CONTENTS PART ONE THE EARTHLY IMAGE OF ROME... 3

Transcription

1 Acknowledgements VII Introduction PART ONE THE EARTHLY IMAGE OF ROME... 3 CHAPTER I FROM FRIENDSHIP TO DISILLUSIONMENT 7 I. Rome as friend and ally The treaty of Friendship and Alliance between Rome and the Jews Renewal of the Alliance The image of Rome A great military power An exemplary political regime From friendship to idealised image II. Deterioration in the Jews perception of Rome after 63 BCE The emergence of anti-roman literature The Psalms of Solomon The Kittim of the Qumran documents The Third Sibyl The new image of Rome A frightening military power Political rivalries The role of Rome in history CHAPTER II ROME BEFORE 66 B.C.E. AS SEEN BY PHILO OF ALEXANDRIA AND FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS 41 I. Rome as powerful protector Rome, ever friend and ally Rome as protector of the Jewish religion Rome as protector of Jewish property and people Rome as universal benefactor

2 XIV II. Flaws in the image Local abuses of Roman power Pillage and extortion Religious provocation Murderous repression Weakening of support from the central power The disastrous role of the political counsellors The Emperor s personality CHAPTER III FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS, HISTORIAN OF THE ROMAN VICTORY OVER THE JEWS.. 75 I. Roman behaviour during the Jewish War, according to Josephus The clemency of the two Flavians Religio Romana The ardour of the troops: from zeal to rage II. The sources of Roman power according to Flavius Josephus The army, source of Rome s supremacy Discipline Equipment and organisation The morale of the troops The role of Fortune The instrument of Providence III. Traces of another image of Rome in Flavius Josephus: Politics versus mystics CHAPTER IV ROME AND THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE IN JEWISH SOURCES BETWEEN THE END OF THE FIRST CENTURY AND 135 CE I. The humiliated enemy II. The enemy as instrument of punishment III. The punishment of Rome and the return of Nero Chapter V MEMORY AND HISTORY IN THIRD AND FOURTH CENTURY RABBINIC SOURCES 127 I. Memory of the capture of Jerusalem and the burning of the Temple Vespasian s war

3 XV The appeal to surrender The famine and the role of the zealots, sicarii or birione. 135 The decision to destroy the Temple Titus or the profaner punished The profanation The punishment The cause of the destruction of the Temple II. The events of Trajan s reign Memory of the Egyptian Diaspora The war of Qitos The day of Torinos and the martyr of Julianus and Pappus III. The events of Hadrian s reign Origins of the war The siege of Bethar The religious persecutions Forbidden practices The martyrs IV. From Antonine the Pious to Diocletian A conciliatory period The prestige of the patriarch Echoes of a troubled period CHAPTER VI CONSCIOUSNESS OF ROMAN POWER 207 I. Political power The emperor, a flesh and blood king The Senate Provincial administration Local administration II. Military power Latin for war Extent of the Roman military presence The military hierarchy Technology in the service of war III. Economic power A fabulous wealth Taxes as source of Roman wealth The didrachma paid to the fiscus Judaicus The other taxes

4 XVI IV. Signs of weakening Roman power Roman power distorted The threat from the exterior V CHAPTER VII THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A MODUS VI- ENDI I. Traces of hostility toward Rome Mourning the destruction of the Temple The Greek language between praise and prohibition The horror of informers Contempt for tax collectors II. Signs of loyalism The duty of paying taxes Roman dating of documents Abandoning the coins of the Revolt Respect due to the Emperor III. From conciliation to resignation IV. Conclusion PART TWO RELIGIOUS AND MORAL IMAGE: CONSTANTS AND VARIATIONS CHAPTER VIII THE IMAGE OF PAGANISM AND THE BI- BLICAL HERITAGE I. The derision of idolatry Canonical biblical writings Jeremiah s letter Jewish texts of the Hellenistic period Rabbinic sources II. Idolatry as a source of immorality Biblical accusations Themes of Judaeo-Hellenistic literature Implications of Rabbinic legislation ROMAN RELIGION THROUGH THE RABBI- NIC SOURCES AND THE QUESTION CULT 325 I. The deities CHAPTER IX

5 XVII 1. Aphrodite Mercury The Alexandrian triad and the healing gods Dionysius or Mithra? II. Commemorative celebrations Calends Saturnalia Imperial celebrations Secular games Private celebrations and sacrifices III. Popular beliefs and magic practices Prediction of omens Talismans and charms IV. The question of the imperial cult Admissible limits in the 1 st century Resistance to the institution of the imperial cult under Caligula Hostility to the imperial cult through the rabbinic sources Images of the emperor Imperial celebrations Refusal of deification of the emperor CHAPTER X THE MORAL IMAGE OF ROME I. From admiration to scorn: from the period of the Maccabees to the aftermath of Pompey s entry into Jerusalem Moral idealisation Exposure of Roman vices II. Evil as accident: Idealised Rome and real Romans in Philo and Flavius Josephus Pietas and evergetism Cupidity and cruelty The exception and the rule III. Moral judgement of Rome in rabbinic sources The material benefits of Roman civilisation Public constructions Distributions Exercise of justice

6 XVIII 2. The fundamental moral inferiority of Rome The inferiority of its origins A borrowed civilisation A civilisation of leisure The vices of Rome Cupidity Cruelty Hypocrisy and ruse Depravity Conclusion: the guilty kingdom, the kingdom of evil. 415 PART III ROME FROM THE ESCHATOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE CHAPTER XI APOCALYPTIC THEMES BEFORE I. The book of Daniel and the appearance of the theme of the fourth empire II. The post-exile prophecies and the theme of cosmic upheavals III. Gog and Magog (Ezekiel 38 and 39) and the theme of the eschatological war IVThe synoptic little apocalypse and the theme of messianic birth pangs THE ROLE OF APOCALYPTICAL IDEAS IN THE FIRST REVOLT AGAINST ROME I. The fourth philosophy and the sicarii II. The zealots and the war clan CHAPTER XII CHAPTER XIII ROME AT THE END OF THE FIRST CEN- TURY IN THE ESCHATOLOGICAL PERSPEC- TIVE OF THE LAST JEWISH APOCALYPSES 455 I. The eschatological interpretation of the 70 catastrophe II. The coming end of Rome Rome Babylon The symbols The forest and the cedar of II Baruch

7 XIX The eagle of Ezra IV The two beasts of the Book of Revelation III. The exasperation of Messianic expectancy and its historical consequences The tannaitic parallels of the two Jewish apocalypses (II Baruch and IV Ezra) The calculation of times and Jewish revolts of the 2 nd century CHAPTER XIV APOCALYPSE DENIAL AND PERSISTENCE 489 I. Apocalypse denied Purging the tradition Condemning time calculation and reconciling with patience II. The fate of Rome according to apocalyptic traces in rabbinic literature Rome Esau Edom Enemy brothers The punishment of Esau-Edom Rome fourth empire The quaternary schema Animal symbolism The eschatological value of the swine symbol Conclusion: The end of Rom, a hope shared CONCLUSION Chronological landmarks Chronological list of the principal cited rabbis List of abbreviations Bibliography Index of names