Rome’s Decrees for the Jews

When Caesar had come to Rome and was ready to sail into Africa to fight Scipio and Cato, Hyrcanus sent ambassadors to him and asked him through them to confirm the league of friendship and mutual alliance that existed between them. At this point it seems necessary to me to give an account of all the honors that the Romans and their imperators paid to our nation, and of the leagues of mutual assistance they made with it, so that all the rest of mankind may know what regard the kings of Asia and Europe have had for us, and how fully they have been satisfied of our courage and loyalty. For many people, out of ill will toward us, will not believe what the Persians and Macedonians have written about us, because those writings are no longer found everywhere and are not kept in public places, but only among ourselves and certain other non-Greek nations. Against the decrees of the Romans, however, nothing can be said, for they are laid up in the public places of the cities, and they can still be seen in the Capitol, engraved on pillars of bronze. More than that, Julius Caesar set up a bronze pillar for the Jews at Alexandria and declared publicly that they were citizens of Alexandria. From this evidence I will prove what I say, and I will now set down the decrees made both by the senate and by Julius Caesar that concern Hyrcanus and our nation. [a]

“Gaius Julius Caesar, imperator and high priest, dictator for the second time, to the magistrates, senate and people of Sidon, greetings. If you are well, it is good. I and the army are also well. I have sent you a copy of the decree, registered on the tablets, that concerns Hyrcanus son of Alexander, the high priest and ethnarch of the Jews, so that it may be laid up among your public records; and it is my will that it be publicly displayed on a bronze tablet, in both Greek and Latin. It reads as follows: ‘I, Julius Caesar, imperator for the second time and high priest, have made this decree with the advice of my council. Hyrcanus son of Alexander the Jew has shown his loyalty and diligence in our affairs, both now and in former times, in peace and in war, as many of our generals have testified. In the last Alexandrian war he came to our aid with fifteen hundred soldiers, and when I sent him to Mithridates he showed himself braver than all the rest of that army. For these reasons it is my will that Hyrcanus son of Alexander and his children be ethnarchs of the Jews and hold the high priesthood of the Jews forever, according to the customs of their forefathers; that he and his sons be our allies; and, besides this, that every one of them be counted among our personal friends. ‘I also ordain that he and his children keep whatever privileges belong to the office of high priest, and whatever favors have been granted them up to now; and if at any time hereafter any question arises about the Jewish way of life, it is my will that it be decided among them. And I do not think it right that they should be required to provide us with winter quarters, or that any money should be demanded of them.’” [d]

“The decrees of Gaius Caesar, imperator and consul, containing what has been granted and decided, are as follows: that Hyrcanus and his children rule over the nation of the Jews and have the revenues of the places granted to them; that he, as high priest and ethnarch of the Jews, defend those who are wronged; that ambassadors be sent to Hyrcanus son of Alexander, the high priest of the Jews, to confer with him about a league of friendship and mutual assistance; that a bronze tablet containing these provisions be publicly displayed in the Capitol, and at Sidon, Tyre and Ashkelon, and in the temples, engraved in Roman and Greek letters; that this decree also be communicated to the quaestors and praetors of the various cities and to the friends of the Jews; that the ambassadors be given presents; and that these decrees be sent everywhere.” [g] “Gaius Caesar, imperator, dictator and consul, has granted that, out of regard for the honor, virtue and kindness of the man, and for the benefit of the senate and people of Rome, Hyrcanus 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 under the same laws by which their ancestors held the priesthood.”

“Gaius Caesar, consul for the fifth time, has decreed that the Jews shall possess Jerusalem and may surround that city with walls; that Hyrcanus son of Alexander, high priest and ethnarch of the Jews, hold it in whatever manner he himself pleases; that in the second year of the lease the Jews be allowed to deduct one kor, about six bushels, from the tribute; and that their tribute not be farmed out, nor that they always pay the same tribute.” [h]

