As far as the Jews of Rome were concerned, their right to have congregations was recognized by Caesar in 46 (Ant. XIV, 215), while all associations and religious collegia were prohibited (Suet., Iul. 42, 3). This privilege, conferred on the Jewish community of Rome, served as a precedent for the protection of the Jewish right […]
Rebuilding Walls of Jerusalem, Schmita, Lydda, Jaffa, Turkey, Greece, Marc Antony Ant., XIV 202 – 210 Gaius Caesar, Imperator for the second time, has ruled that they shall pay a tax for the city of Jerusalem, Joppa excluded, every year except in the seventh year, which they call sabbatical year, because in this time they […]
Reestablishment of Jewish Rites; Schmitta; Rights of Hyrcanus Two more noteworthy elements, very indicative of the new political situation in Rome, remain here to discuss: first, Caesar’s personalisation of Romeo-Jewish relations: the roman friendship is conferred to “Hyrcanus, son of Alexander and his descendants” (supra) and not to the “nation of the Jews”, as it […]
Praecipueque Iudaei Ant., XIV, 127 ff.; BJ, I, 187 ff. There were a number of reasons for the sorrow evinced by the Jews of Rome at the assassination of Julius Caesar. He had been the enemy of Pompey, who had put an end to Jewish independence, sacrilegiously entered the Holy of Holies in the Temple […]
Julius Caesar initiated a favourable attitude towards the Jews, and was much admired in rabbinic literature. Caesar’s enmity towards Pompey (e.g. the Great), who had conquered Jerusalem and defiled the Holy of Holies, increased his popularity among the Jews. He arranged for the Roman Senate to exempt synagogues from a general ban on freedom of […]
The Book of Esther, in a Greek version written in Judah, was introduced into Egypt, probably in 78/77 B.C.E., during the reign of Ptolemy Auletes, the father of the seductive Cleopatra VII. It was accompanied by a letter requesting the Egyptian Jews to join their Judaean brothers in the celebration of the Feast of Purim, […]
Synagogues, Schmita, Jewish Mercenaries, Sabbath Jewish Soldiers Decrees of Julius Caesar as Emperor King Hyrcanus II of Judah The Nation of Jews in the Roman Empire Rebuilding Walls of Jerusalem Jewish right to assemble for religious reasons
Rylands Papyrus IV 590; CPJud. I 138 The word synagoge, “congregation,” was reserved for a meeting or for the community itself. Thus, in a papyrus from the end of the first century B.C.E., we are told of a meeting (synagoge) of a Jewish association in a house of prayer (proseuche). A document dating from Diocletian’s […]
Torah Reading in Synagogues in Egypt; Blessing of Priests (Birkat Kohanim); Triennial Reading of Torah Papyrus Fouad 266 We do not know when the custom of the regular reading of the Torah in the synagogue was institutionalized. The Ptolemaic papyri containing the oldest fragments of the scrolls of the Septuagint suggest that this practice was […]
Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 13:354 Cleopatra III (e.g. 142 – 101) appointed two Jews, Helkias and Ananias, as commanders-in-chief of her army. They served their queen well, although in one remarkable episode they counseled her not to invade the territory of the Jewish King Alexander Jannaeus (e.g. 103 – 76 B.C.E.) because “an injustice done to […]