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Home , Dictator perpetuo, Ethnarch, First Triumvirate, Gaius Caesar, Jund Filastin, Kitos War

Jewish Congregation of Marco Island “Ta Sh’ma” Life-Long Learning Program “…But Was Good for the ?” March 21, 2021

The Lay of the Land (or: Knowing the Imperial Players) - --- 753 BCE traditional date for the founding of by and Remus The 509 overthrow of Tarquinius frees Rome from Etruscan rule 63 deposes Aristobulus II, and crowns John Hyrcanus II 60 First (Crassus, Pompey, and Caesar) Julio-Claudian 44 Gaius > perpetuo 43 Lex Titia establishes the 1 27 BCE Gaius Octavius > Imperator Caesar divi filius 6 CE Iudea incorporated as a Province of Rome 2 14 CE Caesar Augustus 3 37 Gaius Caesar Augustus 4 41 Tiberius Caesar Augustus Germanicus 5 54 Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus 66 First Judean Rebellion Civil War - The Empire in Flux 6 68 Servius Caesar Augustus 7 69 Marcus Otho Caesar Augustus “Year of the 8 69 Aulus Four Emperors” Flavian Imperial Dynasty 9 69 Vespasianus (military commander of Legio X Fretensis) 70 sack of 73 Fall of Masada 10 79 Caesar Vespasianus (commander of Lexio X) 11 81 Titus Flavius Domitianus -Antonine Imperial Dynasty 12 96 Marcus Cocceius Nerva 13 98 (Caesar Nerva Traianus) 115-7 Tumultus Iudaicus (“Kitos War”) “the Five Good 14 117 Caesar Traianus Hadrianus Emperors” 133 Bar-Kochba Rebellion 135 Hadrianic persecution (per Niccolo Machiavelli 15 138 Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Augustus Pius 16 161-169 17 161-180 Antoninus concurrent co-governance 18 177-192

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“…But Was Caesar Good for the Jews?” (March 21, 2010) – page 2

the eastern Mediterranean at height bronze of of the , 117 CE inscription: “Captive ”

“The imperial military depots were resupplied by ship, “S[enatus] C[onsulto]” which made it difficult for Roman armies to operate more than seventy-five miles from a coast or large river. This explains why Rome conquered only the lands fringing the shores of the Mediterranean, and why the northern boundaries of its territory were defined by rivers” – Tom Standage, An Edible History of the World

A) Babylonian , Yoma 69a - B) , Bishop of (265-339), Chronicon 5 - When the had obtained permis- sion from Alexander to destroy the Temple Alexander arrived [at Jerusalem in 332 BCE] in Jerusalem, the high priest Shim’on the with a victorious army, and was full of rage Just (garbed in his golden vestments, and against the Judeans because they would not accompanied by a host of Judean dignita- fight against his enemy Darius. ries) went out to meet the conqueror. At the Yet a day or two later he departed with the sight of Shim’on, Alexander fell prostrate at greatest love and kindness for the Jude- his feet. ans— permitting them to live by their He explained to his astonished companions ancient laws; forgiving them the tribute of the year“ שנת שמיטה] that the image of the Jewish high priest the Sabbatical Year was always with him in battle, fighting of release” - ref. Leviticus 25]; and willingly for him and leading him to victory. Shim- inviting their people to fight for him, as his on vindicated the sentiments of his country- allies. men, declaring that— far from being rebels— they offered prayers in the Temple for the welfare of the and his dominions.

portrait of (depicted as Zeus Ammon) silver tetradrachma of Lysimachus, c. 290 BCE

