Did Nerva relaxing the fiscus Judaicus help Christianity?
Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2017 12:09 am
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The fiscus Judaicus (aka fiscus Iudaicus) was the tax-collecting agency instituted to collect the new tax imposed on Jews throughout the Roman Empire a,by Vespasian after the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple in AD 70 (Josephus BJ 7. 218; Dio Cassius 66.7.2). Revenues were directed to the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus in Rome.
It replaced the levy (Tithe) payable by Jews towards the upkeep of the Temple, which had been payable only by adult men between the ages of 20 and 50. The fiscus Iudaicus was imposed on all Jews, including women, children, and elderly —and even Jewish slaves. It was humiliating to the Jews. Those who had abandoned Judaism were exempt from paying it.
One of the consequences of the Jewish Tax was that it forced the various communities to define themselves as either Jewish or non-Jewish. One the one hand there were those traditional Jews who saw themselves as Torah observant and covenant members of Israel and would never shrink from that identity; they would clearly pay the tax. On the other hand, there were those who, although Jewish by blood, tried to hide their Jewishness in order to prevent having to pay the tax ... This was quite widespread.
For example, there were thousands of Jews who had been captured as slaves and been brought to Rome during Pompey's assault on Jerusalem in 63 BCE. By the mid 1st century onwards, many of their offspring saw themselves as thoroughly Roman, so they bitterly resented having to pay such a heavy tax.
Finally, there were those who, although not Jewish by blood, nevertheless practiced the Jewish faith in both Messianic and traditional Jewish communities. Of these groups, the early Messianic Community found itself particularly vulnerable since these followers of "The Way" belonged to a faith that was still considered a party of Judaism.
Domitian, who ruled from 81 to 96 AD, expanded the fiscus Iudaicus so that, besides those born Jewish and converts to Judaism, those who concealed the fact that they were Jews, or who merely observed Jewish customs, also became subject to it. Suetonius relates that, when he was young, an old man of 90 was examined to see whether he was circumcised, which shows that during this period the tax was levied even on those above the age of 62.
Louis Feldman has argued that Domitan's increased harshness was caused by the success of the Jewish and possibly messianic proselytism.
After the murder of Domitian in 96 AD, Nerva relaxed the rules of collection, limiting the tax to those who openly practised Judaism: according to Cassius Dio, "followed their ancestral customs".
The coins of Nerva bear the legend fisci Iudaici calumnia sublata -"abolition of malicious prosecution in connection with the Jewish tax"- in reference to his reform of the harsh -malicious- policies of Domitian.
But, ironically, Nerva's relaxtion of the Jewish Tax would prove to be even more destructive under Nerva - Gentile believers new to the [Jewish] Messianic faith, and who, up to this time, had never felt any identification with the Jews, found themselves the recipients of a growing anti-Gentile polemic within the Traditional Jewish communities. And to renounce the faith was to renounce any hope of being part of a proposed 'world to come'.
It remains unclear when exactly the fiscus Iudaicus was eventually abolished. Documentary evidence confirms the collection of the tax in the middle of the 2nd century, and literary sources indicate that the tax was still in existence in the early 3rd century. It is not known when the tax was formally abolished. Some historians credit the emperor Julian the Apostate with its abolition in about 361 or 362.
Bibliography
Marius Heemstra (2010) The Fiscus Judaicus and the Parting of the Ways (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck)
http://www.livius.org/articles/concept/fiscus-judaicus/
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/artic ... s-judaicus
https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/dai ... ewish-tax/
http://www.ableever.net/Messianic/Keep_ ... daicus.pdf
.
The fiscus Judaicus (aka fiscus Iudaicus) was the tax-collecting agency instituted to collect the new tax imposed on Jews throughout the Roman Empire a,by Vespasian after the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple in AD 70 (Josephus BJ 7. 218; Dio Cassius 66.7.2). Revenues were directed to the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus in Rome.
It replaced the levy (Tithe) payable by Jews towards the upkeep of the Temple, which had been payable only by adult men between the ages of 20 and 50. The fiscus Iudaicus was imposed on all Jews, including women, children, and elderly —and even Jewish slaves. It was humiliating to the Jews. Those who had abandoned Judaism were exempt from paying it.
