East to West: The Triumph of Monotheism From 33:45
Interesting. I'll have to watch the series. Thank you.
I mean, even if it was true for 'anyone else', it was especially true for Jupiter. That being said, a monolatrous Jewish religion would be likely more comfortable with a broader and earlier understanding of shituf, which might make them more comfortable with it than OTL, since it can be understood as another deity voluntarily partnering with/serving Hashem.
I think that
shituf, i.e. another deity partnering with or being coequal with the Jewish God, is still incompatible with Judaic monolatrism due to the "thou shalt not have other Gods before me" thing. But perhaps a servitude relationship wouldn't be such an issue?
I think the best analogy we can make to that is the syncretic nature of early Christianity. I should learn more about that.
Modern scholars have actually asserted that idea about the Covenant. As for the 'Kingdom of Priests' thing, compare Aeneid VI.847-853:
"Others shall more smoothly forge breathing bronzes (or so I believe), shall draw living faces from marble; they shall better plead law-cases, and describe the course of heaven by a rod and foretell the stars' movements--you, Roman, who in your authority shall rule the nations, remember: these shall be your arts: to establish the ways of peace, to spare the conquered and lay low the proud'.
So, whilst Roman ideas of 'chosen-ness' are of course more imperialistic, there is still a moralizing element similar to the Jewish covenant.
Actually, I see room for multiple "chosen" peoples with different purposes in the
Aeneid passage. Non-Romans will be able to make better bronze items, marble statues, argue legally, and "describe the course of heaven by a rod and foretell the stars' movements." The Roman idea of their purpose is to create a just empire spanning the whole world - that's not necessarily in tension with the Jewish idea of their purpose, which is to instruct the world by example on the best way to worship God.
OTL post-Second Temple Judaism developed the concept of the "Noahide Laws," which is the Covenant that God made with Noah and is binding onto all human beings. They are:
- To establish just laws
- To not commit idolatry
- To not commit blasphemy
- To not commit sexual immorality
- To not commit murder
- To not commit theft
- To not eat an animal while it is still alive
I'm seeing a moralizing element in there that isn't incompatible with "to establish the ways of peace, to space the conquered and lay low the proud." Perhaps ITTL the Roman and Jewish religions would mesh in interesting ways, such that their self-proclaimed Covenants are seen as complementary and not contradictory?
Depending what plays out with a Second Temple and a possible Roman conquest (remember, a ~500 BCE POD is more than capable of butterflying Greco-Roman dominance), I could easily see something like OTL Hellenic Judaism becoming the mainstream rather than the Rabbinic Judaism of OTL.
How could Jewish monolatrism butterfly the Roman Empire? I'm not seeing it.
The big butterflies between the POD and the Roman conquest of Judea that I'm seeing are: more overt Jewish-Zoroastrian syncretism under the Temple-building Persian Empire and changes to the Maccabean Revolt (which OTL was less an uprising against the Hellenizing Seleucid Empire and more a civil war between Hellenic and traditionalist Jews that the Seleudic Emperors got involved in). What that specifically would look like it still up in the air. But this means the Hasmonean dynasty and Hanukkah are potentially butterflied, if either there is no civil war or if the war results in something different.
Either way, I don't see how that PODs the Romans. Jews just aren't a significant player in the wider Mediterranean at this time.
Regardless, the forms of Judaism that develop under the Roman empire really depend on what happens under the Seleucid one. I'm going to sketch out one possible scenario, specifically trying to avoid a "Jews cease to be meaningfully identifiable as Jewish" outcome:
Different Maccabean Revolt
Under the Seleucid Empire, a wary middle ground was found between Hellenism and traditional Judaism: local religious rituals and practices (the forms of animal sacrifice, dietary restrictions, and circumcision) will be maintained, but the name "Zeus" or "Zeus Pater" is incorporated alongside the other Jewish names for God. The concept of "Yahweh Sabaoth," the Lord of Hosts, becomes a more dominant concept in Jewish thinking, whereby the Greek deities and heroes are cast as powerful angelic servants within the divine court - similar to the syncretism of Jewish and Zoroastrian theology under Persia.
This goes well. In the Hellenic world, which did not have a unifying scriptural text, local ritual and religious practice were often left to the local temples. The Seleucids see the Jews as no exception. While there is tension concerning dietary restrictions and especially circumcision, those particular tensions aren't strong enough to fuel nearly as much anti-Hellenic sentiment - and responsive anti-traditionalist sentiment - as in OTL.
Therefore, High Priest Jason (or his ITTL Judean phi-Hellene high priest equivalent) is never suspected by the Tobiads (or their ITTL Judean phi-Hellene faction equivalent) of (in spite of OTL Jason's building a gymnasium in Jerusalem) being overly sympathetic to traditional Judaism. As such, Menelaus (or another Tobiad member equivalent) does not try to outbid Jason for the High Priest position, which was a position of leadership over Seleucid Judea and appointed by the imperial leadership. This completely butterflies the OTL causes of the Maccabean revolt.
(In OTL, Menelaus successfully outbids Jason but is left completely destitute and in debt, so he starts selling Temple treasures to pay off his creditors. There is a local protest where Menelaus executes many of the Jewish people who expose him. Consequently, while Antiochus IV is busy being beaten by the Romans in Egypt, Jason briefly conquers the Temple and kicks Menelaus to the curb. Menelaus goes to Antiochus, begging for violent anti-traditionalist action, and the revolt happens in response.)
With the moderate phi-Hellene High Priest Jason in charge, Second Temple Judaism becomes much more Hellenized. Jews quickly adopt Greek as the vernacular, abandoning Aramaic.
Priah (the more severe circumcision practice that was instituted as an anti-Hellenic measure by the Hasmoneans) is never implemented, but circumcision (and kashrut and shabbat) are not abandoned either. The Temple remains aniconic and is now dedicated to the worship of a Zeus-like Yahweh: storm God, law God, war God, fertility God.
However, the collapse of the Seleucid Empire was imminent. The Dynastic Wars happen after Antiochus IV anyway; Judea, like the other Levantine provinces, remained an important prize for the dynasts to fight over. Because Judea remained part of the Empire, Demetrius II Nicator (who ruled in Damascus) was able to defeat Alexander Balas and his Antioch-based successors. However, when Mithridates I of Parthia comes rolling in, the Jews - fondly remembering the Persians as the last imperial benefactor of traditional Judaism - erupt into a civil war.
The Maccabean Revolt happens! Sort of. Traditionalists, leaning into the cultural and religious tensions surrounding Jewish religious law, fight against their Hellenized brothers in guerrilla support for the Parthians. This serves to disrupt the Seleucid's Levantine power base, but is not enough to become fully independent before the region is subdued by the Romans.
Phraates II, son of Mithridates I, has a more difficult time against Demetrius' forces due to his possession of the whole Levant. The Parthians are squeezed between the Ziongu and the Seleucids. But the Seleucids are overstretched, their armies split between the coast (fighting the traditionalist Jewish rebellion and warding off the Romans) and deep into Parthia proper (fighting a Mede revolt and the Parthian army). The war stalemates in Media, with the Parthians unable to break through and kill Demetrius, but the Seleucid general is unable to advance further.
Ultimately, the Romans win. Pompey conquers the Levant and ends the Judean civil war. Jerusalem, held by the Traditionalists at the time, is sieged but not destroyed. A rump Seleucid realm remains outside the Roman east. Hellenstic monolatrous Judaism (HMJ) is lifted to dominance under the Romans, while the traditionalist anti-Hellenists are crushed.
