42 The Wandering Jew
The attention of historians in 429 is concentrated, perhaps too much, on what is improperly known as
Bellum Maurum Secondum. [1] As Procopius of Caesarea recounts, Anicius Petronius Maximus kidnapped and raped the betrothed of a rich local landowner, a sympathizer of Donatism, called Euphemius [2] of Thamugadi,[3] who, in revenge, traditionally rebelled on 23 January 429 by calling the Maure tribes for help: that this is a posthumous and highly fictionalized story is probable for two reasons. The first is that contemporary sources, starting with Anicius Severus, although not very tender towards the
Praefectus Africae, due to his greed, considered excessive and his lack of diplomacy, none highlight his propensity towards lust: indeed Agostinus of Hippona in several places in his letters praises the continence of the
Praefectus. The second is that such a gesture would have provoked a severe punishment by the court of Ravenna, which would have seized the opportunity to definitively eliminate the cumbersome, intriguing and ambitious Roman senator from the political arena: the fact that it did not happen is a clue to his innocence.
In reality, the causes of the discontent of African landowners were structural, which the reforms of previous years had only partially mitigated: added to this was the secessionist tendency of those provinces, which in previous years had culminated in the revolts of
Firmus and
Gildo: and as in these cases, it is likely that the leader of the rebellion may have allied himself with the Maure tribes.
Shedding further light on the matter is a Libyan stele dating back to the first half of the 5th century, found in 2014 near Semaoune,[4] which represents a knight armed with three lances and protected by a round shield, who holds out a full plate with his left hand. of ears to a cross. The text, in Latin, speaks of a Euphemius, protector of the
Quinquegentiens and son of Kirya; unfortunately his father's name is too ruined to be read. Now, we know a
Kirya, daughter of
Flavius Nubel,
regulus [5] of the Berber confederation of the
Quinquegentiens, so called because it was made up of five different tribes, who was sister of both Firmus and Gildo. Therefore, if we hypothesize that this Euphemius is the same as the story of Procopius of Caesarea, the story appears as yet another revolt of this Berber confederation, more or less Romanized, against the central power: a revolt which, as in the previous cases, was also supported by Roman provincials, ruined by the economic crisis.
However, both due to the losses suffered by the other Moorish tribes in the previous years, which had significantly reduced their willingness to confront the empire, and due to the military reforms of the Comes Bonifacius, the impact of this revolt was less invasive than the previous
Bellum Mauricum, basically limiting itself to a series of raids, which did not reduce either the supply of grain to Italy, nor the tax revenues for Ravenna, so much so that this time Flavius Castinus did not bother to send reinforcements to Bonifacius, who to read the reports of Anicius Severus, he independently managed to keep the situation under control.
And that in Ravenna this revolt was judged to be of lesser importance than that given to it by modern historians, is also proven by the fact that the interests of Galla Placidia and the Council of Regency were concentrated on legal reforms. The first, dating back to March 429, was probably inspired by African events: in Procunsularis and Mauritania there was a particular official, the
Praefectus Gentis. [6]Until the age of Septimius Severus, these were equites of Italic origin who commanded contingents of cavalry whose aim was to control tribal populations considered unreliable and turbulent; with the Severian reform, these officials lost their military function, to acquire a civil function, representing the imperial authority in the administration of justice and in the collection of taxes, thus becoming both an instrument of legitimation of the local elites, from which they were drawn officials, and of romanization. Galla Placidia, despite the Maure revolts, we remember how that of Firmo had been tamed by her grandfather Theodosius the elder, considered it an overall positive instrument: for this reason she decided to extend her office to the rest of the Pars Occidentis, entrusting her with the management of the
laeti , which with all their peculiarities, constituted a sort of gray area between the Romans and the foederati. In addition to protecting these subjects from the abuses of local officials, in fact this position constituted a useful counterweight, especially in Gaul and Britain, to the
comes foederarum.
