On the Presence of Jews in Ancient Latium (original) (raw)

Scripta Classica Israelica. Yearbook of the Israel Society for the Promotion of Classical Studies. Rome, Judaea and its Neighbors. Special Issue in Honor of Hannah M. Cotton. Edited by R. Feig Vishnia – R. Zelnick-Abramovitz, Jerusalem 2014, 243-254

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The presence of Jews and the spread of Judaism in ancient Latium, particularly outside of Rome, is examined, highlighting a significant aspect of the Jewish diaspora during the Graeco-Roman era. Historical evidence suggests that Jewish communities were dispersed across various parts of the Roman Empire, with a notable scarcity of documented Jewish presence in Latium compared to the eastern regions. Recent archaeological findings, including synagogues, provide insight into the Jewish experience in Italy, although the data remains limited and serves to underscore the complexities of Jewish migration patterns and the historical context surrounding them.

Foreigners at Home: The Historical Geography and Demography of the Jews of Ancient Rome

Ancient Cities, 1 - Roman Imperial Cities in the East and in Central-Southern Italy, 2019

In this paper, I discuss the demographic evolution and geographical location of the Jewish communities in Rome from the Late Republic, when there is clear evidence of a Jewish settlement, till the eve of the barbarian invasions in Late Antiquity. I focus on two main topics, first the historical geography of the Jews living in ancient Rome, or where they lived, and the demographic development of the Jewish community, or how many Jews lived in the urbs. It seems that it is possible to trace the evolution of the areas of Jewish settlement in ancient Rome by using literary as well as archaeological sources. Thus, while during the Late Republic most of the Jews probably lived in the Subura, by the Augustan period the newly developed Transtiberinum neighborhood (Regio XIV) had become the main area of settlement, as with most of the other foreign immigrants who either dwelled there individually or in groups. By the end of Late Antiquity, the Jewish communities were scattered also in the southernmost area of Rome (Regio I), as well as in the eastern part of the city (Regio VI). In many cases, Jewish communities lived in the same areas as Christian groups, often concentrated around tituli. Otherwise, the number of the Jews living in Rome fluctuated through the ages and was never stable in ways that were consistent with the fluctuation of the general population of the city of Rome. Yet, literary sources (like Josephus for earlier periods) and data coming from a close analysis of the catacombs make it clear that the Jewish population of Rome was always quite small, probably no more than 1% of the entire population and oscillating from 10,000 in the first half of the second century C.E. to no more than 6,000 at the close of the fourth century C.E.

Jews and Non-Jews in Ancient Cities: Alexandria, Antioch, Caesarea, Rome

Comprehending and Confronting Antisemitism, 2019

The investigation of hostility towards Jews in antiquity remains limited in scope by the nature and quantity of the sources. Researchh as focused most of all on the opinions expressed by ancient Greek and Latin authorsi nv arious periods. There is much material here that has been interpreted along different lines by numerous scholars. The disadvantage is that such information is restricted to opinions expressed by upper-classa uthors. We cannot know what people in pubs in Rome or Antioch weres aying about minorities in general and Jews in particular. It is true that ad ifferent type of information is conveyedb yp olicy and measures of the authorities with regard to Jews. However,t his has the same disadvantage, for it shows what upper-class rulers and administrators did, rather than what they thought. The present paper will focus on as pecific phenomenon that is instructive in as omewhat different manner. Several major urban centers had as ubstantial Jewish population in the Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine periods. There was ag ood deal of tension between Jews and other groups in cities, tension that at times led to minor or major outbursts of violence as reported by various authors. These also describem easures taken by the local and imperial authorities on those occasions.T his paper will offer ab rief survey of such events in an attempt to show that we mayg ain an extra perspective on the position of the Jews in the ancient world. The topic, in other words, is the interaction between authoritiesa nd urban population in times of stress between Jews and non-Jews in cities. Alexandria Accordingt oP hilo, the Jews constituted about two-fifths of the population of Alexandria in Egypt.¹ They formeda na utonomous organization in the frame

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