ROMAN EMPIRE - JEWS AND CHRISTIANS` CONFLICTS

There are numerous justifications for why Jews rebelled against Roman authority in the first and second centuries. Given that Jews were permitted to practice their faith freely and coexisted peacefully with Romans during their time in Rome. Julius Caesar and August were committed to upholding the rules that allowed Jews to practice their religion without interference from the Roman Empire. At the close of the first century A.D., the Jews had spread across the Mediterranean from their native land Judea. Although they had not gained the popularity, Jews had been able to settle in Egypt, Greece and Syrian. The Jews started rebelling against the Roman Empire in 66 A.D, which resulted to changes in their religion practices. The Jewish rebellion in Judea marked the beginning of their war against the Roman Empire.

The main issue that stimulated the conflicts between the Jews and the Romans was about the laws and customs of the Jews that led to many problem in the Roman State. The establishment of poll tax that and imposing to the Jews except the Greek leaders under the control of August was a source of rigidity in Rome. The Jews resisted implementation of the tax laws upon them claiming that it was a sign of making them appear inferior.

The discontent and negative attitude of Emperor Gaius towards the Jews communities in the cities of the Rome resulting to rioting and later outbreaks conflicts between the Jews and Greeks. The unrest in the cities caused destruction of property and claimed the lives of Jews and Greeks, the Roman Empire restricted the Jews from entering the city in Roman Empire from other state such as Egypt and Syria in fear of causing more chaos in the city.

There were other times the Romans made some attempts to remove statues in the Jewish temple and those around Jerusalem. The actions by the romans were against the Jewish laws and customs hence resulting to conflicts between them and the Jews. All the riots and troubles caused by Jewish communities were because of their laws and religious faith arousing the conflicts because of actions taken by the Roman state

On the other hand, the Christians also differed with Roman state because of various reasons. The major cause of conflicts was the Christians` teaching concerning the idol sacrifices. Despite the freedom and protection by Rome to worship God or any religious practices they chose, Christians were not pleased with sacrifices the Romans were offering to the idols as their gods. The Roman state had concentrated idol worship and believed that they protected them from various calamities that might befall them. Christians refused to acknowledge the significance of the state idols, rebuked and termed them as demons, and rebuked them. The Roman rule through its Emperors such as Nero, responded harshly persecuted and declared Christians as unpatriotic to the state, and as a result, conflict emerged between the two communities.

Under the rule of Emperor Nero, the conflict became rampant in the Roman Empire; the fire broke and burnt down the wealth of the city. Therefore, because Nero was against Christians, he accused them to have caused the fire and incited the pagans to rise against the Christians. Nero persecuted the Christian community who protected their distinct customs different from the rest of the people in Rome resulting to conflicts between them and the natives.

Although both Jews and Christians, viewed themselves as conveyors of truth that the state should emulated, romans regarded the as the lost generation and spread false message of religion. There was no clear distinction between the two religious believers, which made Romans more than two centuries to distinguish them. The Jews believed that they had direct link to true knowledge while the Christians as the conveyors and students of truth. The major distinction between Christians and Jews was their origin; the former believed they traced their faith from Jesus Christ, the son of God while the Jews traced their religion from Abraham.

Why did the Jews revolt against Rome? What evidence do we have for the three major revolts?

Jews fought against the Roman Empire because of brutal and bad governance while trying to their laws and customs, which had distinctive features from Romans. The Rome interfered with the rights of the Jews; they removed the removed the Jewish right in Caesarea. The Jewish also claimed that the Romans polluted and destroyed the statues in the synagogue where they worshiped their God. The Jews rose to revolt against the Roman rule because of the deliberate killings of their priests in unclear circumstances. For instance, the killing of High Priests Jonathan and Ananias.

The Roman state at times, forced the Jewish communities to offer sacrifices to the gods, which was against the laws and customs. There were also forces of class and ethnic between the Romans and the Jews that rose to conflicts between the two. The forces encouraged frequent robberies and rioting and the government in response, poses harsh actions towards the Jewish families depicting open biasness. Therefore, with all those oppressions the Jewish community decided to rebel against the Roman which the aroused the war between them that most of them still regret to date.

In 66 A.D under the emperor Nero, Jews in Judea broke out and rose against the Roman Empire and that marked the beginning of the barbaric war. The war between the Jews and Rome happened in three major revolts. The first revolt took place amid 66 and 70 C.E known as the “Great Revolt,’’ which its impact was huge and affect much of the Jewish religion practices. The second happened 40 years after the first revolt known as the ”Kito War,” between 115 and 117 and the third and the last revolt was the, ”Kochba Revolt,” happened from 132 to 135 C.E.