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C) Flavius (37-100?), D) from Ezra 4 - Antiquities of the Jews 14:10:6 - The [Samaritan and Arab] adversaries of Ju- Gaius [Julius] Caesar had decreed that the dah and Benjamin sent a letter to Emperor Judeans shall possess Jerusalem, and may Xerxes in Persia: “Let it be made known to encompass that city with walls; that Hyrca- Your that the Judeans who have nus, the son of Alexander, the high priest come up from you have arrived at Jeru- and ethnarch of the Judeans, may hold it salem, and are rebuilding that wicked and in any manner he pleases; and that the Ju- rebellious city. If this city is rebuilt, and deans are allowed a remittance of tribute, its walls completed, they will not pay tri- the year following the Sabbatical year. bute, nor poll-tax, nor land-tax, to the deleterious effect of the Empire. “You will find in the Imperial archives of your forebears that this city is harmful to and states, with sedition rife within its walls since early days. If this city’s walls are rebuilt, you will no longer have any in- fluence in the province Beyond the River.”

E) Emil Schürer (1844-1910), Geschichte des Jüdischen Volkes im Zeitalter Jesu - The policies of [the first ] Augustus toward the Jews of the Empire in general, and the inhabitants of Judea in particular, followed the favorable line established by Julius Caesar. Judea was incorporated into the Empire, as part of the Province of , when Augustus deposed , successor to Roman client-king .

Augustus extended favorable treatment to Jews throughout the Diaspora. He ensured the “inviolability of their sacred books and synagogues” and exempted them from the need to appear in court on the Sabbath, or on Friday after The Ninth Hour [ = 3:00 p.m.].

F) David Noy (1959- ), “A Sight Unfit to See”: Jewish Reactions to the Roman Imperial Cult – In 39 or 40 the [third Roman] Emperor Gaius Caligu- la decided to have a statue of himself installed in the Jewish Caligula Temple in Jerusalem. He ordered the governor of Syria, Petronius, to use as much military force as necessary to erect it. But Petronius was confronted with thousands of protesting Judean Jews before he had even left Syria. Jews throughout the Roman world were horrified at the greatest threat to the monotheistic and aniconic nature of their worship for 200 years [cf. I Maccabees 1:54-56 = 167 BCE]. [King Marcus Julius] Agrippa, grandson of Herod the Great and current ruler of a client-kingdom northeast of Judea that A narcissistic sociopath, included the , happened to be in Rome. When he was four of whose five years as informed about the statue, he apparently had a stroke, but Emperor were character- recovered sufficiently to write to Caligula with a lengthy ized by every kind of profli- argument against the statue. Caligula’s mind was changed, igacy and cruelty. and he ordered the icon returned to Syria.

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G) Babylonian Talmud, Sotah 41a – [When the Covenant was renewed every seven years, with a public reading of Torah in the Temple (per Deuteronomy 31:10-13),] how did they conduct the reading of The Paragraph About Portrait of Agrippa I The King [ = Deuteronomy 17:14-20]? The High Priest (  ) presents [the Torah scroll] to the King, who stands to from Caesarea, 42 receive it and then reads it while seated. King Agrippa [Marcus Julius Agrippa, ruled 41-44 CE] rose to receive it, but remained respectfully standing to read it, for which the sages lauded him. But when he got to the verse “you may not appoint a foreigner over you” [ = Deuteronomy 17:15], he stop- ped reading and his eyes brimmed with tears. They reassured him: “Fear not, Agrippa— you are our brother, you are our brother!” Acts 12:1 -  

Herod the Great Aristobulus IV Marcus Julius Agrippa (Edomite) (Hasmonean) (King Agrippa I / ) | | | Mariamne Berenice Cypros (Hasmonean) (daughter of Herod’s sister) (daughter of Mariamne’s daughter)

H) F. F. [Frederic Fyvie] Bruce (1910-1980), History - The cruelty of [Marcus Antonius Felix, Roman procurator of Judea 52-60], coupled with his accessibility to bribes (see Acts 24:26), led to a great increase Babylonian Talmud, Yoma 9b - of crime in Judaea. The period of his rule was marked by internal feuds and disturbances, On account of what was the Second Temple which he put down with severity. destroyed? Because gratuitous hatred prevailed within it. His successor Porcius Festus [procurator of Ju- dea 60-62,] inherited the problems of his predecessor in regard to the Roman practice of creating civic privileges for Jews. During his administration, Judean hostility to Roman policy was greatly inflamed by the civic privileges issue. Feelings were aroused which played an important part in the closely following uprising of 66.

