M02b
(Module 02, Continued)
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Children
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Children were expected to respect and honor their parents, and their elders in society. Special honor was due to the child’s father. It was sometimes said that the child should honor and obey one’s father as if he were a god. Fathers were expected to discipline their children not only to teach them to be good members of the society, but also for the sake of the family’s honor. A wayward or undisciplined child brought shame and dishonor upon the family. In turn the family’s reputation would affect broader relationships, social standing, and even economic wellbeing. Discipline was believed to be a cure and a preventative measure against any actions that could potentially hurt the family. A proverb from Sirach 22:3 is illuminating: “It is a disgrace to be the father of an undisciplined son, and the birth of a daughter is a loss.” Fathers tended to be harsh in disciplinary action in comparison to mothers, who tended to be tender toward their children. Fathers usually taught their sons the family trade; whereas mothers would educate their daughters in domestic skills and moral development. Sons were often expected to be obligatory to their fathers even after they were married.
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This is Seneca on the treatment of children:
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Do you not see how fathers show their love in one way, and mothers in another? The father orders his children to be aroused from sleep in order that they may start early upon their pursuits, - even on holidays he does not permit them to be idle, and he draws from them sweat and sometimes tears. But the mother fondles them in her lap, wishes to keep them out of the sun, wishes them never to be unhappy, never to cry, never to toil.
Essay About Providence 2.5
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Consider also these early Jewish Proverbs from the second century BCE:
He who loves his son will whip him often,
so that he may rejoice at the way he turns out.
Pamper a child, and he will terrorize you;
play with him, and he will grieve you.
Give him no freedom in his youth,
and do not ignore his errors.
Bow down his neck in his youth,
and beat his sides while he is young,
or else he will become stubborn and disobey you,
and you will have sorrow of soul from him.
Sirach 30.1,9, 11-12
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Honor and Shame
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Video: Stu Talené
In the ancient world, honor and shame penetrated the very fabric of society, from the individual to the community. Some historians have called honor the most important identity trait that an individual or a family could achieve, and conversely, shame was the worst. Since one’s identity was dependent on what others in the community thought about you—called a dyadic personality, it was vital that one be regarded as an honorable person. The individual’s self-assessment played no role in forming identity and self worth. The reputations associated with either shame or honor affected almost every area of life because it determined one’s inclusion or exclusion within the community. Given the importance of honor, people’s primary motivation in every aspect of daily life was to avoid shame.
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For Romans, and for many subjects of the empire, honor was inherited by means of one’s ancestry, gender, citizenship, and marriage. But it could also be acquired through heroism in battle, political achievements, and usually through honest business interaction within society.
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One of the few ways in which peasants could earn honor was by fostering a relationship with a patron. A person would approach a patron to become a client, which is a legally binding relationship. The patron would provide the client, and his family members, with legal aid, protection, healthcare, rewards, and even invitations to banquets. Whereas the client would offer services, public cooperation, and political cooperation by voting the way their patron voted. The patron’s honor was greatly enhanced by having clients, and the higher the status of the clients the higher the status of the patron. The patron might even be the client of a patron of a higher social class. The greatest of the patrons in the Roman world was the emperor.
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Note Cicero’s (106-43 BCE) comments on Client-Patron Relationships:
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Men of the lower orders have only one opportunity of deserving kindness at the hands of our order, or of requiting services,—namely, this one attention of escorting us when we are candidates for offices. For it is neither possible, nor ought we or the Roman knights to require them to escort the candidates to whom they are attached for whole days together; but if our house is frequented by them, if we are sometimes escorted to the forum, if we are honoured by their attendance for the distance of one piazza, we then appear to be treated with all due observance and respect; and those are the attentions of our poorer friends who are not hindered by business, of whom numbers are not wont to desert virtuous and beneficent men. [71] Do not then, O Cato, deprive the lower class of men of this power of showing their dutiful feelings; allow these men, who hope for everything from us, to have something also themselves, which they may be able to give us. If they have nothing beyond their own vote, that is but little; since they have no interest which they can exert in the votes of others. They themselves, as they are accustomed to say, cannot plead for us, cannot go bail for us, cannot invite us to their houses; but they ask all these things of us, and do not think that they can requite the services which they receive from us by anything but by their attentions of this sort.
