(Arbeiten Zur Geschichte Des Antiken Judentums Und Des Urchristentums 71) Edited by Jörg Frey, Daniel R. Schwartz & Stephanie Gripentrog-Jewish Identity in the Greco-Roman World_ Jüdische Identität In

Interdisciplinary Studies in Ancient Culture and Religion 6
DIASPORA JUDAISM IN TURMOIL,

116/117 CE:
ANCIENT SOURCES AND MODERN INSIGHTS
BY
MIRIAM PUCCI B E N ZEEV
PEETERS
Leuven - Dudley, MA
2005
Diaspora Judaism in Turmoil^ 116/117 CE:
Ancient Sources and Modern...
Library of Congress Record
LC Control No.: 2004060194

LCCN Permalink: http://lccn.loc.gov/2004060194
Type of Material: Book (Print, Microform, Electronic, etc.)
Personal Name: Pucci Ben Zeev, Miriam, 1948-
Main Title: Diaspora Judaism in turmoil, 116/117 CE
ancient sources and modem insights / by
Miriam Pucci Ben Ze'ev.
Published/Created: Leuven ; Dudley, MA : Peeters, 2005.
Description: xi, 302 p. ; 24 cm.
I S B N : 9042916052 (alk. paper)
CALL NLIMBER: DS122.9 .P815 2005
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements VII
Abbreviations XIII
PARTI
ANCIENT SOURCES
1. Inscriptions 3
2. Papyri 15
3. Literary Sources 77
T h e Pagan Tradition 77
Christian Evidence 82
Rabbinic Sources 99
PART II
MODERN INSIGHTS
4. Background 123
5. T h e Chronological Framework 143

Introduction 143
T h e Literary Testimony 144
Appian 144
DioCassius 144
Eusebius: the Chronicon 146
Eusebius: the Historia Ecclesiastica 149
T h e Ostraca from Egypt 152
T h e E n d o f the Uprising in Egypt . . . . . . .153
6. T h e Question o f Eusebius' Sources 157

D i o Cassius . . .158
Arrian 161
Ariston o f Pella 163
X CONTENTS
Bruttius 164
Appian 164
7. Egypt: N e w Dates, N e w Readings and N e w Interpreta-

tions 167
N e w Dates for Undated Papyri 167
Eudaimonis' Fears 171
T h e Participation o f "RutiUus" in the Fighting . . . 174
T h e MiHtary Aspect 176
Confiscation o f Jewish Property after the Revolt . . 186
8. Mesopotamia 191
T h e Testimony o f the Christian Sources 191
T h e Evidence o f Dio/XiphiUnus on the revolt o f "the
territories previously conquered" 194
Malalas 197
T h e Identity o f the Rebels 202
Looking for the Sources Used by D i o and Eusebius . 203
T h e Revolt o f "the C o n q u e r e d Districts": W o r k i n g
Hypotheses 207
T h e Background o f Jewish Participation 209
T h e Chronological Aspect 212
9. Judaea 219
Introduction 219
Lusius Quietus' Mission to Judaea 220
Appointment 220
Military Forces 222
T h e E n d o f His Mission 224
T h e Testimony o f the Sources 227
Archaeology 227
Coins 227
Hippolytus 231
T h e Scriptores Historiae Augustae 232
Rabbinic Sources 234
T h e Epitaph o f Tettius Crescens 244
Oriental Sources (V-XIII Centuries) 247
Judaea's C h a n g e o f Status 250
Conclusions 256
CONTENTS XI
10. T h e Order, Possible Interrelations, and Achievements o f
the Uprisings 259
Bibliography 267
Indexes Sources 291

Sources C i t e d 291
Inscriptions 291
Papyri 291
Literary Sources 293
Sources Discussed 295
Inscriptions 295
Papyri 295
Literary Sources 296
Geographical N a m e s 297
Personal N a m e s 299
Emperors 299
R o m a n MiUtary Forces 301
Selected Topics 301
ABBREVIATIONS
For the abbreviations used throughout this book, see MAnnee Philo-
logique
O T H E R ABBREVIATIONS
AAJR Proceedings o f the American Academy for Jewish Research

AI Africa Itaiiana
AJSL American Journal o f Semitic Languages and Literature
B&O Bibbia e Oriente
BSAA Bulletin de la societe royale d'archeologie d'Alexandrie
CHJ C a m b r i d g e History o f J u d a i s m
CSCA California Studies in Classical Antiquity
EAug Revue des fitudes Augustiniennes
EJ Encyclopaedia Judaica
GLAJJ Greek and Latin Authors on Jews and Judaism
GSAJ Giornale della Societa Asiatica Itaiiana
HUCA Hebrew U n i o n College Annual
lASH T h e Israel Academy o f Sciences a n d Humanities Proceed-
ings
IVSLA Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti
lEJ Israel Exploration Journal
JH Jewish History
JJS Journal o f Jewish Studies
JQR Jewish Quarterly Review
JSJT Jerusalem Studies in Jewish T h o u g h t
JSNT Journal for the Study o f the N e w Testament
MGWJ Monatsschrift fiir Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Juden-
thums
MUB Melanges de I'Universite Saint-Joseph, Beyrouth
PAAJR Proceedings o f the American Academy for Jewish Research
SH Scripta Hierosolymitana
SVT Supplementum to Vetus Testamentum
ZWT Zeitschrift fiir Wissenschaftliche Theologie
PART I
ANCIENT SOURCES
CHAPTER ONE
INSCRIPTIONS
Inscriptions are also included when they provide information on the

situation at the time o f the Jewish revolt even if they d o not mention
it explicitly.
Abbreviations
Applebaum, "A N o t e on the Work o f H a d r i a n . "

Applebaum, Shimon. "A N o t e on the Work o f Hadrian at Cyrene."
JRSAO ( 1 9 5 0 ) : 8 7 - 9 0 .
Gasperini, " L e iscrizioni del Cesareo."

Gasperini, Lidio. " L e iscrizioni del Cesareo e della Basilica di Cirene."
Quademi di archeologia della Libia 6 ( 1 9 7 1 ) : 3-22.
Luderitz, Corpus jUdischer Zeugnisse,

Luderitz, Gert. Corpus judischer Zeugnisse aus der Cyrenaika, Wies-
baden: Reichert. 1 9 8 3 .
Oliverio, " C a m p a g n a di scavi."

Gaspare Oliverio, " C a m p a g n a di scavi a Cirene nell'estate 1926, II: i
principali documenti epigrafici," AI 1 ( 1 9 2 7 / 1 9 2 8 ) : 2 9 6 - 3 3 6 .
Reynolds, " T h e Inscriptions."

Reynolds, Joyce M . "A N o t e on the Inscriptions o f the Caesareum."
In J o h n Bryan Ward-Perkins and M . H . Balance, " T h e Caesa-
reum at Gyrene and the Basilica at C r e m n a . " PBSR 16 ( 1 9 5 8 ) :
137-94.
Smallwood, Documents,
Smallwood, E . Mary. Documents Illustrating the Principates ofNerva,
Trajan and Hadrian, C a m b r i d g e : C a m b r i d g e University Press.
1966.
4 DIASPORA JUDAISM IN TURMOIL, 116/117 C E
INSCRIPTIONS RELEVANT TO JUDAEA
No. 1
Epitaph from CagHari, Sardinia, m i d - 2 n d century.

Bibli.: Antonio Taramelli, "Cagliari: iscrizioni funerarie di eta romana
rinvenute nelle necropolis caralitane," Notizie degli scavi di antichith
(1929): 103; AE 1929, 167; Giovanna Sotgiu, "Uepigrafia latina della
Sardegna dopo il C / . Z . X e P E.E, VIII," ANRWW, 11, 1 (1988): A
57 (ph.), p. 560.
L. Tettius Crescens,
domo Roma,
vix(it) ann(is) {vacat)\
expeditionib(us) interfui(t)
5 Daciae bis, Armeniae,
Parthiae et ludaeae;
se vivo sibi fec(it).
Translation
Lucius Tettius Crescens, from R o m e , lived for — years, took part in

the military expeditions to Dacia twice, to Armenia, to Parthia and
to Judaea. H e m a d e (this tomb) for himself during his lifetime.
No. 2
Dedicatory inscription, perhaps o f an altar, found in secondary use

in the Turkish wall east o f Z i o n Gate, Jerusalem, now lost. D a t e d
between summer 116 and summer 117.
Bibl.: Karl Zangemeister, "Sarapis-Inschrift in Jerusalem aus der Zeir
Trajans," Mittheilungen und Nachrichten des Deutschen Palaestina-
Vereins 1 (1895): 21-24 (ph. p. 22); CIL III, 13587; 7 1 5 I I , 1, 4393;
Smallwood, Documents, 154, p. 6 5 ; Benjamin Isaac, "Inscriptions from
Jerusalem after the First Revolt," (Hebr.) in The History of Jerusalem.
The Roman-Byzantine Period (ed. Y. Tsafrir and S. Safrai: Jerusalem:
Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi, 1999): II, pp. 169-70.
INSCRIPTIONS 5
[I]ovi O ( p t i m o ) M ( a x i m o ) Sarapidi
pro salute et victoria
imp(eratoris) Nervae Traiani Caesaris
O p t u m i Aug(usti) Germanici Dacici
5 Parthici et populi R o m a n i
vexill(atio) leg(ionis) III Cyr(enaicae) fecit.
Translation
To Jupiter O p t i m u s M a x i m u s Sarapis, for the welfare and victory o f

the Emperor Nerva Trajan Caesar, most excellent Augustus, Germa-
nicus, Dacicus Parthicus, and (for the welfare) o f the R o m a n people,
a detachment o f the T h i r d Legion Cyrenaica erected (this).
INSCRIPTIONS RELEVANT T O CYPRUS
No. 3
Honorary inscription on a slab, found in secondary use in Beirut,

containing the career o f a R o m a n knight in ascending order. First
half o f the 2 n d century.
B i b l : Louis Jalabert, "Une inscription in^dit de Beryte," CRAI(1912):
248-56 (ph.); /Z5III, 9 4 9 1 ; Smallwood, Documents, 284, p. 98.
C(aio) Valerio
T(iti) f(ilio) (tribu) Fab(ia) Rufo honor(ibus) decurionalib(us)
orn(ato) dec(reto) dec(urionum), praef(ecto) coh(ortis) V I
praetor (iae),
tr(ibuno) mil(itum) leg(ionis) V I I Cl(audiae) P(iae) F(idelis),
misso c u m vexillo ab
5 imp(eratore) Nerva Traiano O p t u m o Aug(usto) Ger(manico)
Dacico Parth(ico) C y p r u m in expeditionem,
praef(ecto) alae Gaetulor(um), praef(ecto) imp(eratoris)
Caesaris Tra<ia>ni Hadriani Aug(usti) p(atris) p(atriae),
II virali potestat(e) f(uncto),
10 L(ucius) Careius Adiectus Sedatianus
ob merita.
Translation
Lucius Careius Adiectus Sedatianus (dedicated this monument) to

Caius Valerius Rufus, son o f Titus, o f the tribe Fabia, adorned with
decurional honors by a decree o f the decurions, prefect of the Sixth
C o h o r t Praetoria, tribune o f the Seventh Legion Claudia Pia Fidelis,
(who was) sent by the Emperor Nerva Trajan O p t i m u s Augustus
Germanicus Dacicus Parthicus with a detachment o f soldiers on a
military expedition to Cyprus, prefect o f a mounted unit o f Gaetuls,
prefect o f Emperor Caesar Trajan Hadrian Augustus, father o f the
motherland, who performed the function o f duumvir,^ for his merits.
INSCRIPTIONS RELEVANT TO LIBYA
No. 4
Bilingual inscription on blocks from a wall from the Caesareum, in

several fragments. 118 C E .
Bibl.: Applebaum, "A Note on the Work of Hadrian," 89-90; AE
1951, 123; Reynolds, "The Inscriptions," 161-62; 5 ^ * ^ XVII, 804;
Gasperini, "Le iscrizioni del Cesareo," C 5 , p. 10; Richard G. Good-
child, Kyrene und Apollonia (Zurich: Raggi, 1971): 6 9 - 7 5 ; Luderitz,
Corpus judischer Zeugnisse, 17, pp. 32-33.
1 [Imp(erator) Caesar d]ivi Tr[aiani Parthici fil]ius diy[i Nerva] e

nepos T[raianus Hadrianus Aug(ustus) pont(ifex) max(imus)
trib(unicia) pot(estate) II co(n)s(ul) II]
2 [civitati Cy]renensium [Caesareu]m tumul[tu Iudaic]o dirutum
et [exustum restitui iussit]. (vacat)
Translation
T h e emperor Caesar Trajan Hadrian Augustus, son o f the g o d Trajan

Parthicus, grandson o f the g o d Nerva, high priest, holding the
tribunate for the second time, consul for the second time, ordered
that the Caesareum, which had been destroyed and burnt to the
ground in the Jewish riot, be restored for the city o f Gyrene.
^ Duumvir = chief magistrate of a Roman colony.

INSCRIPTIONS 7
3 [AuToxpdcTcop] K a i a a p d[zou Tpatavou r[]ap6i.x[oi) UIOQ], OSOU

N£pou[a u[(ov6^ Tpaiavo^ ASpiavo^ S e ^ a a T o c ; ap]xt£p£^^
4 [[xeyiCTTO^;] Syifxapxtx-^^ [sôuaialc; TO [uTraxoc; TO T/J] TTOXSL

TO Kai[(Tap£tov Iv TCOL 'louSaixcoi Tapdcxcoi xaTsaTpafjtfjievov
x a ] T a ( i T a 8 ' ^ v a i £X£X£U<T[£V]
Translation

tribunate for the second time, consul for the second time, ordered
that the Caesareum, which had been destroyed to the ground in the
Jewish riot, be restored for the city.
No. 5
A large block o f limestone; found in the H o u s e o f Jason M a g n u s ,

approximately opposite the south side o f the Caesareum. 1 1 8 / 1 1 9
C E (?)
Bibl.: Gasperini, "Le iscrizioni del Cesareo," C 9 , p. 12; Luderitz, Cor-
pus judischer ZeugnissCy 18, p. 34.
[. . . Caes]ar[eu]m tumultu I[udaico d i r u t u m . . .
Translation
. . . the Caesareum, which h a d been destroyed . . . in the Jewish r i o t . . .
No. 6
Single line inscription from the architrave o f the northern internal

colonnade o f the basilica o n the north side o f the Caesareum. 1 1 9 /
139 C E .
Bibl.: Applebaum, "A Note on the Work of Hadrian," D I , p. 89;

E. Mary Smallwood, "The Hadrianic Inscription from the Caesareum
at Cyrene,"//?542 (1952): 37-38; Reynolds, "The Inscriptions," IV b,
p. 162; Gasperini, "Le iscrizioni del Cesareo", B4, p. 17; Luderitz,
Corpus judischer Zeugnisse, 19, p. 34.
[Imp(erator) Caesar divi Traiani Parthici fiUus divi Nerv]ae

nep[os] Traia[n]us H[adrianus] Augu[stus pontif(ex)
max(imus) tribuni]c(ia) p[otest(ate)? co(n)s(ui) I] II
basiUc[am tumultu ludaico dirutam civitati Cyrenensium
restitui iussit.]
Translation

tribunate for the? time, consul for the third time, ordered that the
basilica, which had been destroyed in the Jewish riot, be restored for
the city o f Cyrene.
No. 7
Bibl.: Gasperini, "Le iscrizioni del Cesareo," C 8 , p. 12; Luderitz, Cor-

pus judischer Zeugnisse, 20, pp. 34-35.
Fragments possibly from the same m o n u m e n t :

a. Found outside the eastern vestibule o f the Caesareum
[. . . tumultu] I[udaico d]irutum
Translation
...destroyed in the Jewish riot
b. and c. further south-west o f the vestibule at the south-east corner

on the street.
b. [. . . co]mmilitonum
c. [...]co[...
[.]faciendum c[urav. . .]
Translation
b) . . . o f the fellow-soldiers . . .
c) . . . . had (it) built . . .
INSCRIPTIONS 9
No. 8
Stone, slab, fragment o f bilingual inscription from the temple o f

Hecate in Cyrene. 119 C E .
B i b l : Gaspare Oliverio, "Campagna di scavi a Cirene nell'estate
1927," AI 2 (1928-29): 8, drawing 8, pp. 118-19; AE 1929, 9; SEG
IX, 168; Luderitz, Corpus judischer Zeugnisse, 2 1 , pp. 35-36.
[Imp(erator) Caesar divi Traiani Parthici fil(ius),]

[divi Nervae nepos, Traianus Hadrianus]
[Aug(ustus) pont(ifex) max(imus), trib(unicia) pot(estate) III,
co(n)s(ul) III, templum]
[restitui iussit Cy]renensiu[m civitati, quod]
5 [tumultu ludaico di]rutum et e[xustum erat.]
[AuToxpocTCi)] p K a T a [ a p
[Osoij Tpaiavou IlapOLxJoi) utoc;, 6£[ou Nepâ ui-]
[covot;, Tpatavo^ A8pLav]6<; 2 £ p a a T [ 6 < ; , apxt.£p£-]
[uc; ( j t E y i a x o i ; ^r\]X0L^]yiy,'i]Q eôu[aia<; TO
10 [u7raT0<; TO y ' , T-^L K]upY)vaLcov 7r[6Xei TOU]
[ v a o u £v Tcot Tapaxcoi 'I]ouSal*x6)i. x£x[au(X£vou]
[xai TU£7rop67)(jL£vou T7]]v a 7 r o x a T a a [ T a a L v 7 r p o a £ T a ^ £ ] .
Translation

tribunate for the third time, consul for the third time, ordered that
the temple, which had been destroyed and burnt to the ground in
the Jewish riot, be restored for the city o f the Cyreneans.
No. 9
Inscription from the temple o f Zeus, originally in the pronaos wall

over the entrance o f the cella. Between 172 and 175 C E .
Bibl.: Gennaro Pesce, "La documentazione epigrafica e la suppellettile
votiva del 'Gran Tempio' in Cirene," Bulletin de la Society royale
darchdologie dAlexandrie 39 (1951): 90-92, no. 5, drawing 3; AE
1954, 4 1 ; SEG XVII 800; Richard G. Goodchild and Joyce M.

Reynolds, "The Temple of Zeus at Cyrene. Part I. Epigraphic Evidence
for the History of the Temple during the Roman Period," PBSR 26
(1958): 31-34, drawing 1; Luderitz, Corpus judischer Zeugnisse, 22, pp.
36-37.
[*T]TC£p TOLQ [Au]To[xpaTOpo<; K a i a j a p o ^ M(apxo)) AupTjXica

[Av]Tcov£iv[a) SsâcTTci Apfjisvt]-
[a]x(o Ilap0[ix(o MyjStxa) Fep] (jtavixci TUÔLC, x a l v[s]ixa(; xat
a[LcovLa(; Sta[jLova(;]
[x]al Tci (TiivTuavToc; wTci oLxco x a i Upac; OTUVXXI^TO) [xai Sa(jLCi)
Tcafjiatcov]
[a] TToXtc; [ a Ku]pavacov a fxaTpoTuoXK; TOV v[a6v] T<O [ALO^ - -
ca. 7 - - TOV]
5 [xa]T[apx]Y]0£VTa TOI 'IouS[aLxoL Tapaôi - - ca. 14 - -] [ - -
ca. 9 - - ] [Jta a v £ a T a [ a ] e v [ - - ca. 2 6 - -]
Translation.
For the fortune and victory and perpetual continuance (in power) o f
the Emperor Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus, Arme-
niacus, Parthicus, Medicus, Germanicus, and (for the perpetual con-
tinuance) o f all his house and o f the holy Senate and o f the R o m a n
people, the city o f the Cyreneans, the metropolis, has rebuilt the
temple o f Zeus - - which was overthrown in the Jewish riot
N o . 10
Marble slab in two pieces concerning the reconstruction o f the baths,

used again in S E o f the Temple o f Apollo found near the baths o f
Trajan. 119 C E .
Bibl.: Oliverio, "Campagna di scavi," 1, pp. 320-24; AE 1928, 2;
Kalman Friedmann, "Le fonti per la storia degli Ebrei di Cirenaica
nelPantichita," in Miscellanea di studi ebraici in memoria di H.P Chajes
(ed. E.S. Artom, U. Cassuto, I. Zoller: Firenze: Casa editrice Israel,
1930), 3, p. 4 2 ; Luderitz, Corpus judischer Zeugnisse, 23, p. 37.
Imp(erator) Caesar divi Traiani

Parthici fil(ius), divi Nervae nepos.
INSCRIPTIONS 11
Traianus Hadrianus Aug(ustus) pontif(ex)

max(imus), trib(unicia) potest(ate) III, co(n)s(ul) III, balineum
5 c u m porticibus et sphaeristeris
ceterisque adiacentibus quae
tumultu ludaico diruta et exusta
erant, civitati Cyrenensium restitui
iussit.
Translation

tribunate for the third time, consul for the third time, ordered that
the bath, together with the porticoes a n d the halls for ball games,
and the other neighboring (structures), which h a d been destroyed
and burnt to the ground in the Jewish riot, be restored for the city o f
Cyreneans.
N o . 11
Milestone o n the Cyrene-ApoUonia road, found at the fifth R o m a n

mile from Cyrene; only the upper part o f the stone is preserved. 118
CE.
Bibl.: E. Ghislanzoni, "Miliario dell'imperatore Adriano sulla strada
Cirene-ApoUonia," Notizie archeologiche sulla Tripolitania 2 (1916):
156-59, drawing 2 ; Oliverio, "Campagna di scavi," 318-20 (with
photo); SEG IX, 2 5 2 ; Richard G. Goodchild, "Roman Milestones in
Cyrenaica," PBSR 18 (1950): 8b, pp. 87-88, 90-91; Luderitz, Corpus
judischer Zeugnisse, 24, p. 38.
Imp(erator) Caes(ar) divi

Traiani Parthici f(ilius),
Divi Nervae nepos,
Traianus Hadrianus
5 Aug(ustus) p(ontifex) m(aximus), t(ribunicia) p(otestate) II,
co(n)s(ul) III,
viam quae tumultu
ludaico eversa et
corrupta erat res-

[tituit pe]r [mil(ites) coh(ortis). . . ]
10 x 8 ' (jT(k8{ioL) A7ToXcov(iav).
Translation

tribunate for the second time, consul for the third time, (ordered
that) the road, which h a d been ruined a n d damaged in the Jewish
riot, be restored through the soldiers o f the cohort . . . 2 4 stadia to
Apollonia.
N o . 12
Milestone discovered outside the Trajanic baths, near the Fountain o f

Apollo, before the first mile from the city, probably indicating the
official beginning o f work o n the Cyrene / Apollonia road 118 C E .
Bibl.: AE 1951, 208; Luderitz, Corpus judischer Zeugnisse, 2 5 , p. 39.
Imp(erator) Caes(ar) divi

Traiani Parthici f(ilius)
divi Nervae nep[o]s
Traianus Hadr[ianus
5 Aug(ustus) p(ontifex) m(aximus), t(ribunicia) p(otestate) II
co(n)s(ul) [III],
viam quae tum[ultu luda-]
ico eversa et c[orrupta
erat r[estit]uit
per mil(ites) coh(ortis). . .
Translation.
T h e emperor Caesar son o f the g o d Trajan Parthicus, grandson o f the

g o d Nerva, Trajan Hadrian Augustus, high priest, holding the
tribunate for the second time, consul for the third time, restored the
street which h a d been churned u p a n d destroyed in the Jewish riot
by soldiers o f t h e . . . cohort...
INSCRIPTIONS 13
N o . 13
Bibl.: Gaspare Oliverio, La stele dei nuovi comandamenti e dei cereali:

Iscrizioni di Cirene, (Gortina), el Gubba, Ngarnes, Gasr Barbures, Gasr
Taurguniy Tolmeta (Documenti antichi delPAfrica itaiiana 2, 1:
Bergamo, Istituto italiano d'arti grafiche, 1933), fig. 106; Pietro
Romanelli, La Cirenaica romana (96 a.C'642 d.C) (Verbania: A.
Airoldi Editore, 1943), fig. 32, p. 161; Shimon A p p l e b a u m , a n d
Greeks in Ancient Cyrene (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1979), 170-71, 236-37.
O n the Cyrenean plateau, 2 7 Kilometres west o f the city o f Cyrene, a

six kilometers west o f the ancient village o f Messa, in the site called
*Ein Targhuna or *Targhuniyeh', and is known to the local Libyan
inhabitants as 'Hirbet al-Yahud', the representation o f a menorah is
cut deeply in the ancient rockcut road a short distance south o f the
site. A p p l e b a u m points out that a paved road can be overturned and
broken up, while this cannot be done to a rockcut road, where the
Jewish victory can be expressed by cutting the menorah symbol in its
surface, a political symbol and a sign o f defiance and revolt for the
Jews o f Cyrene.
CHAPTER TWO
PAPYRI
In the bibUography preceding the texts, only those works are men-
tioned that appeared after the second volume o f CPJ was published
in 1960, and only when relevant to the lines concerning the Jews.
Abbreviations
BGU
Agyptische Urkunden aus den Koniglischen (then Staatlicheri) Museen
zu Berlin, Griechische Urkunden. Vol. 3. Edited by the General-
verwaltung. Berlin 1903.
CkLa.
Chartae Latinae Antiquiores. Facsimile-Edition of the Latin Charters
Prior to the Ninth Century, Vol. 1 1 . Edited by Albert Bruckner
and Robert Marichal. Dietikon-Zurich: Urs Graf-Verlag, 1979.
Vol. 4 3 . Edited by Albert Bruckner and Robert Marichal.
Dietikoon-Zurich: Urs G r a f Verlag. 1 9 9 5 .
Clarysse, "ApoUonios."
Clarysse, Willy. "ApoUonios: ambtenaar en familievader." Pages 84-
105, 168-73 in Familiearchieven uit het land van Pharao, Edited
by EW. Pestman. Z u t p h e n : Uitgeverij Terra Zutphen. 1989.
CPJ
Tcherikover Victor A. and Fuks Alexander (eds.). Corpus Papyrorum
Judaicarum, Vol. 2 . C a m b r i d g e , Massachusetts. Harvard Univer-
sity Press. Published for the Magnes Press, T h e Hebrew Univer-
sity. I 9 6 0 .
Daris, Documenti,
Daris, Sergio. Documenti per la storia delV esercito romano in Egitto,
M i l a n o : Societa Vita e pensiero. 1964.
Koenen, review o f CPJ II.

Ludwig Koenen, review o f V. Tcherikover and A, Fuks (eds.). Corpus
Papyrorum Judaicarum, 2 , Gnomon 4 0 ( 1 9 6 8 ) : 2 5 6 - 5 7 .
Kortus, Briefe des Apollonios-Archives,

Kortus, Michael. Briefe des Apollonios-Archives aus der Sammlung Pa-
pyri Gissenses: Edition, Ubersetzung und Kommentar, Berichte
und Arbeiten aus der Universitatsbibliothek und d e m Univer-
sitatsarchiv Giessen 4 9 . Giessen: Universitatsbibliothek. 1999.
Modrzejewski, ''loudaioi apheremenoi''
Meleze Modrzejewski, Joseph. ''loudaioi apheremenoi. L a fin de la
c o m m u n a u t e juive d' Egypte ( 1 1 5 - 1 1 7 de n.e)." Pages 3 3 7 - 6 1 in
Symposion 1985. Vortrdge zur griechischen und hellenistischen
Rechtsgeschichte (Ringberg 24-26Juli 1985). Edited by G . Thuer.
K o l n : Bohlau. 1989.
PAlex. Giss.
Schwartz, Jacques (ed.) Papyri Variae Alexandrinae et Gissenses.
Papyrologica Bruxellensia 7. Bruxelles: Fondation egyptologique
reine Elisabeth. 1969.
PBad
Bilabel, Friedrich (ed.) Verdffentlichungen aus dem badischen Papyrus-
Sammlungen, Vol. 1, Part 2. Griechische Papyri. Heidelberg: Carl
Winter's Universitatsbuchhandlung. 1923.
P Brem,
Wilcken, Ulrich (ed.) Die Bremer Papyri. Berlin: Verlag der Akade-
mie der Wissenschaften. 1936.
P Giss.
Kornemann, Ernst and Meyer, Paul M . (ed.) Griechische Papyri Im
Museum des Oberhessischen Geschichtsvereins zu Giessen. Vol. 1.
Leipzig und Beriin: D r u c k und Verlag von B . C . Teubner. 1910-
1912.
PKoln
Kramer, Barbel and Hagedorn, Dieter (ed.) Kdlner Papyri. Vol. 2.
Papyrologica Coloniensia 7. Abhandlungen der rheinisch-westfa-
lischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. O p l a d e n : Westdeutscher
Verlag. 1978.
P Mich.
Youtie, Herbert C . and Winter, J o h n G . (ed.) Papyri and Ostraca
from Karanis. Second Series. University o f Michigan Studies-Hu-
manistic Series 5 0 . Vol. 8. A n n Arbor: University o f Michigan
Press. 1 9 5 1 .
PAPYRI 17
P.Oxy,
Grenfell, Bernard P. and H u n t , Arthur S. (ed.) The Oxyrhynchus
Papyri, Vol. 3. L o n d o n : Egypt Exploration Society. 1 9 0 3 . Vol. 4.
Edited by Bernard P. Grenfell and Arthur S. H u n t . L o n d o n :
Egypt Exploration Society. 1904. Vol. 9. Edited by Arthur S.
H u n t . L o n d o n : Egypt Exploration Society. 1 9 1 2 .
P Sarap.
Schwartz, Jacques (ed.) Les archives de Sarapion et de ses fils: une ex-
ploitation agricole aux environs d*Hermoupolis Magna (de 90 h
133 PC). Le Caire: Imprimerie de Tinstitut francais d'archeo-
logie orientale. 1 9 6 1 .
PSI
Vitelli, Girolamo (ed.) Pubblicazioni della Societh Itaiiana per la
ricerca dei papiri greci e latini in Egitto, Papiri greci e latini. Vol.
9. Firenze: Tipografica Enrico Ariani, 1929.
Roman Military Records.

Fink, Robert O . Roman Military Records on Papyrus. Philological
Monographs o f the American Philological Association 2 6 . Pub-
lished for the American Philological Association by the Press o f
Case Western Reserve University. 1 9 7 1 .
SB
Kiebling, Emil (ed.) Sammelbuch griechischer Urkunden aus Agypten
im Auftrag der Strassburger Wissenschaftlichen Gesellschafi begonnen
von E Preisigke fortgefuhrt von F. Bilabel undE. Kiessling. Vol. 10,
1. Wiesbaden: O t t o Harrassowitz. 1969. Vol. 10, 2 . Edited by
Emil Kiebling. Wiesbaden: O t t o Harrassowitz. 1 9 7 1 . Vol. 12, 1.
Edited by Hans-Albert Rupprecht. Wiesbaden: O t t o Harrasso-
witz. 1976.
Schwartz, Les archives de Sarapion.

Schwartz, Jacques. Les archives de Sarapion et de ses fils: une exploita-
tion agricole aux environs d'Hermoupolis Magna (de 90 h 133
PC). Le Caire: Imprimerie de Tinstitut francais d'archeologie
orientale. 1 9 6 1 .
Select Papyri.
H u n t , Arthur S. and Edgar, Campbell C . (ed.) Select Papyri: Non-
Literary Papyri, Public Documents. T h e Loeb Classical Library.
L o n d o n : William H e i n e m a n n L T D , C a m b r i d g e , M A : Harvard
University Press. 1 9 6 3 .
Small
Smallwood, E . M a r y (ed.) Documents Illustrating the Principates of
Nerva, Trajan and Hadrian. C a m b r i d g e : C a m b r i d g e University
Press. 1966.
Turner, " A N 0 2 I 0 I l O Y A A I O I "

Eric G . Turner, " A N 0 2 I 0 I l O Y A A I O I (review o f V.A. Tcherikover
and A. Fuks (eds.). Corpus Papyrorum Judaicarum, vol. I I ) , " CR
11 ( 1 9 6 1 ) : 2 2 6 .
Whitehorne, "Religious Expression."

Whitehorne, J o h n . "Religious Expression in the Correspondence o f
the Strategus ApoUonius." APapyrol 6 ( 1 9 9 4 ) : 2 1 - 3 6 .
N o . 14
Letter to the Strategos ApoUonios Concerning the Purchase of Arms
P. Giss. 47=Kortus, Briefe des Apollonios-Archives, 6
Hermoupolis 33 x 21 cm.
116 (?), 19 June.
Bibl.: Kortus, Briefe des Apollonios-Archives, pp. 96-101. See below,
p. 168.
[ ] 'ATcoX[Xo)]vto) Tcp Tt(jti.o)TaT[cf) X'^Cps'-M-

[jTOcvTa Toc 07rX]a [cp]v [Ivejxa -^XOev *Ep(jtLa^ aYopacra[(;]
[sTcsfx^'a oroi] Si' [a]u[T]ou ^^[Sojfxsvo^ inl TCO x a T [ a
\z\}joiQ yvT^lgta x a i Xsiav a ^ i a £up7J(T6[aL] i^c, x a l
5 [uTTO 7i:avT]cpv Tcav LSOVTCOV 6au(jLag0'^vai.
[6 [jLsv y a p ]0copa^ ex xaXou wpoxocXxou cov x a i
[TYJV TcXox]y]y X£Tc[T]6TaT0(; x a i TO fxeiôv IXa-
[9p6TaTO(;] o)^ \ir\ x[a]fjtv£iv TOV cpspouvTa auTOv
["K^yopaJcTOY) TToXXwv [a]îoX6ycov (TUVSXTJXUOOTCOV
10 fjLoi] cpi[X]cpv apy(upiou) (Spaxfxcov) T^ avTi Tzk%[iov\oc, o)^ x a i a o i
[9av)^g]£Tai. yi 8s [aa](jtaeipa 'iTaXixiQ xaXouêvv)
[. .Y]vaT0(;] o(jLoi[co<; avTi Tikziloôc, (Spa^fxcov) n x a i TO
PAPYRI 19
[TQ][jLiXeL[TpL]ov T % TzopcûpcLQ ocvTL (Spaxfxoiv) (T^S [(Spaxfxcov)] (TVP

[ x a ] l TOC Suo (jLocTia Tciv apTU(jLaTCov (Spaxfxcov) TC. TrapaJ^w-
15 Miov yap 7i[p]6c; TO Tcapov yvTôriov oux supeOY], aXX' ou-
[S]£ £Stx[aL]a)(7a a y o p a a a i aTcoSoxifJLacr[67]]vaL 8u-
va(ji£vov. TO [6v]apLov TO x^XXOUV [£]i £7rcoX£TT[o]
Spax(Jto)v xS £XTOT£ av zntiiôi GOV zi 8z [3ou[X]£i
auTo ayopage-^vqci (SpaxfJioiv) fx, [6]gco[v 6 T£]xv[?(T]'y]^ 7ca[pa]-
20 xaXou(ji£vo(; [u7r]i[(j]xv£tTaL Scp(T£Lv, S-igXcaaov (ji[oJ.
ai; (ji£VTOL S£Scox£L^ £i(; TOUTO (Spaxtâ^;) x S £TC£[xâ [ a o i ] ,
xaiTC£p Aiovu(y[i]ou TOU apyupoxoTTOU xaTagxovTO(;
(jLou oXa<; (SpaxfJtoci;) [JL £L(; £V£Xupou Xoyov TYJC; 7r£(jt96£[G-
[ M ] ['cr']oi 1)7^6 TOC J^wSta ûXiv7)<; QrixriQ' 7]v, l a v 86-
25 ^7) croi, xupt.£ [JLOU, ava7r£[ji4'£t<; fôi, Lva OCTTOSOUC; SUVYJ-
6o) a7roXap£Lv TO iSiov [p]aSL[6)](; yap Trapdc GOI ofxota
auT^ y£V£a0ai SuvaTai. TC£pL cov ocXXoiv PouX£t.,
[ypa]cp£ (Jiot [tq]S£CO(; [Tc]X7)pcpgov[Ti].
(Second H a n d ) [T]6 a[<T7)[jL]ov
[vuv
ZGT{IV)]
[ ( S p a x f J L C o v ) T]CP yap o [ r S a ] c ; , Iv K[o]7rTCo x a 0 ' -iQfjLEpav
Siacpopo[i] y£ivovTaL TtfjiaL

30 [£p]pa)(T6aL GZ £uxo[J'ai, xupt£ (xou. n[auvi] x£
Translation
To the m o s t distinguished ApoUonios, greeting. All the weapons be-

cause o f which Hermeas came, I have bought a n d sent to y o u by h i m
gladly that they can be o f use and that it was possible to find them
cheaply, so that all the persons who saw them were amazed. T h e
cuirass, o f very g o o d brass, very finely woven and very light in c o m -
parison to its size, so that it does not tire the one who wears it, was
bought in the presence o f m a n y respectable people, friends o f mine,
for three hundred and sixty silver drachmas, but it is worth more, as
you will realize. Also the sword called Italian (was bought) beneath
Its worth for eighty drachmas, and a half p o u n d o f purple cloth for
two hundred fifty two instead o f two hundred sixty four, and two
niathia* o f spices for eighty drachmas. A dagger could not be found
suitable for this occasion, but I did not think it right to buy one
which could be rejected as unworthy. I would have sent you the
small copper container if it had been sold for twenty-four drachmas;
but if you are willing to buy it for forty drachmas — for this price
the craftsman agrees to give it to you — then let m e know. T h e
twenty four drachmas which you have given m e for this purpose I
sent to you, although Dionysios the silveresmith kept from m e full
forty drachmas as pledge for a wooden box sent to you for the pic-
tures. Send it back to m e , m y lord, if it seems right to you, so that I
can get back what belongs to m e , since something similar to it may
be easily found in your place. As to the other things that you want,
write to m e , I shall gladly carry them out. T h e uncoined metal is val-
ued at three hundred sixty two drachmas because, as you know,
prices change in Koptos on a daily basis.
I pray that you may feel well, m y lord. 19 J u n e .
* Mathion is a measure of volume, equivalent to 1/12 artabai. See Kortus, Briefe

des ApollonioS'ArchiveSy p. 101. On the artaba, see Orsolina Montevecchi, La papiro-
logia (2"^ ed. Milano: Vita e pensiero, 1988), 7 1 .
N o . 15
Letter of Eudaimonis to Her Son, the Strategos ApoUonios
RGiss. Inv. 246 = R Alex. Giss. 59 = SB 10, 10652 C
ApoUinopolites Heptakomia. 5.5 x 1,15 c m .

116 C E , before the end o f August, or 117 C E , after the end o f
J u n e (?).
Bibl.: Schwartz, P. Alex. Giss., pp. 79-80; Kortus, Briefe des ApoUonios-
Archives, pp. 79-81.
EuSaifjiovic; ATroXXovtcai xcai

cpiXocrTOpyoTaTcoi uioii ^^(Lpsiv).
Tupo Tcav [o]Xcov suxofjiat a s S i a -
crcoêaOai a(jia T-^L (jufjiPtcoL a o u
5 AXLV7]L x a i a P a a x a v T O K ; a o u TZOLI-
îoiq. . [ . ] . § £ T O ^ aXXoL<; x a l TOU

], o)^ I . c p v a £x^[.
Verso: A7roXXcovLa)[t. aTpaTTjycoL XTX.]
PAPYRI 21
Translation
Eudaimonis to ApoUonios, most aflfectionate son, greetings. More

than anything I pray that y o u m a y be saved, together with your wife
Aline a n d your lovely children and the other...
Verso: T o ApoUonios the strategos
No. 16
A Letter of Aline to ApoUonios the Strategos
P. Giss. 19 = ay II, 4 3 6
Hermoupolis. 2 1 x 12 c m .
116 (?), beginning o f September.
Bibl.: Schwartz, PAlex,Giss, p. 7 9 ; Genevieve Husson, review of
Jacques Schwartz, Papyri Variae Alexandrinae et Gissenses, REG 83
(1970): 224; Kortus, Briefe des Apollonios-Archives, pp. 108-116; see
below, pp. 168-69.
[A]XLV7) ATToXXcavLcot Tcot. aSsXcpcoi

TToXXa âtpsLV.
(jLsyaXcoc; aycovicoaa Tuept a o u S t a TOC 6V-
[ T a T]OU xaipou (j^ri[Lit,6[LZ'^0L x a l OTI S^-
5 [aL9]v7j(; £[^]'^X6£(; cltz efjiou OUTS TTO-
[TOLC;] OUTS gsLTiOL<; -i^Ssco^ TupoaspôfJiai
[aXXa auv]sxo)(; aypuTuvoijaa VUXTO*; -IQ-
[[xspa<; [jL](av (jLspL(jivav s ^ w TI^V Tcspl
[ T % (T6)T]7]pLa(; a o u . [XOVT] S S y\ TOU T i a T p o i ;
10 [[xou 7uoX]ucppLa a v s y s t p s L (xs x a l TYJL a '
["i^fjLspa] TOU vsou STOU^ vri ttiv avjv
[ao)Ty]]piav a [ y ] s u a T O < ; sxoL(jico(JT7)v,
[zl [iri (?) 6 7r]aTi^p (jiou siasXOwv i p i a a a T O
[[iz, 7rapa]xaXa) a s oOv aa(paX6)(; a s a u T O V
15 [TI^PSL] x a l (JL7) [x6vo(; TOV XLVSUVOV
[avsu] cpuXaxY]<; u7u6(jLstvs* aXXa o^c,
[xal 6 s]v6aSs aTpaT7]y6(; TOLC; a p ^ o u -
[ai S7T:LTL]0Y]at. TO âpoQ x a l a u TO a u -
[TO TTOtSl . . . ] . . V 8s fJLOU TOV T c a T s p a
20 [ ] a o v T a . xat yap TO OVO-
[[jia TOU a]SsXcpou TcposTs07]

[ Ss auTOV 6 Qeoq
[ ]v. sav oOv, aSsXcps,
[ TCo]v TrpayfjidcTCOV
25 [ ](; npoQ riii5.Q ypa-

[ôv ] Pco a u T c p 7up6(; a s
[ ] T avapatvst
[ ] . Ty](; a o j T T ) -
[pâ^ ]
Verso
ATToXXcavicoi X aSsX[cp6)i.
11. 4-5. £5[a^9]v7)^: Schwartz, p. 79. l5[acp]vco^ CPJ,
Translation
Aline to ApoUonios her brother, m a n y greetings. I a m very worried

about you, because o f events that are said to be taking place and be-
cause you left m e suddenly. Neither drink nor food d o I approach
with pleasure, but staying awake continually night and day, I have a
single anxiety, about your safety. Only m y fathers care arouses m e ,
and on the first day o f the new year — I swear by your safety — I
would have stayed in bed without eating a bite, if m y father had not
c o m e and forced m e . Please, then, keep yourself safe and d o not put
yourself in danger alone without a guard; but, like the strategos here
who puts the burden on the magistrates, you too do the s a m e . . . m y
father... because the name o f m y brother was p r o p o s e d . . . but g o d
will... him. If, at any rate, brother,... from your affairs... write to
m e . . . to y o u . . . is coming u p . . . o f your safety...
(Verso) To ApoUonios m y brother.
Translation appearing in J a n e Rowlandson, Women & Society in Greek and

Roman Egypt: a Sourcebook ( C a m b r i d g e : C a m b r i d g e University Press,
1998), 121.
PAPYRI 23
N o . 17
Letter of Eudaimonis to Her Son, the Strategos ApoUonios
BAIex. inv. 50 = E Alex. Giss. 60 = SB 10, 10652 D
HermoupoUs. 7 x 1 1 cm.
116 or 117 C E (?).
Bibl.: Schwartz, PAlex.Giss., pp. 80-81.
[Ei>S]at.[jLOV£L^ ATTOXXCOVICOL Tcai utcot 7rX£L[(7Ta] ^âipstv.

Tcpo fjisv TcavTCov z\iyo\LOLi (7£ u y L a i v s i v x a l . [. ]
[ ] . ai (XTupOCTXOTcov slvat TCOCVTOTS. y e i -

5 v c a a x s L v a s GsXca OTL OUX lûpTjfxat. £u[. . .]
auTO(; oux ofSac; oxt ou [jtYj TTOiYJaa) aXXa TZZ[. .]
[ l]xapiQ6y]v oOv [ ]
Verso: [ ATCOXXW]VLWL aTpaTY)(yc5i) 'E7rTaxcofjL[ia(;
1. 1: EuSatfxovei^. Read: EuSaifxovtg.

1. 6: olSa<;. Read: olaGa.
1, 7: IxapYJOTjv. The spelling is probably that of the scribe, and may be a mis-
take for Ixapyjv (mistaken for the aorist IxepGvjv): Schwartz, Papyri Variae
Alexandrinae et Gissenses, p. 8 1 .
Translation
Eudaimonis to the son ApoUonios, m a n y greetings. M o r e than any-

thing I pray that you may feel well and .. .be completely unharmed. I
want you to know that I shall not cut m y hair.. .you yourself d o not
know that I shall not d o the other t h i n g s . . .
Verso: To ApoUonios the strategos o f H e p t a k o m i a
N o . 18
A Letter of Eudaimonis to Her Son, ApoUonios the Strategos
P. Giss. 24 = CPJ Ih 4 3 7
Hermoupolis. 9 x 12 c m .
116 or 117 C E , J u n e 3 0 .
Bibl.: Clarysse, "ApoUonios," 169, n. 18; Whitehorne, "Religious Ex-
pression," 34; Kortus, Briefe des Apollonios-Archives, 102-107; see be-
low, pp. 170-73.
S o m e lines lost.
[ . . . . ] p £ . g [ . . . .T]cav Osciv
[o5]v OsXovTCov x a t [jtaXtaTa
TOU avLXT^Tou 'Epfjtou ou [iri
az i^TTTâcoaijcn}. TOC 8' aX-
5 Xa Ippcoao (JLOL (TUV TOTC; aoic;
7ra(7L. a a T r a ^ s T a t ufjta^ *Hpa-
iSou^ ri a[ia(7xavT0(; 6u-
yocTYjp. 'Ejcslcp C
Verso
ATTOXXCOVLCOI.
11. 3-4. i^TT-y)<TcoaL{(Ti} Clarysse. ou [ij} as oTrr/jacoatlat} C/y. See below, pp. 171-
73.
Translation
. . . if the gods are willing, and especially the unconquerable Hermes,

may they not defeat you. For the rest, m a y you be well for m y sake
with a n d all your people. Heraidous salutes y o u , your daughter
w h o m the evil eye m a y not touch. Epeiph 6.
(Verso) T o ApoUonios.

Roman Egypt: a Sourcebook ( C a m b r i d g e : C a m b r i d g e University Press, 1 9 9 8 ) ,
121.
N o . 19
Jewish Victories in the Hermoupolite District
R Brem. 1 = CP/II, 438 = SmaU. 57
116 or 117 C E .
Bibl.: K o e n e n , review o f C P / I I , 2 5 6 - 5 7 ; see below, p p . 1 6 9 - 7 0 , 1 7 5 ,
178-79.
Mta -^v zkKic, xat XOLTTY) T i p o a -

Soxia y] Tcav OCTTO TOU VOJJLOU
•^fjicov aOpcocov xco^Y]Tcav
[TTPJOC; TOU<; avoatou^ 'Io[u8at]ou<;
PAPYRI 25
5 MvYf^'^, acp' "^c; x a £va[v]Tta

vuv £ ^ £ ^ 7 ] . yap x[?] [a]uv-
PaX6vT£^ OL ')^(JI£T£PO[L] •)^TT[Y]-
0Y]crav xat TTOXXOI [ajuTCov
(juv£x67T:[7]aav
10 [..]. [
[..]
[.]. f^£V-
Tot. ye [vuv T r a p a TLVCOV I X -
66VT[COV (XTTO
15 [Ji£T£XaPo[jL£v T[6 a]yy£[X][ji[a

OTi aXXT) X£y£a)v TOU[TI]XIOU
IXOouda eiQ Mi[L[(p]iv TJI X^
TipoaSoxifjioc; lartv.
1. 5. [TrlvYfxi^ Koenen. oxjfjLir) C/y. Fuks follows here the reading of Wilcken,
but it appears that Wilcken himself had doubts regarding this reading, while
Musurillo tentatively suggested reading [toX][X7): Herbert A.Musurillo, The
Acts of the Pagan Martyrs (London: Clarendon Press 1954, repr. New York:
Arno Press, 1975), 176. Koenen, however, observes that the X does not appear
to match the remnants of [x, and that the to would have been written very
large. He suggests instead reading Wvyfjuig, a word which was used in a wide
sense, as we see for example in Josephus, Ant. 14, 210 and in imperial edicts
(Koenen, review of CPJ II, 256-57).
Translation
T h e one hope a n d expectation that was left was the struggle o f the
massed villagers from our district against the impious Jews; b u t now
the opposite has happened. For on the 20^^ (?) our forces fought a n d
were beaten a n d many o f them were killed... now, however, we have
received the news from m e n c o m i n g f r o m . . . that another legion o f
Rutilius arrived at M e m p h i s o n the 22'''^ a n d is expected.
No. 20
Participation of Rutilius (Lupus?) in the fighting
SB 10, 10502
Medinet M a d i (Narmuthis?). 39.5 x 23 cm.

117 C E (?), before 2 8 August.
Bibl.: Ignazio Cazzaniga, "Una dedica del prefetto M. Rutilio Lupo?

Un papiro delPUniversita Statale di Milano," Aegyptus 47 (1967): 213;
Guido Bastianini, 'Lista dei prefetti d'Egitto dal 30a al 299p," ZPE 17
(1975): 282; Paul Bureth, "Le prtfet d'Egypte (30 av. J.C.-297 AP
J.C.): ^tat present de la documentation," AAWW'II, 10, 1 (1988): 483;
see below, pp. 174-76.
[ . . . ] 0(; -jQyefjLwv TOUTIX
Translation
(the) chief commander Rutilius... w a n t e d . . . having f o u g h t . . .

No. 21
Letter of Heras to his father Epaphroditus Attesting
Danger at Hermoupolis
P. Bremen inv. 7 = SB 10, 10277
Hermoupolis. 19.3 x 7.6 c m .
116 or 117 C E (?)
Bibl.: Herwig Maehler, "Zwei neue Bremer Papyri," CE 40 (1965):
342-47; see below, p. 171.
*Hpa(; 'Erca^poSiTCot
TOii x u p t c o l T r a x p i
âipstv.
(jtoytc; TTOTs [£up]a)v TOV
5 epxofJLsvov npoc, az eiG-
X^<ôL { y a p } a(T7ra(7a(T0aL az' olSa
S' OTl £UXT£0[v] l a T l V [<T]O[I.]
TcapaxaXca oOv a v T i y p d c -
[JLOU TTspt T£ zyjc; aca-
10 TflpioLQ (TOU xat T-^^ TOU
aSsXcpou (jiou byizioLC,' XOL-
Xcdc, o6v TTOtTQcreic;, xiipte,

[ji£Ta7T:£[jL4'a<T0aL TYJV
fX7]T£pa fxoi) x a l TT^V [ a J S s X -
PAPYRI 27
15 cpV (xou, STcsi SiTrXoxapio^

-^XOev £i(; XY]vo[36ax[i.]a
x a i a7r£97]vaTO Ap^îai [6T]L
£v £ a x a T o t < ; IVTIV T] 'Epfjiou
noXiQ. acTTraaaL Xp-iôrLfxov x a l
20 K a a T o p a x a l S a p a T r i w v a TOV
^7]p6v x a l *l£paxLCi)va x a l
Oiâv x a l T o i x ; x [ . . . . ] . [ ]
i^fjLwv cpiXTa[T0U(;. Ippcoao [loi]
xupi£ Tca[ ]
11. 5-6. £L(Txi>aa. Read iGxâoL.
1. 7. £uxT£o[v]. Read suxraioM.
1. 9. (jtou instead of (xoi.
I. 18. £VTtv. Read IGTIV.
II. 23-24. xupte 7ua[. Either [sppcoao [xot] xupte 7ra[Tep as in /? Wurzb, 22 = 7?
Sarap. 97, 20 or [eppcoaaGai ere £i>x(o(xat)] xupts* Ila[6)v + the day.
Translation
Heras to Epaphroditus his lord father, greetings. H a v i n g found with

difficulty somebody w h o travels to y o u , I could send y o u m y bless-
ings. I know that this would please you. S o I beg y o u to write m e
how is your health a n d that o f m y brother. You would d o well, m y
lord, to send for m y mother and m y sister, since a duplicarius came
to Xenoboskia a n d told the Archias that Hermoupolis is in extreme
danger. Regards to Chresimos and Castor, to Sarapion the thin one,
to Hierakion a n d Phibas a n d to . . . our beloved ones. B e well m y
lord father.
No. 22
Letter of Eudaimonis to Her Son, the Strategos ApoUonios Concerning
Disturbances at Hermoupolis
P.Giss. Inv. 245 = P. Alex. Giss. 58 = 5 ^ 10, 10652 B
ApoUinopolites Heptakomia. 12 x 13 c m .
116 or 1 1 7 C E (?)
Bibl.: Schwartz, P Alex. Giss., p p . 77-79', Peter J . Parsons, review o f J .
Schwartz, Papyri Variae Alexandrinae et Gissenses, JEA 5 7 ( 1 9 7 1 ) : 2 3 4 ;
Whitehorne, "Religious Expression," p. 2 7 ; Dieter H a g e d o r n , " B e m e r -
28 D I A S P O R A J U D A I S M I N T U R M O I L , 116/117 C E
kungen zu U r k u n d e n , " ZPE 136 (2001): 1 4 8 ; Kortus, Briefe des

ApollonioS'ArchiveSy p p . 1 2 5 - 3 0 . See below, p p . 1 7 0 - 7 1 .
EuSaL(jLovl(; ATTOXXCOVICOL TCOI

uicoi TToXXa xaipsiv.
o . c o . . Tocc; Trap' IQ(JL£LV Tapaxa[<;] ou
xapT£[p]o) VUXT[6](; -i^fXEpa^ £[^]x[^"]
5 (JtsvYj TOLi; 6£0L<; TracTL x a i 7r[aaai(;]
07r(0(; [a£] S[i]acpuXaâ)ai [. . .]TC[. . . ] . [ . ]
. 0 ) ^ ; . [7rap]axX[7]]6£i(; oOv [. . ] c 7 [ . . ] v
(7£au[T6]v S i a Y [ a ] Y £ (Jt£XP^ 7rp[. .Jxa-
6[ca(7i a i ] TOU x a i p o u TOUTOU T a p a ^ a t
10 x [ a i . . a J T i a v T a ^ TQfjLiv £ic; Trapafjiu-
[Gtov]. (JLY) oxviQc/jc; 7r£[pi] TTjc; a7](;
[(T6)T7]]pia(; S7)Xo)aa[t [Jioi. ac77raC£-]
[Tai a£] *HpaiSou<; i^ [(ji£ixpa x a i ]
[8 letters] . 0 1 X 0 [ ]
Verso: [ 'ATTOXXCOVICOI cr]TpaTy]Y6)i *E7iTaxco(jLia<;
1. 3. Instead of 0 . ca. . where Schwartz expected an adverb, it is possible to

read opwga; the participle, which refers to the writer of the letter, has Ta<; Tcap'
i^(X£tv Tapaxa[<;] as object (Hagedorn, "Bemerkungen zu Urkunden," 148).
I. 6. 8[t]a<pvâ^w(Ti. Schwartz (P. Alex. Giss,, p. 78) gives here S[t]a(7u[X]Xapcoc7i,
which, according to Whitehorne, is a hapax legomenon ("Religious Expres-
sion," 27). Hagedorn, however, suggests that instead of S[i.]a(n[X]Xap(0(n (the
accent should be -Xapcoai) we should read 8[i]a9i)Xa5a)(ji. H e observes that
Schwartz has overlooked the vertical line in the letter 9 ; he took the curves of
the letter ^ for the arches of a (3. "Schwartz was on the right way when in his
commentary he observed that the word here corresponded to Sia9uXa(7aoi)-
(7iv in P Giss 19, 11. 7-8, but he has not taken the last step. Thus this adden-
dum lexicis StaauXXa^xpavco disappears again" (Hagedorn, "Bemerkungen zu
Urkunden," 148).
II. 8-9. Schwartz reads 7rp[. .]Ta0[w(7t. Since the last letter on 1. 8, however, is
more a X than a a, the letter before it may well be a s and the p is hardly
recognazible, Hagedorn suggests that the reading 7ra[p]£X6[(oat is the most
plausible: "until the unrests of this time have passed" ("Bemerkungen zu
Urkunden," 148).
Translation
E u d a i m o n i s to her son ApoUonios, m a n y greetings. T h e disturbances

here by us I cannot bear, I d o not refrain night or day from m y
PAPYRI 29
prayers to all the gods a n d goddesses that they m a y keep y o u

s a f e . . . . H a v i n g been admonished, then, take g o o d care about yourself
until the unrests o f this time have passed a n d y o u meet with us when
things recover. D o not hesitate to tell m e about your welbeing. T h e
little Heraidus greets y o u a n d . . .
Verso: 2^^^ hand. T o ApoUonios the strategos o f Eptakomia.
No. 23
Letter of Claudius Terentianus to his Father Tiberianus Concerning
Disturbances at Hermoupolis
E Mich. 4 7 7
Karanis. 17.1 x 2 7 c m .
116 or 117 C E (?)
Bibl.: Erich G. Turner, review of H . C . Youtie and J . G . Winter, Papyri
and Ostraca from Karanis, Second Series {Michigan Papyri, vol. VIII),
JRS 42 (1952): 133; Hans J . Wolff, review of H . C . Youtie and J . G .
Winter, Michigan Papyri, VIII, lura 3 (1952): 374-76; Naphtali Lewis,
"A Veteran in Quest of a Home," TAPhA 90 (1959): 142-43; Turner,
" A N 0 2 I 0 I lOTAAIOI," 226; Giovanni Battista Pighi, LeUere latine
dun soldato di Traiano (Studi Pubblicati dalP Istituto di Filologia
Classica 14: Bologna: ZanicheUi editore, 1964), p. 78. See below,
p. 177.
[ K X a u ] S [ L o ] ^ T[£p£VTiav6(; KXauSio)] T [ L p ] £ p [ L ] a v a ) L xoS

7r[aTpi] x a l x u p i [ 6 ) TcX£t'aTa yoLipzvj]. npo [izv 7r[a]vTC0v
£ [ u X O ( J l ] a t (T£ [u]Yta[tV£lV x a l £UTUX£tV, o ] [lOl £Ux[T]aL6v £(TTl.V, TO
7r[poa]xvv[y]](jLa [ a o u ca. 11 7ro]to[u|jt]£vo(; x a 6 ' IxaaTYjv
5 i^[[ji£p]av Tcapa [TCO x u p t c o SapaTTiSi x ] a [ l T]OLQ a u v v a o K ; [6]£o[r](;.
£[xo(jL]iaa(jL7]v oro[u TYJV ITULCTTOXI^V fic, £7r£Yvo)v a ] v a 7 r £ 7 u X £ u x £ v a i
x a l [c7£ IJv d) £up7][xa(; TTXOIO) UTTOCYOVTL eic; Ap(7t.vo£i]Ty)v.
Y£t.VC0(7X£LV
cr£ 0£X6) a7U£X7]X[u06Ta [iz 7 r a p a x X 7 ] ] 6 [ £ ] v T a TO Ypa(Jt(jLa x a -
Ta^^copiaai x a l [iqTropTjxoTa [iz §£6](ji£vo[v] a u T O u oO ICTTIV zic, TO
10 ov[o][i.a TO Ypa(i.[fxa Y£Ypa[Jt[Jt£vo]v l v a [ x a T ] a Y p a ^ 7 ] . X^p'^^ T^P
auT[o]u o u Suvofji[aL a u T O xaTa]xcopL(7a[L]. £Opov 8k x a l UOLTZZI-
ptv [ A]TcoXXivapt.[v & IS-jQXcoaa a ] YJxou[aa TJWV vofxtxcav, x a l

<£>X£-
yi [[XOL] a(p£<; g[u zcx>c; oO auT]cp lav -^v Su[v]aT6v xaTapyJvat.
30 DIASPORA JUDAISM IN TURMOIL, 116/117 CE
£7i[£i]8i^ (Tu TOC [GOL 6XiYcop£L(; £v] T ^ X^pW [J-SVCOV, £V AX£âv-

15 Sp£[La] ava[xt[vavT6c; [JLOU, Y£voii £v] 'AX[£y avSp£La. a v a ^ a c ; ziq
TT^[v] x^P^'^ a[[ji£X£r(; oXct)^ auTca]v, a[XXa x a l ] wv £X7rX£^£
a u T [ a ] 7^[jL£XY][aa<; ]. [ . . . . ] . [.] av xaTa7rX£u-
GjiQ SuvaTat Y^McrGai ]• av [ . ] ^Y] aSLa9opL YP^"
(piQ [loi 7r£7r[ofJL(p£vaL ] ov Sia Avou(3i6)vo^, ou 8t
20 ol8[£v] Gs Ypa^J;[avTa [loi &8z] x [ a l ] k[iol ouSlv 8£Sa)X£v.
"^[d av£p7](; £Co[(;] g';^[(X£pov TcjpcoTtaTa TYJV iTutaToX-iQv
xal T[6] xaXaGiov x£x6 [[Jtiafxat S ] i a AupY]Xiou, xal [ji£XY](7a[T]a)
(Toi, [x]upt.£ TcaT')^[p, Yp]^^[a^ AvouPi]o)V£i (JLY] lôuSovjâ/)
[X£ [ ] . £lS[ ] . . [. . .]£Xe£LV. aXXY)
25 Y^P X^P^^ [ ]• [••]••• ouTTCo Yap e[i]c;

7r[p6](7(OTcov [ . . . ] . [ ] . . £X0£rv Siax£VY](;. x a l
£P6)[T]0) GZ av SuV/] [[JLOt TaXUT]£pOV 7zi[l^0(.l U7r6SY](Jia
£7r[l] 7i:o[XX]a 6v£[iva[xat auTWv]. oiSec, Yap OTI xoTTtca-
(ji£v apTi 8[L6]T[£t] xa[6atpou(ji£]v T[6]V Oopuôv x a l a-
30 xaTacTTaatav TY)<; 7r6X[£a)<;. xaXo)(;] 7:oti^[cr]£i[<;] xa[T]a7r[£](jL-
^[a]i. (JLOL a . . [ . J S G ) [. . . ] . [ ] . [. . .]TO a u T o u x a l r£-
[jL£[X]XCO T p i a [ . . . ] . x a . [. . ] . [. . . ] v a . [Y]£tvcocrx£iv cr£ OIXco
p.[£Ta] TO av[cO Y]8]Y) [a]o[l] Y^Mp^f^Cf^l^Mo"^ £VY]V£YfX£VOV [IQl

6. [. . .U]TC6 TOU Tc[a]Tp[6](; Avou[pi]wvo<; TO xaXaOiov, x a l TO
35 T£[Xo]<; voiv Tca[p£Gr]Ttv £[(xo]i. £Tc[£i]SiQ oux ?VP'^â iyd^ Tci[iô(.i
Sia TO vco0p£[u£(T]0aL [JL£, xaXco(; oOv [n]oiriGZi(; TOC aoc [iz-
T£[cop]a £X7rX£[âi T]ax£0)[<;] x a [ l ] xaTaTcX£[u]aai izpoc; 6 Y^p
xa[jL[aTo](; apTL oclyiXoiloc, IGTLV x a v S[£]o[v] £[Lva] Tpa<pa) UTCO aX-
Xo[u, O^Q] axou(7£i(; Tc[apaY]£f.v6[jL£v[o<;] £7T[1 TY]<; 7r6X£a)<;.
a(7]7ra^£TaL GZ
40 7uo[X]Xa 'I(7L8co[po(;] x a l 2£(ji7rpCL)v[LO(; x a l ] TzdvTZC, oi (pikoxjv-
Tz[<; G]Z £^ aXYj[0£i]a(; [7u]avT[£]X[o)(;, x a l ] ZCOTIX-IQV ^V £px6-
(JL[£V0](; XaT£v[£Y]x£l(; (JL£Ta <T0[U aUV£l]S0)(; OTt (Jl£XX0fJL£V
a[uT'^c;] xp^^£^[v £v]0aS£. aor7u[a(7aL 7ra]vT£<; TOIX; cptXouv-

Tz[(; Gz] X[OLT] ov[o[jia. £ppci>a]0[aL GZ] £uxofJtai TTOX-
45 [Xoi(; x]po[ô^d-
PAPYRI 31
I. 10. The reading [xaTlaypac^T) is not certain. For the possibility of reading
here [xaT]aYpa97) or [av]aYpa9^, see Wolfif, review of H . C . Youtie and J . G .
Winter, Michigan Papyri, ?>YG,
II. 8-13. a7r£X7]X[u06To^CTOU7rapaxXYj]0[e]vTa Eric G. Turner, review of H . C
Youtie and J.G. Winter, Papyri and Ostraca from Karanis, Second Series {Michi-
gan Papyri, vol. YIW), JRS Al (1952): 133.
11. 20-30. Gopuôv xai axaTadxaCTtav. On p. 6 1 , the editor of the papyrus ob-
serves that the reference seems too casual to link it to the difficult years of the
Jewish War under Trajan, and suggests instead that this may be one of the pe-
riodical outbreaks of Alexandria, known to have been a turbulent city. He rec-
ognizes, however, that the term Gopupo^ is also used in other papyri referring
to the Jewish uprising (see for example P. Brem. 11= CPJ AAA, 1. 26). In fact,
the correspondence of Terentianus and Tiberianus is assigned on paleographic
grounds to the early part of the second century. Turner, on the other hand, has
no doubts referring these lines to the Jewish uprising (review of Youtie and
Winter, Papyri and Ostraca from Karanis, JRS 42 (1952): 133). As for the place
where Terentianus wrote this letter, Lewis suggests that all the letters concern-
ing Claudius Terentianus were written in or near Alexandria, where Teren-
tianus was stationed as a soldier (Lewis, "A Veteran in Quest of a Home," 142-
43).
Translation
Claudius Terentianus to Claudius Tiberianus, his father and lord,

very many greetings. Before all else I pray for your health and suc-
cess, which are m y wish, and I make obeisance for y o u . . .daily in the
presence o f our lord Sarapis and the gods who share his temple. I re-
ceived your letter, from which I learned that you also sailed up in the
boat that you found going to the Arsinoite n o m e . I want you to
know that I went at your request (?) to register the document and
was at a loss because I needed the person in whose name the docu-
ment was drawn, in order that he might record it (?). For without
him I a m unable to register it. I also looked up Papirius ApoUinarius
and told him what I had heard from the notaries, and he said to m e .
Let it go until he is able to come d o w n . " Inasmuch as you are ne-
glecting your affairs by remaining in the country, c o m e to Alexan-
dria, since I have waited in Alexandria. Having gone up into the
country, you are neglecting them totally; but even when you were
here you neglected to setde t h e m . . . . If you sail down, they can be
dispatched.... You write m e that you have s e n t . . . through A n u b i o n ,
but he does not know that you wrote to m e here and has given m e
nothing. F r o m the day that you went upcountry until today, for the
first time, I have received the letter and the basket through Aurelius;
and d o you be concerned, m y lord father, to write to Anubion lest he

disregard m e , . . . A n d I ask you, if you are able, to send m e sandals
without delay, since I derive m u c h benefit from them. For you know
that we are working hard now, in view o f the fact that we are sup-
pressing the uproar and anarchy o f the city. You will d o well to send
down to m e . . . and to Gemellus three ( ? ) . . . . ! want you to know that
after the above had already been written to you the basket was
brought to m e . . . by Anubion's father (?), and now at last I have it.
Since I have found no one to send because I a m ill, you will therefore
d o well to conclude your business quickly and sail down to m e . For
the illness is at this m o m e n t no laughing matter, and it is even neces-
sary that I be fed by someone else, as you will hear when you come
to the city. Isidorus and Sempronius and all who love you truly and
completely (?) send m a n y salutations to you as well as Zotice, w h o m
you will bring down with you when you come because you know
that we are going to need her here. Salute all your friends, each by
name, I pray for your health through m a n y years.
Transl. Herbert C. Youtie and John G. Winter, Papyri and Ostraca from
Karanis. Second Series (University of Michigan Studies-Humanistic Series
50, vol. 8: Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1951), 62.
No. 24
Plan for the Mobilization of Roman Military Forces
R Heid Lat. 7= Ch.La. XI, 500
Unknown Provenance 10 X 2 8 . 5 cm.