“Gaius Caesar, imperator for the second time, has ordained that all the country of the Jews, except Joppa, pay a tribute yearly for the city of Jerusalem, except in the seventh year, which they call the sabbatical year, because in it they neither gather the fruit of their trees nor sow their land; and that in the second year they pay their tribute at Sidon, a fourth part of what was sown; and besides this, they are to pay to Hyrcanus and his sons the same tithes they paid to their forefathers. No one, whether governor, lieutenant, general or ambassador, who raises auxiliaries and soldiers within the borders of the Jews shall be permitted to extract money from them, either for winter quarters or on any other pretext; but they are to be free from every kind of injury; and whatever they shall hereafter acquire, and whatever they possess or have bought, they shall keep it all. It is also our pleasure that the city of Joppa, which the Jews held originally, when they made a league of friendship with the Romans, shall belong to them as it formerly did; and that Hyrcanus son of Alexander and his sons shall have as tribute from that city, from those who occupy the land, for the territory, the harbor and the exports, about 5,100 bushels every year, paid at Sidon, except the seventh year, which they call the sabbatical year, in which they neither plow nor gather the produce of their trees. It is also the pleasure of the senate that, as to the villages in the Great Plain which Hyrcanus and his forefathers formerly possessed, Hyrcanus and the Jews shall hold them with the same privileges with which they held them before; that the original rights that the Jews have had among themselves and with their high priests and priests remain in force; that they enjoy the same benefits they have formerly had by grant of the people and of the senate; and let them enjoy the like privileges in Lydda. It is the pleasure of the senate also that Hyrcanus the ethnarch and the Jews keep those places, lands and villages which belonged to the kings of Syria and Phoenicia, the allies of the Romans, and which those kings had given them as free gifts. It is also granted to Hyrcanus and his sons, and to the ambassadors they send to us, that at the fights of single gladiators and at those with wild beasts they shall sit among the senators to watch those shows; that when they ask for an audience, they shall be brought into the senate by the dictator or by the master of the horse; and that when they have been brought in, their answer shall be given them within ten days at the latest after the senate’s decree about their affairs is made.” [i]

“Gaius Caesar, imperator, dictator for the fourth time and consul for the fifth time, declared dictator for life, made this speech concerning the rights and privileges of Hyrcanus son of Alexander, the high priest and ethnarch of the Jews: Since the imperators who have been in the provinces before me have borne witness to Hyrcanus the high priest of the Jews, and to the Jews themselves, before the senate and people of Rome, when the people and senate gave them thanks, it is good that we now also remember these things, and provide that the senate and people of Rome make a return to Hyrcanus, to the nation of the Jews and to the sons of Hyrcanus, suited to the goodwill they have shown us and to the benefits they have done us.” [m]

“Julius Gaius, praetor and consul of the Romans, to the magistrates, senate and people of the Parians, greetings. The Jews of Delos, and some other Jews who live there, have informed me in the presence of your ambassadors that by a decree of yours you forbid them to follow the customs of their forefathers and their manner of sacred worship. Now it does not please me that such decrees should be made against our friends and allies, forbidding them to live according to their own customs, or to bring in contributions for common meals and sacred festivals, when they are not forbidden to do so even at Rome itself. For even Gaius Caesar, our imperator and consul, in the decree by which he forbade religious societies to meet in the city, still permitted these Jews, and these alone, both to bring in their contributions and to hold their common meals. In the same way, while I forbid the other religious societies, I permit these Jews alone to gather together and to hold their feasts according to the customs and laws of their forefathers. It will therefore be well for you, if you have made any decree against these friends and allies of ours, to repeal it, because of their virtue and their goodwill toward us.” [n]

After Gaius was killed, when Mark Antony and Publius Dolabella were consuls, they both called the senate together, brought Hyrcanus’s ambassadors into it, discussed what they asked, and made a league of friendship with them. The senate also decreed to grant them everything they asked. I add the decree itself, so that those who read this work may have at hand a proof of the truth of what we say. The decree was this: “The decree of the senate, copied from the treasury, from the public tablets belonging to the quaestors, when Quintus Rutilius and Quintus Cornelius were city quaestors, from the second tablet, the first of the first set, on the third day before the Ides of April, in the temple of Concord. Present at the writing of this decree were Lucius Calpurnius Piso of the Menenian tribe, Servius Papinius Quintus of the Lemonian tribe, Gaius Caninius Rebilus of the Teretine tribe, Publius Tedetius son of Lucius of the Pollian tribe, Lucius Apulius son of Lucius of the Sergian tribe, Flavius son of Lucius of the Lemonian tribe, Publius Plautius son of Publius of the Papirian tribe, Marcus Sellius son of Marcus of the Maecian tribe, Lucius Erucius son of Lucius of the Stellatine tribe, Marcus Quintus Plancinus son of Marcus of the Pollian tribe, and Publius Serrius. Publius Dolabella and Marcus Antonius, the consuls, made this proposal to the senate: As to the things Gaius Caesar decided about the Jews by decree of the senate, which decree has not yet been brought into the treasury, it is our will, as it is also the wish of Publius Dolabella and Marcus Antonius our consuls, that these decrees be entered in the public tablets and brought to the city quaestors, so that they may see to it that they are placed on the double tablets. This was done on the fifth day before the Ides of February, in the temple of Concord. The ambassadors from Hyrcanus the high priest were these: Lysimachus son of Pausanias, Alexander son of Theodorus, Patroclus son of Chaereas, and John son of Onias.” [p]