For Lucius Murena 34
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Among the elite, honor was achieved by financing public building, roads, and entertainment events. Financiers were then rewarded with public proclamations, inscriptions, and statues that acknowledged their honor publicly for a long time to come. For the ambitious, such honor was indispensable for achieving high political status and office.
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The achievement and retention of honor could be accomplished through boasting, which was an accepted and required behavior. By contrast, humility was a sign of weakness. Honor was almost viewed like a commodity that was bought, sold, or exchanged in the market. Usually one’s gain of honor, however small, resulted in someone else’s loss of honor. Consequently, this led to a competitive culture that could be experienced even at the level of one’s family and close friends. From this perspective, Paul’s defence of his apostleship in 2 Corinthians takes on a social dimension which is otherwise missed.
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In Jewish circles, honor included appropriate religious practice. Honor was achieved by being a good upstanding community member who upholds covenant obligations, such as the giving of charity to the poor, modest dress, participation in the religious life of the community, and, of course, obedience to the legal requirements, such as dietary restrictions, keeping the Sabbath, circumcision, and the giving of religious offerings.
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Lararium (household shrine) with tutelary deities and a guardian serpent. In the centre is the family Genius, which was the family deity. Tutelary deities were patrons and protectors of a particular place or person.
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In the ancient world of the Mediterranean, the competition for honor was immense. There was only so much honor to be had. If one person lost some, then someone else grabbed it. If one person gained some via a promotion, a new business venture, then someone lost out. Even the giving of a gift was, in some way, seen as an opportunity to lose honor - for if one could not return the favour in equal measure dishonor resulted. However, if one refused the gift, then one insulted the honor of the giver. This could lead to vengeance through the defamation of character.
The Legal System
The legal system in first century Palestine was not founded on equality. A person’s status as freedman or slave, citizen or foreigner, child or adult, and male or female determined their legal rights.
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Civil justice in Palestine during the reign of Herod and his sons was not based on Roman law, but was under the jurisprudence of the client rulers, who administered the province to meet the objectives set by Rome. Herod used three ruling bodies: the boule, the ekklesia, and the synedrion.
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Boule – City Council
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The boule was the city council (mentioned in Ant. 20.11; War 2, 331, 405; Dio Cassius,Historia 66, 6.2; Luke 23:50) of Jerusalem. This governing organization consisted of several hundred members that met to discuss matters dealing with the economy, such as setting market prices, certifying and providing weights and measures, and ensuring the purchase of wheat and supplies, which was always a concern in overpopulated areas. The city of Jerusalem also required magistrates who were responsible for the theatre and its water system—which Herod installed—and public health, including urban disposal and hygiene. It seems that the boule was called to decide or ratify decisions concerning civic legislation. In the New Testament Joseph of Arimathea (Mark 15:43; Luke 23:50) was most likely a member of this council.
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Davide Ghirlandaio (1452-1525), Dead Christ Supported by the Virgin, St. John the Evangelist, and Joseph of Arimathea. Pinacothèque de Paris.
Ekklesia – Popular Assembly
The popular assembly, ekklesia, had no real decision-making power, but enabled Herod to sense the mood of the people concerning his policies, and in turn allowed the population to believe that they were partners in important decisions. For example, Herod called together an assembly of the masses for their input on the building of the Temple (Ant. 15.381). Josephus also refers to a popular assembly that acted as an informal judge, jury, and executioner (Ant. 16.393-94; War 1.648-650). This public body consisted of priests and laymen, free men of military age, and convened whenever a need arose. It is probable that after Herod’s death, when Judea was ruled by Roman magistrates, the ekklesia was replaced by the Sadducees and the Herodian upper classes.
Synedrion - Sanhedrin
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The synedrion (Sanhedrin) appears to have been created during the Herodian era, probably as a reconstruction of the Council of Elders during the Hasmonean period. It is not clear who served on this body, how it was structured, or who convened over its assembly. Its function, however, is clearer. It was the supreme legislative body that ruled on all legal matters that affected Jewish law, including criminal cases. The Sanhedrin could punish convicted offenders, but it is unclear whether it had the authority to enact capital punishment without Roman oversight. It appears that at times Roman governors intervened in local Jewish affairs and at other times they did not. In any case, the Roman authorities could take initiative themselves, without the approval of the Jewish court, and bring to trial anyone suspected of a political offence.