Before 123 C E .
Bibl.: Richard Seider, "Eine Heidelberger Lateinische Militarurkunde
{P Heid lat, 7)," ZPE29 (1978): 241-51; Albert Bruckner and Robert
Marichal, Ch.Lat XI, p. 50; see below, p. 180.
Ipiendas ex e[pistula
]Apolloniatae u[
]sulari . .[
] .ae ex epistul[a
5 ] . o n e p(rae)p(osit — ) [
] item[
]gerendam leg(ion — ) III[
PAPYRI 33
]melloniae sedatu.[
]m commeatum [
10 ]deducendos ex epistula[
]s deducendas [
d]educendos [
]ex classe praetoriae m[isenatium
ex classe pr]aetoriae ravennatium[
15 ] . deputari [
]erae finitum c o m m e a t u m [
]c...[
] . . . . n i u m c u m tu[
]fl(auia) cilicum a e d i . . i u [
20 ]ae fine ex forma[
] . a cogenda imferior.[
1. 18. cum tu[ Seider: cum iitu[raeorum.

1. 19. Seider: aedilu[
No. 25
Jewish Defeat in the Vicinity of Memphis
RGiss, 27 = CPJ II, 439
117 (?), before the end o f August.
Bibl.: Kortus, Briefe des Apollonios-Archives, pp. 117-24; see below,
pp. 132, 170, 175.
[xsTsXaôv 7 r a [ p ] a TLVOV OCTTO 'iptcavo^ (TY][JI£-

pov £X66vTa)[v] (7uvoSoLTCopy]X£va[t.] TIV[1] TZOLI-
5 SaplCp TOU XUpiOU ATCOXXCOVLOU OCTTO M£[JL9£-

[£]pXOf^£vco £uaYY£XLCovTi TOC T-^^ v£ixy](;
aUTOU x a l TTpOXOTTY]^;* oO £V£Xa £TT[L]T7]S£g TTpO^
a£ £TT£(ji4'a, Lva TO aacpaX£<; ITTLYVOJ x a l a T £ ( p a -
vyjcpoptav a^co x a l TOC<; ^zoiq TOCC; 6(p£LXofjL£-
10 va[(;] aTTOvSoci; ocTroSo). xaXcac; oOv TuoiTQasig,

TStfjiLcoTaTe, T a ^ t a T a (Jiot SigXaxra^. 7ra[L]Sa-
p i a Suo a[7r]6 Aua(7£C0(; rivix^y] S£(T7r6[T7]]
[d>v TO] IdTiv T £ T p a £ T £ ( ; , TO § £ TpL£T7] x a i Tipoc;
[ Tj-î; [T]£i[i,'^(; a p y u p L o u
15 [ ]a) aol lv[a] fic,
[ £ppc)]a6ai cr£ Z\JIO[I{OLI), T£i(xicoT[aT£].
S.
Verso
'Hp[a]xX£iG) £7riT[p67rco ATTOXXCOVLOU].
Translation
Aphrodisios to his dearest Herakleios, greeting. I have learnt from

men w h o arrived today from Ibion that they had travelled with a
slave o f our lord ApoUonios; the slave was c o m i n g from M e m p h i s to
bring the g o o d news o f his victory a n d success. I have therefore sent
to you specially, that I m a y know with certainty a n d make festival
and pay the d u e offerings to the gods. You will therefore d o well,
dear friend, to inform m e with speed. Two boys have been brought
from the Oasis to m y master, o f w h o m one is four years old, the
other three... the p r i c e . . . to you that y o u m a y b e . . . I pray for your
health, dear friend.
(Verso) T o Herakleios the steward o f ApoUonios.
No. 26
A Letter of Eudaimonis to Her Daughter-in-Law Aline
PBrem. 63 = CPJ 11, 4 4 2
Hermoupolis. 2 1 . 5 x 10 c m .
117 (?), July 16.
Bibl.: Turner, " A N O S I O I l O T A A I O I , " 2 2 6 ; Willy Clarysse, " H e t
dagelijks leven in het archief van d e strateg ApoUonios ( 1 1 3 - 1 1 9 n a
Chr.), Bijdragen tot de Geschiedenis 64 ( 1 9 8 1 ) : 1 2 6 , n. 1 0 ; Peter van
M i n n e n , " U r b a n Craftsmen in R o m a n E g y p t , " Miinstersche Beitrdge
zur antiken Handelsgeschichte 6 ( 1 9 8 7 ) : 6 2 - 6 3 ; Whitehorne, "Religious
Expression," p. 2 7 ; see below, p. 1 7 2 .
PAPYRI 35
EuS[ai][jtovlc; 'AXIVTJL T-Î
suôfxai a s npb TTOCVTCOV eu-

x a i p 6 ) ^ dcTToOsaOat. TO ^(kpoq
5 x a l X a ^ s i v cpaaiv ITTI a p p s -
v[o]<;. TYJL x 6 ave7rX[e]uaa^ x a l
T['^t] £^7]<; x a T S d T c a x a . [loyiQ
IXapov aTTO TOU âcpsot; T['Î]
t TOU 'ETTStcp. (Tuvepyatôfxat
10 S s TOLiQ TraLStaxat^ a o u x a T a
TO SuvaTOV. o u x £^P^<7>t^
TOiQ Suva(ji£va<; a u v e p y a ^ s a -
6ai. -^(xTv, a 7 r [ a ] a [ a ] L ( ? ) y a p T a i ^ i S i -
aL(; xuptai<; e p y a ^ o v T a t . mpi-
15 caSsuaav y a p ol yjfjicav OXTJV
TYjv TToXiv [TT] po<a>a7r£uSovT£^
TTXSOV [jtLa66v. 1^ aSsXcpi^ a o u
2ou£pou<; aTC£0£TO TO PapO(;.
s y p a ^ ' s [Jtoi T£su<; eu^'^P^^'^t^^]'
20 a a ufjtiv, oiaTs, x u p i a , eyvwv
OTt a t IvToXai (xou (jtevouai.
TravTai; y a p TOIX; auT7J<; x a T a -
Xeiijâaa auve^copfxyjae a o t .
a a 7 r a ^ £ T a t a s ig [Jtstxpa x a l Tipoa-
25 xapT<sp>£t TOiQ [Jta07)fjtaai. laOi
OTL ou fjLsXXo) 6s6}L axoXocJ^siv,
SI [JLYJ TTpOTSpOV OCTUapTiaCO TOV
UlOV (JLOU. SL(; TL (JLOL S7rS(JL^[a(;]
Tocc; x^ (Spax^xac;), OTS OUX suxaLpca; TJSY]
30 Tipo 6cp6aXfjLcov s / o ) , OTL yu[jLVY)
[xsvco TOV xstfJtcova. (Second hand) s p p w a o .
'Ejcslcp x p .
In the left margin

(First hand) 'H yuvT) EUS-)^[JLOU axsivTjTOi; (JLOU
ICTTIV x a l x^P^^ auT-^L.
Verso
(Third hand) AXLVYJL X 6uyaTp[t].
1. 16. The reading [7r]po<a>(77r£uSovT£(; is uncertain. See van Minnen, "Urban

Craftsmen in Roman Egypt," 63, n. 110.
Translation
Eudaimonis to Aline her daughter, greetings. I pray first o f all that

you m a y be delivered o f your child in d u e course a n d that I get news
that i t s a boy. You sailed u p river on the 29^^ a n d on the next day I
finished drawing down (? the w o o l ) . * With difficulty I got the mate-
rial from the dyer on 10 Epeiph. I a m working together with your
slave-women to the best o f m y ability. I cannot find w o m e n able to
work with m e , for they are all working for their own mistresses. O u r
people have been walking around the whole metropolis, offering**
higher wages. Your sister Souerous was delivered o f her child. Teeus
wrote to m e , praising you, so that, m y lady, I know that m y orders
remain in force. For she left all her own people a n d set o u t to join
you. T h e little girl salutes y o u and is assiduous with her lessons for
school. K n o w that I a m not going to pay attention to g o d until I a m
reunited with m y son safe a n d s o u n d . * * * For what purpose d i d you
send m e the 2 0 drachmai, when I a m having a difficult time? Already
I have before m y eyes the notion that I shall be naked throughout
the winter.
(2"^ hand) Farewell. 2 2 Epeiph.
(P^ hand, written in the ledt margin) T h e wife o f E u d e m o s does
not leave m y side and I a m grateful to her.
(Verso) (3'"^ hand) T o Aline m y daughter.

Roman Egypt: a Sourcebook (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1998), 121-22.
* Apparently the verb "draw down' is a technical term in weaving, as well as in

the building trade ("pulling down a building"), in agriculture ("harvesting fruit
crops*'), and in navigation ("hauling boats down to water"). Eudaimonis may be
referring to "carding and combing the wool" or to "spinning it", preparatory to
turning it over to the dyer. See Rowlandson, Women & Society, 122.
PAPYRI 37
* * In the C/y, II, p. 345, both meanings are given, "asking for more pay" and
"offering higher wages". This last meaning "offering higher wages" is probable the
better one. See Clarysse, "Het dagelijks leven," 126, n. 10.
* * * Turner observes that literally aTcapxtêtv means "to see him through"
("ANOSIOI lOTAAIOI,'' 226).
No. 27
Letter of Eudaimonis to Her Son, the Strategos ApoUonios,
Who Came Back Unharmed
P. Giss. 22
HermoupoUs. 14 x 10 c m .
117 C E (?)
Bibl.: Anton G. Roos, "Animadversiones in papyros nonnuUas grae-

cas," Mnemosyne N S 51 (1923): 415-16; Whitehorne, "Religious Ex-
pression," p. 3 5 ; Kortus, Briefe des Apollonios-Archives, pp. 72-75; see
below, p. 173.
[Etj8ai(jL]ovl(; ATUOXXCOVIWI TCOL

[ ][jLOTaTCot ULWL TToXXoc yjx{ipzvj).
[TTpO 7r]av[T]cOV £{>XOfJL[a]L (7£
TOV aY]a6[6v aaTc[a(7]acr6ai [ x a l ] TT^V
5 yXuxuJxaTyjv a o u oîv T r p o a x u -
VYJaat] vijv 6VTO)(; a(jioip[7]]v.
. .] TTlQ ZXiGZ^ZlOLC, fXOU OL-
TcoX]afjLpavou(T7]<; az a T r p o a -
xo7r]ov x a t iXapcoxaTOv. T a u -
10 T<x ]x\oiri Tracra z\}jf\ ZGTI
x a l (jL]£pL(jtva. T a u r a x a l Osoic;
ap£]gx£[L] SL£L£ [JLOU x a l vi-
[8 letters]£ao(; z[\}\az^ziOL.
[12 letters] g i a v £VSL-

[19 letters]
verso
ATToXXwvLcaL ocTco [EuSaifjLovtSoi;]
11. 7-8. a[7roX]apLpavou(jY)<; Roos: "cum nunc revera quasi remunerationem tan-
dem mea pietas recuperet te integrum et hilarum" ("Animadversiones," 416).
a[vaX]a(i,pavou(TY)(;: Koremann. See also Whitehorne, "Religious Expression,"
27-28, 34.
Translation
Eudaimonis to her m o s t . . . s o n ApoUonios, many greetings. Before all

things I pray to greet you, m y treasure, and to worship the sweetest
sight o f you which is now truly m y recompense, since it is m y piety
which has got you back again unharmed and most blessed. These
things are m y whole prayer and concern. These things too are pleas-
ing to the g o d s . . . (my) piety...
Transl. Whitehorne, "Religious Expression," 35.
No. 28
List of Legionaries Including Legionaries KiUed in Battle
PVindob. L, 2= Daris, Documenti, 13=Fink, Roman Military Records,
34= Ch.La. XLIII, 1242
Unknown Provenance 14.2 x 10.4 cm.

After 9 8 and before 127 C E .
Bibl.: Daris, Documenti, pp. 66-67; Fink, Roman Military Records, pp.
160-63; Johannes Kramer, "Die Wiener Liste von Soldaten der III.
und XXII. Legion (7? Vindok L 2 ) , " ZPE 97 (1993): 147-58; Albert
Bruckner and Robert Marichal, Ch.La,, XLIII, pp. IX-lA', see below,
p. 182.
Recto
Col. I
leg(io) I [I] I Cyr(enaica)
onero
(centuria) Nini Rufi
Cereli Rufi
Cocceus Clemes
ob(iit) [[lulius Maximus]]
Cladius Antoninus
pr(omotus) [[lulius Cutratus]]
Fanius Rulius
10 (centuria) Subureana
Cladius Z e n o n
te(tatus) Cladius Feanus
te(tatus) Flaus Gerfeanus
PAPYRI 39
tr(anslatus) Antonius M a x i m u s
15 Gratius Alfeanus
Salius C a p i t o n
te(tatus) Bins L o n g o n
Flaus Clemes
leg(io) X X I I onto
20 (centuria) U p i pri(ma)
C o l . II
bareton
(centuria) Aufri Aculi

lulius Ruticus
Petucaeus Otaus
leg(io) III Cyr(enaica)
(centuria) Antoni Longini

Antonius Satunil[us]
D o m i t i u s Germa[nus]
Balini Ecateus
10 (centuria) Capitoeana
Licin(ius) Loce
(centuria) Aufri Aculi Minor(is)

Cladius AgaOo
leg(io) III
15 (centuria) Antoni L o n g o
Paconi Egnati
lulius Niger
Tetates
20 (centuria) Pompei Epane
Cladius Clemes
Cladius Apulinar(ius)
Antonius Vales
U p i s Satunilus
25 U p i s Alexa
Verso
Col. I
] (centuria) D o m i t i Caeli
]. Cornelus
]. Vales
] . . . . Domitius
C o l . II
].?[
] . [..] XXIII
.[ ] .
• •[ ]XXII
5 .[
u[....].
?[ ]r
onero
leg(io) [I]I[I]
10 XII
leg(io) X [ X I ] I X V I I
] s a b l e [ g ] ( i o n e ) III V
bareton I[
s tetate[s]
15 . X
b[ar]eton
II item II
Recto: col. I, II. 12, 13, 17: te; col. II, 1. 19, tetates. Verso: col. II, 1. 14: tetati.
On the meaning of the heading tetates (representing eTgraxs?) and marginal
annotation te, which may be expanded as te(tates), as well as the hybrid form
%etati, which appear in the papyri in Trajan's and Hadrian's time to designate
those killed in combat, see below, pp. 182-84.
On(e)ron and bareton are apparently two categories according to which the le-
gionaries were ordered, but their meaning is not known. See Albert Bruckner
and Robert Marichal, Ch.La., XLIII, p. 2 1 .
PAPYRI 41
No. 29
New Tirones in the Coh, I Lusitanorum
PSI 1063 = Daris, DocumentU 33=Fink, Roman Military Records, 74
Unknown location. 51 x 2 0 cm.

Probably written in U p p e r Egypt.
117 C E , September 3.
Bibl.: Daris, Documenti, pp. 98-99; James E Gilliam, "An Egyptian
Cohort in A . D . 117," Bonner Historia Augusta-Colloquium 1964/1965
(Bonn: Rudolf Habelt, 1966): 91-97, repr. in James F. Gilliam, Roman
Army Papers (Mavors Roman Army Researches 2, ed. M.P. Speidel:
Amsterdam: J . C . Gieben, Publisher, 1986), 309-15; Fink, Roman
Military Records, pp. 277-80; see below, p. 177.
(First hand) Col. I
Aovysrvoc; A6VY[O(;] (77][jL£acp6p[o]c; [aTuJeipT]^ a

Aouaixavcov (£xaTOVTapxta(;) TLTOUXTJIOU A[o]vy£tvci)
TLTOUXTJICO taT[pa)] (exaxovTapxco) x^^?^^^- £X[ap]ov Tcapa aou
[87j]vapLa TSTpaxoaia eixoai T [ p t ] a oPoXoix; x
5 UTusp S7]7roatTOU Tt[p(ovcav]A(T[iav6)]v Sig-
TpiPouTcav Iv xevTUpLoc avSpcav
sLxoai. £TOU(; eixoaTou x a l ev [ [ . .]] Tpaia[vou]
ApiaTou K a i a a p o ^ TOU xuptou 0o)[6]
(Second hand)
OuaXspioc; *Poij(po(; (77](jt£a(p6po(; Gmip{y](;) a AougtTavcav

(sxaTOvrapxtat;)
10 Kp7jcTX£VT0(; AovysivG) TtTouXyjtcp (sxaxovTocpxco) x^^psiv.
sXaôv TTapa a o u STjvapia a p y u p a S i a x o a t a Tpta-
x o v x a [[TpLa]]'Suo oôXoix; reaaapsc;' TOC xwp'y]T<'y]6>£VTa
e i c , SY][7r6]aLT0V TSLpci-
vcov' Aatavwv' apiOfjto) S£x[a] STCTOC. STOU^; etxoaTOU 7rpa>T0U
T p a i a v o u ApiaTou K a t [ a a p o ] ^ TOU xup[io]u, 6o)0
(Third hand) C o l . II
[. . . .]io<; Mdcîfxo^ g7]fJi[£]acp6p[o(; (T]TC£LP7](; a
Ao[u](TL[T]avcav (sxaTovTap^tac;) K[£X£]po^ AoylyQycd TITOUXYJICO
(£xaTOVTapx<p) [G]TzzipriQ T7](; auTT]^ X^^P^^"^- sX[ap]ov Tcapoc a o u
[S]7]vapLa T £ T p a x [ 6 a ] i a 7r£v[T7]xovT]aSuco o ^ o -
5 [X]ou(; Suco U7T£p SY)7roaiT[ou Ttp]covcov [ A ] a i [ a ] v o ) v
SiaTptôuTCov £v T7] x[£v]Tupi[a] avSpciv £ 1 -
xoaL. ( £Tou<;) x a T p a i a [ v o ] u A [ p t ] a T o u K a t a a p [ o ] ^ TOU
XUpiOU, 6 6 ) 6 £XT7).
(Fourth hand)
r. AofjtiTioc; T o u 9 o ^ aY)fjL£a96po<; Giizipric, a A o u a i T a v c i v

(£xaTOVTapxta(;) T a . . . .
Aovy£Lvcj) [T]tTouX7]tco ( £ x a T 0 V T a p x ( f > ) x a t p £ t v . EXaôv Tcapa a o u
SyjvapLa
S i a x 6 a [ i ] a 8 £ x a £ v opoXoix; £ i x o a i £ ^ U7r£p S7)7ToatTou [T]ipco-
vwv A a i a v c i v StaTpiPouTcov Iv TT) x£VTupia apL6(Jtoi
5 £txoaiSu(o. £TOU(; x a T p a L a v [ o u ] ' A p i [ a ] T o u K a t a a p o ( ; TOU
xuptou 6 o ) [ 6 ] IXT/].
(Fifth hand) Col. Ill
[ ca. 12 ] p i a v 6 < ; a7](ji£a(p6po[c; a7zzipr]<; a ]

[ A o u a i T a v c i v ] ( I x a T o v T a p x ^ a c ; ) A p y t o u Aovy£tv[co TLTOUXYJLCO
(£xaTOVTapx(f>)]
[a7r£ip7](; T-^C; a ] u T % X'^îpl^^^- £Xap[ov Trapa a o u ]
Sy][vapta ] i . a x 6 a t a S £ x a £ ^ 6j3oX[ou]<; T[p£r(; U7r£p]
5 S7]7ro[aiT]ou [TJPCOVCOV A [ a ] i a v a ) v SiaTpi[pou]Tcov
£v [ T ] ^ x £ [ v T ] u p [ t ] a avSpoav £ i x [ o ] a i . T £ [ a a ] a p 6 ) v .
(£T0U(;) x a [ T ] p a i [ a v o ] u A p i a T o u K a t a a p o c ; TOU x u p i [ o u ] , 6ct)6
SXT/].
(Sixth hand)
KouLVTOc; *Ep£vvLO(; aY)(jLi.acp6po<; oizipriQ a

AouaLTavoav ( I x a T o v T a p ^ t a i ; ) AcovyEiavou Acovy£tva)
10 T£tTcoXy)ta> (IxaTOVTapx^)) a7i£Lpy]<; Ty]c, aouTTJc; x^^^^P^^-
PAPYRI 43
i X a ^ o v Tcapoc a o u STjvapia s x a x c a v
lv£V7]XOVTA8UO 6po<Xou(;> sixoatTpstcov uTuep SYJ-
TTcageTCov T£pc[)vco<v> eixoaLTpstciv A a a e -
av6)v StaTpiPoTS Iv T[^] x £ [ v ] T O u p i a . [ [ STOUI;]] x a
aouT[o]xpaTcopo[(;] K a t a a p o ^ ; [ N ] l p o u a < T p a > i a v o u A p o a T o u
K a i [ a ] a p o c ; T<OU> xuptou, 6a)6 IXTTJV.
Translation
Col. I, 11. 1-8: Longinus Longus, signifer o f the coh. I Lusitanorum,

century o f Tituleius, to Longinus Tituleius, medicus (?) centurio. I
have received from you denarii four hundred twenty-three, obols
twenty, for deposit for the Asian recruits assigned to the century,
twenty men. Twenty-first year o f Trajan O p t i m u s Caesar our Lord,
T h o t h 6 (Sept. 3, 117 C E ) .
Col. 1,11. 9-14: Valerius Rufiis, signifer o f the coh. I Lusitanorum,
century of Crescens, to Longinus Tituleius, centurio. I have received
from you silver denarii two hundred thirty-two, obols four, supplied
for deposit fro the recruits from Asia, in number seventeen. Twenty-
first year o f Trajan O p t i m u s Caesar our Lord, T h o t h 6.
Col. II, 11. 1-8: [....]ius M a x i m u s , signifer o f the coh. I Lusita-
norum, century o f Celer, to Longinus Tituleius, centurio o f the co-
hort. I have received from you denarii four hundred fifiy-two, obols
two, for deposit for the Asian recruits assigned to the century, twenty
men. Twenty-first year o f Trajan O p t i m u s Caesar our Lord, Toth 6.
Col. II, 9-14: C . D o m i t i u s Ruftis, signifer o f the coh. I Lusita-
norum, century o f T a . . . . , to Longinus Tituleius, centurio. I have re-
ceived from you denarii two hundred eleven, obols twenty-six, for
deposit for the Asian recruits assigned to the century, in number
twenty-two. Twenty-first year o f Trajan O p t i m u s Caesar our Lord,
Toth 6.
C o l . III. 1-7: [ ca, 12 ]rianus, signifer o f the coh. I Lusitanorum,
century o f Argius, to Longinus Tituleius, centurio o f the same co-
hort. I have received from you denarii three (?) hundred sixteen,
obols three, for deposit for the Asian recruits assigned to the century,
twenty-four men. Twenty-first year o f Trajan O p t i m u s Caesar our
Lord, Toth 6.
C o l . Ill, 8-16: Quintus Herennius, signifer o f the coh. I Lusita-
norum, century o f Longianus, to Longinus Tituleius, centurio o f the
same cohort. I have received from you denarii one hundred ninety-
two, obols twenty, for deposit for twenty-three Asian recruits as-
signed to the century. Twenty-first year o f Imperator Caesar Nerva
Trajan O p t i m u s Caesar our L o r d , T o t h 6.
Transl. Fink, Roman Military Records, 280.
No. 30
ApoUonios' Application to the Prefect of Egypt for Leave of
Sixty Days
R Giss. 44 = CPJ II, 4 4 3 = SeUct Papyri II, 298
Hermoupolis. 18 x 3 0 c m .
117 C E , N o v e m b e r 2 8 .
Bibl.: Turner, " A N 0 2 I 0 I lOYAAIOI," 226; Koenen, review C P / I I ,

257; see below, pp. 153-54.
Col. I
(First hand) [ Ta(jtfxto)t MapTLaXt T o i J xpaxtaTcoi i^ysfjiovi
[ ATToXXcovtoc; aTpaTYjyoi;] A7roXXa)vo7r[oX]iTOU
[ 'ETCTaxci)[jiLa<;] Xîpetv.
TJST) ysypacpdc a o i , -i^ysfjiwlv xupte, ruepl xofxearou I -
5 [izKSToktiq TO avTipacpov [[(T]OL]] UTTSxaâ, W l a v crou TTJI TU-
[-/yii S6^Y]i., auyxcap7]a7]i^] \LOI y\]xipoLC, e^T^xovra T')}'^
[Si.6p6ci)aLv ToJv -i^fjieTlpcolv, vuv fjtaXtaTa, OT£ oLofjiai Iv

[ xajTSTTsiysiv. (Second hand) IppcoaOat a s
euxofJiat., •)^y£[xa)v xu[pL]£.
10 (Third hand) [(ITOUI;). AuToxpaTopo<; K a i a a p o ^ ; T p a t a v o u
AS]piavou 2£paaT[o]u X[o]Lax p .
(Fourth hand) [ Tafjifxicot M a p T i a X i TWI] x p a x i a W c o t riy[z[i6î]
[ ATTOXXCOVLOI; aTpaxYjyoi; ATTOIXXCOVOTTOXLTOU *E[7rTaxco(jtta(;]

Xa(ip£tv).
[ ]cov, -iQyWfjiwv [xupt£, . . . ]
[ ajTua^, x a [ ]
C o l . II
[ Jauvxp'^QaaaGai* ou y a p fxovov u-
TTO Ty]c, (Jiaxpai; OCTTOSyjfjiLac; TOC -^(xeTsLpa]
PAPYRI 45
Tua[vT]a7ra(7tv afxeXyjOevTa T u y x l a v e t ] ,
aXX[a x a l ] T r a p a TYJV Tcav avocricov [ ' l o u ] -
5 SaLO)[v £]9oSov qx^ô^ Tra[v]T[a oora]
zxi^ £v T£ T a i ] ^ xcofJiaK; TOU [*Ep[jioTro]-
XtT0[u x ] a l £V T'^[l [jtY]]TpOTr6X£[L. . . . ]
Y£v[6[JI£va TJTJV Tcap' Ifxou ava[X7)4'tv]
£Trt.J^7]T£t'. £TriV£U(TaVTO(; o[0]v <(TOU> T'^[l]
10 S£')â£L (JLOU (JL£Ta TOU SLOp6c5(7[ai]
x a T a TO SuvaTOV TOC •^(jL£T£pa Suvyj-
[ao][jLat £u6ufjt6T£pov Trpoa£px£<76aL
[Tyji a]TpaT7]y[La(;] £TCL[jL£X£LaL.
Translation
To his Excellency the prefect R a m m i u s Martialis from ApoUonios,

strategos o f the ApoUinopolis-Heptakomia n o m e , greeting. I append
a copy o f the letter which I have already written to you, m y lord pre-
fect, concerning leave, in order that, if it please your fortune, you
may grant m e sixty days to put m y affairs in order, especially now
that I t h i n k . . . I pray for your health, m y lord prefect. T h e (first) year
o f the Emperor Caesar Traianus Hadrianus Augustus, C h o i a k 2 .
To his excellency the prefect R a m m i u s Martialis from ApoUonios,
strategos o f the ApoUinopolis-Heptakomias n o m e , greeting.
. . . , prefect,... o n c e . . . (Col. I I ) . . . make use of... For not only are
m y affairs in an utterly neglected conditions because o f m y long ab-
sence, but also, owing to the attack o f the impious Jews, almost all
m y property in the villages o f the Hermoupolite n o m e and in the
metropolis has b e e n . . . and needs m y attention. If therefore you ac-
cede to m y request, having put m y affairs in order as far as possible,
I shall be able to take u p m y duties as strategos with a more tranquil
mind.
Transl. Arthur S. H u n t and C a m p b e U C . Edgar, Select Papyri: Non-Literary

Papyri, Public Documents (vol. 2 : T h e L o e b Classical Library: L o n d o n :
William H e i n e m a n n L T D , C a m b r i d g e , M A : Harvard University Press,
1963), 307-309.
No. 31
Letter of Ammonios and Hermokles to ApoUonios the Strategos
Mentioning the Jewish Disturbances
RBrem. 11 = CP/II, 444
Hermoupolis. 2 2 x 52 cm.
E n d o f 117 or beginning o f 118 C E (?)
Bibl.: Koenen, review of CPJII, 257; Schwartz, P Alex. Giss,, p. 3 5 1 .
Col. I
A[[ji][jicovio[(; x a l *Ep] [i.oxX'^(; [A]T:oXXo)vtcoi

TOOL T£L[jt[t]cOTaTa)l X^^tpSlV.
[^1<?[6]^ oux £uxaipco<; (7x6VT£(; ITCI TOU Tuapov-
T[O]Q Sia TYjv TOU SYjfjioCTLou Tiupou xaWaycoyTiv
5 [a]7roSpa[jt£rv Trpo^ a£ x a l [jL[£](jnJ;a(76at 7r£pl
[. . ] .cpv Xu7rou[jL£6a o^c, aSt.acp[opo]i avSp£(;
[uTTO a]ou St' iiQ £ypaâ^ kiziGToXylq Heat TOU
Auxo7roX£tTOu aTpaTYjycot SapaTitcavt TOpl
TOU [iri xotv6)V£tv riyiSic, a[o]i riyiiGoxjc, {JL£-
10 pou(; TOU apax[o]<;, aXX' ruiac, [iz pou
[lipoxjq x a l a £x Tp[tT]ou x a l T t iizek-
66vTOc; TO [ . ] . . 7r£. tvjyaaGat . . . . £ [ . ] £7]v
XaTa6£[ . ]X [ . . ] . . . 7U[ . . ] . . . TOUTOU.
C o l . II
£t yap [jf/) [. . ] . [.]av£U7]ao)(j[ Ta]t(;

15 7uapox[at](; A[pT]coptou IlptcrxtXXou TOU £7rt(7Tpa-
T7)yi^(7a[vT0](; (7UV£^7]T0U[JL[£]V 7r£pl Tciv
(Jl£p(OV [ ](Jl£VOt <y£ [Jt£V SUO (Jl£p7] Xa[3£tv
x a l ')QfJLa(;[. . . ] S t [ . . ] Saafxcot TOU
£v *Ep(jioTcoX£tTY)t ocpaxoc; £V7C£7rX£x6at
20 riii^c, [ . . . ] . . . . 6) Y)0y)t ')Q(JI[.]V •)Q[jtt(70U(;
x a l T6T£ £ [ . . ] . [.]cp£tV aOl OCTUO TOU *Ep(Jl07C0X£tT0U
7TapaSo6-^v[at] TTQV -^[xtaEtav, t v a x a l T o t ^ y£V£-
a t v x a l Totc; o i c , aTcoxoucpta6f]<;. . . . t
PAPYRI 47
l7r£[(y7r£u(?)](Ta(jL£v Sia Tyjc, yp[a]97]^ OLXKRIKOIC;

25 [. . .]e.i[.] (jievToi Sioc
[TO]U(; T[&]V ['Io]u[Sa]ici>v 6opuj3ou(;, vuv (xsv
[. . . ] a a laTiv I m TYJV auvetSvjaiv aou Spav,
[ . . . ] . . . . dou cppov7J(T£i<; 7)0£aaa67][. . ]
[ . ] . . [.]v 7rap£v0u[JL7]6^<; ou TCOXXOU [ . . . . ]
30 . . . .]tO(;, aXXa xat (7Ta(7£CO(; ou[c77)(;.]
Col. Ill
TOUTOU oOv X^9^^ ITC£(JL-

i];a(jL£V NPOC, AZ noTOL[io(Û-
Xaxa, Lva 6 TI TTOTI cppo-
v£r(; avTiYpaij;7](; RI[iiv
35 xal SuvYjO-î lx7rX£X'^vaL
TO TTpayfjia vrpo T-^-; TOU x p a -
TLaTOU iTUKTTpaTTQyOU £l[(;] TOV
Aux[o7roX£LT]'y]^ I7UI8[Y][XQ-
40 (Second hand) [IpJpwaOai A[Z Z\)X6{IZQ(X,

x[upt£
Verso
(Third hand) A7uoXXcov[ta)i aTp]aT7]y(6)L) ( 'ENTCC)XOI[IIC(.(;.
Translation
A m m o n i o s and Hermokles to their m o s t honored ApoUonios, greet-
ing.
We had no time, because o f the bringing-in o f the public corn, to
protest to you and complain about your attacking us as if we were
men o f no account. You did this in the letter which you wrote to
Sarapion, strategos o f the Lykopolite n o m e , saying that we had not
given you your third share o f the chickling, but that we h a d . . . a
third... (Col. II) If we had not (been engaged with?) the supplies for
Artorius Priscillus, the epistrategos, we should have m a d e inquiries
about the division so that you should receive two-thirds and w e . . .
We were involved in the division o f the chickling o f the H e r m o u -
polite n o m e . . . by a half... a n d that you should have received a half-

share from the Hermoupolite n o m e , so that y o u might be relieved
both about the quality a n d . . . . We took m u c h trouble to write to o n e
another..., however, because o f the Jewish disturbances. N o w the af-
fair must be governed by your conscience a n d your view o f the mat-
ter ( ? ) . . . consider too that not m u c h . . . a n d that there was a state o f
riot. ( C o l . I l l ) For this reason we have sent to y o u a river-guard, so
that y o u m a y reply to us as y o u will a n d the matter m a y be resolved
before the visit o f the epistrategos to the Lykopolite n o m e . W e pray
for your health, lord.
(Verso) T o ApoUonios, strategos o f Heptakomia.
No. 32
A Letter of Herodes to ApoUonios the Strategos,
Attesting to Devastation of the Country
RBrem. 15 = C P / I I , 4 4 6
Hermoupolis. 2 5 x 10 c m .
118 (?), August 2 9 .
Bibl.: Genevieve Husson, OIKIA: Le vocahulaire de la maison privee en
igypte d'aprh les papyrus grecs (Serie "Papyrologie" 2 : Paris: Publica-
tions de la Sorbonne, 1983), 314.
*Hpa>[S7](; ] ATToXXcovtcai TCOL

xuptcoi X'îpsiv.
0 0 TTOcvTCix; Xav6av£L az x a s T T S i y o v T a
ûXtxoc epya TCOV TZ t s p c a v x a l TT)^ ^£VLa[<;],

5 cbv x^9^^ y-^y^Q STTsaTTQaafjisv p
TCOV £Tuayo(jL£vo)v T a TTiQ ai)(jicpcovta(;

6upco(jiaTa TOU IV TWL aiGptcot XOITCOVO(;.
x a l yvcifXY]^ y £ y o v £ v 6 iTTiTporco^ aou
Ix TupoTpOTTYJ^; [JLOU aufjLcpcovâai TOLQ
10 Suo 6upa<; TOU T£ (7U(jL7rocrLou x a l TCOV

TupoaxYjVLCov, iva apapo)^ y l v T j T a i x a l
[iri aTTO •]^fX£pYjg[i]wv (JLLCJOCOV, T[O] y a p T£-
Tpayci)vov 7r£Tcp[i](7Tai npbc, T a u T a . St [a]
81 TO a7roy£y£vy](70aL TYJV TOUTOU
PAPYRI 49
1$ OuyaTspa STusa^'/jxe TOOL spycoi, ZO^Q av

arcoO-^Tai TO TISVOOI;, 7rp6<; x a l TOV
X0UCpL(7(JL0V TCiv 87][JtO(7i(OV £pyO)V.
TiapaxaXco a e oOv, xupte, STTiTpstJâi [JLOL
7Tp6(; Ta(; S i a x s v o i x ; i^fjispac; x a T s X -
20 Ostv 7rp6(; TOV aSsXcpov Îspaxicovot;
TS)I 7rXotcp[t, a]XXa) y a p xaipcat ou S[uv']^-]
aofjiai TcsJ^sustv TOU^ TOTTOU^; [ . . . . ]
SLOC T7)V £X7r6p67]at.v TC5V T67r[cov]
x a l T7)v (T7rav[LV -]
25 [----].[ ]
ycav [[[jL£T[a]x£xXy] ]] (jt[£Tax£xXY]fjL£]-
V6)v a7r£X0£rv tic, M£(jLcpiv TTpayfJta-
TLXcov TTpoc; TOV StaXoyiafJiov, tva £u-
x a i p t a v Xa^wv ETrtyvca, TL npOLGGzi 'l£pa-
30 xLcov. Suo y a p •)^[ji£po)v l a T t TO SLaaT£-
(jia. TO 7Tpoorxuv7](jiaCTOUiTTOivjaa
Tipo^ Tat^; QuaioLiQ TTIQ " l a i S o ^ T-^L VUXTI
y£V£aL[ot](; auTY]<; x a l (xaXXov 7rpo(T7]u-
X6[ji7]v 7roL£LV (7£ T a ( ( ; ) aSpoTOCTac; 7Tpoxo7ua<;.
35 (Second hand) Ippcoao, x u p L £ . 0oo6 a .
(Third hand) ATroXXcovtcoi X xupicoi.
1. 12: ^(X£p7)g[i]cpv: Husson, OIKIA, 314. CP/: ^fX£py)a[i]a)v.
1. 13: 7rlTcp[j(7Tai: Husson, 0/AZ4, 314. CPJ: TOTrpHaTat.
Translation
Herodes, to ApoUonios his master, greetings.

You know well o f the urgently needed woodwork for the shrines
and the guest-house, a n d because o f this it was only o n the second o f
the intercalary days that we set u p the doors o f the bedchamber in
the hall as laid down in the agreement. A t m y request your steward
has agreed to insert in the agreement the two doors o f the banquet-
ing-chamber a n d o f the porch, so that they m a y be done without
trouble a n d not o n the daily wage-sheets; for the block has been
sawn for this purpose. O w i n g to the death o f his daughter he has
Stopped the work until his m o u r n i n g is over, and also to lighten the
burden o f his pubUc business. I herefore request you, master, to allow
m e to go to m y brother in Hierakion's boat during these idle days,
for at another time I will not be able to go on foot through the coun-
try because o f its devastation and the lack o f . . . agents invited to
M e m p h i s for a setdement, so that I m a y take the opportunity to
know how Hierakion fares. It is two days' journey. I m a d e the obei-
sance for y o u * at the festival o f Isis on the night o f her birthday,
and I also prayed for your prosperity and success. Farewell, master.
T h o t h 1.
To ApoUonios his master.
* On the meaning and use of the so-called "TrpocjxuviQfxa formula", see Kortus,
Briefe des Apollonios-Archives, pp. 37-40.
No. 33
Damage to Property Caused in the Course of the Jewish Revolt.
ROxy.1^1 ^ ay II, 447
Oxyrhynchos. 26 x 31.5 cm.

Early Second Century C E .
Bibl.: Turner, "ANOEIOI lOYAAIOI," 226.
T h e d o c u m e n t published in 7? Oxy. 707 is the verso. T h e recto con-

sists o f three columns o f a survey o f different pieces o f land, probably
written in the second century C E , unpublished, where reference is
m a d e to
. . .4'tX(ol) T67I(OL) £V OI[(;] xsXXai k\XTz{pria%ziGOL\) UTTO TCOV

'louSaicov.
Translation
. . . o p e n lots, in which there are buildings burnt by the Jews.
No. 34
Damage to Agricultural Property Caused in the Course of the Jewish
Revolt.
5 G C / 8 8 9 = C P / I I , 449
Fayum. 15.6 x 15.5 c m .

151 C E , March 2 7 .
PAPYRI 51
21 ]L07JVCOV X[£Y(6[JL£V0(;?) . . ] 7]7r£p £yvcL)(70y] ix T %
Y£V0((Jl£V7]<;) TG) 6 (£T£L) TWV ou(7i(axo)v) XT[y)((7£a>v)]

[6po6£(Tia^] zhoLi TTiQ [Mat.]x(YjvaTtav'^(;) oucjia^ £p7](jto<; [i]x TOU
7uX£icrTou xaTa7r£7r(Tcoxa)0 ( a p o u p a i ) [ . ]
] . g L v [ . ] a 9 0 ( ; TI OCTCO X (ITOU^) TOU x ( a l ) a (ITOU^;) .
[. . . ] o £v Tco 'louS(atxco) T a p a ^ w T a ^ ( . . . ) u . [ . ]
] 6ai 7] x a l (Jt£xpt vuv acpopoc;.
Translation
... which was recognized in the fixing o f the boundaries o f the

dominial properties which took place in the ninth year to belong to
the domain o f Maecenas, for the most part waste and disused of...
arourai... from the 20^^ year which was also the P ^ . . in the Jewish
disturbance... and is still unfruitful.
No. 35
Annual Festival in Commemoration of the Victory over the Jews
P. Oxy, 705, cols. I-II = CP/II, 450
Oxyhrynchos. 21 x 46 c m .
199/200 C E .
Bibl.: James H. Oliver, Greek Constitutions of Early Roman Emperors
from Inscriptions and Papyri (Philadelphia: American Philosophical So-
ciety, 1989), pp. 475-81.
Col. I
[AuToxpaTcop K a i a a p Aouxio*; Il]£7rTifjL[i]o[c;

[2£ou'^pO(; Eu(7£p7j(; Il£pTLva^ 2]£pacrT6(;
[ A p a p t x o ^ ASiapTjVLxo^ n a ] p [ 0 i x ] 6 ( ;
[MlytaTO^ x a l AuT]oxpaTcop K[aL](Tap
5 [Mapxoc; Aupi^Xtoc; AVITCOVLVO^ Eu[a]£p7]c;
[EEpacTToc;
Aup7]Xico 'fip£(o>]vL xaLp£f.v.
[15 letters]. 7)xa[ ] ITOSO-
[13 letters TCO]V '05upuyx£tT(pv[.]og-
10 [16 letters]avTL[i.a. . . a y . [ . ] v
[16 1 e t t e r s ] a . . [ . ] £ T . . . . [ . ] X [ . .
[15 letters] [Jia^ T[ ]v

[15 l e t t e r s ] T i a a t . [ ]v
[15 letters], iariv [8k y] a ] ^ i [ a ) a i g -
15 [TOIC, £U(Jl£V£(TTaTOl<; AuT]0XpaT0pat.V [2]£o[l)7)]pO)
[ x a l AvTcavivcj) TOL^] 7rav[T]cov [a]v6pco7rcav
[acoT'^pai x a l £U£p] y l x a i t ; AupYjXiog
[ 'Qp£ia)v Y£v6[ji£]vo^ axpaTTjyoc; x a l apx^-
[Si.xa(TT7j(; T*^(; Xa[jL]7rpoTaTy]^ 7r6X[£]ci)c; Tcav
20 [ AX£5avSp£6)v] x^tpstv.
[ d) 9iXav6pa)Tc]6TaTOt AuToxpaTop£c;
[14 letters]. i-^[f] 7T6]X£L [JL£YaX7)
[14 letters ]£V£i x a l ZTI [(7]COJÔU(T7J
[13 letters]. [ J v l a v x a T [ o ] t x i ( 7 £ v . . v
25 [15 letters ] T t T [ o ] ^ T L T [ £ i a v 6 ] ^
[15 letters]. £ v a ) T £ [ ]v£
[15 letters]vS£X. . . [ ]. v
[14 letters[Sov . [ . ] . [JL[ ]?[.]. ^
C o l . II
a [ ] o v x a l a X [ . . ] a a f j L [ . . .]Xcav[. . . . ]
30 ...[.] 7T[X]£LCO d)v 6 [X]6YO(; k{ik T [ . . . X ] a v 6 a [ v £ i ,
7rp[6(T£](7T[t] 8k auTOL<; x a l Y) 7rp6<; Tco[jLaLou(; £Uv[oi-
a T£ x a l TTiaxK; x a l cptXia, -^v £V£S£iâvTO x a [ l
x a x a TOV npoQ E i o u S a i o u ^ 7r6X£[jLov aufjifjiax')^-
a a v T £ ( ; x a l ITL x a l v u v TI^V TCOV £7riv£ixicov
35 iQ[JL£pav £ x a a T o u ITOUC; TcavyjyuptJôvTa^;.
£T£i[X7jgaT£ [Jt£v o5v x a l u [ j i £ ^ auTOU^ ITTLSY]-

fXY](7[av]T£(; TO) £6v£L 7rpc!)T0L<; [jL£Ta IIYJXOU-
Gid^TOLQ [jL£TaS6vTa^ T^^c; £L(; TO S[ix]a(TTi^pLo[v ufi.a)]v
£ia6Sou. YvcopL^£t. SE TYJV 7I:6X[LV] x a l 6 Xa[jL7r[p6Ta-
40 TOC; A a i T O i ; kni T£ TOIQ x(xXkiG[To]iq x a l £X£[u6£pco-
TocTOUc; l ^ o u c r a v TOUC; £ v o i . x o [ u v ] T [ a ( ; x a ] l Tc[£pl T a ] -
(ji£Lo[v] £7i:L£tx£aTaT0u<;. SLOC 8[yi TZOL^TOL TauTa]
TYjv TCOXLV rideXriaoi [iri8e[[iioic; £vS££(7T£pav(?)
PAPYRI 53
Tca[v] T^fxsTspcov xaTaXt7r£[rv 11 letters

45 Tpy][ .]a[ji7]v x a l T o u ^ uTcu(7[ji[ 13 letters
oux [£]X[a]TTov AxTLxcav fjiupt[. . . . ] t Tcav [
-zoLq Sav£LJ^£a6at T£ x a l (puX[aaCT£]a6ai. x a 6 a £TC[1
TCOV 7rpOT£pcov coptCTxai, T6[V SE] aMvayofXEvov
T[6]XOV jyipzi^ ziq ZTZCfffkoL Icpi^^cov TCOV Tiap' au-
50 T [o]r[d x a T £T0<; aycovLoufxIvcov, £cp' OIQ x a [ l ] OL A V -
T[i]v[ot(; ?] vuv aycovtôvT£, x a l aîco x£X£u[craL u](jLag
x a [ l T ] a u T [ a ] TOC xp7](jiaTa [JLYJSEVI £^£iv[a]L zlq aX-
X[o [XYjSlv] 7r£[p]La7rav.
11. 41-42. Tc[c. 5] / [X£io[ ] . Tc[£pl TalfxetoM Oliver, p. 477. C P / Tc[p6c; t6

TafjL£ro[v]. Oliver observes that the restoration proposed by Wilamowitz and
accepted by Fuks is too long for the lacuna indicated by Grenfell and Hunt. It
is more likely to be an anarthrous phrase resembling Trspl Ssittvov.
1. 42. SLaS[c. 13]. 8ta 8[7) Travxa xauTa] Oliver, p. 477; Sta ^[s touto TauTy]v
CPJ.
1. 46. A t t i x w v fxupi[. . . . ] l TCOV [ Oliver, p. 477. AxTixcav (jLupt[a)v Itt]!
T(o . . C/y, p. 259.
Translation
Imperator Caesar Lucius Septimius Severus Pius Pertinax Augustus

Arabicus Adiabenicus Parthicus M a x i m u s and Imperator Caesar
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Pius Augustus to Aurelius Horion, greet-
i n g . . . o f the Oxyrhynchites and here is the petition:
To the most gracious Emperors Severus and Antoninus, saviours
and benefactors o f all mankind, Aurelius H o r i o n , formerly strategos
and archidikastes o f the m o s t famous city o f Alexandria, greeting.
O h most humane emperors,... to the great city... and still pre-
serving... Titus T i t i a n u s . . . , but they also have the recommendation
o f goodwill, reliability and friendship to the R o m a n s which they ex-
hibited in the war against the Jews, giving aid then and even n o w
keeping the day o f victory as a festival every year. You yourselves
honored them during your visit to Egypt, by giving them access to
your tribunal first after the men o f Pelusium. T h e most illustrious
Laetus knows that the city has inhabitants o f the best and most gen-
erous spirit and most conscientious in dealings with the fiscus. For
all these reasons I wished to leave the city in no way inferior to any
in our l a n d . . . not less than 10,000 Attic drachmas to be lent and
safeguarded according to the former regulations, the accruing interest

to g o for prizes for the ephebes w h o will compete there each year, o n
tha same terms as the Antinoeis presently compete. A n d I ask you to
forbid that these monies too be diverted to any other purpose.
Transl. Oliver, Greek Constitutions, pp. 478-79.
No. 36
Confiscation of Jewish Property at Oxyrhynchos
ROxy. 1189 = C / y i l , 445
Oxyrhynchos. 16.6 x 13.1 c m .

Before July 118 C E .
Bibl.: Valeria Forzano, "Uufficio dello aTpaTYjyoi; delPOxyrhynchites

nel I e II sec.d.C." Aegyptus 77 (1997): 87; Modrzejewski, ''loudaioi
apheremenoi,'' 352; see below, p. 188.
AXUXLOC; IlwXtcov aTpaxYjyoi;

'HpaxXsoTioXLTOU ATTOXXCOVLCO
aTpT7]ya>i '05upuyx£^T[o]u
5 TCOl cpiXxaTCOL ) ( a i p £ i v .
ZTziGTokkc, S u o , OLQ s y p a ^ ' a ,
y\v [jtev (701, 7]v S s S a ^ e i v G )
crTpaTTjyo) KUVOTTOXSLTOU
TTspL ypacp-î; TCOV TOLI; [ ' I ] o u S a i -
10 oiQ \jnoip?,(kvT(jdv., x[al auTYjv
T7]v ypacpvjv noiriaziQ
xo(jiiaa[jt£vo(; x a i rigv
(jLsv aoi Lxvou[jL£V7)v x a T a -
cr^cov, TY]v S s EIQ TOV KUVO-
15 7roXsiT7]v StaTrsfjulâfjis-
[vo(;
(Verso)
ATTOXXCOVLCOL aTpa(T7]ycp) '05upuyx[£LT0u.

PAPYRI 55
Translation
Aquilius PoUio, strategos o f the Herakleopolite n o m e , to his dearest

ApoUonios, strategos o f the Oxyrhynchite n o m e , greeting.
Be g o o d enough to receive two letters which I have written, one to
you, a n d o n e to Sabinus, strategos o f the Kynopolite n o m e , about
the schedule o f the property formerly held by the Jews, a n d the
schedule itself Retain your own copy, a n d transmit the other to the
Lykopolite n o m e . . . .
(Verso) T o ApoUonios, strategos o f the Oxyrhynchite n o m e .
No. 37
Confiscation of Jewish land in the Athribite district
BOxy. 500 = C P / I I , 4 4 8
Oxyrhynchos. 26 x 9.7 cm.

130 C E , October 2 .
Bibl.: Naphtali Lewis, review of V. Tcherikover and A. Fuks (eds.).
Corpus Papyrorum Judaicarum, vol. II, AJPh 84 (1963): 217-18; Anna
Swiderek, " I 0 Y A A I K 0 2 A O F O S , " / / P 16-17 (1971): 47, n. 6 and
60, n. 2 3 ; Modrzejewski, ""loudaioi apheremenoi^' 342-55; Joseph
Meleze Modrzejewski, The Jews of Egypt: From Rameses II to Emperor
Hadrian (trans, by R. Cornman; Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton
University Press, 1997), 219 (with photo); see below, pp. 186-89.
(Second hand) [ I s p a j x t dTpaTTjyo) A6pip£[iTou
[Trap]a ' ' Q p o u ^£voPacr6L[o<; x ] a i
5 [ N £ x ] 9 £ p ( o c ; ©aiGTOUTO^ x a [ L . J e -
[....] n£T[ ]<; x a i T6)v X[o]t[7icov
[ ]^7c [ ] x£9a[
Traces o f three lines.
10 [12 letters ] o u [
a[Tc' 'I]ouSaLco[v a9]£ipY][fjL]£vo)v x a i
'EXXl^VCOV (^[xXlTjpOVOfXT^TCOV TOpi
T £ T a 9 o u S7](jLoai(a<;) yyjc; a v a (Trupou) ( a p T a P a ( ; ) P
( a p o u p a i ; ) x S ' x a i U7i:£p £7ri[6]£fjLaTO<;
15 T w v oXcav (TTupou) ( a p x a p a c ; ) £ x a i Trspi
vapcriC-âtv) TOU © c i g T o u a7r7]X(ia)TOu) SyjfJiocrLai;

y-^c; a v a (Tiupou) y ( a p o u p a v ) a , a<; x a i [JL£[TPY)-
ao(ji£v 1^ aXX7]X£yyuY](; eiq TO
[S7]](JL6(7LOV l y v£cov [y£]v7]fjtaTa)v
20 TOU au(Tou) L£ (ITOUI;) ASpiavou Kaic7ap[o](;
TOU xuptou.
(ITOU^) L£ AuTOxpaTopo(; Kataapo^
Tpatavou ASpiavou HEâaTou
Oacacpi £.
1. 11.. CPJ: OL[n 'IJouSaioiv av£LpYj[[x]£V(ov.
Translation
To Hierax, strategos o f the Athribite n o m e , from H o r o s son o f

Psenobasthis and from Nekpheros son o f Thaisous a n d . . . Pet... and
the rest... [traces o f three lines]... [parcels] that once belonged to the
Jews whose property has been confiscated and to the Greeks who
died without heirs, (we will lease) in the district o f Tetaphos 2 4
arourai o f public land for the 2 artabai o f wheat per aroura, with a
surcharge o f 5 artabai o f wheat for the whole, and around Psenar-
siesis in the east o f the Thostian district, 1 aroura o f public land for 3
artabai o f wheat, and we will give our mutual security to pay the rent
to the public treasury from the new crop o f this 15^*" year o f our lord
Hadrianus Caesar.
T h e 1 5 ^ year o f Imperator Caesar Traianus Hadrianus Augustus.
Phaophi 5.
Transl. Meleze Modrzejewski, The Jews of Egypt, 2 1 9 .
No. 38
Description of Lands Including Lands Having Once Belonged to Jews
R BeroL Inv. 8143 A B C + 7397 recto = SB 12, 10892
Fayum, Arsinoite nome. \A xjG cm.

After 188 C E .
Bibl. A n n a Swiderek, " I 0 Y A A I K 0 2 A O F O S / V / P 16-17 ( 1 9 7 1 ) : 4 5 -
6 1 ; J o s e p h Meleze Modrzejewski, " E g y p t e gr^co-romaine et m o n d e
hellenistique (Premiere partie)," RHD 5 0 ( 1 9 7 2 ) : 1 4 6 - 4 9 , 1 5 5 - 5 6 ; see
below, p p . 1 8 8 - 8 9 .
PAPYRI 57
col. V
12 K(; (7cppa(YrSoc;) Pop(pa) xat XIÔQ (TOUTWV) PaatXCtxTJc;) y(7)c;)

(TTpOTspov) 'IouS(atC()v) a v ( a ) (Trupou) y ( a p o u p a ) a S i a y£ca(pya)v)
Tcav aTTO C>LXoTu(aTopo(;)* yi(Tov£^) V6(TOU) x a i P o p ( p a )
13 x a i Xip6<; Pa(7iX(ix7j) y ^ , a7rY]X(ia)Tou) S i 6 ) p ( i ) 0 * x S (£T£I) a v ( a )

(TTupou) y , x £ (£T£i) TCOV a v a X ( ) x a i aX(Xa)v) ( j u u p o u ) y, XQ (ITEI)
x ^ (£T£i) Toiv a v a X ( ) , XTJ (ITEI)
14 Tcav a v [ a X ( )] x a i aX(Xcov) (Tiupou) d £TI( ) TCOV a v a X ( )
15 xC (7cppa(yiSo(;) [po]p(pa) (TOUTCOV) pa(TiX(ixy]c;) (y^^;) (TipoTEpov)

'louS(aicov) ( a p o u p a i ) [i]0 qX^^S cbv a v ( a ) (Tiupou) y ( a p o u p a i ) i^
[37]ic;Xp^S a v ( a ) (Tiupou) ^c, ( a p o u p a i ) <; tqi^xp
16 x a i (TupoTspov) *EXX'^(vcov) a v ( a ) (Tiupou) y ( a p o u p a i ) . . . ( a p o u p a i )

x S iqXp^S S i [ a ] y£Co(pycov) TCOV OCTCO OiXoTi(aTOpo^) x a i A s i o u
Ilavoupsco*;
17 x a i navoup£co<; a 6 letters * yi(Tov£g) V6(TOU) AISU[JLOU [K]acrTopo^

xaT(oixix6v) IXaicov, Pop(pa) A[I]SU(JLOU Aiovuaiou
18 IXaico(v), Xiô^; ^0LGik{ixri) yy], aTi7jX(icoTou) Sicop(uO >tai. .£TI( )

AiSufxou Aiou Aiovucjiou £S(a97)), Xiô^; 8icop(uO* (£T£I) a v ( a )
(jcupou) y<;
19 x a i TCOV Xo( ) (Tiupou) d, x£ (£T£I) TCOV avaX( ) x a i aX(Xcov) (TCU-

p o u ) d, xc, (£T£i) TCOV X( ) , x ^ (£T£i) TCOV X( ) x a i aX(Xcov) (Tiupou)
d, XT) (£T£i) TCOV avaX( ) x a i aX(Xcov) (Tcupou) a
20 £7i( ) TCOV a v a X ( ) x a i aX(Xcov) a v ( a ) (Tiupou) Y]'
21 XT] (7cppa(yrSog) V6T(OU) (TOUTCOV) pa(TiX(ix'^<;) y('y]^) (Tip6T£pov)

'louS(aicov) ( a p o u p a i ) S T£X(ouaai) a v ( a ) (Tiupoij) y Sioc y£co(p-
ycov) TCOV aTio OiXoTi(aTopo(;)' <yi(TOV£(;)> V6T(OU) T-^C; £Tu(avco)
cT9pa(yrSo(;) x a i
22 Pa(jiX(ixy]) yy} x a i £TC( ) xaT(oixixa) £S(a9Y]) Aya6oxX£ia(;,

Pop(pa) PaaiX(ixy)) y(Y]), aTiy)X(icoTou) Sicop(uO, Xip6(; Sicop(uO
x a i TOC £Tci TOU
23 pop(pa) x a T ( o t x L x a ) i8{6i(pri) ' x S (STSL) [ a v ( a ) ] (Tiupou) SG), x s

(STSL) TCOV X( ) x a t a(Xcov) (Tcupou) y, X(; ( s T s t ) xC, (STSI) TCOV X( ) ,
XT] ( s T S i ) TCOV a v a X ( )
24 £Ti( ) TCOV a v a X ( )
25 x6 (7cppa(yLSoc;) P o p ( p a ) ix^[i{zôii) [Tipo(j]6S(ou) y7](^) (TipoTspov)

'louS(aicov) a v ( a ) (Tiupou) y ( a p o u p a t ) 8ia y£Co(pycov) TCOV ATIO
<I)tXoTi(aTOpo^)' yL(TOV£c;) V6T(OU) ri iTi(avco) (7(ppa(yl(;) x a t
26 p[aa]tX(tx7j) y('^) x a t £TI( ) x a T ( o t x t x a ) £8(acp7]) Aya6oxX£ta(;,
Pop(pa) TIp[o](T6S(ou) y-^, aTI7]X(tC0T0u) StCOp(uO y-Od TOC £TIt TOU
27 [ x S (gT£t) av(ac)] (Tiupou).., [x£ ( l T £ t ) ] TCOV X( ) [ x ] a l

aX(Xcov) (Tiupou) y, XQ {ZTZI) XC, (ZTZI) TCOV a v a X ( ) , XY] (£T£t)
col. V I
c,
28 Xc, (T9pa(ytSo(;) pop(pa) (TOUTCOV) pac7tX(tx7](;) y('^(;) (Tcp6T£pov)

'louS(atcov) a v ( a ) (Tiupou) y ( a p o u p a t ) p Stoc y£co(pycov) TCOV OCTCO
OtXoTi(aTopo(;)* yt(Tov£(;) V6T(OU) PaatX(txYj) y(Y]), [3op(pa) x a t
aTi[7)X(tcoTou) x a t ]
29 Xtôc; Stcop(uy£<;)' xS (£T£t) a v ( a ) (Tiupou) y t ^ " xat TCOV XO( )

(Tiupou) d, x£ (£T£t) TCOV avaX( ) x a t aX(Xcov) (Tiupou) y, xc, (£T£t)
x'C, (£T£t) TCOV av[aX( ) xat aX(Xcov) (Tiupou).,]
30 XY] (£T£t) TCOV a v a X ( ) x a t aX(Xcov) (Tiupou) [.] £TC( )

TCOV a v a X ( )
31 XZ, cTcppa(ytSo(;) p o p ( p a ) x a t aTi7]X(tcoTou) [(TOUTCOV)] dcvoc ([jtlaov)

ovToc; Sta(TT')Qfx(aTo^) PaatX(tx7](;) y(7]^) [(Tcp6T£pov) 'Io]uS(atcov)
a v ( a ) (Tcupou) y ( a p o u p a t ) y 7]Xp x a t (Tip6T£pov) 'E(XX)7](vcov)
32 a v ( a ) (Tcupou) ^c, ( a p o u p a t ) S S t [ a y£Co(pycov)] TCOV OCTIO OtXo-

Ti(aTopo<;) x a t 2 £ v S [ p a At]oScopou' yt(Tov£(;) TcavTO0(£v) Stcop(u-
yz(;)' x [ S (£T£t) a v ( a ) ] (Tiupou) y t^'
33 x a t TCOV Xo( ) (Tiupou) ^ , x £ (£T£t) TCo[v X( ) x ] a t aX(Xcov) (Tiupou)

y, XQ (zTzi) x ^ (£T£t) Tcp[v X( ) ] , XT] (£T£t) TCOV X( ) ) x a t aX(Xcov)
a v ( a ) (Tiupou) d
PAPYRI 59
34 [ini )T]6)V a v a X ( )
35 XT] (7cppa(YrSo<;) XIÔQ (TOUTCOV) a v a ((Jisaov) [oua(7]^)] 8icop(uyo(;)

xai oSou {(TOUTCOV)} PacrLX(t.xY](;) y(7]^) (TupoTSpov) ['Io]u8(aLcov)
( a p o u p a t ) S tqXp. a v ( a ) (rcupou) y SLOC y[£co(pycov) T]COV
36 OCTTO <I)LXoTr(aTopoc;)* yi{Tovz(;) V6(TOU) x a T ( o i x L x a ) I S ( a 9 7 ) ) [2]a(ji-

^ o u T O ^ T":^^; A X £ ^ a v S p o [ u , p o ] p ( p a ) x a i aTC7]X(icoTOu) S7]((X0(TLa)
686^, Xi^bi^) S7]([xoaia) [686^- x S ] (£T£0
37 a v ( a ) (TTupou) yd), x£ (£T£0 TCOV a v [ a X ( )] x a i aX(Xcov) (TCUpou) d,

y.Q (£T£L) XC, (£T£L) TCOV a v a X ( ) , [x7]] (£T£t.) TCOV a v a X ( ) x a i
aX(Xcov) a v ( a ) ( r c u p o u ) [ . ]
38 [£]Tr( ) TCOV a v a X ( ) x a i aX(Xcov) (Trupou) d
39 X6 acppa(yrSo(;) P o p ( p a ) £x6(ji(£vaL) dcvoc ((jL£aov) oua(Y]^) S7)(fxo-
(jtac;) oSou x a i uSpa(ycoyou) < (Trp6T£pov) 'louS(atcov)

>
a v ( a ) [(TTupou)] y ( a p o u p a t ) ^c, x a i (TTp6T£pov) *EXXT^(VCOV) a v ( a )
(TCUpou) (apoupai) [ . ] .
40 SLOC y£Co(pycov) TCOV OCTCO OLXoTc(aTopoc;) x a i I l £ v S p a AioScopou*
yL(TOV£<;) V6(TOU) [uSp]ay(p(y6c;) x ( a i ) S7]([jtoaLa) oSoc;, [3op(pa)
<l)LXoSa([jLLav%) oua(La^) £S(acpY])
41 £5('^<;) L(7ay6([jL£va), aTcy]X(LcoTou) xaT(oLXLxa) £S(a9Yj). .7)vy)(; ZCOGTL-
(jLou* x S (£T£L) a v ( a ) (Tcupou). (apoupai) y , a i XoLTc(ai) a v ( a )
(TTUpou) y<; x a i TCOV X( ) aX(Xcov) [(Tcupou).],
42 x£ (ZTOUQ) Z(X>(; XQ (ITOUC;) TCOV X( ) , XYJ (£T£L) TCOV a v a X ( ) x a i

aX(Xcov) (Tiupou) ?) £Tc( ) TCOV a v a X ( ) x a i aX(Xcov) (Tcupou) [. . ]
43 [(Jl a ] 9 [ p a y r S o ( ; Paai]X(ix7](;) y('^c;) (Tcp6T£pov) [ 'Iou]S(aicov) av(a)

(TCUpou). ( a p o u p a i ) . . . . . Sioc y£co(pycov) T[COV OCTCO OiXoTc(aTOpO(;)]
col. V I I
Z
44 lie (Tcppa(yiSo(;) V6T(OU) x a i aTCY]X(icoTou) (TOUTCOV) OiXoSa([Jiiav^c;)

ouCT(La^) (TcpoTspov) 'louS(aicov) a v ( a ) (Tcupou) y ( a p o u p a i ) y ^7)Xp
Sioc y£co(pycov) [TCOV OCITCO C>iX[oTc(aTopo(;)*]
45 yL(Tov£<;) V6(TOU) StcipCuO, P o p ( p a ) TTIQ aCuTY]^) ouaCia^) £S(acpY]),

a7rY]X(LC0T0u) Ix(ai6jv) avaypa((p6[jL£vog) Tcspi Tp^' x S (ITSI) a v ( a )
(Tcupou) y^; x a l TO)[V X( ) (rcupou).,]
46 x£ (ITSI) Tcav X( ) x a l aX(Xcov) (Tiupou) y , x ^ (STSI) XQ (ITSI) TCOV

X( ) , XT] (STSL) TCOV a v a X ( ) x a l aX(Xcov) a v ( a ) (rcupou) 4
47 £7r( ) TCOV a v a X ( ) x a l aX(Xcov) (jrupou).
48 (JL(; cr(ppa(yTSo^) P o p ( p a ) (TOUTCOV) ^c(.(yik{ixy](;) y ( ' ^ ^ ) (rcpoTspov)

'IouS(aLcov) ( a p o u p a ) a T£X(ouaa) a v ( a ) (rcupou) y 8ia y£co(pycov)
TCOV OCTCO <l)tXoTi(aTopo^)* yi(Tov£^) V6(TOU) [ x a T ( o i x i x a ) £8(1x97])?]
4 9 ApxcovtSou ' H p a x X ( ) , [3op(pa) x a l aTC7]X(LcoTou) x a l Xi.p6c; Sicop(u-

y £ ^ ) ' x8 (£T£L) a v ( a ) (rcupou) yc; x a l TCOV XO( ) (rcupou) 4? [>t£ (£T£0
TCOV]
50 a v a X ( ) x a l aX(Xcov) (rcupou)., xc; (£T£0 X'C (ZTZI) TCOV a v a X ( ) , XT]

(£T£0 TCOV a v a X ( ) x a l aX(Xcov) a v ( a ) (rcupou) y
51 £rc( ) TCOV a [ v a X ( )]
52 a9pa(yrSo(;) Po p( pa) (TOUTCOV) (3acrLX(ix'^(;) y(Y]<;) (rcp6T£pov)

'louS(atcov) ( a p o u p a ) a T£X(ou(Ta) a v ( a ) (rcupou) y SLOC y£co(pycov)
TCOV OCTTO OLXorc(aTOpO(;) V6(TOU) x [ a l P o p ( p a ) ]
53 x a l aTCY]X(icoTOu) x a l X[LP]6<; Sicop(uy£^)- x S (£T£L) a v ( a ) (rcupou)

y i ; , x£ (£T£L) TCOV a v a X ( ) x a l aX(Xcov) (rcupou) y , xq (ZTZI) XZ,
(£T£L) Tcp[v a v a X ( ),]
54 XT] ( £ T £ i ) TCo[v a ] v a X ( ) x a l aX(Xcov) (rcupou) £rc( ) TCOV a v a X ( )]
55 (JIT] (79pa(yL'So^) P o p ( p a ) (TOUTCOV) dcvoc ([JLECTOV) oua{riQ) SLCop(uyo(;)

Aopu9o(pLavy]c;) ouGiiccq) <(rcp6T£pov)> 'IouS(aLCov) ( a p o u p a i ) xa
T£X(oucrai.) a v ( a ) (rcupou) y Sioc y£co(pycov) TCOV dcrco 0[iXoTc(dc-
56 yi(Tov£(;) V6(TOU) 8icop(uO, P o p ( p a ) T-^C; a(uT7]<;) oua(ia<;) £S(dc97]),

aTry]X(LC0T0u) T % a(uT'^c;) ou(7(iac;) £S(dc97]), Xi^cx; Si[co]p(uO x a l
rcpoo'6S(ou) yy] £^(Y](;) L[aayo((jt£V'/])]
PAPYRI 61
57 x a l T a enl TOU P o p ( p a ) TTJC; a(uTY]<;) ouaCtac;) I8(a<p7])- x8 (ITSL)

a v ( a ) (TTUpou) yCO x a l TCOV XO( ) aX(Xa)v) (TTUpou) ^ , x s (STSI) TCOV X
( ) x a l aX(Xcov) (TTUpou) [ . ]
58 XQ (sTsO TCOV a v a X ( ) , xJ^ (STSI) TCOV a v a X ( ) x a l aX(Xcov) (TTupou)

d, XT] (STSL) a v a X ( ) x a l aX(Xcov) a v ( a ) (rrupou) i p "
59 S7T( ) T . . . x a l aX(Xcov) [(TTupou). ]
col. VIII
60 [VY(?) cr9pa(yr8o(;) (rrpoTSpov) 'Iou]8(aLcov) ( a p o u p a t ) [..].

