Nadene Goldfoot
"Julius Caesar was known as a great friend to the Jews, and they were among the first to mourn his assassination. "He may have had an ultimate reason for treating them so well. Hasmoneans/Maccabees – had a fearsome reputation. The Romans referred to the Jews as “porcupines.” Just as a porcupine is an animal that even great predators avoid, so too the Jews. Even if you ate it you would be sorry. The Jews had the reputation as difficult to fight in a war and impossible to govern. Moreover, the Romans viewed the Jews as “atheists” or “non-believers.” Anyone who was religious, in their world view, had a god that you could see. They could not comprehend an invisible God with a Temple that had no visible idol to worship.
How Julius Caesar showed his respect for Jews was that "Julius Caesar made a pillar of brass for the Jews at Alexandria, and declared publicly that they (Jews) were citizens of Alexandria, Egypt."
He made the following award:
In those days the king would
also be the high priest.
Whereas Hyrcanus, the son of Alexander Yanni, the Jew, a high priest of the Jews, hath demonstrated his fidelity and diligence about our affairs, was the favorite Jew of Caesar. Who was he?
Hyrcanus was the eldest son of Alexander Jannaeus, King and High Priest, and Alexandra Salome. After the death of Alexander in 76 BC, his widow succeeded to the rule of Judea and installed her elder son Hyrcanus as High Priest. Alexander had numerous conflicts with the Pharisees. So Hyrcanus was believed to be supported by the Pharisees, especially later in his tenure.
". [Hyrcanus II was the son of Alexander Yannai, the Hasmonean King who ruled from 103-76 B.C.E.]
Caesar continues his writing: This both now and in former times, both in peace and in war, as many of our generals have borne witness, and Hyrcanus came to our assistance in the last Alexandrian war, with fifteen hundred soldiers;
When he was sent by me to Mithridates, showed himself superior in valor to all the rest of that army; - for these reasons I will that Hyrcanus, the son of Alexander, and his children,
Be ethnarchs of the Jews, and have the high priesthood of the Jews for ever, according to the customs of their forefathers, and that he and his sons be our confederates; and that besides this, everyone of them be reckoned among our particular friends.
1. I also ordain that he and his children retain whatsoever privileges belong to the office of high priest, or whatsoever favors have been hitherto granted them; and
2. He was not going to force Jews to find the soldiers winter quarters or take any money from them.
3. He was saying that Hyrcanus and his children were to rule over the nation of Jews. This was a decree. They were to receive profits of that position.
4. Hyrcanus's job was to defend those injured.
5. Rome also accepted the Jewish law of allowing the land to rest on the 7th year and did not expect taxes (tribute)to be paid for that year.
Ambassadors were to be sent to Hyrcanus who should be in Jerusalem,
Judaea.
That may discourse with him about a league of friendship and mutual assistance; and that a table of brass, containing the premises, be openly proposed in the capitol, and at Sidon, and Tyre, and Askelon, and in the temple, engraven in Roman and Greek letters: that this decree may also be communicated to the quaestors and praetors of the several cities, and to the friends of the Jews;
That the ambassadors may have presents made them; and that these decrees be sent every where."
4. "Caius Caesar, imperator, dictator, consul, hath granted, That out of regard to the honor, and virtue, and kindness of the man, and for the advantage of the senate, and of the people of Rome, Hyrcanus, the son of Alexander, both he and his children, be high priests and priests of Jerusalem, and of the Jewish nation, by the same right, and according to the same laws, by which their progenitors have held the priesthood."
5. "Caius Caesar, consul the fifth time, hath decreed, That the Jews shall possess Jerusalem, and may encompass that city with walls; and that Hyrcanus, the son of Alexander, the high priest and ethnarch of the Jews, retain it in the manner he himself pleases; and that the Jews be allowed to deduct out of their tribute, every second year the land is let [in the Sabbatic period], a corus of that tribute; and that the tribute they pay be not let to farm, nor that they pay always the same tribute."
6. "Caius Caesar, imperator the second time, hath ordained, That all the country of the Jews, excepting Joppa, do pay a tribute yearly for the city Jerusalem, excepting the seventh, which they call the sabbatical year, because thereon they neither receive the fruits of their trees, nor do they sow their land; and that they pay their tribute in Sidon on the second year [of that sabbatical period], the fourth part of what was sown: and besides this, they are to pay the same tithes to Hyrcanus and his sons which they paid to their forefathers.
