Judaea (Roman province)
Province of Judaea Provincia Iudaea ( Koinē Greek) | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Province of the Roman Empire | |||||||||
6 CE–132 CE | |||||||||
The Roman Empire under the reign of Hadrian (125 CE) with Judaea highlighted in red | |||||||||
Capital | Caesarea Maritima | ||||||||
Area | |||||||||
• Coordinates | 32°30′N 34°54′E / 32.500°N 34.900°E | ||||||||
Government | |||||||||
Procurators after 44 | |||||||||
• 6–9 CE | Coponius | ||||||||
• 26–36 CE | Pontius Pilate | ||||||||
• 64–66 CE | Gessius Florus | ||||||||
• 117 CE | Lusius Quietus | ||||||||
• 130–132 CE | Tineius Rufus | ||||||||
Agrippa II | |||||||||
Syria Palestina | 132 CE 132 CE | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Today part of | Early Christianity emerged . |
Judaea (
Since the
Growing discontent at Roman rule led to the First Jewish–Roman War in 66–73 CE and ultimately the Siege of Jerusalem and destruction of the temple in 70 CE,[1] bringing an end to the Second Temple period. In 44 CE, Galilee and Perea were added to the province.[citation needed] In 132 CE, sources say the merging of Galilee and Judea resulted in an enlarged province named Syria Palaestina.[2][3][4]
Background
The first intervention of Rome in the region dates from 63 BCE, following the end of the Third Mithridatic War, in which Pompey defeated Mithridates VI Eupator, sacked Jerusalem, and established the province of Syria. The assertion of Roman hegemony and the rise of Roman political and cultural influence brought an end to Hellenistic Palestine.
Pompey installed the Hasmonean prince
Herod died in 4 BCE, and his kingdom was divided among three of his sons, two of whom (
Archelaus ruled Judea so badly that he was dismissed in 6 CE by the first Roman emperor, Augustus, after an appeal from his own population. Herod Antipas, ruler of Galilee and Perea from 4 BCE, was dismissed by Emperor Caligula in 39 CE. Herod's son Philip ruled the northeastern part of his father's kingdom.[8]
Judea as a Roman province
History of Israel | |
---|---|
538–333 BCE | |
Hellenistic period | 333–164 BCE |
Hasmonean dynasty | 164–37 BCE |
Herodian dynasty | 37 BCE–6 CE |
Roman Judaea
Jewish-Roman Wars ) | 6 CE–136 CE |
Revolt and removal of Herod Archelaus
Following the death of
).A messianic revolt erupted in Judea in 4 BCE because of Archelaus's incompetence; the revolt was brutally crushed by the Legate of Syria, Publius Quinctilius Varus, who occupied Jerusalem and crucified 2,000 Jewish rebels.[9][10]
Because of his failure to properly rule Judea, Archelaus was removed from his post by Emperor Augustus in 6 CE, while Judea, Samaria, and Idumea came under direct Roman administration.[11]
This event had significant and ever-lasting effects on the Jewish population, the Temple, and the
on the |
---|
History of Palestine |
Under a prefect (6–41 CE)
The Judean province did not initially include
Augustus appointed
Judea was not a
Still, Jews living in the province maintained some form of independence and could judge offenders by their own laws, including capital offenses, until c. 28 CE.
In 30–33 CE, Roman prefect Pontius Pilate had Jesus of Nazareth crucified on the charge of sedition, an act that led to the birth of Christianity.[19][20][21] In 36 CE another messianic revolt erupted near Mount Gerizim, under the lead of a Samaritan, and was quickly crushed by Pilate; the Samaritans complained against Pilate's brutality to the Legate of Syria Lucius Vitellius the Elder, who removed Pilate from his post and sent him to Rome to account, replacing him with an acting prefect called Marcellus.[22]
In 37 CE, Emperor Caligula ordered the erection of a statue of himself in the Jewish
Autonomy under Herod Agrippa (41–44)
Between 41 and 44 CE, Judea regained its nominal
Under a procurator (44–66)
Following Agrippa's death in 44, the province returned to direct Roman control, incorporating Agrippa's personal territories of Galilee and Peraea, under a row of procurators. Nevertheless, Agrippa's son,
Jerusalem was plagued by famine between 44 and 48[30] According to Josephus, Helena of Adiabene[31]"...went down to the city Jerusalem, her son conducting her on her journey a great way. Now her coming was of very great advantage to the people of Jerusalem; for whereas a famine did oppress them at that time, and many people died for want of what was necessary to procure food withal, queen Helena sent some of her servants to Alexandria with money to buy a great quantity of corn, and others of them to Cyprus, to bring a cargo of dried figs. And as soon as they were come back, and had brought those provisions, which was done very quickly, she distributed food to those that were in want of it, and left a most excellent memorial behind her of this benefaction, which she bestowed on our whole nation. And when her son Izates was informed of this famine, he sent great sums of money to the principal men in Jerusalem.[32]
In 66-70 the First Jewish–Roman War erupted.[33]
Under a legate (70–132)
From 70 until 132 Judea's rebelliousness required a governing Roman legate capable of commanding legions. Because Agrippa II maintained loyalty to the Empire, the Kingdom was retained until he died, either in 93/94 or 100, when the area returned to complete, undivided Roman control.