I) Babylonian Talmud, Gittin 56a - As [the fifth Roman Emperor] Caesar Nero came up against them [in 67 to lay siege to the Judean capital], he shot an arrow towards the east, and it fell on Jerusalem. He then shot one towards the west— and it, too, fell on Jerusalem. So he fired arrows towards all four points of the compass— yet each one fell on Jeru- salem. Whereupon he said to a young boy nearby: “Recite for me the last verse of Scripture you learned!” To which the boy obediently re- sponded: “Now I will lay My vengeance upon by the hand of My people ” [Ezekiel 25:14]. The Emperor thought to himself: “The Holy And Blessed One wishes to lay waste to His Own house, but to wash His Own Hands of it and lay the blame on me!” So he turned and ran away and became a proselyte; Rabbi Mei’ir was descended from him.

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J) Babylonian Talmud, Gittin 56b - The wicked Titus [who oversaw the destruction of Jerusalem at the order of the ninth Emperor, Vespasian (whom he then succeeded as the tenth)] blasphemed and insulted Heaven. How did he do that? Taking a whore by her hand, and leading her into the Holy of Holies, he unfurled a Torah scroll and coupled on top it.

Then he drew his sword and slashed The Veil, at The Arch of Titus in the Foro Romano which blood miraculously spurted out, which startled him. Titus nonetheless pulled down The Veil, and made a container of it into which to carry away all the sacred furnishings of the Sanctuary. He brought it all on board ship to go in triumph with them to his city.

But a storm blew up at sea, which threatened to swamp him. At this he said: “Apparently the Judean captives from the fall of Jerusalem, God of this people only has power over water. forced to carry spoils from the Temple in a When Pharaoh came along [to punish and recap- triumphant parade through Rome. ture the recently liberated , their God] drowned him in water [Exodus 14:21-30]; when Sisera came along [to impose Canaanite hegemony on the Israelites in the era of the Judge Deborah, their God] drowned him in water [by flash-flood - Judges 5:4]; and now He is also trying to drown me in water. If He is truly mighty, let Him come up on the dry land and fight with me!” A Celestial Voice came forth, declaring to him: “Sinning son of a sinning father, O you who are a descendant of the sinner Esau [the father of Edom], I have within My world a tiny creature called a gnat. You can make war with it, once you get to dry land!” No sooner did he make land than a gnat came along and flew up his nose; it proceeded to knock against his brains for seven years. But one day, as he was passing by a smithy, the gnat heard the clanging of the hammer and stopped knocking on his brains to listen. Noting this, Titus exclaimed: “So there is a remedy, after all!” Whereupon every day they would bring a blacksmith to the palace, to pound on his anvil in front of Caesar. If he was a non- Jew, they paid him four zuz; if he were a Jewish smith they told him: “It is payment enough that you get to witness the suffering of your oppressor!” This went on for thirty days, after which the creature paid no further heed to the noise and went back to its knocking. There is a tradition that Rabbi Pin’chas bar-‘Aruba said: “I was part of the social circle with the notables of Rome, and when Titus died they split open his skull and found inside some- thing, resembling a sparrow, two s’la’im in weight” (although the Tanna’im hold it was the size of a young dove, and weighed two pounds!). “Either way,” Abayei said, “it is a matter of record that it had a beak of bronze, and claws of iron.”. When the wicked Titus died, he said: “Burn me and scatter my ashes over the seven seas, so that the God of the Jews cannot find me and take me to account!”

