1st Edition
The Jews in the Roman Empire Legal Problems, from Herod to Justinian
By Alfredo Mordechai Rabello
Copyright 2000
384 Pages
by
Routledge
The focus of this book is on the legal status of the Jews within the Roman Empire and the changes that it underwent when the empire became Christian. Conflicts between Roman and Jewish jurisdiction form an important theme, while particular studies deal with questions of conversion, the observance of the Sabbath and Festivals, Hadrian's decree prohibiting circumcision, and with the treatment given to the Samaritans. In the field of family law, Professor Rabello deals with the issues of the patria potestas, family courts, marriage and divorce, and it is in these areas, he holds, that a basic understanding can be found of how the early Catholic Church treated Jews and Judaism.
Contents: Civil justice in Palestine from 63 BCE to 70 CE; Herod’s domestic court? The judgment of death for Herod’s sons; The ’Lex de Templo Hierosolymitano’, prohibiting Gentiles from entering Jerusalem’s Sanctuary; The situation of the Jews in Roman Spain; The ban on circumcision as a cause of Bar Kokhbah’s rebellion; On the relations between Diocletian and the Jews; La première loi de Théodose II, C.Th.XVI, 8, 18, et la fête de Pourim; L’observance des fêtes juives dans l’Empire romain; Divorce of Jews in the Roman Empire; Il problema dei matrimoni fra Ebrei e Cristiani nella legislazione imperiale e in quella della Chiesa (IV-VI secolo); The Samaritans in Justinian’s Corpus Iuris Civilis; Jewish and Roman jurisdiction; Civil Jewish jurisdiction in the days of Emperor Justinian (527-565): Codex Justinianus 1.9.8; The attitude of Rome towards conversions to Judaism (atheism, circumcision, proselytism); A tribute to Jean Juster; Index.
'... an excellent initiative...' Revue des Etudes Juives 'Whatever language he employs, be it English, French or Italian, Rabello writes with a pleasing clarity and an easy authority. Classicists and ancient historians will learn much from the papers collected here about the legal status of the Jews in the Roman empire, a subject that for far too long has remained far too difficult to access.' Latomus
