Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-22dnz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-28T12:20:23.772Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

3 - The uprisings in the Jewish Diaspora, 116–117

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2008

Miriam Zeev
Affiliation:
Department of History, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beersheva
Steven T. Katz
Affiliation:
Boston University
Get access

Summary

UNREST AMONG THE JEWS OF THE DIASPORA

Towards the end of Trajan’s reign, violent Jewish uprisings erupted in several places in the Mediterranean world. The reasons that led the Jews to take up arms are difficult to grasp, since they are not mentioned by the sources that deal more with the fighting of wars than with their causes. However, a general ferment prevailed at the time among the Jews, caused by the destruction of the Temple in 70 ce and by the demeaning fiscus Judaicus, which compelled all Jews to pay an annual poll tax to the Roman state. Such works as the Third Sibylline Oracle, 4 Ezra, and 2 Baruch insist on an upheaval of the present political situation, on the coming of the Messiah, the destruction of the wicked, the ingathering of the exiles, the restoration of the Jewish state, and the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem. It may be no accident that the Jews armed themselves while Trajan was busy with his war against the Parthians, a war that had begun in 114 and the results of which still appeared uncertain.

The causes of this uprising also included local factors. This fact is evident concerning Egypt, where social, economical, political, and ideological competition and rivalry between Jews and Greeks are attested since the third century bce. The situation had become more tense in Roman times, and twice earlier in Trajan’s days – in 112 and in the summer of 115 – armed attacks had been perpetrated by Greeks against Jews, the last of which may definitely be considered a direct cause of the Jewish uprising. As for Libya, the unrest that had occurred in 73 ce, which ended with the death and confiscation of property of a large number of wealthy Jews (Josephus, Bell., 7.437–51), may have weakened the number and the restraining authority of the wealthier members of local Jewish communities, paving the way for the most extreme ones.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alon, G., The Jews in Their Land in the Talmudic Age, 2 vols. (Jerusalem, 19801984).
Appian, , BC 2.90; Hist. Rom. fr. 19.
Barnes, T. D., “Trajan and the Jews,” Journal of Jewish Studies 40 (1989).Google Scholar
Brunt, P. A., Roman Imperial Themes (Oxford, 1990)
Bruun, C., “The Spurious ‘expeditio Iudaeae’ under Trajan,” Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 93 (1992).Google Scholar
Budge, E. A. W. trans., The Chronography of Gregory Abu’l Faraj (Bar Hebraeus) I, (Oxford, 1932)
Die Chronik des Eusebius aus dem Armenischen Übersetzt, ed. Karst, J. (Leipzig, 1911).
Dio, Cassius, Historia Romana 68.32
Eusebius, , HE 4.2.
Eusebius Werke, Die Chronik des Hieronimus, ed. Helm, R. (Berlin, 1956).
Fink, R. O., Roman Military Records on Papyrus (Princeton, 1971), n. 34 recto.
Frankfurter, D., “Lest Egypt’s City Be Deserted: Religion and Ideology in the Egyptian Response to the Jewish Revolt (116–117 CE),” Journal of Jewish Studies 43 (1992).Google Scholar
Gera, D. and Cotton, H. M., “A Dedication from Dor to a Governor of Syria,” Israel Exploration Journal 41/4 (1991).Google Scholar
Gilliam, I. F., “An Egyptian Cohort in AD 117,” in Bonner Historia-Augusta-Colloquium 1964/5 (Bonn, 1966)Google Scholar
Goodman, M., “Judaea,” Cambridge Ancient History (Cambridge, 19241939; new ed. 1970–) XI, 2nd ed. (2000).Google Scholar
Griffin, M., “Nerva to Hadrian,” Cambridge Ancient History (Cambridge, 19241939; new ed. 1970–) XI, 2nd ed. (2000).Google Scholar