K) Nissim ben Jacob Shaheen (990-1062), Chibbur Yafeh Mei-haY’shu’ah – It is re- corded of Onkelos [Aquila of Sinope, c. 35-120 CE], who rendered the Aramaic translation of the Torah, that he was a convert to Judaism. When [the eleventh Roman Emperor] Caesar heard that Onkelos had forsaken the gods of the Romans, he sent an embassy

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“…But Was Caesar Good for the Jews?” (March 21, 2010) – page 6 to call him into account. When those emissaries came to him, Onkelos demanded of them: “Hear me on one thing,” and they agreed. He said to them: “Is it not universal practice for the subjects of a not only to provide their own homes, but to have to furnish a palace for their master as well?” And they agreed: “Yes, that is so.” Then he went on: “Now consider how different is The Holy And Blessed One, in ministering to His beloved subjects of flesh-and-blood. For the Torah says “The Eternal One, Who is God, took humanity and placed them into the garden of earthly delights [Genesis 2:15].” He continued sitting with them, expounding upon Torah and its meaning and its reward, until they embraced the Yoke of the Mitzvot and became part of the Jewish community. Then Caesar sent another delegation, strictly instructing Titus Flavius Domitianus them not to enter into conversation with Onkelos, so that he could not do with them as he had done to the first emissaries. Yet he insisted of them, as well: “Hear me on only one thing,” and they agreed. He said to them: “Is it not universal practice that the slave walks in front of the master, carrying torches to light his way?” And they agreed: “Yes, that is so.” Then he went on: “Now consider, by contrast, how wondrously The Holy And Blessed One did for Israel on their way from Egypt— for the Torah says: “The Eternal One went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to show them the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to light their way [Exodus 13:21].” He continued sitting with them, expounding upon Last of the Flavians, a para- Torah and its meaning and its reward, until they, too, noid plotter who was himself embraced the Yoke of the Commandments and became assassinated in 96 CE, hack- part of the Jewish community. ed to death at the dinner table. News of his murder prompted Then Caesar sent a third delegation, firmly admonishing cheers from the Senate. them not to enter into conversation with Onkelos nor to listen to anything he had to say. Since they, complying with this order, would not engage him in talk, he rose to accompany them. But when he stopped at the doorpost to put his hand on the m’zuzah, they asked him: “What is that thing? shin ש He told them “It is a cartridge containing the holy words of God, with the letter ”.’the Guardian of the doorways of Israel שומר דלתות ישראל‘ marking it as a tribute to Then he continued: “Is it not universal practice that a ruler of flesh-and-blood only enters a chamber when it is guarded by his agents and servants at the door?” And they agreed: “Yes, that is so.” Then he went on: “See how differently The Holy And Blessed One deals with Israel, by remaining at the entryway to our homes to guard us and to keep us— even as it is written in Scripture: “The Eternal One will guard your going out and your coming in, from this time forth and forever!” [Psalms 121:8]. Hearing this, that delegation of Imperial emissaries also embraced the Yoke of the Commandments and became part of the Jewish community. At this Caesar Domitian, seeing what was going on, refrained from sending any more messengers to dissuade Onkelos from following God.

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L) Jerusalem Talmud, Sukkah 23a - During the reign of the wicked [thirteenth Emperor] Trajan, his son was born on Tish’ah b’Av— and all the Jews were mourning. His daughter died on Chanukah— and all the Jews were celebrating by lighting candles. His wife sent to him and demanded: “How long until you wipe out these ? Come and destroy those Judeans, who rebel against you!” He pondered for ten days killing them all, and then went out to them with his arrayed ranks. When he came to them, he found them busying themselves with Torah, studying the verse The Eternal One shall bring against you a nation from afar, which will swoop down like the eagle— a nation whose language you do not understand; a ruthless nation with no regard for the old, nor mercy for the young— which will devour the offspring of your livestock and the produce of your soil, until you have been wiped out [ = Deuteronomy 28:49-50]. He demanded of them: “How dare you occupy yourselves with words such as these! You are looking at a man who has spent ten days pondering killing you, and who has now come upon Imperial standard-bearer you with arrayed ranks!” Whereupon he surrounded them with his legions and killed them all. Then he told their wives: “You know the might of my legions— but you I will not kill.” They responded to him: “What you have done on earth, do On High as well.” Whereupon their blood comingled [with that of their slaughtered husbands], and flowed all the way to . At that moment the glory of Israel was lopped off, nor is it destined to be restored to its place until The Heir of David arrives.