And that no one, neither president, nor lieutenant, nor ambassador, raise auxiliaries within the bounds of Judea; nor may soldiers exact money of them for winter quarters, or under any other pretense; but that they be free from all sorts of injuries; and that whatsoever they shall hereafter have, and are in possession of, or have bought, they shall retain them all.
It is also our pleasure that the city Joppa, which the Jews had originally, when they made a league of friendship with the Romans, shall belong to them, as it. formerly did; and that Hyrcanus, the son of Alexander, and his sons, have as tribute of that city from those that occupy the land for the country, and for what they export every year to Sidon, twenty thousand six hundred and seventy-five modii every year, the seventh year, which they call the Sabbatic year, excepted, whereon they neither plough, nor receive the product of their trees.
It is also the pleasure of the senate, that as to the villages which are in the great plain, which Hyrcanus and his forefathers formerly possessed, Hyrcanus and the Jews have them with the same privileges with which they formerly had them also; and that the same original ordinances remain still in force which concern the Jews with regard to their high priests; and that they enjoy the same benefits which they have had formerly by the concession of the people, and of the senate; and let them enjoy the like privileges in Lydda.
It is the pleasure also of the senate that Hyrcanus the ethnarch, and the Jews, retain those places, countries, and villages which belonged to the kings of Syria and Phoenicia, the confederates of the Romans, and which they had bestowed on them as their free gifts.
Now for following Roman Culture
It is also granted to Hyrcanus, and to his sons, and to the ambassadors by them sent to us, that in the fights between single gladiators, and in those with beasts, they shall sit among the senators to see those shows; and that when they desire an audience, they shall be introduced into the senate by the dictator, or by the general of the horse; and when they have introduced them, their answers shall be returned them in ten days at the furthest, after the decree of the senate is made about their affairs."
Here's where the Jews of this day were not
following the Golden Rule: Don't do to others
what you don't want done to you. (Hillel-1st century BCE)
Rabbi, President of Sanhedrin, noted for humility and leniency;
came up with 7 rules of Bible interpretation
8. "Julius Caius, praetor [consul] of Rome, to the magistrates, senate, and people of the Parians, sendeth greeting. The Jews of Delos, and some other Jews that sojourn there, in the presence of your ambassadors, signified to us, that, by a decree of yours, you forbid them to make use of the customs of their forefathers, and their way of sacred worship. Now it does not please me that such decrees should be made against our friends and confederates, whereby they are forbidden to live according to their own customs, or to bring in contributions for common suppers and holy festivals, while they are not forbidden so to do even at Rome itself; for even Caius Caesar, our imperator and consul, in that decree wherein he forbade the Bacchanal rioters to meet in the city, did yet permit these Jews, and these only, both to bring in their contributions, and to make their common suppers.
Accordingly, when I forbid other Bacchanal rioters, I permit these Jews to gather themselves together, according to the customs and laws of their forefathers, and to persist therein. It will be therefore good for you, that if you have made any decree against these our friends and confederates, to abrogate the same, by reason of their virtue and kind disposition towards us."
Hyrcanus II died in 31 BCE. He had succeeded his mother, Salome Alexandra in 67 BCE but was driven from the throne and high priesthood by his brother, Aristobulus.
The first Hyrcanus was John, the son and successor of Simon, the Hasmonean who ruled from 135 to 104 BCE. He was the governor of Gezer, but after the murder of his father and 2 brothers by his brother -in -law Ptolemy, and then escaped to Jerusalem where he seized power before Ptolemy could gain control. It's quite sad to me to see the intermarriage of a descendant of Judah the Maccabee, hero of our Chanukah history marrying Ptolemy for any reason, and this would be for political power. Ptolemy was the name of the 1st Macedonian king of Egypt, starting the Ptolemaic dynasty. All the kings then bore his name. A number of Jews, including the high priest Hezekiah, went with him to Egypt in about 311 BCE after a 2nd invasion. He later retook Jerusalem and deported a large number of Jews to Egypt. He finally subjected Palestine in c 301 BCE.
A Ptolemy, Soter II Lathyrus in 116 to 181 BCE had attacked Alexander Yannai but was driven off by his mother, Cleopatra in 104 -103 BCE
Judea owed to the Ptolemies an administrative system which was little altered by the Seleucids and Hasmoneans and survived until Roman times.
It was Pompey, a Roman general (106-48 BCE) who arrived in Jerusalem in 63BCE as the arbiter in the dispute between Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus for the throne of Judea. He favored Hyrcanus II according to Caesar's edict. The Jewish forces lead by Hyrcanus promptly withdrew. The forces of his opponent, Aristobulus, fought against Pompey and Hyrcanus. After two months, the Romans broke through and massacred some 12,000 of the Jews defending the Temple.
