Jewish-Roman Rebellions

The textbook should be rephrased because it doesn't have the necessary amount of details regarding the information about Roman persecution of the Christians.

Document 3 directly identifies that Rome got its wealth from the conquering of new lands, (for example, loot and plunder) and after there was no longer land to be conquered, less money came in. This lead to the raising of prices and the lowering of wages, as explained as Document 4. Because of the expenses surrounding plundering these new lands, taxes were raised, also adding to the economic tension. Taxes were

The Roman Empire was so vast that it strangled its citizens with taxes and still failed to keep its borders protected. In fact, it is those very taxes that started the snowball effect that is the fall of Rome. Because of the taxes many Romans were plunged into a hopeless economic plight that when combined with the corrupt politicians’ systematic elimination of the Roman citizens political responsibilities

Jewish relations with Rome were less than ideal and the continued jabs from the Roman Empire, specifically, the crazed behavior from Emperor Caligula, did nothing but make them worse. The taxes that were imposed upon the Judeans were just one of the malicious acts of the Romans, they also took over the appointment of the High Priest which infuriated the Jews, and demonstrated no respect for the Temple or Judaism, which eventually led to the revolt. While no one can blame the Jews, in retrospect, it was considered to be most likely a huge mistake (Jewish Virtual Library, n.d.). The consequences were many for the Jews as a result of the Jewish Revolt, including the mass murder of thousands of Jewish people, slavery, destruction of the Temple,

One day, they had decided to separate Rome into two parts: The Western Half and the Eastern Half. But the Eastern Half had more power than the other, so they were uneven. According to Document E, it states that “A [wealthy lawbreaker] … is not punished for his injustice, while a poor man … undergoes the legal penalty.” This means that the poor and the rich were mistreated. The poor people were punished when guilty, but the rich aren’t. Also, “taxes are very severe, and unprincipled men inflict injuries on others.” This can be troubling for many Romans because needing to pay taxes and to get hurt in the process will make others need to pay even more for medical

Upon their return to Palestine after their release from exile, the Jews were struggling to “maintain their religious and social identity” (Wenham & Walton, 2011, p. 7) and found themselves in the midst of great military powers, first the Greeks, and then the Romans. Their influences on the Jews were remarkable. This essay will examine the Roman Empire in the 1st century AD by describing a typical Greco-Roman city, then discuss the various levels of Roman administrative structure, explain where local authority resided in the cities/villages of 1st-century Palestine, and finally support with Scripture the structure of authority within the Gospels and Acts.

Rome needs money to strive and without it, it was more likely to collapse as the economy went down the drain. Due to deadly illnesses being transmitted to the Roman Empire, it allowed the economy to suffer severely. The illness, measles that had arrived from southern Asia, had decimated the population leaving 250,000 people left from a million in the Roman Empire (Doc. #8). Due to the military having to hire Germanic soldiers to guard their frontiers, they needed money to pay the troops. The demand for money to pay for these troops then added to the demands on the state’s budget, just as declining production cut into tax revenues. Taxes became severe on the citizens of the empire, wealthy men were treated more valuable than the poor and unprincipled men inflicted injuries on others (Doc. #6). The Roman Empire treating the wealthy with more respect could be due to their need for money in the state’s budget and hoping some of them would have the heart to donate money, preventing the fall of Rome. Taxes were raised for obvious reasons. The empire knew they were having money problems and needed to get more out of the citizens spending habits, also to prevent the fall of Rome. The natural disaster that struck the Roman Empire in 366 CE could also contribute economically to the fall of Rome since the there was a devastation left and all recoveries to the city cost money (Doc. #7). The

"….Since the Jews were continually making disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus, he [Claudius] expelled them from Rome …."

Anti-Semitism is defined as prejudice or discrimination against, and persecution of, the Jews as an ethnic group. Historically, this has been practiced for many different reasons, by the ancient Egyptians before the Exodus, under the Babylonian

All of these wars happen because of the many leaders that were hungry for power and wanted to make Rome the best that it could be. Unfortunately, they did it at the expense of others. The government system in Rome consisted of the royal family that had the most control with the King having the most power. The King and other selected members had an extraordinary power, as stated in the textbook (TEXTBOOK) called “imperium, the right to issue commands and to enforce them by fines, arrest, and physical punishment, including execution” (CITATION). This type of power can be dangerous if not used with caution. In 168 B.C.E. a man by the name of Tiberius Gracchus tried to help give back to people by proposing a land distribution act. He offered to take land from the wealthy and redistribute it to the poor. The bill proposal was vetoed not once but twice. At this point, Tiberius Gracchus’s brother, Gaius Gracchus, a great tribunate and now help his brother.

From the third to the fourth century, the Roman Empire witnessed a widespread attempt to stop the spread of Christianity. Initially, leaders of the church were predominately targeted, but later anyone admitting to Christianity became a target. The persecutions hit a climax during Diocletian’s reign. These persecutions actually helped the spread of Christianity by glorifying Christians and beginning a tradition of martyrdom that shaped the Church, and the strength that Christians displayed shows that the persecutions could not have possible stopped the spread of Christianity.

Jewish relations with Rome where difficult during that time. Many Jews felt oppressed by the Romans due to heavy taxation and religious restraints. The pressures of outside influences led the Jews to feel that they were losing touch with their religious ways and having religion dictated to them in a way that that was not aligned with preserving their Mosaic laws. Jewish began to long for their ethnic identity (denHollander, 2013). When the Jewish people finally revolted against Rome the Romans overtook Jerusalem and destroyed their temple. Temple of Yahweh held great significance for those of Jewish faith. Essentially this destroyed the early church giving those of Jewish faith no where to practice their religion or offer sacrifices for atonement.

The Romans’ control of Jewish society also angered the Sicarii and drove their longing for freedom to an extreme. This

In the time Paul was writing to the Romans there was conflict between the Gentiles and the Jews. Many of today’s scholars have presented a number of likely reasons as to why Paul may have written the book of Romans. One of these believed reasons was for him to address the continued power struggle between the Gentiles and the Jews. In the book of Romans, Paul encourages unity as people of God and begs the Jews and Gentiles to have peace and love with not only each other but with everyone in the world.

During the time of the republic, Rome managed to conquer most of the lands surrounding the Mediterranean Sea as well as territories far into modern day Germany and Spain. This massive new domain began to put a strain on the Roman government. It was difficult to get conquered peoples to abide by the laws and constitution of the republic and even more difficult to enforce punishments when they did not. The vastness of the republic made it impossible for each territory to be represented equally in the Roman senate. This caused almost constant conflict in the new territories which began to burn through Rome’s man power and resources. In addition to these issues, the Punic Wars had destroyed most of Italy’s farmland and many soldiers returned home to find their sources of income depleted. Often these men had to become hired labor or tenant farmers