History of the Jews in the Roman Empire

The history of the Jews in the Roman Empire (Latin: Iudaeorum Romanum) traces the interaction of Jews and Romans during the period of the Roman Empire (27 BCE – CE 476). The two cultures began to overlap in the centuries just before the Christian Era. Jews, as part of the Jewish diaspora, migrated to Rome and to the territories of Roman Europe from the land of Israel, Asia Minor, Babylon, and Alexandria in response to economic hardship and incessant warfare over the land of Israel between the Ptolemaic and Seleucid empires from the 4th to the 1st centuries BCE. In Rome, Jewish communities thrived economically. Jews, both ethnic Jews and converts, became a significant part of the Roman Empire’s population (perhaps as much as ten percent) in the first century CE.

The Roman general Pompey in his eastern campaign established Roman Syria in 64 BCE and conquered Jerusalem shortly after, in 63 BCE. Julius Caesar occupied Alexandria in 47 BCE and defeated Pompey in 45 BCE. Under Julius Caesar, Judaism was officially recognised as a legal religion, a policy followed by the first Roman emperor, Augustus (r. 27 BCE – 14 CE). The Romans deposed the ruling Hasmonean dynasty of Judaea (in power from c. 140 BCE) after the Roman Senate declared Herod the Great “King of the Jews” in c. 40 BCE, the Roman province of Egypt was established in 30 BCE, and Judea proper, Samaria, and Idumea (biblical Edom) became the Roman province of Iudaea in 6 CE. Jewish–Roman tensions resulted in several Jewish–Roman wars, 66–135 CE, which resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Temple and the institution of the Jewish Tax in 70 CE and Hadrian’s attempt to create a new Roman colony named Aelia Capitolina c. 130.

In the course of the 1st century CE, Christianity began to develop from Second Temple Judaism. In 313, Constantine and Licinius issued the Edict of Milan giving official recognition to Christianity as a legal religion. Constantine the Great moved the Roman capital from Rome to Constantinople (“New Rome”) c. 330, sometimes considered the start of the Byzantine Empire, and with the Edict of Thessalonica in 380, Christianity became the state church of the Roman Empire. The Christian emperors persecuted their Jewish subjects and restricted their rights.

Jews in Rome

Jews have lived in Rome for over 2,000 years, longer than in any other European city. They originally went there from Alexandria, drawn by the lively commercial intercourse between those two cities. They may even have established a community there as early as the second pre-Christian century, for in the year 139 BCE, the pretor Hispanus issued a decree expelling all Jews who were not Roman citizens.

The Jewish community in Rome grew rapidly. Jews who were taken to Rome as prisoners were either ransomed by their coreligionists or set free by their Roman masters. They settled as traders on the right bank of the Tiber, and thus originated the Jewish quarter in Rome.

Even before Rome annexed Judea as a province, the Romans had interacted with Jews from their diasporas settled in Rome for a century and a half. Many cities of the Roman provinces in the eastern Mediterranean contained very large Jewish communities, dispersed from the time of the sixth century BCE.

Rome’s involvement in the Eastern Mediterranean dated from 63 BCE, following the end of the Third Mithridatic War, when Rome made Syria a province. After the defeat of Mithridates VI of Pontus, the proconsul Pompeius Magnus (Pompey the Great) remained to secure the area, including a visit to the Jerusalem Temple. The former king Hyrcanus II was confirmed as ethnarch of the Jews by Julius Caesar in 48 BCE. In 37 BCE, the Herodian Kingdom was established as a Roman client kingdom and in 6 CE parts became a province of the Roman Empire, named Iudaea Province.

In the Greek cities in the east of the Roman Empire, tensions often arose between the Greek and Jewish populations. Writing around 90 CE, the Jewish author Josephus cited decrees by Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, Augustus, and Claudius, granting Jewish communities a number of rights. Central privileges included the right to be exempted from polis religious rituals and the permission to follow their ancestral laws, customs, and religion. Jews were also exempted from military service and the provision of Roman troops. Contrary to Josephus’ portrayal, the Jews did not have the status of religio licita, as this status did not exist in the Roman Empire. The decrees were deployed by Josephus as instruments in a political struggle for status.

Because of their one-sided viewpoint, the authenticity of the decrees has been questioned many times, but they are now thought to be largely authentic. Still, Josephus gave only one side of the story by leaving out negative decisions and pretending that the rulings were universal, thus conveying that the Romans allowed the Jews to carry out their customs and rituals.

The financial crisis under Caligula (37–41 CE) has been proposed as the first open break between Rome and the Jews, even though problems were already evident during the Census of Quirinius in 6 CE and under Sejanus (before 31 CE).