Hengel, M., “Messianische Hoffnung und politischer ‘Radikalismus’ in der jüdisch- hellenistischen Diaspora: Zur Frage der Voraussetzungen der jüdischen Aufstandes unter Trajan 115–7 n.Chr.,” in Hellholm, D. (ed.), Apocalypticism in the Ancient Mediterranean World and the Near East, Proceedings of the International Colloquium at Uppsala 1979 (Tübingen, 1989).Google Scholar
Herr, M. D., “The Participation of the Galilee in the ‘War of Qitos’ (Quietus) or in the ‘BenKosba Revolt,’Cathedra 4 (1977), (Hebrew).Google Scholar
Horbury, W., “The Beginnings of the Jewish Revolt under Trajan,” in Schäfer, P. (ed.), Geschichte–Tradition–Reflexion: Festschrift für Martin Hengel zum 70 Geburstag I (Tübingen, 1996).Google Scholar
Isaac, B., and Roll, I., “Judaea in the Early Years of Hadrian’s Reign,” Latomus 38 (1979).Google Scholar
Kasher, A., “Some Comments on the Jewish Uprising in Egypt in the Time of Trajan,” Journal of Jewish Studies 27 (1976).Google Scholar
Laronde, A., Cyrène et la Libye hellénistique: Libykai historiai de l’époque républicaine au principat d’Auguste (Paris, 1987).
Lüderitz, G., Corpus jüdischer Zeugnisse aus der Cyrenaika (Wiesbaden, 1983).
Mitford, T. B., “Roman Cyprus,” Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt II 7.2 (1980).Google Scholar
Modrzejewski, J. M., “Ioudaioi apheremenoi: La Fin de la communauté juive d’É gypte (115–117 de n.è),” in Thuer, G. (ed.), Symposion 1985. Vorträge zur griechischen und hellenistischen Rechtsgeschichte (Ringberg, 24–26 July 1985) (Cologne, 1989).Google Scholar
Modrzejewski, J. M., “Trajan et les Juifs: propagande alexandrine et contre-propagande rabbinique,” in Marx, J. (ed.), Problèmes d’Histoire du Christianisme: propagande et contre-propagande religieuses (Brussels, 1987).Google Scholar
Oppenheimer, A., “The Jewish Community in Galilee During the Period of Yavneh and the Bar-Kokhba Revolt,” Cathedra 4 (1977),(Hebrew).Google Scholar
Orosius, , Hist. adv. pag. 7.12.
PucciZeev, M., “Greek Attacks against Alexandrian Jews During Emperor Trajan’s Reign,” Journal for the Study of Judaism in the Persian, Hellenistic and Roman Period (Supplements) 20 (1990).Google Scholar
PucciZeev, M., “L. Tettius Crescens’ expeditio Iudaeae,” Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 133 (2000).Google Scholar
PucciZeev, M., Diaspora Judaism in Turmoil, 116/117 CE: Ancient Sources and Modern Insights (Leuven, 2005).
Pucci, M., “La rivolta ebraica in Egitto (115–117 d.C.) nella storiografia antica,” Aegyptus 62 (1982).Google Scholar
Pucci, M., La rivolta ebraica al tempo di Traiano (Pisa, 1981).
Richard, J. C., “Les Funeacute;railles des Trajan et le triomphe sur les Parthes,” Revue des eacute;tudes latines 44 (1966)Google Scholar
Rokeah, D., “Notes on the ‘War of Qitos,’Cathedra 4 (1977), (Hebrew).Google Scholar
Rokeah, D., “The War of Kitos: Towards the Clarification of a Philological-Historical Problem,” ScriHie 23 (1972).Google Scholar
Rufinus, , HE 4.2.
Schäfer, P., “Hadrian’s Policy in Judaea,” in Davies, P. R. and White, R. T. (eds.), A Tribute to Geza Vermes: Essays on Jewish and Christian History and Literature (Sheffield, 1990).Google Scholar
Schürer, E. (ed.), Schürer, E. (ed.), The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ, rev. and ed. by Vermes, G., Millar, F., and Black, M., 3 vols. (Edinburgh, 19731987) I.
Seder Olam Rabbah 30; M. Sot. 9.14; PT Suk. 5.1.55b; Babylonian Talmud Suk. 51b.
Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae, III 9491 = Smallwood, E. M., Documents illustrating the Principates of Nerva, Trajan, and Hadrian (Cambridge, 1966).
Smallwood, E. M., The Jews Under Roman Rule (Leiden, 1976).
Syme, R., “The Wrong Marcius Turbo,” Journal of Roman Studies 52 (1962)Google Scholar
Tcherikover, V. and Fuks, A. (eds.), Corpus Papyrorum Judaicarum, 3 vols. (Cambridge, MA, 19571964) II; P. Berol. inv. 7440; P. Berol. inv. 8143.

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×