In the first revolt that occurred in the Eastern Mediterranean when Emperor Nero was in charge of Rome. The began after the riot in the Caesarea City when the Jews realized that the Roman governor had a relationship with the gentiles, destroyed property the governor invaded the temple in Jerusalem demanding for damage payment. The Jewish became wild and the war spread over the entire country. The evidence of the first war in include the seize of Jerusalem where many people died because of starvation, oppression and violence from the Roman armies led by Titus the son to Vespasian who had facilitated the takeover of Jerusalem. Another evidence that Josephus reveals, is the tragedy at Masada where the Zealots had taken refuge and the Roman soldiers massacred almost 600 children, women and men in cold blood led by Flavius. Emperor Nero also died in the first revolt.

Other evidences of the revolts by the Jews against the Rome as expose in the second and third revolts including ravaging Judea by Julius Severus in the war that took 2 years during the Kitos War that took place from 115 to 117C.E. The splitting of the Jewish and Christian communities during the Kochba Revolt where many homes were burnt, Jews killed, others flee to other countries and those captured sold as slaves. More than 40 skeletons found in the cave where the Kochba hid. At the end of the three revolts, the Jewish population in Judea wiped out and remained stateless. The war forced Jews to flee in foreign countries where they paid and others still massacred until the elapse of 2000 year when they discovered a country called Israel where they established themselves.

With reference to the so-called ‘Great Persecution’ under Diocletian and the Tetrarchs (c. 303-313 C.E.), what were the effects of persecution on Christianity?

The Christian persecution by Diocletian commenced in 303 C.E when the Rome was going through extensive political and economic instability. It was at this moment that Diocletian had made the Roman Empire powerful whereby he had divided it into what he called the for ”princeps,” and appointed four Emperors to run them. Persecution of Christians began after the staunch believers refused to acknowledge the significance of Roman gods in the state. The Roman Emperors such as Galerius who a close ally and son in-law to Diocletian, got disappointed by Christians` stand not respect their gods. They started to organize on how they will punish Christians. Therefore, Galerius incited Diocletian to persecute them. Some suggested kill all Christians, bar them from courts or cut them off as unpatriotic to the state and enemies of gods.

Romans started carrying out Christians by destroying the churches, one being in Nicomedia in March 305 C.E. They dispersed the articles threatening the leaders of churches if they still have the stand on their faith would be tortured and any accusation against them would be accepted. Then thereafter judges who had invaded the temples instructed Christians together with their families to offer sacrifice to Roman gods, but they held unto their faith and declined. Following their disobedient to the authorities of the Roman Empire, Diocletian gave orders to all the four Emperors to seize all the Presbyters and other leaders of the church. They imprisoned them, taken to courts whereby they set alters, forced them to turn and sacrifice to the gods. They burnt those leaders who refused to carry out sacrifices alive in the open.

Christians held to their stand and in 305 C.E, Diocletian and Emperor Maximianus of the Second Empire, realizing that the number of killings was growing big and Christians seemed not to change, they decided to resign. The persecution worsened further when Emperors Galerius and Constantinus held onto power replacing Diocletian and became the new ”Augusti.” The two barbaric Roman leaders organized for cruel executions for all Christians in the Rome. Eusebius argues that they deliberately, tortuously mistreated Christians and eventually burning them in the open to death. The awful acts meant to infringe and turn Christians to worship idols but Christians devoted to worship God through the Messiah who formed the basis of their religion. Under the control or Galerius, all the churches were set to ablaze and demolished the temples where Christians met to worship their God. The severe punishment by the laws against Christians became regular; they did not spare any Christian community within the walls of the Roman Empire. There were mass killings; the ”wild beasts” crucified many people, burnt them every day and left them with severe injuries while protecting their faith in Jesus Christ.

Despite all the abhorrent acts by the Roman state to innocent Christians, still demanded capitation tax from the survivors on the Roman Empire. The Christian Survivors declined to pay the tax but Galerius instructed the soldiers in the market to hang their sons to instill fear to their fathers. The brutal action by the state led to deterioration of economy, livestock died and the entire production from any particular sector decreased. It was like a plague that came and swept everything leaving beggars on the streets of the cities. The political and economic stability of the state collapsed along with its currency. Tax system relied on the kind payment whereby only those who felt and could afford would pay.

During massacre, the lawyers and other literate working in the courts as judges ran for exile; the government forbid the use of writing materials and whoever had a book was threaten or killed for being the enemy of the state. There was total illiteracy in the Roman Empire, they dissolved the law was and the government allowed and licensed illiterate and rude men to be in charge of courts as judges. The whole Empire turned into a mess until when Emperor Constantine took over the power of the entire western Empire in 312 C.E. God spoke to him through a dream, turned to Christianity and managed to unite the Romans and Christian family again.

References

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David, V. (2016) ‘Writing Jewish history’, Israel Affairs, 22(2), pp. 257–269.

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