According to Josephus, Pompey stepped into the Holy of Holies, the innermost sanctum of the Temple. However, he did not take any booty or interrupt the services of the Temple. The next day he withdrew his army from the Temple Mount and returned it to the authority of the Jews.
On January 10, 49 BCE, Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon, signaling the start of civil war between his forces and those of the Roman who defiled the Holy of Holies.
Until that time, Hyrcanus had been an official ally of Pompey. However, he shrewdly switched sides and declared his allegiance to Caesar. He then committed over 3,000 Jewish soldiers to an expeditionary force that invaded Egypt and helped raise the siege of Alexandria.
The outcome of all this was that Pompey terminated Jewish independence enjoyed since Simon the Maccabee.
Marc Antony (January 14, 83 BCE-August 1, 30 BCE became leader after Caesar was assassinated in 44 BCE, but gave power to a man whose rule was as antithetical to Jewish principles and ideals as imaginable.
That man was Herod (73 BCE-4BCE) son of Antipater the Idumean by his Nabatean wife, Cypros, a murderous, tyrant whose ways would eventually lead to the destruction of the Jewish commonwealth and the beginning of the long exile that Jews still found themselves in until April 14, 1948, date of Israel's revival in the world of nations. What he did that was good was to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem and on a magnificent scale and created 2 new cities-Sebaste and Caesarea. Outsiders heard he was the generous patron and protector of the Jews. He had married the Hasmonean Mariamne, granddaughter of the high priest, Hyrcanus.
It was 10 years after Herod's death that Rome had direct administration of Judaea as by 40 BCE, Judaea had become a Province of the Roman Empire.
Kings of the Empire of Israel ended with Zedekiah (597-586 BCE) who was the son of King Josiah. His real name had been Mattaniah but adopted this name when appointed king by the conqueror, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia to succeed the exiled King Jehoiachin.
Resource: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Italy
http://www.netours.com/content/view/14/29/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Caesar
https://www.jewishhistory.org/julius-caesar-and-the-jews/
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/palestine-under-roman-rule/
 |
| Gaius Julius Caesar-1st Century BCE b: 12 Iuly 100 BCE-d: 15 March 44 BCE. Known by his nomen and cognomen Julius Caesar, was a populist Roman dictator, politician, military general, and historian who played a critical role in the events that led to the demise of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire. He also wrote Latin prose. Who hasn't heard of the love affair of Caesar and Cleopatra of Egypt? |
How Julius Caesar showed his respect for Jews was that "Julius Caesar made a pillar of brass for the Jews at Alexandria, and declared publicly that they (Jews) were citizens of Alexandria, Egypt."
He made the following award:
In those days the king would
also be the high priest.
Whereas Hyrcanus, the son of Alexander Yanni, the Jew, a high priest of the Jews, hath demonstrated his fidelity and diligence about our affairs, was the favorite Jew of Caesar. Who was he?
Hyrcanus was the eldest son of Alexander Jannaeus, King and High Priest, and Alexandra Salome. After the death of Alexander in 76 BC, his widow succeeded to the rule of Judea and installed her elder son Hyrcanus as High Priest. Alexander had numerous conflicts with the Pharisees. So Hyrcanus was believed to be supported by the Pharisees, especially later in his tenure.
". [Hyrcanus II was the son of Alexander Yannai, the Hasmonean King who ruled from 103-76 B.C.E.]
Hyrcanus was a weak figure who on his own could neither administer the affairs of Judea nor collect its taxes. For this reason, it became possible for the Idumaean Antipater, whose father had been forcibly converted to Judaism in the time of John Hyrcanus, to insinuate himself into the halls of power. [John Hyrcanus ruled the Hasmonean state from 134 B.C.E. through his death in 104 B.C.E. During his reign, the state vastly expanded, through conquest, to include Samaria, Transjordan and Idumea (northern Negev). When John Hyrcanus conquered Idumea, he converted the Idumeans to Judaism.]"
Caesar continues his writing: This both now and in former times, both in peace and in war, as many of our generals have borne witness, and Hyrcanus came to our assistance in the last Alexandrian war, with fifteen hundred soldiers;
When he was sent by me to Mithridates, showed himself superior in valor to all the rest of that army; - for these reasons I will that Hyrcanus, the son of Alexander, and his children,
Be ethnarchs of the Jews, and have the high priesthood of the Jews for ever, according to the customs of their forefathers, and that he and his sons be our confederates; and that besides this, everyone of them be reckoned among our particular friends.
