University of Groningen How Rome's administration of the Fiscus Judaicus accelerated the parting of the ways between Judaism and Christianity Heemstra, Marius IMPORTANT NOTE: You are advised to consult the publisher's version (publisher's PDF) if you wish to cite from it. Please check the document version below. Document Version Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Publication date: 2009 Link to publication in University of Groningen/UMCG research database Citation for published version (APA): Heemstra, M. (2009). How Rome's administration of the Fiscus Judaicus accelerated the parting of the ways between Judaism and Christianity: rereading 1 Peter, Revelation, the Letter to the Hebrews, and the Gospel of John in their Roman and Jewish contexts. s.n. 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Download date: 26-09-2021 How Rome’s Administration of the Fiscus Judaicus Accelerated the Parting of the Ways between Judaism and Christianity RIJKSUNIVERSITEIT GRONINGEN How Rome’s Administration of the Fiscus Judaicus Accelerated the Parting of the Ways between Judaism and Christianity Rereading 1 Peter, Revelation, the Letter to the Hebrews, and the Gospel of John in their Roman and Jewish Contexts Proefschrift ter verkrijging van het doctoraat in de Godgeleerdheid en Godsdienstwetenschap aan de Rijksuniversiteit Groningen op gezag van de Rector Magnificus, dr. F. Zwarts, in het openbaar te verdedigen op donderdag 17 september 2009 om 13.15 uur door Marius Heemstra geboren op 7 december 1960 te Oude Pekela Promotores: Prof. dr. G.H. van Kooten Prof. dr. B.H. Stolte Beoordelingscommissie: Prof. dr. J.N. Bremmer Prof. dr. M.D. Goodman Prof. dr. P.W. van der Horst ISBN: 978-90-367-3928-3 Christianity grew entirely out of Jewish soil Martin Hengel (Hengel 2005, 85; italics his) Contents Preface_____________________________________________iii Abbreviations________________________________________v List of Roman emperors______________________________ vii Introduction: Who were the victims of the fiscus Judaicus under Domitian?__________________________________1 Part I. The Roman Perspective: FISCUS JUDAICUS____ 7 1. The introduction of the Jewish tax by Vespasian and its general history________________________________________________ 9 1.1. Introduction________________________________________ 9 1.2. The epigraphic sources from Egypt (first and second century)___________________________________________ 13 1.3. Later evidence______________________________________ 21 1.4. The role of the synagogue_____________________________ 22 2. Domitian’s ‘harsh’ administration of the fiscus Judaicus______ 25 2.1. Introduction________________________________________ 25 2.2. Finance under Domitian_______________________________ 26 2.3. The administration of the fiscus Judaicus under Domitian____ 29 2.4. Victims of the fiscus Judaicus under Domitian_____________ 35 2.5. Conclusion_________________________________________ 69 3. Nerva’s reform of the fiscus Judaicus_______________________ 73 3.1. Introduction________________________________________ 73 3.2. FISCI IVDAICI CALVMNIA SVBLATA__________________ 76 3.3. IMP NERVA CAES AVG P M TR P COS II PP____________ 81 3.4. Conclusion_________________________________________ 89 4. Christians: their crimes and punishments from Nero to Domitian____________________________________________ 93 4.1. Introduction________________________________________ 93 4.2. The persecution under Nero___________________________ 95 4.3. 1 Peter____________________________________________ 102 4.4. The persecution under Domitian________________________ 108 i Part II. The Further New Testament Perspective: Revelation, the Letter to the Hebrews and the Gospel of John___________________________________________ 113 5. Revelation and the fiscus Judaicus________________________ 115 5.1. Introduction________________________________________ 115 5.2. Date of Revelation__________________________________ 117 5.3. Persecution________________________________________ 124 5.4. The letters to the seven churches_______________________ 134 5.5. The 144 000 and the innumerable multitude______________ 144 5.6. Conclusion________________________________________ 147 6. Letter to the Hebrews: Jewish Christians and the fiscus Judaicus_________________________________________ 149 6.1. Introduction________________________________________ 149 6.2. Genre and general content____________________________ 152 6.3. Date of