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corpus-paul - Re: Neil Elliot, "Liberating Paul"

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  • From: David Noy <sj014 AT lamp.ac.uk>
  • To: "Corpus-paul" <corpus-paul AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Neil Elliot, "Liberating Paul"
  • Date: Thu, 08 Jul 1999 09:01:00 +0100


Here are one or two points which I'd like to add to the debate. Apologies
if this involves moving backwards slightly, but I've only just subscribed!

1. The expulsion of the Jews from Rome by Claudius makes more sense if
seen in the context of other expulsions which occurred quite frequently in
the late Republic and early Empire (but not, as far as the evidence goes,
between the late-1st and mid-4th centuries). The expelled group didn't
need to have done anything - they might just be under suspicion of what
they might do (Gauls and Germans at the time of the Varus disaster,
philosophers and astrologers at various times), or might be regarded as
surplus mouths to feed at times of food crisis (gladiators at one point
under Augustus). The only common feature seems to be that the expelled
were regarded in some sense as "foreign". Roman citizenship would (unless
the authorities acted illegally) protect any individual from expulsion.

2. Expulsion wasn't really used as a form of religious repression. When
the authorities seriously wanted to suppress a cult, they demolished the
buildings and crucified the cult leaders if they were non-citizens (e.g.
Isis cult under Tiberius).

3. I'm not sure how much difference the various privileges which Jews
acquired under Roman law would have made to someone living at Rome in the
mid-1st century. The most significant was probably the right to collect
the corn-dole on a different day if your allocated day fell on the Sabbath,
but that only applied to adult male citizens. The right to send money to
the Temple while it was outside the Empire would also have been significant
during the time of Herod, but not afterwards. Collectively, the legal
treatment of synagogues as "collegia licita" (if that's how the law viewed
them) was important. But I think that's about it.

David



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

David Noy
Department of Classics, University of Wales, Lampeter SA48 7ED
Tel: 01570 422351 ext 428 Fax: 01570 423877
http://www.lampeter.ac.uk/~davidnoy






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