7 ) ^ TsX(ou(TaO a v ( a ) ( j r u p o u ) y S(La) y s c o ( p y c o v ) TCOV OCTTO OtXo-
TT(aTopO(;)* yi(TOvs(;) V6(TOU)
61 [ ] 0sp[JtouTapiou T-^^ SqcTOpvstXou, Xiôc; Ty]c, a(uT'^(;) oucr(ia(;)
62 [sS(acp7))* x8 ( s T S t ) a ( v a ) (rrupou). . x a l TCOV] XO( ) aX(Xcov)

(TTUpou) y] , XS (sTsO TCOV a v a X ( ) x a l aX(Xcov) (TTUpou) y, xc, (STSI)
x ^ (STSI) TCOV X( ) ,
63 [xYj (STSL) TCOV a v a X ( ) ] STT( ) TCOV a v a X ( )
64 [vS (?) aacppa(yLSoc;) ( a p o u p a t ) qc^ TsX(ouaaO a v ( a ) (TTupou)

Stoc ysco(py ) A t o a x o p o u nToXs([jiatou)
65 [- - - yt(Tovs<;) V6(TOU) - - - ] . aTTy]X(tcoTou) pa(TtX(txi^) y('^),

P o p ( p a ) Stcop(uO, Xtô^ uSpayco(y6^)- x8 (sTst) a ( v a ) (TTupou) S y
66 [ x'C ( s T s t ) T]COV X( ) , XT] ( s T S t ) TCOV a v a X ( ) x a l aX(Xcov)

(TTUpou)'.
67 'STT( ) TCOV a v a X ( )
68 [vs (?) a9pa(ytSo(;) - - - ( a p o u p a t ) ] . d7]t(;Xp TsX(ou(7at) a v ( a )

(TTUpou) ^c; Stoc ysco(pycov) TCOV . . avou nToXs([jiatou)
69 [ ] yt(Tovsc;) V6(TOU) TTpocr6S(ou) sS(a9Y]) x a l ri \ a 9 p a ( y l ^ ) x a l

TTp.( ) 6S(6g), p [ o ] p ( p a ) x a l . . .
70 [ . . . ] uSp(aycoy6<;)- x S ( s T s t ) a v ( a ) (TTupou) S t^', x s ( s T S t ) TCOV

a v a X ( ) x a l aX(Xcov) (Trupou) d, XQ (STSL)
71 [y.^ (STSL) XY) (STSL) TCOV a v a X ( ) x a l ] aX(Xcov) a v ( a ) (Trupou) Q

sTr( ) TCOV a v a X ( )
72 [v^; (?) cy9pa(YLSo(;) ( a p o u p a i ) ] y q X p TsX(oucraL) a v ( a ) (rrupou)

Y SLOC Ysco(pYcov) TCOV dcTro $LXo7r(aTopO(;)* yiixoveq) V6(TOU) . .
73 [ ] cr9pa(YL^), a7rY]X(LC0T0u) 7rpO(y6S(ou) yf]^ XIÔQ 0sp[jLou-

TSCO(; TY](;
74 [ ] x S (STSL) a v ( a ) (Trupou) Y^' x a l T[CO]V XO( ) (rrupou) a, x s

(STSL) TCOV a v a X ( ) x a l aX(Xcov) (rcupou) Y^
75 [ TCOV a v a ] X ( ) x a l aX(Xcov) ( r r u p o u ) / [ ] TCOV a v a X ( ) x [ a l

aX(Xcov) (rrupou).]
col. I X
76 ^[Y cr(ppa(YLSo(;) - - -]X 8 letters ^(XGCk{ixylQ) Y(%) (^rpoTspov)

'IouS(aLCOv) ( a p o u p a i ) ^ YJX^^S T s X ( o u a a i ) a v ( a ) (rrupou) Y
Ysco(pYciv) T[COV. . ] .
77 .[ ] yiiTO^zq) V6(TOU) T] \ gcppa(Yl^) [ ] Aopucpo(piavY]<;)

ouc7(ia<;) 12 letters Ap[rro]xpaTicovo^ Y]I 6 letters
78 [ ] . Xiôi; pa(7iX(ixY]) Y"^, arcY)X(icoTou) uSpa(Y0i)Y6<;). x S (STSL)

a v ( a ) (rrupou) S, x s (STOUC;) SCOC; XC (STOUC;) TCOV a v a X ( ) , XY] (STSL)
TCp(v)
79 a v a X ( ) , [ x a l a]X(Xcov) <(rrupou)> ^ src( ) TCOV a v a X ( )
80 ^S g9pa(YrSo(;) [V6]T(OU) sx6[jL(svai) s Y P ( a i v o u a a i ) Xip(6(;.) A o p u -

cpo(piav'^(;) oua(ia(;) (rrpoTspov) 'I[ouS(aLCov)] ( a p o u p a i ) . . av(a)
(rrupou). Sioc Y£w(pY^'^) '^^^ <I>iXorr(aTopo(;).
81 y[i{i:ovzQ) V]O(TOU) [- - - ] . ou[- - -] p o p ( p a ) TOC rrpoiaYjY(JT(sva)

x a l . . .Y('^), aTrY]X(icoTou) uSpa(YcoYO^), XI^{OQ) SY)((jLO(Tia) b8oQ' x S
(STSL) a v ( a ) (rrupou).
82 . . . [ ]xY] (STSL) TCOV a v a X ( ) x ( a l ) aik{Xoiv) (rrupou) f ?T^( )

TCOV a v a X ( )
PAPYRI 63
83 ^£ g[(ppa(yrSo(;) - - -] AopucpoCptavyjc;) oucrCtac;) <(7up6T£pov)>

'Iou8(aLcov) ( a p o u p a t ) p St^Xp T£X(ou(TaO a v ( a ) (Trupou). S [ t a
Y£co(pYcov)] TCOV aTTO OLXoTu(aTopO(;)" Yt(T0V£^) V6(TOU) x a T ( )
84 ...[...] 6£p[ ] . . 2TpaT£tvou x ( a T ) o i ( x t x a ) £S(a(py]), Xt^cx;

b8bc; x[cd] TOC Ini TOU V6T(OU) x ( a T ) o L ( x i x a ) £S(acp7)) * x8 (£T£L)
a v ( a ) (rcupou).,
85 [x£ (£T£0] TCOV a v a X ( ) x a l aX(Xcov) (rcupou) y x^ (£T£0 X^ (£T£0

TCOV a v a X ( ) , XY] (£T£t) TCOV avaX( ) x a l aX(Xcov) (rcupou) Y
86 £Tc( ) TCOV avaX( )
87 acppa(YtSo<;) V6(TOU) £x6fji(£vaL) £YP(aLvouaaO Xi(p6<;.) Aopucpo-

(ptav^c;) oucr(ia^) (rcp6T£pov) *IouS(aLcov) ( a p o u p a t ) a ^ T£X(ouaaL)
a v ( a ) (rcupou) Y Stoc Y£w(pY^^) <I>iXoTc(aTOpoc;)'
Translation
Col. V
Section 2 6 . A t the north and at the west o f them regal land having
once belonged to Jews 1 aroura at the rate o f 3 artabai through the
farmers o f the village Philopator. Boundaries: at the south and north
and west royal land, at the east a canal. I n year 2 4 at the rate o f 3
artabai o f wheat, in year 2 5 . . . and others at the rate o f 1/3 artaba o f
wheat, in year 2 6 year 2 7 . . . i n year 2 8 . . . a n d others at the rate o f 1/4
artaba o f w h e a t . . .
Section 2 7 . At the north o f them royal land having once belonged to

Jews 19 V2 1/8 1/32 1/64 arourai from which 12 1/2 1/8 1/16 1/32
1/64 arourai at the rate o f 3 artabai o f wheat and 6 1/2 1/8 1/16 1/
3 2 arourai at the rate o f 2 V2 artabai o f wheat and having once be-
longed to G r e e k s . . . arourai at the rate o f 3 artabai o f wheat.. . 2 4 1/2
1/8 1/16 1/32 1/64 arourai through the farmers o f the village
Philopator and Deios son o f Panouris and Panouris (his brother?).
Boundaries: at the south the catoecic olive-yard o f D i d y m o s son o f
Kastor, at the north the olive-yard o f D i d y m o s son o f Dionysos, at
the west royal land, at the east a canal and . . . t h e lands o f D i d y m o s
son o f D i o s son o f Dionysius, at the west a canal. In year 2 4 at the
rate o f 3 1/2 artabai o f wheat and . . . a t the rate o f 1/4 artaba o f
wheat, in year 2 5 . . . and others at the rate o f 1/4 artaba o f wheat, in

year 2 6 . . . , in year 2 7 . . .and others at the rate of 1/4 artaba o f wheat,
in year 2 8 . . . a n d others at the rate o f 1 artaba o f w h e a t . . . a n d others
at the rate o f 1/8 artaba o f wheat.
Section 2 8 . At the south o f these royal lands having once belonged to

Jews 4 1/8 arourai paying at the rate o f 3 artabai o f wheat through
the farmers o f the village Philopator. Boundaries: at the south the
above mentioned section and royal land and catoecic lands o f Agatho-
kleia, at the north royal lands, at the east a canal, at the west a canal
and the northern catoecic lands. In year 2 4 at the rate o f 4 2/3
artabai o f wheat, in year 2 5 . . . and others at 1/3 artaba o f wheat, in
year 2 6 , in year 2 7 . . . , in year 2 8 . . .
Section 2 9 . At the north 2 1/2 adjacent arourai o f public revenue

land having once belonged to Jews at the rate of 3 artabai o f wheat
through the farmers o f the village Philopator. Boundaries: at the
south the above mentioned section and royal land and catoecic lands
o f Agathokleia, at the north public revenue lands, at the east a canal
a n d . . . [ I n year 2 4 . . . a t the rate of...artabai] o f wheat, [in year
2 5 ] . . .and others at the rate o f 1/3 artaba o f wheat, in year 2 6 , in year
2 7 . . . , in year 2 8 .
Col. V I
Section 3 6 . At the north o f these 2 arourai o f royal land having once
belonged to Jews at the rate o f 3 artabai o f wheat through the farm-
ers o f the village Philopator. Boundaries: at the south royal land, at
the north and east and west canals. In year 2 4 at the rate o f 3 1/12
artabai o f wheat a n d . . . at the rate o f V4 artaba o f wheat, in year
2 5 . . . and others at the rate o f 1/8 artaba o f wheat, in year 2 6 , in year
2 7 [and others at the rate of.. .artaba o f wheat], in year 2 8 . . .and oth-
ers.
Section 3 7 . At the north and east o f these, on the middle being the
space between canals, 3 1/8 1/32 arourai o f royal land having once
belonged to Jews at the rate o f 3 artabai o f wheat, and 4 arourai hav-
ing once belonged to Greeks at the rate o f 2 V2 artabai o f wheat
through the farmers o f the village Philopator and Sendras daughter
(?) o f Diodoros. Boundaries: from all sides canals. In year 2 4 at the
rate o f 3 1/12 artabai o f w h e a t . . . a n d at the rate o f V2 artaba o f
PAPYRI 65
wheat, in year 2 6 , in year 2 7 . . . , in year 2 8 . . .and others at the rate o f

V4 artaba o f w h e a t . . .
Section 3 8 . At the west o f these in the middle being a canal and a

road 4 1 / 4 1 / 8 1 / 3 2 arourai o f royal land having once belonged to
Jews at the rate o f 3 artabai o f wheat through the farmers o f the vil-
lage Philopator. Boundaries: at the south the catoecic lands o f S a m -
bous daughter o f Alexandros, at the north and east a public road, at
the west a public road. In year 2 4 at the rate of 3 2/3 artabai o f
wheat, in year 2 5 . . . and others at the rate o f 1 / 4 artaba o f wheat, in
year 2 6 , in year 2 7 . . . , in year 2 8 . . . a n d others at the rate o f . . . a r t a b a i
of w h e a t . . . and others at the rate o f 1 / 4 artaba o f wheat.
Section 3 9 . At the north, in the middle being a public road and an

irrigation ditch 2 1 / 2 adjacent arourai o f royal land (?) having once
belonged to Jews at the rate o f 3 artabai and...arourai and...arourai
once belonging to Greeks throught the farmers o f the village Philo-
pator and Sendras daughter (?) o f Diodoros. Boundaries: at the
south an irrigation ditch and a public road, at the north the lands o f
the estate o f Philodamos which will be mentioned below, at the east
the catoecic lands of.. .one daughter o f Z o s i m o s . In year 2 4 3 arourai
at the rate of...artabai o f wheat, the remaining at the rate o f 3 1 / 2
artabai o f wheat a n d . . . the others, in year 2 5 3 2/3 artabai o f wheat,
in year 2 5 till year 2 6 . . . , in year 2 8 . . . a n d others at the rate o f 3/4
artaba o f wheat. . . a n d others at the rate of. ..artabai o f wheat.
Section 4 0 : . . . a r o u r a i o f royal land having once belonged to Jews at

the rate of... artabai o f wheat. ..through the farmers o f the village o f
Philopator.
Col. VII
Section 4 5 . At the south and east o f these 3 3/4 1 / 8 1 / 3 2 arourai in
the estate o f Philodamus having once belonged to Jews at the rate o f
3 artabai o f wheat through the farmers o f the village Philopator.
Boundaries: at the south a canal, at the north the lands o f the same
estate, at the east an olive-yard registered n e a r T r (). In year 2 4 at the
rate o f 3 1 / 2 artabai o f wheat, in year 2 5 . . . a n d others at the rate o f
1/3 artaba o f wheat, in year 2 7 , in year 2 6 . . . , in year 2 8 . . .and others
at the rate o f 1 / 6 artaba o f wheat. ..others at the rate of... artabai o f
wheat.
Section 4 6 . At the north o f these 1 aroura of royal land having once

belonged to Jews paying at the rate of 3 artabai of wheat through the
farmers o f the village Philopator. Boundaries: at the south (the
catoecic lands?) o f Archonides son o f H e r a k l ( ) , at the north and east
and west canals. In year 2 4 at the rate o f 3 1/2 artabai o f wheat
a n d . . . at the rate o f 1/6 artaba o f wheat, in year 2 5 . . . and others at
the rate of...artabai of wheat, in year 2 6 , in year 2 7 . . . , in year
2 8 . . . and others at the rate o f 1/3 artaba o f w h e a t . . .
Section 4 7 . At the north o f these 1 aroura o f royal land having once

belonged to Jews paying at the rate o f 3 artabai o f wheat through the
farmers o f the village Philopator. <Boundaries>: at the south and
north and east and west canals. In year 2 4 at the rate o f 3 1/2 artabai
o f wheat, in year 2 5 . . . and others at the rate o f 1/3 artaba o f wheat,
in year 2 6 , in year 27.., in year 2 8 . . . a n d others at the rate o f 1/2
artaba o f w h e a t . . .
Section 4 8 . At the north o f these, in the middle being a canal, 2 1

arourai o f the estate o f Doryphoros <having once belonged> to Jews
paying at the rate o f 3 artabai o f wheat through the farmers o f the
village Philopator. Boundaries: at the south a canal, at the north the
lands o f the same estate, at the east the lands of the same estate, at
the west a canal and revenue land that will be mentioned below and
the lands o f the same estates to the north. In year 2 4 at the rate o f 3
2 / 3 artabai o f w h e a t . . . and others at the rate o f 1/2 artaba of wheat,
in year 2 5 . . . a n d others at the rate of...artabai in year 2 6 . . . , in year
2 7 . . . and others at the rate o f 1/4 artaba o f wheat, in year 2 8 . . . and
others at the rate o f 1/12 artaba o f w h e a t . . . and others...
C o l . VIII
[Section 53 (?) ...having once belonged to] Jews. [ ]. 1/8 1/16
arourai paying at the rate o f 3 artabai o f wheat through the farmers
o f the village Philopator...Boundaries: at the south [ ] o f
Thermoutarion daughter o f Satorneilos, at the west lands o f the
same estate. In year 2 4 at the rate of... artabai o f w h e a t . . . and others
at the rate of 1/8 artaba o f wheat, in year 2 5 . . . and others at the rate
o f 1/3 artaba of wheat, in year 2 6 , in year 2 7 . . . , in year 2 8 . . .
[Section 54?] . . . 1 1/2 arourai paying at the rate o f 2 1/2 artabai of

wheat through the farmers (?) o f Dioskoros son o f Ptolemaios...
[Boundaries: at the south ] at the east royal land, at the north a ca-
PAPYRI 67
nal, at the west an irrigation ditch. In year 2 4 at the rate o f 4 1/3

artabai [. In year 27] in year 2 8 . . . a n d others at the rate of... artabai
of w h e a t . . .
[Section 55 ] (?) 1/4 1/8 1/16 1/32 arourai paying at the rate o f 2 V2
artabai o f wheat through the farmers o f . . . a n o s son o f Ptolemaios [ ] .
Boundaries: at the south revenue lands and section 6 0 a n d . . . r o a d , at
the north and [ ] irrigation ditch. In year 2 4 at the rate o f 4 1/12
artabai o f wheat, in year 2 5 . . . a n d others at the rate o f 1/4 artaba o f
wheat, in year 2 6 [in year 2 7 , . . . i n year 2 8 . . . ] and others at the rate
of 1/6 artaba o f wheat.
[Section 5 6 (?) ] 3 1/2 1/8 1/32 arourai paying at the rate o f 3

artabai o f wheat through the farmers o f the village Philopator.
Boundaries: at the south [ ] the section 6 0 , at the east revenue land,
at the west the land o f Thermoutis daughter o f (?) [ ]. In year 2 4 at
the rate o f 3 1/2 artabai o f w h e a t . . . a n d . . . at the rate o f 1 artaba of
wheat, in year 2 5 . . . a n d others at the rate o f 1/3 artaba o f
wheat.. .and others at the rate of... artabai o f wheat [ ] and [others at
the rate of... artabai o f wheat].
Col. IX
Section 6 [3 ] 2 1/8 1/32 1/64 arourai o f royal land having once be-
longed to Jews paying at the rate o f 3 artabai o f wheat through the
farmers o f [the village Philopator]. Boundaries: at the south the sec-
tion [ ] o f the estate o f D o r y p h o r o s . . . o f Karpokxation, . . . [ ] at the
west royal land, at the east an irrigation ditch. In year 2 4 at the rate
of 4 artabai o f wheat, in year 2 5 till year 2 7 . . . , in year 2 8 . . .and oth-
ers at the rate o f 1/2 artaba o f w h e a t . . .
Section 6 4 . At the south, adjacent (to the previous section) overstep-

ping at the west, now in the estate o f Doryphoros, having once be-
longed to J e w s . . .arourai at the rate of.. .artabai o f wheat through the
farmers o f the village Philopator. Boundaries; at the s o u t h . . . a t the
north the aforementioned and royal (?) land, at the east an irriga-
tional ditch, at the west a pubHc road. In year 2 4 at...artabai o f
wheat [ ] . In year 2 8 . . . a n d others at the rate o f 1/3 artaba o f
wheat...
Section 6 5 . . . 2 1/4 1/16 1/32 arourai o f the estate o f Doryphoros

having once belonged to Jews paying at the rate o f ...artabai of
wheat through the farmers o f the village Philopator. Boundaries: at

the south [ ] the catoecic lands o f Thermoutarion (?) daughter o f
Strateinos, at the west a road and the southern catoecic lands. In year
2 4 at the rate of...artabai o f wheat, in year 2 5 . . . a n d others at the
rate o f 1/3 artaba o f wheat, in year 2 6 , in year 2 7 . . . , in year 2 8 . . .and
others at the rate o f 1/3 artaba o f w h e a t . . .
Section 6 6 . At the south adjacent (to the previous section) overstep-

ping at the west, now in the estate o f Doryphoros, having once be-
longed to Jews 1 1 / 2 arourai paying at the rate o f 3 artabai o f wheat
through the farmers o f the village Philopator. Boundaries: at the
south the lands o f the same estate, at the north the catoecic lands o f
Thermoutarion daughter o f Strateinos < a n d > the section 6 0 , at the
west a public [road ] . . .In year 2 4 at the rate of.. .artabai o f w h e a t ] . . .
[in year 2 5 ] . . . and others at the rate o f 1/3 artaba o f wheat, in year
2 6 , in year 2 7 . . .
Transl. Isaak F. Fikhman, Corpus Papyrorum Judaicarum, vol. 4 (forthcom-

ing).
No. 39
List of Lands, mentioning a ' I o u 5 a i x 6 ^ Xoyo^
R BeroL inv. 7440 recto = SB 12,10893
U n k n o w n Provenance. 14 x 16 cm.
Second Century C E .
Bibl.: Anna Swiderek, " l O T A A I K O S A O P O S / ' JJP 16A7 (1971):
61-62; Modrzejewski, ''loudaioi apheremenoi^ 353-60; see below,
p. 189.
(First hand) ... [ ]

© a t [- - -]
-aasx- [ ]
(Second hand) Osou TLTOU Aopucpopiavî; [ ]
5 AypLTULvtav^^; OUGIOLQ [ ]
AxT7]i.avY]c; OXJGLOLQ SyjXoufjLsvyjc; £lva[t Iv TJI AXS-]

5av8p£cov x ^ p a [ ]
'louSaLxou Xoyou .av [ ]
PAPYRI 69
TtexouXtoi) ['E]XXi^v<ov axXT^povofxi^TCcav) . [ ]

10 Siavo[ji7)(; gTefjifAaTwv . . [ ]
exTOi; Xoycov . [ ]
(First hand) (?) [---].

[---]...
Between 11. 7-9, on the left side:
(Third hand)
15 [- - -] <7wq|3 ~
[---]7coq|3 _
[- - -] <7wqp . .
[---]...
Translation
LI. 4 - 1 1 : From the estates o f the deified Titus from the estate o f
D o r y p h o r o s . . . f r o m the estate o f A g r i p p i n a . . . , from the estate o f
Aktiana known as situated in the L a n d o f the Alexandrians..., from
the Jewish a c c o u n t . . . 2 5 0 . . . , from the patrimony o f the Greeks d e -
ceased without legal heirs..., from the distribution o f garlands...,
(from the contributions o f those) out o f a c c o u n t s . . . .
Transl. Isaak F. Fikhman, Corpus Papyrorum Judaicarum, vol. 4 (forthcom-

ing).
No. 40
Fragment of Account Possibly Mentioning a l o u S a i x o g Xoyo^
R BouriantAA, verso = C / y III, 458
Fayum
Second Century C E .
Bibl.: Barbel Kramer and Dieter Hagedorn, Kdlner Papyri, vol. 2
(Papyrologica Coloniensia 7: Abhandlungen der rheinisch-west-
falischen Akademie der Wissenschaften: Opladen: Westdeutscher
Verlag, 1978), p. 133; Modrzejewski, loudaioi apheremenoi,'' 354; see
below, p. 189.
' l o u S a i x o u [Xoyou] £87]Xa)[6Y)](7av £t[(77r£7ipa]x9aL

70 DIASPORA J U D A I S M I N T U R M O I L , 116/117 C E
No. 41
List of Income from Lands, Mentioning a 'Iou8aLx6<; Xoyoq
Inv. 4306r = /? Koln II, 97
U n k n o w n provenience 9 x 1 8 cm.
Probably First H a l f o f the Second Century C E .
Bibl.: Modrzejewski, ''loudaioi apheremenoi,'' 354; Ra)^mond Bogaert,
"Liste geographique des banques et des banquiers de I'Egypte romaine,
30A-284," ZPE 109 (1995): 172, n. 161.
]en[L T]C) AVTO TFJQ €lanQdê(0(; [

[o]ya[I]a}V Tixov [dq,) 'Bcovf x" [
yivo{vxai) (rdA.) ^ [dg.) 'Ea^ = ycoX EyX{
[...] naqq. ....[
5 ovotojv Oveanaacavov (dg,) . .[
naga de Tiêgco) KXavdicp ''Egcorc [
ovaicbv Tixov (dg,) 'Aîyffjx'' ov[
^lovdqLixov Xoyov {dg,) onafdy^ [
yiv\o\{yxaC) (rdA.) C (<5E-) = Z° "^^^^ . [
10 Tvfii TOV iveaxojxog d {exov(;)' [
, . [ . J c r t w v xgcLTteCelxaLg faiov Zaqg,[
ov<y[i\cbv Ovea7i[aaiavov) {dg.) Êxnap ovai[a}v Tixov
YLVO{vxai) {dg,) 'Ev/x^x** ôt^d de TiP[egiq) KXavdito ''EgcDXi
(raA.) f (Sg.) Êco^yF6X° ovaiajv TLX[OV
15 . [ . .],vov (dg.) ga — ^lovdaixov Xoyov [
Xoyov {dg.) 1^ = .[
TOY naga xoj "Egolxt
AlXlcp Zaxovg[VELVA)
]ovGav[
1. 1. At the end of the line perhaps: x a l £yX[6You £Xoi7roYpa9ig6y)<Tav

1. 11. 8Y)fi.o(7Lcov (sell. XPI^M-^^TOiv) TpaTTE^siTaK; is the reading suggested by
Bogaert, "Liste geographique," 172, n. 161. The editors (p. 134) give both
possibilities: Sy)[(jLo](7i6)v or. . [ . .]<7to)v TpaTre^sLTatc;.
Translation
M a k i n g a total o f the collection o f d u e s . . . o f the estates o f Titus 2 8 5 0

drachmai 5 obols 2 chalci*...that is 2 talents 5 2 0 7 drachmai 2 obols
a n d . . . f r o m . . . t h e estates o f V e s p a s i a n . . . d r a c h m a i . . . f r o m Tiberius
Claudius E r o s . . . from the estates o f Titus 4 9 1 3 drachmai 3 obols 6
PAPYRI 71
chalci...from the Jewish account 281 drachmai 5 obols 2

chalci...that is 7 talents 456 drachmai 2 obols 2 chalci with...Tybi
of the present four year...the bankers o f public funds Caius Sara
from the estates o f Vespasian 5381 drachmai 4 obols, from the es-
tates o f T i t u s . . . t h a t is 5442 drachmai 2 chalci from Tiberius
Claudius Eros. ..7 talents 5863 drachmai 4 obols 6 chalci from the
estates o f T i t u s . . . 101 drachmai from the Jewish a c c o u n t . . . a c c o u n t
64 drachmai 2 o b o l s . . . f r o m Eros (from?) Aelius Saturninus...
Transl. Isaak E Fikhman, Corpus Papyrorum Judaicarum, vol. 4 (forthcom-

ing).
* The silver drachma was divided into 6 obols, and the obol into 8 chalci. See
Orsolina Montevecchi, La papirologia 2""^ ed. (Milano: Vita e pensiero, 1988), 7 1 .
No. 42
Prohibition against Growing Plants Usable for Weapons
BGUyj 2085
Kerkesucha O r u s (Fayum) 21.7 x 10 c m .

3 April 119 C E .
Bibl.: Modrzejewski, "loudaioi apheremenoV\ 3 4 1 , n. 14. See below,

p. 185.
(First hand) Apeiwi xcajjioypafjiaTr

K£px£(7[oux^]v " ^ p ( o u ( ; ) x a l aXXcov
xG)[jLco[v xaGpstv.
Miuatc; M [ ] i.
5 Ap[(jti.ua ] . . XLWV ria-
^rpiC, OL T[p£r<; TCp£(Tp]uT£p[o]l T*^^
7rpoxi(ji£v[7]c; xcolfXYjc; K e p x s -
(Toux^^ " f i p [ o u ( ; T % ] *HpaxXtSou
[ji£piSo(; [6][JLVU[O](JL[£]V TI^V -
10 AuToxpocTopoi; K a i a a p o ^ Tpatavou
A S p i a v o u 2 £ p a a T o u TUXV]V [JLY]
zjiy -iwxkc, izzpX xvjv xcofxvjv cpu-
T£u6fJL£V0V TO^LXOV XOcXafJLOV
fx[Y]8£] [XUptXlVOV, y\ £VOXOL £1.7]-
15 p.[£v] T<p opxcp. *'EYpa4^£v TO crcofjia
A X . < ; 6 [T]Y]<; xcofXTjc; v o f j i o Y p a 9 0 ( ; .
(Second hand) A p f x i u a ^ A p f j i t u a ^ x a l [[u]] Miuaic, S o -

[jia. . . o u x a l OTOXXLCOV IlavTjcriou
TTpsaPuTSpoi q)(jt(0(jt6xa(X£v T[6V]
20 7rpoxifjt£v[ov] opxov. IITOXXLCOV l y p a ^ a
UTTSp Toiv [JLYj £IS6T6)V ypa[jl(JLaTa.
(First hand) ("ETOU^) Tp[tT]ou A [ u ] T o x p a T o p o ^ K a t c a p o c ;
Tp[a]L[a]vou ASptavou SsPacxTOU
<l>ap[jLou6t. 7]
Translation
(First hand) T o Areios, village scribe o f Kerkesoucha O r u s and other

villages, greetings. Miysis son o f M . . a n d Harmiysis son o f Harmiysis
and PtoUion son o f Panesios, all three elders o f the above mentioned
village o f Kerkesoucha O r u s in the Herakleides division, we swear by
the fortune o f the Emperor Caesar Trajan Hadrian Augustus that we
have not planted in the area o f the village any arrow-reed nor tama-
risk reed, or m a y we incur the consequences o f the oath. AJ.s, the
nomographos o f the village, wrote the text.
(Second hand) W e , Harmiysis son o f Harmiysis a n d Miysis son o f
S o m a . . . O S and PtoUion son o f Panesios, elders, have sweared the
above mentioned oath. PtoUion wrote for those who d o not know
letters.
(First hand) T h e third year o f the Emperor Caesar Trajan Hadrian
Augustus. Pharmouthi 8.
Transl. Isaak F. Fikhman, Corpus Papyrorum Judaicarum, vol. 4 (forthcoming).
T E X T S W H I C H MAY C O N C E R N T H E JEWISH REVOLT
No. 43
Letter of Heliodoros to Anoubas
R Bad. 39, coL II = C P / I I , 4 4 1 , col. II = /? Sarap. 88
117 C E (?), 19 November.
Bibl.: Schwartz, Les archives de Sarapion, pp. 235-36.
PAPYRI 73
'H[X]t6Scppo(; Avou[3ai TWL

a[S]£Xcp(ot )(aLp£tv.
TO T[:[£]v6[o](; [lOl £Xa(TT7]^ 'hlî'
p[a<;] TrpoPipdctô)* £TL yap ouS£ic;,
5 <*>'^ s[X]pV)L XO[JLl(jai UfJLLV £ m -
cr]ToX[a]^ XMP'^^'ô^ av£-

TuX£ua£v. n£7r£ij(T6ai u[jia<; x £ -
xpLxqc O[TL. . ] . [IJav 6£ol pouX[cov]-
T[aL ] . oiQ avaTcX£[
10 [ a^]7racrofjLaL
Ippcoao] [ l o i a8£X9[£
[ ] . Touc; 9L[XO
A6u]p x y
1. 3. TO Tc[£]v0[o]<; (xoi Schwartz. CPJ: TO. . [ . ] . cue, [loi

I. 4. TTpoPipdcCco Schwartz. CPJ: npoî^(xZ,zi
I. 6. xi^hk TOU [<I>]tp[.]. Schwartz. CPJ: x M p k . p . - v.
II. 9-10. coc; ava7rXs[ ac;]7raCT0[xat Schwartz. C/y: TWV ava7cX£o[v][TCov
] 7r[.](T0fxaL.
1. 11. sppcoCTo] (JLOL a8£X9£ Schwartz. C/y: [ ] [loi axai[p.
1. 12. [ ] . Tou<; (pt[Xo Schwartz. CPJ: [ ] . TOO 69[£]tX
1. 13. A0u]p xy Schwartz. CPJ: Tu]po xy
Translation
Heliodoros to his brother Anoubas, greeting.... M y pain grows every

day since there has still been n o one sailing u p to bring you letters
except Phibas. I think y o u know that if the gods will it I will g o u p
the river without delay... B e well m y brother 19 November.
* "Je crois que vous savez que, si les dieux le veulent, je remonterai le fleuve sans
ddai (?) pour vous saluer..." (Schwartz, Les archives de Sarapion, p. 236).
No. 44
Letter of Heliodoros to Phibas
P. Bad, 3 9 , coL III = C P / 4 4 1 , col. Ill = R Sarap. 89
117 C E (?)
Bibl.: Schwartz, Les archives de Sarapion, pp. 236-37.
'HXioScopot; O i ^ a TOOL
nXsiOV U[XO)V Y]8ofJLaL

XafxâvovTCov, a[(;] a v
5 aTToaTeiXo) IrcLaToXa*;
ypacpcov aa7Tagr[6](jt£vo[^
ufxa^. Sto IcpsSpsuwv
TOit; avaTiXsuouai s x a -
gxcoL I m ^ a p G ) S L a x [ o -
10 fjLicraL n[i\GTi\f
TOU [XT] £Tc[i]Xav6av£-

GQQLI [d)V 7rp]0(T^X£V
[ ],aXX3c 6£ol
gciJôiev y|[[jL]a(; arcpoaxo-
15 Tco[u]<; Iv O[XOL](; XLVS[U]V[OI(;]
av[a]u5avo[ji£vou
L 6. a(77racr[6](i,£vo[<; Schwartz. C/y: [a]<jTcaô(jia[i]

IL 9-10. SLax[o(XL(jai TC[T]aTiv Schwartz. CPJ: StaXuaat uTc[£(7T]y)aav.
1. 12. [d)v. Schwartz CP/: [aoi
L 14. ^[(x]ac;. Schwartz. CP/: [i)[x]a(;
U. 15-i6. C / / : Iv 6[KOI]C, xtvS[u]y[oLd avHuâvofxsvou Schwartz: s.o [. . ] . a . t v
S[. .V. uâ vou[
Translation
Heliodoros to his brother Phibas, greeting. I enjoy m o r e writing let-

ters to y o u than y o u enjoy receiving t h e m . * I greet y o u at least in
writing. T h a t is why I watched wearily for anyone w h o is sailing u p
so that he will deliver to you assurance that I have not forgotten
what is necessary, b u t m a y the gods preserve us from h a r m a n d m a k e
us prosper a m o n g every danger.
* CPJ, p. 243: "I am very glad that you get the letters I send." Schwartz, Les
archives de Sarapion, p. 2 3 7 : "J'ai encore plus de plaisir k toire pour vous saluer que
vous k recevoir les letters que j'envoie".
PAPYRI 75
No. 45
A Letter of Heliodoros to his Father Sarapion
R Bad. 36 = C P / I I , 4 4 0 = R Sarap. 8 5 .
Hermoupolis. 12.7 x 9.7 c m .

117 C E (?)
Bibl.: Turner, " A N O S I O I lOTAAIOI," 226; Schwartz, Les archives de

Sarapion, pp. 231-32; Richard Alston, Soldier and Society in Roman
Egypt: a Social History (London and New York: Roudedge, 1995), 222.
CoL I
'HXL[6SCOPO(;] 2apa[7Tici>vL] TOOL

TiaTpl x a t p e t v .
\LOklQ TUOTS Xa^CaV (TOU T7]V £TCLC7T0Xy]V
5 syo) S s a t s l , St' cbv av supoi avaTuXeov-

Tcov, x^^P^^ a<T7ra?ô(jiat., x a i OTav [JLY]-
SSV £VY]V XaiVOTSpOV (701 S7]Xc5(Tai* TTSpl
(ji£v oOv TOU TTpayfJiaTOc; OUTTG) [JIOL ouSev
xaivoTspov y i v c o a x s T a t , Trspt Sc TCOV a X -
10 Xcov T a u T a XaXsiTai, OTL, s a v ixavT) a v a -
p a a i g y£vy]TaL crTpa[. . . ] , (jte6i(TT[av]TaL
x a i PaatXixoL y [ . . . . 7ra]p' ATTLCOVOC; ITTS-
Verso
SapaTTLcovt. TraTpi.
11. 10-11. avdcpaai^ ysvyjTat (jTpa[. . . ] . Wilcken suggests reading (7Tpa[Tiat],

Schubart aTpa[TLO)TaL] and Bilabel c7Tpa[Tia(;]. Schwartz however objects that
the form of the a does not admit a T after it, and c7Tpa9£VT£(; is too long for
this lacuna, so he suggests an adverb or an adverbial expression concerning
(X£0l(TTaVTat.
1. 12, paCTtXixoL Y[£copyoi... CPJ. Alston has some doubts about the reading
Y[£copYot, and suggests instead an abbreviated form grammateis (Alston, Sol-
dier and Society, 222, n. 54).
Transl;lation
Heliodoros to his father Sarapion, greeting. I have just received your

letter, a n d I rejoiced that y o u are well, as I pray that y o u should be. I
a m always glad to send you greetings by anyone I find sailing up-

river, even when there is no news to tell you. About our business I
know nothing new, but for the rest o f the news, it is said that, if the
flood (of the Nile) is large enough,* the royal peasants too will be
moved from A p i o n . . .
(Verso) To Sarapion his father.
* "If enough troops move up" CPJ, p. 242. "Si la crue est sufFisante": Schwartz,
Les archives de Sarapion, p. 231.
No. 46
Letter to Heracleus Mentioning Troubles and Dangers
P. Brem. 48
Hermoupolis. 3 6 x 13 c m
116 C E (?), October 3 0 .
11. 2 9 - 3 2 OpO TTOCVTCOV aupiOV TO 7rpO(7XUV7][Jia (TOU TTOLTQCTCO £V TCp

SapaTiJsLcoi, STTSL avjfjispov oux avePvjv OCTTO aSpcov (TXUX[JICOV
xal xLvSuvcov.
Translation
Before all things I shall make the obeisance for you tomorrow in the
Sarapeum, since I did not go up there today because o f the abundant
troubles and dangers.
Transl. J o h n Whitehorne, "Religious Expression," 36.

CHAPTER THREE
LITERARY S O U R C E S
T H E PAGAN TRADITION
Texts and translations are those found in M e n a h e m Stern, Greek and

Latin Authors on Jews and Judaism {GLAJJ), vol. 2 (Jerusalem: the
Israel Academy o f Sciences and Humanities: T h e Jerusalem Aca-
demic Press, 1 9 8 0 ) .
N o . 47
Arrian, Parthica, apud Suda, s.v. ocTaaOaXa et T r a p e i x o i
= GLAJJ 552 2i, pp. 152-155.
' 0 Ss Tpalavcx; l y v c o (jLaXiaxa [JLSV, zl Trapstxoi, l^sXsiv TO IOVO^ zl

Ss (jiY], aXXa auvxpitjâg y e T r a u a a i T*^*; a y a v aTacrOaXta*;.
1. (jL£V Suda s. V. dcTaaOaXa. [xaXtaTa Suda s. v. TrrapstxoL utrumque iunxit

Bemhardy
Translation
Trajan was determined above all, if it were possible, to destroy the

nation utterly, but if not, at least to crush it and stop its presumptu-
ous wickedness.
N o . 48
Appian, Bella Civilia II, 90, 380
= GLAJJ Ih 350, pp. 187-188.
TiQv Ss xscpaXYjv TOU HofjiTrTjiou rupoacpspofxsvTjv oux uTrsaTY),

aXXa TcpoasTa^s Tacp-^vat, x a t Tt a u T ^ T£(JI£V0(; Ppa)û Tipo
TyJQ TToXscoc; TusptTsOsv Nz[izGZCx>q TSfjLsvof; sxaXsLTo* OTTSp in
sfJLou xaTOc Tcofjiaicov auToxpdcTopa T p a t a v o v , lôXXuvTa TO
5 £v AiyuTCTO) 'louSaicov yevoc;, UTTO TCOV 'louSatcov sc; TOLC, TOU

TcoXsfjLOU Xp£^QC(; xaTyjp£Lcp67).
1. 5 TCOV om. B
Translation
Caesar c o u l d n o t bear to l o o k at the head o f P o m p e y when it was
brought to h i m b u t ordered that it be buried, a n d he set apart for it a
small plot o f g r o u n d near the city which was dedicated to N e m e s i s ,
but in m y time, while the R o m a n emperor Trajan was exterminating
the Jewish race in Egypt, it was devastated by them in the exigencies
o f the war.
No. 49
Appian, Liber Arabicus F 19
= GLAJJ II, 3 4 8 , p p . 185-86
(1) I l s p l Apdc^cov [xavTsiac;. ArcTrtavoc; cpYjai TCO TSXSL TOU X S "

PipXLOu. 9£uyovTt [loi TTOTS TOU<; ' l o u S a i o u ^ a v a TOV TOXSÔV
TOV £v AtyuTTTCp ysvofxsvov x a l IOVTL S i a TTJI; r i s T p a i a g A p a ^ i a * ;
£Tcl TTOTafjiov, £v0a (JL£ CTxacpo*; 7r£pi[JL£VOV z[ieXke hoiGziv
IlYjXouaLov, ApatJ; avy]p S ' T^y£LT6 [xot rriq oSou VUXTOC;, OLO[JL£VCP
5 TTXTJCTLOV £rvai TOU Gxacpouc; xpcoJôuaT]^ apTt izpbc, £Co xopcov7)(; IcpT]
auvTapax6£i(;* ((TOTiXavi^fjtEOa.)) x a i xpcoôu(T7](; aO0L<; £l7r£v* a
a y a v 7r£7rXav)^[ji£6a.)) (2) Oopuôufxlvco 8i (JLOI x a l crxoTTOuvTi, £L TLC;
oSoLTuopoc; 6cp0'i^(7£Tat, x a l ouS£va opcovTi CA)(; IV opOpco ITL TTOXXCO
x a l y ^ 7roX£[xou(ji£V7], TpiTov 6 ' A p a ^ TOU 6pv£ou 7ru66(X£vo<;
10 £l7r£v riaQeic,' ainl aufXcpipovTi 7r£7rXav)^(ji£6a x a l lôfjisGa TTJC;
oSou.)) (3) l y o ) 8k lylXcov (ji£v, zl x a l vuv £^6[jL£0a T-^C; 7RXAVCOA7]<;,
x a l a7r£yLvco(7xov IfjtauTOU, TTOCVTCOV TroX£fjLL6)v OVTCOV, OUX 6V [loi
SuvaTOv ouS' ava(7Tp£TJ>aL SLOC TOIX; 6Tria6£v, ouc; 8ri x a l 9£uycov
T^pÔfJlYjV, UTTO S' dcTTOptac; £LTr6[Jl7)V IxSoiX; IfJiaUTOV TCO [JLaVT£U(JiaTl.
15 (4) OUTCO S£ £;)ÔVTL [JIOL TCapOC S o ^ a V £T£pO^ TCOTafJLOi; £X9aLV£Tat, 6
dcy^ÔTOCTco (jtaXiGTa TOU flTjXouatou, x a l zpiripric, zc, TO nvjXouaLOV
TrapaTiXlouaa, ZTZIÔLC, SL£acoJ^6[ji7jV TO axa(pO(; S e , o [jie £v TCO
£T£pCO TTOTafXCp UTr£(Jl£LV£V, UTTO 'louSaiCOV IX-^CpOv]. TOCTOUTOV
cbva(jt7]v TY](; TUX7](; x a l TOCTOUTOV lOaufxacra TOU (jLavT£U(jLaTO(;.
LITERARY SOURCES 79
L 4. I^YSTto Mendelssohn. StYjyetTO codd.

1. 10. £$6(i.£0a Nauck.
1. 11. l y w Ss StereXouv (xev <8£8otxo)<;, {iri> lôfjLsGa vel lyo) lysXcov [xev,
x a i <S£SotxaJ(;, (jt,7)> lôfieGa Miiller. vuv om. Miller.
1. 15. iTiicpaLvsTai Mendelssohn.
I. 17. (X£ Mendelssohn, fxsv codd.
II. 18-19. TocrouTou o)va(X7)v (omisso t ^ ^ Tux*y)<;) cod. Treuii
Translation
(1) About the Arabian power o f divination. At the end o f the twenty-
fourth b o o k Appian says as follows: W h e n I was fleeing from the
Jews during the war which was being waged in Egypt and I was pass-
ing through Arabia Petraea in the direction o f the river, where a boat
had been waiting in order to carry me over to Pelusium, an Arab
served m e as guide at night. W h e n I believed us to be near the boat a
crow croaked, just about day-break, and the troubled m a n said: " W e
have gone astray." A n d when the crow croaked again, he said: " We
have gone m u c h astray." (2) T h e n I became disturbed and looked for
some wayfarer. I saw none, since it was early morning and the coun-
try was in a state o f war. W h e n the Arab heard the crow a third time,
he said rejoicing: "We have gone astray to our advantage and we
have gained the road." (3) I only laughed, thinking we would gain
the wrong path again, and despaired o f myself as we were sur-
rounded everywhere by enemies, and it was not possible for m e to
turn back because o f those behind from w h o m I was fleeing. H o w -
ever, being at a loss, I followed and gave myself up to the augury. (4)
Being in such a state, unexpectedly I perceived another river very
near to Pelusium and a trireme sailing to Pelusium. I embarked and
was saved, while the boat which awaited m e at the other river was
captured by the Jews. S o m u c h I had g o o d luck and marvelled at the
augury.
No. 50
Dio, Historia Romana LXVIII, 32, 1 - 3
= GLAJJ Ih 437, pp. 385-89.
(1) K a t Tpalavoi; [xev IxeiOsv OUTO^C, arc^XOs, x a i ou TTOXXO) uc7T£pov

appcocTTeiv YJpxsTo* x a l Iv TOUTCO ol x a x a KupvjvYjv 'louSatot,
A v S p l a v Tiva 7rpo(7TY]aa[jL£VOL acpcov, TOU^ T£ Tca[jLaLOu<; x a l TOU<;
"EXX7]va<; £90£tpov, x a l xac; TZ crapxa^ auxcav IGLTOUVTO x a l TOC
5 s v T s p a aveSoGvTO T(O TS aifxaxL T^Xetcpovro x a i x a aTcoXsfXfjiaTa

IveSuovTO, TcoXXoix; 8k x a l [xeaoui; OCTCO xopucp-î; SiSTrpiov (2)
OvjpLoi^ £T£pou<; I S i S o a a v , x a l [xovofxaxstv ocXXout; T^vdcyxaJôv, &GTZ
TOLQ TTOcaac; Suo x a l s i x o a i fjiupidcSa^ dcTroXsaOai. sv TS AiyuTCTO)

TToXXoc ISpacrav ofjioia x a l Iv KuTrpo) i^youfxlvou TIVOC; acpiaiv
10 ApTSfJiicovo^* x a l aTcciXovTO x a l I x s i (jLupidcSsi; TZGaoipeQ xal sixoai.
(3) x a l Sioc TOUT ouSsvl 'louSaico iTTipyJvai auT-^t; lêaTiv, aXXoc
x a v dcvlfjio) Ti^ ^lacrOsl^ zq TYJV VYJCTOV zxnzaji 6avaT0UTai.
dcXX' ' l o u S a i o u ^ [izv aXXoi TS x a l AOU(TIO(; UTTO T p a i a v o u TzziKpQziQ
XOiTZGTpZÔLTO,
L 3. AvSpsav Scaliger. avSptav VC.AvSpstav Leunclavius.

L 7. aXX-^Xou(; V.
L 10. ApT£(xo)vo^? Boissevain.
L 11. ouSevt Sylburg. ouSiv V C .
L 12. £XTU£(jy) Reiske. IfXTCEa/) V C
L 14. xaxeaTpe^lâTO Dindorf. xaTscTTpeâvTO V C
Translation
(1) Trajan therefore departed thence, and a little later began to fail in
health. Meanwhile the Jews in the region o f Cyrene had put a certain
Andreas at their head, and were destroying both the R o m a n s and the
Greeks. T h e y would eat the flesh o f their victims, make belts for
themselves o f their entrails, anoint themselves with their blood and
wear their skins for clothing; many they sawed in two, from the head
downwards; (2) others they gave to wild beasts, and still others they
forced to fight as gladiators. In all two hundred and twenty thousand
persons perished. In Egypt, too, they perpetrated many similar out-
rages and in Cyprus under the leadership o f a certain Artemion.
There, also, two hundred and forty thousand perished, (3) and for
this reason no Jew may set foot on this island, but if one o f them is
driven u p o n its shores by a storm he is put to death. A m o n g others
who subdued the Jews was Lusius, who was sent by Trajan.
No. 51
Artemidorus Daldianus, Onirocritica 4, 24
= GLAJJ II, 396, pp. 330-31.
K a l y a p s t a i TIV£(; (scil. o v e i p o i ) Tipo {TTJC;) OLTZOÔLGZO^Q axpiTOi,

ouc; x p i v c o v [X£v zniTuxriQ Trapdc y s Ifxol e l v a i do^ziQ, ^Y) x p i v c o v S I
LITERARY S O U R C E S 81
oux OLTzyyoQ. OIov sSoê TIC; cTTpaTOTceSapx'/jc; znl T/] [xa^âipa

auTou Y£Ypa<p6ai i.x6. lyevsTo Tzokz\Loc, 6 'IouSaix6(; Iv Kupi^v/j, x a l
5 T^piaTSUcrev Iv TW 7roXl(jtco 6 tScav TOV oveipov, x a l TOUTO "^V 6
£i7ro[ji£v, aTTO [JLIV TOU I ' l o u S a i o i g , aTTO SI TOU X Kup7)vaioi<;, OCTTO
SI TOU 6 9 a v a T 0 < ; . 'AXXoc Tupo [Jilv dcTropdcaeox; -^v axpLTO<;,
a T r o ^ a v T c o v SI TCOV aTroTsXeafjidcTCov x a l acpoSpa s u x p i T O ^ .
L 2. fjLsv av ITTLTUXIQ^ V.
Translation
There are s o m e dreams that cannot b e solved before the events c o m e

to pass. I f you solve those dreams y o u will be lucky in m y opinion,
but if you fail y o u will not be reckoned unskilful. O f that kind was
one in which apraefectus castrorum saw written upon his sword: L x 0.
T h e n there came the Jewish war in Cyrene, a n d the fellow who h a d
seen the dream distinguished himself in the war, a n d this was what
the above-mentioned dream h a d signified: by the i were meant the
Jews, by the x the C(K)yrenaeans, a n d by the 6 Thanatos (=Death).
However, before it came to pass, this dream was unresolvable, b u t
when the event happened, it was very manifest.
No. 52
Scriptores Historiae Augustae, Hadr. 5, 2
= GLAJJ Ih 509, p . 6 1 8 .
2 N a m deficientibus his nationibus, quas Traianus subegerat,

Mauri lacessebant, Sarmat<a>e bellum inferebant, Brittanni
teneri s u b R o m a n a dicione n o n poterant, Aegyptus seditionibus
urgebatur, Libya denique ac Pal<a>estina rebelles animos effere-
bant.
L 4. iicya P litia S
Translation
For the nations which Trajan had conquered began to revolt; the
M o o r s , moreover, began to make attacks, a n d the Sarmatians to wage
War, the Britons could not be kept under R o m a n sway, Egypt was
thrown into disorder b y riots, a n d finally Libya a n d Palestine showed
spirit o f rebellion.
N o . 53
Scriptores Historiae Augustae, Hadr, 5, 8
= G I 4 / / I I , 510, pp. 618-19.
Lusium Quietum sublatis gentibus Mauris, quos regebat, quia

suspectus imperio fuerat, exarmavit Marcio Turbone ludaeis
conpressis ad deprimendum t u m u l t u m Mauretaniae destinato.
Translation
H e (Hadrian) deprived Lusius Quietus o f the c o m m a n d o f the

Moorish tribesmen, who were serving under him, and then dismissed
him from the army, because he had fallen under the suspicion o f hav-
ing designs on the throne; and he appointed Marcius Turbo, after he
had subdued the Jews,* to quell the insurrection in Mauretania.
* Following Magie, Stem translates "after his reduction of Judaea", but from
Eusebius we know that Marcius Turbo was sent by Trajan to Egypt and not to
Judaea.
CHRISTLW EVIDENCE
Abbreviations
CSCO C o r p u s Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium

CSEL C o r p u s Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum
GCS D i e Griechischen Christlichen Schriftsteller der ersten Jahr-
hunderte
CSHB C o r p u s Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae
No. 54
Hippolytus, In Matthaeum 24, 15-22
inoTvixoc gojq XOJ JUUUIOC. nicouq i t T e ncy^^qe,
epA.TC jutnejuteo JuiniiutAnEpuiuionr^t ^^tx lepov-

CA. ?\HJUt.
C o p t i c (Bohairic) manuscript edited by Paul de Lagarde, Catenae in
Evangelia Aegyptiacae quae supersunt ( G o t t i n g e n : Dieterich, 1 8 8 6 ) , 6 5 ,
11. 3 4 - 3 7 .
The same text is found in the Ethiopic MS P: Paris. Aethiop. 65 and

in the Arabic M S : G: Gottingen arab. 103. See G C S 1 (ed. G. Nath.
Bonwetsch and H. Achelis: Leipzig: J . C . Hinrichs, 1897), "Kapitei
gegen Gajus" fragment 5 and 6, p. 197.
Translation:
Hippolytus, for his part, says: T h e pollution o f the desert, he said, is

the image o f Caesar that was set up before the altar in Jerusalem.
N o . 55
Hippolytus on Matthew 24, 15-22
Edited by John Gwynn, "Hippolytus on St. Matthew 24, 15-22,"

Syrisch Hermathena 7 (1890): 148.
This passage is preserved in the work of Dionysius Bar-Salibi. See G C S

1 (ed. G. Nath. Bonwetsch and H. Achelis: Leipzig: J . C . Hinrichs,
1897), 244-45.
Translation
Said Hippolytus: . . . a n d Vespasian did not erect an idol in the Tem-

ple, but the legion brought by Trajanus Quintus, the first m a n o f the
Romans, did erect an idol there, called Kore.
No. 56
Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica IV, 2, 1 - 5
1 K a i TOC (Jisv TY)<; TOU acoT-^po*; iQfxcov S i S a a x a X t a i ; TE xal

£xxXY)(TLa(; 6(77](ji£paL avOouvTa ITTL [XSLÔV IX^P^^ 7rpoxo7r'^(;, TOC S S
Ty\c, 'louSaicov (7U(jicpopa(; xaxoic; IncuXkrikoic, TJxjjia^sv. yjSv) youv
TOO a u T o x p a T O p O ( ; elc> IviauTOv oxTcaxaiSexaTOv eXauvovTog, a06t.<;
'louSaicov mvriGic, znavocGTciGQc TiajjiTToXu TZX-YJQOC, aoTcov
SiacpOstpsL. 2 £v T£ y a p A X s ^ a v S p s i a x a l TJI XOITC/] AtyuTrTOt) x a l

7rpo(T£TL x a x a Kup7)V7)v, (ZxTTTSp UTCO 7rv£U[jLaT0<; Sstvou Ttvoc; x a l
(TTa(7LCoSou(; avappi7CL(T6£VT£(;, (x>p[XYjVTO TTpo^ TOix; auvoixou^;
''EXXTjva^ aTa(7La^£Lv, au^TjaavT^c; T£ £L<; [ x l y a TY]V crxaaiv, TCO
ITTLOVTL IviauTco TTOXE^JLOV OU afjiixpov c7UV7]^J;av, i^youfjilvou
TTjvixauTa AouTTOu TTiQ a7Ta(77](; AiyuTTTOU. 3 x a l ST) IV TT] TrpcoTY]
(TUfiPoX^ iTTLxpaT-âai. auTout; auvipv] TCOV 'EXXYJVCOV* ot x a l
x a T a 9 u y 6 v T £ c ; zlc, TYJV AX£âvSp£Lav TOIX; IV T ^ TTOXEL ' l o u S a t o u ^
l ^ c o y p Y j a a v T£ x a l a7r£XT£Lvav, Tvjt; SI T i a p a TOUTCOV cjufjifxaxtac;
a 7 r o T u x 6 v T £ ^ o l x a T a Kupi^vYiv TTJV X^P*^^ '^'^'^ AtyuTCTOU
X£y]XaT0uvT£(; x a l TOU^ IV auTV] vofxoui; (p6£LpovT£c; SLETIXOUV,
iQyou[jt£vou a u T c o v Aouxoua* I 9 ' OXJQ 6 a u T o x p a T C o p £TC£(X^£V
MapxLov T o u p ^ c o v a auv Suva(jL£LTOJ^T]T£ x a l vauTix/], ITL SI x a l
ITTTTLX^. 4 6 SI TToXXa^ [id-xoiiQ oux oXtycp T£ XP^VCO TOV Tcpo^;
auTOix; StaTcovYJcra^ 7r6X£[jLOv, 7roXXa<; (jiupiaSac; 'louSatcov, ou
(jiovov TCOV OCTCO Kupi^vY]^;, dcXXoc x a l TCOV OCTC' AtyuTCTOu
auvai.po(jL£vcov A o u x o u a TCO ÔLGIKZI auTCov, dcvatpEL 5 6 SI
auTOXpdcTCop UTcoTTTSuaa^ x a l TOU^ IV MeaoTCOTafjiLoc ' l o u S a t o u ^
'sTTLOYJasaOaL TOL^ auToOt, Aouaico KUI^TCO TrpoasTa^sv IxxaOocpai
T-^c; I r c a p x ^ a ^ ; auTouc;* 6<; x a l TrapaTa^dcfjisvoc;, TrdcfXTToXu TCXYJOOC;
TCOV auToOi cpovsusL, Icp ' & x a T o p 6 c o [ j t a T L 'IouSaLa(; T^ysfjicav UTTO
TOU auTOxpdcTopot; dcveSsLx^y]. T a u T a x a l 'EXXIQVCOV o l TOC xaTOc
Touc; auTouc; xp^vouc; ypacp^ noLpaSovTZC, auToT^ laTopYjcrav
pT^fxaatv.
Eduard Schwartz and Theodor Mommsen (ed.), Die Kirchengeschichte,

Eusebius Werke, II, 1. Unrevised second edition, E Winkelmann (ed.)
G C S , new series, 6, 1 (Berlin: Akademie Verlag G m b H , 1999), 300-
302.
Translation
W h i l e the teaching o f our Saviour a n d the church were flourishing

daily a n d moving o n to further progress the tragedy o f the Jews was
reaching the climax o f successive woes. In the course o f the eight-
eenth year o f the reign o f the E m p e r o r a rebellion o f the Jews again
broke o u t a n d destroyed a great multitude o f them. For b o t h in Alex-
LITERARY SOURCES 85
andria and in the rest o f Egypt and especially in Cyrene, as though

they had been seized by some terrible spirit of rebellion, they rushed
into sedition against their Greek fellow citizens, and increasing the
scope o f the rebellion in the following year started a great war while
L u p u s was governor o f all Egypt. In the first engagement they hap-
pened to overcome the Greeks who fled to Alexandria and captured
and killed the Jews in the city, but though thus losing the help o f the
townsmen, the Jews o f Cyrene continued to plunder the country o f
Egypt and to ravage the districts in it under their leader Lucuas. T h e
Emperor sent against them Marcius Turbo with land and sea forces
including cavalry. H e waged war vigorously against them in m a n y
battles for a considerable time and killed m a n y thousands o f Jews,
not only those o f Cyrene but also those of Egypt who had rallied to
Lucuas, their king. T h e Emperor suspected that the Jews in M e s o p o -
tamia would also attack the inhabitants and ordered Lusius Quietus
to clean them out o f the province. H e organized a force and mur-
dered a great multitude o f Jews there, and for this accomplishment*
was appointed governor of Judaea by the Emperor. T h e Greek au-
thors who chronicle the same period have related this narrative in
these very words.
* Lake translates "reform."
Transl. Kirsopp Lake, Loeb Classical Library, vol. 1 (London: Heinemann,

Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1965), 305-307.
No. 57
Hieronimus, Chronicon, C C X X I I I Olymp.
XVII ^ ludaei, qui in Libya erant, aduersum coha-

bitatores suos alienigenas dimicant.
Similiter in Aegypto et in Alexandria a-
put Cyrenen quoque et T h e b a i d e m mag- 15
na seditione contendunt. U e r u m gentili-
u m pars superat in Alexandria.
XVIII ^ ludaeis Mesopotamiae rebellantibus prae-
cepit imperator Traianus Lysiae Quieto,
ut eos prouincia exterminaret. Aduersum 20
quos Quietus aciem instruens infinita mi-
lia eorum interficit et ob hoc procura-
tor ludaeae ab imperatore decernitur.