Judaea was the stage of two, possibly three, major Jewish–Roman wars:
- 66–70: Herod's Temple and ending with the siege of Masada in 73–74 (see Josephus). Before the war Judaea was a Roman province of the third category, that is, under the administration of a procurator of equestrian rank and under the overall control of the governor of Syria. After the war it became an independent Roman province with the official name of Judaea and under the administration of a governor of praetorian rank, and was therefore moved up into the second category (it was only later, in about 120, that Judaea became a consular province, that is, with a governor of consular rank).[34]
- 115–117: the Kitos War (Second Jewish-Roman War); Judea's role in it is disputed though, as it played itself out mainly in the Jewish diaspora and there are no fully trustworthy sources on Judea's participation in the rebellion, nor is there any archaeological way of distinguishing destruction levels of 117 CE from those of the Bar Kokhba revolt (Third Jewish-Roman War) revolt of just a decade and a half later.
- 132: The province of Judaea was merged with Galilee into an enlarged province named Syria Palaestina.[2][3][4] As a result of the Jews' defeat in the Bar Kokhba revolt, Jerusalem was destroyed. A few years later, a new colony was founded in its place, named Aelia Capitolina. One scholarly view the aim of renaming Judea was to disassociate the Jewish people from the land,[35] though other explanations have also been proposed,[36] and an alternative theory is that the renaming efforts preceded and helped precipitate the rebellion.[37] The renaming did not prevent the Jewish people from referring to the country in their writings as either "Yehudah" (Hebrew: יהודה)[38][39] or "The Land of Israel" (Hebrew: ארץ ישראל).[40]
Division into three provinces (135)
Under Diocletian (284–305) the region was divided into three provinces:[41]
- Palaestina Prima (Judea, Samaria, Idumea, Peraea and the coastal plain, with Caesarea Maritima as capital)
- Beth-Sheanas capital)
- as capital).
Economy
Agriculture played a significant role in economic life in Judaea. Wheat, barley, olives and grapes were the main crops grown in Judaea's fields. Evidence for the cultivation of herbs, vegetables, and legumes comes from Rabbinic literature, Josephus' works, and the New Testament. Writings from the late first and early second centuries indicate that Jewish farmers introduced rice to Judea during the early Roman period. The local crop was fine, large-kernel rice.[42][43]
List of governors (6–135 CE)
See also
- Fiscus Judaicus – Tax imposed on Jews in the Roman Empire (70–96 CE)
- The Life of Brian– a British comedy film which riffs on the idiosyncrasies of life in 33 AD Roman Judea
- Roman roads in Judaea/Palaestina– overview of the road network in the province
References
- ISSN 0022-2097.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4620-6121-1.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-107-05544-5.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8054-9935-3.
- magistrateswent before them, to offer sacrifices [to the Roman gods], and to lay the decree in the Capitol. Antony also made a feast for Herod on the first day of his reign."
- Caesar Augustus. During the Early Roman period, Caesarea was the seat of the Roman procurators of the province of Judea. Vespasian, proclaimed emperor at Caesarea, raised it to the rank of Colonia Prima Flavia Augusta, and later Alexander Severus raised it to the rank of Metropolis Provinciae Syriae Palestinae." A. Negev, "CAESAREA MARITIMA Palestine, Israel" in: Richard Stillwell et al. (eds.), The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites (1976).
- (17.317).
- ^ Josephus, Antiquities 17.188–189, War 1.664.
- ^ Josephus, The Jewish War, Book 2, Chapter 56
- ^ Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book 17, Chapters 271-272
- ISBN 978-0-674-39731-6.in 6 CE, Judea proper, Samaria and Idumea were converted into a Roman province under the name Iudaea.
When Archelaus was deposed from the ethnarchy
- ISBN 978-0-674-77886-3.
- ^ A History of the Jewish People, H. H. Ben-Sasson editor, 1976, page 247: "When Judea was converted into a Roman province [in 6 CE, page 246], Jerusalem ceased to be the administrative capital of the country. The Romans moved the governmental residence and military headquarters to Caesarea. The centre of government was thus removed from Jerusalem, and the administration became increasingly based on inhabitants of the Hellenistic cities (Sebaste, Caesarea and others)."
- ^ "Josephus, Antiquities Book XVIII". earlyjewishwritings.com.
