The Jews under Roman Rule from Pompey to Diocletian

by E. Mary Smallwood

It is remarkable that Judaism could develop given the domination by Rome in Palestine over the centuries. Smallwood traces Judaism's constantly shifting political, religious, and geographical boundaries under Roman rule from Pompey to Diocletian, that is, from the first century BCE through the third century CE. From a long-standing nationalistic tradition that was a tolerated sect under a pagan ruler, Judaism becomes, over time, a threat that needs to be repressed and confined against a now-Christian empire. This work examines the galvanizing forces that shaped and defined Judaism as we have come to know it.

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Genres: History, Nonfiction, Ancient History

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

Edith Mary Smallwood (8 December 1919 – 4 September 2023) was a British historian and a professor.

Reviews

[Jon · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first portion of this book is in large part a summary of Josephus's works, a tendency that can't be helped, given that Josephus is our main source of information regarding this very subject. Smallwood, however, makes the events come to life, abbreviating where Josephus fails to and expanding where more information is now available.

Then, of course, Josephus as a source comes to an end soon after the First Jewish War. The work from here, by necessity, becomes more sketchy, as Smallwood has much less in the way of source material from which to draw. That said, she does admirably, with what little primary data we have. What I liked was that she does exactly as denoted in her title—she looks not just at the Jews in Palestine but at the Jews throughout the empire, usually in alternating chapters. As such, there was much more here on the Alexandrian uprising of 115-117 than I'd read anywhere else—and Smallwood, in addition, sets it within the context of Jewish uprisings occurring elsewhere in the empire at the same time. We get similar detail regarding the Bar Cochba revolt in 135.

After these revolts, information becomes even more dificult to come by. Smallwood does as she can, looking at archeological sources, at what we can glean from the silence of other sources, and at what little can be gleaned from the Mishna. As Smallwood sees it, after the Jewish revolts, culminating in 135, the Jewish people largely came to see their Messianic hopes as being wholly supernatural, giving up on the idea of rising up themselves. What troubles did occur were usually in the context of Roman civil war, the taking of one side or another in the conflict for rulership of the empire. And while the empire did impose some anti-Jewish measures, they were usually temporary. Even the banning of Jews from Jerusalem appears to have been only partly enforced, in time. Troubles would arise, however, more so as the empire moved toward nominal Christianity.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Important but rather dull political history. Now outdated in theoretical presumptions and some interpretations, but full of important references.

The first half of the book is largely a rehearsal of Josephus, with footnotes to link you to relevant material and textual evidence.

I just about lost it at this one "Minor local disagreements between the authorities and the Jews in Rome, the serious revolt of the Diaspora under Trajan, and two long and difficult wars in Palestine brought NO PERMANENT REDUCTION OF JEWISH PRIVILEGES in their train beyond the automatic abolition of the right to collect the Temple tax, a loss which had no effect on the fulfillment of the everyday requirements of the Las such as synagogue worship, circumcision and the rest." p. 539 (emphasis added) ... 'cause, like, the TOTAL DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE AND THE END TO SACRIFICIAL CULT is, like, totally not a big deal and totally not a "reduction of Jewish privileges."

**sigh**

[AskHistorians]

Discusses the political status of Jews in the Roman empire in a range of time periods and in both Judea and abroad. Because of the scope, it's rather long, and not terribly accessible without a bit of background.