XVIIII ^ Salaminam, urbem Cypri, interfec-
tis in ea gentilibus subuertere lu- 25
daei.
Ed. Rudolf Helm, Eusebius Werke, vol. 7. G C S 47 (Berlin: Akademie-

Verlag, 1956, repr. Berlin 1984), 196-97.
Translation
XVII. T h e Jews, who were in Libya, fight against their gentile

fellow-inhabitants. Similarly in Egypt and in Alexandria,
about Cyrene also and the Thebaid, they strive in great
sedition; but the gentile party prevails in Alexandria.
XVIII. T h e Jews o f Mesopotamia being in revolt, the emperor
Trajan orders Lysias Quietus to extirpate them from the
province. Quietus, drawing up a force against them, kills
countless thousands o f them; and for this he is desig-
nated procurator o f Judaea by the emperor.
XIX. T h e Jews overthrow Salamis, a city of Cyprus, slaying the
gentiles therein.
Transl. William Horbury, "The Beginnings of the Jewish Revolt under

Trajan," in Geschichte'Traditiori'Reflexion: Festschrift fiir Martin Hengel zum
70 Geburstag, vol. 1 (ed. H. Cancik et aL: Tubingen: J.C.B. Mohr [P.
Siebeck], 1996), 287.
No. 58
Eusebius' Chronicon: The Armenian Version
LITERARY SOURCES 87
Jadaei, qui l u Libya erant, adversam Graecos coliabitatores suos

jjj ccrtamen et seditionem CONCITARI coepti sunt, necnon in Aegjpto,
et Alexandriae, Cyrenis et Thebaide, verum SUPCRAVERUNT, qui Ale-
saiidriae Graeci erant. Quum autem m Mesopotamia quoque move-
rentur, praecepit Imperator Lysiae Quieto, ut eos provincia ejectos
exterminaret. Quietus acie instructa, plurimas mjriadas Judaeorum
intemecione delevit, quibus rebus compositis^ Praeses Jadaeae ab Im-
peratore declaratus est
T r a i a n u s m o r b o decessit • 224 2102 19 S a l a m i n a m C j p r i insulae u r -
bem Judaei adorti, Graecos,
Adria-l
q u o s ibi n a c t i s u n t , o c c i d e r u n t ,
nus
u r b e m q u e a fundamentis sub?er-
ann,
tentes solo a e q u a r u n t .
XXI.
Hadrianus Alexandriam a J n »
dacis (Hicr. a R o m a n i s ) subvcr- 2l33 Hadrian us Judaeus subegit tcr-
sam r e s t a u r a v i t . tio c o n t r a R o m a n o s rebellantes.
Baptista Aucher Anq^ranus (ed.), Eusebii Pamphili Caesariensis episcopi

Chronicon bipartituniy nunc primum ex armeniaco textu in latinum
conversum adnotationibus auctum graecis fragmentis exornatum
(Venetiis: typis Coenobii Pp. Armenorum in insula S. Lazari, 1818),
282-83.
Translation
1 7 . T h e Jews in Libya began to rise up against the Greeks settled

a m o n g them in conflict and rebellion, and also those in Egypt and
Alexandria and in Cyrene and in T h e b e s ; and the Greeks who were
in Alexandria were victorious. 18. A n d as they started a rebellion also
in Mesopotamia the emperor c o m m a n d e d Lysios Kitos to cleanse the
entire province o f them. Kitos stood in batde array and butchered
many myriads o f Jews. After he had settled their affairs he was ap-
pointed governor of J u d e a by the emperor. 19. O n Salamis, the city
of the island o f Cyprus, the Jews fell upon the Greeks that they
found there and butchered them and destroyed the city to its foun-
dations.
N o . 59
Rufinus, Ecclesiastical History IV, 2, 1 - 5
1. Et quidem salvatoris nostri institutio ecclesiarumque

profectus crescebat in dies. ludaeorum porro funera densissimis
cladibus exagitabantur. Itaque postquam praedictus imperator
a n n u m octavum d e c i m u m principatus ingressus est, rursum

ludaeorum tumultus exarsit, q u o magnus m o x numerus gentis
eius occubuit. 2 N a m et Alexandriae et per Aegyptum vel
Cyrenen t a m q u a m atroci q u o d a m seditiosoque spiritu exagitati,
primo simul commanentibus vicinisque gentilibus inferre
certamina, t u m deinde paulatim seditione crescente sequenti
iam anno bellum publicum et non m i n i m u m intulere R o m a n o
duci tunc L u p o cuidam in partibus Aegypti. 3 A c sane primo
proelio ludaeos secuta victoria est. Sed gentiles, qui ex acie
fugerant, inrumpentes Alexandriam ludaeos, si quos forte inibi
reppererant, captos interemere. Q u o r u m auxilio destituti
reliqui, qui apud Cyrenen rebelles extiterant, velut desperantes
ad agros Aegypti et castella vastanda vertuntur, duce Luca.
Adversus hos imperator mittit c u m exercitu peditum atque
equitum, sed et navali m a n u M a r c i u m Turbonem, 4 qui multis
sane proeliis nec parvo tempore consumptis multa milia
ludaeorum non m o d o apud Cyrenen, sed et in Aegypto, qui
Lucae auxilium ferebant, prostravit ac perculit. 5 Princeps vero
R o m a n u s etiam eos, qui apud M e s o p o t a m i a m consistebant,
ludaeos ratus similia ausuros Lucio Quieto praecepit delete
provinciam fiinditus ac totam gentem penitus excidere. T u m
ille directa acie m a g n a m eorum multitudinem sternit. Cuius
facinoris gratia Quietus remunerationis vice ab imperatore
provinciae ludaeae indeptus est praesidatum. Sed haec etiam
Graecorum gentilium historiografi per singulas quique aerates
ordine eodem memoriae tradiderunt.
Eduard Schwartz and Theodor Mommsen (ed.). Die Kirchengeschichte,

Eusebius Werke, II, 1. Unrevised second edition, E Winkelmann (ed.)
G C S , new series, 6, 1 (Berlin: Akademie Verlag G m b H , 1999), 301-
303.
Translation
1. A n d really in those days the progress o f our savior grew through

the teachings o f the church. Moreover, the misfortune o f the Jews
LITERARY SOURCES 89
occurred through great disasters. T h u s after the aft)rementioned em-

peror had entered into the eighteenth year o f his rule again an upris-
ing o f the Jews broke out in which soon a great number o f people lay
dead. 2. For in Alexandria and throughout Egypt and even Cyrene
they were moved by a savage and rebellious spirit. At first they rose
against their close pagan neighbors, then gradually the revolt grew
and the following year they started a public war o f no small dimen-
sions when the governor o f the Egyptian regions was a certain Lupus.
3. Indeed in the first battle the Jews won. But the gentiles who had
fled from the battle fled to Alexandria and captured all the Jews
w h o m they could find and slaughtered them. After those who re-
belled in Cyrene lost the aid o f the Alexandrian Jews, like desperate
men directed themselves toward the Egyptian fields and laid waste
their strongholds under the direction o f their leader, Luca. Against
them the emperor sent Marcius Turbo with infantry and cavalry and
also with a naval force. In many battles and in not a short time
Marcius Turbo overthrew and destroyed many thousands o f Jews
who brought reinforcements to Luca, not only in Cyrene but also in
Egypt. 5. Indeed the R o m a n emperor, considering that those Jews
who were in Mesopotamia, too, would dare to c o m m i t similar deeds,
ordered Lucius Quietus to destroy the province entirely and to exter-
minate the whole people completely. T h e n he (Lucius Quietus) went
to a battle and felled a great multitude o f them. As a reward for this.
Quietus attained the governorship o f the province o f Judaea from the
emperor. These facts the historiographers o f the Greek gentiles have
handed down through the ages in the same order o f narrative.
No. 60
Paulus Orosius, Historiarum adversum paganos libri VII, VII, 12, 6-8
6. Incredibili deinde m o t u sub uno tempore ludaei quasi rabie

efferati per diversas terrarum partes exarserunt. N a m et per
totam Libyam adversus incolas atrocissima bella gesserunt; quae
adeo tunc interfectis cultoribus desolata est, ut, nisi postea
Hadrianus imperator coUectas illuc aliunde colonias deduxisset,
vacua penitus terra abraso habitatore mansisset. 7. Aegyptum
vere totam et Cyrenen et T h e b a i d a m cruentis seditionibus
turbaverunt. In Alexandria autem commisso proelio victi et
adriti sunt. In Mesopotamia q u o q u e rebellantibus iussu

imperatoris bellum inlatum est. Itaque multa milia eorum vasta
caede deleta sunt. 8 Sane Salaminam urbem Cypri interfectis
omnibus accolis deleverunt.
Paulus Orosius, Historiarum adversum paganos libri ML Ed. Carolus

Zangemeister. C S E L 5 (Hildeshein: G. Olms, 1967), 467.
Translation
T h e n , all at once, the Jews in different parts o f the world, as if enraged

with madness, burst forth in an incredible revolution. For throughout
all Libya, they carried on most violent wars against the inhabitants,
and Libya was, then, so forsaken by the killing o f the cultivators o f the
soil that, unless Hadrian afterwards had not gathered colonists from
without and brought them there, the land would have remained com-
pletely destitute and without an inhabitant. Indeed, they threw into
confusion all Egypt, Cyrene, and the Thebaid with bloody seditions.
But in Alexandria, in a pitched battle, they were conquered and
crushed. In Mesopotamia also, when they rebelled, by order o f the
emperor, war was introduced against them. A n d thus many thousands
o f them were destroyed in a vast slaughter. Indeed, they did destroy
Salamis, a city o f Cyprus, after killing all the inhabitants.
Transl. Roy J. Deferrari, Paulus Orosius: The Seven Books of History Against
the Pagans (The Fathers of the Church. A New Translation, vol. 50: Wash-
ington, D . C : The Catholic University of America Press, T"^ ed. 1981),
306-307.
No. 61
Moses Xorenac'i, History of the Armenians II, 55, 11. 10-14.
^n,nifu£jlrtjL.irg S [tu^J U A J pnu ^ L . ^LUtiusriUMgnugtfUM ^
£r1[/jj fiL.[tnij^ ibn.ustfpf juiurûtj jm^tb-bû p
i^^bpujj înpu^gt
Ed. Manuk Abeghean and Suren Yarut'iwnean, Patmutmn Hayoc'

(Tiflis 1913: facsimile edition with additional collations by A.B. Sarg-
syan, Erevan: Matenadaran, 1991), 185.
Translation:
At that time Trajan became emperor o f the Romans, a n d having

pacified all the east he descended on the Egyptians a n d Palestinians.
Having subjected them to his authority, he marched to the east
against Persia.
Trans. Robert W. Thomson, Moses Khorenatsiy History of the Armenians,

Harvard Armenian Texts and Studies 4 (Cambridge Mass.: Harvard Uni-
versity Press, 1978), 197-98.
No. 62
The Zuqnin Chronicle
Dionysii Telmahharensis Chronici Liber Primus, 153, 11-15.
< ^ %^'5<AJ ^'LUS? ]^5ocu n^^kSZ^ ^ \ ^ ^ |]jô
^ ^ 1 ] - © | - J 5 J^c^ ] i ^ ^ S S >s:q1^ ^ ( n - ^ ^
^ d L - l ^ o '-^^-^^-^ UGS5O . ^ j c ^ ^j-jlo .\^ySiOa

^ yOJ ] L ^ O UWICJO lAi.yl55 ]S^0 J^CA? JJLJ
CLJ:^^ ^^X^? ).&I*iô . p 5 o a ^ C1A:5 Aô^.A&Ci9 }IL i ^ n l ^
Textum e codice Ms. Syriaco Bibliothecae Vaticanae. Transscripsit notis-

que illustravit Otto Fredericus TuUberg (Upsaliae: Excudebat Reg.
Acad. Typographus, 1850).
Translation
Year 2 1 3 0 . T h e Jews who were in Libya started a rebellion against

the gentiles w h o lived there, a n d also those in Egypt, Alexandria,
Cyrene, T h e b a i d ; the Alexandrian Greeks prevailed over them.
Year 2 1 3 1 . W h e n the Jews o f M e s o p o t a m i a rebelled, Trajan sent
Lysias Kotas to expel them from the province. A n d Kotas took arms
up a n d killed many myriads o f them, so that the neighborhoods a n d
the houses o f the cities, the streets a n d the paths and every place were
filled with corpses; and there was n o b o d y to bury them. Moreover, at
Salamis in Cyprus, the Jews rebelled a n d killed its pagan inhabitants
and destroyed the town.
No. 63
Georgius Syncellus, Ecloga Chronographica 1, 657
'louSatOL xaTOc Aipuvjv xat Kup7Jv7]v xat AiyuTrxov x a i

AXsâvSpstav x a i ©TjâtSa TcoX£(jL7j(TavT£(; TZÔQ TOIX;
(7UvoLxouvTa<; ''EXXvjva^ SiscpOapYjcrav.
AvTLOXsta xaTSTTTCoOT] Tcap6vT0(; T p a i a v o u .
Tpal'avoi; AUCTLCO KUVTO) TYJC; MsaoTcoTafxiat; eâpat TOIX;
c 7 T a ( n a c r a v T a ( ; IxsXsucrsv. * 0 Ss TZOKKOLC, (jtuptaSa^ 'louSaicov avsXwv
"igysfjicov T % ' l o u S a i a * ; S t a TOUTO xaGiaTaTaL.
Toui; Iv SaXafxivt. T-^^ KuTTpou "EXX7]va<; ' l o u S a i o t avsXovTs^
TYjv TcoXtv xaTSCTxaâv.
Ed. Alden A. Mosshammer, Georgii Syncelli Ecloga Chronographica

(Leipzig: Teubner, 1984), 425.
Translation
W h e n the Jews throughout Libya, Cyrene, Egypt, Alexandria a n d the

T h e b a i d commenced hostilities against the Greek inhabitants there,
they were utterly destroyed.
Antioch suffered an earthquake when Trajan was staying there.
Trajan ordered Lysius Quintos to eliminate the insurgents in
Mesopotamia. For killing many tens o f thousands o f Jews, he was
thereby appointed governor o f Judaea.
After killing the Greek at Salamis in Cyprus, the Jews razed the
city.
LITERARY SOURCES 93
Transl. William Adler and Paul Tuflfin, The Chronography of George Syn-
kellos: A Byzantine Chronicle of Universal History from the Creation (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2002), 502.
No. 64
YxitydaiMS Annales, 9 , 1 5
^ A'l; J > y - J o-î^.'> j-i-' c!'-' • '-J^- '
Ms. Sinaiticus Arab. 582.

Eutychii patriarchae Alexandrini Annates, ed. Jean B. Chabot et aL:
Scriptores Arabic! Textus. Series tertia. Tomus VI. Pars Prior in the se-
ries C S C O (Beryti: E Typographico Catholico, Parisiis: Carolus
Poussielgne Bibliapola, Lipsiae: Otto Harrassowitz, 1906), 101.
Translation
At that time the Jews returned to the Holy City. T h e n since they be-
came so numerous that they filled the city, they decided to appoint a
king. W h e n he learned this, the emperor Tarabyanus sent one o f his
generals at the head o f a great army to Jerusalem. In that occasion, an
innumerable number o f Jews was killed. A n d rebels in Babylon rose
against Tarabyanus a n d K i n g Tarabyanus marched against them a n d
there was a violent fight between the two o f them. M a n y people fell
on both sides and in that war K i n g Tarabyanus, too, was killed.
No. 65
lohannis 2^narae, Annates XI 2 2
K a l 01 x a r a Kupi^v7]v S s ' l o u S a i o i aTrscrTYjaav x a l sxxstvov x a l

TcofjiaLou^ x a l ''EXXvjva^, x a l OL IV AiyuTTTO) x a l ol Iv Kurcpco oxjj^
TJTTOUt; 6[jL0LC0<; SilcpOsipav. xaxsaxpl^Jâxo SI TOUTOU^ T p a t a v o * ; ,

CTTpaTsufjia x a x * auxcov 7U£7io[jt9a)(;. (jil^vvjTat. TTIQ TCOV 'louSatcov
TauTYjg aTC0(TTa(7ta<; x a l 6 E u a i p i O ( ; Iv TCO TSTapTO) Xoyo) TYJ^;
'ExxXyjCTLaaTtx-î; IcTTopiac;.
Edited consilio B.G. Niebuhrii C E C S H B 43, tomus II, (Bonnae:

Impensis ed. Weberi, 1884), 513.
Translation
A n d the Jews o f Cyrene rebelled a n d killed both R o m a n s and

Greeks, a n d similarly those in Egypt a n d in Cyprus killed not fewer.
Trajan sent an army against them a n d defeated them. Eusebius, too,
mentions this rebellion o f Jews in the fourth b o o k o f his "Ecclesiastic
History."
No. 66
Michael Syrus, Chronicon 6, 4
. f l ^ a ^ C ^ ; 0 f ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Jean-B. Chabot (ed.), Chronique de Michel le Syrien, Patriarche Jacobite

d'Antiochcy vol. 4 (texte syriaque) (Paris, 1910, repr. Bruxelles: Culture
et civilisation, 1963), 105.
Translation:
Towards the end o f Trajan's reign, the Jews o f Egypt rebelled. T h e y

gave themselves a king called Lomphasos. H e took them and moved
to Judaea. Trajan sent against them Lysias who killed myriads o f
them. T h a t is why Lysias was appointed governor o f Judaea.
LITERARY SOURCES 95
No. 67
Gregorius Abu'l Faraj (Bar Hebraeus), Chronography,
fol. 19.
old V ,^v*Ao<x-=»,^;<i-
U^CÔ , 0009
Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Hunt 52.

Ernest A. Wallis Budge (ed.). The Chronography of Gregorius Abu I
Faraj, vol. 2 (Amsterdam: Associated Publishers Amsterdam — Philo
Press, 1976).
Translation
A n d in the tenth year o f Trajan, Galen the physician was born, and
at the end o f his reign the Jews who were in Cyprus uprooted the
city o f Salamina (Salomoni), and slew the Greeks (Yawnaye) who
were therein. A n d the Jews also who were in Libya stirred up to re-
volt the Greeks who were therein, and thus also did the Jews who
96 DIASPORA J U D A I S M I N T U R M O I L , 116/117 C E
were in Cyrenaica, a n d in Thebes, and in Alexandria and in M e s o p o -

tamia (Beth Nahrin). A n d the Jews w h o were in Egypt rebelled, and
set u p for themselves a king whose name was L u m p i s , and he gov-
erned them and came to Judea. N o w the Jews conquered in every
place.
transl. Ernest A. W. Budge, The Chronography of Gregory Abu I Faraj, 1225-

1286, the son of Aaron, the Hebrew physician commonly known as Bar
Hebraeus, vol. 1 (London: Oxford University Press, H. Mitford 1932, repr.
Amsterdam: Associated Publishers Amsterdam — Philo Press, 1976), 52.
No. 68
Anonymi Auctoris, Chronicon ad annum Christi 1234pertinens
r d » * ^ C L j I<!JL-=D\ r d i o i ^ i^V\i^JL^xk> r ^ V v o r a ^ ^ ^ o a ^ i r n
Jean B. Chabot (ed.), Chronicon ad annum Christi 1234 pertinens.

C S C O 8 1 . Scriptores Syri, tomus 36 (Louvain: Imprimerie orientaliste
L. Durbecq, 1953), 133,11. 25-31, 134,1. 1.
Translation
At this time the Jews o f Mesopotamia rebelled. Lysias was ordered to

expel them from his (Trajans) sight; and he killed m a n y myriads o f
them.
At this time the Jews in Cyprus fought against the inhabitants o f
the town Salamis, which they destroyed, and they killed the Greeks
who were in it. A n d also the Jews who were in Alexandria and in
Egypt attacked the Greeks w h o were there; but the Greeks defeated
them.
LITERARY SOURCES 97
No. 69
Nicephorus Callistus, Ecclesiasticae Historiae tomus III, 22.
''Ocra x a l ITTI T p a i a v o u 'louSatoLc; £7rL(7uv£[3y] x a x a .

T a [JL£V oOv -^[jieTspa OGTOX; YJvGst, x a l x a 0 ' i^[ji£pav £t(; sTrtSoaLv
TJyovTO, piJâ(; Pa0£La<; xaxaâXXofjisva Tat^; TS TCOV ocTToaToXtxcov
avSpcov S i S a a x a X t a L ^ (TTOXXOI Se -âav TCO PLCO) x a l TOI^ TCOV
[jiapTupcov ai(jia(7i 7iLaLv6(ji£va' T a S s TCOV 'louSatcov ax^yy^c, x a l
cflXzizoiXkrikoic, TJxfjiaCs TOLC; xaxotc;. ''OySoov [xsv oOv x a l S s x a T o v
£T0^ T 6 ) auToxpdcTopi TOUTO) T7] a p ^ f ] Si7]vu£T0, x a l 'louSaicov
xLV7](7i(; aSOtc; 7^y£ip£T0, x a l TO nzpikzKpQk^f TOU TTXIÔOUI; 7^9aviC£.
AsLvou y a p x a l (TTaatcoSout; 7rv£U(jLaT0<; £[i.7C£(j6vTO(; auTOi^, x a l
TOV 6u(jt6v [xaXXov avappL7ULôvTO(;, Trpo^ TOIX; auvoixoui;
l a T a a t a ^ o v ''EXX7]va<;. K a l TOUT' IV A X £ ^ a v S p £ L a x a l AiyurcTO)
x a l T ^ Tcpoaotxo) Kupi^vY) l7rpaTT£T0. K a T a (Jiixpov S I TYJV a T a a i v
au^'y](TavT£^, TOO [IZT IX£LVOV IviauToS [xlyiaTOv x a T ' aXXYjXcov
(Tuv^^Jâv TOV 7r6X£[jiov. 'Hy£rTO S I TTjvixaSs Aou7ro(; AtyuTiTou.
K a l T a (jilv TupcoTa TOC TCOV 'louSatcov l x p a T £ r ot S' ''EXX7jV£<;
cpuyy] ax6(T[Jtco xpy]C7a(jL£V0L, TOT^ IV A X £ 5 a v S p £ L a aTrpooTiTCOi;
l7ri.6£[ji£vot 'louSaioL^, ^coypoucri T£ a u T i x a x a l fxaâLpac; £pyov
TToiouvTaL. Sufjifxaxtat; youv ol Iv KupTjvT] TTIC, IX£LVCOV
a7roTU}^6vT£(;, x a T a O l o u a t TY]<; AtyuTTTOU Tiaayjc; ITL -^^youfjilvou
AouTuou* x a l 6 S p a v x a x o v £ixov, aS£CO(; £7rpaa<70v. A£ic7a(; TOLVUV
Tpa'tiavo^, 7zz{nzzi M a p x i o v T o u p ^ c o v a [IZT a^LOfjiaxou Suva[jL£co(;,
UTravTtacraL x a T a aTOfjia zoic, 'louSaioi,*;. 2 u v S I T ^ v a u T i x ^
Tzz'C.ixri ITCTTLXT] 7rap£L7r£TO Suvafjti^* x a l Iv I X a ^ t a T C )
Xpovco 7ioXXaL<; T£ x a l r u a v T O t a i ^ [jia)âL^ TOV 7rp6<; auTOix; 7r6X£[jiov

y£vvaico<; SL£V£yxcov, 7rX£L(7Ta^ (jiupiaSac; 'louSaicov ou TCOV OCTO
Kup7jVY)(; (Jiovov, aXXa x a l TCOV OCTT' AtyuTTTOU TCO acpcov ÔLGIXZI
aufjifxaxouvTCov, Aouxi.o<; -^v auTCO ovofjia, avaLp£r. TTTOTUTCOC; S '

s^cov (JLY) TOL(; 6(jLocpuXoL^ x a l OL Iv M£ao7roTa(jLLa 'ZTZLGTIC,
iTTlOcOVTaL, AoUXLCp KUITCO TTpoaSTaTTE T*^*; UTT' aUTOV ZTZCLpyiOLC,

6(70v T a x o < ; lxxa6aLp£LV a u T o u < ; . K a l oc, x p u c p a cTTpaTYiyLx-^v TYJV
TuapdcTa^Lv TroLYjadcfxsvo^;, uTraysi TCO îcpsi TTXTJGOC; SXSLVCOV, OU
POCSLCO^ apt.6[jicp UTTOTTLTTTOV. O O SY) X^P^^ >ôcl T-Î; ' l o u S a t a c ;
-i^yefjiovLoc 6 auTOxpdcTCop TOV AOUXLOV XOLQIGTSL' O^Q x a l o l s^coOsv
a v a y p a c p s T c ; TCOV ^ p o v c o v laTOpvjcrav.
Patrologiae Cursus Completus, Series graeca posterior, vol. 145. Ed.

Jacques Paul Migne, Paris: excudebatur et venit apud J.-P. Migne
editorem, 1865), 940-941.
Translation
Such great disasters befell the Jews under Trajan too.

O n one hand, our affairs flourished and progressed every day, es-
tablishing deep roots through the teaching o f the apostols (many
were still alive), a n d increasing through the blood o f the martyrs; on
the other hand the affairs o f the Jews reached the acme o f many great
and consecutive misfortunes. T h u s the eighteenth year o f the rule o f
that emperor was approaching its end, a n d an uprising o f the Jews
broke out again a n d utterly destroyed the survivors o f the [Jewish]
people. Filled with a terrible spirit o f revolt, which drove them hard,
they rose against the neighboring Greeks. A n d this happened in Al-
exandria and in Egypt and in the neighboring Cyrene. Litde by litde
intensifying the revolt, the next year they engaged in a great war be-
tween them. A t that time Lupus was the prefect o f Egypt. A n d at the
beginning the side o f the Jews gained the upper hand, and the
Greeks, resorting to a disorderly flight a n d falling suddenly o n the
Jews o f Alexandria, captured them a n d immediately p u t them to the
sword. Therefore, having lost their alliance, the Jews o f Cyrene in-
vaded the whole o f Egypt under the governorship o f Lupus. A n d
what they shamelessly tried to accomplish m e t with a b a d end. For
Trajan, alarmed, sends Marcius Turbo with a suitable force to meet
the Jews in battle. Along with the naval fleet followed an infantry
and a cavalry force; a n d in a short time Marcius Turbo, carrying on
the war against them gallantly in m a n y battles o f different kinds,
killed many myriads o f Jews, not only those from Cyrene, but also
those from Egypt w h o helped their king, whose name was Lucius.
T h e n , suspecting that the Jews o f Mesopotamia, too, would similarly
attack their fellow citizens,* Trajan ordered Lucius Quietus to cleanse
LITERARY SOURCES 99
the province under his rule o f the Jews as quickly as possible. A n d he

completed the arrangement o f the battle-line secretly, a n d then p u t
to the sword a great number o f them, w h o succumbed not easily on
account o f [their] number. Because o f this (accomplishment) the
emperor appointed Lucius also as governor o f Judaea, as also the pa-
gan historians attest.
* Perhaps: would attack like their kin. See below, (Mesop. p. XXX).
RABBINIC SOURCES
No. 70
Megillat Tdanit 31
Quoted in: Jerusalem Talmud, Megillah I 6 70c and in Jerusalem Tal-

mud, Tdanit II 13 66a.
Quoted in: Babylonian Talmud, Tdanit 18b.
This passage is lacking in the best manuscripts of Megillat Tdanit, M S

Parma De Rossi 117/4 and in M S Oxford Neubauer 867/2. See Vered
Noam, Megillat Tdanit: Versions, Interpretation, History (Hebr.) (Jerusa-
lem: Yad Ben Zvi Press, 2003), 47, 1. 3 1 . See also below, (Judaea),
p. XXX.
Translation
Jerusalem Talmud, Megillah, I 6 7 0 c : O n the twelfth (of A d a r ) , the

day o f Tyrywn.
Babylonian Talmud, Tdanit 1 8 b : O n the twelfth (of Adar), the day
o f Toryanos.
Scholion
n n T s ; i VKtr;''^ mm ^b .n:sj<3Dii3 tj2 n n t r i Vxtr?''» nîmb

Vs7 03 i^wv'b n^'n p3n n:s3'7Din3i x i n ontr^D o ^ n i s
'''n''''n 13K1 03 nit2?s;''V n x n I'^xi n n K rir^n nnx Vnx
n m n D^^nn n n n n D i p n V tr?'' D-»3mn n i n n i33mn n n x f x Di<i nn*'?:
'T'ns; i33mn n n x D X I i3n is;3S''tr? '^n^pv n n n n D*'tt?n3 n n n n mn^
r V r Di^nir? Dtr?» r o 3 . ^ T » 13''DT DJ? n^npn
No2my Megillat Tdanity 117-18.
Translation
W h e n he seized Lulianos and Pappos at Laodicea, he said: " I f you are

o f the people o f Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, let your G o d come
and save you from m y hand, as H e saved Hananiah, Mishael and
Azariah from the hand o f Nebuchadnezzar." T h e y said to h i m :
"Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah were upright men, and K i n g
Nebuchadnezzar was a worthy king and fit that a miracle should be
wrought through him, but you, you are an evil king, and it is not fit
that a miracle should be wrought through you, and we are deserving
o f death and if you d o not slay us, the Omnipresent has many execu-
tioners — many bears, many lions, many snakes, m a n y scorpions
that can harm us, and if you kill us, the H o l y O n e , blessed be H e ,
will exact vengeance for our blood from y o u . " It was said that he had
not even left that place when a R o m a n dispatch came to him and
they split his head with clubs and logs.
No. 71
Seder Olam 30
''3Dn iV'î? r\w W'm^ oi3''ODOKVtr O I » V I D on^'ioxVtr? oitt'^ViDâ

0 1 » V l D » 1 T ' D OlO^Vir? 01»^1D IV 013'»0S0KVtr? OI^VlDtt n^27]
.rr^nn p n n inn i " 3 n^snî
S P C R O N N N VTR? ,G2 OMIO ,B L OMOX VTZ? .ON''IOI<VTT^ I

O D''»N VTR? OITTVID .DINVID I
L DiroDOK^tt^ .OIRODOXVTT^ I
L OIRODOXVC? .OIRODOXVTT? 2
- O B D M S P C R o^^'>V)\>v; ,G2 OT:*'P ,L OWP^tt^ - oiD-'PVTR? 2
M nitt^ n^m^ n^^b^ , 0 G 2 S P C R 7\w w^mi n^mn ,B L T ' D - T ' D 2

G2 ^^yb^ , 0 L o^^''pb^ - owpVtr? 2
B D. , 3 " D - SI 3
O — M S Oxford, Bodeleian Opp. 317
B — M S Milan, Ambrosiana T 6 6 Sup.
G 2 — Geniza Fragment, Oxford, Bodleian library Heb. d. 47, 40 — 43.
D — E d . Mantua, 1513.
L — M S Parma, Palatina 2787.
S — M S Cincinnati, Hebr. Union Col. 852.
P — M S Paris, Bibl. Nat, 974.
C — Ed. Constantinople, 1516.
R _ M S Parma, Palatina 2298.
Chaim J . Milikowsky, "Seder Olam: A Rabbinic Chronography," vol.

2 (Ph.D. diss., Yale University, 1981), 441-42.
Translation
From the war o f Asverus until the war o f Vespasian was eighty years,
these were during the time of the Temple; from the war o f Vespasian
until the war o f Qitos was twenty-four years; from the war o f Qitos
until the war o f Ben Kozibah was sixteen years; and the war o f Ben
Kozibah was two and a half years, fifty two years after the destruction
of the Temple.
Transl. Milikowsky, ''Seder Olam,'' 547.
No. 72
MishnahSotah9:U
Mw m m Dnx ii:h^ xVttî nVDH m n o s ; bv n n oo^pVtr?

i r m i m n^'rn Tina pn^Dn nVDn K22n n n i n n x n oijdVidi
.n*»s;n înn pn^'Dn nVDn K^sntr^ rvT\^r\
oiiKn D'înn' m n n n n x D » nnrnn noDir^nn , p D i p ' " ' D ]
Georg Beer, Mischna codex Kaufinann A50: mit Genehmigung der

Ungarischen Akademie der Wissenschaften in Budapest (The Hague:
M. NijhofiF, 1929, repr. Jerusalem: Makor,1968), 244 - 45.
M S Paris 328/29
M S Oxford 2675,2
Ein-Yaakov Edition Salonica 1516.
Genizah Fragment O R 1080 Box 4,55 OO^p]

Genizah Fragment Oxford 2850,51-52 00^[p]
Genizah Fragment Leningrad Antonin 267 [0]0''p
M S Cambridge 470,1 DO^
M S Kaufman Budapest A50 DO^
Abraham Liss, The Babylonian Talmud with Variant Readings. Tractate

Sotah, vol. 2 (Jerusalem: Yad Harav Herzog, 1979), 348.
Translation
D u r i n g the war o f Vespasian they forbade the crowns o f the bride-

groom and the [wedding] d r u m . D u r i n g the war o f Qitos they for-
bade the crowns o f the brides a n d that a m a n could teach his son
Greek. In the last war they forbade the bride to g o forth in a litter
inside the city; but our Rabbis permitted the bride to go forth in a
litter inside the city.
Trans. Herbert Danby, The Mishnah (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1933), 305.
No. 7 3
Tosefta Peah 4 : 6
K m o n , n i n 3 piVm D^'DD rmîvi b\rw^ f nnn .minoV m p t n
The same text appears also in Tosefta Ketubbot 3:1 with the following
variants:
Tosefta Ketubbot 3:1 pr^'i?: t m n mi ^xvhm :S7''3» tr?nn n^'Vw

Tosefta Ketubbot 3:1 DtT D**! HTltr? ''3S» : ] N N^'N nTTtZ^D
Saul Lieberman, T/?^ Tosefta, vol. 1. TA^ Oraf^r ofZeraim (New York:
Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 1955), 56-57.
Translation
[There are] two [matters that constitute] prima facie evidence [that a
person is a member o f ] the priesthood: within the L a n d o f Israel—
raising one's hands [during the priestly benediction], and receiving
[heave-offering] at the threshing-floor. A n d in Syria, u p to the place
where the messenger [who tells o f the new] m o o n reaches—raising
one's hands [during the priestly benediction], but [they do] not re-
ceive [heave-offering] at the threshing-floor. A n d Babylonia [is in the
same status] as Syria. R. Simeon b. Eleazar says, "Also Alexandria
[had the same status as Syria], during the early times, when there was
a court there."
Transl. Jacob Neusner, Tosefta (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers,

2002), 70.
No. 7 4
Mekhilta de Rabbi IshmaeU Tractate Beshallah 2
DipDH n-^riTn niDipD ntr?Vtr;n /i3i o n i J D m nrr'Kn •'D
ntn ^ m n ywb pD^'Oin iiym ubys iv lyv nrmib ID^'OID

^••oin i<V "Tin^DK im ^ m n imK\ (TO , r D n m ) i^v
''^'â mitt^Knn IVD3 nmb^y\ n t n ntrVtrâ (no ,nD wn) nrmib
•'D^n mm (K n^'S^tr*') nntrV Dn:^;^ o n n r n •'in anmo
rti:?n w m » » D'^Kn*' Dni< ntr?K a n n n nn^^m imw nnp p pnr
]ntr?^tr?a o i r n o •'^•'n n''tr?''Vtr?n (TO ,a;D n^'Di'*) Dnij;^ Donx
.iVoi |ni2?Vtr?m n t n
M S Oxford oiax'^no
Merkevet Ha-mishne (Lemberg 1894) 013X''nO
printed editions OirmO
Ed. Jacob Z. Lauterbach, Mekilta de-Rabbi IshmaeU vol. 1 (Philadel-

phia: The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1976), 213-14.
Translation
For Whereas Ye Have Seen the Egyptians Today, etc. In three places
G o d warned the Israelites not to return to Egypt. For it says: "For
whereas ye have seen the Egyptians today, ye shall see them again no
more for ever." A n d it says: "Ye shall henceforth return no more that
way" (Deut. 1 7 : 1 6 ) . A n t it also says: " B y the way whereof I said unto
thee: T h o u shalt see it no more again " (ibid., 2 8 : 6 8 ) . But in spite
o f these three warnings, they returned three times and in all three
times they fell. T h e first time was in the days o f Sennacherib, as it is
said: " W o e to them that go down to Egypt for help (Isa. 3 1 : 1 ) . T h e
second time was in the days o f Johanan, the son o f Kareah, as it is
said: " T h e n it shall c o m e to pass, that the sword, which ye fear, shall
overtake you there in the land o f E g y p t " (Jer. 4 2 : 1 6 ) . T h e third time
was in the days o f Trajan. T h e s e three times they returned and in all
o f these three times they fell.
Trans. Jacob Z. Lauterbach, Mekilta de-Rabbi IshmaeU vol. 1 (Philadelphia:

The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1976), 213-14.
No. 75
Sijra, Emor, Pereq DC, 5
on Lev. 2 2 : 3 2 "But I will be hallowed among the children of
Israel"
p x DnV n^DX K ^ ' ^ n V n r^^< t^T^bi^ DIDD oir^'ino nnt2?Di

r\m îîti DDnx Viss'î DD'TIVK xia*' n n t r i bmî:^ mmh^ p r D D n x
,ri^ 0 3 rwv^^ p3n n'^n ^223101331 , r n pn^'tz^D n n t r i Vntr'^D n''33n ^b
*'i''*'inD 13X1 ,yi^ ^ s ; 03 rwv^^ p3n n n x p x i ,r\m vm r\m Vai<
n^yn nnnn o i p ^ n îth ninn , m n i n m wmh nrr^D
D ^ a n p r nnnn D^D^tr nnnn n^mi n m n D n m n a n n n m K n n n n
S703 ^b n » K i3'»DT n a n V I'^nr oipttntz; «iio KV^'K i3n ir^D'^tr;
. n r y p D n i n i » m iK'îsini •'Vs'^t: rhv rs^yv iv
Louis Finkelstein, Sifra or Torat Kohanim according to Codex Assemani

LXVf (Hebr.) (New York: The Jewish Theological Seminary of
America 1956), 442.
ed. Venice 1545, 198=ed. Weiss 99d ODDtJ^DI .3nntr?D1 .1

ed. Venice 1545, 198=ed. Weiss 99d 013''n?D . O l s n n o .1
ed. Venice 1545, 198=ed. Weiss 99d n^l2^b IV .^Ki^b .5
ed. Venice 1545, 198=ed. Weiss 99d .^VD-Ô .8
Translation
When Trajan slew Pappus and Lulianus his brother in Laodicea, he

said to them: " I f you are o f the people of Hananiah, Mishael and
Azariah, your G o d will come and deliver you from m y hands." They
said to him, "Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah were upright, and
Nebuchadnezzar was fit for a sign to be wrought through h i m ; but as
for you, you are a wicked king, and not fit for a sign to be wrought
through you, and we are worthy o f death in the eyes o f Heaven. If you
do not slay us, the Omnipresent has many destroyers, many bears,
many lions, many leopards, many serpents, many scorpions that will
attack us, but in the end the Omnipresent will avenge our blood from
you." It is said that Trajan had not moved from there before a dispatch
came from Rome, and they knocked out his brain with clubs.
Translation based on that given by William Horbury, "Pappus and Lulianus

in Jewish Resistance to Rome," in Jewish Studies at the Tum of the Twentieth
Century; Proceedings of the 6th EAJS Congress, Toledo, July 1998, vol. 1 (ed.
J. Targarona Borras, A. Saenz-Badillos, Leiden 1999), 294.
No. 7 6
Jerusalem Talmud, Ketubot, II 7 26 d
K m o m m n ^ piV'^m [d^'DD] T\^)^^m '"^^ f n x a nnnDV m p t n

pr^'j^ tr?Tinn ^r\^m D i p » iv . n i n ^ piV'^n d'^dd r\y^^m
.n;oix] nTS7Vx p ^vm n .xmoD V n n p;3[3](3) iv
m pai2?r \Ti ^r\y^ nrtr^n n x m a o o V x a
Talmud Yerushalmi According to MS Or 4720 (Seal 3) of the Leiden

University Library with Restorations and Corrections, Introduction by
Yaacov Sussmann (Jerusalem: The Academy of the Hebrew Language,
2001), 964.
Translation
There are two presumptive grounds for a person's being deemed a

member o f the priesthood in the L a n d o f Israel: Raising u p [hands]
in the priestly benediction, and sharing heave-ofiFering at the thresh-
ing floor. A n d in Syria: the raising o f hands in the priestly benedic-
tion, but not sharing heave-offering at the threshing-floor—up to
the point at which the agents announcing the new m o o n reach u p to
N a m r i n . Babylonia is in the same status as Syria. R. Simeon b. Elazar

[says], "Also in Alexandria, when the courts sit there."
Translation based on that given by Jacob Neusner, The Talmud of the Land
of Israel: a Preliminary Translation and Explanation, vol. 22 (Chicago and
London: University of Chicago Press, 1985), 76.
N o . 77
Jerusalem Talmud, Megillah, I 6 70c
= Jerusalem Talmud, Tdanit, II 13 66a
.pn^'O ur Von .xnj< nps?'' n ' d k i .pn^'D nr ntr^r-pnnn
.oiDDi oir^'ViV nmtr? d v .p^'TO nr Von .i<n>< npr*' (xnx)
Talmud Yerushalmi According to MS Or 4720 (Seal 3) of the Leiden

University Library with Restorations and Corrections, Introduction by
Yaacov Sussmann (Jerusalem: The Academy of the Hebrew Language,
2001), 743 [= 717].
Translation
O n the twelfth o f that m o n t h [of Adar] is Tirion s day. A n d R. Jacob

bar A h a said, "Tirions day has been annulled, for it is the day o n
which Lulianos and Pappos were killed."
Transl. Jacob Neusner, The Talmud of the Land of Israel: a Preliminary

Translation and Explanation, vol. 19 (Chicago and London: University of
Chicago Press, 1987), 25-26 = vol. 18, 202-203.
N o . 78
Jerusalem Talmud, Sukka, V 1 55a-b
.nrr^n r o o ^ mthi:^ rooiî rrri nVn^ ^ V ' ^ o n p D D .rirr^ miD

wv r n intVir? ni^nrnp n^vyv^ .Dn:2» •'KisrD d ' ^ ' ^ ^ d d nn rn d ^ ' ^ s t d
nn'Ti D H K i nnK V d i .D-»rpT D''s;ntr; i ^ i d n r V n ^ i mmo D^ân^ mrmp»
no3Dn p m r i ^ ^ K S f rVtr? n^'^ni . a n t K i m tr;»m D n t r ^ r n m D i r
]m p m i o n f]'»3a nn»an n'^n nmnn niKipV ina i n > < t ^ s ? .rvbv iiy\v
^^yn^ n'^n ^ n a ^ n'^ntr? n o n n i nonn Vs7 . p K rnnx p n s 7
p3tr?r XVK p n i m r » pntj^r rn D'DS7K rnnj< pis; ]m p n o n
n ''an .rtr^nn o i i m n o .ni^'nnn •'»i .nxisr m o n o nn^^n Dtr^m .im3?3ix

['3ir;] .Dn22» f mtr^V xVtr; 'tr^^' nnnn niDip» ntr;Vtt?n /nr ]n iir^tr?
^f^Y /"chMS IV nniKnV iD^'Oin orn o n i s a nK Dn'»xn im • ' D "
ia*'tr?nr' /'lyv ntn - r n n mtr?V pD^'Oin DDV I ^ S N
nnnio •'D*»n nnx .IVDI ptr?Vt2?m ntn ]ntr?iVtr?ni /'nrixn
xVi D i K Dn:2»r' . n n n i 'no n» ."nnrsrV Dn^sô D m r n •'in"
onx im nnnn nn'^nv . n i p p pnr ''^•'n nnxi /i3i "ntr?n D T O I O I
]3 iV iVia .vwir\ D i a n n t ? •'^''n nnxi /i3i "ODnx w n Dt2? na^D •''Kn*'
^T\m nnVtr? .nTT'3 ip'^Vini nDiann inn n» . p r n ^ rni nxn ns7trnn
nn»tr? nmn^'n nx ^•'DDI K I I D'^nnnnn nx tr?iD» nKU? iv Ab rMm^
]y^'ov pnDtr^xi xnx .ntr;»nV xnxi p?Dr nntr^rV '•n''?^ I O T .^n
ntt . p V / i a i " f i x n nisp?^ pinna î) ybv xtr*"' [i^pioDi i^n^'mxn]
w » ntr?m x n m ><inn . p V . p i pDn .n'^V pn»i< .pp^'or pn^'in
nir»t2?3 .p^'trâV n?3i< .pnni nian^V ] D 7 n i mmb Knxi p » r nnt2?rV
x''''S7nKn m n r n n a .n-'V p n a x .DDn>< anin •'ix p x i *'''ni3r3a''VV Dni<
ns7tr?n nniKn . o i n D ^ iv wî nir\ ^Vni p i n p i n'T'ri .x''*'V''s;n m s ;
.IM p i<in''tt? naipaV nitnV n r n r na^'X iiri 'tr?*' p p nriaa
Talmud Yerushalmi According to Ms. Or 4720 (Seal 3) of the Leiden Univer-

sity Library with Restorations and Corrections. Introduction by Yaacov
Sussmann (Jerusalem: The Academy of the Hebrew Language, 2001), 653-
54.
Translation
It has been taught: Said R. Judah, "Whoever has never seen the dou-
ble colonnade (the basilica-synagogue) o f Alexandria has never seen
Israel s glory in his entire life. It was a kind o f large basilica, with one
colonnade inside another. Sometimes there were twice as many peo-
ple there as those who went forth from Egypt. N o w there were sev-
enty golden thrones set u p there, studded with precious stones a n d
pearls, one (throne) for each o f the seventy elders, each one worth
twenty-five denarii o f gold, with a wooden platform in the middle,
upon which the minister o f the synagogue stands. W h e n one rose to
read from the Torah, the appointed official would wave flags so that
the people would answer, A m e n for each and every blessing, the ap-
pointed official would wave the flags, and they would answer.
A m e n . ' Nevertheless, they did not sit in a jumble, but instead they
sat with the practitioners o f each craft grouped together. T h u s , when
a traveler came along, he would attach himself to his fellow crafts-
men, and on that basis he could gain a living."
A n d who destroyed it all? It was the evil Trajan (Trogianus).
Simeon b. Yohai taught, " T h e Israelites were warned at three points
not to go back to the Land of Egypt. [For it is said,] *...for the Egyp-
tians w h o m you see today, you shall never see again (Ex. 1 4 : 1 3 ) .
Since the Lord has said to you: You shall never return that way
again (Deut. 1 7 : 1 6 ) . A n d the Lord will bring you back in ships to
E g y p t . . . ' (Deut. 2 8 : 6 8 ) . In all three instances they did go back, and
in those three instances they fell. O n c e in the time o f Sennacherib,
King of Assyria, [as it is written,] *Ha! T h o s e who go down to Egypt
for h e l p . . . ' (Isa. 3 1 : 1 ) . What is written after that? T o r the Egyptians
are men, not G o d , and their horses are flesh...' (Isa. 3 1 : 3 ) . A n d once
in the time of Yohanan b. Qorah, [as it is written,] T h e sword that
you fear will overtake you there...' (Jer. 4 2 : 1 6 ) . A n d once in the time
o f Trogianus, the evil one. A son was born to him on the ninth of Ab,
and [the Israelites] were fasting. His daughter died on Hanukkah, and
[the Israelites] lit candles. His wife sent a message to him, saying. I n -
stead of going to conquer the barbarians, come and conquer the Jews,
who have rebelled against you.' H e thought that the trip would take
ten days, but he arrived in five. H e came and found the Israelites oc-
cupied [in the study of the Torah, with the following verse: T h e Lord
will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end o f the earth...'
(Deut. 2 8 : 4 9 ) . H e said to them, *With what are you occupied?' T h e y
said to him, *With thus-and-so.' H e said to them. T h a t man (i.e., I)
thought that it would take ten days to make the trip, and I arrived in
five days.' His legions surrounded them and killed them. H e said to
their wives, 'Obey m y legions, and I shall not kill you.' T h e y said to
him, 'What you did to the ones who have fallen do also to us who are
yet standing.' H e mingled their blood with the blood o f their men,
until the blood flowed into the ocean as far as Cyprus. At that m o -
ment the horn o f Israel was cut off, and it is not destined to return to
its place until the son of David will c o m e . "
Translation based on that o f J a c o b Neusner, The Talmud of the Land of Is-

rael: a Preliminary Translation and Explanation, vol. 17 (Chicago and L o n -
d o n : University o f C h i c a g o Press, 1 9 8 8 ) , 1 1 7 - 1 9 .
No. 7 9
Babylonian Talmud, Sukka 51b
Dn22» K m a o D ^ i ^ Vtr? p o o i V D r i nxn nVtr n a i x mm"' ^:ii ^K-'in

, r t : o a d''2dV r o o , n n m n V n a ^V^'on p a n lyim b^ys)^ Vtr ] i i a D n nxn
nn rni ,nn!i5a *'xsrD •"•Vdd (Kinn xinn d w ) nn rntr? D"'as;s
n m n D nrx nnxi nnx ,n^n3i m m o Vtr? i j i d i n t ^tr nixmnp
nais? noiDH p m ,nn''S722axn p Vtr? na"»ii . m t n D D xinn inxi D n t r ^ r a
xî . p x pair orn Vdi ,mion î^'ia nVn p K niarV v'îrw p-'Di . i r a pmioni
,p:i2r ''iDn p n s a i , p 2 j y "•aDi pDODi ,]mv •'isn p n n t x V x , p n n i s ; » pntr^v rn
iniaix •'Vrn n-'Da nm Dtr? oaDi •ârtr^Di .]»2JS7 ••asn ••'nnai ,p22S7 ''3D2 D'^-'onDi
Mvh^p inViDi t'^'^nx n a x .in^'n n o n D i i n o n s Dtr?ai ,DtrV niDai
ywb pD^'Oin k V " xnp ••Knx n s r i oitzâ ?itr?2s;''x .]ipia ornaonVx
'n Nty*' xnD''on i n p u r n inrnDir^x ,KnK •'d .inx nnn inrxi / ' i i r ntn ^mn
n^'Vi ^''Dr nntr^s;a xni'^DO •'n-'aV ''s;^ xnia xinn , n D a n a x . p i n n a ''la ^"'Vs;
. i n r V o p i M'^^bv Vd3 , ' ' a r xtrânn x n r s o ••nxi xp-'T
Vilna: E d . R o m m .
4 i n x i D n r a — n r a m o n r a V, M 2 , O, R l , B
5 nDD — V, M 2 , O, R l
5 f r — nm M2
8 — •'XIODN O, R l ; -"IDS D*'ni)1 is missing in M 2 , O
9 p p i D omoiDVx inrVop — p m p p i a •••mioDVx O p n ]npi» omioDVx
Rl
12 inroVpi liT'Vs; ^D3 — Missing O, R l
M = M S Munich 95
V = M S Vatican 134
M 2 = M S Munich 140
0 = M S Oxford Heb. 51
Rl = M S J T S 2 1 8
B = M S British Library 400 (Harl. 5508)
Translation
It has been taught, R. J u d a h stated. H e who has not seen the d o u b l e
colonnade o f Alexandria in Egypt has never seen the glory o f Israel.
It was said that it was like a huge basilica, one colonnade within the
other, a n d it sometimes held twice the n u m b e r o f people that went
forth from Egypt. T h e r e were in it seventy-one cathedras o f gold.
corresponding to the seventy-one members o f the Great Sanhedrin,

not one o f them containing less than twenty-one myriads talents o f
gold, and a wooden platform in the middle upon which the attend-
ant o f the Synagogue stood with a scarf in his hand. W h e n the time
came to answer A m e n , he waved his scarf and all the congregation
duly responded A m e n . T h e y moreover did not occupy their seats
promiscuously, but goldsmiths sat separately, silversmith separately,
blacksmiths separately, metalworkers separately and weavers sepa-
rately, so that when a poor m a n entered the place he recognized the
members o f his craft and on applying to that quarter obtained a live-
lihood for himself and for the members o f his family.
Abaye stated, Alexander o f M a c e d o n slew them all. W h y were
they so punished? Because they transgressed this verse: "Ye shall
henceforth return no more that way," and they did return. W h e n he
c o m e and found them reading from T h e Book, " T h e Lord will bring
a nation against thee from afar," he remarked, "I should have
brought m y ships in a ten days' journey, but as a strong wind arose
the ships arrived in five days," he therefore fell upon them and slew
them.
Trans. Israel W. Slotki, The Babylonian Talmud, Seder Mded, Sukkah, ed.
Isidore Epstein ( L o n d o n : Soncino Press, 1 9 3 8 ) , 2 4 4 - 4 5 .
No. 80
Babylonian Talmud Ketuboth 25 a
D l p a V D I I xmoni ,''"xi mna piV^'m D^'DD T\y$.^m miriDV nptn tr?"n

V i n ,mna piV'^n xV Vnx n^xn D-»DD T\y^^m ^vîr^ mm mi m^m
p n-'nir niitr?xnn on^sa b^ x m i o D ^ x «]K mm rim ,xmoD
R 4 missing: mitt^Kin
M R3 R4 p n ••nntr :]n n^'atr
M — M S Munich 95.
R 3 — M S Vatican 130.
R 4 — M S Vatican 4 8 7 .
M o s h e Hershler, The Babylonian Talmud with Variant Readings. Trac-

tate Ketubot, vol. 1 (Jerusalem: Yad H a r a v Herzog, 1 9 7 2 ) , 1 7 2 .
Translation
C o m e and hear: A presumption for the priesthood is [constituted

by] the "lifting up of the h a n d s " and taking a share [at the distribu-
tion o f the priestly gifts] at the threshing floors in the L a n d o f Israel;
in Syria and in all places to which the messengers o f the new m o o n
come the "lifting up o f the h a n d s " is evidence, but not taking a share
at the threshing floors. Babylonia is like Syria. R. Simeon b. G a m a -
liel says: Also Alexandria in Egypt formerly, because there was there a
permanent court of law.
Transl. Samuel Daiches and Israel W. Slotki, The Babylonian Talmud,

Tractate Kethuboth (ed. Isidore Epstein: L o n d o n : Soncino Press,
1936), 139.
No. 81
The Babylonian Talmud, Tdanit X^TA^
xa*'V*'X na^'X n^'irm iDonn p n i a pnnKa xVi p n p a rstm D^rx pni

in im nrnnK Dr n^'âan i^riDm ntr?
MVT\ no'^nnxn n p Kpi ix^rm
XDn:23 xV xnn naxi pnn iDO-'aV x V i |irx xmD --ar in im r\mr\ a n
rr-V n p xpi no-^nnx ^-n XVKI ntn nt Vtr? nxi ntn nt BÔ nx nioK^ XVK
Kin o i r m o o r lonnn n*'V n p xpi no'ânK •'n xVxi xin map*'! o r no^'Vnn
itr^r nrnnx n^'arnni iDonn nnia "'inpi n o n n a n^-V n p xpT ixV xVx
iniVon •'Vion rr^Dia oia-'no a r xin oirno a r n n a x p i i -lonnn rr'V n p xpi
nax n o n n n xn'ârn in p m 111 •'o rnx nmiî i^vm ia innai V-'Kin
inmi V-'Xin iniôa ''Vion n^'oia oia-'mo o r in^ nax Kin oia''mo ar pan n^-V
xntr^n 'ts^K an n a x map*'! •âaVtr? ar •'V m m n''V pio'^ni r n x nmî mratr? ia
...oia^'mo •'xai niap'â •'xa ntaai aip'â niap^-a ar aitjâ iniVoa n'^sia in*'X
nax x-'pniVa r n x oiooi oia^ViV nx annV oia^'mo tr?patr?D m a x oia^'mo •'xa
i n n a n^'a a a n x B^î aamVx xa*' onx nnm Vxtr?''a n-âan Vtz? lasra a x anV
nnTa7i BM^ti n^-aan 1^ m a x niâ naiaa n^'a n n t r i Vxtr-'a n*'aan nx Vîsntr?
nxni nm pan ^Va nisa naiaii oa anV nitr^r'^V r n pnxni r n p i a a a ^ n i ^
laxi n-* Vs7 03 mtrr^'V nxn la^'Xi xin ornn a;ir^n inixi oa RS^m-H
BV
r^n nanni aipaV iV tr*' a^^nin nann i33nin nnx px axi oipaV mâ iia-'mni
t2^npn iinoa xV xVx lanix pnini 13a xvrmi laVira aipaV iV t^*' nrnxi
at2?a ITT xV m a x Ta pnn D"DS7X I^VI:^ is'ân s7no''V nmrtr? xVx ^Ta xm ^ma
.pT*'3a mia nx iriâi •'ama ''Varn ixatr? n r
Vilna: E d . Romm.
7 o i r m t : nr — o i r - n u O, V2 [ [ D i i x m t : nr M 2 it5<..>''''<..>0 V I oirmo
Ml
7 i n n n V'^xin rnx nmxi n-'s^w in — Missing O, M l
7_ 9 i » x xm o i r m i D DV pn-i n^V max nomna x i T ' i r n in 211
o i r m i t j nv rnx nmxi rr'âtr? in i n n m i V*'xm miVon rr'Vit^n n^'sia xn —
Missing Y
8 D i r m i t : nr (2) — oiimit: O, V 2 oiamt: M 2
10-11 O i r m i D " X a i — Missing O, M l , M 2 , V I , V2, Y
12 o i r r n i D trpntr^D imnV — o i r n i t j n n t r ? D O nntz^D oiim-'t? M 2 n n r a oia'^mo
V I D i r n i D nntr^D Y o i r i i D ODDC? V 2 c^pntt^D o i r m i D mnb M l
15 r n p i X I I 03 on^ riWV^b — Missing O, M l , M 2 , V I , Y, V2
15 m w V ''1X11 03 — 1 x 1 1 n*' bv 03 onV niraV O n*' 03 r)it2?s?V
•'ixm M l , M 2 , V I , V2 m w V '•ixni I T VS? 03 p V Y
15 — 16 m i x i n*' Vs? 03 nitr?s7^V *'ixn i3''xi xm o m n — Missing V I
16 i3n''mn3 — o x i3n^mr)3 M l
19 ' ' a m » — M i s s i n g M l
M l = M S Munich 95
M 2 = M S Munich 140
O = M S Oxford 366
VI = M S Vatican 134
V2 = M S Vatican 487
Y = M S Yad Harav Herzog
Translation
Although the Rabbis said that [the Megillah o f Esther] could be read
earlier but not later, yet mourning and fasting are permitted. N o w to
what does this apply? Shall we say that it applies to those [who
should read the Megillah] on the fifteenth [Adar] and they read it on
the fourteenth? Is then mourning permissible [for them on that day]?
Is it not written in the Scroll o f the Fasts, " T h e fourteenth day and
the fifteenth day [of Adar] are the days o f Purim and no mourning is
permissible thereon," and R a b a s c o m m e n t on this was: It was neces-
sary [to mention both these dates] in order to make it clear that what
was forbidden on the one day was equally forbidden on the other!
Again, should it refer to [those who should read the Megillah] on the
fourteenth and they read it on the thirteenth [Adar]; [the question
arises] that is Nicanor s day. O r again, if it refers to those [who
should read it] on the fourteenth and they read it on the twelfth? But
then that is Trajans day! Hence it can only have reference [to those
who should read it on] the fourteenth and they read it on the elev-
enth, and yet it is stated that mourning and fasting are permitted
thereon? — N o ; it has reference to those who should read it on the

fourteenth and they read it on the twelfth, and as to your objection
that it is Trajans Day, this [festive] day was subsequently abolished
because Shemaiah and his brother Ahijah were killed thereon. T h u s
R. N a h m a n once ordained a public fast for the twelfth o f Adar and
the Rabbis objected to this because it was Trajans Day. Thereupon R.
N a h m a n replied: T h i s [festive] day has been abolished because
Shemaiah and his brother Ahijah were killed thereon [...] W h a t is
Trajans [Day]? — It was said: W h e n Trajan was about to execute
Lulianus and his brother Pappus in Laodicea [Lydia] he said to them,
" I f you are o f the people o f Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, let your
G o d come and deliver you from m y hands, in the same way as he
delivered Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah from the hands o f N e b u -
chadnezzar"; and to this they replied: " H a n a n i a h , Mishael and Aza-
riah were perfectly righteous men and they merited that a miracle
should be wrought for them, and Nebuchadnezzar also was a king
worthy for a miracle to be wrought through him, but as for you, you
are a c o m m o n and wicked m a n and are not worthy that a miracle be
wrought through you; and as for us, we have deserved o f the O m n i -
present that we should die, and if you will not kill us, the Omnipres-
ent has many other agents o f death. T h e Omnipresent has in His
world m a n y bears and lions who can attack us and kill us; the only
reason why the Holy O n e , blessed be H e , has handed us over into
your hand is that at some ftiture time H e may exact punishment o f
you for our blood". Despite this he killed them. It is reported that
hardly had they moved from there when two officials arrived from
R o m e and split his skull with clubs.
Transl. J . Rabinowitz, The Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Taanit (ed. Isidore

Epstein: L o n d o n : S o n c i n o Press, 1 9 3 8 ) , 8 7 - 9 0 .
No. 82
Babylonian Talmud, Gittin, 57b
nntr; n o ^ oirmx nt ^ i p n — wv M^ nnm^ apr*' V i p V i p n

^'KisrD D''VDD x i i n bv xiin Dn22» b^ xmaoD^xn
Translation
''The voice is the voice of Jacob and the hands are the hands of Esau'
(Gen. Tl\lTj, 'the voice here refers to [the cry caused by] the E m -
peror Hadrian who killed in Alexandria o f Egypt sixty myriads on
sixty myriads, twice as many as went forth from Egypt.
Transl. Maurice Simon, The Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Gittin (ed. Isidore
Epstein: London: Soncino Press, 1938), 266.
N o . 83
Midrash Rabbah, Ecclesiastes 3, 15
a x anV 'ax x ^ i i V a rnx nxi oiax'^V^'V nx oiix'^mD nntr^Di

OIDD
xa*' .n:s3 naiaa Vtr; ran •'aaa •'axi .nntri bm^r^ vrm Vtr? i a s 7 a onx
Vxtr^'â n^-aan t> max .n*»a aanx b^^^^ nntri Vxtr^'a n^âan Vtz? on^'nVx
Vs7 oa nitr?s;V îxni n^'n pan ^Va nisa nana ^Vam rn Dntr?a nntri
Vs; oa rmv'b pan nnx pxi I'^'^n nnxi lax pn'^'^n anx *'an lax Vix . I T
B'âm nrnx nann ixV axi aoia mnin nnx ax nn^â pa^'^^n laxi ^ T
Vy panna anx •'aatr? xm îna aipaV D'ântr nanni o'ânpri a-'OTai
I r a n nanV nms7 nâpntr; xVx p a nnxa xVx aitrn nnx pxi B T T
ix'îsini ''aina *'Varn rVr nxatr; ns7 atr?a ntV p^'son xV max .^n^â
.pntaa inia
MS Vatican 291,12.
Marc G. Hirshman, "Midrash Rabbah: Chapters 1-4: Commentary (Ch.
1) and Introduction" (Hebr.), vol. 3 (Ph. D. diss., Jewish Theological Semi-
nary, 1982), 311-315.
ed. Pesaro, ed. Constantinople. O i r D I O M S Oxford 164,2. O i m t ? :013X-'ni0 .1
. M S J T S A 5529/2. Oiax^VlV , M S Oxford 164,2 OIlX^^VlV :D12X'»V*'V .1
M S Oxford 164,2 DX''DD :01DD .1
ed. Constantinople, M S Oxford 164,2 X-'-pTVa : X 7 T V a .1
M S J T S A 5529/2 x^pmVa
ed. Pesaro X''''pilVa
Translation
W h e n Trajan (Turgianus) executed Julianus and his brother Pappus
in Laodicea, he said to them: "If you are o f the people o f Hananiah,
Mishael and Azariah, and I a m a descendant o f Nebuchadnezzar, let
their G o d come and save you from m y h a n d ! " T h e y replied, " H a n a -
niah, Mishael, and Azariah were upright men, and king Nebuchad-
nezzar a worthy king and fit that a miracle should be wrought
through him. We, however, are sinners against the omnipresent and
you are a sinful king and unfit that a miracle should be wrought
through you. Moreover, we are [because o f our sins] condemned to
death. I f you slay us, well and g o o d ; if not, the Omnipresent has
many lions, bears, serpents, and scorpions by which men are killed.
Should you slay us, you will be reckoned as one o f them; but the
Holy O n e , blessed be H e , will exact vengeance for our blood o f
y o u . " It is reported that before he had time to move from there two
deputies came against him from R o m e who split his skull with clubs.
Transl. Abraham Cohen, Midrash Rabbah, vol. 8 (ed. H. Freedman and

Maurice Simon: London: Soncino Press, 1939), 104-105.
N o . 84
Midrash Rabbah, Lamentations, I 16 (or I, 16, 45) =
Midrash Rabbah, Lamentations, IV, 19, 22
,D^Vix pxmrT' rm , n x a V^'Vn mm mV*' tm^v pmtr? oiaxno

nax '•X p^bii na fV'^NV " p ^ K p n a x ^naiani n'âi
inrxV n^'V n a x ^tr^'^n ]w^b r\^b pnaxi pVtx xmn nai p^'Vna
nnVtr ,pr!2in ip*'VnK n^'a nai ,pVnx pKmn*' pV^x nn na
ttînai ''nx [pnnnn] ( p a n a a ) irâaa nxn ns? nVraV nnaxi
p a r nnt2;s7a •'nx xinn nâna ny^tr? nnatr iVVn pxiin-'a
pnn"' natr^xi xntr^^'iaV , p a r xtr?ani n'^n^'n^'^'xi xmn n^'arai
ntr^xa p x n ni^pa pinna na T'Vr ^n xir?"' ^x^^np pnna pporn
X3X pnV nax ,(aa na anan) laitr;^ ratr^n xV ntr;x na nuân nxn^*
, p a r nirvana •'xnxi p a r nntr^ya pa'âaV •'n^'^'a niao xannn ,xin
IKV axi ^•'•'niaraVV iratr^n rrmb nax ,pnni rniaraVi xm ] a 7 n
i^nas;n na yr\ rvh pnax ,aa''Vs;aV m'^m ntr^xa aaV ntrîr •'ax
b^ ]an ans7nai ,pnni rniaraVi xm p ^ n ^x^'^'trâa T ' a r x^'maaa
P'mmi ,amapV v^rrw nr a^'a rpia nmi ,i^x b^ p n nv iVx
.n^'aia *'ax nVx bv nnaixi nmi^s =t2?nipn nini=
Midrasch Echa Rabbati, ed. Salomon Buber (Wilna: Wittwe & Gebruder
Romm, 1899), 83.
Translation
T h e wife o f Trajan the accursed gave birth to a child on the night o f

the ninth o f A b while all the Israelites were mourning [the destruc-
tion o f the Temple]. T h e child died on Hanukkah. T h e y said to one
another, " W h a t shall we d o , kindle the lights or not?" T h e y said,
"Let us light, and whatever happens, happens." Persons slandered
them to [Trajan's] wife, saying, " W h e n your child was born the Jews
mourned, and when it died they kindled lights!" She sent a message
to her husband, saying, "Instead o f subduing the barbarians, come
and subdue these Jews, who have revolted against y o u . " H e planned
to d o the voyage in ten days, but the winds brought him in five days.
H e entered the synagogue and found them discussing the verse,
" T h e Lord will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end o f
the earth, which will swoop down like the eagle a nation whose lan-
guage you d o not understand" {Deut. 2 8 : 4 9 ) . H e said to them,
" T h a t refers to m e , who expected to c o m e to you in ten days and
arrived in five days." H e surrounded them with his legions and
slaughtered them. H e said to the women, "Yield yourselves to m y
troops, or I will d o to you what I did to the m e n . " T h e y replied to
him, " D o to the w o m e n what you did to the m e n . " H e surrounded
them with his legions and slaughtered them, so that their blood min-
gled with their [i.e., the men's] blood and streamed into the sea as far
as Cyprus. T h e n the H o l y Spirit cried out, "For these things I weep"
{Lam, 1:16).
Translation based on that given by A b r a h a m C o h e n , Midrash Rabbah, vol.