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Duccio di Buoninsegna, Christ Before Caiaphas and members of the Sanhedrin (1311).
Museo dell’ Opera del Duomo, Florence.
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After 70 CE, the Gospels tell the story of Jesus’ trial before a supreme religious court (Mark 14:53, 55, 64; Matt 26:57,59), and indicate that the Jewish and Roman jurisdictions worked together when cases overlapped. The story of Jesus’ trial, however, is hotly debated today, with some arguing that the Gospel writers told the story from an anti-Jewish establishment perspective, and in essence placed blame on the Temple elite. Although there are several examples of early Christians being tried before a Jewish religious court, without any interference by the Roman officials (Acts 4:1-22; 5: 17-42; 6:8-7:59; 22:5, 30), several Lukan scholars have well argued that the book of Acts tends to portray Rome as having significant oversight with favourable tendencies toward Christians.
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Local Magistrates
There were other Jewish courts in addition to the Sanhedrin. At the community level, the judicial system was governed by local officials who appointed magistrates in villages throughout Galilee and Judea (Matt 5:22, 25; John 7:51). This informal system of local governments was independent of central authority, such as the Sanhedrin, and functioned much as it had done for centuries. The judiciary depended on seven elders, who had experience, wealth or power in a community, and whose main task was to settle legal cases. Josephus states that two Levites had to be appointed by the local village courts, and serve together with the seven judges (Ant. 4. 214; Matt 5:25). If expertise was needed, it is conceivable, that other Levites, priests, and scribes were available for consultation (Mark 3:22; Matt 9:3; Luke 11:45), with difficult cases being referred to a regional council (Acts 4:5; Josephus, Life 79). Decisions and punishments could be meted out according to Jewish law by local officials, which could include flogging (Matt 10:16-18), excommunication (Luke 6:22), or restitution (Matt 18:23).
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Punishments
Punishments across the empire varied. Regional magistrates had great latitude and discretion in determining which punishment fit the crime. Thus, punishments were not always consistent. Sentencing was not only determined by the nature of the crime, but the extenuating circumstances, intentionality, reputation of the accused, and even the mood of the magistrate.
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Before trials, it was not uncommon for suspects to be imprisoned and beaten with whips as part of the preliminary examination. Imprisonment was rarely considered punishment in the Roman world. Prisons served merely as holding tanks prior to sentencing. Though long incarceration in the form of exile to an island or remote city, usually for life, was reserved for the upper classes.
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Replica of Roman flagrum or flagellum. 1st century.
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For the non-elite, a lenient penalty was a fine. For more serious crimes, the convicted party may have been sold as a slave, sentenced to lifelong manual labor in the mines, or condemned to the gladiator circuit. Prior to serving out their punishments, prisoners were sometimes beaten with a flagellum, which was made out of strands of leather with pieces of bone or metal on the ends.
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Capital punishment took various forms depending on the crime. There was no shortage of Roman creativity and cruelty. In Rome, a murderer of a parent or relative was sewn into a sack and thrown into a river. A vestal virgin who broke her religious vow was buried alive. Some convicts were thrown to their deaths off the Tarpeian Rock, which was a steep cliff overlooking the Roman Forum. Distinguished Romans or elite prisoners of war were either strangled in prison or were given a dagger and asked to take their own life. There are records of prisoners being tied to a stake naked, whipped with a sack of rocks, and then beheaded. After the great fire in Rome, Nero accused Christians of arson and had a number of them arrested and burned alive on poles that lined the main road. A number of prisoners of war were also killed for entertainment in the Coliseum and other such venues.
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Heel bone of a crucifixion victim with an 11.4 cm nail, discovered in an ossuary found in a burial cave at Giv’at ha Mivtar, near Jerusalem. The name Yehochanan (John) is inscribed on the ossuary. 1st century CE. Courtesy Israel Museum, Jerusalem.
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The most well known form of capital punishment practiced by the Romans was crucifixion. The remembrance of Jesus’ crucifixion has endured in the primary Christian symbols of the crucifix and the empty cross. Crucifixion was usually reserved for particularly vicious prisoners of war and insurrectionists, that is, violent opponents of Roman rule. After a beating, the victim was nailed to the cross through the wrists and feet. The weight of the body was supported by the nails. When the victim needed to breath, he raised himself up in excruciating pain. Muscles would spasm and cramp. Over time, insects and birds began to feed on the still live victim. Death usually came through gradual suffocation or shock. Sometimes the legs of the victim were broken to hasten death. The point of public crucifixion, which was not original to the Romans, was deterrence. It sent a clear message to anyone who thought of taking on Roman rule. After its use for almost a thousand years, the practice was eventually abolished in the fourth century under Emperor Constantine.
