WI: Zealots never spark Jewish revolts against Rome

As many of you students of Antiquity may know, the Jewish community around 100 BCE to 150 CE was full of complex sectarian tensions between conventional groups such as the Sadducees and Pharisees (the latter ultimately won out and became the mainstream rabbinic faction) and more extreme factions such as the ascetic Essenes and the violently nationalist Zealots. The Zealot influence helped spark the war of 66-70 that led to Jerusalem's destruction, the 115-117 Kitos War, and the 132-135 Bar Kokhba revolt, and ultimately Rome forcibly scattered many Jews remaining in Judea and Egypt (though not all), leading to the current diaspora situation.

Let's say for whatever reason, better messaging by Pharisees, less heavy-handed Roman treatment of refusal to honor the imperial cult, etc., the revolts are staved off and the Jews of the Roman Empire quietly fade into the Empire like most of the other citizens, eventually becoming quite Romanized. What is the ultimate fate of the Jews as a people as Rome falls (if it does in this scenario the same way)?

Are the Mediterranean Jews ultimately Christianized? Does the underlying POD preclude Christianity forming in the first place? Ditto for Islam? If Islam does form as in OTL, does the larger number of Jews left in Palestine and Egypt convert to Islam due to a less deeply felt sense of "separateness" within the Roman system (I assume Byzantine persecution would be less acute in this TL, especially if many convert or practice syncretic Judaeo-Christian faith)? Or does Judaism remain something akin to native spiritualities like Chinese folk religion (as in pre Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, etc.), Shinto, or native American and African beliefs, coexisting with an overlay of evangelizing global religions as more of a secular tradition than a worshipped faith?

In any event, were Judaism to be absorbed and most Jews converted as I envision in such scenarios, I still think there would be a population of groups outside the Roman sphere, perhaps in China or India for instance, that would be similar to the OTL Parsi community (Zoroastrians) of India in their continuing adherence to the Jewish faith, just not the interconnected community that exists today.
 
Well the goal here then is to reduce the explosion of apocalyptic/zealot preachers that sprung up basically everywhere in the period, of which Jesus was just one of many. So in this scenario, there's almost certainly no Christianity. Even if Jesus and Chrsitianity makes an appearance, it will be nothing more than a Jewish sect at best. It didn't differentiate itself from Judaism until after the Great Jewish Revolt, because, well, it was probably best to differentiate yourself as far as possible from ordinary Jews at that point just due to Roman sentiment against Jews after the revolt alone.
 
The Zealots were not the sole group urging revolt, especially in the latter two wars. Even in the Great Revolt, the aristocrats and priests joined and led the war, Josephus being the most prominent example. Josephus just needed a scapegoat he could claim started the war, and he was predisposed to dislike the odious Zealots. Thats not to say the Zealots were good guys, they were fundamentalist...Zealots, but they were more a symptom of Judea's situation then a cause of war. The Bar Kokhba revolt was partially led by Rabbi Akiva, and other members of the new rabbinic establishment. Zealots were only a particular brand of nationalistic revolutionaries, centered on the lower classes, who were influential only in the years leading up the Great Revolt.

Honestly, the best way to ensure Romanization of the Jews is to have the Maccabean revolt against the Seleucid empire fail. Up till that time Hellenization was going along quite nicely, but after the nigh miraculous success of the traditionalist Jews and the subsequent purging of the Hellenized Jews in what was an extended civil war, Hellenization lost a significant part of its allure. The only problem is that a lot of Roman history would be butterflied away.

Neglecting that, it is interesting to note that though Jews were granted Roman citizenship and even ornamenta praetoria, there is not a single documented Jewish senator. There is not even a single documented senator from the whole Judea/Palestine province in all of Roman history! For various reasons, even the upper class in Judea was not conforming. Archaeological evidence supports that, showing that even in the private residences of the Judean elite figural images were not depicted.

Absent a revolt, the Temple would remain the central focus of Judaism for a while longer. Animal sacrifices would eventually ceased to be offered, and the Temple would probably be destroyed at some point in history, though it might be rebuilt again. This could exacerbate the sectarian differences present in Judea, leading to multiple separate religions developing and claiming to be the rightful Jewish population. Obviously, assimilation would occur faster, but the reverse would happen as well, the large population of Roman's sympathetic to Judaism would exist longer, and would leave a more lasting Judaic impact on Roman culture. This could easily set the stage for an earlier monotheistic state religion that may or may not be based on Judaism.

You are also totally correct in stating that there were many Jewish communities outside of Roman dominion. Adiabene, a Parthian client state, was actually ruled by Jewish monarchs for a time in the first century! They would exist in exile as they had for the past 6 centuries. The only difference is that the Mishnah and Talmud and other works of Oral Torah might not be written down, as there would be no fear of Judaism being wiped out, leading to a Judaism that resembles a cross between rabbinical Judaism and the Karaites.

In the long term, Judaism might be less stigmatized throughout history, though also much more theologically diverse. Some branches of Judaism would survive just barely, like the Samaritans today, and others would go extinct. I doubt that there would be any syncreticism between Judaism and Roman polytheism, at least on the Jewish side, as the two religions are too alien to each other. It would be a primarily near eastern religion, and would have less contact with developing European civilization. Christianity might succeed as in OTL, or it might become an obscure sect of Judaism, and Islam would most likely never exist.

Finally, if you are interested in Second Temple Judaism and the Roman Empire, I invite you to read my timeline,The Redemption of Zion, about a Great Jewish Revolt which does not result in a Jewish defeat :) .
 
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