7 (ed. Maurice S i m o n and H . Freedman: L o n d o n : Soncino Press, 1 9 3 9 ) ,
127.
No. 85
Esther Rabbah proem, c
nrara waxa^ pm'^ ''an nax 'nraxn anisa 'n nn^'tr^nr .a

. - . . . _. _ • t: T ' T :• • - - T • t: • - : • ' i • v: v
nax TOxnn ianV ntin xintr;a narV tr?^ mratz^ anisaV naVi a^'aia
- T ' •T - : •• V: V Y T -T V • - : • : t t :
xVir bvrw-h nmta xm -^jna mipi niaipa rwbm •'xnr ]a pim •'an
ama ^wm "iai aniâ nx an^'xn ntr^x •'D' naxatr wxnn amijaV mm^
'n na^'ir^nr a^'nan -^^^b^ rnm 'ntn nnna ywb naah xV aaV nax ^nr
I: . v: V I •• T : v- Iv v- t ' • vt - t
naxair? annaa â-'a naitr^xnn intr?Vtrai n a a \mbm ^nraxa anisa
m^ xVi niH ani^Dr nnna ama na 'nntrV aniâ annm nn'

: TT • - : • "I • : - tiv : • - : • • i -
naaa b ' ^ k t anx im nnnn nnmr naxntr? nnp p pnv •'a-'s
: TV • .... ... - ... -. VV - T:T : - v:v v - -It 'v »t t •• •
rm i x a m;trn b^b2 mm nnV*' nia^sr pmtr^ airana 'â^'a n'îr'^Vt^^m
T : T T I • "I I • T:T T -: I • I • - : •• • • • : - :
I • I- • • I- " TI • : T T \ -: - ..... .. y , . ^
^vv^b nnaxi r\bm m^'Vnx •'aa'' iVs; ''aa'^V ''S7an na Vai p^'Vni n a x
n''::a nai pV?^^^ ^''^n ^ 1 ' ^ ' rxmn*; airana Vt? intr;xV ts^'â
"ra
xia r n a n a t r ? a a a nxn nr nVraV nanai nnVti^ pa^'îa V'Vl^ ^"f^l

par nntoa •'maV ^t?m xa^xV p^V ' p nnan pxmm pVx t r ; a a i
xj?ia£) pnna pp^'ar rnn prnair?xi xnx par xtrana xmn mn^'^xi
X 3 X pnV nax nmr\ n x r nts^xa rnxn mspa pnna na n^'Vr m
T-: ' : —: vt- v i• v -: - » vt t I; • i t" » vt t
rar ntzâna xmn 'ânm-'-'Xi par nntrra m'âV n'â'^tr^nn xntr;a xm
.|nni rnianV ps)'pn
Ed. Wilna.
Translation
A n d the Lord shall bring thee back into Egypt in ships" (Deut.
2 8 : 6 8 ) . R. Isaac said: Baanioth'' (in ships): that is, because o f pov-
erty {baaniuth) o f g o o d deeds. W h y to Egypt? Because it is loath-
some and evil for a [runaway] slave to return to his first master. R.
Simeon b. Yohai said: In three places G o d warned Israel not to re-
turn to Egypt. T h e first, as it says, "For whereas ye have seen the
Egyptians today, ye shall see them again no more for ever" (Ex.
1 4 : 1 3 ) . T h e second, as it is written, " T h e Lord hath said unto you:
Ye shall henceforth return no more that way" (Deut. 1 7 : 1 6 ) . T h e
third is our own text, "And the Lord shall bring thee back into Egypt
in ships." T h e y disobeyed all three warnings and they were punished
for all three. T h e first time was in the days o f Sennacherib, as it says,
"Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help" (Isa. 3 1 : 1 ) . W h a t fol-
lows? " N o w the Egyptians are men, and not G o d , " etc. (Isa. 3 1 : 3 ) .
T h e second time was in the days o f Johanan son o f Koreah, as it says.
T h e n it shall come to pass, that the sword, which ye fear, shall over-
take you there in the land o f E g y p t " (Jer. 4 2 : 1 6 ) . T h e third time was
in the days o f Trajan, may his bones be crushed! His wife gave birth
on the night o f the N i n t h o f Ab, when all Israel were mourning. T h e
child died on Hanukkah. Said the Jews to themselves: "Shall we light
[the H a n u k k a h lights] or not?" In the end, they said, "Let us light
[them], c o m e what may." So they ht up. People thereupon went and

maligned them to Trajan's wife saying: " T h e s e Jews, when you gave
birth, were in mourning, and now, when the child dies, they kindle
lights." She sent a letter to her husband saying: While you are subdu-
ing the Barbarians, go and subdue these Jews who have rebelled
against you. H e went on board thinking to reach them in ten days,
but a favoring wind brought him in five days. W h e n he arrived, he
found them discussing the verse, " T h e Lord will bring a nation
against thee from far, from the end o f the earth, as the vulture
swoopeth down" (Deut. 2 8 : 4 9 ) . H e said to them: "I a m the vulture
who expected to take ten days in coming, but was brought by the
wind in five days." H e then surrounded them with his legions and
slew them.
Transl. Maurice Simon, Midrash Rabbah, ed. H. Freedman and Maurice

Simon, vol. 9 (London: Soncino Press, 1939), 2-3.
No. 86
SemahotS, 15 (47b)
Dx tpV im ^x^mVa rnx oiix'^ViV Vxi DIDD nx oinno nntr^Di

^nnD DDnx Vîsn D D ^ V X xa*' , D n x n n t n Vxtr^'â mm Vtr lara
ni^maai ,rn nmm 07^22 n n t n Vxir^'â mm Ab mm .omx b^^^T]^
nxn pxi ,rtr?n ^Va nnx Vix AT bv 0 3 r\wvb nxni ,nm pm -]Va
nann ,i3nin nnx ''Xi .DipaV nrnn iia-'mna 12x1 .^n'^'-Vr 03 Dwv-^b
,Dna3 nann â^'ain nann ,DipaV tr?-' nyi^ nann ,DipaV tr?*' n'^nin
xm îna trînpn imoa xV xVx .lanix pnmi 13a praiDtr nrnx nann
p ''D bv f]x . ^ r a i3''Dn rns'^V xm îna tr^npn imv^ xVx D D T V
.rrra p o o n a ixntr? nr nm n xV :inax .pnn

Dov Zlotnick, ed. The Tractate 'Mourning (New Haven: Yale U. Press,
1966), 24 (Hebr.).
Translation
N o w when Trajan executed Pappus and Julianus, his brother, in

Laodicea, he said to them: " I f you are from the nation o f Hananiah,
Mishael, and Azariah, let your G o d c o m e and rescue you the way H e
rescued t h e m . "
T h e y said to h i m : " H a n a n i a h , Mishael, and Azariah were perfectly

righteous men, and Nebuchanezzar was a proper king. Because o f
him it was fitting that a miracle should be performed. But you are a
wicked king, and for you it is not fitting that miracle should be per-
formed. As for us, we have incurred the death penalty before the
Lord. If you d o not kill us, the Lord has many executioners, the Lord
has many destroyers: many bears, many tigers, many lions, that can
fall upon us and kill us.
T h e H o l y O n e , blessed be H e , delivered us into your hands, how-
ever, only because H e intends to exact payment for our blood at your
hands."
Nevertheless Trajan ordered them killed. It is said that they hardly
stirred from there before they saw his eyes being gouged out.
Dov Zlotnick, ed. The Tractate "Mourning (New Haven: Yale U. Press,
1966), 65 (English).
PART II
MODERN INSIGHTS
CHAPTER FOUR
THE BACKGROUND
Both in the pagan Uterary tradition and in the writings o f Christian

authors, the Jewish uprisings are depicted as extremely violent and
unpredictable. Modrzejewski^ observes that for an impartial observer,
the courage o f the Jews was nothing but folly. T h e pagan Greek
writer quoted by Eusebius could not understand how an isolated
provincial minority would dare to attack the Romans, "master o f the
inhabited earth," instead o f accepting, like everyone else (or nearly
everyone else), the benefits of the Pax Romana. H e believed that "a
terrible spirit o f rebellion" had taken hold o f the Jews {HE IV, 2 , 1).
At the beginning o f the fifth century C E , the Christian historian
Orosius, taking up the thread of Eusebius' comments, wrote that the
Jews had "become wild, as if they had been seized by rabies — quasi
rabie efferati!'^
Since ancient sources did not usually look deeply into the causes
of wars,^ we are not surprised that not even one o f these sources
raises the issue o f the causes underlying the violence o f the Jewish
upheavals. M o d e r n scholars are therefore left to wonder what may
have caused the Jews to take up arms at more or less the same time in
various countries, in itself a unique phenomenon in Jewish history.
O f course, one may recall the difficulties confronting the Jews af-
ter 7 0 C E , when the failure o f the war against the R o m a n s and the
^ Joseph Meleze Modrzejewski, The Jews of Egypt: From Rameses II to Emperor

Hadrian (transl. by Robert Cornman: Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University
Press, 1997), 205.
^ Orosius, Historiarum adversum paganos libri VII, VII, 12, 6. One could
add that similar expressions are also sometimes found in modern scholarship.
Mommsen, for example, calls this uprising "an outburst of religious bitterness of
the Jews of the kind that the East has created in all times and still does. This out-
break was like a volcano and broke out in an unpredictable way": Theodor
Mommsen, Romische Geschichte, vol. 5 (Bedin: Weidmann, 1886), 543.
^ See Arnaldo Momigliano, "Tradition and the Classical Historian," in idem,
Quinto Contributo alia storia degli studi classici e del mondo antico (Roma: Edizioni
di storia e letteratura, 1975), 26-27.
destruction o f the Temple h a d deeply altered their lives from both

the spiritual and the political points o f view. N o wonder therefore
that m a n y literary works written by Jews after 7 0 are pervaded by
messianic expectations and longing for a change in the present spir-
itual, social and political situation."^ Also (or the Jews living in the
diaspora, the consequences entailed by the failure in the Great Revolt
had had economic and social underpinnings, since the levying o f a
special Fiscus Judaicus on all Jews under R o m a n rule, irrespective o f
their status civitatis and o f their geographical residence, had m a d e it
clear that R o m e held the entire Jewish people responsible for the war
waged and lost in J u d a e a . For poorer Jews with large families the
s u m required was a considerable burden; for others, it signified igno-
miny — and strong identification with the defeated nation in
Judaea.^ In view o f the fact that in U p p e r Egypt receipts for the pay-
m e n t o f the Jewish tax demonstrate that even highly assimilated Jews
distant from J u d a e a were not exempt from this frustrating humilia-
^ See Jacob Neusner, "Judaism in a Time of Crisis: Four Responses to the De-
struction of the Second Temple," Judaism 21 (1972): 313-27; Emmanuele Testa,
"Reazioni delle correnti religiose giudaiche e cristiane sulla distruzione di
Gerusalemme (I-II secolo d.C.)," Rivista Biblica 21 (1973): 301-324; Pierre-
Maurice Bogaert, "La ruine de Jerusalem et les apocalypses juives apres 7 0 , " in
Apocalypses et thiologie de Vesperance, Congres de Toulouse 1975 (Lectio Divina 95:
Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1977), 123-41; Michael E. Stone, "Reactions to Destruc-
tion of the Second T e m p l e , " / S / 12 (1981): 195-204; idem, "The Question of the
Messiah in 4 Ezra," in Judaisms and their Messiahs at the Turn of the Christian Era
(ed. J. Neusner et aL Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987), 209-224;
James H. Charlesworth (ed.). The Messiah: Developments in Earliest Judaism and
Christianity (The First Princeton Symposion on Judaism and Christian Origins:
Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1992); William Horbury, "The Beginnings of the Jew-
ish Revolt under Trajan," in Geschichte-Tradition-Reflexion: Festschrift fiir Martin
Hengel zum 70 Geburstag vol 1 (ed. H. Cancik et ai: Tubingen: J.C.B. Mohr (R
Siebeck), 1996), 295-303; Bruce W. Longenecker, "Locating 4 Ezra: a Considera-
tion of its Social Setting and Functions," JSJ 28 (1997): 271-93 — but see now
also Edna Israeli, "Eschatology and Soteriology in the Fourth Book of Ezra (The
Ezra Apocalypse)" (Ph.D. diss., Tel Aviv University, 2002); Giulio Firpo, "II
terremoto di Antiochia del 115 d . C : echi di un'interpretazione apocalittica in
Cassio Dione 68, 24, 2?" in Gli Ebrei neWimpero romano (ed. A. Lewin: Firenze:
Editrice La Giuntina, 2001), 239.
^ Martin D. Goodman, "Diaspora Reactions to the Destruction of the Temple,"
in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways. AD. 70 to 135 (ed. J . D . G . Dunn:
Grand Rapids, Michigan and Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing
Company, 1992), 3 1 .
THE BACKGROUND 125
tion, Kerkeslager suggests that the Jews were thrust into a greater
awareness o f their own unique identity vis-a-vis others not subjected
to the Jewish tax.^
In D o m i t i a n s days, in particular, the relations between the Jews
and the R o m a n government seem to have b e c o m e so strained that
the possibility has been considered that only the death o f the em-
peror prevented open persecution o f the J e w s 7
It is, however, probable that the factors that led to the Jewish re-
volts in Trajans days also included local issues. Hengel points o u t
that the revolts broke out in those countries — Egypt, Libya, C y p r u s
— where the Jews had enjoyed a measure o f prosperity under the
Ptolemaic government, attaining a sort o f balance in the relations
^ Kerkeslager observes: "The raw imperialism of the Jewish tax and its implicit
parody of the Jerusalem Temple cult must have helped to consolidate this identity
around revolutionary tendencies. Possible evidence for this includes inscriptions
testifying to the Jewish use of the imagery of the Jerusalem temple cult during the
revolt under Trajan": Allen Kerkeslager, "Jews in Egypt and Cyrenaica 66-235 C E , "
CHJ, vol. 4 (forthcoming), n. 26-28. See also Martin Goodman, "Nerva, the Fiscus
Judaicus and Jewish identity," JRS 79 (1989): 40-44.
^ Shirley J. Case, "Josephus' Anticipation of a Domitianic P e r s e c u t i o n , " 4 4
(1925): 10-20; Paul Keresztes, "The Jews, the Christians, and Emperor Domitian,"
VChr 27 (1973): 1-28; E. Mary Smallwood, The Jews under Roman Rule (Leiden:
E.J. Brill, 1976), 353, 376-84; Tessa Rajak, review of The Jews under Roman Rule
(by E.M. Smallwood), Prolegomena to the Study of the Second Jewish Revolt (A.D.
132-135) (by S. Applebaum), Tertullien et le judaisme (by C . Azizz)JRS 69 (1979):
192; Lloyd A. Thompson, "Domitian and the Jewish Tax," Historia 31 (1982):
329-42; Ronald Syme, "Domitian: The Last Years," Chiron 13 (1983): 121-46,
repr. in Roman Papers, vol 4 (ed. A.R. Biriey: Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988), 252-
77; Margaret H. Williams, "Domitian, the Jews and the 'Judaizers'—a Simple Mat-
ter of Cupiditas and MaiestasT Historia 39 (1990): 196-211. For some doubts
about the extent of this persecution, however, see Brian W. Jones, The Emperor
Domitian (London and New York: Routledge, 1992), 118-19, who points out that
"many Jews felt very uneasy about their future, fearing expulsion at the very least,"
but "some very few Jews and Christians.. .may have had to face prosecution (i.e. for
alleged maiestas).'' Along the same lines. Southern observes that "the evidence for
the religious persecutions is slight. The treatment of the Jews was not classifiable
under the heading of anti-semitism': rather, their harassment stemmed from finan-
cial motives, pursued with crass insensitivity.. .The sources which condemn
Domitian as persecutor are none of them contemporary with him, nor is any pagan
attestation of such persecution, two factors which lend themselves to the suspicion
of fabrication. The tales can be dismissed as inventions of Christian martyrology":
Pat Southern, Domitian: Tragic Tyrant (London and New York: Routledge, 1997),
115.
with their Greek neighbors. After the R o m a n conquest, though, the

situation had changed. T h e support accorded to the Greek upper
class that ft)llowed came to alter the status q u o , bringing about a
slow deterioration o f the economic, social and political position o f
the Jews vis-a-vis their fellow Greek citizens.^
In Egypt, about which the m o s t detail is provided by extant
sources, since Augustus' days the Jews were forced to pay the tax o f
the laographia, from which they h a d been exempted in Ptolemaic
times, and since Claudius' time their political rights seem to have
been blocked.^ T h e notion that the conflict between the Jews and the
Greeks was rooted in the fact that the Jews enjoyed a privileged posi-
tion in the R o m a n world, which still shows u p in contemporary
^ Martin Hengel, "Messianische Hoffnung und politischer 'Radikalismus' in der

jiidisch-hellenistischen Diaspora. Zur Frage der Voraussetzungen der judischen
Aufstandes unter Trajan 115-7 n.Chr.," in Apocalypticism in the Ancient Mediterra-
nean World and the Near East (Proceedings of the International Colloquium on
Apocalypticism, Uppsala August 12-17, 1979: ed. D. Hellholm: Tubingen: J.C.B.
Mohr (P. Siebeck), 1989), 667, 680.
^ Concerning the payment of the laographia, see Victor A. Tcherikover, CPJ I,
pp. 55-65; idem, "The Decline of the Jewish Diaspora in Egypt in the Roman Pe-
r i o d , " 1 4 (1963): 1-32. Claudius' letter to the Alexandrians warns the Jews "not
to aim at more than they have previously had and not in future to send two embas-
sies as if they lived in two cities, a thing which has never been done before, and not
to intrude themselves into the games presided over by the gymnasiarchoi and the
kosmetaiy since they enjoy what is their own, and in a city which is not their own
they possess an abundance of all good things": CPJ II 153, col. V, 11. 88-95. See also
the comments of Tcherikover, C / y I, pp. 69-74 and, for a different interpretation,
Aryeh Kasher, The Jews in Hellenistic and Roman Egypt: The Struggle for Equal
Rights (Tubingen: J.C.B. Mohr, 1985), 325-26.
Cruse, for example, maintains that "the Jews who dwelt in the cities and
towns with the Greeks and Gentiles, and had equal freedom thereof with them, fre-
quently disagreed with them, tumults being usually raised by reason of their differ-
ent religions. For the Greeks scorned that the Jews should be fellow citizens with
them, and enjoy the same privileges; on the other hand, the Jews would not live in
a meaner condition than the rest of the citizens. Hence arose frequent contentions":
Christian F. Crus^, The Ecclesiastic History of Eusebius Pamphilius, Bishop ofCaesarea
in Palestine (London: G. Bell and Sons, Ltd., 1911), 117. See also Jean Juster, Les
Juijs dans Vempire romain: leur condition juridique, economique et sociale, vol. 1
(Paris: Paul Geuthner, 1914; repr. in Burt Franklin Research & Source Works Se-
ries 79: New York: Burt Franklin, 1965), 213-4, 232-3 and Smallwood, The Jews,
120-43.
THE BACKGROUND 127
scholarship,^^ is hardly tenable t o d a y . T h e Jews clearly had many

good reasons for resentment, which would well explain why the re-
volt broke out in those countries previously governed by the Ptolemies
but not, for example, in Syria, in Greece or in Asia Minor.
In Cyrenaica, Libyan incursions and R o m a n mismanagement of
former Ptolemaic royal lands seem to have impoverished tenant
farmers, many o f w h o m were Jewish descendants o f military colo-
nists settled on these lands by the Ptolemies. In Egypt, beyond pos-
sible economic issues, the reasons for the uprising o f the Jews were
certainly grounded in a deep conflict with their Greek neighbors,
which goes back to Ptolemaic times, as we find in the writings o f
Manetho,^^ if we are allowed to believe Josephus in this regard. Evi-
dence o f anti-Jewish propaganda is also found in a papyrus written
in the first century B C E , which attests to popular hatred o f the
Jews.18
T h e civil strife between the Jews and the Greeks o f Alexandria had
escalated to the use o f arms several times in the eighty years before
Trajans time. D u r i n g Caligulas reign, in 3 8 , the first p o g r o m in Jew-
ish history had taken place in Alexandria with the connivance o f the
^ ^ "The principal source of tension had originally been the privileged positions
held by Jews in many of the eastern communities, for they were often favoured by
the nobility both as merchants and for their military skills": Julian Bennet, Trajan,
Optimus Princeps: A Life and Times (London: Routledge, 1997), 201.
See Miriam Pucci Ben Zeev, Jewish Rights in the Roman World: The Greek and
Roman Documents Quoted by Josephus Flavins (Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism
74: ed. M. Hengel and P. Schafer: Tubingen: J.C.B. Mohr [Paul Siebeck], 1998),
451-82.
See Hengel, "Messianische Hoffnung," 665 and Goodman, "Diaspora Reac-
tions," 36.
See Shimon A p p l e b a u m , a n d Greeks in Ancient Cyrene (Leiden: E.J. Brill,
1979), 202-20 and Kerkeslager, "Jews in Egypt and Cyrenaica," n. 18.
Also among the Jews there may have been reactions to the change in taxation
that took place near the end of Trajan's reign, probably between 114 and 115 C E .
See Pieter J. Sijpesteijn, "Tax Reforms under Trajan," ZPE A2 (1981): 115-16.
C. Ap, 1, 73-91; 228-52 = Menahem Stern, Greek and Latin Authors on Jews
and Judaism, vol. 1 (Jerusalem: The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities,
1974), 19-21, pp. 66-86.
See Miriam Pucci Ben Zeev, "The Reliability of Josephus Flavins: The Case
of Hecataeus' and Manetho's Accounts of Jews and Judaism: Fifteen Years of Con-
temporary Research ( 1 9 7 9 - 1 9 9 0 ) , " / S / 1 (1993): 215-34.
CPJ I, 141.
local R o m a n prefect, provoking the armed reaction o f the Jews at

the beginning o f Claudius' reign.^^ O n e generation later, in 6 6 , at
the time when the war against R o m e began in Judaea, another epi-
sode o f civil unrest involving Greeks and Jews took place in Alexan-
dria. O n c e again, the R o m a n s sided with the Greeks.^^
After the defeat o f the war fought against R o m e in Judaea, the
position o f the Jews vis-a-vis their Greek neighbors in the diaspora,
too, had b e c o m e more precarious. A t Antioch, for example, the
Greeks asked Titus to expel the Jews from the city,-^^ and the same
m a y have taken place in other locations as well.
Josephus tells us that after the fall o f M a s a d a — and unfortunately
we cannot verify his account against any other source — a n u m b e r
o f Sicarii succeeded in fleeing to E g y p t and "again embarked on
revolutionary schemes, and sought to induce m a n y o f their hosts to
assert their independence, to look u p o n the R o m a n s as no better
than themselves and to esteem G o d alone as their lord." T h e s e sicarii
See Philos In Flaccum and Legatio ad Gaium.

20 Sec Ant. 1 9 , 2 7 8 .
2^ Unfortunately, our only source is the testimony of Josephus, which is there-
fore impossible to check. Josephus tells us that the Roman prefect, Tiberius Alexan-
der, understood that nothing but inflicting a severe lesson would quell the Jews, so
he "let loose upon them the two Roman legions stationed in the city...Permission
was given to them not merely to kill the rioters but to plunder their property and
burn down their houses. The troops, therefore, rushed to the quarter of the city
called *Delta,' where the Jews were concentrated, and executed their orders...Death
in every form was theirs; some were caught in the plain, others driven into their
houses, to which the Romans set fire after stripping them of their contents; there
was no pity for infancy, no respect for years: all ages fell before their murderous
career.. .Alexander, now moved to compassion, ordered the Romans to retire. They,
broken to obedience, ceased massacring at the first signal; but the Alexandrian
populace in the intensity of their hate were not so easily called off and were with
difficulty torn from the corpses" {Bell. 2, 487-98).
22 "The people of Antioch, on hearing that Titus was at hand, through joy
could not bear to remain within their walls, but hastened to meet him...And when
they beheld him approaching, they lined the road on either side and greeted him
with extended arms, and invoking all manner of blessing upon him returned in his
train: but all their acclamations were accompanied by a running petition to expel
the Jews from the town" {Bell. 7, 100-103).
2^ Kerkeslager observes that after 70, the status of the Jews as defeated enemies
of Rome offered a new pretext for local efforts to deprive Jews of their position (in-
cluding citizenship and civic posts) by legal or more violent means: Kerkeslager,
"Jews in Egypt and Cyrenaica," n. 13. See also Goodman, "Diaspora Reactions," 30.
THE BACKGROUND 129
fleeing from Judaea, Josephus goes on, having met "with opposition
from certain Jews o f rank, they murdered them; the rest they contin-
ued to press with solicitations to revolt. Observing their infatuation,
the leaders o f the council o f elders, thinking it no longer safe for
them to overlook their proceedings, convened a general assembly o f
the Jews and exposed the madness o f the sicarii^ proving them to
have been responsible for all their troubles... They, accordingly, ad-
vised the assembly to beware o f the ruin with which they were men-
aced by these men and, by delivering them up, to make their peace
with the Romans."^^ Their treason, however, did not work out as
they hoped. According to Josephus, the R o m a n s not only tortured
and killed the Judaean sicarii but at the same time also took a stand
against the Jewish community as a whole, closing up the activity o f
the temple o f Onias at Leontopolis,^^ which, as far as we know, had
been quite inoffensive, never yet having served as a rallying point for
hostility to R o m e o f any kind.^^^
Something very similar transpired in Libya. Again, we have only
Josephus' version o f the facts, the interpretation o f which is compli-
cated furthermore by the fact that Josephus himself happened to be
involved in the consequences o f the event. Josephus writes that one
of the Judaean sicarii, Jonathan, "took refuge in Cyrene, won the ear
of not a few o f the indigent class, and led them forth into the desert,
promising them a display o f signs and apparitions. . . . T h e men of
rank a m o n g the Jews o f Cyrene reported his exodus and preparations
to Catullus, the governor o f the Libyan Pentapolis. Catullus, having
dispatched a body o f horse and foot, easily overpowered the unarmed
crowd, the greater number o f w h o m perished in the encounter. "^^
2^ Bell. 7, 407-415.
2^ "Lupus, the governor of Alexandria...having carried off some of the votive
offerings, shut up the building. Lupus dying soon after, Paulinus, his successor in
office, completely stripped the place of its treasures, threatening the priests with se-
vere penalties if they failed to produce them all, prohibited would-be worshippers
from approaching the precincts, and, closing the gates, debarred all access, as to
leave thenceforth no vestige of divine worship on the spot" {Bell 7, 433-36).
2^ See Goodman, "Diaspora Reactions," 31.
2^ Bell 7, 437-39. Horsley and Hanson observe that the resistance movement
led by Jonathan the weaver in Cyrene appears in Josephus' portrayal less like the
sicarii and more like the popular prophetic movements led by Theudas and "the
Egyptian": Richard A. Horsley and John S. Hanson, BanditSy Prophets & Messiahs:
Popular Movements in the Time of Jesus (2d ed.: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Trinity
Press International, 1999), 215.
Accusations were then put forward by Jonathan against the wealthi-

est elements o f the Jewish community and also against other leading
figures o f the diaspora, including Josephus himself
T h i s is one o f the first times that we learn not only about different
social and political positions but also about a real schism inside the
Jewish diaspora community.
Hengel argues that afi:er these events, both in Egypt and in Libya,
the upper social strata o f the Jewish population probably tried to
conserve their loyalty to R o m e , avoiding tension with their neigh-
bors, while the lowest strata were apparently more and more influ-
enced by messianic political hopes.^^
About these hopes we learn from some oracles o f the fifth b o o k o f
the Sibylline Oracles, apparently written in Egypt in the days o f
D o m i t i a n and o f Trajan and finally edited at the beginning o f Hadri-
an s time, which is our only document from any strand o f Egyptian
Judaism at that time. These oracles attest to a deep religious contrast
between Jews and pagans, along with visions of apocalyptic terror
and the anger o f G o d against the pagans after the destruction o f the
Temple, an anger that takes the form o f a cosmic catastrophe, a war
of the whole world. Collins points out that the strong expectation o f
a savior figure in the fifth b o o k o f the Sibyl reflects a messianic ex-
pectation and may even have helped arouse it. True, the expected
Messiah was a heavenly being, but this does not exclude the possibil-
ity o f his appearing and acting on earth, and there may have been a
direct continuity between the ideology o f the Sibyl and that o f the
Jewish revolt.^^
28 Bell. 7, 441-50; Vita 424. See Morton Smith, "Messiahs: Robbers, Jurists,
Prophets, and Magicians," AAJR 44 (1977): 191; Richard A. Horsley, "Popular
Prophetic Movements at the Time of Jesus. Their Principal Features and Social Ori-
g i n s , " / W J 26 (1986), 3-27; Horsley and Hanson, Bandits, Prophets & Messiahs,
215; Goodman, "Diaspora Reactions," 30.
2^ Hengel, "Messianische Hoffnung," 666.
^0 See John J. Collins, The Sibylline Oracles of Egyptian Judaism (Dissertation
Series 13. Missoula, Mont.: Society of Biblical Literature and Scholars' Press for the
Pseudepigrapha Group, 1974), 94. See also Hengel, "Messianische Hoffnung,"
668-69, 678-79; John J. Collins, "The Development of the Sibylline Tradition,"
ANRWW, 20, 1 (1987): 436-37; idem. Seers, Sibyls, and Sages in Hellenistic-Roman
Judaism (Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism, V, 54. Leiden-New
York-Koln: E.J. Brill, 1997). See also Stephen Felder, "What is the Fifth Sibylline
O r a c l e , " / 5 / 3 3 (2002): 363-85. Against the use of the Sibylline Oracles for histori-
THE BACKGROUND 131
T h e mutual antagonism o f J u d a i s m and the pagan cults finds

strong expression in the Fifth Sibyl: "they labor hard, evil men evil
things awaiting, wrath o f the immortal Thunderer in heaven, wor-
shipping stones and beasts instead o f G o d , and also fearing many
things besides which have no speech, nor mind, nor power to hear;
which things it is not right for m e to mention, each one an idol,
formed by mortal hands; of their own labors and presumptuous
thoughts did men receive gods made o f w o o d and stone and brass,
and gold and silver, foolish too, without life and d u m b , molten in
the fire they made them, vainly trusting such things."^^ Explicit ref-
erence to the destruction o f pagan temples is also found in the Sibyl,
which foretells the desolation of the temples o f Sarapis and o f Isis.
Sarapis was a syncretic deity, a Greek representation o f the Egyptian
g o d Osiris-Apis, regarded as protector o f the Alexandrian city whose
cult had from its very beginning unmistakably political overtones.^^
Against Sarapis, we read in the Sibylline Oracles: "Sarapis, who art
placed on many glistening stones, a ruin vast shalt thou in thrice
unhappy Egypt lie. But those w h o m love o f Egypt led to thee shall
all lament thee badly; but who put imperishable reason in their
breast, and who praised G o d , shall know thee to be naught. "^^
A long tradition o f antagonism is also attested between the Jews
and Isis, the goddess that by the R o m a n period had become one o f
the chief Egyptian deities, the guardian o f both fertility and the royal
and national orders. B o t h voices — that o f the Jews and that o f the
Greeks — h a v e reached us. A Greek papyrus dating to the third cen-
tury C E and possibly deriving from the Hellenistic period casts the
Jews as "lawbreakers once expelled from Egypt by the wrath o f
Isis."^"^ "Attack the J e w s ! " the prophecy proclaims, since "impious
cal purposes, Goodman points out that "the complex psychology of the author of
such oracles, whose success depended on his (or her?) ability to achieve the tone of
a pagan prophetess, precludes use of such material as reliable evidence of Jewish
self-perception in this period" (Goodman, "Diaspora Reactions," 29).
Sibylline Oracles 5, 103-115.
^2 See Jean Gag^, "L'empereur romain devant Serapis," Ktema 1 (1976): 145-66
and Miriam Pucci Ben Zeev, "Greek Attacks against Alexandrian Jews during Em-
peror Trajans R e i g n , " / S / 2 0 (1989): 47.
C/y III, 520. See Menahem Stern, C P / I I I , p. 120; Ludwig Koenen, review
of V. Tcherikover and A. Fuks (eds.), Corpus Papyrorum Judaicarum, 2, Gnomon 40
(1968): 257-58 and Gideon Bohak, " C P / III, 520: The Egyptian Reaction to
people will despoil your temples" and "your largest temple will be-
come <sand> for horses (or crocodiles?)." T h e Jews are thereby
shown to be destroyers o f native religion and shrines; indeed, they
are instruments o f the temples' return to a state o f primordial
chaos.^^ As for the Jews, we read in the Sibylline Oracles: "Worn out
a m I, thrice-miserable one, sister o f Isis, to pay up in heart an evil
message, and an inspired song o f oracles. First Maenades shall dart
around thy much-lamented temples steps, and thou shalt be in evil
hands that day when the Nile some time shall fill the whole land o f
Egypt even to sixteen cubits deep..."^^ Further on, again, we read:
"Isis, thrice wretched goddess, thou alone shalt on the waters o f the
Nile remain, a M a e n a d out o f order on the sands o f Acheron, and no
longer shall remain remembrance o f thee over all the earth. "^^
It appears therefore to be no accident that during the uprising in
Trajans reign, both in Libya and in Egypt, action was taken by the
Jews against pagan temples.^^ Evidence o f anti-Jewish propaganda is
attested not only in the literary testimonies o f Manetho, Lysimachus,
Apion and Chaeremon cited by Josephus^^ but also in papyrological
findings. In the first century B C E , at M e m p h i s , the royal and
priestly center o f traditional Egypt where the Jews were later to be
defeated by Greeks and Egyptians,^^ a letter was written referring to
popular hatred of Jews."^^
Onias' T e m p l e , " / 5 / 2 6 (1995): 32-41. I wish to thank Prof. Allen Kerkeslager for
drawing my attention to the chronological problems concerning this text.
David Frankfurter, "Lest Egypt's City Be Deserted: Religion and Ideology in
the Egyptian Response to the Jewish Revolt (116-117 C E ) , " / / 5 43 (1992): 208.
37 Sibylline Oracles 5, 649-53.
38 See the testimony of the inscriptions found in Libya and that of Appian
(above, pp. 6-10 and 77-78) and comments by Frankfurter, "Lest Egypt's City Be
Deserted," 211, n. 43. According to Goodman, it should be admitted that there is
litde evidence of attacks on temples elsewhere in the regions affected by the revolt,
and that the weight of information from Cyrene may simply reflect the extent of gen-
eral destruction in the city, but the same phenomenon may also be accounted for by
the intensity of archaeological investigation in Cyrene compared to that in the rest of
the region. "Nonetheless", Goodman concludes, "with all such caveats accepted, it
seems likely that the obvious explanation is the best: that the Jewish rebels deliber-
ately destroyed the shrines of paganism" (Goodman, "Diaspora Reactions," 35).
39 See Stern, GLAJJ, vol. 1, pp. 62-86; 382-421.
^« C P / I I , 439. See above, pp. 33-34 and below, p. 170,
"You know that they loathe the Jews" (CPJ I, 141). See Roger R^mondon,
THE BACKGROUND 133
Jewish feeUngs are reported in the SibyUine Oracles, where we

read: " M e m p h i s , thou most shalt over Egypt wail; for o f old ruling
mightily the land thou shalt become poor, so that out o f heaven the
Thunderer shall himself with great voice cry: ' O mighty M e m p h i s ,
who didst boast o f old o'er craven mortals greatly, thou shalt wail full
o f pain and all-hapless, so that thou thyself shalt the eternal G o d per-
ceive immortal in the clouds. Where a m o n g men is now thy mighty
pride? Because thou didst against m y God-anointed children rave,
and didst urge evil forward on g o o d men, thou shalt for such things
suffer penalty in some like manner. N o more openly for thee shall
there be right a m o n g the blessed; fallen from the stars, thou shalt not
rise to heaven'."^^
At the beginning o f Trajan's reign, two episodes o f violent conflict
between Jews and Greeks at Alexandria are attested by papyri.
T h e first episode emerges from C P / I I 157 (= R Oxy. UAl). Two
delegations, one of Greeks and one o f Jews, show up before Trajan at
R o m e . Trajan is portrayed as being swayed by his wife's partiality for
the Jews and is accused o f having his council "fiill o f impious Jews."
In the end, the story o f a miracle occurs: the statue o f Sarapis begins
to perspire.
T h e historical value o f this text, which belongs to the so-called
"Acts o f the Alexandrines," is highly problematic. In past times, these
Acts were basically seen as not historical, but in more recent times
scholars have suggested that these texts d o reflect real historical facts,
inserting them in a fictional framework and manipulating them with
strong political bias.^^ As Momigliano puts it, this kind o f literature
is "a novel based on historical data, and, consequently, valid as a his-
"Les antisemites de Memphis {PIFAO inv. 104 = CPJ 141)/' CE 69/70 (1960):
244-61.
^2 Sibylline Oracles 5, 85-100. Again, below {Sibylline Oracles 5, 243-56), we
read: "Memphis, first in toils, thou shalt be filled up with the dead; in thee the
pyramids shall speak a ruthless sound....Reckless in evils, treasury of toils, much-
wailing Maenad, suffering dire ills, much weeping, thou a widow shalt remain
through all time." See Collins, Seers, Sibyls and Sages, 209-210.
See the different views of scholars such as Wilcken, Wilamowitz-Moellen-
dorff, Mommsen, Deissmann, Reinach and Schultess, on one hand, and of Bauer,
Reitzenstein, Gefifcken and Holl on the other hand. Bibliographical details are
found in Herbert A. Musurillo, The Acts of the Pagan Martyrs (London: Clarendon
Press, 1954, repr. New York: Arno Press, 1975), 259-60, 263.
torical source if used with appropriate caution. T h e problem is

that the dividing line between fact and fiction remains difficult to
draw,^^ the more so since the Acts o f the Alexandrians are strongly
influenced by the contemporary Alexandrian novel.^^ Wilcken con-
sidered anti-Semitism merely "eine sekundare Nebenerscheinung,"
but Musurillo emphasizes that it was this a n d more, for the Acta re-
flect tensions which actually existed at Alexandria and which became
more acute at certain times.^^
In C / y II, 157, the long list o f the participants in the delegations
which appear before Trajan (col. I, 11. 3 - 1 6 ) , s o m e o f w h o m are his-
torically identifiable,^^ m a y point to a historical background, m a -
nipulated in col. II and III for political aims.^^ T h e representatives o f
the Greek delegations are m e n from the gymnasiarch class —
Dionysios, Pastor the gymnasiarch, Philoxenos the gymnasiarch-
elect, Sotion the gymnasiarch, T h e o n — a n d this m a y be taken to
Arnaldo Momigliano, "Un nuovo frammento dei cosiddetti Atti dei Martiri
pagani," Pont. Acc. Rom. di Arch. 7 (1931): 119-27, repr. in: idem, Quinto Contri-
buto alia storia degli studi classici e del mondo antico (Roma: Edizioni di storia e
letteratura, 1975), 789-98. Against this view, Loewe argues that these texts repre-
sent a particular genre of klein-literature or rather mischief-making (Verhetzungs-
literatur): Raphael Loewe, "A Jewish Counterpart to the Acts of the Alexandri-
n i a n s , " i / 5 12 (1961): 107.
John A. Crook, Consilium Principis: Imperial Councils and Counsellors from
Augustus to Diocletian (Cambridge: University Press, 1955, repr. New York: Arno
Press, 1975), 134.
From the Alexandrian novel the Acts of the Alexandrians derive many ele-
ments, which include the patriotic motif (pride of birth, Greek piety, love of native
city and pride of office), the pathetic or "martyr-motif," the use of trial scenes and
scenes of violent emotion, and propaganda motifs such as anti-Semitism and anti-
Roman bitterness, which insists on the injustice of the Romans, Roman tyranny,
the emperors ignoble birth, Roman avarice, weakness of the Roman people and of
the Roman emperors, criticism of Roman government and the charge that Romans
lack culture. See Musurillo, The Acts, 253-57.
^7 Musurillo, The Acts, 257.
^8 See Joseph Meleze Modrzejewski, "Trajan et les Juifs: propagande alexandrine
et contre-propagande rabbinique," in Problhmes d'Histoire du Christianisme: propa-
gande et contre-propagande religieuses (ed. J. Marx: Bruxelles: Editions de 1' Univer-
site de Bruxelles, 1987), 11-12.
^9 Fuks suggests that these papyri deal with true historical events {CPJII, p. 82).
O n the protocols in these papyri, on the record of the speeches and the rhetorical
elements, see Musurillo, The Acts, 249-52. As for the size of provincial embassies to
Rome, see G. A. Souris, "The Size of the Provincial Embassies to the Emperor un-
der the Principate," Z P ^ 4 8 (1982): 235-44 (espec. 236 and 242).
THE BACKGROUND 135
mean that those involved in this conflict with the Jews were the men
who filled Alexandria's highest magistracies, the same families and
the same circles who wrote these Acta — educated Greeks with pride
of blood, influential and perhaps wealthy, who could control the
clubs and hire men to compose these pieces from the scraps o f re-
ports or from copies o f the actual protocols.^^
T h e delegations o f Greeks and o f Jews appear before the emperor
Trajan, each one carrying its own deities. In the case o f the Greeks,
the statue o f Sarapis;^^ as for the Jews, the text is mutilated at this
point.^^ Modrzejewski observes that here the verb PaaxaJ^siv (col. I,
11. 17-18), "porter en procession," has a technical character and cor-
responds to a practice according to which a statue accompanied an
embassy and protected it during the voyage.^^ T h e place o f the audi-
ence, R o m e , is mentioned twice (col. II, 1. 2 3 , col. Ill, 1. 5 4 ) , which
would mean that this episode had taken place before the autumn o f
113, when Trajan left R o m e for the East, never to return. Since
11. 2 3 - 2 4 o f col. II point out that the delegations arrived at R o m e af-
ter the end of the winter, the spring o f 113 could be taken as the ter-
minus ante q u e m for this embassy to Trajan.
T h e attitude o f the R o m a n imperial house is represented as hostile
towards the Greeks. Trajans wife Plotina is said to have approached
the senators in order that they might oppose the Alexandrians and
support the Jews (col. II, 11. 2 6 - 2 8 ) , while Trajan denies the Greeks
the right o f saluting him after they dared to c o m m i t Toiauxa x a X s i c a
against the Jews (col. II, 11. 35-37),^^ /aXsTra which since Weber's
^0 They would be prepared "for private circulation only" — for private recita-
tion, perhaps, at home or in the local clubs or gymnasia. The texts would have been
adapted with additions and changes by various hands with varying degrees of com-
petence. Bits of hearsay would be inserted. In some, the original rhetor might have
had a hand in the redaction; in others, such as, for example, our text, a tale from an
older aretalogy would be interpolated: Musurillo, The Acts, 273-74.
See Maria J6zefowics-Dzielska, "La participation du milieu d'Alexandrie k la
discussion sur I'idâl du souverain dans les deux premiers si^cles de Tempire
romain," Eos GA (1976): 49.
^2 Weber suggests that the Jews might have carried their Holy Writings:
WiUhelm Weber, "Eine Gerichtsverhandlung vor Kaiser Traian," Hermes 50 (1915):
56, n. 1.
^3 Md^ze Modrzejewski, "Trajan et les Juifs," 13.
On this expression, see Weber, "Eine Gerichtsverhandlung," 57-58 and
Horbury, "The Beginnings," 293.
days have been identified with an anti-Jewish attack.^^ T h e Greeks,

on their part, accuse Trajan o f showing favoritism toward the Jews:
"It grieves us to see your C o u n c i l filled with impious J e w s " (col. I l l ,
42-43),^^ and s o m e lines later we read: " . . . y o u ought to help your
own people, and not play the advocate for the impious J e w s " (col.
I l l , 11. 48-50).57
It appears that it was the behavior o f the Greek towards the Jews
that was responsible for the R o m a n attitude. It has also been sug-
gested that this attack is related to Greek coins issued at Alexandria
in 1 1 1 / 1 1 2 C E , which depict the bust o f Sarapis held aloft by two
winged Nikai above a globe, and m a y be interpreted as a symbolic
representation o f a Greek victory over the Jews. T h e relation o f these
coins to the event, however, is far from certain.^^ It is also not impos-
sible, though it cannot be proved, that it is these events that are re-
ferred to by P. Standford inv. G . 9 3 bv, which predicts a violent event
in Egypt to take place in the fourteenth year o f an unidentified em-
peror, in which case our episode w o u l d have taken place in 110.^^
55 See Weber, "Eine Gerichtsverhandlung," 80; Michael Rostovtzeff, "Pax

Augusta C l a u d i a n a , " / £ ^ 12 (1926): 26-28; Harold I. Bell, "Antisemitism in Alex-
andria," JRS 31 (1941): 14; Lelia Cracco Ruggini, "L'imperatore, il Serapeo e i
filosofi," in Religione e politica nel mondo antico (ed. M. Sordi: Milano: Pubblica-
zioni della Universita del Sacro Cuore, 1981), 198 and Modrzejewski, The Jews of
Egypt, Y)?)S1, Biriey, too, accepts the historical nucleus of this papyrus: "Trajan
had been appealed to not long before he left Italy, and had favoured the Jews, ac-
cording to an Alexandrian Greek version preserved on papyrus": Anthony R. Biriey,
Hadrian: the Restless Emperor (London: Roudedge, 1997), 72. As for the speeches
of Dio Chrysostom, they are apparently not to be linked to these disorders. See
Musurillo, The Acts, 167 and Tcherikover, CPJW, p. 86.
5^ O n the council referred to here, see Md^ze Modrzejewski, "Trajan et les
Juifs," 14, 2 1 .
57 Among Egyptian Greeks, "impious" was evidently a common accusation of,
and derogatory term for, Jews. Its popular associations derived from the image of
the "Typhonians," the chaotic invading force in the Potters Oracle. Typhon was the
Greek name of Seth, the Egyptian god who opposed Horus and Osiris, and there-
fore kingship, order, fertility and national stability. Seth was the power of the desert
and its beasts, of boundary-territories and of foreigners in general: he was the god
of the marginal and the enemy of the gods. See Frankftirter, "Lest Egypt's City Be
Deserted," 210.
58 As Tcherikover points out, an image of Sarapis seated on a throne appears on
the Alexandrian coins as early as the second year of Trajan ( C P / I I , p. 86.)
59 The content lacks chronological details. Shelton connects it with the revolt
of the Bucohi: John C. Shelton, "An Astrological Prediction of Disturbances in
Egypt," AncSoc 7 (1976): 209-213.
THE BACKGROUND 137
T h e second episode o f hostiUties against the Jews is attested by

CPJ II 4 3 5 , a papyrus belonging to a completely different genre.
This is a document o f the R o m a n chancellery, probably issued by the
R o m a n prefect in office at the time, M . Rutilius Lupus.^^ It deals
with an episode o f civil strife between the Greeks and the Jews o f
Alexandria and is dated 14 October 115.^^
Since its first publication this text has been connected with the
events o f the Jewish uprising and regarded as confirmation o f
Eusebius' HE, which states that the revolt started in the eighteenth
year o f Trajans reign. Close examination o f this text, however, raises
serious doubts about its relation with the so-called Jewish revolt.
Katzoff was the first to see this, when in 1980 he observed in pass-
ing that this fragmentary text o f proclamation "calls for an end to
outburst, probably o f Alexandrians against the Jews".^^ S o m e years
later, and without seeing his work, examination of the content o f
CPJ II, 4 3 5 vis-a-vis the testimony o f the papyri led me to the same
conclusion. T h e papyrus, which reflects the point o f view o f a R o -
man authority, apparently the R o m a n prefect, displays a critical atti-
tude towards the Greeks and not towards the Jews as we would ex-
pect if it had been written at the time of the Jewish uprising. T h e
Jews complain: " T h e n someone will say that the people who dared
this were f e w . . . a n d are preparing fire and weapons against us" (col.
II, 11. 2 2 - 2 7 , col. I l l , 1. 1). Moreover, the attack against the Jews is
defined as a mistake by the R o m a n authority: "some o f these errors
could perhaps have had an excuse before . . . but now they are pur-
poseless judgments, which have never been permitted" (col. I l l , 11.
2 4 - 2 6 , col. IV, 11. 1-3). Against the promoters o f the disorders the
On M. Rutilius Lupus, see below, pp. IJA-IG.

This papyrus was written in the nineteenth year of an emperor whose name
is badly preserved. Cazzanigas suggestion of reading here the name of Trajan
(Ignazio Cazzaniga, "Torbidi giudaici nellTgitto Romano nel secondo secolo di
Cristo: un papiro della R. University di Milano," Ann, de Vlnst. de PhiloL et dHist.
Orient et Slaves 5 (1937): 161) has been later confirmed by a new reading by Prof
Claudio Gallazzi, who was kind enough to check again the papyrus, discovering
precise traces of the name of Trajan. See Marina Pucci, " C / y II 158, 435 e la rivolta
ebraica al tempo di Traiano,"ZP£' 51 (1983): 100, n. 17. As for the day, it is 14
October and not 13 October as it appears in C/y II, p. 228, since that was a leap
year. See Modrzejewski, The Jews of Egypt, 201.
^2 Ranon Katzoff, "Sources of Law in Roman Egypt: The Role of the Prefect,"
ANRWW, 13 (1980): 813.
R o m a n authority has harsh words,^^ and the arrival o f a judge is

mentioned, who has been sent by the emperor to investigate (col. I l l ,
15-16). T h e fact that the emperor decides to open an inquiry is ex-
tremely meaningful. In the middle o f the Jewish revolt, the emperor
would have sent not a judge but his best generals and military forces,
as in fact we learn from Eusebius he did later on.
It is evident that CPJ II 4 3 5 has to be considered as evidence not
for the Jewish revolt, but, on the contrary, for an attack perpetrated
by the Greeks of Alexandria against the Jews: this conclusion^^ is en-
dorsed also by Schwartz^^ and some years later, apparently independ-
ently, by Barnes, who observes that the papyrus need not have any
direct connection with the revolt at all. It relates rather to "inter-
communal street-rioting o f the type long known in Alexandria" at a
time when the rebellion had not yet begun or had not yet spread
from Cyrene to the rural districts o f Egypt. Close inspection reveals
that the official R o m a n attitude to the Jews is still "moderate and ju-
dicial," with the verdict o f a judge sent by Trajan to investigate the
incidents being awaited. There is no sign o f any "war-psychosis" in
the prefect s edict and the R o m a n authorities have not yet lost con-
trol of events.^^
To be sure, there are details o f this episode which remain difficult
to interpret, such as the "battle o f the Romans against the Jews"
mentioned in col. I l l , 1. 2 6 and col. IV, 1. 1 as having taken place in
the past, a battle impossible to identify since the last attested R o m a n
^3 "The wickedness of the few can justly be called a reproach to the whole city.
I know that most of them are slaves; that is why their masters are blamed. I there-
fore bid them all not to simulate anger for the sake of profit. They should recognize
that we now know who they are. Let them not trust to my indulgence..." (col. Ill,
11. 5-12). See also Gedalia Alon, The Jews in their Land in the Talmudic Age 70-640
CE., vol. 2 (ed. G. Levi: Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1984), 399.
^ See Pucci, " C P / I I , 158, 4 3 5 , " 95-103.
^5 Jacques Schwartz, "Quelques reflexions a propos de Acta Alexandrinorum,"
ZPE 57 (1984): 130.
Timothy D. Barnes, "Trajan and the J e w s , " / / 5 40 (1989): 153-54. Barnes'
view is followed by John M.G. Barclay, Jews in the Mediterranean Diaspora: from
Alexander to Trajan (323 BCE-117 CE) (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1996), 78.
Against this interpretation, Haas follows Tcherikover and Fuks interpreting CPJ II,
435 as referring to the Jewish revolt: Cristopher Haas, Alexandria in Late Antiquity:
Topography and Social Conflict (Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins Univer-
sity Press, 1997), 100-110.
THE BACKGROUND 139
military action against the Jews goes back to the years 6 6 and 7 3
CE.^'^ Barnes argues that this battle was "an Alexandrian episode
with local causes and local effects, "^^ both o f which remain unfortu-
nately unclear.
T h e events mentioned in C / y II, 4 3 5 are probably referred to also
in C / y II, 158,^^ which presents excerpts from the record o f a delega-
tion o f Jews and Greeks before an emperor, followed by the imperial
decision (col. V I , 11. 2 8 - 2 9 and col. V I I ) . T h e place and the n a m e o f
the emperor are not mentioned,^^ but it appears that it was written
after the edict o f L u p u s preserved in CPJ II, 4 3 5 , since it contains
precise references to it.-^^
In both texts, those responsible for the disorders are slaves, backed
by their masters,-^^ a n d obscure references appear to a theatrical rep-
^7 See above, pp. 128-29.

Barnes, "Trajan and the Jews," 154.
^9 Against this possibiUty, see Haas, Alexandria in Late Antiquity, 102. As for
CPJ II, 158, it is considered as a single document according by Tcherikover, while
Schwartz identifies in it three discrete though contemporary documents of similar
inspiration. The first (col. I-III) would be a report of the embassy, the second (col.
IV-V) a part of the Acta Theonis and the third (col. VI-VIII) a part of the Acta
Antonini: Schwartz, "Quelques reflexions," 130-32.
7^ The emperor is called auxoxpocTcop (col. I, 1. 8), Kataap (col. II, 1. 1; col. I l l ,
1. 16; col. IV, 1. 1; col. VI, 11. 6, 8) and xtSpioc (col. I l l , 1. 14; col. VI, 1. 8). Follow-
ing the suggestion of Cronert of reading PITS in col. V, 1. 3, and restoring TAFX]FXT.£,
who would be the prefect of Egypt Rammius Martialis (?), in office since the end of
August 117, Tcherikover has identified him with Hadrian. The reading (XTE, how-
ever, is far from certain. Premerstein, for example, reads here (XI. Moreover, a voca-
tive such asTocfji] (XI.£ would imply that the prefect was present at the audience as
one of the speakers, which is not altogether very probable. Events which took place
in the past are referred to in C P / I I , 158 a, col. V, 1. 11, where we read that these
facts took place at the time of ]ou KABAPOI;. Tcherikover restores Tpatavjou
Kataapoi; {CPJ II, p. 97) but KXauSi]o^ Kataapot; would not be impossible, the
more so since events which occurred in Claudius' time are mentioned in col. IV, 1.
13 (xal KXauStavou). In view of the similarity of the subjects treated in this docu-
ment to those mentioned in CPJ 435, one might instead assume that the emperor
who appears here is Trajan, which is also suggested by the references to the Dacian
wars appearing in col. I, 1. 13.
For precise references to an edict of Lupus see CPJ II 158 (col. I, 11. 4-5):
STAXAYFJIA AVEYVCO [TOU?] A O U T T O U ; (col. I l l , 11. 21-22): 6 enoipxoQ (XOU IV SKEGETO
STAXAYFXATT. SY)XOL, and col. IV, 11. 2-4: 0£COV AV£Yv[CO T O V U7ROFXVYJ[I,ATT]G(X6V AOUTTOU
£V [CBT £ X £ X £ U £ TRAPASOUVAJ TOC OTcXa.
^•^ "I know that most of them are slaves; that is why their masters are blamed"
resentation held in the theater o f the city. In CPJ II, 4 3 5 the refer-
ences are extremely fragmentary,^^ while in CPJW, 158 a, col. 1,11. 3-
7 the evidence is more explicit though by no means more clear.^^
There was a long tradition o f mimes at Alexandria. A well-known
entertainment was the " k i n g - m i m e . " In 3 8 C E , such a m i m e was or-
ganized by the Alexandrians to welcome Agrippa I when they
crowned the simpleton Carabas with papyrus and worshipped h i m
in the gymnasium, "hailing h i m as Marin, which is said to be the
name for 'lord' in Syria. For they knew that Agrippa was both a Syr-
ian by birth and had a great piece o f Syria over which he was king".'^^
T h e theatrical representations held in Alexandria in 1 1 5 , therefore,
should be understood in the context o f this tradition.
Later developments o f the events reported in CPJW, 4 3 5 and 158
are reflected in another fragment o f papyrus {BGU 3 4 1 ) which the
editors o f the CPJ have attached to it and named 1 5 8 b . Here we
learn that "many were condemned, sixty Alexandrians and their
slaves, and the Alexandrians were exiled and their slaves beheaded"
(11. 7-9) and that "now all (the slaves) who had fled to their masters
{CPJ II 435, coL III, L 6-8); "Now all (the slaves) who had fled to their masters
intending to secure complete safety were brought to justice by them and punished"
{CPJW 158, col. Ill, 11. 9-13). Below, too, in 1. 24 and in 1. 26, references are found
to a(jLapTavovTa(; Sou[Xou^ and to [t]ou(; axpstouc; SouXouc;.
Touc; 0pta(xpou(; (col. I, 1. 16); STuetTa TIC, Ipsi oXiyouc; slvaL touc; xauTa
ToXfxwvTac; . . . sx^tv t o OeaTpov (col. II, 11. 22-24).
In the CPJ the translation reads as follows: "Theon read the edict of Lupus
ordering them to lead him forth for Lupus to make fun of the king of the scene and
the mime." In col. IV, 11. 11-12, too, we find: Trepl tou (xtto axTjvyjc; x a l I x (xifxou
paaLXecac;. A different interpretadon is offered by Rea, who sees in this text not an
anti-Jewish mimos but a procession as part of the celebration for the beginning of the
reign of Hadrian. Accordingly, the translation he offers is the following: "Paulus ex-
plained about the emperor', how they led him in procession and he proclaimed that
the first year (of Hadrian), and Theon read out the edict on this matter from Lupus,
how he (or who'? coi; for 6(;?) was giving them the order to process, while expressing
disapproval of the representation of the emperor by an actor from the stage." The
procession would be part of the celebradon for the beginning of Hadrian's reign. The
aTTO (jxYjv^c; x a l I x fjLtfxou pacTiX£U(; would be an actor representing either the dead
Trajan or the new ruler, Hadrian. Official disapproval can be guessed to have arisen
because of the offensive jokes which the Alexandrians were notoriously apt to make
about their rulers: John R. Rea, The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, vol. 55 (London: Published
for the Bridsh Academy by the Egypt Exploration Society, 1988), p. 17.
^5 In FL 6, 36-39.
THE BACKGROUND 141
intending to secure complete safety were brought to justice by them

and punished" (11. 13-15).^^
In view o f this long history o f hostility and of the riots occurring
at Alexandria before October 113 and before the autumn o f 1 1 5 / ^ it
is not difficult to understand the feelings o f the Jews that we find
expressed in the Sibylline Oracles, which foretell the future ruin o f
the city: "And as for thee, O Alexandria, famed nourisher (of cities)
war shall not leave, nor (plague)...for thy pride thou shalt pay as
many things as thou before didst. Silent shalt thou be a long a g e , . . .
no more for thee shall flow luxurious drink...for there shall c o m e a
Persian on thy dale, and like hail shall he all the land destroy...and
then shalt you, in cities very rich, be very weary".^^
Frankfurter observes that great conflicts can develop merely out o f
the dissonance of ideologies. W h e n two or more neighboring cul-
tures have differing constructions o f "evil" or "threat to ethnic iden-
tity," it is only a matter o f time before one culture falls under the
others image o f the antagonist. Occasionally, both cultures simulta-
neously perceive each other as the arch-enemy, and this clash of sym-
bolic worlds invariably leads to gross slaughter on each side, acts fa-
cilitated by religious rhetoric and leadership. T h e conflict between
Greeks and Jews in Egypt provides a striking test case o f these dy-
namics.""^
In 116, a general ferment may have prevailed in Jewish circles in
response to circulating prophecies about the fall of Rome,^^ and in
response to the strong earthquake that took place in the winter of
115 at Antioch,^^ that may have been interpreted as one o f the signs
announcing the coming o f the Messiah.
The same events may be attested also in P. Athen. 58. See Herbert Musurillo,
''PAthen, 58, a New Alexandrian Fragment?" C E 3 9 (1964): 147-49.
On these events, see Pucci Ben Zeev, "Greek Attacks," 31-48.
Frankfurter, "Lest Egypt's City be Deserted," 220.
See Joshua Gutmann, "Jewish Wars in Trajan's Days," (Hebr.) in A Collection
of Studies Presented to Rabbi Prof Simhah Asafby his Friends, Colleagues and Students
on his Sixtieth Birthday (ed. M . D . Cassuto et aL: Jerusalem: Mossad Harav Kook,
1953), 156-63.
At the dme, Trajan was staying at Andoch during a pause in the Parthian
war. The detailed account of the episode provided by Dio, who probably copied it
from an eyewitness account, seems to be reproduced in full by Xiphilinus: "While
the emperor was tarrying in Andoch, a terrible earthquake occurred; many cides
At the same time, in Egypt, and possibly also in other countries,

the R o m a n military forces had been drastically diminished to be sent
to the Parthian front. T h e m o m e n t m a y have been perceived to be
particularly propitious and have led to an intensification o f messianic
expectations^^.
All in all, it is clear that the Jewish uprising did not arise out o f
nothing.
suffered injury, but Antioch was the most unfortunate of all Since Trajan was pass-
ing the winter there and many soldiers and many civilians had flocked thither from
all sides in connexion with law-suits, embassies, business or sightseeing, there was
no nation or people that went unscathed; and thus in Antioch the whole world
under Roman sway suffered disaster. There had been many thunderstorms and por-
tentous winds, but no one would ever have expected so many evils to result from
them. First there came, on a sudden, a great bellowing roar, and this was followed
by a tremendous quaking. The whole earth was upheaved, and buildings leaped
into the air; some were carried aloft only to collapse and be broken in pieces, while
others were tossed this way and that as if by the surge of the sea, and overturned,
and the wreckage spread out over a great extent even of the open country. The crash
of grinding and breaking timbers together with tiles and stones was most frightftil;
and an inconceivable amount of dust arose, so that it was impossible for one to see
anything or to speak or hear a word. As for the people, many even who were out-
side the houses were hurt, being snatched up and tossed violently about and then
dashed to the earth as if falling from a cliff; some were maimed and others were
killed. Even trees in some cases leaped into the air, roots and all. The number of
those who were trapped in the houses and perished was past finding out; for multi-
tudes were killed by the very force of the falling debris, and great numbers were
suffocated in the ruins. Those who lay with a part of their body buried under the
stones or timbers suffered terribly, being able neither to live any longer nor to find
an immediate death. Nevertheless, many even of these were saved, as was to be ex-
pected in such a coundess multitude; yet not all such escaped unscathed. Many lost
legs or arms, some had their heads broken, and still others vomited blood; Pedo the
consul was one of these, and he died at once. In a word, there was no kind of vio-
lent experience that those people did not undergo at that time. And as Heaven con-
tinued the earthquake for several days and nights, the people were in dire straits
and helpless, some of them crushed and perishing under the weight of the buildings
pressing upon them, and other dying of hunger, whenever it so chanced that they
were left alive either in a clear space, the timbers being so inclined as to leave such a
space, or in a vaulted colonnade. ...So great were the calamities that had over-
whelmed Antioch at this dme. Trajan made his way out through a window of the
room in which he was staying. Some being, of greater than human stature, had
come to him and led him forth, so that he escaped with only a few slight injuries;
and as the shocks extended over several days, he lived out of doors in the hippo-
drome" (LXVIII, 24, 1-25, 6).
See Gutmann, "Jewish Wars in Trajan's Days," 181; Frankftirter, "Lest
Egypt's City Be Deserted," 203; Richard Alston, Aspects of Roman History, AD 14-
117 (London and New-York: Routledge, 1998), 204 and Firpo, "II terremoto,"
241-45.
CHAPTER FIVE
T H E CHRONOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK
INTRODUCTION
T h e traditional dates for the Jewish upheavals, 115-117 C E , were

challenged for the first time by T i m o t h y Barnes in 1989. Relying on
the testimony of D i o Cassius and on that o f the ostraca found in
Egypt, Barnes argued that the uprisings started in 116 C E and not in
115 as Eusebius states.^ His conclusion was endorsed by Frankfurter,
Barclay, Haas and Kerkeslager,^ but was rejected in 1996 by
Horbury, who pointed out that we d o not have enough reasons for
disregarding Eusebius' account and suggested returning to the con-
ventional dates.^
Since then, the issue has not received fiirther attention, which is
not surprising in view o f the fact that the testimony o f the sources is
neither abundant nor easy to interpret.
N o doubt, the material available to us for the reconstruction o f the
chronological framework o f the Jewish uprisings is rather meager. T h e
inscriptions we have, dealing mostly with the events which took place
in Libya and Cyprus, were all written in the afi:ermath of the revolt,
so that they are really irrelevant to the reconstruction o f the chrono-
logical sequence of the events, while the papyri, which concern only
Egyptian matters, in most cases do not preserve a complete date.
O n e turns therefore to the literary testimony.
^ Barnes, "Trajan and the Jews," 145-62.

^ Frankfurter, "Lest Egypt's Cides Be Deserted," 2 0 5 ; B a r c l a y , i n the Medi-
terranean Diaspora, 78; Bidey, Hadrian, 75-7A-, Haas, Alexandria in Late Antiquity,
402, n. 18; Kerkeslager, "Jews in Egypt and Cyrenaica" (forthcoming): n. 30, 32.
Noethlichs mennons both possibilities, 115 or 116 C E , for the beginning of the
hosdlities without preferring one of them: Karl L. Noethlichs, Das Judentum und
der romische Staat: Minderheitenpolitik im antiken Rom (Darmstadt: Wissenschaft-
liche Buchgesellschaft, 1996), 2 1 , 163.
^ Horbury, "The Beginnings of the Jewish Revolt," 284-95.
T H E LITERARY TESTIMONY
Appian
T h e only contemporary extant source, Appian, was himself in Egypt

at the time and his original work may have contained chronological
information on the Jewish uprising. From that which has survived
the vagaries o f transmission, however, only a couple o f fragments re-
main,^ which do not offer any chronological data.
Dio Cassius
T h e account o f D i o Cassius too, or rather, its s u m m a r y preserved by

the m o n k Xiphilinus in the eleventh century (henceforth D / X ) , does
not offer chronological details concerning the revolts.^ T h i s may be
no accident if Wirth is correct in arguing that the main source o f
D i o for these events, namely, the work o f Arrian, ended with Trajans
triumphal progress down the Tigris and merely alluded to the follow-
ing events in a brief epilogue,^ a hypothesis which would well explain
the conciseness about the Jewish upheavals we find in the account o f
D/X.
It is, however, meaningful that D / X establishes a link o f contem-
poraneity between the Jewish uprisings and the end o f the siege o f
Hatra: "Trajan therefore departed from thence and a litde later be-
gan to fall in health. Meanwhile (xal Iv TOUTO)) the Jews in the region
o f Cyrene had put a certain Andreas at their head, and were destroy-
ing both the R o m a n s and the Greeks" (LXVIII, 3 2 , 1). T h e question
is therefore when Trajan left Hatra.
T h e testimony o f D / X does not offer any precise date, but some
details in the account o f the siege deserve attention. D / X writes, for
example: " T h e surrounding country is mostly desert and has neither
water (save a small a m o u n t and that poor in quality) nor timber nor
fodder. . . . T h e r e were peals o f thunder, rainbow tints showed, and
lightning, rainstorms, hail and thunderbolts descended upon the R o -
mans as often as they m a d e assaults. A n d whenever they ate, flies set-
^ Bella Civilia II, 90: 380; Liber Arabicus F 19.