Commerce
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Temple of Castor and Pollux, who were twin sons of Zeus. Roma.
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During Augustus’ reign the population of Rome numbered about one million, which was a powerful consumer body. An estimated thirty percent were slaves. No other city in the western world would reach this size until London in the eighteenth century. Rome’s growth to such an enormous size can be credited to its dependence on the resources of the provinces. Chief among these was its vast supply and trade of food. Rome alone consumed about sixty percent of the empire’s resources.
Macro-Scale Economics
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Wall painting of food produce at a thermopolium (hot food bar), Ostia Antica, Italy. 1st century CE.
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As an agrarian society, Rome’s wealth and power was tied to its land. Much of the land in Italy and adjacent provinces that was economically viable was owned by the Roman elite and aristocracy, and often managed by tenant farmers. Provincial labor was cheap and often exploited through the use of slaves. The owners did not only profit from the agriculture itself, but also from rents and taxes (for consumption, production, and distribution) imposed on tenant farmers. Trade with distant lands that were in the empire, such as Spain and Egypt, were encouraged through tax breaks, subsidies for transportation, and offers of citizenship. Among the provinces, the elite also imported vast amounts of food, textiles, and building supplies in order to raise the profile and economy of their own beloved cities. Provincial elites in port cites, namely in Spain, Greece, Asia Minor, Palestine, and Egypt, had amassed great wealth, some of which through shipping. Often these cities were gateways to broader markets. Every port city would have employed vast numbers of people from ship hands and dock workers to financial officials and Roman administrators who oversaw the entire transportation process and even the storage facilities, especially for grain. Thousands of workers were also employed in ancillary industries, such as warehousing, operation of presses, making amphorae (ceramic storage jars), and shipbuilding and maintenance. In short, with an estimated population of sixty to seventy million within Roman territory, commerce was extensive.
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Commodities
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Most oil lamps in the Roman period, like this one, were made out of clay.
Olives on a branch.
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Roman agrarian economy included the production and distribution of a variety of commodities. Olive oil was a highly traded staple. It was used for food, heating (also in Roman baths), lighting, and perfumes. An estimated eighteen thousand tons were shipped annually to Rome. Wine was another popular commodity. Based again on a million residents, historians estimate that Rome imported about 100,000 metric tons, which is equivalent to one hundred million liters. The main commodity, however, was wheat since it was the primary staple across the empire. The residents of Rome alone consumed over 200,000 tons annually. Some estimates are as high as 400,000. Rome also imported building supplies, especially marble for its elaborate building projects and lumber for fuel and construction.
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Micro-Scale Economics
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Wall painting of carpenters, Pompeii. 1st century CE.
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Artisans and Tradesmen
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Throughout the empire, basic staples of life such as food and clothing were met within the family household and through a reciprocal exchange of goods. In villages and larger centers there were numerous artisans who would have bartered or sold their goods and services in shops and marketplaces. These included bakers, grocers, barbers, cobblers, tentmakers, leather workers, carpenters, and blacksmiths.
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Wall painting of a woodworker, Pompeii.
1st century CE.
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Some Jewish families maintained businesses that produced specialized goods (e.g. pottery, bricks, tiles) or provided specialized services (e.g. woodworkers, masons, smiths). Many of the craftsman and service providers (e.g. wool weavers, barbers, doctors) would have had their shops attached to their homes, contributing to the village economy beyond simply a local central marketplace. As a woodworker (or a worker of hard materials) Jesus and his brothers probably had a shop attached to their house, but during prosperous times under Tiberius they may have also been employed at Sepphoris, about an hour walk from Nazareth. Although money was used more in cities where consumption surpassed production, village economies which were primarily based on bartering still needed to incorporate currency to pay taxes and debts.
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One such artisan, named Demetrius, is referred to in Acts 19:24-25: “For a certain silversmith named Demetrius, a maker of silver shrines of Artemis, was providing no little business for the craftsmen. He called them together, along with the workmen in related trades.”
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Reproductions of Roman medical instruments.