One of the consequences of the Jewish Tax was that it forced the various communities to define themselves as either Jewish or non-Jewish. One the one hand there were those traditional Jews who saw themselves as Torah observant and covenant members of Israel and would never shrink from that identity; they would clearly pay the tax. On the other hand, there were those who, although Jewish by blood, tried to hide their Jewishness in order to prevent having to pay the tax ... This was quite widespread.
For example, there were thousands of Jews who had been captured as slaves and been brought to Rome during Pompey's assault on Jerusalem in 63 BCE. By the mid 1st century onwards, many of their offspring saw themselves as thoroughly Roman, so they bitterly resented having to pay such a heavy tax.
Finally, there were those who, although not Jewish by blood, nevertheless practiced the Jewish faith in both Messianic and traditional Jewish communities. Of these groups, the early Messianic Community found itself particularly vulnerable since these followers of "The Way" belonged to a faith that was still considered a party of Judaism.
Domitian, who ruled from 81 to 96 AD, expanded the fiscus Iudaicus so that, besides those born Jewish and converts to Judaism, those who concealed the fact that they were Jews, or who merely observed Jewish customs, also became subject to it. Suetonius relates that, when he was young, an old man of 90 was examined to see whether he was circumcised, which shows that during this period the tax was levied even on those above the age of 62.
Louis Feldman has argued that Domitan's increased harshness was caused by the success of the Jewish and possibly messianic proselytism.
After the murder of Domitian in 96 AD, Nerva relaxed the rules of collection, limiting the tax to those who openly practised Judaism: according to Cassius Dio, "followed their ancestral customs".
The coins of Nerva bear the legend fisci Iudaici calumnia sublata -"abolition of malicious prosecution in connection with the Jewish tax"- in reference to his reform of the harsh -malicious- policies of Domitian.
But, ironically, Nerva's relaxtion of the Jewish Tax would prove to be even more destructive under Nerva - Gentile believers new to the [Jewish] Messianic faith, and who, up to this time, had never felt any identification with the Jews, found themselves the recipients of a growing anti-Gentile polemic within the Traditional Jewish communities. And to renounce the faith was to renounce any hope of being part of a proposed 'world to come'.
- Interestingly, as an aside, in relation to Nerva,
Nerva’s Attempt to relieve the Poor. —One of the characteristic features of Nerva’s short reign was his attempt to relieve the poor. In the first place, he bought up large lots of land from the wealthy landlords, and let them out to the needy citizens. It is noteworthy that he submitted this law to the assembly of the people. In the next place, he showed his great interest in the cause of public education. He set apart a certain fund, the interest of which was used to educate the children of poor parents. This interest in providing for the care and education of the poorer classes was continued by his successors. http://www.forumromanum.org/history/morey26.html
It remains unclear when exactly the fiscus Iudaicus was eventually abolished. Documentary evidence confirms the collection of the tax in the middle of the 2nd century, and literary sources indicate that the tax was still in existence in the early 3rd century. It is not known when the tax was formally abolished. Some historians credit the emperor Julian the Apostate with its abolition in about 361 or 362.
Bibliography
Marius Heemstra (2010) The Fiscus Judaicus and the Parting of the Ways (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck)
- based on his PhD dissertation: http://www.rug.nl/research/portal/files ... s.pdf!null
Heemstra assumes, as most people do, that Christianity had started before 96 AD and thus talks of Jewish Christians and the impact of the Fiscus Judaicus on them and Nerva's changes exacerbating the parting of the ways. I'm not so sure Christianity or even 'Jewish Christianity' was defined before then.
http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2011/2011-12-07.htmlOur information about the fiscus Judaicus derives primarily (aside from tax receipts from the province of Egypt) from three literary passages: one from the Jewish War of Josephus, one from Suetonius’s Life of Domitian (son of Vespasian, brother of Titus, and emperor 81–96 C.E.), and one from Cassius Dio, a Roman historian of the early third century C.E. Although no Christian text mentions the fiscus Judaicus, Marius Heemstra argues in this book that this tax had an important role in the development of “Christianity” as a social and cultural system separate from “Judaism,” a process commonly called “the parting of the ways.” https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/rev ... -the-ways/
http://www.livius.org/articles/concept/fiscus-judaicus/
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/artic ... s-judaicus
https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/dai ... ewish-tax/
http://www.ableever.net/Messianic/Keep_ ... daicus.pdf
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