5 LXVIII, 32, 1-3.
^ Gerhard Wirth, "Zur Tigrisfahrt des Kaisers Trajan," Philologus 107 (1963):
300.
THE CHRONOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK 145
tied on their food and d r i n k . . . " (LXVIII, 3 1 , 1-4). According to

Guey, these conditions o f weather point to a time before the sum-
mer, when there was still rain.^ Lepper disregards this passage as
strongly reminiscent o f other stories accounting afterwards for simi-
lar fiascoes,^ but he too, though on different grounds, arrives at the
similar conclusion that in any case Hatra was not under siege later
than J u n e 117.^ T h e expression xal Iv TOUTW seems therefore to refer
to a point in time shortly before early summer in 117.
We cannot, however, understand that at this time the Jewish up-
risings broke out, since, as we shall see below, the Egyptian papyri
attest that in J u n e 117 in Egypt the revolt was being crushed deci-
sively.^^ T h e chronological framework offered by D / X , therefore, is
impossible to interpret at face value. T h i s does not surprise us since
this is not the only time in which D / X s account raises questions
concerning its chronological accuracy. Dealing with Claudius' expe-
dition in Britain, for example, incorrect chronological statements are
found, the reason for which is identified by Barrett with the ambigu-
ity o f Dio's original source, which m a y have led him to misunder-
stand it.^^
T h e claim found in the account o f D / X , according to which the
siege o f Hatra and the Jewish uprisings were contemporaneous,
makes sense only if we construe it to mean not that at this time the
Jews rebelled, but that at this time, namely, after he abandoned the
siege o f Hatra, Trajan learned that the Jewish revolts were not yet
under control and decided to send his best generals to quash them:
^ See Julien Guey, Essai sur la guerre parthique de Trajan (114-117) (Biblio-
t h ^ u e d'Istros, 2: Bucarest: Imprimerie Rationale, 1937), 137-38 and Karl-Heinz
Ziegler, Die Beziehungen zwischen Rom und dem Partherreich: ein Beitrag zur
Geschichte des Volkerrechts (Wiesbaden: E Steiner, 1964), 104.
^ Frank A. Lepper, Trajans Parthian War (London: Geoffrey Cumberlege,
1948), 91.
^ Lepper, Trajans Parthian Wan 89. This is also the opinion of Lelia Motta, "La
tradizione sulla rivolta ebraica al tempo di Traiano," Aegyptus 32 (1952): 478. A
possible allusion to Trajans defeat is found in an inscription from Hatra published
by Basile Aggoula, "Remarques sur les inscriptions hatrênnes", MUB A7 (1972):
10-11, inscription V (a). See also p. 55 for the identification of the governor of
Hatra responsible for the resistance to Trajans siege.
10 See below, pp. 153-55.
11 See Andiony A. Barrett, "Chronological Errors in Dios Account of the
Claudian Invasion," Britannia 11 (1980): 31-35.
Turbo to Egypt (and perhaps also to Libya) and Caios Valerius to

Cyprus. Giving this interpretation to the account o f D / X , its relative
chronology would make sense, but it would refer to the repression o f
the Jewish uprisings, not to the time when they began.
There is no other choice but to return to the account o f Eusebius,
which is the only one to offer precise dates for the Jewish uprisings.
Eusebius Testimony: The Chronicon.
W h a t remains o f Eusebius' Chronicon, namely, the Latin translation

of Hieronymus, composed towards the end o f the fourth century,
and the Armenian version, written in the sixth century, date the
revolt o f the Libyan and Egyptian Jews to the seventeenth year o f
Trajan ( = 1 1 4 ) , the repression o f Mesopotamian Jews to the eight-
eenth year ( = 1 1 5 ) , and the revolt in Cyprus to the nineteenth year
( = 1 1 6 ) . T h e uprisings, therefore, would have lasted three years.
T h e question o f whether we are allowed to follow these dates has
no easy solution.
First o f all, we cannot be certain that these were really the dates
that appeared in the original work of Eusebius. Hieronymus himself
implies that his translation was not very accurate when he tells us
that it was dictated "with great rapidity to an amanuensis,"^^ an as-
sertion which is perhaps only a way o f forestalling criticism o f its ac-
curacy, given his own anxiety about errors that readers might discern
in his translation,^^ but scholars are also found who interpret it liter-
The Chronicle probably completed by Eusebius before 311, while Hiero-

nymus finished transladng it around the year 381/2. See Timothy D. Barnes, Con-
stantine and Eusebius (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1981),
112, and the works of Mosshammer and Duff quoted by Malcolm D. Donalson, A
Translation of Jeromes Chronicon with Historical Commentary (Lewiston, N.Y.:
Mellen University Press, 1996), 2, n. 4.
Die Chronik des Hieronymus CCXKIII Olymp. (ed. Rudolf Helm: Bedin:
Akademie-Verlag, 1956), 196.
Canons, Praef, 2, 15-20: Itaque, mi Uincenti carissime et tu Galliene, pars ani-
mae meae, obsecro, ut, quidquid hoc tumultuarii operis est, amicorum, non iudicum
animo relegatis, praesertim cum et notario, ut scitis, uelocissime dictaverim et difftcul-
tatem rei etiam divinorum voluminum instrumenta testentur, quae a septuaginta inter-
pretibus edita non eundem saporem in Graeco sermone custodiunt.
See William Adler, "Eusebius' Chronicle and its Legacy" in: Eusebius: Christi-
anity and Judaism (ed. H.W. Attridge and G. Hata: Leiden: E.J Brill, 1992), 490,
n. 96.
T H E CHRONOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK 147
aliy.^^ Moreover, the same H i e r o n y m u s admits that he used other

sources in addition to Eusebius, especially concerning R o m a n his-
tory. In fact, passages are found where discrepancies emerge both
between the translation o f H i e r o n y m u s and the Armenian version,
and between Hieronymus' translation and the work o f Synkellos,
which derives, too, from the Greek Chronicon o f Eusebius. In the
case o f the Jewish uprisings, for example, H i e r o n y m u s mentions the
earthquake of Antioch before all the Jewish uprisings, while
Synkellos follows a different order o f events, mentioning the earth-
quake between the uprisings in Libya and Egypt and the repression
o f the Jews in Mesopotamia.^^
T h e problems, furthermore, are not limited to those discrepancies.
T h e Chronicon places the significant events into O l y m p i a d s , each
divided into four years, usually dating the event that is regarded as
the m o s t important to the first year and the others to the following
three years. In other words, four main events had to be chosen and
assigned to four different years irrespective o f their actual original
chronological order. Moreover, it also appears that the regnal year
See for example Richard W. Burgess, "Jerome and the Kaisergeschichte,"

Historia AA (1995): 355, n. 3 1 .
For the period from Ninus and Abraham up to the capture of Troy, he states,
he is giving a pure translation from the Greek text of Eusebius, while "from Troy up
to the twentieth year of Constantine there are many things, now added and now
mixed in, which have been very carefully excerpted from Tranquillus and other il-
lustrious historians." See Donalson, A Translation, 1. One of the main sources for
his addition was the work of Suetonius. For a discussion of Hieronymus' use of
Suetonius, including several errors by the former, see the work of Duff and Duff
quoted by Donalson, A Translation, 2, n. 3. The additions were meant to supple-
ment Eusebius' spotty treatment of recent Roman history, so as to make the work
more contemporary. See also Adler, "Eusebius' Chronicle," 467, 482-83.
See Donalson, A Translation, 2, n. 4.
Real errors of substance have been detected in the work of Hieronymus since
the sixteenth century: see Anthony Grafton, Joseph Scaliger: A Study in the History
of Classical Scholarship, vol. 2: Historical Chronology (Oxford: Clarendon Press,
1993), 572-9 and Richard W Burgess, " T h e Dates and Edidons of Eusebius'
Chronici Canones and Historia Ecclesiastica;'JTS N.S. 48, 2 (1997): 474. Kelly goes
as far as to state that Hieronymus' carelessness and haste are evident not only in his
numerous errors (even of translation) but also in his apparent indifference to exact
dating even where the material for it was provided by his sources and in his refusal
to take the trouble to fill the obvious gaps: John N . D . Kelly Jerome: his Life, Writ-
ings, and Controversies (London: Duckworth, 1975), 74-75.
20 Syncellus, Ecbga Chron. I, 657.
markers used by Eusebius d o not count the actual regnal years o f

each emperor from the date o f his accession to the date o f his death,
just as the Olympiads d o not mark real Olympiads, but should
rather be regarded simply as chronological placeholders for calendar
years. Eusebius was apparently interested in two things: that the first
regnal year of a ruler should correspond to the year o f his accession
and that the overall accounting o f regnal years for each kingdom
should be accurate. H e had no interest in matching the exact length
o f each rulers reign with his regnal year, which was, o f course, im-
possible to ascertain, given that most rulers did not reign for an exact
number o f fiiU years. T h e point was not to represent accurately the
exact few years o f each rulers reign, but to have a system o f represen-
tation that could keep track o f multiple decades and centuries of
reigns with a m i n i m u m o f confiision, calculation, and error.^^^ T h e
differing calendar systems used by Eusebius — years since the birth
o f Abraham, Olympiads, and the regnal year o f kings, emperors,
pharaohs, and other leaders — would have been impossible for
Eusebius to calculate, synchronize, and represent if they were all
treated as accurate representations o f reality. Burgess observes that in
order to work, they all had to be coordinated to a single system, so
all years o f Abraham, Olympiads, and regnal years were equated with
the civic Syro-Macedonian year o f Caesarea and began at the same
time o f the year: 1 Hyperberetaios = 3 October. T h i s means that the
year in which an emperor or kings accession fell was counted as his
first year from the previous 3 October, no matter how late in the year
before 3 October that accession took place.
In the case o f Trajans reign. Burgess points out that his first year
went from his accession to the throne in late January 9 8 to October
3 o f the same year, the second from October 98 to October 99 and
so on. Trajans death is noted as the last event in his nineteenth year
o f reign, and there immediately follows the notice for Hadrians ac-
cession. So both events, Trajans death and Hadrians accession, are
dated to the year which, according to Eusebius' computation, would
go from October 115 to October 116, a year eariier than the events
themselves took place, since in fact Trajan died in August 117.^^
Richard W. Burgess, Studies in Eusebian and Post-Eusebian Chronography

(Stuttgart: Franz Steiner, 1999), 30.
22 See Burgess, Studies, 28-30.
Another larger chronological gap in the account o f Trajans reign is

found in the case o f the Parthian war: the R o m a n conquest o f
Seleucia, Ctesiphon and Babylon is dated to the sixth year o f Trajan,
103-4, fully ten years before the Parthian war really began.^^
Responsibility for changes, which m a y have involved errors, m a y
also fall on the vagaries o f transmission. M o s s h a m m e r contends that
whatever errors, displacements and omissions the redactors intro-
duced in the positioning o f the entries with respect to the chrono-
logical framework were c o m p o u n d e d by the scribes of the m a n u -
script tradition, so that that no single entry in any one o f the
manuscripts, or even the consensus o f them all, would in itself con-
stitute chronological evidence.^^ This view is shared by Barnes and
Firpo, who observe that the dates offered by the Chronicle cannot be
taken as the base for any historical arguments nor for chronological
deductions.^^
While the value o f the Chronicon for a chronological reconstruc-
tion o f the Jewish uprisings remains, therefore, questionable, it
should be recognized that the chronological setting o f the revolts
makes sense in relative terms, since it dates the beginning o f the Jew-
ish uprisings one year after the earthquake at Antioch. T h e year
given for the earthquake, the sixteenth year o f Trajan ( = 1 1 2 / 3 ) , is
probably wrong, since it seems to have taken place in 115,^^ but the
order o f the events is the correct one: the Jewish uprisings really did
take place after the earthquake o f Antioch.^^
Eusebius' Testimony: The Historia Ecclesiastica
T h e Historia Ecclesiastica calls the beginning o f the revolt a GTOiaiQ

(civil strife) and places it "in the course o f the eighteenth year o f the
2^ Seleuciam Ctesifontem Babylonem occupavit et tenuit (ed. Helm, 194). On

other chronological errors, see Burgess, Studies, 36-43.
2^ Alden A. Mosshammer, The Chronicle of Eusebius and Greek Chronographic
Tradition (Lewisburg, Pa: Bucknell University Press, 1979), 56-57, 83. See also pp.
162-63 on the "maze of error, contamination, and false synchronism that Eusebius
transmitted". Adler speaks of "inevitable corruption that occurred in transmitting a
wôrk so complicated and multifaceted": Adler, "Eusebius' Chronicle;'
25 Barnes, Constantine and Eusebius, 118-20; Firpo, "II terremoto di Andochia,"
234.
26 On the problems concerning the date given by Malalas, see the different views
of Biriey {Hadrian, 71 and 324, n. 13) and Firpo ("II terremoto," 235-36, n. 9).
27 See Barnes, "Trajan and the Jews," 155.
reign o f the Emperor," adding that it developed into a real war the
next year (HEW, 2, 1-2).
Here, therefore, the revolt is said to have lasted for two years, and
not three years as in the Chronicon, Such chronological discrepancy
between the HE and the Chronicon is puzzling but not surprising. It
would not be the first and only time in which the dates given in the
Chronicon differ from those o f the HE, Wallace-Hadrill suggests that,
where the two works cover the same ground and are different, in the
HE, which was written s o m e years later,^^ Eusebius is probably revis-
ing his opinion and correcting an error.^^ In this case, the dates ap-
pearing in the HE would be those that Eusebius found to be the
more appropriate. T h i s interpretation proposed by Wallace-Hadrill,
however, is by no means the only possible one, since Eusebius is of-
ten found using different sources of information without being al-
ways aware of the contradictions involved. McGiffert points out that
"instead o f applying himself to the discrepancies, and endeavoring to
reach the truth by carefiilly weighing the respective merits o f the
sources, or by testing their conclusions in so far as tests are possible,
Eusebius adopts in m a n y cases the results o f both, apparently quite
unsuspicious o f the confusion consequent upon such a course. "^^
T h i s view is confirmed by Gustafsson, who points out that Eusebius
did not feel the need to critically compare his sources.^^
It follows that it is difficult to know what was really Eusebius' own
opinion on the chronology o f the Jewish uprisings.
Virtually all modern scholarship follows the dates given in Euse-
bius' HE, where Eusebius writes that the Jewish revolts started in the
eighteenth year o f reign o f Trajan. As Vermes and Millar point out,^^
2^ A first edition of the Chronici Canones probably appeared afi:er 306, seven
years before the Historia Ecclesiastica (Burgess, "The Dates and Editions," 4 7 1 -
504).
David S. Wallace-Hadrill, Eusebius of Caesarea (London: A.R. Mov^bray,
1960), 158.
Arthur C. McGiffert, The Church History of Eusebius (first ed. 1890: repr. in
the series A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian
Church, Second Series, vol. 1, eds. R Schaff and H. Wace: Grand Rapids, Michi-
gan: W M . B . Eerdmans Publishing Company, 3^êd. 1971), 50-51.
B. Gustafsson, "Eusebius' Principles in Handling his Sources as Found in his
Church History," Texte und Untersuchungen 79 (1961): 4 4 1 .
^2 See Emil Schurer, The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ
(175 B.C-AD.135X vol. 1 (eds. G. Vermes and E Millar: Edinburgh: T. & T.
Clark, 1973), 530, n. 73.
no matter from where we start, whether from the date of Trajans ac-
cession (27 January) or from the Tribunician N e w Year (10 Decem-
ber), as was official custom from the time o f Trajan, either way the
eighteenth year of Trajans reign is 115 C E . T h i s is, therefore, the
standard date for the beginning o f the Jewish uprisings in modern
works, the more so after the pubUcation, in the 1930's, of a papyrus
dealing with Greco-Jewish hostilities dated October 115 {CPJ II,
4 3 5 ) , which was regarded as confirmation o f Eusebius' chronology.^^
As we have pointed out above, however, it is highly doubtfiil that
this text may be considered a confirmation o f the testimony o f
Eusebius.^^ T h e papyrus, which reflects the point o f view of a R o -
m a n authority, displays a critical attitude towards the Greeks o f the
city (col. I l l , 11. 5-12) and not towards the Jews, as we would expect
if it referred to the Jewish uprising. Moreover, the attack against the
Jews is called an "error" (col. I l l , 11. 2 4 - 2 6 , col. IV, 11. 1-3) and the
arrival o f a judge is mentioned, sent by the emperor to investigate
(col. I l l , 15-16), which suggests instead that no revolt was in
progress at the m o m e n t ; otherwise Trajan would have sent his best
generals and military forces, not a judge to open an inquiry. T h u s
CPJ II, 4 3 5 definitely cannot be considered as evidence for the Jew-
ish revolt, but, on the contrary, it attests that in the autumn o f 115
the Jewish revolt had not yet started. As a matter o f fact, we learn
from it that at this time the Greeks responsible for the stasis had not
yet been punished. T h e punishment was issued later, as we learn
from the two fragments o f CPJ II, 158.
It is therefore impossible to link the testimony o f CPJW, 4 3 5 with
what Eusebius tells us about the beginnings o f the uprising, namely,
that in the first engagement in Egypt the Jews "happened to over-
come the Greeks, who fled to Alexandria and captured and killed the
Jews in the city" {HE IV, 2 , 3 ) . From Eusebius's account it is clear
that the first engagement took place outside Alexandria and that the
Greeks who lost it fled to Alexandria and attacked the Jews o f that
33 See Victor A. Tcherikover, CPJl, p. 88; Alexander Fuks, CPJW, pp. 228-30;
Alexander Fuks, "Aspects of the Jewîsh Revolt in A.D. 1 1 5 - 1 1 7 , " / ^ ^ 51 (1961):
100; Schurer, The History, vol. 1, 529-34; Smallwood, The Jews, 389-427; Marina
Pucci, La rivolta ebraica al tempo di Traiano (Pisa: Giardini, 1981), 50-51; Jose R.
A y a s o - M a r t i n e z , C a p t a : La Palestina romana entre las dos guerras judias (70-
132 dC), (Estella [Navarra]: Editorial Verbo Divino. 1990), 49; Horbury, "The
Beginnings," 283-304; M^l^ze Modrzejewski, The Jews of Egypt, 198.
34 See above, pp. 137-40.
city. In the papyrus, on the other hand, those responsible for the dis-
orders are Greek slaves residing in the city. Moreover, Eusebius goes
on to say that "though thus losing the help o f the townsmen, the
Jews o f Cyrene continued to plunder the country o f Egypt and to
ravage the districts in it under their leader L u k u a s . " In the papyrus,
on the other hand, the episode is limited to the area o f the city, there
is no reference to fighting outside Alexandria, and Alexandrian
Greek slaves alone (along with their owners) are held responsible.^^
Last, as we have seen above, the detail concerning the judge sent by
Trajan to investigate and punish those found guilty clearly does not
fit in a situation such as that portrayed by Eusebius. It appears quite
clear, then, that the picture drawn by Eusebius belongs to a later
stage o f the events.^^
We are left, therefore, with one firm point: the Jewish upheavals
in Egypt started later than the autumn o f 115. For a more exact date,
some ostraca from Egypt provide us with meaningftil insights.
T H E OSTRACA FROM EGYPT
Schwartz was the first scholar to draw attention to the ostraca found
in Egypt, which attest that the Jews o f Edfij continued to pay their
taxes until the spring o f 116, and that the interruption o f the pay-
ments proves that "important facts took place then'.^^ T h e same
path is followed by Barnes.^^ In the ostraca found at Apollinopolis
M a g n a (Edfii) {CPJ II, 1 6 0 - 2 2 6 ) , the receipts given to the Jews for
the payment o f the Fiscus Judaicus go from 7 1 / 2 through 116. T h e
payments stop in 116. T h e last three receipts are from 3 1 March
{CPJW, 2 2 7 ) , 2 0 April {CPJW, 2 2 8 ) and 18 M a y {CPJW, 229). We
have no more receipts for the Jewish tax after this date.
T h e same data emerge from the receipts o f other taxes. Poll taxes,
dyke taxes, taxes on wheat, bath taxes, police taxes, cattle taxes, taxes
in respect o f land-survey" and taxes for donkey driving — all these
taxes were paid by the Jews until the spring o f 116. T h e last receipt is
35 The same emerges from CPJW, 158 a and from 158 b.

3^ Contra, Horbury, "The Beginnings," 284.
3^ Jacques Schwartz, "En marge du dossier d'Apollonios," CE 57 (1962): 353.
3« Barnes, "Trajan and the Jews," 157-58.
T H E CHRONOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK 153
from 2 8 April 116 ( C / y II, 369).^^ W e d o not have any more receipts
until 151 CE,^^ a fact which may well be interpreted as meaning that
the situation was normal at Apollinopolis M a g n a until the end o f
M a y 116. T h e n something must have happened that disrupted the
Jews' payments, and this "something" m a y reasonably be identified
with the Jewish revolt.
In the T h e b a i c region, too, the situation seems to have been nor-
mal as late as the end o f April, when a dedication was erected to
Trajan that does not mention any disorder.^^ O f course, the uprising
m a y have reached different places at different times, but relying on
the extant sources one m a y feel justified in suggesting the end o f
M a y 116 as the terminus post q u e m for the beginning o f the upris-
ing in Egypt.^2
T H E END OF T H E UPRISING IN EGYPT
T h e end o f the Jewish uprising in Egypt is generally identified with

the time when ApoUonios, the strategos o f ApoUinopolis-Heptako-
mia, who had been personally involved in engagements with the
Jews,^^ asked the R o m a n prefect for a leave o f sixty days in order to
take care o f his own private affairs. "For not only are m y affairs c o m -
pletely uncared for because o f m y long absence", he writes, " b u t also,
because o f the attack o f the impious Jews, practically everything I
possess in the villages o f the Hermopolite n o m e and in the metropo-
lis needs m y attention" ( C P / I I , 4 4 3 , col. II, 11. 1-9).^^ T h e letter is
dated 2 8 November 117.
3^ Since the payments of all the taxes paid by the Jews stop in the spring of 116,
the whole secdon which is published in the CPJ II under the dde "Ostraka from
the Jewish Quarter of Apollinopolis Magna (Edfu), Part II, Various Taxes, nos. 230-
374," should be dated 56-116 and not 56-117 C E .
CPJ II, "Ostraka from the Jewish Quarter of Apollinopolis Magna (Edfu),"
Part III, Various Taxes, 375-403.
^1 OGIS G77 = IGRR I, 1267, dated 26 April 116. Barnes suggests reading 30
Pachon instead of 1 Pachon ("Trajan and the Jews,'' 158, n. 82).
^2 The same conclusions were reached independently by Barnes and by me
("Greek Attacks," 36), in articles that both appeared in 1989. As for the terminus
ante quem for the beginning of the uprising in Egypt, see below, pp. 168-69.
43 See C / y II, 439.
44 Sixty days are a large amount of time, which may account for an exceptional
If we read this letter carefully, however, we see that this is not the
first time that ApoUonios is writing to the prefect. From the first col-
u m n o f the papyrus we learn that he had previously asked for a leave,
getting no response: " T o R a m m i u s Martialis, the mighty prefect,
from ApoUonios, strategos o f ApoUinopolis-Heptakomia, greeting. I
attach a copy, prefect, o f the application for leave which I previously
submitted to y o u . . . " ( C 7 y II, 4 4 3 , col. I, U. 1-5). ApoUonios does
not say when he had sent the application for the first time, but it was
certainly at some point afi:er the end o f the Jewish uprising. After the
last engagements with the Jews were over, ApoUonios must have
taken care o f the most urgent public affairs connected to his task be-
fore asking for the leave. All in all, at least several weeks but perhaps
a m o n t h or more may have elapsed between the end o f the fighting
and the writing of ApoUonios' second letter, that preserved in CPJ II,
4 4 3 . Modrzejewski suggests that ApoUonios "had not waited longer
than two months before renewing his demand."^^ At ApoUinopolis-
Heptakomia, therefore, the fighting may have been over already in
September.
In some districts, the Jewish disorders m a y have subsided already
by the beginning of the summer. By late J u n e at least some o f the
Egyptian countryside had already settled back into normal life. T h e
situation was seemingly safe enough to allow Aline, the wife o f the
strategos ApoUonios, to leave the house o f her mother-in-law at
Hermoupolis, where she had stayed during the disorders, and to re-
turn to her own h o m e at Apollinopolis. We learn this from Eudai-
monis' letter, written on 16 July, which mentions the departure o f
Aline for ApoUinopolis M a g n a three weeks before ( C / y II, 4 4 2 , 1 . 6 ) .
From the same letter we understand that at Hermoupolis, too, where
Eudaimonis lived, things had settled down.^^ T h i s , however, was not
the case everywhere. ApoUonios, for example, was apparently stiU in
danger, since in the same letter, written on 16 July, Eudaimonis
points out that she will pay no attention to the gods until she gets
her son back safe ( C / y II, 4 4 2 , U. 2 5 - 2 8 ) .
situation. In RWisc, 70, a leave of 30 days is granted to a Roman soldier in order to

take care of his patrimonial interests. See Sergio Daris, "Documend minori
dell'esercito romano in E^mo;' ANRWll 10, 1 (1988): 725-26.
^5 Modrzejewski, The Jews of Egypt, 204.
See Barnes, "Trajan and the Jews," 159.
THE CHRONOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK 15 5
O n e o f the battles fought against the Jews, perhaps one o f the last
ones, may be identified with that which caused the R o m a n military
authorities to decide to add new recruits to the forces o f the cohors
Augusta praetoria Lusitanorum equitata, then stationed in Egypt. By 3
September 117, the cohors Augusta praetoria Lusitanorum equitata had
received new recruits who amounted to one third o f its strength,^^ a
fact interpreted as implying heavy losses in fighting before that date.
To be available at the beginning of September, Gilliam suggests, re-
cruits from outside must have been authorized by early summer."^^
These scattered pieces o f evidence allow us to conclude that the
uprising in Egypt must have been over between early and late sum-
mer in 117, perhaps as late as the beginning o f H a d r i a n s reign.
It may be no coincidence that the SUA report that at the very be-
ginning o f H a d r i a n s reign, in August o f 117, Aegyptus seditionibus
urgebatury^^ a notion confirmed by Hieronymus and Syncellus, who,
too, state that in his first year o f reign — which started on 11 August
117 — Hadrian punished the Jews "who had rebelled." As for the
nature o f this "rebellion," however, each o f them gives his own inter-
pretation: Hieronymus writes that Hadrianus ludaeos capit secundo
contra Romanos rebellantes^^ while according to Syncellus ASptavo^
'louSatoix; xaTOt AXsâvSpscov aTaaiaJôvTat; sxoXaas.^^
PSI 1063 = Robert O. Fink, Roman Military Records on Papyrus (American

Philological Association. Philological Monograph 26: Cleveland: Case Western Re-
serve University Press, 1971), 74. The replacements amount to a minimum of 28
per cent and a maximum of 40 per cent of the personnel of each century. The date
seems to provide the explanadon: the cohort had suffered severe losses in the Jewish
rebellion, and its ranks were being replenished with recruits brought from outside
Egypt (probably from Asia). See below, pp. 176-77,
The date is 6 Thoth (=3 September) of the twenty-first year of Trajan. In fact,
Trajan had not even completed his twentieth year of reign, but the news of Trajans
death had not reached this part of Egypt at this time. See Fink, Roman Military
Records, p. 278 and James F. Gilliam, "An Egypdan Cohort in A.D. 117", Bonner
Historia Augusta — Colloquium, 196415 (Bonn: Rudolf Habelt, 1966), 96, repr. in
James F. Gilliam, Roman Army Papers (Mavors Roman Army Researches 2: ed. M.P.
Speidel: Amsterdam: J . C . Gieben, Publisher, 1986), 314.
^9 Hadr, 5, 2.
50 Ed. Helm, 197.
5^ Syncellus, 348 D. It could be not Syncellus' own interpretation but that of
the two Alexandrian chronographers, Panodorus and Annianus (end of the fourth
and beginning of the fifth century CE), who may have represented the intermediate
stage between Eusebius' Chronicon and the work of Syncellus. See Witold Wita-
kowski. The Syriac Chronicle of Pseudo-Dionysius ofTel-Mahre: a Study in the History
All in all, it appears that the Jewish uprising took place in Egypt
between the summer o f 116 and that o f 117.
In this case, it lasted one year, not two years as Eusebius states in
his HE, Eusebius, however, certainly did not himself invent the dates
he gives. T h e question therefore arises, what m a y have p r o m p t e d
him to place the beginning o f the revolt in 1 1 5 , that is to say, on
what sources he was relying.
of Historiography (Studia Semidca Upsaliensia: Uppsala: Acta Universitatis Upsa-

liensis, 1987), 73-74 and Firpo, "Uukima fase," 253-54, n. 44. Firpo ("Luldma
fase," 254-55) suggests that D/X, too, may be referring to these events when he
writes that, at the very beginning of Hadrians reign, "the Alexandrians had been
rioting, and nothing would make them stop until they received a letter from
Hadrian rebuking them. So true it is that an emperors word will have more force
than arms" (Dio LXIX, 8, la, Exc. Vat, 108). In spite of the fact that this passage
does not mention the Jews, Firpo believes that they may have been the victims of
the riots: after the Roman military repression was over at Alexandria, the local
Greek populadon might have given vent to its own animosity, as had happened in
66 C E . (Concerning the events of 66 C E , Josephus tells us that after the Roman
military action against the Jews in the Jewish quarter at Alexandria, the Roman pre-
fect "ordered the Romans to retire. They, broken to obedience, ceased massacring at
the first signal; but the Alexandrian populace in the intensity of their hate were not
so easily called off and were with difficulty torn from the corpses": Bell. 2, 498).
Frankftirter, too, points out that the official violence reserved for use by the Roman
army degenerated into collective violence with ethnic intent: Frankftirter, "Lest
Egypt's Cities Be Deserted," 207. See also n. 22 there on the definidon of official
violence and collective violence according to the interpretations of Tilly and
Vanderbroeck. A different interpretation is offered by Altson, who relates this pas-
sage of D / X on the riot of Alexandria in Hadrian's days to the tesdmony of SHA,
Hadr. 12, 1-2 on a dispute concerning the place of residence of an Apis bull which
would have taken place in 122-3 C E (.. .transgressus in Galliam Alexandrina
seditione turbatus, quae nata est ob Apidem, qui cum repertus esset post multos annos,
turbos interpopulos creavit.,,): Richard Alston, Soldier and Society in Roman Egypt:
a Social History (London and New York: Routledge, 1995), 77 and 222, n. 58. But
see also Anne Gaden, "Structure et portê historique de la Vie dHadrien dans
yHistoire AugustCy'' Ktema 1 (1976): 141, according to whom this passage of the
SHA is to be seen as a historical error.
CHAPTER SIX
T H E QUESTION OF EUSEBIUS' SOURCES
Eusebius concludes his account o f the Jewish uprisings by stating

that "the Greek authors w h o chronicle the same period have related
this narrative in these very words" {HE IV, 2 , 5 ) . Unfortunately, he
does not tell us w h o these authors are. Unfortunately a n d unusually,
since in his Historia Ecclesiastica Eusebius is always very careful to
base his statements directly upon his sources a n d to make it clear
that he is doing so.^ O n l y seven cases have been detected by Carriker
in which he quotes his sources in a vague fashion without mention-
ing their names.^ O n e might suspect special reasons behind this
vagueness, but unnecessarily so. T h e expression "the Greek authors
who chronicle the same period have related this narrative in these
very words" seems rather to be a standard expression often used in
the HE, most probably for rhetorical effect a n d apparently without a
specific meaning.^
A particular meaning, though, should be attached to his mention
o f "Greek authors" in the plural form. A comparison between the
account o f the Chronicon (where n o noticeable difference between
^ This of course does not mean that he saw their original texts. In fact, it ap-
pears that Eusebius does not always differentiate between primary and secondary
sources such as excerpts, anthologies of excerpts, or quotations or abstracts in other
works, so that one cannot always be sure that he had seen himself the writings that
he mentions. Gustafsson argues that even when he quotes the name of a source, we
can never be certain that he is citing it at first hand, especially if he does not give a
precise reference for the quotation. In some cases it is evident that he knew the
work quoted only at second hand: Gustafsson, "Eusebius' Principle," 430-32, 4 3 5 .
^ Andrew J. Carriker, "Seven Unidentified Sources in Eusebius' 'Historia
Ecclesiastical'' in: Nova Doctrina Vetusque: Essays on Early Christianity in Honor of
EW Schlatter (ed. D. Kries and C. Brown Tkacz: New York: Lang, 1999), 79-92.
3 Carriker, "Seven Unidentified Sources," 87. Other similar expressions appear-
ing in the HE are "those who committed the story of those times to writing relate
it" (icTTopouaiv 01 Ypacp^ toc x a r a roix; xpovou«; TuapaSovxec;) {HE III, 20, 8) and "the
record of our own ancient men" (6 tcov Trap' -^(xtv apxaicov TuapaSLSwcrt Xoyo^;) {HE
III, 20, 9).
Hieronymus' translation and the Armenian version is to be found)

and that o f the HE reveals a series o f differences which make us
think that Eusebius really used more than one source concerning the
Jewish uprisings.
S o m e o f these differences may not have particular significance,
such as the addition of details in the HE that d o not show up in the
Chronicon — e.g., the name o f the military commander sent against
the Jews o f Egypt and Cyrene, Marcius Turbo, and that of L u p u s
who was prefect of Egypt at the time. T h e omission of these details
may well be due to the fact that the Chronicon reported only main
facts, in a rather telegraphic form. Sometimes, however, quite the
contrary is found, namely, facts are reported in the Chronicon that
are left out in the HE, such as the involvement o f the region around
Thebes in the uprising, and, more significant, the revolt in Cyprus,
which is not mentioned at all in the HE, an omission for which no
explanation can be found. Moreover, we also find real factual differ-
ences between the two accounts. While dealing with the revolt in
Mesopotamia, for example, the Chronicon tells o f a real revolt
{ludaeis Mesopotamiae rebellantibus praecepit imperator Traianus Lysiae
Quieto), while the mentions only Trajans suspicion that the Jews
o f Mesopotamia, too, might revolt (6 8 s auToxpdcTcop uTuoTTTeucrai; x a l
TOIX; £V MsaoTioTafjiia 'louSaioui; £7ri07ja£a6ai). T h e order o f the re-
volts, too, is different. T h e Chronicon gives the following sequence:
Libya, Egypt, Alexandria, Cyrene, Thebais, while the HE presents
the revolts first at Alexandria, then in the rest o f Egypt and after-
wards in Cyrene.
T h e obvious conclusion to be reached is that Eusebius was appar-
ently using at least two different sources for his account in the
Chronicon and for that in the HE. We must, therefore, look for more
than one source.
Dio Cassius
Scholars have often pointed to D i o Cassius as a source for Eusebius,^

but only a comparison between the two accounts, that o f Eusebius
^ On the possibility that Eusebius consulted the work of Dio concerning the
Jewish uprisings, see McGiffert, The Church History of Eusebius, 175; Kirsopp Lake,
Eusebius: The Ecclesiastic History (Loeb Classical Library; London: Heinemann, first
ed. 1926, repr. 1965), 307; Hugh J. Lawlor and John E.L. Oulton, Eusebius, Bishop
THE QUESTION OF EUSEBIUS' SOURCES 159
and that o f D i o Cassius, as found in the summary o f XiphiHnus —

which is the only one which survived the vagaries o f transmission —
may substantiate this possibiUty
1 . Date. T h e account found in D / X lacks any chronological
setting. It only states that the Jewish uprisings broke out at the same
time (xal Iv TOUTO)) that Trajan abandoned his unsuccessful siege o f
Hatra (LXVIII, 3 2 , 1). Eusebius, o n the other hand, does not men-
tion Hatra a n d states that the revolts took place in the eighteenth
and in the nineteenth year o f Trajans reign.
2 . Name o f the Leader o f the Jews. T h e name o f the leader o f
the Jews is Andreas in D / X s account, while Eusebius calls h i m
Lukuas, a n d adds that he was a king.
3. Events in Libya. O f what happened, Eusebius has nothing to
say, while D / X offers a detailed account: " T h e y would eat the flesh
o f their victims, make belts for themselves o f their entrails, anoint
themselves with their blood a n d wear their skins for clothing; many
they sawed in two, from the head downwards; others they gave to
wild beasts, a n d still others they forced to fight as gladiators"
( L X V I I I , 3 2 , 1). T h e omission o f these details in Eusebius' account is
particularly meaningful in view o f the fact that they would have
served his apologetic purposes so well, helping h i m to stress the dis-
aster that befell the Jews, w h o were punished not only because they
did not recognize Jesus as their Messiah b u t also because they dared
to rebel against the R o m a n empire, which h a d been desired by Provi-
dence in order to make the diffusion o f Christianity possible.^
O n e might argue that Eusebius d i d not quote this passage be-
cause it d i d not show u p in the work o f D i o but was added later by
of Caesarea: the Ecclesiastical History and the Martyrs of Palestine, vol. 2 (London:
S.RC.K, 1928), 119; Gustave Bardy, Eus^be de Cisarie, Histoire Ecclesiastique, livres
I'lV (Paris: Edidons du Cerf, 1952), 2 1 , n. 7; Salvatore Barzl in his notes to
Eusebio di Cesarea, Storia Ecclesiastica l\ (Roma: Cittk Nuova Editrice, 2001), 194,
n. 7. I vîsh to thank Dr. Tommaso Leone for having brought this work to my at-
tention and having made it available to me.
^ See Robert M. Grant, Eusebius as Church Historian (Oxford: Clarendon Press,
1980), 97-113; Barnes, Constantine and Eusebius, 135; Arthur J. Droge, "The
Apologetic Dimensions of the Ecclesiastic History," in Eusebius, Christianity and
Judaism (ed. H.W. Attridge and G. Hata: Studia Post-Biblica 4 2 : Leiden-New-
York-Koln, 1992), 492-93; Jorg Ulrich, Euseb von Caesarea und die Juden: Studien
zur Rolle der Juden in der Theologie des Eusebius von Caesarea (Patristische Texte und
Studien 4 9 : Berlin-New York: de Gruyter, 1999), 49-51.
Xiphilinus.^ Theoretically, this is not impossible, because, even if

Xiphilinus does not usually a d d to what he finds in D i o s narrative
but rather deletes from it,^ cases have been detected in which
Xiphilinus is found to have a d d e d information taken from other
sources.^ It is, however, doubtfiil that this is so in our case, since the
atrocities ascribed to the Jews are very similar to those which D i o at-
tributes to the Britons when revolting against the R o m a n s in 6 1 C E
( L X I I , 7, 1-3) and to the Bucoli who rebelled in E g y p t in 171 C E
( L X X I , 4 , 1). As a matter o f fact, the report o f such and similar cruel
deeds constituted a locus communis, a well-established tradition con-
cerning the description o f revolts by "barbarians" against the R o m a n
establishment. Similar details were attributed to "barbarians" (in this
case, the Egyptians) also by Polybius and by Juvenal.^ It is therefore
probable that the details o f the atrocities allegedly perpetrated by the
Jews already appeared in the text o f Dio,^^ in which case the fact that
Eusebius does not mention them remains difficult to explain if he
had consulted D i o s work.
4 . Events in E g y p t . D / X offers n o detail at all, limiting himself
to the observation that "in Egypt, too, they perpetrated m a n y similar
^ See for example Kalman Friedmann, "Le fond per la storia degli ebrei di
Cirenaica nell'antichita," in Miscellanea di studi ebraici in memoria di H.P. Chajes
(ed. E.S. Artom et al. \ Firenze: Casa Editrice Israel, 1930), 53.
Millar observes that Xiphilinus' work is not so much a precis of Dio as a
rather erratic selection from his material. "A large amount of material is omitted
without trace, some is given in brief, and some, especially where there is coherent
narrative or anecdote of some special interest, is reproduced almost in full": Fergus
Millar, A Study of Cassius Dio (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1964), 2, 195-203.
^ Examining the seventieth book of Dio as it appears in Xiphilinus' epitome,
Schmidt was able to detect the presence of additional sources, which in some cases
are left: anonymous (for example, in LXX, 4, 2), but in others are explicitly men-
doned, and idendfied with Eusebius (LXX, 3, 2) and Quadratus (LXX, 3, 3).
Moreover, in LXX, 2, 2 Xiphilinus explicitly adverts that he is going to return to
Dio later, which is a clear indication that parts of book 70 does not stem only from
Dio: see Manfred G. Schmidt, "Cassius Dio, Buch LXX. Bemerkungen zur
Technik des Epitomators loannes Xiphilinos," Chiron 19 (1989): 56.
^ See Frankfurter, "Lest Egypt's City Be Deserted," 203, n. 3.
Juster suggests that he may have found them in anti-Semitic chronicles from
Alexandria (Les Juifi, vol. 2, 186), and Frankfurter points out that the horrible sto-
ries of cannibalism and torture reported (credulously) by Cassius Dio probably
arose as much from the fact that it was an alien group that was rising up as from
any actual atrocities the Jews committed: Frankfurter, "Lest Egypt's City Be De-
serted," 203.
outrages" (LXVIII, 3 2 , 2 ) . In Eusbeius' HE, o n the contrary, the de-

scription is both long a n d circumstantiated: "For both in Alexandria
and in the rest o f Egypt, as though they had been seized by some ter-
rible spirit o f rebellion, they rushed into sedition against their Greek
fellow citizens, a n d increasing the scope o f the rebellion in the fol-
lowing year started a great war while L u p u s was governor o f all
Egypt. In the first engagement they happened to overcome the
Greeks, w h o fled to Alexandria and captured a n d killed the Jews in
the c i t y . . . " ( i f f i l V , 2 , 1-3).
5 . Events in C y p r u s . D / X calls the leader o f the Jews Artemion
and adds that "here, also, two hundred a n d forty thousand perished,
and for this reason n o J e w m a y set foot on that island, b u t even if
one o f them is driven upon its shores by a storm he is p u t to death"
(LXVIII, 3 2 , 3 ) . In Eusebius' Chronicon, o n the other hand, we read
only that Salaminam, urbem Cypri, interfectis in ea gentilibus sub-
vertere ludaei,^"" while the HE dots not mention the revolt in Cyprus
at all.
We m a y safely conclude that Eusebius' account o f the Jewish u p -
risings does not rely o n that which appears in D/X,^^ a n d this is not
surprising since Eusebius' consultation o f Dio's history in his HE is
otherwise unattested.
T h e question therefore remains: w h o were the "Greek authors"
consulted by Eusebius?
Arrian
In the 1950's, Lelia M o t t a pointed out the similarity between the

phraseology used by Eusebius in dealing with the repression o f the
Jews in M e s o p o t a m i a {HEW, 2 , 5 : 6 S s auToxpdcTcap u7ro7rT£U(7a(; x a l
Touc, iv MscroTTOTafjiLa 'IouSaiou<; ITZSTIGZGQOLI TOIQ auToOi, AOUCTLG)
KuYjTco TTpoasTa^sv I x x a O a p a t TTJC; sTiapxâc; OL\)TO\)Q) and a passage
o f the Lexicon Suidae, which derives from Arrian, which reports that
Ed. Helm, 196. See above, p. 86.

^2 See also Modrzejev^ski, The Jews of Egypt, 199 and Horbury, "The Begin-
nings," 288.
Carriker shows that in three passages he is clearly not the unnamed source
{HE II, 8, 1; III, 18, 4; IV, 2, 5) and is probably not in two {HE II, 25, 1-2; V, 5,
3). Only in one case ( / / f i l l , 20, 8, concerning Nervas policies after his accession)
Eusebius may have consulted the history of Dio, but in this case too, no proof can
be found: Carriker, "Seven Unidentified Sources," 86.
'0 T p a i a v o i ; lyvco [xsv, ti Tuapsixoi, I^SXSLV TO SOVO*;' zi S s [x-;^, aXXa

auvTpiâ<; y s TZOLUGOLI TY)<; a y a v aTacrOaXia^,^"^ a passage which
H a r t m a n n was the first to interpret as a reference to the Jewish peo-
ple. T h i s similarity, M o t t a argues, may be interpreted as an indica-
tion that both traditions, the pagan and the Christian one, may have
had a c o m m o n source in Arrian. His lost Parthica, which dealt with
Trajans Parthian war, m a y also have dealt with the Jewish uprisings
that broke out towards the end o f this war.^^
A number o f difficulties, however, arise. If Eusebius consulted
Arrian, whose work was certainly D i o s source, it is very difficult to
explain all the differences found between the account o f Eusebius
and that o f D i o concerning the Jewish uprisings. True, one might
explain these differences by calling in question Xiphilinus' omissions
and possible changes to the text o f D i o , but there are cases in which
this line o f argumentation fails us. T h e presence o f details o f the up-
risings in the various places in Eusebius's account that are absent
from that o f D / X would be easy to explain. Xiphilinus, who always
concentrates upon the more sensational details, might have disre-
garded them.
It is, however, less easy to explain why Eusebius does not mention
the cruel behavior o f the Jews in Libya that appears in the account o f
D / X . We would be obliged to assume that these details did not ap-
pear in Arrian's work, but were either added by Xiphilinus or found
by D i o in a source other than Arrian. In this last case, one might
identify this source with an oral source, perhaps the rumores heard
from Dio's father Apronianus, who had been governor in Cilicia two
generations after the revolt. Concerning the death o f Trajan, for ex-
ample, D i o states that Apronianus, while governor o f Cilicia, heard
the true version and passed it on (LXIX, 1, 3).^^ O n e could assume
Suidae Lexicon, vol 1, s.v. "axaaOaXa" (ed. Ada Adler: Stuttgart: B. G. Teub-
ner, 1928), 400, no. 432; the same passage appears also in Suidae Lexicon, vol. 4,
s.v. "TrapsLxot" (ed. Ada Adler, Stuttgart: B. G. Teubner, 1935), 53, no. 590.
Karl Hartmann, "Uber das Verhaltnis des Cassius Dio zur Parthergeschichte
des Flavins Arrianus," Philologus 74 (1917): 83-87.
Motta, "La tradizione," 484-85. Horbury, too, suggests that Eusebius was in-
debted to Arrian concerning the repression of the Jews in Mesopotamia ("The Be-
ginnings," 288).
On the part played by the vague area of knowledge about figures and events
in the past, and anecdotes and legends, which would be common to any given soci-
ety, see Millar, A Study of Cassius Dio, 35-36.
that Apronianus might have had some information o f the same kind
concerning the Jewish uprising in Libya, too.^^ However, this is
speculative even in the case that D i o s statement concerning his debt
to Apronianus should be taken at face value, which is not certain:
according to Baldwin, D i o s statement should not be over-evaluated
and should rather be considered no more than a literary m o t i f
All in all, it remains doubtful that D i o took his account o f the re-
volt in Libya from oral sources and not from Arrian. A n d if the ac-
count, in all its details, already appeared in Arrian, and Arrian is to
be seen as the source o f Eusebius, it is very difficult to explain why
Eusebius should choose not to mention details that would have
served his apologetic purposes so well.^^
Other sources must be sought.
Ariston of Pella
Since Eusebius took his account o f the Bar K o c h b a war from the
work o f a certain Ariston o f Pella, as he himself states in HE IV, 6,
3,^^ some scholars argue that in the same work he may also have
found the account o f the uprisings in Trajans days,^^ a possibility
I myself endorsed this view in previous works: Marina Pucci, "Qualche nota
sulla tradizione letteraria della rivolta ebraica al tempo di Traiano," RSA 9 (1979):
61-67; eadem, La rivolta, 38.
We actually do not know how and from whom this provincial governor could
really unearth in 182/3 the facts about such a delicate matter over fifty years in the
past. Baldwin suggests that occasional debts to a relative may have been something
of a literary motif, and quotes the example of Suetonius, who cited his grandfather
and father once each for a pertinent and confidential fact: Barry Baldwin, "Dio
Cassius on the Period A.D. 96-180: Some Problemadc Passages," Athenaeum 63
(1985): 197.
Modrzejewski, too, points out that "it would seem unlikely that Eusebius
employed Dios original text or one of Dios own sources": Modrzejewski, The Jews
of Egypt, 199.
Which work exactly we do not know: Ariston of Pella is ordinarily credited
with the Altercatio lasonis et Papisci, a debate between a Jewish Christian and an
Alexandrian Jew, but it cannot be ruled out that he may have also composed a his-
torical work. See Schurer, The History, vol. 1, 37-38.
22 See Grant, Eusebius, 48; Carnker, "Seven Unidentified Sources," 84-85;
Robert M. Grant, "Eusebius and Imperial Propaganda," in Eusebius, Christianity
and Judaism, 662.
impossible to prove or disprove, since the work o f Ariston is no

longer extant.
Bruttius
W h e n in his Chronicon Eusebius writes about the martyrdom suf-

fered by many Christians in the sixteenth year o f D o m i t i a n s reign,
he attributes his information to a certain Bruttius,^^ whose account,
it has been suggested, he may have found quoted in the Hypomne-
mata o f the second century Christian writer Hegesippus.^"^ T h i s
Bruttius may well be identified with C . Bruttius Praesens, a leading
political figure in Trajans days, twice consul, whose participation in
the Parthian war, being commander o f the legio VI Ferrata, is men-
tioned by Arrian in one fragment o f his lost Parthica, Bruttius was
governor of Cilicia in 1 1 6 / 7 , then of C a p p a d o c i a in 1 2 1 / 2 . Later we
find him in Moesia inferior in 1 2 4 / 5 , in Africa in 134/5 and in Syria
in 136/7. His official duties did not prevent him from writing a his-
tory o f his own times.^^
Eusebius may well have consulted this work concerning the Jewish
upheavals, too, but, as in the case o f Ariston o f Pella, this possibility
cannot be substantiated.
Appian
Another possible source used by Eusebius has been identified by

Lawlor and Oulton, and then by Modrzejewski and by Horbury,
with the work o f Appian.^^ O f A p p i a n s history, books 18-21 treated
2^ Scribit Bruttius plurimos Christianorum sub Domitiano fecisse martyrium. Inter

quos et Flaviam Domitillamy Flavii Clementis consulis ex sorore neptem, in insulam
Pontiam relegatam, quia se Christianam esse testate sit (Olymp. COCVTII, year XCVI:
ed. Helm, 192).
Numerous passages of the HE seem to derive from Hegesippus. See for exam-
ple HE III, 19, on Domitian, and HE III, 20, 8, on Nerva reversing Domitians
policy, for wrhich Eusebius refers to unidentified sources. See Carriker, "Seven Uni-
dentified Sources," 81.
25 See Edmund Groag, " C . Bruttius Praesens. No. 164," PIR 2"^, 1 (1933):
370-71; Ronald Syme, "The Career of Arrian," HSCP 86 (1982); repr. in Roman
Papers, vol. 4 (ed. A.R. Biriey: Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988), 28, 29, n. 50;
Werner Eck, "Jahres — und Provinzialfasten der senatorischen Statthalter von 69/
70 bis 138/139," Chiron 13 (1983): 148, 155, 157/8, 160, 176, 179.
2^ Lawlor and Oulton, Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea, 119; Modrzejewski, Les
Juifi, 162; Horbury "The Beginnings," 290.
Egypt, where the rebeUion o f the Jews began, and books 2 3 and 2 4
treated Dacia and Parthia, respectively, up to Trajans conquests. In-
formation concerning the Jews appears in various books o f A p p i a n s
R o m a n history: in the Syriaca, in the Mithridatica, and in the Bella
Civilia, Stern points out that B o o k 2 2 , which treated the history o f
the empire until the times o f Trajan, m a y well have included more
material about the Jews and their contact with the R o m a n s , to judge
from a passage o f the work o f Zonaras.^'^ Appian was in Egypt at the
time of the Jewish uprising and was involved in some way in the
events o f the revolt, as we learn from a passage o f his work on the
Arabian power o f divination: " W h e n I was fleeing from the Jews
during the war which was being waged in Egypt and I was passing
through Arabia Petraea in the direction o f the river, where a boat had
been waiting in order to carry m e over to Pelusium, an Arab served
m e as a guide at night. . . . I embarked and was saved, while the boat
which awaited m e at the other river was captured by the Jews."^^
R o m a n repression o f the Jewish disorders is mentioned by Appian
also when dealing with the place where Pompeys head was buried:
"Caesar could not bear to look at the head o f Pompey when it was
brought to him but ordered that it be buried, and he set apart for it a
small plot o f ground near the city which was dedicated to Nemesis,
but in m y time, while the R o m a n emperor Trajan was exterminating
the Jewish race in Egypt, it was devastated by them in the exigencies
o f the war. »29
Horbury observes that a perusal o f Appian by Eusebius would ex-
plain well the strong interest in Egyptian matters found in Eusebius'
account o f the Jewish uprisings.^^ H e is correct. For the events o f the
Jewish uprisings that took place in Libya, in Cyprus and in M e s o p o -
tamia, Eusebius' account does not give any detail at all, while all the
attention is focused on what transpired in Egypt.^^
2^ "For Josephus ... found in the sacred writings some oracle which revealed
that one from their own country would become the ruler of the world... This ora-
cle Appian also mentions in the twenty-second book of his Roman history"
(Zonaras, Epitome Historiarum XI, 16 = Stern, GLAJJ, vol. 2, 347, p. 185.
28 Arabicus Liber F 19 = Stern, GLAJJ, vol. 2, 348, pp. 185-86.
29 Bell. Civ. II, 90.
^® Horbury observes that already Stern and Modrzejewski mentioned this possi-
bility, but did not notice the coherence of Eusebius' Alexandrian and Egyptian em-
phasis with diis possibility. See "The Beginnings," 290.
31 See above, p. 161.
Eusebius having borrowed from Appian would also provide a good

explanation for the date he gives for the beginning o f the Jewish up-
risings in Egypt.
Being in Egypt at the time o f the uprising, and having been in-
volved in some way in its events, Appian might have heard peoples
talk, the local rumores concerning the riot promoted by the Alexan-
drian slaves that took place in the summer o f 115 attested in CPJ II,
4 3 5 . Powerful anti-Jewish propaganda was being spread in Alexan-
dria then and, moreover, the situation m a y have been confused at the
time, each side proclaiming its innocence. Appian might have heard
the version o f his Greek friends, construing the rumores to mean that
the Jews had been the responsible. We would therefore understand
both why the beginning o f the revolt is called stasis by Eusebius {HE
IV, 2 , 2) and why it is dated 115 C E . Understandably so: a riot did
really take place in Egypt in 1 1 5 , even if its promoters had been the
Greeks and not the Jews.
In this case, living in the fourth century C E and perforce depend-
ent on his sources, Eusebius had g o o d reasons for giving the dates he
gives.
As Barnes points out, the modern scholar should show his respect
for Eusebius' achievement not by repeating his sometimes-erroneous
dates but by applying his intelligence (as Eusebius did) to the sub-
stantive problems.^^
In conclusion, one o f the "Greek authors" mentioned by Eusebius
may have been Appian. As for the other or others, Ariston o f Pella
and Bruttius are both equally plausible candidates. These possibilities
fit well the conclusions reached by Gustafsson, who points out that
Eusebius always tended to use sources as old and nearly contempo-
rary to the events they described as possible, laying great stress on the
esteem in which they were c o m m o n l y held.^^
^2 On Eusebius' honesty and originality, see Barnes, Constantine and Eusebius,

119.
Gustafsson, "Eusebius' Principles," 436.
CHAPTER SEVEN
EGYPT: N E W DATES, N E W S READINGS A N D

NEW INTERPRETATIONS
N E W DATES FOR U N D A T E D PAPYRI
O n l y a few papyri dealing with the Jewish uprisings preserve a com-

plete date including day, m o n t h and year. In most o f the cases, the
year does not appear, and all that can be done is to try dating these
texts according to their content and whatever parts o f the date m a y
be extant.
Three different sets o f dates have been given to the papyri dealing
with the Jewish uprisings published in the CPJ: first by the editors
themselves, then by Schwartz some years later, and recently by
Kortus.^ While each o f these scholars follows his own understanding
o f the development o f the events, they all have one thing in com-
m o n , the starting point: regarding CPJ II 4 3 5 as the first attestation
o f the Jewish revolt in Egypt, all three o f them take its date, 14 O c -
tober 1 1 5 , as the terminus post quem for the beginning o f the disor-
ders.
This, however, is not the case, since, as we have seen above,^ CPJ
II 4 3 5 does not deal with the Jewish uprising but with an attack per-
petrated by the Greeks against the Jews o f Alexandria. T h e Jewish
counter-attack started later, after the cessation o f the payment o f the
Fiscus Judaicus, for which the last extant receipt was issued at Apolli-
nopolis M a g n a (Edfu) o n 18 M a y 116.^
It is therefore M a y 116 that has to be taken as the terminus post
q u e m for the beginning o f the Jewish uprising in Egypt.^
^ a y II, pp. 233-58; Schwartz, "En marge," 354-55; Michael Kortus, Briefe des
ApollonioS'Archives aus der Sammlung Papyri Gissenses: Edition, Ubersetzung und
Kommentar (Berichte und Arbeiten aus der Universitatsbibliothek und dem
Universitatsarchiv Giessen 49: Giessen: Universitatsbibliothek, 1999), pp. 96-107.
2 See above, pp. 137-40, 151-52.
3 See above pp. 152-53.
T h i s involves a re-consideration of each o f the texts dealing with

the revolt that bears an incomplete date.
O n e o f the first papyri presumably relating to the Jewish uprising
is a letter (7? Giss, 4 7 ) , from which we learn that ApoUonios, the
strategos of the district o f ApoUinopolis-Heptakomia,^ had asked
somebody, whose n a m e is not preserved, to buy weapons for h i m : a
cuirass "very finely woven and very light in comparison to its size, so
that it does not tire the one who wears it", a sword called Italian and
a dagger, regarding which his correspondent replies that such a dag-
ger "suitable for the occasion" could not be found. T h e reason for
these requests is not spelled out, but this purchase o f arms seems
quite exceptional in view o f the fact that usually the strategoi had
only civil responsibilities,^ and, moreover, as far as we know the Jew-
ish uprising was the only military enterprise in which ApoUonios was
involved. It appears therefore probable that these weapons were
bought in order to fight against the Jews.
T h e letter is dated 19 June. T h e year is not preserved. In theory, it
may have been either 116 or 117, but 116 appears a better choice
since it would be strange that ApoUonios waited a whole year before
getting organized. S o one m a y feel justified in suggesting that this
letter concerning weapons has to be dated 19 J u n e 116.
Shortly afiier the end of August, from Hermoupolis ApoUonios
wife. Aline, writes to her husband: "I take no pleasure in food or
drink, but stay awake continually night and day with one worry,
your safety. Only m y father's care revives m e and, as I hope to see
you safe, I would have lain without food on N e w Year's Day, had m y
father not come and forced m e to eat" ( C / y II, 4 3 6 , U. 6-14). Aline
is terribly anxious because o f ApoUonios' "sudden departure," and
5 On Heptakomia (today Kom Eshfaht), the "county seat" of the nome, a small
town peopled by Egyptians and few Greeks, see Modrzejewski, The Jews of Egypt,
200. ApoUonios was in office from probably earlier than June 114 to after at least
August 119. See John Whitehorne, "The Strategi of Roman Egypt (to 1985),"
ANRWW, 10, 1 (1988): 607 and Jane Rowlandson, Women & Society in Greek and
Roman Egypt: a Sourcebook (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), 118-20.
^ See CPJ II, p. 227 and Guido Basdanini, "Lista degli strateghi dell'Hermo-
polites in epoca romana," ZPE A7 (1982): 213. Modrzejewski observes that the
mobilization of a civilian official (in this context, his tide of "strategos" is mislead-
ing) was a rare emergency measure {The Jews of Egypt, 200). Kortus, on the other
hand, suggests that this military involvement was not really the duty of strategoi,
but voluntary participation (Kortus, Briefe des Apollonios-Archives, 122).
EGYPT: NEW DATES AND NEW READINGS 169
"because o f what they say about what is happening" (II. 3-5), and
begs him not to go into danger without a guard: " D o the same as the
strategos here,^ who puts the burden on his officers" (11. 15-19).
Aline wrote (or rather: had this letter written for her) shortly after
the N e w Year s D a y o f the Egyptian N e w Year, the first o f T h o t h ,
corresponding to 2 9 August, which in R o m a n times was officially
regarded as the beginning o f the N e w Year in Egypt.^ It was presum-
ably at the beginning o f September 116.^
According to this reconstruction, we would have three events con-
nected to the beginning o f the uprising in Egypt in 1 1 6 : the termi-
nus post q u e m , namely, the cessation o f the payments o f the Jewish
tax in late May, the purchase of weapons by ApoUonios in J u n e , and
the preoccupations o f Aline at the beginning o f September 116.^^
T h i s may well mean that between June and August 116 the revolt
spread in the various Egyptian districts.
Military developments are hinted at in a letter preserved in CPJ II,
4 3 8 , which mentions a Jewish victory on the 20^^ o f an unnamed
m o n t h and the arrival at M e m p h i s o f "another legion o f Rutilius" —
probably to be identified with Rutilius Lupus, prefect o f Egypt —
on the 22'''^ o f the same m o n t h , namely, two days later. There is no
necessity to argue for a date before the arrival o f Turbo in Egypt,
since Syme has shown that Turbo did not replace Lupus as prefect o f
Egypt. Lupus, therefore, m a y well have remained in Egypt until
August 117, and his military forces may have been active side by side
with those brought along by Turbo. For this papyrus, therefore, we
only have a terminus ante q u e m : August 117.
^ The strategos of Hermoupolis may have been the TouTikioc; DOXUXPATTJC; at-
tested on 10.11.118. See Bastianini, "Lista degli strateghi," 213.
8 See Orsolina Montevecchi, La papirologia (2nd ed.: Milano: Vita e pensiero,
1988), 67.
^ In the CPJ, where the terminus post quem for the revolt is the date of CPJ II,
435, namely, October 115, the date suggested is September 115 {CPJW, p. 233).
Amazingly, Cizek reaches similar conclusions without taking into account
ostraca and papyri: Cizek, Lepoque de Trajan, 455.
See below, pp. \7A-7G,
12 See O . W Reinmuth, "A Working List of the Prefects of Egypt — 30 B.C. to
299 A.D.," BASPA (1967): 92-93 and Ronald Syme, "More Trouble about Turbo,"
Bonner Historia Augusta Colloquium 1979/81 (ed. G. Alfoldi et ai: Bonn: Rudolf
Habelt, 1983): 303-307.
13 Modrzejewski suggests that Rutilius Lupus may have been "under the orders
of Marcius Turbo" {The Jews of Egypt, 200). As for the dme when Lupus left Egypt,
T h e city o f M e m p h i s is mentioned as the theater o f a battle be-

tween Greeks and Jews in CPJ II, 4 3 9 , as well. T h i s time, however,
the Jews were defeated: "I have learnt from m e n w h o arrived today
from Ibion that they h a d traveled with a slave o f our lord
ApoUonios; the slave was coming from M e m p h i s to bring the g o o d
news o f his victory and success" ( C / y II, 4 3 9 , U. 3-7). Fuks m a y be
correct in suggesting that both CPJ II, 4 3 8 and 4 3 9 date from the
same year, the 117, at some point during the summer.
T h e strategos ApoUonios is the addressee o f another letter, written
this time by his mother, Eudaimonis, w h o greatly worries for h i m
( C / y II, 4 3 7 ) . T h e letter is dated 3 0 June. Since in this letter no
greetings from his wife Aline or for her are found, Fuks suggests that
at the time Aline was neither with Eudaimonis nor with ApoUonios.
T h i s would fit well with the situation in late J u n e 117, when, as we
learn from CPJ II, 4 4 2 , 1. 6, Aline (apparently by herself) left Her-
moupolis, where her mother-in-law lived, and returned to her own
h o m e at ApoUinopolis in order to give birth. In that case, the letter
o f Eudaimonis preserved in CPJ II, 4 3 7 m a y have been written on
3 0 J u n e 117,^^ and the same m a y be suggested also in the case o f
another o f her letters to ApoUonios {PGiss. Inv. 2 4 5 = P Alex, Giss.
58 = SB 10, 1 0 6 5 2 B ) , where, too. Aline is not mentioned.^^
Biriey suggests that immediately after his acclamation as Imperator by the troops on
11 August 117, Hadrian dispatched a companion of his, Valerius Eudaemon, to
Egypt with the appointment of procurator for the administration of Alexandria (ad
dioecesin Alexandriae), a post which would enable him to keep an eye on things
there. Eudaemon may have come with a letter of dismissal for the prefect Rutilius
Lupus. The new Prefect was Q. Rammius Martialis, a former commander of the
vigils at Rome. He must have been in the east with Hadrian, for he was already in
office in Egypt before the end of August. See Biriey, Hadrian, 79. The first attesta-
tion of Martial in Egypt is P. Oxy. 1023, 1.6, dated between 8 and 28 August 117
(see Bastianini, Tista dei prefetti," 283). The time of the year was that in which in
the second century C E new prefects would arrive in Egypt, during the summer, at
the end of the Egyptian year. See Guido Bastianini, "Successioni nella prefettura
d'Egitto," ^ ^ ^ ; > ? « 5 58 (1978): 168-71.
1^ It is not clear on what grounds Kortus bases his suggesdon that this letter was
written in December 115 (Kortus, Briefe des Apollonios-Archives, 117).
15 Kortus dates this letter to 115: Kortus, Briefe des ApoUonios, pp. 102-104.
1^ Kortus dates it to the first half of 116 {Briefe des ApoUonios, p. 125). As for
the letter written to the strategos ApoUonios by his mother Eudaimonis (P. Alex.
Giss. 59 = SB \0, 10652 C ) , in which she prays that he "may be saved," together
EUDAIMONIS' FEARS
From the papyri found in the district o f HermoupoUs in M i d d l e

Egypt we learn that at the very beginning o f the revolt the strategos
ApoUonios a n d his wife Aline left their h o m e . ApoUonios went where
his presence was needed to stop the disorders, while his wife reached
her mother-in-law Eudaimonis at Hermoupolis.^^ I f they thought
that the disorders would not reach there, however, they were wrong,
since a papyrus found in that city attests that it, too, was "in extreme
d a n g e r , " a notion confirmed b y Eudaimonis when she writes to her
son ApoUonios: " T h e disturbances here a m o n g us I cannot bear."^^
T h e concern o f Eudaimonis for the safety o f her son ApoUonios is
vividly attested by a number o f letters she sends h i m .
O n e o f them, in particular, deserves our attention, that preserved
in P. Giss, 2 4 = CPJ II, 4 3 7 , a letter written by Eudaimonis to
ApoUonios where, according to the reading given by the editors o f
the CPJ^^ E u d a i m o n i s writes to ApoUonios: . . .T]COV OSWV [OOJV
OsXovTCOv x a i (jLaXtaxa TOU OCVLXT^TOU 'Ep(jLou ou \pr\ ere oTCTTâcoailcri.},^^
"with the g o o d will o f the gods, above all Hermes the invincible, m a y
they not roast y o u , " words that contemporary research links to the
account o f D / X when dealing with the Jewish uprising in Libya:
" T h e y would eat the flesh o f their victims, make belts for themselves
o f their entrails, anoint themselves with their blood a n d wear their
skins for clothing; m a n y they sawed in two, from the head down-
wards; others they gave to wild beasts, a n d still others they forced to
fight as gladiators" (LXVIII, 3 2 , 1). T h e fear expressed by Eudai-
monis, therefore, has been considered as a confirmation o f factual
with his wife Aline and their "lovely children", we understand that Aline was not
staying with her mother-in-law at the time. So the letter must have been written
either at some point before the end of August 116, when we find Aline in the house
of her in-laws at Hermoupolis, or after June 117, when she left them to go back to
her own home in order to give birth.
See Marie Drew-Bear, "Le nome Hermopolite et sa metropole ^ I'^poque
gr^co-romaine," REA 83 (1981): 2 1 , 33.
i« R Bremen inv. 7 = 5 5 10, 10277. See above, pp. 26-27.
19 RAlex. Giss. 58 = SB 10, 10652 B.
20 O y i l , p. 236.
21 C P / I I , 437.
reality or, in any case, a sign o f the anti-Jewish propaganda that

flourished in Alexandria at the time.^^
Scholars, however, are also found who doubt whether Eudaimonis'
words can be taken at face value, since her extravagant utterances are
well known from other papyri. Fuks, for example, observe that the
utterances o f Eudaimonis are not reliable evidence, since the letters
preserved in the papyri "show clearly that the irascible old lady, who
sometimes 'revolts' against the gods and apostrophizes her fellow
men, used rather extravagant expressions."^^ For example, Eudai-
monis writes to her daughter-in-law who had sent her a present o f
money: " W h y did you send m e 2 0 drachmai, when I have no lei-
sure? I already have the vision o f being naked when winter starts"
and proclaims: " B e sure that I shall pay no attention to the god until
I get m y son back safe" ( C P / I I 4 4 2 , respectively 11. 28-31 and 11. 2 5 -
2 8 ) . Similarly, on another occasion, in which ApoUonios was facing a
different sort o f threat in the form o f a protracted lawsuit, Eudai-
monis writes to her son: "I have neither bathed nor worshipped the
gods because o f m y fear about your unsettled case,"^^ another color-
ful and unusual turn of phrase which leaves unclear whether
Eudaimonis intended her refusal to bathe to be taken as ritually sig-
nificant (although that would have been its effect since it would have
been sacrilege to perform any religious rite while ritually unclean) or
simply as a mark o f her great concern for her son.^^ T h a t Eudai-
monis was seemingly a self-centered person is also borne out by a let-
ter she sends to ApoUonios after the end of the Jewish uprisings,
where she attributes his safety to her own piety: "I pray to greet you,
m y treasure, and to worship the sweetest sight o f you which is now
22 See Frankfurter, "Lest Egypt's City Be Deserted," 203-20.