The second legal reform, before the summer of 429, concerned the relationship between Jews and the empire. [7] We remember how the presence of a large Jewish community in Rome was attested as early as the 2nd century BC, at the time of Judas Maccabeus' embassy to Rome to seek an alliance against Antiochus Epiphanes, and continues with ups and downs until today without a solution continuity in the Trastevere district. [8]
In Italy the oldest synagogue, in Ostia, dates back to the second half of the 1st century AD, and archaeological findings continue to reveal traces of Jewish communities particularly in Puglia, Calabria and Sicily. In the Roman Empire during the 5th century the Jews were organized in numerous communities both in the West - in Italy, in Gaul, in Africa, in Illyricum - and more so in the East, as well as being firmly settled in other Asian areas such as Mesopotamia , Persia and probably as far as India. The authority recognized by all the Jews and also by the Roman civil power is the nasi or patriarch who, having lost the central role of Jerusalem after the destruction of the temple in 70 AD, resides in Tiberias.
In this varied and complex context, the Jews maintain a strong attachment to the prescriptions of the Torah, to the legal formulations expressed in the drafting of the
Mishnah, practicing circumcision, observing precepts including mainly Saturday rest and abstention from foods deemed impure, enjoying for this purpose specific exemptions (
privilegia). In general, their condition is not dissimilar to that of the other peoples and groups that make up the varied and cosmopolitan fabric of the Empire, in which Roman civilization is flanked without discrimination by numerous cultural expressions of people with different languages, traditions and religious beliefs. In summary, it can be assumed that the Romans wherever they found Jewish colonies that enjoyed particular privileges, they worked to preserve and protect these privileges, not only out of a desire not to innovate where there was no need, but for the opportunity to remain faithful to a people who in several cases had undertaken bloody rebellions against the central authority.
When examining in detail the destruction of the Jews in the Empire, very different situations are found. Although it is difficult to document the Jewish demographic situation in the ancient world with sufficient precision, it can be assumed that - before the Jewish wars of 70 and 135 AD. – the Jewish population of the Empire was made up of around 4.5 million people, it is estimated that after 135, with the repression of the Bar Kokhba revolt, accompanied by deportations of slaves and a demographic collapse, it fell to around one million. The phenomenon of this 'second diaspora' and the consequent assimilation, after the first diaspora which followed the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC, involves an emigration that from Judea-Palestine heads towards southern Italy and the North African and European Mediterranean regions , as well as towards Yemen and Ethiopia, the Caucasus and the Black Sea coasts
A substantial community must have resided in 1st century Rome: the demographic analysis of the six Jewish catacombs of Rome (the two of
Villa Torlonia, on the Via Nomentana; that of Vigna Randanini on the Via Appia; that of
Vigna Cimarra along the Via Ardeatina;
that of the Via Labicana near Pigneto and that of
Monteverde) have allowed us to estimate a population of approximately 60,000 individuals. Outside of Rome, we find Jews settled mainly in the southern regions, as attested by
synagogue remains in Bova Marina and in the
catacombs of Venosa; The Jewish presence on the two largest islands of the Mediterranean, Sicily, concentrated in Syracuse, Noto, Akragas and Panorms, and Sardinia, with the main community concentrated in Sant'Antioco, also date back to Roman times. But even in the north in Italy there must have been communities that were sometimes not small, if it is true that during his episcopate Saint Ambrose in
Mediolanum often showed himself attentive and aware of Jewish traditions, and upon his death in 397 his biographer Paulinus reports that Milanese Jews followed his funeral with deep condolences.
Outside Italy, in the 4th and 5th centuries the majority of Jewish communities resided in the
Pars Orientis. In the land of Israel, after the Jewish revolts, the Roman province of Iudaea, governed by a legatus Augusti pro praetore as imperial representative, was reorganized as the Syria-Palestine province, which from 295 also included some territories of Arabia. The region enjoys flourishing development, but in Jerusalem - called
Colonia Aelia Capitolina - Jews are prohibited from residing, so they move to the north, where they continue to be guaranteed wide freedom of worship. The religious authority, headed by a patriarch, first installed in Iamnia (today's Yavneh), ended up settling in Tiberias in Galilee. Palestinian Aramaic - or Jerusalemite - continues to be spoken in this region, and large groups of Jews who believe in Jesus - Nazarenes, Ebionites - also continue to reside there, not without tension with the synagogue authorities, later called Judeo-Christians in contrast to ethnic-Christians of non-Jewish origin.