1st century CE.
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Since medicine was not socialized, it was like any other artisan business. Legend has it that the evangelist Luke was a physician who gave up his practice to join Paul in Christian missionary ventures. Medicine in the ancient Mediterranean was well advanced. Surgeons performed amputations, operations on the skull, and tracheotomies. A variety of medical instruments were used, such as stitching needles, lancets, different kinds of forceps, catheters, spatulas for throat examination, and other various tools for examining the internal parts of the body. Dental work was also performed, and sometimes included filling teeth with gold. False teeth were obtained from dead people or animals. People even used ground up teeth, in powder form, for brushing and polishing.
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Farming
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Farming was the most common business activity. Jewish families who leased farms would have contracted to pay rent or a percentage of the crop yield to the landowner. The elite class were often distinguished by their accumulated real estate holdings, as opposed to money or gold (Cicero, On Duties 1.150-51), and would have endorsed an economy based on redistribution where goods generated by working peasants were administered and distributed by institutional structure (like temples, taxation, large lease/landowners). Redistribution established and stabilized great power and wealth among the upper class in urban centres. All too often, however, when the production yield could not sustain the peasant family and forced it into a debt that could not be repaid, the land was taken over by creditors (some of whom were wealthy Sadducees) who exploited the former landowners as tenant farmers. Fear of drought was so prevalent that an entire tractate in the Mishnah, Taanith (“Days of Fasting”) was devoted to religious rituals that would ensure rain.
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Traditional terraced vineyard in Israel.
Olive grove in Israel, much like it would have looked in the first century.
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Unlike today, there were no social safety nets such as unemployment benefits or bankruptcy protection. The parables in the Synoptic Gospels, especially Luke, address the pervasive problem of debt and the threats posed by creditors. Recent research has shown that some of the opportunistic landowners in Judea who capitalized on the misfortune of farmers were most likely wealthy Sadducees. In addition to farmers, artisans and various unskilled workers were vulnerable during depressed economic periods.
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Transportation
Sea Transport
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Floor mosaic of Roman merchant ship found in Lod, Israel. Late 3rd century CE.
The Shelby White and Leon Levy Lod Archaeological Center.
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Rome’s economic prosperity was dependent on its transportation system. Most of the traded goods were shipped by sea on freighters because they were cheaper, more efficient, and could carry more volume than land transports. Rome contracted enough privately owned freighters to transport 135,000 tons of wheat from Egypt annually. The size of the Roman merchant marine would not be rivaled in Europe until the eighteenth century. The ships, some of which measured 180 feet, were also designed to carry passengers. Travel by sea would have been much more comfortable and safer than land caravans. The major risk to maritime transport was shipwrecks due to inclement weather.
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Rome did not limit its trade to the Mediterranean basin. It had direct trade relations with China and India, but usually for more exotic products, like silk and spices. To the south, the Alexandrian merchants had provided markets along the east coast of Africa. During times of relative peace, as in the first two centuries of the Common Era, the Roman economy was truly global. The inland transportation routes were at their peak. In the third century they began to decline and did not rival their efficiency and condition until the advent of the railroad.
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Roman Roads
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Roman road in Sepphoris. 1st century CE. The wagon wheel ruts are still prominent. Roads varied widely with regard to quality and straightness, but each one increased local range of trade.
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The Romans were skillful engineers, well known for building extensive aqueducts to pipe water into cities, arched stone bridges over rivers, and especially paved roads. The famous road system made land travel, communication, and distribution relatively easy and secure with the help of the military, but it was not preferred. Roads were at times cumbersome and slow, animals and carriages had to be maintained on the journey, and the volume that could be transported was much smaller. Land travellers also had to contend with the climate, which could be unforgiving. Carrying enough water for long journeys would have provided an added inconvenience, though in many areas along major routes, towns or hostels were about thirty miles apart, about a day’s trip. Also helpful to travellers were distance markers.
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The road system may have been extensive for its day including both public and private roads, but they were not all paved. Those that were paved consisted of hewn polygonal stones (granite or basalt), measuring about a foot and half across and about eight inches in thickness. They were carefully fitted on tightly packed sand or gravel. The best of the roads would have been fairly smooth. Ravines and rivers were crossed with bridges, depressions were filled, and hills were dug in an attempt to keep the roads as straight and as level as possible. The primary roads were eight to ten feet wide. Though they gave the appearance of symmetry, travel on them would have been bumpy since wagons had wooden wheels with an iron track and no suspension.