2^ CP/, II, p. 236. On Lady Eudaimonis, as he calls her, see also Modrzejewski,
The Jews of Egypt, 202-204.
2^ P Flor. 332, translated by Arthur S. Hunt and Campbell C. Edgar, Select Pa-
pyri: Non-Literary Papyri, Public Documents (vol. 1: Loeb Classical Library: Lon-
don: William Heinemann Ltd., Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University
Press. 1963), 114, pp. 207-209.
25 See John Whitehorne, "Religious Expression in the Correspondence of the
Strategus ApoUonius," APapyrol 6 (1994): 28. Similarly in P Oxy. 528 the writer
marks his longing for the wife who has left him by telling her that he has not only
been weeping day and night since her departure, but that he neither bathed nor
anointed himself for a whole month after she left. Whitehorne points out that such
an abstention would require considerable fortitude in a climate like Egypt's.
truly m y recompense, since it is m y piety which has got you back

again unharmed and m o s t blessed."^^
In none o f the letters, however, does Eudaimonis use such a strong
expression as that indicating her fear that the Jews may "roast" her
son.
It is, however, not certain that Eudaimonis really uttered these
words. In fact, in the verb which the editors o f the C / y suggest read-
ing oTCT7]aco(7L{ai}, the first two letters are very difficult to read as we
realize if we check the photo o f the papyrus reproduced in CPJ III,
Plate IV. In a work that appeared in the late 1 9 8 0 s , Clarysse rejects
this reading, since the verb OTUTOCO) "to roast" is apparently unique in
the papyri. T h e verb -i^TTaca, on the other hand, is m u c h more c o m -
m o n and appears more than once in the archives and in s o m e letters
concerning the Jewish revolt. Because o f its commonness and the
parallel passages, Clarysse suggests reading not g [ . . . . T ] c a v Oscav
[oO]v OsXovTCov x a l [xaXicTTa TOU avtxiQTou 'Epfxou ou ]xri az OTCTT^-
a c o a t j a L } but rather ou [iri az i^TTYJacocTLlai}.^^
T h i s suggestion is endorsed by Whitehorne and by Rowlandson,
ignored by Alston,^^ and rejected by Kortus.^^ Concerning the first
letter, which, as we observed above, is almost not visible, Kortus ar-
gues that it cannot be Y] since we cannot see its vertical stroke. T h i s is
true, the vertical stroke is not preserved, but it is a fact that it is also
impossible to read here an o, since the right part o f the circle is miss-
ing. As for the second letter, there is no possibility o f reading n be-
cause, as Kortus himself admits, there is no left vertical stroke.^^^
It seems therefore that the reading suggested by Clarysse cannot
be easily dismissed, in which case any connection between this papy-
rus and the account o f D / X collapses upon scrutiny. Eudaimonis
probably only feared that the Jews "should not defeat" her son
ApoUonios, a more than understandable fear at the time.
26 7? Giss. 22.
2^ Willy Clarysse, "ApoUonios: ambtenaar en familievader," in Familiearchieven
uit het land van Pharao (ed. P.W Pestman: Zutphen: Uitgeverij Terra Zutphen,
1989), 169, n. 18.
2^ Respectively, Whitehorne, "Religious Expression," 34; Rowlandson, Women
& Society, 121 and Richard Alston, Soldier and Society in Roman Egypt: a Social
History (London and New York: Roudedge, 1995), 76.
29 Kortus, Briefe des Apollonios-Archives,'' p. 106.
29a For an afterthought concerning the first letter of this word, see my note
{"P.Giss. 24: a New Reading") forthcoming in ZPE.
T H E PARTICIPATION OF " R U T I L I U S " IN T H E FIGHTING
A small papyrus — three lines only — coming from Medinet M a d i

(possibly Narmuthis) and written in the second century C E , p u b -
lished some time after the CPJ appeared, mentions the participation
o f a person named RutiUus in the fighting: [. . .] oc, -^ysfjicav TOUTIX
/ . . . ] T^GsXsacrsv / [ . . . ] a T p a T s u a a * ; . ^ ^ O n e immediately thinks of
the M . Rutilius L u p u s who had been praefectus annonae between 103
and 111 (most probably in 107) and was then appointed as Prefect
o f Egypt, where he is attested from 2 8 January 113^^ until he was
succeeded by Q. R a m m i u s Martialis before 2 8 August 117 CE.^^
Along this line, Modrzejewski suggests that this may be a dedication
by Lupus of one or more buildings that had been destroyed or d a m -
aged during the Jewish revolt, and his view is shared by Foraboschi.^^
T h i s fragment is included in the list o f the texts attesting the pres-
ence o f the R o m a n prefects in Egypt both by Bastianini, who dates it
tentatively to the middle o f 117,^^ and by Bureth.^^ It is, however,
excluded from a later work o f Bastianini.^^ As Prof Isaac E Fikhman
was so kind as to inform me, in a private communication Bastianini
made it clear to him that it was a deliberate exclusion, due to the fact
that the formula appearing in this fragment is unusual.^^
Ignazio Cazzaniga, "Una dedica del prefetto M. Rudlio Lupo? Un papiro

deirUniversitk Statale di Milano," Aegyptus 47 (1967): 159-67. The text is pub-
lished again in SB 10, 10502.
5^4383,1.3.
^2 See Reinmuth, "A Working List," 92 and Klaus Wachtel, " M . Rudlius Lupus.
No. 252," PIR, 2"^ ed., 7, 1 (1999), 137-39. On the circumstances of the end of
his term in office, see above, n. 13, pp. 169-70.
Joseph Modrzejewski, "Papyrologie juridique," SDHMl (1975): 521; Daniele
Foraboschi, "Movimend e tensioni sociali nelFEgitto romano," ANRWII, 10, 1
(1988): 822, n. 49.
Guido Basdanini, Tista dei prefetd d'Egitto dal 30a al 299p," ZPE 17
(1975): 282.
^5 Paul Bureth, "Le prefer d'figypte (30 av. J.C.-297 ap. J . C ) : tot present de la
documentation," AA^PW'II, 10, 1 (1988): 483.
^6 Guido Bastianini, "II prefetto dTgitto (30 A.C. — 297 D . C ) . Addenda
(1973-1985)." ^ P i r i l , 10, 1 (1988): 503-517.
"Uho omessa dalla lista a ragion veduta, semplicemente perch^ non mi
sembrava probabile che si trattase del prefetto d'Egitto. ...La sequenza oq ^ysfxcav
PouTtX mi sembrava alquanto strana": from a letter written at Florence on 31 Janu-
ary 1999 by Prof Guido Basdanini to Prof Isaac R Fikhman.
If Bastianini is correct, the possibiUty may be taken into consid-

eration that this RutiHus might instead be identified with the Ruti-
Uus Poiukrates attested as strategos o f the district o f the H e r m o -
poUtes in the November o f 118. As we learn in the case o f
ApoUonios, the strategoi o f Egypt did participate actively in the fight
against the Jews.^^ Alternatively, he m a y have been the soldier L.
Rutilius L u p u s belonging to the forces o f the cohors I Hispanorum
equitata, which, according to Cavanaile, participated in the fighting
against the Jews.^^
However, it is far from certain that this identification is to be pre-
ferred, since from the papyri it emerges that Rutilius L u p u s , the pre-
fect o f Egypt, had, indeed, been personally involved in the conflict
between the Jews and the Greeks. Already in the October o f 115 he
had issued an edict calling for the cessation o f hostilities, the edict
preserved in CPJ II, 435"^^ and possibly recorded also in CPJ II,
158a.^^ Later, at the time o f the Jewish uprising, mention o f his mUi-
tary forces is found in a letter informing us that "another legion o f
Rutilius arrived at M e m p h i s . . . a n d is e x p e c t e d . F u k s suggests that
this may well be the legion that contributed to the defeat o f the Jews
around Memphis,^^ perhaps together with the military forces
brought along by Q. Marcius Turbo.^^
It seems therefore impossible to rule out the possibility that the
Rutilius who participated in the fighting mentioned in SB 10, 1 0 5 0 2
is to be identified with the prefect o f Egypt, the more so since he is
called here -^ysfjicav, a term widely attested in the papyri, along with
See above, n. 6, p. 168.

^9 See Cavenaile, Cohors I Hispanorum Equitata,'' 180, n. 10 and Spaul, Cohors,
113.
See Alexander Fuks, CPJW, p. 228. See also above, pp. 137-38.
a y II 158 a, col. I, 11. 4-5: 0£co[v] / Tcspl to)St[o]u SiaTayfxa aveyvca [tou ?] /
Aouttou. See above, n. 71, p. 139.
^2 CPJ II, 438, 11. 16-18. This letter may have been sent from Hermoupolis to
the strategos at Apollinopolis, but it may also be an answer by ApoUonios the
strategos to Aline s letter, perhaps that appearing in CPJ II, 436. Fuks suggests that
the letter was sent not from ApoUonios but from another member of ApoUonios'
household from Hermoupolis to Heptakomia {CPJW, p. 237).
CPJ II, 439. It was written by Aphrodisios of ApoUonios' household in
Heptakomia to Herakleios the steward of ApoUonios' estate in the Hermoupolite
district. See Fuks, CPJW, p. 239.
sTcapxoc;, referring to the prefect o f Egypt.^^ A n d since in the years

113-117 the Jewish uprising was the only armed event known to
have taken place in Egypt, one may well assume that this fighting
was that against the Jews. His personal participation in the repression
o f the Jewish uprising was apparently part o f his duty as R o m a n pre-
fect o f Egypt, who was the commander o f an army, and in fact we
know that most prefects had at least held two or three o f the militiae
equestres before their appointment.^^
T H E MILITARY A S P E C T
In his account o f the Jewish uprising, Eusebius states that the R o m a n

forces active against the Jews were "land and sea forces including cav-
alry," which waged against the Jews "many battles for a considerable
time"^'^ — information which he may derive from one o f the "Greek
authors" w h o m he consulted, possibly the work o f Appian, who was
himself in Egypt at the time.^^
S o m e more details are provided by the papyrological testimony.
A papyrus recording a list o f deposits by new Asian recruits as-
signed to the cohors I Augusta praetoria Lusitanorum equitata attests
casualties that probably occurred during the fight against the Jews."^^
45 Guido Basdanini, ""ETrapôf; AtyuTTTou nel formulario dei documend da

Augusto a Diocleziano," ANRWW, 10, 1 (1988): 581-97, especially 583, n. 3,4,5
and 593.
Unfortunately we do not know for how long on average an eques destined for
higher employment retained a legionary tribunate or auxiliary prefecture, or there-
fore to what extent he may be regarded as a professional expert. Augustus would
hardly have contemplated appointing mere civilians to command the army in
Egypt. See Peter A. Brunt, "The Administrators of Roman E g y p t , " / ^ ^ 65 (1975):
131-32.
I9' ohq 6 auTOXpaTcop i-Kz\i^zM Mapxiov Toup(3cova ctuv Suva(jL£L izzQ-fi r e x a l
vauTtx/i, ^'^^ ^£ x a l Ituttix^. 6 izoXkcdc, [IOLXOHQ oux oXiyo) t s XP°^V ^P^^ OLUTOUQ
BioLTzovriaac, TroXefxov, ttoXXoc^ [xuptaSac; 'louSatwv, ou [xovov tcov octto Kup'y)vy)(;, aXXa
x a l TCOV aTT AiyuTTTou auvaipofxevcov Aouxoua to> âotXet auTWV, avatpei {HE IV, 2,
3-4). ' '
4^ See above, pp. 164-66.
The unit is attested in the South of Egypt before 105. See Daris, "Le truppe
ausiliarie," 760-61. Pauls observes that the unit did not acquire the extra dde Prae-
toria for bravery in action. Just as the Praetorian Guards at Rome were the Emper-
ors bodyguard, cohors I Augusta Praetoria Lusitanorum was probably the cerimonial
body guard for the Perefct of Aegyptus, whenever needed: Spaul, Cohors, 56-58.
Luckily, we have a complete date. These recruits arrived in Egypt

before 3 September, 117.^^ T h e y were evenly distributed ( 2 0 , 17, 2 0 ,
2 2 , 2 4 , 2 3 ) a m o n g six centuries, a n d their total o f 126 is quite im-
pressive in view o f the fact that in the second century C E a cohort at
fiill strength had in most o f the cases 3 6 0 pedites (more rarely is at-
tested a higher number, with a m a x i m u m o f 3 8 0 ) . T h e 126 m e n ,
therefore, are a third or more o f the normal strength o f pedites.
Moreover, they are described as tirones Asiani, namely, they all came
from the province o f Asia, which is striking in view o f the fact that
by Trajans time units tended to draw their recruits largely from the
province in which they were stationed. Gilliam suggests that the co-
hort s need for so m a n y replacements a n d the fact that they were
brought in from another province, which means that there was a
shortage o f suitable recruits in Egypt,^^ are impressive evidence for
"the serious a n d bloody nature o f the Jewish uprising in Egypt," a n d
concludes that most probably the 126 tirones Asiani had been sent to
the cohort largely to replace m e n lost in the Jewish revolt.
Eusebius states that sea forces, t o o , were probably involved in the
repression o f the Jewish uprising: Icp' ou^ 6 auToxpdcTcop sTcsfjtêv
Mapxiov Toiippcova cruv Suva^xsi TTS^^ TS x a i vauTix^ {HE IV, 2 , 3 ) , a
statement possibly confirmed by a letter written by a soldier o f the
classis Alexandrina, Claudius Terentianus, to his father Tiberianus,
where we read: " F o r y o u know that we are working hard now, in
view o f the fact that we are suppressing the uproar a n d anarchy o f
the city" (/? Mich, All, 11. 2 8 - 3 0 ) . Since Terentianus lived in Trajans
days, scholars suggest that this "uproar a n d anarchy" (06pupov x a l
axaxaaxaaLav) m a y be related to the Jewish uprising.^^
O n e o f the battles between the Jews on one side a n d Greeks,
Egyptians, a n d R o m a n s on the other side, is mentioned in an un-
50 PSI 1063 = Fink, Roman Military Records, 74.

5^ Alston, too, observes that the Cohors I Lusitanorum, of Spanish origin, can
hardly have had historic or other connections wîth Asia: Alston, Soldier and Society,
50.
5^ Gilliam, "An Egyptian Cohort," 91-97. See also Fink, Roman Military Records,
74, pp. 277-80.
5^ See Giovanni Battista Pighi, Lettere latine d'un soldato di Traiano (Studi
Pubblicati dall' Istituto di Filologia Classica 14: Bologna: Zanichelli editore, 1964),
p. 78. O n Claudius Terentianus, see also Nicola Criniti, "SuUe forze armate romane
d'Egitto: osservazioni e nuove aggiunte prosopografiche," Aegyptus 59 (1979): 223.
dated papyrus, where we read: " T h e one hope and expectation that
was left was the struggle o f the massed villagers from our district
against the impious Jews; but now the opposite has happened. For
on the 20^^ (?) our forces fought and were beaten and m a n y of them
were killed... now, however, we have received news from men com-
ing f r o m . . . that another legion o f Rutilius arrived at M e m p h i s o n
the 22''^ and is expected" {CPJ II 4 3 8 ) . F r o m this text we learn that
at this stage there were in Egypt at least two legions: one is the legion
that participated in the aforementioned battle, and the other is the
"legion o f Rutilius," which was expected.
As for the identification o f these legions, one must have been the
legio XXII Deiotariana, which had been stationed in Egypt since the
days of Augustus and remained there continuously till H a d r i a n s
days.^^ As for the other. Wheeler suggest the legio XV Apollinaris.^^
T h e presence of the legio XVApollinaris in Egypt in these years, how-
ever, is quite problematic. T h e legion is attested at C o r n u t u m , where
the traditional amber trade route ("the Pannonian Highway") crossed
the D a n u b e , until 106. T h e n , in 119, we find it at Satala. T h e ques-
tion is what happened in between. Wheeler argues that the legion
may have been in Egypt from 106 to at least 117, relying on the fact
that an altar was set up by a centurion o f the legio XV Apollinaris,
Annius Ruftis, at Egyptian M o n s Claudianus in fiilfillment o f a vow
{ILS 2 6 1 2 ) . This, however, seems hardly conclusive since both the
exact date and the circumstances of the presence o f Annius Rufiis in
Egypt are unknown. T h e other reason that leads Wheeler to think
that the legio XV Apollinaris was in Egypt in the years o f the Jewish
uprising is the fact that a praefectus castrorum o f this legion, L.
Gavius Fronto, was sent by Trajan to found a colony o f three thou-
sand veterans meant to repopulate Cyrene, as we learn from an in-
scription from Attaleia (Pamphylia).^^ Wheeler links this mission to
54 The name Deiotariana was a reference to the king of Galatia who had created
a force armed and trained after the Roman fashion. See Sergio Daris, ''Legio XXII
Deiotariana,' in Les ligions de Rome sous le Haut-Empire, voL 1 (Acres du Congr^s
de Lyon [17-19 septembre 1998], ed. Y. Le Bohec: Lyon: Collection du Centre d'
fitudes Romaines et Gallo-Romaines Nouvelle sene 20: Paris: Diffusion De Boccard,
2000), 365-67 and here below, n. 85.
55 Everett L. Wheeler, ''Legio XVApollinaris-. From Carnuntum to Satala—and
Beyond," in Les Ugions de Rome (ed. Y. Le Bohec), 283, 284, 288-90, 293
56 5 ^ G X V I I 584 = AE 1972, 616.
the presence o f the legion in Egypt, "since it does not seem likely,
given the chaotic military situation in the East in 117, that Trajan
would pick a m a n not already present in Egypt and familiar with lo-
cal conditions to start the cleanup process after the Jewish uprising."
However, the mission o f Gavius Fronto to Cyrene cannot be dated
with certainty: in the inscription from Attaleia attesting his mission
to Cyrene, he is called both 7rp£t.(jL07r£LXapLo<; o f the legio III Cyrenaica
and aTpaxoTTsSapxT]*; o f the legio XVApollinaris, which leaves it unde-
fined the position he covered when he was sent to Cyrene. According
to D o b s o n , for example, Fronto led his mssion to Cyrene presum-
ably as TrpetfjioTrsiXapiot; o f the legio III Cyrenaica/*^
T h e presence o f the legio XV Apollinaris in Egypt at the time o f
the Jewish revolt, therefore, is b o u n d to remain speculative.^^
Another possibility, taken into consideration already by Keppie in
the early 1970 s, is that the "other legion" mentioned in CPJ II 4 3 8 is
instead to be identified with the legio III Cyrenaica?"^ Created to-
wards the end o f the Republican period,^^ from 2 3 C E on the legio
III Cyrenaica had been stationed at Nicopolis, about two miles out-
side Alexandria, along with the the legio XXII Deiotariana until it
left Egypt for the new province of Arabia, possibly in 106/7.^^ Later
we find it active in Trajans Eastern campaign;^^ at some point after
February 116 a detachment o f it shows up in Jerusalem,^^ and on 4
5^ Brian Dobson, Die Primipilares. Entwicklung und Bedeutung, Laufbahnen

und Persdnlichkeiten eines romischen Offiziersranges (Landschaftsverband Rheinland,
Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn und Verein von Altertumsfreunden im Rhein-
land: Beihefte der Bonner Jahrbucher 37: Rheinland-Verlag G M B H , Koln, in
Kommission bei Rudolf Habelt Verlag G M B H , Bonn, 1978), 233.
5^ Professor Daris has pointed out to me that at most one detachment of the
legion may have been sent to Egypt. Moreover, in his table of the distribution of
legions in the East in the years 71-135 C E Keppie places the legio XVApollinaris in
Cappadocia and not in Egypt: Keppie, "The Legionary Garrison of Judaea," 224.
5^ Lawrence J.R Keppie, "The Legionary Garrison of Judaea under Hadrian,"
Latomusdl (1973): 862.
60 See Alston, Soldier and Society, 23 and Catherine Wolff, "La legio III
Cyrenaica au ler si^cle," in Les legions de Rome (ed. Y. Le Bohec), 339-40.
6^ See Ann E. Hanson, "Juliopolis, Nicopolis and the Roman Camp," ZPE 37
(1980): 249-54.
62 See Gader, ''Legio III Cyrenaica,'' 341.
63 AE 1982, 904; see Cotton, "The Legio VI Ferrata," 353; Daris, "Legio XXII
Deiotariana," 365, n. 3 and Gader, "Legio III Cyrenaica," 346-7, n. 51, 52.
August 119, we find it again back, stationed at Alexandria along with

the legio XXII Deiotaraiana,^'^ M o s t probably, Keppie suggests, it re-
turned to Egypt to participate in the repression of the Jewish rebel-
lion.^^ Wheeler thinks that it arrived under the extraordinary com-
m a n d of Marcius Turbo at a stage later than that in which was
written CPJW 458,^^ but Syme has shown that Turbo did not replace
Rutilius L u p u s as prefect o f the province, which means that the two
o f them, Marcius Turbo and Rutilius Lupus, may have been in Egypt
at the same time, coordinating their forces in the repression o f the
Jewish rebellion.^^
A confirmation o f the participation o f the legio III Cyrenaica in
the fight against the Jews is probably found in two Latin papyri de-
spite the fact that the Jewish revolt is not explicitly mentioned.
O n e is a list o f military forces^^ where the words ex forma, "ac-
cording to plan," that appear on 1. 2 0 , support Seider s interpretation
that this list is to be identified with a plan for the mobilization o f
R o m a n military forces. T h i s plan involved the movement and prepa-
ration for action o f the fleets from M i s e n u m and Ravenna, o f the
legio III Cyrenaica and o f additional auxiliary units, such as the cohors
I Flavia Cilicum equitata?^ Seider points out that the fact that the
65 BGU 140,11. 5-9. See Keppie, "The Legionary Garrison," 862, n. 19; Gatier,
"Legio III Cyrenaica" 343, n. 21 and Daris, " Legio XXII Deiotariana" 365, n. 3.
66 Keppie, "The Legionary Garrison," 864.
67 Wheeler, "Legio XVApollinaris^ 291.
6^ 7? Heid.lat. 7: Richard Seider, "Eine Heidelberger Lateinische Militarurkunde
(7? Heidlat, 7)" ZPE 29 (1978): 241-51= Chartae Latinae Antiquiores. Facsimile-
edition of the Latin Charters Prior to the Ninth Century, part XI (ed. Albert Bruckner
and Robert Manchal: Diedkon-Zurich: Urs Graf-Vedag, 1979), 500, p. 50.
The cohors I Flavia Cilicum equitata is attested in Upper Egypt continuously,
from 83 to 218 C E : see Sergio Daris, "Le truppe ausiliarie romane in Egitto,"
ANRWW, 10, 1 (1988): 756-57 and John Spaul, Cohors 2: The Evidence for and a
Short History of the Auxiliary Infantry Units of the Imperial Roman Army (BAR Inter-
nadonal Series 8 4 1 : Oxford: Archaeopress, 2000), 399, 523. Seider also suggests
reading the name of the cohors I Ituraeorum on 1. 18. The cohors I Ituraeorum, of
archers, had fought in Dacia with Trajan and remained there since: see Daris, "Le
truppe ausiliarie romane in Egitto," 747 and 759. Seider suggests that if now we
find it in Egypt, a difficult military situation probably caused its transfer there:
Seider, "Eine Heidelberger Lateinische Militarrurkunde," 250. Bruckner and Mari-
chal {Chartae Latinae Antiquiores, p. 50), however, point out that there are three
good reasons for doubdng this reading (as for the fourth, it is not conclusive, as
they themselves recognize).
EGYPT: N E W D A T E S A N D N E W R E A D I N G S 181
fleets o f M i s e n u m and o f Ravenna are mentioned one after the other

along with equestrian units seems to point to a major military expe-
dition, which must have taken place at s o m e point before 127 C E
(the date when the legio III Cyrenaica was transferred to A r a b i a ) / ^
Actually, since in 123 the legion is found active in the area o f the
Euphrates,^^ we m a y even suggest an earlier terminus ante q u e m ,
s o m e point before 123. A major military expedition taking place in
Egypt before 123 C E may well be identified with the Jewish upris-
ing, the more so since on 1. 2 mention is m a d e o f the city o f
Apollonia, and we know that the civitas Apolloniatarum, at 12 k m
from Cyrene, was probably involved in the Jewish uprising. Such in-
volvement may be inferred from the fact that the Jews tried to inter-
rupt contact between Apollonia and Cyrene, as we learn from two
milestones dated 118 C E , which attest that the emperor Hadrian or-
dered the restoration o f the road "which had been ruined and d a m -
aged in the Jewish revolt. "^^ Also possible, even if not certain, is
Seiders suggestion that the letters ''one^' appearing on 1. 5, m a y refer
to Q. Marcius Turbo, the R o m a n commander sent by Trajan to
Egypt with instructions to repress the Jewish uprising mentioned by
Eusebius ( / / ^ I V , 2 , 3).^^
See Johannes Kramer, "Die Wiener Liste von Soldaten der III. und XXII.
Legion (7? Vindob. L 2 ) , " ZPE^l (1993): 148 and Pierre-Louis Gatier, "La legio III
Cyrenaica et I'Arabie," in Les Ugions de Rome (ed. Y. Le Bohec), 341-42.
72 In 123, Ti. Claudius Quartinus, at the head of the legio II Traiana and of the
legio III Cyrenaica, received a special command assignment in the East made neces-
sary by a threat of war with Parthia (see SHA Hadr 12, 8-13, 1: Bellum Parthorum
per idem tempus in motu tantum juit, idque Hadriani conloquio repressum est). See
Lawrence Keppie, "The History and Disappearance of the Legion XXII Deiota-
riana," in Greece and Rome in Eretz-Israel: Collected Essays (ed. A. Kasher et ai: Jeru-
salem: Yad Izhak Ben Zvi: The Israel Exploration Society, 1990), 58 and the works
of Alfoldy and of Eck quoted by Gatier, "La legio III Cyrenaica" 347, n. 56.
7^ One was found on the Cyrene-ApoUonia road, at the fifth Roman mile from
Cyrene: Imp(erator) Caes(ar) divi/ Traiani Parthici filius)J Divi Nervae nepos, Traia-
nus Hadrianus/ Aug(ustus) p(ontifex) m(aximus)y t(ribunicia) p(otestate) II, co(n)s(ul)
III,/ viam quae tumultu/ ludaico eversa et/ corrupta erat res/[tituit pe]r [mil(ites)
coh(ortis)... ]/ x S ' aTdcS(ta) ATroXa)v(âv) (5^6*DC, 252). The other {AE 1951, 208)
is idendcal, with the only difference that it lacks the distance from Cyrene; it was
found at Cyrene, outside the Trajanic baths, near the Fountain of Apollo, before the
first mile from the city, probably indicating the limits of repair works. See above,
inscriptions no. 11 and 12, pp. 11-12.
74 Seider, "Eine Heidelberger Lateinische Militarrurkunde," 246. This reading.
T h i s plan for mobilization, therefore, m a y be taken as a confirma-

tion o f K e p p i e s suggestion that the legio III Cyrenaica, or s o m e d e -
tachments o f it,^^ was in Egypt at the time o f the Jewish u p r i s i n g / ^
In this case, the terminus ante q u e m for the return to E g y p t w o u l d
be not August 119 (the date o f BGU 1 4 0 , 11. 5-9) but 116 or, m o r e
p r o b a b l y 117 CE.^^
T h e participation o f the / / / Cyrenaica in the repression o f the Jew-
ish revolt appears also to be attested in another Latin papyrus.^^ Fink
calls it a "list o f casualties," but Kramer is correct in pointing out
that only s o m e o f the legionaries are mentioned as having been killed
in c o m b a t , which means that the rest were still alive.^^ T h e s e legion-
aries belonged to the legio III Cyrenaica, to the legio XXII Deio-
tariana, a n d to other forces impossible to identify in view o f the b a d
state o f the text.^^ In the first c o l u m n o f the recto, four names are
however, is not certain. Bruckner and Marichal {Chartae Latinae Antiquiores, p. 50)
point out that traces of the letter "b" cannot be found before the letter "o".
75 It is difficult to establish whether the whole legion or only some of its detach-
ments returned to Egypt, and three different scenarios are taken into consideration
by scholars. In 1986, Zayadine and Fiema suggest that only detachments left Egypt
to the province of Arabia in 106, while the permanent camp of the legio III
Cyrenaica throughout the period was still in Nicopolis at least till 123. In 1988, on
the other hand, Strobel argues that the whole legion was sent to Arabia in 106 and
remained there, only vexillations being sent to the Parthian war and to Jerusalem in
116. The whole legion would have returned to Egypt in 116. A different view is
suggested by Freeman in 1996: the legion would have remained in Arabia, and only
a detachment of it would have been transferred back to its old base as a conse-
quence of the rebellion there. "Denuding Provincia Arabia of its entire (legionary)
garrison strikes me as an extravagant, even excessive way to react to the problems in
Egypt when there was already a legion there. In addition, there would also have
been implications for its command structure." O n these views, see Philip Freeman,
"The Annexation of Arabia and Imperial Grand Strategy," in The Roman Army in
the East (ed. D.L. Kennedy: Journal of Roman Archaeology Supplementary Series
18: Ann Arbor, M I : Cushing-Malloy Inc., 1996), 95-99.
76 Keppie, "The Legionary Garrison," 864.
78 PVindob. L, 2=Fink, Roman Military Records, 34.
79 See Kramer, "Die Wiener Liste," 148.
80 These forces might be identified with the cohors I Augusta praetoria Lusita-
norum equitata, which we know did participate in the fighting against the Jews: see
above, pp. \7G-77. But other possibilides, too, are taken into account by scholars.
Cavenaile suggests the cohors I Hispanorum equitata (Robert Cavenaile, "Cohors I
Hispanorum Equitata et Cohors I Hispanorum Veterana," ZPE 18 (1975): 180,
preceded by the letters 6 or te, which stands for tetatus^^ "killed,"

while in the second column the names o f the killed soldiers, six in
number, are given at the end.^^ As for the verso, in the second col-
u m n , 1. 14, we have the heading tetati followed by a number o f
names impossible to read in view o f the bad preservation o f the text.
T h e marginal annotation te, which is sometimes expanded as
te(tates), tetates or tetati as well as the hybrid form tetati which is at-
tested in another papyrus, often appear in the papyri in Trajans and
H a d r i a n s time to designate the soldiers who had been killed in com-
bat. Whatever its origin — whether it was first used in the Hellenis-
tic armies or arose from a misconception o f barred O , for 0{hiit), a
misconception which might very easily be formed by the Greek-
speaking soldiers o f the eastern legions — it was in c o m m o n use in
Egypt and Moesia by the time o f Trajan, and was still in use towards
the end o f the second century. As late as the third and early fourth
centuries C E , Egyptian scribes still avoided writing the letter theta
and preferred writing the word out in fiill when dating documents,
in accordance with what T h o m a s calls a "superstitious avoidance o f
this symbol o f death."^^
n. 10), Cotton a unit of the legio VI Ferrata (which may have been sent to Egypt in
order "to help with putdng down the Jewish revolt": see Hannah M. Cotton, "The
Legio VI Ferrata," in Les legions de Rome (ed. Y. Le Bohec), 355) and, finally. Free-
man suggests the cohors II Thracum, which had been stationed in Egypt since 105
(Freeman, "The Annexation," 100, n. 11).
8^ Col. I, 1. 6: d lulius Maximus-, 1. 12: te(tatus) Cladius Feanus-, 1. 13 te(tatus)
Flaus Gerfennus', 1. 17 te(tatus) Bius Longon,
82 Col. II, 11. 18-25: tetates Pompei Epane, Cladius Clemes, Cladius Apulinar,
Antonius Vales, Upis Satumilus, Upis Alexa.
83 By an odd coincidence, three of the four papyri that contain this theta nigrum
or an equivalent term were written in the Trajanic-Hadrianic period. See George R.
Watson, "Theta N i g r u m , " 4 2 (1952): 61 and 6 1 , n. 36 for a list of the relevant
papyri. In one of them, British Museum Papyrus 2851, the contrast in 11. 9-11 be-
tween 'perit\ 'occisus and 'thetatt {perit in aqua, occisus a latron[i]bus, detati), leads
Fink to suggest that the last has the special meaning of'killed in combat'. As for the
writing of 'thetati with a Greek theta, Fink observes that the soldiers regarded the
symbol used in the military records as an actual theta, not as a barred ' O ' for
o(biii). See Robert O. Fink, "Hunt's Pridianum: British Museum Papyrus 2S51," JRS
48 (1958): 113, n. 27 and Kramer, "Die Wiener Liste," 154-55.
84 J. David Thomas, "Avoidance of Theta in Dating by Regnal Years," ZPE 24
(1977): 241-43.
O u r list o f legionaries is not dated, but the high proportion o f

deaths recorded, seemingly nine out o f twenty-eight men, is taken by
Fink to refer to the military action against the Jews.^^ As for the ob-
jection raised by Kramer, that there m a y have been other times and
other places where they fell in battle,^^ one realizes that while this
may well apply to the case o f the legio III Cyrenaica, which is known
to have fought in the Parthian war,^^ it does not fit the case o f the
legio XXII Deiotariana, for which no involvement in fighting outside
Egypt is attested.^^ Moreover, it is significant that the legionaries o f
the legio III Cyrenaica and those of the XXII Deiotariana are men-
tioned together in this text, since the two legions are attested to-
gether only while stationing in Egypt. Fink, therefore, is probably
correct in attributing these losses to the military action against the
Jews.
O n the other hand, it is not certain that the involvement o f the
legio III Cyrenaica and o f the legio XXII Deiotariana in recruitment in
Cyrenaica, at the orders o f C . lulius Karus,^^ is to be linked to the
Jewish uprising, since there is no possibility o f establishing the cir-
cumstances in which this recruitment took place. Gatier suggests
that an earlier date, 9 9 C E , seems even more probable.^^
Presumably, all these forces were sent to Egypt after the events o f
the Jewish revolt. Otherwise it is difficult to understand how the
Jews, numerous as they may have been in Egypt, could have been
able to resist the R o m a n armies for such a prolonged time, appar-
ently a whole year. Probably at the time o f the disorders only a small
R o m a n military force was stationed in the country. In fact, we un-
derstand from the account o f D / X that only in the late spring o f
117, after the unsuccessfiil siege o f Hatra, Trajan took measures
85 Fink, Roman Military Records, pp. 160-61.

86 Kramer, "Die Wiener Liste," 149.
88 On the long and almost uninterrupted sojourn in Egypt of the legio XXII
Deiotariana, see Keppie, "The History and Disappearance of the Legio XXII
Deiotariana," 54 and Daris, "Legio XXII Deiotariana," 365-66.
90 AE 1951, 88. On a connecdon with the Jewish uprising, see Erich Biriey,
"Britain after Agricola, and the End of the Ninth Legion," in Roman Britain and
the Roman Army: Collected Papers (2"^ ed.: Kendal: T. Wilson, 1961), 24.
9^ See Gatier, "Legio III Cyrenaica," 343, n. 21.
EGYPT: NEW DATES AND NEW READINGS 18 5
meant to repress the rebeUion d e c i s i v e l y . T h e papyri considered

here above, therefore, are probably to be dated to the last stage o f the
revolt, in the last months o f Trajans life, most likely after Turbo ar-
rived in Egypt with additional forces, "with land and sea forces in-
cluding cavalry," as Eusebius states.
T h e R o m a n military action against the Jews in Cyrenaica is not
attested in the epigraphical and papyrological testimony. As for Cy-
prus, we have a dedication o f an altar to G E N I O P R A E S I D I E T
M O N T I U M by the cohors VII Breucorum equitata civium Roma-
norum at Knodara in Cyprus {AE 1953, 171), which would imply
the construction o f a fort or camp by the unit. Mitford suggests that
the transfer o f this cohors from Moesia Superior to Cyprus had been
caused by the Jewish revolt in 116/7, and Knight and Pauls share his
view.^^ From ILS III, 9 4 9 1 we also learn o f the participation in a
military action in Cyprus o f C . Valerius Ruftis, prefect o f the cohors
VI Hispanorum praetoria^^ tribunus militum o f the legion VII
Claudia pia fidelis, who had been sent there by Trajan with a detach-
ment "/>2 expeditionerri\ T h e fact that Trajan is called here Parthicus
indicates some point after the end o f February 116, which leaves no
doubt as to the relation o f this mission to the Jewish uprising.
Another question that may be asked is from where did the Jews
get their arms. T h e answer may come from a papyrus published in
the late 1960's, BGU 2 0 8 5 . From this text we learn that at some
point before 3 April 119 C E the emperor Hadrian had issued an or-
der — to which the inhabitants o f Egypt had to comply by oath —
forbidding the planting o f arrow-reeds and tamarisk reeds, plants
from which bows and arrows were made.^^ Maehler and M o d r -
92 See above, pp.

93 After the revolt, the cohors was sent to a new station in Pannonia Inferior:
see David J. Knight, "The Movements of the Auxilia from Augustus to Hadrian,"
Z P £ 8 5 (1991): 207 and Pauls, Cohors 2, 325-26.
9"^ Pauls observes that the term "praetoria is related to the "praetorium" the
Governors residence and the commanding officers house in a permanent fort.
Hence "praetoria is used to indicate the Governors official unit. The status of the
unit and the nature of its dudes were similar to those of the Praetorian cohors at
the Emperors disposal in Rome. See Pauls, Cohors, 137-38.
95 A description of the plant is already found in Thephrastus, Tcspl 9utc5v
tcTTOptac;, IV, 11, 11: "quite distinct is the archers' reed, which some call the 'Cre-
tan': this has few joints and is fleshier than any of the others; it can also be most
freely bent, and in general, when warmed, may be turned about as one pleases." As
zejewski suggest that this order had been prompted by the events o f
the Jewîsh revok.^^
CONFISCATION OF JEWISH PROPERTY AFTER T H E REVOLT
Confiscation o f Jewish property after the revok is known to us

through a number o f papyri mentioning property "formerly held by
Jews". In one o f them, P Oxy. 5 0 0 = CPJ II 4 4 8 , a peculiar expres-
sion is found attached to the word "Jews," a participle which is diffi-
cult to read in view o f the b a d state o f the text.
T h e history o f the readings offered is long. T h e first editors o f the
text, Grenfell a n d H u n t , suggested reading: ['I]ouSaLa)v £ip7)[[jL]£va)v,
"mentioned above", but later, following the view o f Cronert, they
themselves preferred reading ['IJouSaiwv £ipy][(ji]£V6)v (= Yjipyjfjisvcov,
"seized", from the verb aipsiv). T h e n , to P r o f Fuks w h o had asked
him to re-examine the text. Prof Gerstinger pointed out the possibil-
ity o f reading here av£ipY)[fjL]£vcov, "killed," a possibility accepted by
Fuks in the CPJ.^"^ All these readings, however, are defined as "sus-
pect," both from the semantic and juridical points o f view, by
Modrzejewski,^^ w h o instead endorses the reading suggested by A n n a
Swiderek: ['I]ouSaia)[v a9]£LpY][(ji]£vo)v ( = a97]p7](jL£vcov): not Jews
"killed", b u t "punished by confiscation o f property,"^^ a solution
paleographically as acceptable as the other ones suggested, but the
for the use made out of this plant, Pliny observes: " T h e peoples of the East employ
reeds in making war, by means of reeds with a feather added to them they hasten
the approach of death, and to reeds they add points which deal wounds with their
barb that cannot be extracted, and if the weapon itself breaks in the wound, an-
other weapon is made out of it" {Nat Hist. XVI 65, 159). Concerning the weapons
used by the Roman armies in Egypt, which were also manufactured out of the ma-
terials provided by the Egyptian villages, see Sergio Daris, "Documenti minori
dell'esercito romano in Egitto" ANRWII 10, 1 (1988): 734-35.
96 Herwig Maehler, BGU XI (Bedin: Veriag Bruno Hessling, 1968), pp. 150-
51; Joseph Meleze Modrzejewski, "loudaioi apheremenoi. La fm de la communaut^
juive d' figypte (115-117 de n.^.)," in Symposion 1985. Vortrdge zur griechischen und
hellenistischen Rechtsgeschichte (Ringberg 24-26 Juli 1985) (ed. G. Thuer: Koln:
Bohlau, 1989), 341, n. 14. O n Roman decrees issued on other occasions forbid-
ding the possession of arms under death penalty, see Maehler, BGUYl, p. 151.
97 See a y II, p. 256.
98 Modrzejewski, "loudaioi apheremenoi" 343.
99 Anna Swiderek, " I 0 Y A A I K 0 2 KOVOY." JJP 16-17 (1971): 60, n. 23.
EGYPT: N E W D A T E S A N D N E W R E A D I N G S 187
best from the philological and juridical points o f view. Translating

the Latin confiscarey the verb avaXafjipdcvsLv applies well to the Jewish
rebels, and in this case the lands o f the Jews were bona damnatorumy
lands confiscated following a penal measure.
F r o m the R o m a n point o f view, the Jewish uprising had endan-
gered the economic balance o f the Empire, which, a m o n g others,
was based in part on the grain shipped from Egypt to R o m e and to
I t a l y . T a k i n g up arms, the Jews had been guilty o f the crime o f se-
dition, namely, o f revolt against the established authority, which
came under the category o f crimen maiestatis. T h e definition o f
Ulpian is clear on this point: maiestatis crimen.,.illud est, quod
adversus populum Romanum vel adversus securitatem eius committitur.
A m o n g the criminals mentioned are found those "who bring arms
against the state" {contra rem publicam arma ferre) and those who
promote revolts {seditio tumultusque adversus rem publicam). The
punishment for these crimes was capital punishment, entailing the
confiscation o f property {confiscatio bonorum)y a measure that accom-
panied all crimes against the state. If we follow the view proposed by
Modrzejewski, therefore, our 'louSaioi a97]pYjfX£vot. o f 7? Oxy. 5 0 0 =
CPJ II 4 4 8 were damnati ("condemned"): having rebelled against
R o m e , they were guilty o f crimen maiestatis.
There had to be, therefore, a decree condemning the Jews issued
by the R o m a n authority, most probably by Hadrian. Modrzejewski
suggests that the decree was issued before July 118,^^^ but we d o not
know where it was handed down, nor in what terms. In any case,
Hadrian was not obliged to travel to Egypt, as it was not indispensa-
ble that the indicted parties appear before the emperor himself, if in-
See Modrzejewski, "loudaioi apheremenot \ 349-51.

Modrzejewski suggests that this may have been one of the purposes of the
revolt: "Egypt was an important grain-producing country: once vanquished, it
could easily be defended by the conqueror. Tacitus remarks that Augustus had suc-
ceeded in 'isolating' it, fearing that "Italy itself could be faced with starvation if a
unfriendly power could resist great armies {Annals 2, 59). To seize Egypt and bring
Rome to its knees by depriving it of the deliveries of wheat on which it depended
— the enterprise might not have been as suicidal as it appears at first glance. To
starve Italy and Rome — Rome who had stripped them of their former status of
'Hellenes' and abased them to the level of the native peasants—^what a magnificent
revenge for the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem and the humiliation of the
Egypdan Jews!" {The Jews of Egypt, 205).
Modrzejewski, "loudaioi apheremenoi" 352, n. 62.
deed a fraction o f them had survived. A distant echo o f such decree

may perhaps be seen in a note appearing in the Chronicle o f
Eusebius, according to which " H a d r i a n had inflicted a chastisement
on the Jews who had risen in revolt against the R o m a n s . " T h i s
decree had to apply to all the Jews o f the country, those who had
been killed and the few surviving. Property "formerly held by
Jews" is found in a number o f different Egyptian districts: the
Herakleopolite, the Oxyrhynchite, the Kynopolite, the Athribite and
the Arsinoite nomes,^^^ and in SB 12, 1 0 8 9 2 the expression {npoTz-
pov) 'Iou8(aLO)v) occurred as m a n y as sixteen times in the surviving

one hundred lines, leading Swiderek to the conclusion that the con-
fiscations had been effected on a vast scale, affecting all the Jews and
not only those who participated in the revolt.
In some o f these texts, the properties "formerly held by Jews" are
mentioned along with those o f 'EXXYJVCOV a[xX]7)povo[ji7)Tcov, namely,
Greeks who died leaving no heirs. Under R o m a n law, if the owner
had died without leaving either a will or a legitimate heir, it became
state property. T h i s would have been the case for land that had be-
longed to Greek combatants, single men without children, close
cousins, or nephews to claim the succession. L a n d the Jews had
owned, to the contrary, fell into the category o f property confiscated
from persons condemned to capital punishment {hona damnatorum).
T h e state had taken possession o f these, too, but on quite other
grounds. Modrzejewski points out that the distinction maintained by
the provincial administration between the estates o f the Greeks and
those o f the Jews translated into terms o f land registry the opposition
See above, p. 155. As for the interpretation of Syncellus 348 D, see above
n. 51 p. 155, and Modrzejewski, The Jews of Egypt, 220-21.
See /? Oxy 1189 = CPJW 4 4 5 ; P Oxy. 500 = CPJW 448; SB 12, 10892. The
strategoi involved in these confiscations were Aquilius Pollio in the Herakleopolite
nome, ApoUonios in the Oxyrhynchite district and Sabinos in the Kynopolite
nome (mentioned in CPJW, 445, recto, 11. 2, 7-8; verso, 1. 1). On ApoUonios, see
John E.G.Whitehorne, "A Checklist of the Oxyrhynchite Strategi," ZPE 29 (1978):
172-73. As for the strategos of Lycopolite, he was probably Sarapion, attested in
loco in the years 117-119. See Sergio Daris, "Toponimi del Licopolite," ZPE Al
(1982): 209.
See Swiderek, " l O T A A I K O S A O F O S , " 45-62 and Greg H.R. Horsley et
al. New Documents Illustrating Early Christianity: A Review of the Greek Inscriptions
and Papyri Published in 1979 (Macquarie University: The Ancient History Docu-
mentary Research Centre, 1987), 210.
between the loyal fighters, who had fallen in battle without leaving
heirs, and the Jews who had rebelled, were defeated, and were con-
victed o f sedition.
T h e lands o f the Greeks were given to the fiscus as bona vacantia
according to the prevailing rules. T h e administration o f the proper-
ties o f the Jews, on the other hand, was given to a special account,
called 'louSaixo*; Xoyoc;. This special account is mentioned in SB 12,
1 0 8 9 3 , in 7? Koln II, 9 7 and probably also in CPJ III, 458.^^^ T h e
'louSaixcx; Xoyoc; may be a new, special account, created on this occa-
sion, but we cannot fail to realize that 'louSaixog Xoyo^ is the exact
equivalent for the Latin Fiscus Judaicus, the account taking care of
the revenues o f the tax imposed by Vespasian on all the Jews o f the
Empire as punishment for the war fought in Judaea against the R o -
m a n state in the years 66-70.^^^ It appears therefore that it was one
and the same account that had dealt with the Jewish tax since
Vespasian's days and that is found now dealing with the properties
"formerly held by Jews".
It was a provisional measure. From CPJ II, 4 4 8 and from SB 12,
1 0 8 9 2 , we understand that some time later the confiscated lots —
which had not been sold in H a d r i a n s days^^^ — were transferred to
other permanent categories o f land. O n e m a y therefore conclude
that toward the end o f the second century the 'louSaixoc; Xoyo^; did
not exist any more as an independent category within the ouataxcx;
X6yo^.ii^
Modrzejewski observes that under these conditions, the Jewish
communities in Egypt had practically no chance o f recovery. T h e
rare survivors, stunned by the harsh verdict o f imperial justice, had
become totally impoverished. " T h e accounts o f R o m a n provincial
Modrzejewski, "loudaioi apheremenof, 359. See also Modrzejewski, The Jews

of Egypt, 217.
See Modrzejewski, "loudaioi apheremenof, 353-54.
See above, pp. 124-25. In Egypt, this tax is attested in a number of receipts
released to the Jews of Apollinopolis Magna (Edfou) between 71/2 and 116 C E : see
CPJ II, 160-229, pp. 119-36. It was called Tt[jL% §7]vapLcav Suo 'louSatwv until the
late eighties {CPJW, 160-188). Then, starting with the years 92-93, the formula
appearing in the papyri is uTrsp TouSatxoii TeXsafxaTO^; {CPJW, 189-229).
Werner Eck, "Der Bar Kochba Aufstand, der Kaiserliche Fiscus und die
Veteranenversorgung," SCI 19 (2000): 145, n. 30.
Modrzejewski, "loudaioi apheremenoi," 354-55.
administration in Egypt throw a cold Hght on the tragic balance of

the revolt. In Alexandria and in all the rest o f the country, the days of
Hellenized Jewry had come to an end."^^^
Modrzejewski, The Jews of Egypt, 222.

CHAPTER EIGHT
MESOPOTAMIA
T H E T E S T I M O N Y OF T H E CHRISTIAN SOURCES
T h e only explicit piece o f evidence for the existence o f a Jewish re-

volt in M e s o p o t a m i a is the testimony o f Eusebius. Unfortunately,
however, neither the Chronicon nor the HE offers any detail about
the revolt itself Instead they expand on an aggressive military action
directed against the Jews o f M e s o p o t a m i a by one o f the most bril-
liant generals o f Trajan, Lusius Quietus,^ the well-known general
who had served h i m valorously through his wars. D / X tells us that
already in D o m i t i a n s days Quietus ranked as a leader o f the Moors^
and as commander o f a troop in the cavalry; but, having been con-
d e m n e d for base conduct {ini TcovyjpLoc), he had been dismissed from
service at the time and disgraced. Later, however, when the Dacian
war began and Trajan needed the assistance o f the M o o r s , Quietus
came to h i m o f his own accord and displayed great deeds o f prowess.
Being honored for this, he performed far greater and more numerous
exploits in the second war, and finally advanced far in bravery and
good fortune during the Parthian war ( L X V I I I , 3 2 , 4).^
1 On the dififerent spellings of his name — Lysinias, Lysinas, Lysinus, Losinus

and Lysias — preserved by the sources, see Leiva Petersen, "Lusius Quietus. No.
4 3 9 , " / Y / ? 2 " ^ V, 1 (1970), 113.
^ In the 1950s it was hotly debated whether he was an Abyssinian, as maintained
by Willem Den Boer, "The Native Country of Lusius Quietus," Mnemosyne, S. IV 1
(1948): 327-37; idem, "Lusius Quietus, an Ethiopian," Mnemosyne S. IV, 3 (1950),
263-67; idem, "Lusius Quietus (III)," Mnemosyne, S. IV 4 (1950): 339-42) or a
Mauretanien: see Anton G. Roos, "Lusius Quietus Again," Mnemosyne S. IV, 3
(1950): 158-65; idem, "Lusius Quietus. A Reply" Mnemosyne, S. IV 4 (1950): 336-
38. According to Petersen, the hypothesis that Quietus was an Abyssinian is rather
improbable: most probably. Quietus came "ex Libyae extrema parte nondum Roma-
nis subiecta": Leiva Petersen, "Lusius Quietus. Ein Reitergeneral Trajans aus
Mauretanien," Altertum 14 (1968): 212 and idem, "Lusius Quietus. No. 439," 113.
^ On a small sculpture representing Lusius Quietus, see Giovanni Conti, "Un
bustino inedito del Museo di Pesaro," RIA 18 (1971): 91-99.
As for the reason that prompted Trajans decision to send Quietus

against the Jews, the account o f the Chronicon differs substantially
from that appearing in the HE,
T h e Chronicon links the military action o f Lusius Quietus against
the Jews with a Jewish rebellion that would have broken out in
Mesopotamia in the nineteenth year o f Trajans reign: ludaeis Meso-
potamiae rebellantibus praecepit imperator Traianus Lysiae Quieto, ut
eos provincia exterminaret, Adversum quos Quietus aciem instruens
infinita milia eorum interfecit, ^ In the HE, on the other hand, no re-
volt is mentioned at all but only Trajans suspicion that here, t o o , as
in the other places, the Jews "might" rebel. It is Trajans suspicion
that would have led h i m to organize a preventive military action, or-
dering Lusius Quietus "to clean them o u t o f the province. H e organ-
ized a force and murdered a great multitude o f the Jews there" {HE
IV, 2 , 5 ) .
Similar to Eusebius' report, and probably dependent o n it, is the
account we found in the eighth-century Z u q n i n Chronicle mistak-
enly attributed to Dionysius o f Tell Mahre,^ where we read that
Lusius Quietus "slaughtered many myriads o f them, so that the
streets and houses o f the cities and the highways and pathways o f the
countryside were filled to overflowing with unburied corpses."^
T h e reader is puzzled: h o w could a preventive measure end u p in
such extreme violence? Along this line o f thought, Petersen wonders
whether this massacre o f the Jews was d u e to R o m a n habits or
whether it has to be connected with Quietus' barbarian origin.^
It is also intriguing that peculiar ways in his dealings with the Jews
are attributed to Lusius Quietus by two later sources. O n e is
Nicephorus Callistus, who writes that Lusius Quietus "arrayed his
forces secretly (xpucpa) and then suddenly fell on the Jews,"^ a pas-
sage whose historical value is difficult to establish since Nicephorus
wrote m a n y centuries after the events reported, in the second half o f
4 Die Chronik des Hieronymus, CCXXIII Olymp., 18^ year of Trajan's reign (ed.
Rudolf Helm: Bedin: Akademie-Verlag, 1956), 196. N o significant difference is
found in the Armenian version: see above, pp. 85-87. The same testimony also ap-
pears in the accounts of Orosius and of Syncellus (see above, pp. 90, 92.)
^ On this Chronicle and its sources, see belov^, p. 248.
^ Dionysii Telmahharensis Chronici Liber Primus, 153, 11-15.
Petersen, "Lusius Quietus. Ein Reitergeneral Trajans," 214.
« HEWl, 22B.
MESOPOTAMIA 193
the thirteenth century and in the first part o f the fourteenth, and we
actually do not know on which sources he may have relied other
than the Ecclesiastical History o f Eusebius.^
In any case, this is not the only testimony pointing in this direc-
tion. Another source, too, would attest that Quietus' repression o f
the Jews involved treacherous deception. Quietus is said here to have
palavered with the rebels, come to an agreement with them on the
peaceful cessation o f hostilities, and then brought up his troops by
stealth during the night and massacred his unsuspecting enemies the
next day. T h i s testimony is quoted by Alon in translation but its
name is not given, which can be attributed to the fact that it was not
Alon himself who edited his book but one o f his students, who did
so after his death, and somehow the name o f this source must have
gone astray. G o o d m a n is certainly correct in observing that "some-
body has to know who this source must have been,"^^ but one looks
in vain in the English version o f Alon's work that appeared thirty
years later. Here, the entire reference to this mysterious source has
disappeared altogether, so that it remains impossible to evaluate its
historical value.
Lusius Quietus' military action against the Jews, however, is men-
tioned not only by Eusebius and by late sources. In the account by
D / X of the Jewish upheavals, too, at the end, after reporting the
events transpiring in Libya, Egypt and Cyprus, we read: " A m o n g
others who subdued the Jews was Lusius, who was sent by Trajan"
(LXVIII, 3 2 , 3 ) . N o detail is added, and the place where Quietus'
repression took place, too, is left undetermined. If, however, we read
this passage in context, we see that just a little above, before men-
tioning the Jewish uprisings, Lusius Quietus' military action in
M e s o p o t a m i a is mentioned at length: it was meant to quash a rebel-
lion that had broken out against the R o m a n s toward the end o f
^ See Alice-Mary Talbot, "Xanthopoulus, Nikephoros Kallistos," in The Oxford

Dictionary of Byzantium, vol. 3 (ed. A.P. Kazhdan: New York-Oxford: Oxford Uni-
versity Press, 1991): 2207.
10 Gedaliah Alon, History of the Jewish People in the Time of the Mishnah and of
the Talmud (Hebrew) (Tel Aviv: Hakibbutz Hameuchad Publishing House, 1958),
252.
11 Martin D. Goodman, review of M. Pucci, La rivolta ebraica al tempo di
TraianoJRS 75 (1983): 210.
12 Alon, The Jews, vol. 2, 409-12.
Trajans reign. T h e initiators o f this revolt are not mentioned at all.

T h e question may well arise, therefore, whether Quietus' military
enterprise mentioned by Eusebius and that recorded by D / X may
have been connected in some way.
T H E EVIDENCE OF DIO/XIPHILINUS ON T H E REVOLT OF

" T H E TERRITORIES PREVIOUSLY CONQUERED"
T h e account of D / X presents this revolt as an episode of the Parthian

war that took place at a time when the R o m a n conquest o f M e s o p o -
tamia seemed to have been an accomplished fact. Ctesiphon, the
capital of the Parthian kingdom, had been conquered without a
fight, and the golden throne o f K i n g Osroes and one of his daughters
had fallen into R o m a n hands. It looked as if Trajans war had ended
with a victory. D / X goes on to tell us that leaving R o m a n garrisons
in charge, Trajan decided to undertake a voyage to the Persian G u l f
T h i s voyage has often been labeled as a strategic mistake in m o d -
ern scholarship. Longden observes that "not for the first time, the
R o m a n armies had advanced too fast and too far", while Lepper
points out that Trajan "wasted valuable time in 116 by indulging in
what can only have been a pleasure trip to the Persian G u l f when the
setdement o f the newly acquired territory and the redisposition o f
forces behind the 115 frontier were both urgently needed."^^ It can-
not be ruled out, though, that Trajan's voyage to the Persian G u l f
may have had practical purposes. Griffin, for example, points out
that when sailing down the Persian Gulf, Trajan was probably acquir-
ing information in the only reliable way R o m a n generals could and
13 See Robert R Longden, "The Wars of Trajan," CAN U (1936): 247. As for
the ease with which Trajan was able to take Ctesiphon, McDowell explains it by
internal struggles for control of the Parthian throne (Robert H. Mc Dowell, Coins
from Seleucia-on-the-Tigris [University of Michigan Humanistic Series 037: Ann Ar-
bor: University of Michigan Press, 1935], 231), a view rejected by Edward J. Keall,
"Parthian Nippur and Vologases' Southern Strategy: A Hypothesis," JAOS 95
(1975): 629-30. Concerning the strategic tacdcs of the conquest used by Trajan, see
also Eugen Cizek, "A propos de la guerre parthique de Trajan," Latomus 53 (1994):
383.
14 Longden, "The Wars of Trajan," 248; Lepper, Trajans Parthian War, 153.
Ross, too, observes that Trajan "took something of a tourist trip down the Tigris":
Steven K. Ross, Roman Edessa: Politics and Culture on the Eastern Fringes of the Ro-
man Empire, 114-242 CE (London and New York: Routledge, 2001): 33.
MESOPOTAMIA 195
regularly d i d acquire it, given the absence o f scientific m a p s , namely,

by a reconnaissance expedition. H e w o u l d have needed to m a k e allies
and to decide what to annex and what to hold through vassal
princes.
It was precisely at this time, when Trajan sailed down to the ocean
and returned from there again, that, according to D / X , all the territo-
ries previously conquered were thrown into turmoil a n d revolted, and
the garrisons placed a m o n g the various peoples were either expelled
or slain. Trajan learned o f this at Babylon and immediately took the
necessary steps, sending Lusius and M a x i m u s against the rebels. The
latter was defeated in batde and perished;^^ " b u t Lusius, in addition
to m a n y other successes, recovered Nisibis and besieged and captured
Edessa, which was sacked and burned. Seleucia was also captured by
Erucius Clarus and Julius Alexander, lieutenants,^^ and was burn-
ed". D / X goes on to observe that Trajan, fearing that the Parthians,
15 Miriam Griffin, "Nerva to Hadrian," CAH 2^^ ed., vol. I I (2000): 127.
1^ According to Petersen, Trajans sending against the rebels Lusius Quietus to-
gether with the consularis Maximus, weaving together senatorial and equestrian
commanders, reflects an approach that was not rare later in the imperial practices:
Petersen, "Lusius Quietus. Ein Reitergeneral Trajans," 214.
1^ Fronto mentions an Appius Santra killed ad Balcia Tauri: Appius Santra vero,
cum praesens Traianus Euphrati et Tigridis portoria equorum et camelorum trihularet,
retro ad Balcia Tauri ab Arbace (Arsace conici posse putat Hauler) caesus est: Fronto,
Princip. Hist., 17 (ed. M.P.J. Van den Hout, M. Comelii Frontonis Epistulae I,
Lugduni Batavorum: E.J. Brill, 1954). This Appius Santra is often identified by
scholars with Appius Maximus Santra. See Louis Dillemann, Haute Mesopotamie
orientale et pays adjacents (Paris: Libraire orientaliste Paul Geuthner, 1962), 286;
Marie-Louise Chaumont, "L'Armenie entre Rome et Tlran, 1. D e Tav^nement
dAuguste k I'av^nement de Diocl^tien," ANRWW 9, 1 (1976): 141, n. 386. Al-
ready in the late 1950s, however, Syme expressed doubts on the reading Santra in
this passage of Fronto, and rather suggests that the Maximus mentioned by D / X
here may have been the T. Julius Maximus of Nemausus known to us from ILS
1016, who had been cos. suff. in 112: Ronald Syme, Tacitus, vol. 1 (Oxford: Claren-
don Press, 1958), 239, n. 9. See also vol. 2, 650, n. 2. Syme's view is followed by
Cizek (Eugen Cizek, Lepoque de Trajan: circonstancespolitiques etproblemes idiolo-
giques [Paris: Societe d'edition "Les belles lettres", Bucuresti: Editura Stiintifica,
1983], 460-61) and by Bennet {Trajân, 200).
1^ On the identification of Erucius Clarus and Julius Alexander with the consu-
lar pair "Clarus et Alexander" of the next year, see Ronald Syme, "Consulates in
Absence,"/i?5 48 (1958): 9, repr. in Roman Papers, vol. 1 (ed. E. Badian: Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1979), 3 9 1 .
1^ According to Bennet, who follows Malalas here, afi:er the capture of Seleucia
too, might begin a revolt, "desired to give them a king of their own.
Accordingly, . . . h e appointed Parthamaspates king over the Parthians
and set the diadem upon his head" (LXVIII, 2 8 , 4-30, 3 ) .
Undoubtedly, these passages leave m a n y questions open. N o de-
tails are given concerning the leaders of the revolt or about the actual
fighting that took place in the various places. Scholars call it "a very
imperfect account o f the events, "^^ "little more than a list o f land-
marks along the route".
Perhaps Xiphilinus' abridgment omitted m a n y essential details
that were present in the original text o f D i o . Where the version o f
Xiphilinus can be compared with that o f D i o , one realizes that
Xiphilinus usually faithfiilly follows the order and the sense of D i o ,
but his method o f abridgement is not so m u c h condensation o f
phrase as selection o f content. A large a m o u n t o f material is omitted
without trace, some is given in brief, and some is reproduced almost
in fiill. Read as a work in its own right, Millar observes, the Epitome
provides only a spasmodic and often barely intelligible narrative.^^
Xiphilinus confines himself to recording the more concrete achieve-
ments o f each reign in the order o f their occurrence, dwelling at
greater length only on items o f exceptional interest for his own times
— the notable sayings or unusual stratagems o f the emperors, and
the signs and wonders that came to pass in their days. T h u s in his
account o f Trajan's Parthian war he finds the time to record the gift
o f the marvelous horse that knelt down and did obeisance before the
emperor; he gives a detailed description o f the asphalt wells which
Trajan visited on his way to Ctesiphon, and of course he could
hardly be expected to omit any of the horrors o f the earthquake at
Antioch,^^ but his summaries, meant to emphasize the most sensa-
tional details, often omitted other details that, on the other hand,
may have been essential for understanding the events.
T h i s is, however, not the only possible reason to be found behind
this incomplete account o f Trajan's campaign. Another possibility is
Erucius Clarus and Julius Alexander would have been joined by Trajan himself
(Trajan, 200).
Robert R Longden, "Notes on the Parthian Campaigns of T r a i a n , " / ^ ^ 21
(1931): 14.
^1 Lepper, Trajans Parthian War, 4-5.
22 Millar, A Study of Cassius Dio, 2.
23 Lepper, Trajans Parthian War, 4-5.
MESOPOTAMIA 197
offered by Wirth, who suggests that it m a y have been Dio's source,

namely, Arrian's work, that was very concise on this point.^^ In this
case, the one responsible for the missing details would have been not
Xiphilinus but D i o himself
S o m e more details concerning a revolt in M e s o p o t a m i a against the
R o m a n s in Trajan's days has been preserved by Malalas, a chrono-
grapher living in Antioch in the sixth century.
MALALAS
According to Malalas, Trajan's Parthian war had been initiated not by

the R o m a n s but by the Parthians, who took arms up in the twelfth
year o f Trajan's reign, compelling Trajan to leave R o m e for the East.
"Meerdotes, emperor o f the Persians, who was o f Parthian descent
and the brother of Osdroes, emperor o f the Armenians, began a cam-
paign and came with a large force to make war on the R o m a n state.
Accompanied by his son Sanatroukios, he captured cities and plun-
dered many districts. While he was plundering the district o f
Euphratesis... he died a natural d e a t h . . . . H e made his son
Sanatroukios Arsakes,' that is, emperor, in his p l a c e . . . . Sanatroukios,
emperor o f the Persians, continued to ravage R o m a n territory. W h e n
Osdroes, emperor o f the Armenians and Meerdotes' brother, heard o f
his brother's death, he also immediately sent his son Parthamaspates
out from Armenia with a large army to help his cousin Sanatroukios,
emperor o f the Persians, against the R o m a n s . W h e n the most sacred
emperor Trajan heard this, he immediately began a campaign in the
12^^ year o f his reign and set out from R o m e against them in the
m o n t h October-Hyperberetaios. . . . H e set out with a large force o f
soldiers and senators and sailed for the East. A m o n g the senators was
Hadrian, his relative...".^^ In the following paragraphs, Malalas of-
fers an account o f how the inhabitants o f Antioch killed the Persians
living in their city^^ and o f the repression o f Galilean Christians by
Tiberianus, repression that Trajan ordered stopped.^^ T h e n Malalas
2^ See below, p. 204.
25 The Chronicle of John Malalas 11, 270, translated by Elizabeth M. Jeffreys,
Michael Jeffreys, Roger Scott (Byzandna Australiensia 4: Melbourne: Australian
Association for Byzandne Studies, 1986), 143-46.
2^ The Chronicle, para. 271-73.
27 The Chronicle, para. 273.
records Trajans campaign against Sanatroukios, who was killed in

battle, and the recognition of Parthamaspates as king of the Parthians
by Trajan.^^ At this point, Malalas writes that "the most learned
Ajrian the chronicler composed an account o f the war and of the
most sacred Trajans victory over the Persians: he investigated this
and wrote it all down accurately. "^^ T h e n we find a long digression
on Trajans persecution o f Christian w o m e n in Antioch,^^ followed
by the report of his creation o f two provinces in the western regions
on the other side o f the river D a n u b e , called "First and Second
D a c i a . " T h i s is the last event mentioned by Malalas before Trajans
death.
T h i s account o f Trajans Parthian war is obviously highly problem-
atic. T h e Meerdotes mentioned by Malalas is otherwise unattested,
unless he is to be identified with Mebarsapes, king o f Adiabene.
Osroes was in reality king o f the Parthians and Sanatruces king o f
Armenia. T h e initiation of the hostilities is depicted as Parthian,
while we know that it was R o m a n . Chronology is displaced. T h e at-
tack is depicted as having taken place in the twelfth year o f Trajans
reign, namely, in 110 C E , while the first hosdlities between R o m a n s
and Parthians are attested only after the R o m a n annexation o f Arme-
nia in the spring o f 114. Other unhistorical details concern the ar-
rival o f Hadrian in the East. Malalas reports that he arrived in the
East together with Trajan, while we know that he had been sent to
the East already in the autumn of 1 1 1 , two years before Trajan set
out for Parthia in the a u t u m n o f 113.^^
T h e obvious question arises: where did Malalas get his informa-
tion? T h e suggestion is often found in contemporary scholarship that
he m a y have consulted a history o f the R o m a n emperors, a church
history and the work of the earlier chronographer Domninus,^^ pos-
sibilities difficult to substantiate since all these works are lost. S o m e
of the information given by Malalas may derive from reliable sources,
3^ The Chronicle, para. 27G-77.
31 Gonzales suggests that Trajan probably left Rome on 27 October 113: Julian
Gonzales, "Trajano: Part(h)icus, trib. pot. XIIX, imp. X," AEA 60 (1987): 238.
32 See the works cited by Lepper, Trajans Parthian War, 63-65. See also Eliza-
beth Jeffreys, "Malalas s Sources," in Studies in Malalas (Byzantina Australiensia 6:
ed. by E.M. Jeffreys: Sydney: Australian Association for Byzantine Studies, Depart-
ment of Modern Greek, 1990), 197-99.
MESOPOTAMIA 199
such as, for example, the Acta of Antioch, his own city. Single
phrases, therefore, can be singled out and examined on their own
merits,^^ but it is difficult to distinguish between them and the rest
o f the narrative.^^ As for the authoritative works quoted as sources by
Malalas, scholars observe that either his citations are a mere sham, or,
if he ever did consult the authorities he mentions, he must be con-
victed o f misunderstanding, misquoting, and in general scandalously
misrepresenting them time after time.^^
Malalas' citations seem to be a most unreliable guide to the
sources actually being used, and one should not be eager to attach
particular importance to a passage ending with a famous name in lit-
erature. T h e presence o f a citation seems to be no more evidence for
the soundness of its context than the absence of one is necessarily
damning. Bennet goes as far as defining Malalas as "a careless scrib-
bler, who evidently failed to check his primary sources".
In the case regarding Malalas' account o f Trajan's Parthian war and
his reference to Arrian, Malalas might have been aware that he was
not giving a very fiill account o f the actual fighting: as some slight
compensation for his own brevity he might well refer the reader here
to a detailed and accurate account o f the whole matter. Against
Gutschmidt, who interprets Malalas's claim as attesting a genuine
dependence on Arrian, Lepper argues that that it would be rash to
insert these passages a m o n g the fragments o f the Parthica: the way in
which a comparison with the evidence from D i o shows them to have
33 A Sanatruq involved in the conflict of 116/117 wâs the Arab king of Hatra,
one of the rebellious cities that could not be conquered by Trajan. See Richard N.
Frye, The Heritage of Persia {2^^ td.: London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1966),
188. On Malalas' history of Antioch in the third century, v^^hich apparently is more
credible than often maintained, see Michael Peachin, "Johannes Malalas and the
Moneyers' Revolt," in Studies in Latin Literature and Roman History, vol. 3 (Collec-
tion Latomus 180: ed. C. Deroux: Bruxelles: Latomus, 1983), 325-35.
3^ See Lepper, Trajans Parthian War, 70-80.
35 Lepper observes: "He imagines that Herodotus lived later than Polybius;
...he makes Lucan say that Caesar put Pompey to death after capturing him in
Egypt, and also cites him for an account of the defeat of Brutus by Augustus after
the deaths of Antonius and Cleopatra. These are attributions that can all be
checked and found baseless in the originals. Many more can be confidently dis-
missed from knowledge of the author cited, even where the work in question has
been lost" (Lepper, Trajans Pathian War, 58-59. See also p. 61 on the "muddle over
the third Macedonian War").
36 Bennet, Trajan, 190.
been misplaced and transformed should be proof enough that

Malalas never consulted Arrian directly. If he did, at least, he cer-
tainly managed to read into his account a very dififerent story from
that which D i o would seem to have got out o f it. T h e route leading
from Arrian to Malalas is almost certainly a m u c h longer and more
circuitous one than this citation has usually s u g g e s t e d . E v e n if
Malalas knew Arrian indirectly, at second or even third or fourth
hand,^^ it is clear that the main narrative was provided to him by
other sources. In fact, if we read the account o f Malalas carefully, we
see that nowhere does he state that he is quoting Arrian. H e merely
tells his readers that the events dealt with are also treated "accurately
by Arrian, the most learned chronicler," which certainly cannot be
taken to imply that he is actually borrowing from Arrian here.
O n l y two events mentioned by Malalas find confirmation in the
narrative of D / X : one is Trajans recognition o f Parthamaspates as
king o f the Parthians,^^ the other is Trajans settlement o f Armenian
matters.^^ All the rest o f the narrative is completely different.
It therefore seems strongly doubtful whether we may consider the
episode narrated by D / X and the account o f Malalas as reflecting the
same historical facts.^^ Following M o m m s e n , Longden concludes
Lepper, Trajans Parthian War, Gl-Gl.