Numerous and lively Jewish communities, due to the migrations of both the first and second diaspora, persist throughout the area of the Near and Middle East: in Arabia, a region of nomads and caravan trade, and in Syria proper, where eventually of the 2nd century Septimius Severus had extended Roman dominion with the foundation of the provinces of Osroene (with Edessa as its capital) and Mesopotamia (with Nisibis as its capital); here there is a fruitful meeting ground between Greek and Semitic traditions, in numerous cities including Antioch, Seleucia, Apamea, where notable trade developed. In the Adiabene, the border region between the Roman and Persian Sassanid Empires, with the capital Arbela, there is a strong Jewish presence; during the reign of Shabur II (309-379) some Persian satrapies, including the region between eastern Turkey and Lake Van, came under Roman dominion for forty years, from 296 to 337. In Babylon, the Talmudic schools of Nehardea, Pumbadita and Babylon developed, the latter city where the authority of the exilarch or
resh galuta was imposed from the 5th century onwards.
Other Jewish communities of the eastern diaspora of very ancient origin are those of Greek language in Egypt, where Alexandria stands out, famous for its Hellenized culture open to new ferments, of which Philo was an exponent, and which was expressed in the Greek translation of the Bible called of the Seventy. But other communities had deep roots both in rural areas such as Leontopoli and in urban centres, including Oxyrhynchus, and offered fertile ground for the grafting of Judeo-Christian, Gnostic and Manichaean doctrines. To the south, in Nubia, which the Romans called Thebais Secunda, at the first cataract of the Nile on the island of Elephantine there resided an equally famous Jewish community of very ancient origins. Further west, in North Africa referred to generically as Libya, the rich coastal cities including Cyrene are home to the Jews who remained after the bloody suppression of their revolts during the empire of Trajan.
In Asia Minor there are important Jewish communities: in Aphrodisias, Pisidian Antioch, Apamea, Ephesus, Iconium, Sardis, Smyrna, Tarsus and numerous other centers. The network of relationships between these communities had been the privileged channel used by the apostle Paul of Tarsus for the evangelical announcement in the first century from the beginning. In the disputed prefecture of Illyrycum, with the capital Thessalonica, Jewish communities since ancient times were found in the main Greek cities, in Philippi, Corinth, Thessalonica, and in their synagogues Paul began the preaching of the Gospel; a synagogue was also found in Stobi, today in Macedonia, along the main road between the Danube and the Aegean Sea. A community must have been on the island of Crete for several centuries, as Jews from Crete are mentioned in Jerusalem, according to the story of the Acts of the Apostles. Finally, in Spain and in the westernmost prefecture of Gaul, Jews were reported in Arleate, Bordeaux, Lyon and Vienne in the first centuries of the Empire. In Hispania, where in the 1st century AD. Saint Paul intended to go - certainly also counting on the support of Jewish communities already settled there -, in the third century the Jewish presence in Abdera (Adra) is attested, and the Christian synods show constant concern about a significant diffusion of Judaism in the society in path of Christianization
A constant trait that expresses the versatility and cultural ductility of the Jewish community compared to the cultures of the surrounding environment is manifested in linguistic uses, since, depending on the geographical and cultural area in which they live, the languages they use vary from Aramaic to Greek to Latin, the latter apparently in a lower percentage than the first two languages. In society they are found at all levels: we find Jews among the military, civil authorities, farmers, entrepreneurs, traders, even among mimes and gladiators. Since the 2nd/3rd century Septimius Severus, being in the East and in Egypt between 197 and 211 - after having probably noted the strong Jewish presence in the cities of the region - had allowed them to obtain administrative positions (
honores adipisci) without having to be less to their religious obligations. Furthermore, their communities are granted the right to assembly and legal personality, synagogues and Jewish cemeteries are protected, community institutions are favored in the educational, welfare and economic fields, in the form of schools, archives, libraries, hospitals, markets and shelters. .
The Jews, with the Constitutio Antoniniana de civitate of Antoninus Caracalla, in 212 received Roman citizenship like all the free inhabitants of the Empire, while they continued to enjoy the rights of local citizenship and the specific exemptions recognized to the Natio Iudaica (Jewish ethnic group ) as followers of a religio licita (authorized religion). This involves, among other things, the public recognition of one's private rights in matrimonial, patrimonial and testamentary matters, and the possibility of appealing to the Jewish jurisdictional authority recognized also in civil matters.