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Terrain of southern Asia Minor (Modern Turkey) that would have been familiar to Paul.
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The apostle Paul along with other wandering teachers, merchants, pilgrims, and vacationers, directly benefited from open travel. Broad circulation of goods and services also meant broad circulation of ideas. Without Rome’s economic ambitions and developed transportation system, Paul’s missionary journeys and distribution of letters would have been very difficult. Not only would travel be prohibitive due to the rugged terrain, but would be impossible in the rainy seasons due to floods and washouts. Roman paving stood up to the elements very well. Moreover, caravans and ships would not have stood a chance against opportunistic bandits and pirates were it not for periodic military policing of the roads. Bandits would have certainly been hostile to a Roman citizen.
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Alongside exposure to local cultures, travellers like Paul would have encountered symbols of Rome’s supremacy throughout the provinces. Roman coins with an emperor’s head on one side were in broad circulation. Provincial coins also included Roman images to symbolize identity. Cities and temples were adorned with statues of emperors and the gods. Likewise, many buildings were inscribed with honors given to Roman benefactors, emperors, and gods. Roman architecture often overpowered local structures. Art in various forms (e.g. frescos and reliefs) portrayed the might, wealth, and sophistication of Rome.
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Inscription proclaiming Caesar Augustus Son of a God (DIVI-F) and High Priest (PONTIFICI MAXIMO). Ephesus, 1st century CE.
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Taxation
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Taxation was a continuous and constant source of revenue. It extended to all the provinces and provided a continued source of wealth for Rome. Payment of taxes was not limited to cash, but also included goods. A farmer would have paid his elite overlord with up to forty percent of his crop. The bounty would then be redistributed to nearby areas and sometimes shipped directly to Rome. Withholding tax was regarded as a violation against the supremacy of Rome, and was punished severely. To this day, scholars are not sure how much tax the empire collected and what it was primarily used for. Many have estimated that about half the tax went to the military. The other half of the tax would have been designated to the supply of Rome, wages, and the coffers of the elite. In some provinces, like Syria, much of the tax would have gone directly to paying the military in that region, and in turn would be redistribute back into the local economy. Tax collectors were despised especially in provincial villages and the countryside. So it was not uncommon for collectors to be accompanied by soldiers.
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Tribute penny, minted about 36 CE. On the left is the head of Tiberius. On the right is his mother Livia holding an olive branch and a sceptre.
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In Palestine, excessive taxation was a major burden for poor rural families. Payment was often difficult and at times resulted in indebted slavery, cruel punishments, and shame. (Plutarch,Luculus 20). The misery resulting from indebtedness even led some to commit suicide (Philo, Special Laws 3.159ff.). Herod’s lavish building programs were certainly a sign of prosperity after several decades of war in the region, but they also led to a fiscal imbalance which brought about considerably arduous taxation and erosion of land, making it difficult for many free small farmers to economically sustain themselves. The decline from free farmers to leaseholders to day laborers and even beggars was not unusual during the Herodian dynasty. During the time of Jesus it is difficult to say whether free small farmers or tenant farmers constituted the majority of the peasant class. Jesus’ parables, analogies, and even temple action would have been thoroughly at home in this agriculturally driven economy that incorporated the tensions between a reciprocal and redistributive systems of exchange.
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Language and Education
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Education among the elites was vastly different. This fresco is a depiction of Plato Academy. Villa of T. Siminius Stephanus, Pompeii.
1st century.
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Jewish households in first-century Palestine were probably bilingual to some extent, having knowledge of Aramaic along with some Greek. A few may have even known Hebrew. It is, however, very difficult to say which of these languages were dominant. The epigraphic and literary evidence is not conclusive. For example, ossuaries from Judea, which are very personal family items, have been found with inscriptions in Aramaic, Hebrew, and in combination with Greek. One is even trilingual (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek), which is comparable to the title on Jesus’ cross (which includes Latin). The evidence from the Dead Sea Scrolls is also difficult to assess. While most of the scrolls are in Hebrew, some are written in Aramaic and others in Greek.
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Great Isaiah Scroll
found in the Cave 1 at Qumran (1QIsa).
