being Jewish under Greece and Rome

questions to consider

• how did Jews adapt to Greek and Roman rules?

• in what ways did they preserve Jewish identity and culture?

• how did the Jewish experience vary across the Greek and Roman world?

• can we speak of a unified ancient Jewish culture and identity?

Judaism and Hellenism

• Hellenization of Judaism

• conquests of Alexander the Great (356-323)

  • the Hellenistic world (323-30BC)

• Septuagint - Hebrew scriptures in Greek

  • semanticists

• Hellenism in Egypt

  • Hellenization of the Jews in Alexandria

• Hellenism in Israel

  • Maccabean revolt (167-160BC)

    • Antiochus IV epiphanies (215-164BC)

  • Pompey the Great (106BC-48BC)

Rome and the Jews

Jews in Rome

• Maccabean delegation of 161BC

• others - slaves, war captives, artisans, merchants

• by 50BC c.30k Jews in the city of Rome

• pompey’s conquest of Judaea (63BC)

• integrated into the city

Hellenized Jews of Roman Egypt

• conquest by Rome in 30BC

• Philo of Alexandria (20BE-50CE)

  • Neoplatonism and logos

  • tensions with Rome

    • Avilius Flaccus

Jews in the Roman East

• Judaea as a Roman province

  • Augustus and Herod archelaus

• the Jewish war

  • 66AD - rebellion

  • 70AD siege of Jerusalem and destruction of the temple of Solomon

    • Vespasian and Titus

  • 71-73: siege of masada

  • diasporic and rabbinical Judaism

were the ancient Jews a Mediterranean society

• what is a Mediterranean society?

  • kindship, religious fluidity, and urban life

  • centers on connectivity, mobility, exchange, and cultural hybridity

• were Greece and Rome Mediterranean societies?

• Judaism as countercultural

• Judaism as Mediterranean

conclusions

• Being Jewish under Greek and Roman rule varied quite widely

• While Judaism was a faith that centered on exclusion, it was adaptable and integrated

• Judaism maintained a unique identity

• the Jews were a Mediterranean society, but only if we don’t see Mediterranean as a catch-all for ‘connected’