On the basis of these general principles, the so-called 'privileges' granted and reiterated on several occasions to the Jews by the Roman authority were configured: Roman law in fact contemplated cases of particular exemptions from the general prescriptions, through exceptions guaranteed by specific rules or privileges. This applies to the Jews, in order to allow them to fulfill religious obligations such as circumcision, cultic meetings and the observance of the Sabbath, and also exempting them from performing idolatrous acts of worship which were dutiful for the Romans, but contrary to the rigid monotheism prescribed by the Torah or Mosaic law. As a result, Jews were exempted from military service, although they could follow this career if they wanted; they can enter city administrations, despite being exempt from curial obligations; and they are allowed to contribute to the support of the patriarch in Palestine through the tribute of the
aurum coronarium and with other tithes intended for him.
This entire system of privileges is progressively emptied from Constantinus onwards: the Jews are no longer exempted from being appointed decurions and therefore shouldering all the maintenance costs of the city they belong to, their religious authorities, despite being
to any personal burden (
munus corporale), which could imply, in addition to military service, also other services or corvées for postal stations, provisions, judicial and guardianship functions, they however, unlike Christian priests, had to pay taxes. Furthermore, Jews could not own Christian slaves and marriages between Jews and Christian women were also prohibited
Honorius, in his love for symmetry, had the intention of abolishing these rules, obviously except the rules on taxation, so much so that he had commissioned an anonymous Jewish jurist the treatise
Collatio Legum Mosaicarum et Romanarum, in parallel the Mosaic law with Roman law, in belief that both legal systems deserve esteem and respect and express an intimate harmony. [9]The treatise contains a comparison between the Mosaic law and the Roman law, a comparison made by placing passages taken from the Pentateuch, and precisely from the first four books, alongside fragments taken from the works of Gaius, Papinian, Ulpian, Paul, Modestinus and from the Gregorian and Hermogenian. The work is divided into 10 titles. In each of them the biblical passage precedes, followed by the Roman texts reproduced in their original. The biblical passages reported are in Latin.
Galla Placidia decided to take the matter back into hand, also because, with the support of Anicius Probus, on 3 May 429 the Roman Jewish community sent a petition to the court of Ravenna, asking for the restoration of the ancient rights and complaining about the wrongs suffered by the
foederati: if the Suebi, faithful to their motto,
Every man is a potential customer, regardless of the God he believes in
despite being convinced Niceans, they were tolerant with the Jewish communities and the same was done by the Goths in Italy, the Goths in Gaul and the Alans, full of religious fervor, had begun to discriminate and harass them in every way, in the hope that they would convert to Christianity Aryan. Galla Placidia, faced with this situation, issued a
Rescriptum Principis in the name of Theodosius III, in which [10]
- Imperial protection was guaranteed to the Jewish communities, punishing with summa supplicia those who attempted to forcibly convert them
- Jews were not exempt from curial obligations, to contribute to the well-being of the Res Publica
- Their religious authorities, like Christian priests, were also exempt from direct and indirect taxes
- They could own Christian slaves, although their conversion to Judaism was prohibited
- Marriages between Christians and Jews were allowed again
- Jews could make careers in the imperial bureaucracy
- Jews could return to Jerusalem, subject to approval by Theodosius II
Approval which was requested with an embassy directed to Constantinople, which for Galla Placidia was the opportunity to present her nephew with a much more ambitious proposal; initiate a revision and rationalization of Roman law. Ravenna's proposal was to set up a mixed commission of jurists from Rome and Constantinople which would examine all the Imperial Constitutions issued from Constantinus onwards to cancel those no longer applicable and comment on and readapt the remaining ones to contemporary reality. [11]
[1] The second war against the Mauri
[2] Invented character
[3] Timgad
[4] Invented archaeological artefact
[5] Little king, chieftain
[6] Reform that occurs in ITL, justified by having to justify a multi-ethnic empire
[7] Inspired by an interesting article by Alberto Fumagalli
[8] Obviously, in this TL no ghettos!
[9] Dating based on the hypothesis that is currently most fashionable among Italian scholars
[10] Broader than the reform desired by Gallia Placidia OTL
[11] Even the Codex Theodosianus will be different ITL!