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It is doubtful that most Jewish peasants would have been literate, beyond perhaps an ability to write their names, numbers, receipts, and contracts for common transactions. Torah may have been taught to young boys in some capacity, though not in established schools as we might perceive. There is little evidence that such education would have included reading and writing. Josephus claims that the law required children to read and learn Torah (Apion. 2.204), but he gives no indication that this practice was carried out throughout the villages of Palestine. Many scholars still appeal to the conclusions of William Harris’ broad study of ancient literacy that approximately ninety percent of the rural population would have been illiterate.
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Being illiterate, however, should not be confused with being “unlearned” with respect to family and national history, tradition, and the scriptures. Orality and memory figured very prominently in preserving Jewish identity. Historians argue that the function of memory in oral cultures preserves the past, but it does so with an eye toward the present. Relevance is often the filter through which the past is retold, but the past is not completely lost to the present. While the past is continually (re)shaped and (re)collected so as to have meaning in the present, the present is continually informed and guided by the past, especially if the tradition is older, is adopted by a large number of adherents, and is widespread.
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Entertainment
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Wall painting of Mars and Venus in Casa del Meleagro, Pompeii. 1st century CE. Nudity and erotica were widely depicted in Roman society.
National Archaeological Museum, Naples.
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Entertainment across the empire in the first century took on various forms. Open-air theaters were found in almost every major town, providing the primary venue for performances. The Romans learned from the Greeks how to build theaters with optimal acoustics. Plays, like in modern theaters, were the norm. In addition to plays, people enjoyed hearing music and listening to orators reciting all sorts of literature. Children played with toys, such as dolls, miniature dollhouses with furnishings, balls, tree swings, games similar to hopscotch, and hide-and-seek. Sex permeated the entertainment world of the empire. Sometimes sexual acts were performed on the stage of theaters and were considered ordinary performances. In private venues, among the elite, sexually oriented entertainment was not unusual.
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When most people think of entertainment in ancient Rome, they think of gladiators and chariots in grand arenas, like the coliseum in Rome. In such arenas, spectators were witnesses to chariot races, execution of slaves and prisoners of war by wild beasts and gladiators. It was said, that at times the sand became so saturated with the blood of victims that it had to be replaced several times in the day. Wild animals were imported from all over the empire to astonish the crowd. One occasion saw the slaughter of three hundred lions. At the grand-opening of Titus’ amphitheater, 5000 wild animals and 4000 tame ones were slaughtered, including elephants, panthers, rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses, crocodiles, and snakes. One of the most spectacular events was the flooding of the coliseum for the purpose of reenacting naval battles. Thousands supposedly died in these reenactments. Many of these events would have been occasions for gambling.
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Coliseum in Rome.
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Josephus describes one form of entertainment in Caesarea:
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While Titus was at Cesarea, he solemnized the birthday of his brother [Domitian] after a splendid manner, and inflicted a great deal of the punishment intended for the Jews in honor of him; for the number of those that were now slain in fighting with the beasts, and were burnt, and fought with one another, exceeded two thousand five hundred. Yet did all this seem to the Romans, when they were thus destroyed ten thousand several ways, to be a punishment beneath their deserts. After this Caesar came to Berytus, which is a city of Phoenicia, and a Roman colony, and staid there a longer time, and exhibited a still more pompous solemnity about his father's birthday, both in the magnificence of the shows, and in the other vast expenses he was at in his devices thereto belonging; so that a great multitude of the captives were here destroyed after the same manner as before.
War 7.3.1 [37-38]
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Bibliography
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Primary Sources
“1 and 2 Maccabees.” The New Oxford Annotated Apocrypha. Edited by B. M. Metzger and R. E. Murphy. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991.
Josephus. Antiquities of the Jews. 7 vols. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1930–65.
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———. The Jewish War. 2 vols. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1927–28.
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Whiston, William, ed. and trans. The Works of Flavius Josephus: Complete and Unabridged. Peabody: Hendrickson, 1987.
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Polybius. Histories. Loeb Classical Library, 6 vols. Translated by W. R. Paton. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1922-1927.
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Tacitus, The Histories. Loeb Classical Library, 2 volumes. Translated by C. H. Moore. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1925.
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Barrett, C. K. The New Testament Background: Selected Documents. 2d edn. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1989.
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Kee, H. C. The Origins of Christianity. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1973. Especially pages 10–53.