Hyrcanus also sent one of these ambassadors to Dolabella, who was then governor of Asia, and asked him to excuse the Jews from military service, and to preserve for them the customs of their forefathers and permit them to live by them. This he obtained easily, for when Dolabella received Hyrcanus’s letter, he did not even deliberate, but sent a letter to all the people of Asia, and particularly to the city of Ephesus, the chief city of Asia, about the Jews. A copy of that letter follows: [r] “When Artemon was presiding magistrate, on the first day of the month Lenaeon, Dolabella, imperator, to the senate, magistrates and people of Ephesus, greetings. Alexander son of Theodorus, the ambassador of Hyrcanus son of Alexander, the high priest and ethnarch of the Jews, appeared before me to show that his countrymen cannot serve in the armies, because they are not allowed to bear arms or to march on the sabbath days, nor can they get there the kinds of food they have been accustomed to eat since the times of their forefathers. I therefore grant them freedom from military service, as the former governors have done, and permit them to follow the customs of their forefathers in assembling together for sacred and religious purposes, as their law requires, and in collecting offerings for their sacrifices. And it is my will that you write this to the various cities under your authority.” [s]

These were the concessions Dolabella made to our nation when Hyrcanus sent an embassy to him. But Lucius Lentulus the consul declared: “At my tribunal I have exempted from military service these Jews who are citizens of Rome, who follow the Jewish religious rites and yet live at Ephesus, because of their religious scruples. This was done on the twelfth day before the calends of October, when Lucius Lentulus and Gaius Marcellus were consuls. There were present Titus Ampius Balbus son of Titus, of the Horatian tribe, legate; Titus Tongius son of Titus, of the Crustumine tribe; Quintus Caesius son of Quintus; Titus Pompeius Longinus son of Titus; Gaius Servilius Braccus son of Gaius, of the Teretine tribe, military tribune; Publius Clusius Gallus son of Publius, of the Veturian tribe; and Gaius Sentius son of Gaius, of the Sabatine tribe.” “Titus Ampius Balbus son of Titus, legate and propraetor, to the magistrates, senate and people of Ephesus, greetings. Lucius Lentulus the consul freed the Jews in Asia from serving in the armies at my request on their behalf; and when some time afterward I made the same request of Fannius the propraetor and of Lucius Antonius the proquaestor, I obtained that privilege from them also. It is my will that you take care that no one trouble them.” [t]

The decree of the Delians: “The answer of the praetors, when Boeotus was archon, on the twentieth day of the month Thargelion. While Marcus Piso the legate was living in our city, having also been put in charge of choosing soldiers, he called us and many other citizens together and gave orders that if there are any Jews here who are Roman citizens, no one is to trouble them about serving in the army, because Lucius Cornelius Lentulus the consul freed the Jews from military service on account of their religious scruples. We must therefore obey the praetor.” The Sardians also made a similar decree about us. [x]

“Gaius Fannius son of Gaius, praetor and consul, to the magistrates of Cos, greetings. I want you to know that ambassadors of the Jews have been with me and asked to have the decrees the senate made about them. Those decrees are attached here. It is my will that you have regard for these men and take care of them according to the senate’s decree, so that they may be conducted safely home through your country.” [y] The declaration of Lucius Lentulus the consul: “I have exempted those Jews who are Roman citizens, and who appear to me to practice their religious rites and to observe the laws of the Jews at Ephesus, because of their religious scruples. This was done on the twelfth day before the calends of Quintilis.” [z]

“Lucius Antonius son of Marcus, proquaestor and propraetor, to the magistrates, senate and people of Sardis, greetings. The Jews who are our fellow citizens of Rome came to me and showed that they have had an assembly of their own, according to the laws of their forefathers, and this from the beginning, as well as a place of their own in which they settle their lawsuits and disputes with one another. When they petitioned me that these things might be lawful for them, I gave orders that these privileges of theirs be preserved and that they be permitted to act accordingly.”