- ^ H. H. Ben-Sasson, A History of the Jewish Peoples, page 247–248: "Consequently, the province of Judea may be regarded as a satellite of Syria, although, in view of the measure of independence left to its governor in domestic affairs, it would be wrong to say that in the Julio-Claudian era Judea was legally part of the province of Syria."
- ^ Josephus, Antiquities 17.355 & 18.1–2;
- Babylonian Talmud, Avodah Zarah 8b; ibid, Sanhedrin 41a; ibid, Shabbat 15a; Jerusalem Talmud, Sanhedrin 1:1 (1b)
- ISBN 978-0-521-24377-3.
- ^ Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book 18, Chapter 3, Paragraph 3
- ^ Tacitus, Annals, Book 15, Chapter 44
- ISBN 978-0-8010-3114-4.
...if there is any fact of Jesus' life that has been established by a broad consensus, it is the fact of Jesus' crucifixion.
- ^ Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book 18, Chapter 4, Paragraphs 1-2
- ^ Philo of Alexandria, On the Embassy to Gaius XXX.203.
- ^ Philo of Alexandria, On the Embassy to Gaius XVI.115.
- ^ Philo of Alexandria, On the Embassy to Gaius XXXI.213.
- ^ Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews XVIII.8.1.
- ^ Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews XVIII.8.
- Julio-Claudian empire. Until then – if one accepts Sejanus' heyday and the trouble caused by the census after Archelaus' banishment – there was usually an atmosphere of understanding between the Jews and the empire ... These relations deteriorated seriously during Caligula's reign, and, though after his death the peace was outwardly re-established, considerable bitterness remained on both sides. ... Caligula ordered that a golden statue of himself be set up in the Temple in Jerusalem. ... Only Caligula's death, at the hands of Roman conspirators (41), prevented the outbreak of a Jewish–Roman war that might well have spread to the entire East."
- ^ Tac. A.12.60
- ^ "New Testament Parallels to the Works of Josephus - Page Two". www.josephus.org. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
- ^ Josephus, "Book XX", The Antiquities of the Jews, retrieved 9 March 2023
- The Antiquities of the Jews. Vol. Book XX.
- ^ "Supplementum Epigraphicum GraecumSenatusconsulta. Decrees concerning the Jews in Josephus' Antiquities". Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
- ISBN 1-134-40316-X.
[From 74 to 123 CE] The consequences of the first great war of the Jews against Rome were extremely far-reaching and their significance for the future history of Judaism can hardly be overestimated. The immediate political consequences were drastic. As has already been mentioned, before the war Judaea was a Roman province of the third category, that is, under the administration of a procurator of equestrian rank and under the overall control of the governor of Syria. After the war it became an independent Roman province with the official name of Judaea and under the administration of a governor of praetorian rank, and was therefore moved up into the second category (it was only later, in about 120 CE, that Judaea became a consular province, that is, with a governor of consular rank). This new status of the province also implies that a standing legion, the legio X Fretensis, was stationed in Judaea. The headquarters of the 10th legion was the totally destroyed Jerusalem; the governor resided with parts of the 10th legion in Caesarea (Maritima), which Vespasian had converted into a Roman colony.
- ISBN 0-674-39731-2, page 334: "In an effort to wipe out all memory of the bond between the Jews and the land, Hadrian changed the name of the province from Iudaea to Syria-Palestina, a name that became common in non-Jewish literature."
- ^ Jacobson 2001, p. 44–45:"Hadrian officially renamed Judea Syria Palaestina after his Roman armies suppressed the Bar-Kokhba Revolt (the Second Jewish Revolt) in 135 C.E.; this is commonly viewed as a move intended to sever the connection of the Jews to their historical homeland. However, that Jewish writers such as Philo, in particular, and Josephus, who flourished while Judea was still formally in existence, used the name Palestine for the Land of Israel in their Greek works, suggests that this interpretation of history is mistaken. Hadrian's choice of Syria Palaestina may be more correctly seen as a rationalization of the name of the new province, in accordance with its area being far larger than geographical Judea. Indeed, Syria Palaestina had an ancient pedigree that was intimately linked with the area of greater Israel."
- S2CID 154240558. (page 90)
- Judah the Prince in 189 CE.
- JSTOR 23508170.
- The Mishnah (ed. Herbert Danby), Oxford University Press: Oxford 1933, s.v. Tractate Kelim 1:6
- ISBN 0-674-39731-2, page 351
- OCLC 316430311.
- OCLC 814404092.
- ^ "Ancient Inscription Identifies Gargilius Antiques as Roman Ruler on Eve of Bar Kochva Revolt". December 2016.
Works cited
- Jacobson, David (2001), "When Palestine Meant Israel", Biblical Archaeology Review, 27 (3)
Further reading
- )
External links
- Jewish Encyclopedia: Procurators of Iudaea
- Procurators, Jewish Encyclopedia, 1906
- The name Rome gave to the land of Israel