Yadin, Y. Herod’s Fortress and the Zealots’ Last Stand. New York: Random House, 1967.
Valuable resource for the archaeological discoveries confirming Josephus’ dramatic account of the Zealots’ last stand at Masada toward the close of the first Jewish revolt.
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Secondary Sources
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Alston, R. Aspects of Roman History AD 14-117. London: Routledge, 1998.
An introduction to the early Imperial period which corresponds to the New Testament writings. The first half provides a good introduction to the emperors from Tiberius to Trajan. The second half is a well-rounded introduction to Roman society.
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Ando, C. Imperial Ideology and Provincial Loyalty in the Roman Empire. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000.
A description of the function of Roman political ideology in the unification of Rome and its provinces. This is a more advanced volume written from the perspective of social theorists.
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Ben-Sasson, H. H., ed. A History of the Jewish People. Harvard University Press, 1976.
Very ambitious and highly informative compilation of Jewish history from the second millennium BCE to modern Israel, written by six Hebrew University scholars.
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Bosworth, Albert Brian. Conquest and Empire: The Reign of Alexander the Great. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988.
One of the best accounts of the history written by a leading scholar.
Bruce, F. F. New Testament History. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1972.
A standard in the filed of New Testament studies for many years. Still a very useful tool.
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Collins, J. J. Between Athens and Jerusalem: Jewish Identity in the Hellenistic Diaspora. 2d edn. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000.
An excellent and highly readable discussion of Judaism in the context of Hellenism.
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Crossan, J. D. and J. L. Reed. In Search of Paul: How Jesus’s Apostle Opposed Rome’s Empire with God’s Kingdom. San Francisco: Harper, 2004.
Steeped in archaeological data, the authors demonstrate how Paul confronted the politics and culture of the empire in his missionary travels. A good example of how Roman background material can inform the reading of the New Testament. Clearly written and contains numerous illustrations and photos.
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Ferguson, E. Backgrounds of Early Christianity. 3rd Edition. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003.
Very complete and readable resource for novice students.
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Green, J. B. and L. M. McDonald, eds. The World of the NewTestament: Cultural, Social, and Historical Contexts. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2013.
Multi-authored and highly readable resource for novice students.
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Goodman, M. Rome and Jerusalem: The Clash of Ancient Civilizations. London: Penguin, 2007.
A detailed account of how the relationship between Jews and Romans changed after 70 CE.
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Horsley, R. A. Galilee: History, Politics, People. Valley Forge, PA: Trinity Press International, 1995.
A valuable analysis of the political and social dimensions of both rural and urban Galilee. The interpretations of the data raise provocative questions. Excellent summary of prior works on Galilee.
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Horsley, R. and J. S. Hanson. Bandits, Prophets and Messiahs: Popular Movements in the Time of Jesus. Harrisburg: Trinity Press International, 1999.
A highly readable and well documented survey of passive and active revolutionary movements in early Judaism. Provides a valuable context for understanding Jesus’ ministry.
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Jeffers, J. S. The Greco-Roman World of the New Testament Era. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999.
Very accessible. Good introduction.
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Rhoads, D. M. Israel in Revolution, 6–74 C.E.: A Political History Based on the Writings of Josephus. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1976.
An excellent treatment of the Jewish war with Rome.
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Rocca, S. Herod’s Judaea: A Mediterranean State in the Classical World. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2008.
A valuable look into the relationship between King Herod, who modeled his reign after Alexander the Great and Augustus, and his Jewish subjects in Judaea.
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Rostovtzeff, M. I. Social and Economic History of the Roman Empire. 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1957.
This is still a valuable and comprehensive source for understanding the transformational policies of the empire and their impact on the provinces. It is rich in plates and illustrations.
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Schürer, E. The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ (175 b.c.–a.d. 135). Vol. 1. Revised and edited by G. Vermès and F. Millar. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1973.
This is an encyclopedic account of the Jewish history. For advanced readers.
Schiffman, L. From Text to Tradition: A History of Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism. Jersey City: Ktav, 1991.
A fine treatment on the writings of the Second Temple Period.
Shipley, G.The Greek World After Alexander 323–30 BC. London: Routledge, 2000.
A readable account of the social fabric of Hellenism.
Walbank, Frank W. The Hellenistic World. Revised edition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1993.
An excellent introduction to the political history.
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