The declaration of Marcus Publius son of Spurius, of Marcus son of Marcus, and of Lucius son of Publius: “We went to Lentulus the proconsul and informed him of what Dositheus son of Cleopatrides of Alexandria desired: that, if he thought fit, he would exempt those Jews who were Roman citizens and who were accustomed to observe the rites of the Jewish religion, because of their religious scruples. And he did exempt them, on the twelfth day before the calends of Quintilis. [aa]

“This was in the consulship of Lucius Lentulus and Gaius Marcellus. There were present Titus Ampius Balbus son of Titus, of the Horatian tribe, legate; Titus Tongius, of the Crustumine tribe; Quintus Caesius son of Quintus; Titus Pompeius Longinus son of Titus, of the Cornelian tribe; Gaius Servilius Braccus son of Gaius, of the Teretine tribe, military tribune; Publius Clusius Gallus son of Publius, of the Veturian tribe; Gaius Teutius son of Gaius, of the Aemilian tribe, military tribune; Sextus Atilius Serranus son of Sextus, of the Aemilian tribe; Gaius Pompeius son of Gaius, of the Sabatine tribe; Titus Ampius Menander son of Titus; Publius Servilius Strabo son of Publius; Lucius Paccius Capito son of Lucius, of the Colline tribe; Aulus Furius Tertius son of Aulus; and Appius Menas. In their presence Lentulus pronounced this decree: I have exempted before the tribunal those Jews who are Roman citizens and are accustomed to observe the sacred rites of the Jews at Ephesus, because of their religious scruples.” [ab]

“The magistrates of Laodicea to Gaius Rabellius son of Gaius, the consul, greetings. Sopater, the ambassador of Hyrcanus the high priest, has delivered to us a letter from you, in which you inform us that certain ambassadors had come from Hyrcanus, the high priest of the Jews, and brought a letter written about their nation, in which they ask that the Jews be allowed to observe their sabbaths and other sacred rites according to the laws of their forefathers, and that they be under no one’s command, because they are our friends and allies, and that no one wrong them in our province. And although the people of Tralles who were present spoke against them and were not pleased with these decrees, you nevertheless gave orders that they be observed, and informed us that you had been asked to write this to us about them. We therefore, in obedience to the instructions we have received from you, have received the letter you sent us and have laid it up by itself among our public records. And as to the other matters about which you sent to us, we will take care that no complaint is made against us.” [ac]

“Publius Servilius Galba son of Publius, proconsul, to the magistrates, senate and people of Miletus, greetings. Prytanes son of Hermes, a citizen of yours, came to me when I was at Tralles holding court there, and informed me that you treat the Jews in a way I do not approve: that you forbid them to celebrate their sabbaths, to perform the sacred rites received from their forefathers, and to manage the fruits of the land according to their ancient custom; and that he himself had proclaimed your decree, as your laws require. I would therefore have you know that, after hearing the arguments on both sides, I gave judgment that the Jews should not be forbidden to follow their own customs.” [ad]

