Hi Arnoldo,
Thanks for the information.
The book provides evidence that the wealthy were the ones who traveled long distances in the First Century and no evidence that poor people traveled.
However the most interesting point was this:
Every year too the 'didrachma 4 '
was sent up by each Jew to the Temple, and the
conveyance of these sums from almost every part of
the known world led to a great amount of travel.
Thus Philo Judaeus writes of the Jews beyond the
Euphrates, " Every year the sacred messengers are
sent to convey large sums of gold and silver to the
Temple, which have been collected from all the
subordinate governments. They travel over rugged
and difficult and almost impassable roads, which
however they look upon as level and easy, inasmuch
as they serve to conduct them to piety 5 ."
It turns out that Philo is not talking about Roman roads here, but roads to the East of Jerusalem:
And the state of all the nations which lie beyond the Euphrates added to his alarm; for he was aware that Babylon and many others of the satrapies of the east were occupied by the Jews, knowing this not merely by report but likewise by personal experience; for every year sacred messengers are sent to convey large amounts of gold and silver to the temple, which has been collected from all the subordinate governments, travelling over rugged, and difficult, and almost impassable roads, which they look upon as level and easy inasmuch as they serve to conduct them to piety. (Embassy to Gaius)
Philo does say that the practice of Jews making contributions to Jerusalem happened in other places, for example:
XL. (311) "And though I might be able to establish this fact, and demonstrate to you the feelings of Augustus, your great grandfather, by an abundance of proofs, I will be content with two; for, in the first place, he sent commandments to all the governors of the different provinces throughout Asia, because he heard that the sacred first fruits were neglected, enjoining them to permit the Jews alone to assemble together in the synagogues, (312) for that these assemblies were not revels, which from drunkenness and intoxication proceeded to violence, so as to disturb the peaceful condition of the country, but were rather schools of temperance and justice, as the men who met in them were studiers of virtue, and contributed the first fruits every year, sending commissioners to convey the holy things to the temple in Jerusalem. (313) "And, in the next place, he commanded that no one should hinder the Jews, either on their way to the synagogues, or when bringing their contributions, or when proceeding in obedience to their national laws to Jerusalem, for these things were expressly enjoined, if not in so many words, at all events in effect
Philo then quotes a letter from a proconsul:
CAIUS NORBANUS FLACCUS, PROCONSUL, TO THE GOVERNORS OF THE
EPHESIANS, GREETING.
"'Caesar has written word to me, that the Jews, wherever they are, are accustomed to assemble together, in compliance with a peculiar ancient custom of their nation, to contribute money which they send to Jerusalem; and he does not choose that they should have any hindrance offered to them, to prevent them from doing this;
Philo also tells us again that Jews in Rome also made contributions to Jerusalem with the blessings of Augustus Caesar:
(154) And there is most undeniable proof that he was never influenced or puffed up by the excessive honours paid to him, in the fact that he did not approve of any one's addressing him as master or god, but if any one used such expressions he was angry; and we may see it too in his approbation of the Jews, who he well knew most religiously avoided all such language. (155) How then did he look upon the great division of Rome which is on the other side of the river Tiber, which he was well aware was occupied and inhabited by the Jews? And they were mostly Roman citizens, having been emancipated; for, having been brought as captives into Italy, they were manumitted by those who had bought them for slaves, without ever having been compelled to alter any of their hereditary or national observances. (156) Therefore, he knew that they had synagogues, and that they were in the habit of visiting them, and most especially on the sacred sabbath days, when they publicly cultivate their national philosophy. He knew also that they were in the habit of contributing sacred sums of money from their first fruits and sending them to Jerusalem by the hands of those who were to conduct the sacrifices.
It seems to me that we can suggest that the activities of Paul is based on the Sacred Messengers that the Jews sent to Jerusalem every year after collecting funds. The wealthy sacred messengers who could afford to travel to Jerusalem would have sent letters to nearby Jewish communities with house synagogues/churches asking them to have the collection ready when they came to pick it up. The fictitious letters of Paul may be based on such letters.
Warmly,
Jay Raskin
arnoldo wrote:FWIW, Caroline A. J. Skell (1872-1951) wrote a book entitled," T
ravel in the First Century after Christ" which apparently is in public domain and available in full at the link below;
http://www.archive.org/stream/travelinf ... t_djvu.txt
the following is a brief quotation;
OBJECTS OF TRAVEL.
IN the history of the early Church, as recorded in the New Testament, there are two features which seem especially worthy of remark : the rapidity in with which Christian communities were formed, and century the constant intercourse maintained amongst them. Within thirty years after the Resurrection of Our Lord the Christian faith had been preached not only in the regions immediately adjoining Palestine, but in Asia Minor and Macedonia, Achaia and Illyricum, and even in Rome itself. The life of St Paul after his conversion is the life of one who for years was a constant traveller by land and sea, who in early manhood preached the Gospel at Damascus, and when old age was approaching looked forward to a journey into Spain. St Peter addresses his First Epistle to the strangers scattered through five provinces of Asia Minor, and in the concluding chapter sends them a message from the church at Babylon. No less do Pagan writers bear witness to the rapid diffusion of Christianity 1 . Pliny's correspondence with Trajan 2 shows that by 1 Tac. Ann. xv. 44. 2 Plin. Epp. ad Trai. 96 (97). s. province so insignificant as Bithynia contained numerous Christians not only in. the cities but also in the villages and country... they sought to strengthen the ties which bound them and their converts together into one Church. The result is seen in the kindly feeling which prompted the Christians of Antioch to send help in time of famine to their brethren of Jerusalem, and the Christians of Philippi to supply the neces sities of St Paul. Hospitality is one of the duties expressly mentioned by St Paul in the Epistles to Timothy and Titus as incumbent on bishops, while St Peter and the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews enjoin it on all Christians. This rapid diffusion of a faith which could count at first on little human aid, and this maintenance of intercourse between its adherents, imply that the means of communication in the first century after Christ had reached a high stage of development. It is the object of this essay to investigate the condiditions of travel during that period ; especially in Asia Minor, where Christianity made some of its earliest, though not most permanent conquests.