1. I also ordain that he and his children retain whatsoever privileges belong to the office of high priest, or whatsoever favors have been hitherto granted them; and
2. He was not going to force Jews to find the soldiers winter quarters or take any money from them.
3. He was saying that Hyrcanus and his children were to rule over the nation of Jews. This was a decree. They were to receive profits of that position.
4. Hyrcanus's job was to defend those injured.
5. Rome also accepted the Jewish law of allowing the land to rest on the 7th year and did not expect taxes (tribute)to be paid for that year.
Ambassadors were to be sent to Hyrcanus who should be in Jerusalem,
Judaea.
That may discourse with him about a league of friendship and mutual assistance; and that a table of brass, containing the premises, be openly proposed in the capitol, and at Sidon, and Tyre, and Askelon, and in the temple, engraven in Roman and Greek letters: that this decree may also be communicated to the quaestors and praetors of the several cities, and to the friends of the Jews;
That the ambassadors may have presents made them; and that these decrees be sent every where."
4. "Caius Caesar, imperator, dictator, consul, hath granted, That out of regard to the honor, and virtue, and kindness of the man, and for the advantage of the senate, and of the people of Rome, Hyrcanus, the son of Alexander, both he and his children, be high priests and priests of Jerusalem, and of the Jewish nation, by the same right, and according to the same laws, by which their progenitors have held the priesthood."
5. "Caius Caesar, consul the fifth time, hath decreed, That the Jews shall possess Jerusalem, and may encompass that city with walls; and that Hyrcanus, the son of Alexander, the high priest and ethnarch of the Jews, retain it in the manner he himself pleases; and that the Jews be allowed to deduct out of their tribute, every second year the land is let [in the Sabbatic period], a corus of that tribute; and that the tribute they pay be not let to farm, nor that they pay always the same tribute."
6. "Caius Caesar, imperator the second time, hath ordained, That all the country of the Jews, excepting Joppa, do pay a tribute yearly for the city Jerusalem, excepting the seventh, which they call the sabbatical year, because thereon they neither receive the fruits of their trees, nor do they sow their land; and that they pay their tribute in Sidon on the second year [of that sabbatical period], the fourth part of what was sown: and besides this, they are to pay the same tithes to Hyrcanus and his sons which they paid to their forefathers.
And that no one, neither president, nor lieutenant, nor ambassador, raise auxiliaries within the bounds of Judea; nor may soldiers exact money of them for winter quarters, or under any other pretense; but that they be free from all sorts of injuries; and that whatsoever they shall hereafter have, and are in possession of, or have bought, they shall retain them all.
It is also our pleasure that the city Joppa, which the Jews had originally, when they made a league of friendship with the Romans, shall belong to them, as it. formerly did; and that Hyrcanus, the son of Alexander, and his sons, have as tribute of that city from those that occupy the land for the country, and for what they export every year to Sidon, twenty thousand six hundred and seventy-five modii every year, the seventh year, which they call the Sabbatic year, excepted, whereon they neither plough, nor receive the product of their trees.
It is also the pleasure of the senate, that as to the villages which are in the great plain, which Hyrcanus and his forefathers formerly possessed, Hyrcanus and the Jews have them with the same privileges with which they formerly had them also; and that the same original ordinances remain still in force which concern the Jews with regard to their high priests; and that they enjoy the same benefits which they have had formerly by the concession of the people, and of the senate; and let them enjoy the like privileges in Lydda.
It is the pleasure also of the senate that Hyrcanus the ethnarch, and the Jews, retain those places, countries, and villages which belonged to the kings of Syria and Phoenicia, the confederates of the Romans, and which they had bestowed on them as their free gifts.
Now for following Roman Culture
It is also granted to Hyrcanus, and to his sons, and to the ambassadors by them sent to us, that in the fights between single gladiators, and in those with beasts, they shall sit among the senators to see those shows; and that when they desire an audience, they shall be introduced into the senate by the dictator, or by the general of the horse; and when they have introduced them, their answers shall be returned them in ten days at the furthest, after the decree of the senate is made about their affairs."
