conclude:
‘My view is that the excesses of the Jews themselves, combined with the pro-Christian sympathies of Khusro II [king of the Sasanian/Persian Empire] and the influence of Yazden [A Nestorian Christian in charge of Khusro’s finances], caused the Iranians to revise their Palestinian policy.’
Yazden would restore the churches in Jerusalem and punish the Jews. However, his fortunes would change and he was killed by Khusro II, as the king turned against Christians after defeats by Heraclius. He defeated the Persians at Constantinople in 626 and in the following year invaded Persian territory; his success brought the Persians to ask for a peace treaty. After Khusro II’s death in 628, the Empire went into decline and would finally collapse. His reign had been a disappointment to the Jews. The real hopes they had that their support for him would result in an independent homeland were dashed and on his death they remained a people under the authority of others.
Heraclius’s response to the Jews in again controlling Palestine was to renew persecution. This was to break a promise he had made to pardon them. Christians wanted revenge and they influenced the situation to massacre great numbers of Jews and began a process of forced Christian baptism. This persecution would continue across the empire, but a new power was rising and would sweep through the Middle East. It would chase Heraclius out of Syria and Palestine and would be the new overlord of the Jewish nation. Mohammed and Islam had entered the scene.