Hebrews____________________________________ 161 6.4. Addressees and place of origin_________________________ 166 6.5. Purpose___________________________________________ 171 6.6. Conclusion________________________________________ 175 7. The issue of Jewish identity: fiscus Judaicus, birkat ha-minim and the Gospel of John ___________________ 179 7.1. Introduction________________________________________ 179 7.2. The administration of the fiscus Judaicus under Domitian___ 180 7.3. The issue of the minim (heretics) under Gamaliel II_________ 181 7.4. The reform of the fiscus Judaicus under Nerva____________ 196 7.5. The consequences of these developments in the Gospel of John____________________________________________ 198 7.6. Conclusion________________________________________ 211 8. Parting of the Ways____________________________________ 213 8.1. Introduction________________________________________ 213 8.2. A survey of the debate_______________________________ 213 8.3. The formal break in 96 CE and beyond___________________ 225 8.4. Concluding and final remarks__________________________ 232 Bibliography________________________________________ 237 Nederlandse samenvatting (Dutch summary)_____________ 255 Index of Ancient Sources______________________________ 261 Index of Modern Authors______________________________271 ii Preface At the end of this journey, which has been relatively smooth, it is good to look back to its beginning. Right from the start the fiscus Judaicus seemed to be an ideal subject, because it gave me the opportunity to combine my interests in Roman, Jewish and early Christian history of the first and early second century; or, more specifically, to combine my Master’s Degrees in Ancient History (1985) and Theology (New Testament, 2006). When I first came to know this Roman financial institution in more detail in the course of 2006, I quickly noticed that many pieces of the puzzle might come together, if the information about the fiscus Judaicus under the Roman emperors Domitian and Nerva would be linked to a number of New Testament books and Jewish traditions from the Talmud. Moreover, I immediately wondered why this Roman piece of the puzzle had often been put aside by scholars of early Christian history, when it seemed to be so important. This is the reason why I started writing this thesis, of which the main purpose probably is to convince other scholars of the relevance of this Roman fiscus for early Jewish and Christian history, including their mutual relationship in the last decades of the first century and beyond. It goes without saying that this project would not have been possible without the help and support of many people. First of all I would like to thank my main supervisor Prof. dr. George van Kooten for providing me with constructive criticism, stimulating conversation and useful suggestions along the way. His support has been invaluable. I also thank my second supervisor Prof. dr. Bernard Stolte, for his careful reading of the manuscript, his constructive criticism and valuable comments. Our meetings in the Law Faculty of the University of Groningen were very rewarding. I further wish to render thanks to the members of the manuscript committee: Prof. dr. M.D. Goodman (Oxford), Prof. dr. P.W. van der Horst (Utrecht), and Prof. dr. J.N. Bremmer (Groningen). Prof. Goodman showed an early interest in my study when I sent him a rough outline of my views in late 2006 and I am very grateful that he found the time to comment on some of the early chapters and in the end was willing to be a member of the manuscript committee. Prof. Van der Horst looked in more detail at the chapter about Jewish identity (including birkat ha-minim) and I am very grateful for his comment and his accepting to be a member of the manuscript iii committee as well. I also thank Prof. Bremmer for his general comment and his sharing of his expertise on the Acts of John. Furthermore, I would like to thank Dr. Gabriella Gelardini (Basel), who took the time to read my chapter on the Letter to the Hebrews and discuss this with me, which was very helpful. I would also like to express my gratitude to Karin Neutel, Henk van Putten, Birgit van der Lans and Kees van Dorp, all fellow (PhD-)students, for our conversations, reading sessions and lunches. They will always be among my best memories of this period. Furthermore, I would like to thank family, friends, fellow members of the ‘Leerhuis Hoogeveen’, colleagues and business partners, who often