Here's where the Jews of this day were not
following the Golden Rule: Don't do to others
what you don't want done to you. (Hillel-1st century BCE)
Rabbi, President of Sanhedrin, noted for humility and leniency;
came up with 7 rules of Bible interpretation
8. "Julius Caius, praetor [consul] of Rome, to the magistrates, senate, and people of the Parians, sendeth greeting. The Jews of Delos, and some other Jews that sojourn there, in the presence of your ambassadors, signified to us, that, by a decree of yours, you forbid them to make use of the customs of their forefathers, and their way of sacred worship. Now it does not please me that such decrees should be made against our friends and confederates, whereby they are forbidden to live according to their own customs, or to bring in contributions for common suppers and holy festivals, while they are not forbidden so to do even at Rome itself; for even Caius Caesar, our imperator and consul, in that decree wherein he forbade the Bacchanal rioters to meet in the city, did yet permit these Jews, and these only, both to bring in their contributions, and to make their common suppers.
Accordingly, when I forbid other Bacchanal rioters, I permit these Jews to gather themselves together, according to the customs and laws of their forefathers, and to persist therein. It will be therefore good for you, that if you have made any decree against these our friends and confederates, to abrogate the same, by reason of their virtue and kind disposition towards us."
Hyrcanus II died in 31 BCE. He had succeeded his mother, Salome Alexandra in 67 BCE but was driven from the throne and high priesthood by his brother, Aristobulus.
The first Hyrcanus was John, the son and successor of Simon, the Hasmonean who ruled from 135 to 104 BCE. He was the governor of Gezer, but after the murder of his father and 2 brothers by his brother -in -law Ptolemy, and then escaped to Jerusalem where he seized power before Ptolemy could gain control. It's quite sad to me to see the intermarriage of a descendant of Judah the Maccabee, hero of our Chanukah history marrying Ptolemy for any reason, and this would be for political power. Ptolemy was the name of the 1st Macedonian king of Egypt, starting the Ptolemaic dynasty. All the kings then bore his name. A number of Jews, including the high priest Hezekiah, went with him to Egypt in about 311 BCE after a 2nd invasion. He later retook Jerusalem and deported a large number of Jews to Egypt. He finally subjected Palestine in c 301 BCE.
A Ptolemy, Soter II Lathyrus in 116 to 181 BCE had attacked Alexander Yannai but was driven off by his mother, Cleopatra in 104 -103 BCE
Judea owed to the Ptolemies an administrative system which was little altered by the Seleucids and Hasmoneans and survived until Roman times.
It was Pompey, a Roman general (106-48 BCE) who arrived in Jerusalem in 63BCE as the arbiter in the dispute between Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus for the throne of Judea. He favored Hyrcanus II according to Caesar's edict. The Jewish forces lead by Hyrcanus promptly withdrew. The forces of his opponent, Aristobulus, fought against Pompey and Hyrcanus. After two months, the Romans broke through and massacred some 12,000 of the Jews defending the Temple.
According to Josephus, Pompey stepped into the Holy of Holies, the innermost sanctum of the Temple. However, he did not take any booty or interrupt the services of the Temple. The next day he withdrew his army from the Temple Mount and returned it to the authority of the Jews.
On January 10, 49 BCE, Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon, signaling the start of civil war between his forces and those of the Roman who defiled the Holy of Holies.
Until that time, Hyrcanus had been an official ally of Pompey. However, he shrewdly switched sides and declared his allegiance to Caesar. He then committed over 3,000 Jewish soldiers to an expeditionary force that invaded Egypt and helped raise the siege of Alexandria.
The outcome of all this was that Pompey terminated Jewish independence enjoyed since Simon the Maccabee.
Marc Antony (January 14, 83 BCE-August 1, 30 BCE became leader after Caesar was assassinated in 44 BCE, but gave power to a man whose rule was as antithetical to Jewish principles and ideals as imaginable.
That man was Herod (73 BCE-4BCE) son of Antipater the Idumean by his Nabatean wife, Cypros, a murderous, tyrant whose ways would eventually lead to the destruction of the Jewish commonwealth and the beginning of the long exile that Jews still found themselves in until April 14, 1948, date of Israel's revival in the world of nations. What he did that was good was to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem and on a magnificent scale and created 2 new cities-Sebaste and Caesarea. Outsiders heard he was the generous patron and protector of the Jews. He had married the Hasmonean Mariamne, granddaughter of the high priest, Hyrcanus.
It was 10 years after Herod's death that Rome had direct administration of Judaea as by 40 BCE, Judaea had become a Province of the Roman Empire.
Kings of the Empire of Israel ended with Zedekiah (597-586 BCE) who was the son of King Josiah. His real name had been Mattaniah but adopted this name when appointed king by the conqueror, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia to succeed the exiled King Jehoiachin.
Resource: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Italy
http://www.netours.com/content/view/14/29/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Caesar
https://www.jewishhistory.org/julius-caesar-and-the-jews/
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/palestine-under-roman-rule/
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