M) Martin David Goodman (1953- ), N) Paulus Orosius (370?-420?), Rome and Jerusalem: The Clash Historiae Adversus Paganos - of Ancient Civilizations – The Jews waged war on the inhabitants As Trajan's army campaigning against the throughout in the most savage Parthians advanced victoriously through fashion. So thoroughly were the inhabitants in 115, Jewish rebels in its wiped out, and so thoroughly was the rear began attacking the small Roman countryside laid waste— its cultivators hav- garrisons left behind. A revolt in far off ing been slain— that these territories would [ = Libya] soon spread to Egypt have remained utterly depopulated desert and then Cyprus, inciting revolt in Judea, regions, had not the Emperor where a widespread anti-Roman uprising gathered settlers from other places and threatened grain supplies from Egypt to the sent them thither [cf. II Kings 17:24ff]. front. [Throughout the eastern Empire,] cities with substantial Jewish populations . . . estimated 200+ thousand Jews killed joined the rebellion and slaughtered the as well as massacre and deportation of Jews in Libya, Cyprus, and

small local Roman garrisons.

O) Unknown (c. 420), Scriptores Historiae Augustae, “Life of Hadrian” 2:21:8-14 - There were no campaigns of importance during his reign, and the wars that he did wage

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“…But Was Caesar Good for the Jews?” (March 21, 2010) – page 8 were brought to a close almost without arousing comment. The soldiers loved him much on account of his very great interest in the army and for his great liberality to them besides. The Parthians always regarded him as a friend, because he took away the king [Parthamaspates] whom Trajan had set over them; the Armenians were permitted to rule over their own dominion (whereas under Trajan they been assigned a Roman governor); and the Meso- potamians were relieved of the tribute which Trajan had imposed. He made the Albanians and Hiberians [Georgians] his friends, by lavishing gifts upon their kings even though they had scorned to come to him, while the Bactrian rulers sent envoys to him to beg humbly for his friendship.

“no campaigns of importance” “wars brought to a close without comment”

Vallum Aelium (122-128) exercitum et ego si valetis and (“The army and I are well”)

Bar-Kochba Rebellion (133-135)

P) Abram Leon Sachar (1899-1993), A History of the Jews - The amazing zeal of the aroused nation brought them unexpected success in the first six months of the rebellion [in 132-133 CE] . . . . As a result, [the fourteenth Roman Emperor] Israelite sheqel of Hadrian was obliged to recall from Britain Severus, the most dis- Bar-Kochba, 134 tinguished soldier of the age. . . . Soon, under his capable military leadership, every Judean stronghold had fallen. Bar Kochba and Rabbi Akiba were both executed [in 135], along with all their followers. A virtual bronze sestertius of campaign of extermination con- (c. 145) cluded the tragedy. It is not im-

overstrike of a coin of probable that a half-million lives Trajan, with the Judean were sacrificed in this hopeless date-palm and name cause. Shim’on” (iden- On the site of the Sanctuary a Temple“ שמעון tified on the reverse as was built in honor of Capito- linus, and Jews were forbidden on “President of Israel”). pain of death ever again to set foot the Temple of Jupiter in in Jerusalem. The very name of Judea [“land of the Jews”] was Jerusalem, with the city discarded, and the province which had given the Roman legions identified at bottom as so very much trouble was renamed Syria Palestina. “A[elia] C[apitolina].”

والية فلسطين  جند فلسطين Palestina    Palestina Filastin willayat Filistin’e

Roman Byzantine Umayyad, Abassid, Ottoman British Seljuk, & Mamluk