The decree of the people of Pergamum: “When Cratippus was presiding magistrate, on the first day of the month Desius, the decree of the praetors was this. The Romans, following the conduct of their ancestors, undertake dangers for the common safety of all mankind, and are eager to establish their allies and friends in happiness and in firm peace. The nation of the Jews and their high priest Hyrcanus sent as ambassadors to them Strato son of Theodotus, Apollonius son of Alexander, Aeneas son of Antipater, Aristobulus son of Amyntas, and Sosipater son of Philip, worthy and good men, who gave a full account of their affairs. The senate thereupon made a decree about what they had asked: that King Antiochus son of Antiochus should do no injury to the Jews, the allies of the Romans; that the fortresses, the harbors, the land and whatever else he had taken from them should be restored to them; that they may lawfully export their goods from their own harbors; that no king or people may export any goods, either from the country of Judea or from its harbors, without paying customs, except only Ptolemy the king of Alexandria, because he is our ally and friend; and that, as they asked, the garrison in Joppa be expelled. Now Lucius Pettius, one of our senators, a worthy and good man, gave orders that we should take care that these things be done according to the senate’s decree, and that we should also take care that their ambassadors might return home in safety. Accordingly we admitted Theodorus into our senate and assembly, and took from his hands the letter as well as the decree of the senate. And since he spoke with great zeal about the Jews, and described Hyrcanus’s virtue and generosity, how he is a benefactor to all men in common and particularly to everyone who comes to him, we laid up the letter in our public records, and made a decree ourselves that, since we also are allies of the Romans, we would do everything we could for the Jews according to the senate’s decree. Theodorus, who brought the letter, also asked our praetors to send Hyrcanus a copy of that decree, and also ambassadors to tell him of our people’s affection for him, and to urge him to preserve and increase his friendship for us, and to be the cause of some good to us, since he would receive fitting returns from us; and to remind him that our ancestors were friendly to the Jews even in the days of Abraham, who was the father of all the Hebrews, as we have found it set down in our public records.” [ae]

The decree of the people of Halicarnassus: “When Memnon, son of Aristides by birth but of Euonymus by adoption, was priest, in the month Anthesterion, the decree of the people, on the motion of Marcus Alexander, was this. Since we have always had great regard for piety toward God and for holiness, and since we aim to follow the people of the Romans, who are the benefactors of all men, and what they have written to us about a league of friendship and mutual assistance between the Jews and our city, that their sacred services and customary festivals and assemblies may be observed by them; we have decreed that as many Jewish men and women as wish to do so may celebrate their sabbaths and perform their sacred rites according to the Jewish laws, and may build their places of prayer by the seaside, according to the customs of their forefathers. And if anyone, whether a magistrate or a private person, hinders them from doing so, he shall be liable to a fine, to be paid to the city.” [ag]

The decree of the Sardians: “This decree was made by the senate and people on the motion of the praetors. The Jews who have lived in our city as citizens from the beginning have always received great benefits from the people, and they have now come into the senate and asked of the people that, since their law and their liberty have been restored to them by the senate and people of Rome, they may assemble together according to their accustomed ways, live as a community, and settle lawsuits among themselves; and that a place may be given them where they may meet with their wives and children and offer their prayers and sacrifices to God, as their forefathers did. The senate and people have therefore decreed to permit them to assemble together on the days formerly appointed and to act according to their own laws; that the praetors set apart for them such a place to build on and live in as they think fit for that purpose; and that those who oversee the city’s food supply take care that such kinds of food as they consider fit to eat be brought into the city.” [ai]

The decree of the Ephesians: “When Menophilus was presiding magistrate, on the first day of the month Artemisius, this decree was made by the people; Nicanor son of Euphemus proposed it, on the motion of the praetors. Since the Jews who live in this city have petitioned Marcus Julius Brutus son of Pontius, the proconsul, that they be allowed to observe their sabbaths and to act in everything according to the customs of their forefathers without hindrance from anyone, and the praetor has granted their petition, it was therefore decreed by the people that in this matter, which concerned the Romans, none of them should be hindered from keeping the sabbath day or be fined for doing so, but that they be allowed to do everything according to their own laws.” [aj]

Now there are many other such decrees of the senate and of the Roman imperators, different from these before us, made in favor of Hyrcanus and of our nation; and there have also been more decrees of the cities, and replies of the governors to letters concerning our rights and privileges. Certainly those who are not ill-disposed toward what we write may believe that they are all to the same effect, from the samples we have included. For since we have produced plain evidence of the friendship we have had with the Romans, evidence that can still be seen, and have shown that it is engraved on columns and tablets of bronze in the Capitol, which still exist and are preserved to this day, we have refrained from setting them all down, as needless and tedious. For I cannot suppose anyone so perverse as not to believe in the kindness of the Romans toward us, when they have demonstrated it by so great a number of decrees concerning us, or as to suppose, from those we have produced, that we are not telling the truth about the rest we say exist. And so we have sufficiently explained the friendship and alliance we had with the Romans in those times. [ak]