Jewish–Roman Wars

In 66 CE, the First Jewish–Roman War began. The revolt was put down by the future Roman emperors Vespasian and Titus. In the Siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE, the Romans destroyed much of the Temple in Jerusalem and plundered artifacts, such as the Menorah. Jews continued to live in their land in significant numbers, the Kitos War of 115–117 notwithstanding, until Julius Severus ravaged Judea while putting down the Bar Kokhba revolt of 132–136. 985 villages were destroyed, and most of the Jewish population of central Judaea was wiped out, killed, sold into slavery, or forced to flee. Banished from Jerusalem, which was renamed Aelia Capitolina, the Jewish population now centered on Galilee, initially at Yavneh.

After the Jewish–Roman wars (66–135), Hadrian changed the name of Iudaea province to Syria Palaestina and Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina in an attempt to erase the historical ties of the Jewish people to the region. After 70 CE, Jews and Jewish proselytes were only allowed to practice their religion if they paid the Jewish tax, and after 135 were barred from Jerusalem except for the day of Tisha B’Av.

The Diaspora

Many Judaean Jews were sold into slavery, while others became citizens of other parts of the Roman Empire. The New Testament and other Pauline texts reference the large populations of Hellenized Jews in Roman cities. Hellenized Jews were affected spiritually by the diaspora, absorbing a sense of loss and homelessness, which became a cornerstone of the Jewish faith. The policy towards proselytization and conversion to Judaism, which spread the Jewish religion throughout Hellenistic civilization, seems to have ended with the wars against the Romans and the subsequent reconstruction of Jewish values for the post-Temple era.

Of critical importance to reshaping Jewish tradition from the Temple-based religion to the traditions of the Diaspora was the development of interpretations of the Torah found in the Mishnah and Talmud.

Late Roman Period

In spite of the failure of the Bar Kokhba revolt, Jews remained in the land of Israel in significant numbers. The Jews who remained went through numerous conflicts against consecutive occupiers. Some of the most important Jewish texts were composed in Israeli cities at this time, including the Jerusalem Talmud, the completion of the Mishnah, and the system of niqqud.

During this period, the tannaim and amoraim were active rabbis who organized and debated Jewish oral law. Judah haNasi, a wealthy rabbi and one of the last tannaim, became Patriarch of the Jewish community in Palestine. His decisions are contained in the Mishnah, Beraita, Tosefta, and various Midrash compilations. The Mishnah was completed shortly after 200 CE, probably by Judah haNasi. The commentaries of the amoraim upon the Mishnah are compiled in the Jerusalem Talmud, completed around 400 CE, probably in Tiberias.

In 351, the Jewish population in Sepphoris, under the leadership of Patricius, started a revolt against the rule of Constantius Gallus, which was eventually subdued.

According to tradition, in 359 Hillel II created the Hebrew calendar, a lunisolar calendar based on mathematics rather than observation. Until then, the entire Jewish community outside the land of Israel depended on the observational calendar sanctioned by the Sanhedrin.

Julian, the only emperor to reject Christianity after Constantine’s conversion, allowed Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple. However, Julian was killed in battle in 363, and the Third Temple was not rebuilt.

During the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628, many Jews sided against the Eastern Roman Empire in the Jewish revolt against Heraclius, aiding the invading Persian Sassanids in conquering Roman Egypt and Syria. In reaction, further anti-Jewish measures were enacted throughout the Eastern Roman realm and as far away as Merovingian France. Soon after, the Muslim conquests began in 634, during which many Jews initially rose up again against their Eastern Roman rulers.

Dispersion of the Jews in the Roman Empire

Following the 1st-century Great Revolt and the 2nd-century Bar Kokhba revolt, the destruction of Judea had a decisive influence on the Jewish population in the Roman Empire. Large numbers of Jews were dispersed throughout the Mediterranean and into Europe, North Africa, and Asia Minor. This diaspora allowed Jewish communities to flourish in cities such as Alexandria, Antioch, Rome, Carthage, and later throughout the Iberian Peninsula and Gaul.

The diaspora communities maintained strong cultural and religious cohesion, preserving the Hebrew language for liturgical purposes and developing local centers of learning. Synagogues became focal points for both religious practice and community organization. Hellenistic and later Latin influences were incorporated into Jewish life, while traditional Jewish laws and customs continued to define community identity.

Over time, the diaspora also contributed to the evolution of Jewish religious texts, including the Mishnah, Talmud, and various Midrashic works. These texts helped unify dispersed communities by codifying laws, rituals, and interpretations of scripture that could be followed without direct access to the Temple in Jerusalem.

By the late Roman and early Byzantine periods, Jewish communities faced increasing restrictions and persecution under Christian rule, prompting further migration and adaptation. Despite these challenges, Jewish life persisted, laying the foundation for the enduring presence of Jewish communities throughout Europe and the Mediterranean in the centuries to com