38 Jeffreys, "Malalas's Sources," 196.
39 The date, however, is dififerent. According to Malalas, it occurred before the
earthquake of Antioch (which would have taken place on 13 December 115), while
according to D / X this is one of the last events before Trajan's death. On the testi-
mony of drachms and bronze coins in the days of Parthamaspates, see David
Sellwood, "Parthian Coins," in: The Cambridge History of Iran, 3, 1: The Seleucid,
Parthian and Sasanian Period (ed. E. Yarshater: Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1983), 296.
Trajan's settlement of Armenian matters is dealt with in an excerpt errone-
ously assigned by Ursinus to the reign of Severus, which was later inserted by
Boissevain at this point of the narradon of the Parthian war of Trajan. It informs
that "when Vologaesus, the son of Sanatruces, had arrayed himself against Severus
and his army and before joining battle asked and secured an armisdce, Trajan sent
envoys to him and granted him a pordon of Armenia in return for peace" (LXXV,
9, 6): see Earnest Cary Dios Roman History (Loeb Classical Library 8: Cambndge:
Harvard University Press, London: W. Heinemann Ltd, repr. 1968), 419.
^1 Maria Gabriella Angeli Bertinelli, "I Romani oltre I'Eufrate nel II secolo d.C.
(la provincia di Assiria, di Mesopotamia e di Osroene)," ANRWll, 9,1 (1976): 2 1 ,
n. 95.
MESOPOTAMIA 201
that, as it stands, Malalas's narrative on Trajans activities remains un-

corroborated by other sources, so that the historian can only decline
to accept it; he cannot rectify it,^'^ and along this line of thought
scholars are also found who go so far as to conclude that we should
consider this account o f Malalas completely fictitious/^
In view o f such sharp criticism, it is puzzling that several scholars
are still ready to rely on Malalas's account o f the Parthian war and try
to harmonize it with that preserved by D / X , reaching the conclusion
that there was a Parthian leadership and organization behind this re-
volt.^^
T h a t there m a y have been a secret Parthian organization behind
the revolt would not surprise us, but in this case it was kept in com-
plete secrecy, since we find no hint at it in the work o f D / X . O n the
contrary, after the account o f the revolt "of the territories previously
conquered" and that o f its repression, we read in D / X : "Trajan, fear-
ing that the Parthians, too, might begin a revolt, desired to give them
a king o f their own" (LXVIII, 3 0 , 3 ) , a statement implying that the
rebels o f the "territories previously conquered" had not been the
Parthians themselves.
T h e question is therefore who m a y have been the rebels if not the
Parthians themselves.
^2 Longden, "Notes on the Parthian Campaigns," 18.

^3 Elizabeth Jeffreys, "Malalass Wodd View," in Studies in Malalas, 56. On
Malalas' problemadc accounts, see also Leonard V. Rutgers, "The Importance of
Scripture in the Conflict between Jews and Christians: the Example of Andoch," in
The Use of Sacred Books in the Ancient World (ed. L.V Rutgers et aL Leuven:
Peeters, 1998), 291-300.
See Lepper, Trajans Parthian War, 88; Motta, "La tradizione," 477; Karl-
Heinz Ziegler, Die Beziehungen zwischen Rom und dem Partherreich: ein Beitrag zur
Geschichte des Volkerrechts (Wiesbaden: F. Steiner, 1964), 103; Albino Garzetd,
From Tiberius to the Antonines: a History of the Roman Empire, AD 14-192 (first
published as Llmpero da Tiberio agli Antonini [Roma: Istituto di Studi Romani,
I960]: trans. J.R. Foster: London: Methuen, 1974), 370-71; Kenneth H. Waters,
"The Reign of Trajan and its Place in Contemporary Scholarship," ANRW II 2
(1975): 425; Chaumont, "L'Armenie," 140-41; Hendrik J . W Drijvers, "Hatra,
Palmyra und Edessa. Die Stadte der syrisch-mesopotamischen Wuste in politischer,
kulturgeschichdicher und religionsgeschichdicher Beleuchtung," ANRW II, 8
(1977): 874; Timothy B. Mitford, "Cappadocia and Armenia Minor: Historical
Setting of the Limes," ANRWll, 7, 2 (1980): 1199; Cizek, U^poque de Trajan, 460;
Bennet, Trajan, 199; Alston, Aspects of Roman History, 204.
T H E IDENTITY OF T H E REBELS
M o m m s e n suggests that in keeping with their tried-and-tested tac-

tics, the Parthians probably refrained from attacking and remained
on the defensive, so that the large cities captured by the R o m a n s ,
such as Seleucia and Ctesiphon, were defended not by regular
Parthian troops, but by their own valiant citizens.^^ A n d since differ-
ent and geographically distant places were involved in the fighting —
Edessa and Nisibis in the N o r t h , Seleucia in the South — it is also
reasonable that different peoples were involved in this revolt.
First of all, the Greeks. A n inscription found in a temple at D u r a
Europos attests that the R o m a n s had burned the place down and
that the Greeks welcomed the returning Parthians with open arms.^^
T h e Arabs, too, seem to have participated in this revolt, ruling over
Edessa, which is one o f the cities involved in the conflict, and over
Hatra, which was still rebelling in the spring o f 117.^^ Arameans,
Babylonians and Syrians, too, were probably active in the rebellion,^^
along with Axidares, vassal king o f a small state near the Caspian
Sea.^^
T h e question may be asked whether the Jews, too, m a y have
joined in this movement o f rebellion, a possibiUty borne out by
the fact that D / X tells us that one o f the generals sent by Trajan to
crush the revolt "of the territories previously conquered" was Lusius
Quietus, the same Lusius Quietus mentioned by Eusebius as active
^5 In a recent edition: Theodor Mommsen, A History of Rome under the Emper-

ors (trans. C. Krojzh London and New York: Routledge, 1996; first ed. London,
1894), 338-39.
AE 1936, 69. Another inscription is found on a triumphal arch erected by
the men of the III Cyrenaican legion near the city in the year 115 {AE 1933, 230).
See Alon, The Jews, 408, n. 68. Applebaum observes: "These records ftirnish evi-
dence that the Romans behaved towards Dura Europos as to a captured place,
meaning that the inhabitants of the Hellenistic cities of Mesopotamia and
Babylonia were opposed to the Roman invasion. ...This evidence is supplemented
by archaeological information at Seleucia-on-Tigris, where evidence was discovered
of the burning of buildings in the years 116-120, and was connected by the excava-
tors with the capture of the city by the Roman forces in 116/117": Applebaum,
Jews and Greeks, 300, n. 242- 44.
^7 Frye, The Heritage of Persia, 188. See also Cizek, Lepoque de Trajan, 4 6 1 .
^8 See Ayaso-Martinez, Judaea Capta, 51.
^9 Cizek, "A propos de la guerre parthique," 383.
MESOPOTAMIA 203
against the Jews in the same place, the Mesopotamian region, and in
the same span o f time, the nineteenth year o f Trajans reign. Confir-
mation might be seen in a passage o f D / X , mentioned above, which
states that " a m o n g others who subdued the Jews was Lusius, who
was sent by Trajan" ( L X V I I I , 3 2 , 3 ) .
T h e possibility may be therefore taken into account that D i o and
Eusebius are referring here to the same events.
In this case the question arises, how it happen that D / X does not
mention the Jews when dealing with the revolt o f "the territories pre-
viously conquered" and why Eusebius speaks only o f the Jews with-
out mentioning a general movement o f rebellion involving other
population groups.
O f course, beneath these queries lies the basic question, the iden-
tity o f the original sources o f these accounts.
LOOKING FOR T H E SOURCES U S E D BY D I O AND EUSEBIUS
D i o s account o f the Parthian war relies on that which he found in

the work o f Arrian o f Nicomedia, who lived at the time when this
war took place and m a y have participated himself in the fighting.
Whether Arrian himself used written sources or based his narrative
on his personal experience in this war has been variously debated in
modern scholarship.^^ T h e evidence is ambiguous. M a n y histories o f
this war were probably produced almost at once, so that presumably
as early as 125 C E there were a number o f memoirs, reports and
monographs on the war which could have been used by Arrian,
without prejudicing in the slightest his capacity to write on the basis
5^ See the works of Roos, Hartmann, Jacoby and Wirth quoted by Philip A.
Stadter, Arrian of Nicomedia (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press,
1980), 140, 234, n. 33.
51 Arrian's personal participadon in the Parthian war is maintained by Doulcet,
BoUa, Von Domaszewski, Wirth (see bibliographical details in Henry Tonnet,
Recherches surArrien: sa personnalite et ses krits atticistes, vol. 1 [Amsterdam: A.M.
Hakkert, 1988], 27-28 and vol. 2, 26, n. 145-148), but is denied by Schwartz,
Jacoby, Stein and Breebaart (bibliographical details in Tonnet, Recherches sur Arrien,
vol. 2, 26, n. 149 and 28, n. 158). Syme, too, prescribes caution: Syme, "The Ca-
reer of Arrian," 28.
52 This is also borne out by Lucian's comments on the accounts written on
Verus' Parthian war. See Stadter, Arrian of Nicomedia, 143.
of his own experience. Whether the latter was his main source or
written reports — and in any case the use o f written sources is not
incompatible with firsthand experience, which is suggested by cer-
tain statements'^ — Arrian's work was the base for Dio's account o f
the Parthian war.'^ Concerning the revolt o f "the territories previ-
ously conquered," however, Arrian's work m a y have been rather con-
cise if Wirth is correct in suggesting that the original account of the
Parthian war probably ended with Trajan's voyage to the Persian G u l f
and had only a brief epilogue, which appeared in the seventeenth
book, concerning the events that had taken place afterwards, namely,
the revolts against the R o m a n s and Trajan's final retreat.^' For com-
pressing this material in one book, Arrian seems to have had g o o d
reason, namely, the fact that these revolts seriously undermined
Trajan's conquests. T h e account of these difficulties was not allowed
to overwhelm the narrative of Trajan's victories, which was the main
purpose o f Arrian's writings, since, along the lines o f the imperial
propaganda,'^ far from questioning the war, his books appear to have
been laudatory, with Trajan's motives presented as honest and his o p -
erations portrayed as successful.'"^
In this case, if Wirth is correct, then it is possible that Arrian's ac-
count o f the revolt o f "the territories previously conquered," concise
as it was, did not mention the Jews as participants in the revolt but
only a m o n g the victims o f Quietus' repression — which can be also
53 According to Stadter, the weight of the evidence inclines towards Arrian's par-
ticipation in the expedition (Stadter, Arrian of Nicomedia, 142-44).
5^ On the use of Arrian's work by Dio, see Hartmann, "Uber das Verhaltniss des
Cassius Dio," 73-91 and Emilio Gabba, Per la storia dell'esercito romano in eth
imperiale (Mondo antico 3: Bologna: Patron editore, 1974), 16, n. 26. On Arrian's
original work on the Parthian war, see Lepper, Trajans Parthian War, 128 and
Gerhard Wirth, "Arrian und Traian. Versuch einer Gegenwartsdeutung," Studii
Clasice (Bucuresti) 16 (1974): 169-209.
55 Wirth, "Zur Tigrisfahrt des Kaisers Traian," 299-30.
5^ See the sources quoted by Richier Olivier, "Les themes militaires dans le
monnayage de Trajan," Latomus 56 (1997): 607, n. 83 and Martin Galinier,
"L'image publique de Trajan," in Images romaines: actes de la table ronde organisee h
Ticole normale supirieure (24-26 octobre 1996) par Florence Dupont et Clara Auvray-
Assayas (ed. C. Avray-Assayas: Pans: Pr. De I'ficole normale superieure, 1998), 115-
41.
57 Stadter points out that Trajan was portrayed as a successful general and emu-
lator of Alexander, accomplishing his objective in humbling the Parthians despite
die revolts of 116/117 (Stadter, Arrian of Nicomedia, 138, 144).
MESOPOTAMIA 205
due to a misunderstanding by Arrian o f his source, whether oral or

written. Mistakes o f this kind are not rare in Arrian's work.'^ I f
Arrian mentioned the Jews as the victims o f Trajan's repression in
Mesopotamia, D i o m a y have thought that the reference to Quietus'
repression o f the Jews had to be Unked to the events o f the Jewish
uprisings in Cyrenaica, Egypt a n d Cyprus that were dealt with s o m e
Unes below. So he m a y have displaced the statement concerning Qui-
etus' repression o f the Jews, linking it to the Jewish uprisings. T h e
fact that the site o f Lusius Quietus' operations against the Jews is left
undetermined would also point toward the same conclusion.'^
As for Eusebius, he was interested in the history o f the Jews a n d
not in Trajan's Parthian war.^^ H i s failing to insert the episode con-
cerning the Jews in its historical context, therefore, is not surprising.
T h e question, however, m a y be asked, why the Chronicon speaks
of a real revolt o f the Jews in Mesopotamia while the HE, written
some years later,^^ only mentions Trajan's suspicion that this might
happen. Wallace Hadrill points out that, where the two works cover
the same ground, in the HE, which was written later, Eusebius is
probably revising his opinion a n d correcting an error,^-^ b u t we can-
not be certain that this is the case, since, as we have seen above,
Eusebius is found using different sources in different sections o f his
works without being aware o f the contradictions involved. In the
case concerning the Jewish upheavals, the differences between the
Chronicon and the Historia Ecclesiastica are not few, and they suggest
that Eusebius consulted at least two sources, as he himself acknowl-
edges when he concludes his account in the HE by observing that
58 See Albert B. Bosworth, "Errors in Arrian," CQ 26 (1976): 117-39, on Arrian's

account of Alexander's reign.
59 Motta suggests that in the original text of Dio the passage had to appear in
the right place: "non doveva mancare una nota particolare sulla lotta di Lusio
Quieto contro gli Ebrei della Mesopotamia," and that it was Xiphilinus who dis-
placed this statement (Motta, "La tradizione," 484); Stern, too, suggests that
Xiphilinus' final sentence would imply that the fixU narrative of Cassius Dio also
dealt with a campaign directed against the Jews of Mesopotamia (Stern, GLAJJ, vol.
2, 154).
60 See above, n. 5, p. 159.
61 See above, n. 28, p. 150.
62 W2\\2ice-H2idn\\, Eusebius of Caesarea, 158.
63 See above, pp. 150, 157-58.
"the Greek authors who chronicle the same period have related this
narrative in these very words" {HE IV, 2 , 5).^"^
As we have seen above, consultation of Arrian's account o f the
Parthian war is excluded in view o f the numerous and essential dif-
ferences between the account o f Eusebius and that o f D i o . ^ ' O n e
would prefer to think that for the account o f the Jewish upheavals
Eusebius' Chronicon m a y have relied on the work o f Aristo o f Pella or
on that o f Bruttius, who had participated himself in the events of the
Parthian war, holding a military c o m m a n d . T h i s last possibility
would be strengthened by the fact that Eusebius himself explicitly
acknowledges that he consulted the work o f Bruttius some lines be-
fore dealing with the Jewish uprisings, when he mentions the perse-
cution against the Christians that took place in D o m i t i a n s days.^^
N o t being interested in the Parthian war, Eusebius may not have
read attentively those passages appearing before and after the refer-
ence to Lusius Quietus' military action against the Jews, and there-
fore may not have seen any connection with the revolt o f "the terri-
tories previously conquered."^^
Later, when composing his HE, where he may have relied on the
work o f Appian,^^ Eusebius may have realized that, in fact, on this
revolt o f the Jews in M e s o p o t a m i a he had no detail whatsoever to
give to his readers. T h u s , he may no longer have been certain that a
Jewish revolt actually did take place in Mesopotamia. A reason, how-
ever, had to be found for the R o m a n military action against the Jews
o f Mesopotamia. Looking for a logical explanation, Eusebius m a y
have thought that perhaps Trajan suspected that in Mesopotamia,
too, the Jews might revolt against their neighbors, as happened else-
where: " T h e Emperor suspected that the Jews in Mesopotamia
would also attack the inhabitants" {HEW, 2 , 5). Which inhabitants?
See above, p. 157.

^5 See above, pp. 162-63.
Scribit Bruttius plurimos Christianorum sub Domitiano fecisse martyrium
{Chronicon, Olymp. CCXVIII, 16^ year of Domitians reign. Ed. Helm, 192.)
FoUowîng Milburn, Grant points out that "Eusebius writes in his somewhat
annalistic fashion without making any minute search into the complexities of
casual connexions": Robert M. Grant, "The Uses of History in the Church before
Nicaea," Studia Patristica 11 (1972): 177. Grant even contemplates a possible falsi-
fication of facts by Eusebius: Robert M. Grant, "The Case against Eusebius or. Did
the Father of Church History Write History?" Studia Patristica 12 (1975): 413.
MESOPOTAMIA 207
T h e expression used, £7r(.67jcr£cr6at. TOL^ auToOi, is vague,^^ and prob-

ably purposely so. Eusebius had nothing more precise to say, which
may be meaningful, vis-a-vis the clear and defined expression he uses
when dealing with the uprisings in Libya a n d Egypt, where the en-
emies o f the Jews are called "their Greek fellow citizens" {HE IV, 2 ,
2-3).
In conclusion, it is not impossible that, through completely differ-
ent perspectives, D i o and Eusebius are referring here to one and the
same episode.
THE REVOLT OF " T H E CONQUERED D I S T R I C T S " :

W O R K I N G HYPOTHESES
H o w things happened in reality is impossible to know, and different

scenarios have been suggested by modern scholars.
Scholars are found who maintain that there were two contempo-
rary but independent uprisings, one o f Jews and one o f non-Jews,
where three possibilities have been contemplated: that the two rebel-
lions were contemporary (as maintained by Garzetti, C h a u m o n t and
G r i f f i n ) , t h a t the revolt mentioned by D / X was the first and that o f
the Jews recorded by Eusebius took place later (as suggested by
G r o a g and Longden)""^ or the opposite, namely, that the Jews were
Nicephorus may well have misunderstood this expression when he writes:

Tttotttwc; 8 ' £x^^ M-"^ 'ôtc; ofxocpuXotc; x a i ol Iv MeaoTTOTafxia '£7rtay)<; STTtOcavTai...
(Nicephorus Callistus, Ecclesiasticae Historiae tomus III, 22). This phrase actually
bears no logical meaning unless we understand 6^090X0l as meaning "fellow-citi-
zens." In this case, we would have: "Trajan, suspecting that the Jews of Mesopota-
mia, too, would similarly attack their fellow citizens." Lea Disegni suggests instead
to relate t o ^ 6fxo9uXoi(; to Ittlctyjc;, and would translate: "Trajan, suspecting that the
Jews of Mesopotamia, too, would attack like their kin...".
^0 Garzetti observes: "Lusius Quietus quelled the revolt in Mesopotamia by the
capture and destruction of Nisibis and Edessa. At the same dme he also ended the
Jewish rising if, as would appear, it was simultaneous in that region with the
Parthian acdon" {From Tiberius to the Antonines, 171). Chaumont suggests that the
revolt probably started in the Great Armenia, where opposition to the Romans had
always been strong, and was then reinforced in Mesopotamia by the independent
revolt of the Jews (Chaumont, "L'Armenie entre Rome et Tlran," 141). For a simi-
lar view, see also Griffin, "Nerva to Hadrian," 125.
^1 Groag visualizes a separate Jewish revolt following the general one: Edmund
Groag, "Lusius Quietus," RE 13, 2 (1927): col. 1881. According to Longden, too.
the first to rebel, as Cizek c l a i m s / ^ According to other scholars, such

as A l o n and Motta,^^ o n the other h a n d , there would have been a
single, general m o v e m e n t o f revolt, in which the Jews participated
from the very b e g i n n i n g / ' Stern, t o o , observes that since the ad-
vance o f the R o m a n legions t o o k place in m o s t o f the important
centers o f eastern Jewry — Nisibis a n d Edessa and the country o f
Adiabene — the Jews living there must have taken part in it from the
beginning a n d would n o t have waited until the others were crushed
before raising the standard o f revolt themselves,^^ and scholars can
also be found who argue that the initiative for the revolt actually
came from the ]QWS7^
after the general revolt had been crushed, Trajan "feared fresh trouble from the nu-
merous Jew^s in Mesopotamia and Lusius Quietus, an obvious choice, was sent back
there with a mission of ruthless pacification" (Longden, "Trajan in the East," 250).
Against this view, see Guey, Essai sur la guerre parthique de Trajan, 126-7 and
Motta, "La tradizione," 480, n. 5.
^2 "The revolt of the Jews would have taken place in August 116, while that
which broke out at Seleucia, Nisibis, Hatra, Edessa and the whole of Osrhoene,
would have taken place benveen September and December 116" (Cizek, Lepoque de
Trajan, 453, 459).
"In The Tigris-Euphrates valley the and-Roman resistance was general, not
specifically Jewish. The Jews simply participated, along with the rest of the popula-
don" {The Jews, vol. 2, 426). On pp. 408-409 Alon also stresses that Adiabenes
royal family was no longer Jewish, but its population was still heavily Jewish.
'^^ Motta, "La tradizione," 480.
^5 Neusner, too, maintains that the Jews "joined the pro-Parthian reaction":
Jacob Neusner, "The Jews East of the Euphrates and the Roman Empire. I. —
3^^ Centuries A . D , " ANRWW, 9, 1 (1976): 58; idem, "Jews in Iran," in The Cam-
bridge History of Iran, 3, 2: The Seleucid, Parthian and Sasanian Period (ed. E.
Yarshater: Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983), 912.
7^ Stern, GLAJJ vol. 2, 155.
Garzetti observes that the Jewish revolt extended to the land of Assyria and
Mesopotamia and also to non-Jewish population groups (Garzetti, From Tiberius to
the Antonines, 564), and Pareti writes that the rebellion of the Jews in Libya, Egypt
and Cyprus reached the Jewish communities of Mesopotamia and contributed to
fomendng the Parthians' will to rebel: Luigi Pareti, Storia di Roma e del mondo
romano, vol. 5 (Torino: Unione tipografico-editrice torinese, I960), 199. As for
Paribeni, he takes the occasion to give vent here to his anti-Jewish feelings and to
his sympathetic atdtude toward Trajan and the Roman Empire. His piece of rheto-
ric is so impressive, that it is worthwhile to cite it in ftill. "U infaticabile imperatore
discese...il grande flume sino alia foce, e si affaccio al golfo Persico... Ed ecco
invero che con una di quelle improwise e insospettatibili sorprese che paesi e genti
d' Oriente hanno tante volte mostrato di poter creare, un nembo di gravi notizie si
MESOPOTAMIA 209
As for the R o m a n repression, Alon argues that the other partici-

pants in this revolt against R o m e were punished by the R o m a n mili-
tary action at the time, while the Jews were massacred later o n , after
the pacification described by D/XJ^ since the Lexicon Suidae pre-
serves a passage o f Arrian which states that "Trajan was determined
above all, if it were possible, to destroy the nation utterly; but if not,
at least to crush it and stop its presumptuous wickedness," a passage
which since H a r t m a n n s time has been taken to refer to the Jewish
people/^
T H E BACKGROUND OF JEWISH PARTICIPATION
It is no accident that, unlike what happened in the other countries,

in M e s o p o t a m i a the Jews seem to have taken u p arms together with
local populations and not against them. Here, not as in other coun-
tries, there was a c o m m o n political purpose, that o f fighting back the
R o m a n s and annulling the R o m a n occupation, which w o u l d have
rovescia sui Romani. Non h sulle prime il grande impero dei Parti che si riscuote, h
il piccolo, odioso e spregiato popolo giudaico, gia cosl fieramente percosso e
prostrato e disperso, che riprende con feroce ostinazione e magnifica temeritk la
lotta contro Roma, ora, proprio ora che piii splende la gloria militate dell'impero,
ora che piu solennemente sembrano smentite le profezie della imminente rovina di
Roma, e che un forte esercito comandato da un invitto imperatore h gik presente in
Oriente....Anche i giudei che risiedevano numerosi in Mesopotamia...si ribella-
rono, e dietro il loro esempio i presidii romani, disseminati nelF immenso paese
appena occupato, furono cacciati o massacrati, perfmo un personaggio consolare,
un Massimo, era vinto in combattimento e ucciso. Ma i Parti si ridestavano, e le
piccole rivolte locali si sommavano in una nuova guerra capitanata da personaggi
della dinastia: Sanatrucius e il cugino di lui Parthamaspates...I Romani fronteg-
giarono con energia Tawerso destino": Roberto Paribeni, Optimus Princeps: Saggio
sulla storia e sui tempi delVimperatore Traiano (Messina: G. Principato, 1926-7, repr.
New York: Arno Press, 1975), 300-301. See also Cizek, Lepoque de Trajan, 453-54
and Barnes, who suggests that the Jewish rebellion began in Mesopotamia, and may
have initiated rather then followed the general revolt of Trajans newly conquered
provinces: Barnes, "Trajan and the Jews," 160. See also Mireille Hadas-Lebel,
Jerusalem contre Rome (Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1990), 153 and Martin Goodman,
"Judaea," G 4 / / , 2"^ ed., vol. 11 (2000): 670.
The Jews, vol. 2, 4 1 1 , 426. Guttman, too, maintains that the Roman military
action against the Jews was separate from that against the other population groups:
Gutmann, "Jewish Wars in Trajan's Days," 183.
^9 See above, p. 77. Hartmann, "Uber das Verhaltnis des Cassius," 86. See also
Pucci, La rivolta, 87, n. 290.
endangered the measure o f freedom and a u t o n o m y enjoyed by all the

different population groups living in the Parthian empire.
Trajan h a d already imposed a tax structure more stringent than
the Parthian one, which must have been equally unpopular with Jews
and gentiles alike.^^ In 116, the prospect o f Trajan apparently settling
into his advanced positions, a n d even visiting Spasinu Charax, m a y
have spread dismay throughout all the caravan cities. Lepper points
out that the traders o f all nations w h o h a d flourished in a world that
was "politically divided but economically almost unhampered" now
found themselves completely at the mercy o f a single highly organ-
ized financial system.^^ By 116, Trajan was apparently already draw-
ing u p plans for reorganizing the taxation o f the caravan trade with
the Far East. A milestone o f Trajan, found in the village o f Karsi
on the route from Nisibis to Singara, bears witness to the beginning
o f R o m a n organization in Mesopotamia,^^ which would confirm
Fronto s statement cum praesens Traianus Euphrati et Tigridis portoria
equorum et camelorum tribularetP
D u r i n g Trajans voyage to the Persian Gulf, Trajan confirmed
Attembalos king o f Mesene as a client, and the whole o f the Far East
fell into Trajans hands — the sea route from Malabar, the southern
trade from Bactria that came through Seistan to the eroded coast and
entered the sea route at H o r m u z and o f farther lands, Indo-China
and Sumatra, which brought not luxuries only but useful wares like
cotton. Stark emphasizes that now, if not before, the financial aspect
o f his conquests must have presented itself to Trajan in the strongest
colors, and his view is followed by Keall, w h o points out that Trajans
invasion o f Parthia stemmed largely from a desire to secure greater
control over the expanding international trade, rather than from his
world conquering fantasies as D / X hinted. In this war, therefore,
Keall sees a deliberate attempt to strengthen Rome's financial posi-
tion and reduce the drain on her monetary reserves.^"^ T h e revolt o f
the conquered districts, therefore, was a most natural reaction.^' In
«o See Smallwood, The Jews, 420.

Lepper, Trajans Parthian War, 154.
^2 AE 1927, 161. The inscription is now lost. See also Christopher S. Lightfoot,
"Trajans Parthian War and the Fourth-Century Perspective, V^<^ 80 (1990): 123.
«3 Princ. Hist., 17.
«^ Keall, "Parthian Nippur," 627-28.
^5 Freya Stark, Rome on the Euphrates: the Story of a Frontier (London: J. Murray,
MESOPOTAMIA 211
this context, the fact that Hatra, too, participated in this revok, is
meaningful in view o f the fact that it controlled the steppes west o f
the Tigris and the vital road between M e s o p o t a m i a and Babylon.^^
Its possession, therefore, was o f great economic advantage and this
may well explain why H a t r a participated in the revolt against the
R o m a n occupation — another indication that patterns o f trade were
seriously disturbed by Trajans conquest.^'^
If Trajan really intended to rearrange Rome's international trading
routes and to cut off Babylonia from the Eastern trade by diverting
commerce through Armenia via the Northern routes — an intention
which cannot be substantiated — this might have implications for
Mesopotamian Jews as well. T h i s is so even though we have no way
to verify Neusner's suggestion that they were in international trade
and that they, too, along with the caravan-cities to the west and
Seleucia on the Tigris, would have been impoverished by diversion o f
the Chinese and Indian trade.^^
W h a t is certain is that Trajan's threat to annex Mesopotamia
would have brought most o f Jewry within the R o m a n Empire and
ended the semi-independence they enjoyed under the Parthian gov-
ernment. H a d the R o m a n occupation become an established fact,
the Jews o f Mesopotamia, too, would have been obliged to pay the
Fiscus Judaicus, the tax that the R o m a n s had imposed upon all the
Jews living in the R o m a n empire after the end o f the Jewish war o f
6 6 - 7 0 CE.^^ H a d the Romans supplanted the Parthian government,
the same fate would have befallen the Mesopotamian Jews.
1966), 212. See also Cizek, Lipoque de Trajan, 454 and Alston, Aspects of Roman
History, 204.
^6 See Bennet, Trajan, 200.
Benjamin Isaac, The Limits of Empire: the Roman Army in the East (Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1993), 153-54.
Neusner also suggests that the Jews, as a strong minority group in the Near
East, might have found it most advantageous to live in a region divided between two
major powers, which gave them the chance to keep one foot in each camp, to play
each off against the other, and when necessary, to flee from one side to the other
("The Jews of the Euphrates," 58-59). Similarly, Petersen, too, maintains that the Jews
had rebelled because their position as mediator in commerce was threatened (Petersen,
"Lusius Quietus. Ein Reitergeneral Trajans," 214). Evidence, however, is lacking.
Beyond its economic significance, this tax also had serious psychological and
ideological underpinnings. N o matter the place where they lived and what their
political status was, all the Jews were punished for the war that had been fought and
lost in Judaea. See above, pp. 124-25.
Moreover, if the exilarchate was really created early in the second

half o f the first century in an attempt by the Arsacids to conciliate
the Jews and gain their support, out o f self-interest, Smallwood may
be correct in observing that annexation to R o m e was likely to mean
for the Jews the loss o f this measure o f freedom, too.^^
T h e Jews o f M e s o p o t a m i a had certainly their own g o o d reasons
for fighting against the R o m a n s when the R o m a n occupation could
still be avoided, as in effect it was,^^ and we often find in modern
scholarship the suggestion that the presence o f Parthian propaganda
is to be found behind the Jewish revolt.^^ Levi, for example, writing
during the Second World War under the pseudonym Canavesi, o b -
serves that the Parthians did not ignore the great rivalry between the
Jews and the Greeks existing in all the diaspora localities. T h a t is why
they could easily stir the fears and the hostility o f the Jews against the
R o m a n government, whose victory, had it won, would have repre-
sented, as usual, a real victory for the Greek element to the detriment
o f the Jews and o f the local Iranians.^^
T H E CRONOLOGICAL A S P E C T
According to the account o f D / X , the revolt " o f the territories previ-

ously conquered" broke out when, after the capture o f Ctesiphon,
the capital o f the Parthian kingdom, Trajan was sailing up the Tigris
to the Persian G u l f
O u r first terminus post q u e m is, therefore, the capture o f
Ctesiphon, an event that m a y apparently be dated with some preci-
sion since D / X states that when Trajan took possession o f Ctesiphon
^0 Smallwood, The Jews, 419-20. On the posidon of the Jews in the Parthian
world, see Neusner, "The Jews East of the Euphrates," 46-69. See also Frye, The
Heritage of Persia, 199.
Neusner points out that the situation was completely different in 132-135,
when, at the dme of Bar Kochbas war, Babylonian Jewry was entirely peaceful, as
far as we can tell (Neusner, "The Jews of the Euphrates," 59).
Guey Essai sur la guerre parthique, llG-ll and 364; Motta, "La tradizione,"
483; Pared, Storia di Roma,19S, 202-3; Cizek, Lepoque de Trajan, 454.
Manlio Canavesi (pseudonym for M.A. Levi), La politica estera di Roma
antica, vol. 2 (Milan: Istituto per gli studi di politica internazionale, 1942), 364.
MESOPOTAMIA 213
"he was saluted imperator a n d established his right to the title o f

Parthicus' ( L X V I I I , 2 8 , 2 ) , a tide which, according to the Fasti
Ostienses, was conferred u p o n Trajan by the R o m a n senate o n 2 0 or
2 1 February 116.^^
Since the news w o u l d have taken as long as ten weeks or m o r e for
official letters between R o m e and the eastern Mediterranean to arrive
at their destination,^^ this means that, if the title Parthicus was given
to Trajan towards the end o f February 1 1 6 , C t e s i p h o n had been
taken before the end o f D e c e m b e r 115.^^ T h i s , however, is by n o
means the only possible interpretation o f the passage found in D / X ,
a n d the words x a l TIQV ITTLXXYJCJIV TOU IlapOLxou IpsPaicocraTo have
also been construed as m e a n i n g that Trajan d i d not receive the right
to use the title but rather " h a d [it] confirmed." In fact, s o m e lines
above, after mentioning the conquest o f Nisibis a n d Batnae in north-
ern M e s o p o t a m i a , the account o f D / X states that Trajan was then
given the n a m e o f Parthicus ( L X V I I I , 2 3 , 2).^^ T h e conquest o f the
N o r t h m u s t have provoked an e n o r m o u s enthusiasm in the army
a n d the senate, which gave Trajan the title Parthicus. However, the
[H]XK. Mart, laureatae missae ad sen[atum ab imp.] I Traiano Aug., ob q[u]am

causam Parfthicus appell. II e]t pro salute eius s.c. factum) et supp(licationes) [per
omnia delulbjra et ludifacti VIIII, pr. K. M[art circ(enses)J, I miss(us). In addi-
tion to other honors voted by the senate, Trajan was granted the privilege of cel-
ebrating as many triumphs as he should desire. Prayers were offered for his safety,
and he was further honored with thirty ludi at the Circus on 25, 26 and 28 Febru-
ary. See E. Mary Smallwood, Documents Illustrating the Principates of Nerva, Trajan
and Hadrian (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1966), 23, p. 33. The "lau-
relled letter" dispatched by Trajan to the senate probably announced the annexation
of Parthian territory to form the two new provinces of Armenia and Mesopotamia,
as coins were subsequently issued proclaiming these territories as "subjected to the
power of the people of Rome" (Smallwood, Documents, 23, lines 9-12), and coins
were struck with the legend PARTHIA CAPTA (Smallwood, Documents, 49). See
also Gian Guido Belloni, "Significati storico-politici delle figurazioni e delle scritte
delle monete da Augusto a Traiano (Zecche di Roma e *imperatorie)," ANRWW, 1
(1974): 1120; Gonziles, "Trajano," 242 and Bennet, Trajan, 199 and 273, n. 8 1 .
^5 Bennet, Trajan, 271, n. 68.
See Ziegler, Die Beziehungen, 102; Angeli Bertinelli, "I Romani oltre
TEufrate," 16, n. 65 and Martin Fell, Optimus Princeps? Anspruch und Wirklichkeit
der imperialen Programmatik Kaiser Traians (Munchen: Tuduv, 1992), 42, n. 26.
Pared, Storia di Roma, 198; Bennet, Trajan, 196-98; GriflPm, "Nerva to
Hadrian," 124-25.
lack o f continuation in the appearance of this title in the epigraphic

documents may lead to the conclusion that Trajan must have refused
this title until the conquest o f Ctesiphon, and that then the senate
repeated the conferral o f the tide.^^
If the senate twice conferred the tide Parthicus upon Trajan, there
is no point in discussing whether the passage o f the Fasti Ostienses
dated 2 0 or 21 February 116 refers to the first or the second o f
them,^^ both possibilities being impossible to exclude. It follows that
it is really impossible to date the conquest o f Ctesiphon with preci-
sion.
Other firm chronological points m a y be looked for in the events
that followed. After the conquest o f Ctesiphon, Trajan set about re-
viewing and consolidating the occupied territory, perhaps with the
intention o f forming a province o f B a b y l o n i a , b u t it is impossible
to determine how long he remained at Ctesiphon. Fronto comments
that the emperor spent some time "making more stringent the ferry
dues for camels and horses on the Euphrates and T i g r i s " , w h i c h
according to Bennet is not necessarily a topos in this context.
T h e n , according to D / X , Trajan sailed down the Tigris to the Persian
Gulf, pausing on the way to take homage from Attembalos and the
inhabitants o f Mesene and Spasinus and arrived at Charax (Basra), a
town located at the river's mouth, where he would have dispatched
another "laurelled letter" to the senate, announcing his accomplish-
ments,^^^ and erected a statue marking the limit o f his advance.
As for the time at which Trajan reached the Persian Gulf, it was at
some point in 116: in the 1950s, most scholars used to date his
See Gonzales, "Trajano," 245; Biriey, Hadrian, 70, 72. Concerning the in-
scriptions dated 115 and 116 that mention the title Parthicus and those which fail
to do so, see Gonzales, "Trajano," 245-47.
For the different scholarly views, see Gonzdles, "Trajano," 241.
Keall suggests dadng the conquest of Ctesiphon to November 115 ("Parthian
Nippur," 628), Biriey suggests the end of February 116, Bennet — May or June,
Gonzales — the summer of 116 ("Trajano," 243).
Bennet, Trajan, 199.
Princ, Hist. 17.
Bennet, Trajan, 275, n. 82.
Dio LXVIII, 29, 1.
Jord., Rom. 268.
MESOPOTAMIA 215
event to the summer, while more recently Biriey suggests the

month of M a y /
Unfortunately, we d o not know how long Trajan m a y have re-
mained around the Persian Gulf, nor if the uprisings took place ex-
actly when he reached Babylon on his way back, or whether instead
at this time, when he arrived at Babylon, he learned about events
that had been taking place for s o m e time. In any case, the terminus
post q u e m for the uprisings was probably M a y 116.
T h e order for the repression was given immediately. According to
late sources, Edessa w o u l d have been sacked at s o m e point between
J u n e 116 and J u l y 117.^^^ According to G u e y and Cizek, Nisibis was
Relying on a detail found in the account of D/X, where it is told that Trajan
encountered a peculiar storm on the Tigris, near its mouth, in which the incoming
tide meeting the swift current of the river played some part (LXVIII, 28, 4), a phe-
nomenon identified with un mascaret d'equinoxe, Guey concludes that Trajan ar-
rived at the Persian Gulf before Autumn 116: Guey, "Essai sur la guerre parthique
de Trajan," 137-38. See also Olivier, "Les themes militaries," 606; Longden, on the
other hand, observes that this phenomenon is not impossible to find in Mesopota-
mia also in summer: Longden, "Notes on the Parthian Campaigns of Trajan," 8,
n. 2. See also Motta, "La tradizione," 477. The detail about the ship that Trajan saw
sailing to India, if it is not a rhetorical device, would also suggest a time before
October 116, when, thanks to the monsoons, trade between Egypt and India took
place. Lepper is skeptical about the relevance of these details for establishing a chro-
nology, but in any case suggests the summer of 116 as a terminus post quem for the
voyage to the Persian Gulf (Lepper, Trajans Parthian War, 3, 96). According to
Cizek, too, it was the end of July 116 ("A propos de la guerre parthique," 384).
Biriey {Hadrian, 73) suggests that the letter mentioned by Dio LXVIII, 29,
1 ("Then he came to the Ocean itself...he would declare that he himself had ad-
vanced farther than Alexander, and would so write to the senate") is that reported
in the Fasti Ostienses as dated 6 May {Pr. Non. Mai. epist[ulae missae ad sen.] I ah
imp. Traiano Aug. proc[edente : Smallwood, Documents, 23,11. 12-13).
From the Chronicle of Zuqnin, attributed to Ps.-Dionysius of Tell Mahre, we
learn that King Abgar VII of Osrhoene lost his throne and probably his life when
Lusius Quietus sacked his capital, Edessa (see Longden, "Notes on the Parthian
Campaigns," 8 and 13, n. 1). The circumstances of his death are not clear, and all
we know for certain from the Chronicle of Zuqnin is that he died in the midst of
some sort of power struggle. D / X tells us that Abgar, evidently with the aim of re-
maining independent of the Parthians and the Romans alike, had supported Trajan
during the emperor's first campaign against the Parthians and had received him as a
guest into the city and palace. See Glanville Downey, A History of Antioch in Syria:
from Seleucus to the Arab Conquest (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1961),
36. What happened in 116 is not clear. Abgar may have been killed by Lusius
conquered by Lusius Quietus in December 116^^^ and Seleucia was

taken after the death o f M a x i m u s at the beginning o f 117, perhaps in
January or F e b r u a r y / F r o m epigraphical evidence we also learn that
D u r a on the Euphrates was back in Parthian hands at some point in
the Macedonian year 4 2 8 , which went from October 116 to October
117."'
After the conquest o f Nisibis, Lusius Quietus started the pacifica-
tion o f the Osrhoene and conquered Edessa. T h e fighting went on in
Armenia, between Vologaesus and the governor o f the province,
Lucius Catilius Severus, until, probably at the beginning or in the
summer o f 117, a treaty o f peace was concluded that left to the
Arsacids a part of the R o m a n territories.
T h e enthronement o f Parthamaspates would have taken place at
some point in the spring o f 117.^^^ Trajan personally crowned him
with the royal diadem, after which Parthamaspates did obeisance to
Trajan in the traditional manner in fijU view o f the assembled p o p u -
lation, confirming his subordinate state. T h e event was duly cel-
ebrated on the imperial coinage, with the emperor placing a diadem
Quietus (see Drijvers, "Hatra, Palmyra und Edessa," 874), but scholars are also
found who argue that, given Abgar s ambivalence vis-k-vis Rome, it is unlikely that
the anti-Roman party would have trusted him as a leader, if the report found in
D/X about his behavior during the visit of Trajan is true. Ross suggests instead the
possibility that Abgar may have died at the hands of the rebels, while defending his
newfound alliance. See Roos, Roman Edessa, 34-35. According to the Acts of Sharbel
and the Acts ofBarsamya, both of the early fifth century C E (see Sebastian Brock,
"Eusebius and Syriac Christianity," in Eusebius: Christianity and Judaism [ed. H. W.
Attridge and G. Hata], 223) the conquest of Edessa would have taken place at
some point between 6 June 116 and 1 July 117. See Lepper, Trajans Parthian War,
93; Petersen, "Lusius Quietus, no. 439," 113 and Bennet, Trajan, 215, n. 88. After
King Abgar VII, there was an interregnum of two years: see Drijvers, "Hatra,
Palmyra und Edessa," 874. On the chronology of the reigns of the kings of
Osrhoene, see also Andreas Luther, "Elias von Nisibis und die Chronologie der
edessenischen Konige," Klio 81, 1 (1999): 180-98 and in particularly 191-92, 197.
Guey, Essai sur la guerre parthique, 136; Cizek, Lepoque de Trajan, 462.
Cizek, Lipoque de Trajan, 4 6 1 . As a reward for the conquest of Seleucia, at
the beginning of 117, perhaps in January or February, Clarus and Alexander be-
came consuls.
111 ^ 1936, 69. According to Longden ("Trajan in the East," 249, n. 3), it was
the end of 116.
112 D/X L X X V 9, 6.
11^ In March, as Guey suggests, or in June, according to Biriey (Cizek, Lipoque
de Trajan, 464).
MESOPOTAMIA 217
on the head o f the kneeling vassal and the legend Rex Parthis
datus}^^ T h i s episode could be interpreted as meaning the abandon-
ment o f all the territory so recently won for R o m e , but in a letter to
the senate, Trajan explained and justified his action: " S o vast and in-
finite is this domain, and so immeasurable the distance that separates
it from R o m e , that we d o not have the compass to administer it. Let
us then instead present the people with a king who is subject to
Rome".ii5
All in all, we have two firm points: the revolt "of the territories
previously conquered" cannot have been prior to M a y 116,^^^ while
its definitive repression certainly took place before the coronation o f
Parthamaspates in the spring o f 117.
Conclusions
In the 1 9 3 0 s , the participation o f the Jews in the revolt o f "the terri-

tories previously conquered" was ignored, and scholars such as G r o a g
and Longden, a m o n g others, dealt with the events o f the Parthian
war and with those o f the Jewish uprisings in Mesopotamia as two
unrelated and independent episodes. Remarkably, the same is
found in more recent scholarship. Biriey, for example, suggests that
the Parthian king m a y have been able to stir u p the Cyrenaean Jews
to create a "second front," but does not mention the Mesopotamian
Jews when dealing with the revolt o f "the territories previously con-
quered."ii«
While many details o f this revolt remain obscure, one thing, at
least, seems now clear: the testimony o f Eusebius should not be ig-
nored any longer in the context o f Trajans Parthian war.
Smallwood, Documents, 51 (i?^t/.:Trajan in military dress, seated on a plat-

form and attended by an officer, placing a diadem on the head of Parthamaspates,
who stands in front of the platform with Parthia kneeling beside him). That the
coin cannot refer to the meeting between Trajan and Parthamasiris which took
place at Elegia at the beginning of the war is obvious. See Ernesto Bernareggi, "Rex
Parthus," in Studia Paulo Master Oblata, vol. 1, Numismatica Antiqua (Orientalia
Lovanensia Analecta 12: Leuven: Departement Orientalistiek — Uitgeverij Peeters,
1982), 187-91. See also Olivier, "Les themes militaires," 607.
Bennet, Trajan, 200.
116 See above, n. 107, p. 215.
117 Groag, "Lusius Quietus," col. 1881; Longden, "The Wars," 250.
118 Biriey, Hadrian, 7A.
CHAPTER NINE
JUDAEA
INTRODUCTION
T h e question o f whether J u d a e a n Jews participated in the upheavals

o f 1 1 6 - 1 1 7 has been debated in m o d e r n scholarship since the 19^^
century, when scholars such as Graetz, Volkmar and Schlatter sug-
gested that a real large-scale uprising took place in Judaea,^ a possi-
bility rejected by Lipsius, Derenbourg and Schiirer.^ Remarkably,
both positions — in favor a n d against the existence o f a revolt in
J u d a e a in Trajans days — are still to be f o u n d in the scholarship o f
the last thirty years.^
1 Heinrich Graetz, Geschichte der Juden, vol. 4 (4^ ed. Leipzig: O. Leiner, 1908;
first ed. 1853), 114, \\^-\2U History of the Jews, vol. 2 (translated by B. Lowy:
Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1956), 395, 399-401; Gustav Volkmar,
Handbuch der Einleitung in die Apokryphen. Erster TheiL Judith und die Propheten
Esra und Henoch (Tubingen: L.E Fues, 1860), 56, 64, 83, 90; Adolf Schlatter, Die
Tage Trajans und Hadrians ( B F C T 1, 3: Gutersloh: C. Bertelsmann, 1897), 89-91.
See also Hans Bietenhard, "Die Freiheitskriege der Juden unter den Kaisern Trajan
und Hadrian und der messianische T e m p e l b a u , " 4 (1948): 69-71.
2 Richard A. Lipsius, "Das Buch Judith und sein neuester Dollmetscher," ZWT
2 (1859): 81-121; Joseph Derenbourg, Essai sur I'histoire et la geographic de la Pales-
tine, d' apres les Talmuds et les autres sources rabbiniques (Paris: Impr. imperiale,
1867), 404-412; Emil Schurer, Geschichte des JUdischen Volkes im zeitalter Jesu
Christi, vol. 1 (Leipzig: J . C . Hinrichs sche buchhandlung, 1901; first ed. 1890),
^ In favor of some kind of unrest: Geo Widengren, "Quelques rapports entre

Juifs et Iraniens \ I'^poque des Parthes," SVT A (1957): 2 0 1 ; Schurer, The History,
533; E. Mary Smallwood, "Palestine c. A . D . 115-118," Historia 11 (1962): 510;
Michael Avi Yonah, "When Did Judaea Become a Consular Province?" lEJ 23
(1973): 213; Aharon Oppenheimer, "The Jewish Community in Galilee during the
Penod of Yavneh and the Bar-Kochba Revolt" (Hebr.), Cathedra 4 (1977): 51-66;
Marina Pucci, "11 movimento insurrezionale in Giudea (117-118 d . C ) , " SCI A
(1978): 63-76; Herbert W Benario, A Commentary on the Vita Hadriani in the
Historia Augusta (Missoula, Mont.: Scholars Press, 1980), 6 2 ; Stern, GLAJJ, vol. 2,
618; Israel Shatzman, "Armed Confrontation between Romans and Jews," in
Judaea and Rome: the Jewish Revolts (Hebr.) (ed. U. Rappaport: Jerusalem: Am
N o doubt, scholarly skepticism is well founded: D / X a n d Euse-

bius, who are the most important sources on the Jewish uprisings in
the other countries, fail to mention Judaea a m o n g the countries
where a rebellion took place.
S o m e information o n what transpired in Judaea in the last months
of Trajans reign, however, does appear in the works o f D / X a n d
Eusebius, a n d it is exactly the same in both accounts: towards the
end o f the Parthian war, the emperor Trajan sent to Judaea as gover-
nor Lusius Quietus, the well-known general who had served h i m val-
orously through his war."^
LUSIUS QUIETUS' M I S S I O N TO JUDAEA
Appointment
D / X mentions the assignment o f Quietus to Judaea immediately af-

ter the report o f his brilliant performance during the Parthian war,
when he valorously repressed the revolt o f "the territories previously
conquered" (LXVIII, 3 2 , 5 : Exc.Val. 2 9 0 ) . Eusebius, t o o , links
Trajan's decision to send Quietus to Judaea with the latter's military
action in Mesopotamia, which is reported as being specifically di-
rected against the Jews.^
Oved, 1983), 324; Alon, The Jews, vol. 2, 426-27; Giulio Firpo, "L'uldma fase della
rivolta giudaica in Cirenaica ed Egitto (117 d.C.) e la guerra di Quieto'," in Atti del
Convegno sulla Cirenaica, Roma-Frascati, 18-20 Dicembre 1996 (Roma: L'Istituto
Italiano per la Storia Andca, forthcoming), 237-58. Among those who deny that a
revolt took place in Judaea we find: Fuks, "Aspects of the Jewish Revolt," 98-100;
David Rokeah, "The War of Kitos: towards the Clarificadon of a Philological-His-
torical Problem," SH 23 (1972): 79; Moshe D. Herr, "The Participadon of the
Galilee in the War of Qitos' (=Quietus) or in the 'Ben-Kosba Revolt,'" (Hebr.),
Cathedra 4 (1977): 191; Gunter Stemberger, Die romische Herrschaft im Urteil der
Juden (Darmstadt: Wissenschafi:liche Buchgesellschaft, 1983), 78; Peter Schafer,
"Hadrian's Policy in Judaea and the Bar Kochba Revolt: A Reassessment," in A
Tribute to Geza Vermes (ed. Ph.R. Davies and R.T. White: Sheffield: Sheffield Aca-
demic Press, 1990=Joumal of the Study of the Old Testament, Suppl. Series 100),
286; Ayaso-Martinez, Judaea Capta, 46-68; Chrisdan Bruun, " T h e Spurious
'Expeditio ludaeae under Tr2L}2Ln,'' ZPE 93 (1992): 98-106.
^ See above, p. 191, notes 2-3.
5 "O^ x a l 7rapaTa5afX£V0(;, 7ra(X7roXu TTX-ÔOC; T C O V auT66i. 90veu£L, £ 9 ' cb x a x o p -
Ocofxaxi 'louSatac; T^yefxcov UTTO T O U auToxpdcTopot; avsSetx^v) (HEYV, 2, 5).
JUDAEA 221
A n additional detail is preserved by D / X : before being sent to

Judaea, Quietus had been elected consul: "(Quietus) advanced so far
in bravery and g o o d fortune during this present war [the Parthian]
that he was enrolled a m o n g the ex-praetors, became consul, and then
governor o f Palestine."^ It did not happen often that a barbarian o f
African origin, such as him, was given the honor o f the consulate
without advancing through the ranks, but in the last ten years o f
Trajans reign similar cases are attested, in which the consulate was
offered as a reward for military e x p l o i t s /
Quietus' consulate, mentioned by D / X after the repression o f the
revolt o f Mesopotamia and before his mission to Judaea, must be
dated to s o m e point in the year 117,^ since in the Fasti Ostienses the
list of the consuls, both the ordinarii and the suffecti, is complete for
116,^ while for 117 only the ordinarii are k n o w n / ^ Quietus, there-
fore, was probably elected consul suffectus in the first half of 117,^^
and since at the time he was active on the Parthian front, his consu-
late must have been served entirely in absentia}^ "Urbs R o m a , " Sir
Ronald Syme observes, "was spared the spectacle of a native chieftain
flaunting the insigna o f the supreme magistracy."^^
T h e question then arises as to why Quietus was sent to Judaea.
Ayaso-Martinez suggests that the decision was a function o f general
6 ^ ( J T £ £ < ; T O U C ; laTpaTyjyyjxuTa^ £(7Ypa9'^vaL xai U7T:aT£uaai ir\c, T£ flaXatcTTtvyjc;

apxat (Dio LXVIII, 32, 5, Exc. Vai. 290). See Motta, "La tradizione," 486.
See Petersen, "Lusius Quietus. Ein Reitergeneral," 215, n. 4.
^ See Barnes, "Trajan and the Jews," 159.
^ On the list of the consuls in 116 C E , see Rudolf Hanslik, " M . Ulpius
Traianus," RE, vol, Suppl. 10 (1965), col. 1099 and Hannah M. Cotton and
Werner Eck, "Governors and Their Personnel on Latin Inscriptions from Caesarea
Maritima," lASHl, 7 (2001): 221-22.
10 In 117, the consuls ordinarii are Q. Aquilius Niger and M. Rebilus (Rebulus)
Apronianus: see Attilio De Grassi, /fasti consolari delllmpero Romano dal30 avanti
Cristo al 613 dopo Cristo (Roma: Edizioni di storia e letteratura, 1952), 34 and
Hanslik, " M . Ulpius Traianus," col. 1100.
11 See Groag, "Lusius Quietus," col. 1883; Longden, "Notes on the Parthian
Campaigns of Trajan," 8; Syme, "Consulates in absence," 391. Petersen observes:
"Propter egregia merita in senatum adiectus inter praetorios (Dio LXVIII, 32, 5)
anno incerto vix ante bellum Parthicum, sed certe ante legationem ludaicam,
probabiliter anno 117" (Petersen, "Lusius Quietus. No. 439," 113-14). See also
Cizek, Lipoque de Trajan, 463.
12 Smallwood, The Jews, 550.
1^ Syme, "Consulates in Absence," 391.
administrative considerations/^ but the m e a n i n g o f this appoint-

ment is intriguing because it was anomalous in several respects. Qui-
etus was sent to Judaea with the title o f consul while at the time the
normal grade o f the governors in J u d a e a was praetorian, and,
moreover, the timing was particularly delicate. T h e rebellion o f the
conquered M e s o p o t a m i a n districts had been repressed, but the siege
o f the fortress o f H a t r a h a d not been successfiil. Moreover, D / X tells
us that "Trajan was preparing to make a fresh expedition into M e s o -
potamia,"^^ which makes it difficult to understand what p r o m p t e d
h i m to remove one o f his best generals from the Parthian front ex-
actly at a time in which his presence w o u l d have been m o s t urgently
needed.i7
Military Forces
Quietus' military forces included first o f all his Moorish tribesmen,

who always followed h i m . Alon suggests associating their presence in
J u d a e a with an inscription discovered in 1 9 3 0 during construction in
the Armenian Quarter o f Jerusalem's O l d City, which mentions a
temple erected within the military c a m p o f an African contingent pro
salute Imperatoris templum Geniu Africe}^ Abel observes that the cur-
"La campana partica estaba paralizada pero todavfa no se habfa planteado el

abandono de la empresa; eso vendra mas adelante. Lusio Quieto pudo ser enviado
como parte de una planificacion y reorganizacion de las tropes romanas en la zona,
reorganizacion que irfa encaminada a un replegamiento temporal pero mante-
niendo la situacion de alerta y vigilancia con vistas a retormar rapidamente las
operaciones bdlicas": Ayaso-Martinez,/w^f'^ Capta, 67.
1^ See for example Applebaum, Jews and Greeks, 301 and GrifiTin, "Nerva to
Hadrian," 125.
16 Dio LXVIII, 33, 1. This statement immediately foUow^s the descripdon of the
unsuccessful siege of Hatra, which took place before June 117. See above, pp. 144-
45.
1^ See Derenbourg, Essai sur Vhistoire, 403-404. Smallwood observes: "From
Trajans choice of an eminent general for this post it may be inferred either that
trouble had already broken out and that a competent military hand was needed to
suppress it, or that the province, now obviously a potential storm-centre which
needed watching, was showing signs of unrest which Trajan hoped by this measure
to prevent from developing into an open revolt" ("Palestine," 501). See also Cizek,
Lipoque de Trajan, 463 and Biriey, Hadrian, 75.
18 Fdix M . Abel and Augustin G. Barrois, "Chronique: D^dicace d'un temple \
Jerusalem," KBiA^ (1931): 292-94. For other examples of inscriptions dedicated to
various kinds genii, see the table of Dessau in ILS III, 1, pp. 528-31.
JUDAEA 223
sive forms and the orthography {Geniu Africe instead o f Genio

Africae) reveal "une tournure provinciale," while the spelling geniu
instead genio is characteristic o f Libyan native speakers/^ conclud-
ing that this inscription m a y well have been written by the M o o r i s h
tribesmen o f Lusius Q u i e t u s / ^
O t h e r troops, too, m a y have been active in J u d a e a at the t i m e / ^
T h e legio II Traiana is attested in J u d a e a in 118 and m a y have arrived
there with Quietus,^^ a detachment o f the legio III Cyrenaica is f o u n d
at Jerusalem at s o m e point after February 116 and before August
117,^^ and the cohors I Thracum milliaria was sent from Syria to
J u d a e a at s o m e point between 9 1 and 1 2 4 / ^ Speidel observes that,
significantly, the unit was moved in from Syria before the uprising o f
Bar K o c h b a , and "very likely the occasion o f the transfer was the u p -
rising at the end o f Trajans reign in 117 CE."^^ O n e might assume
1^ See the sources quoted by Applebaum, Jews and Greeks, 301, n. 257.
2^ Alon, The Jews, 417. For other possible interpretations, see Abel and Barrois
"Chronique," 293. Applebaum suggests that one of Quietus' Maurish troopers may
be identified with the cavalryman of a numerus Maurorum attested in an inscription
found in Judaea northwest of Nablus {AE 1948). This cavalryman carries a patently
Libyan name (Auginda) and died at the age of thirty, perhaps in action. This iden-
tification, however, is by no means certain, and Applebaum himself points out that
most attested uses of the term ''numerus' on inscriptions in relation to military
units belong to the later second century or even later (Applebaum, Jews and Greeks,
302).
21 See Benjamin Isaac and Israel Roll, "Judaea in the Early Years of Hadrian's
Reign," Latomus 38 (1979): 55, note 9, repr. in Benjamin Isaac, The Near East un-
der Roman Rule: Selected Papers (Mnemosyne Supplementum 177: Leiden-New
York-Koln: E.J. Brill, 1998), 182-97.
2^ ILS 4393. For the possibility that this detachment arrived with Quietus, see
Felix M . Abel, Histoire de la Palestine: depuis la conquete dAlexandre jusqu h
Vinvasion arabe, vol. 2 (Paris: J. Gabalda et C. Editeurs, 1952), 63. On this inscrip-
tion, see below, pp. 230-31.
2^ In 124 C E , the cohors is found garrisoning an outpost at Ein Gedi on the
Dead Sea. See Hans J. Polotsky, "The Greek Papyri from the Cave of the Letters,"
lEJ 12 (1962): 259; John C. Mann, "A Note on an Inscription from Kurnub," lEJ
19 (1969): 211-13; Yigael Yadin, Bar Kochba: the Rediscovery of the Legendary Hero
of the Last Jewish Revolt against Imperial Rome (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson,
1971), 239-40.
25 Michael P. Speidel, "A Tide Stamp of Cohors I Thracum Milliaria from
Hebron/Palestine," Z P ^ 35 (1979): 170-72. See also Smallwood, The Jews, 422,
n. 136; Benjamin Isaac and Aharon Oppenheimer, "The Revolt of Bar-Kochba:
that the Ala Antiana, too — a unit o f the R o m a n auxilia consisting

entirely o f cavalry — m a y have been in J u d a e a in Trajan's days, since
it was sent from Syria to Scythopolis or to someplace in close prox-
imity to it at s o m e point benveen 88 and 139. T h e r e is, however, no
way to rule out the possibility that it arrived later, to fight against the
forces o f Bar K o c h b a / 6
The End of His Mission
Quietus d i d not remain long in Judaea. F r o m the Scriptores Historiae

Augustae we learn that immediately after his election, in August o f
117, Hadrian "deprived Lusius Quietus o f the c o m m a n d o f the
M o o r i s h tribesmen, who were serving under him,^^ and then dis-
missed h i m from the army, because he had fallen under the suspicion
o f having designs on the throne" {Hadr, 5, 8 ) . T h i s statement is to be
interpreted in the context o f Hadrian's election to the throne, when
at R o m e there was widespread opposition to the idea o f H a d r i a n be-
c o m i n g Trajan's successor. A letter from Attianus urged rapid and
ruthless action. T h r e e m e n were named. I f the C i t y Prefect, Baebius
Macer, seemed likely to resist confirming Hadrian's nomination, he
should be killed; likewise two prominent exiles, Laberius M a x i m u s ,
Ideology and Modem Scholarship," ^ . S 36 (1985): 51, n. 76 and Spaul, Cohors,

359-60.
2^ Last and Stein observe that between 88 and 139, the region witnessed several
periods of military activity: one would be the doubling of Judaea's legionary
strength in or before 120 C E when the province was elevated to consular status.
The alternative would be that Ala Antiana arrived in Judaea to suppress the Bar
Kochba revolt: Rosa Last and Alia Stein, ''Ala Antiana in Scythopolis. A New In-
scripdon from Beth-Shean," ZPE 81 (1990): 224-28. O n the auxilia in Judaea in
the second century CE, see also David J. Knight, "A Study of the Strength, Organi-
zadon and Disposidon of the Auxilia of the Roman Imperial Army During the Sec-
ond Century A . D . " (Ph.D. diss. University of Leeds, 1987), 142-45. As for the
Coh. I Thehaeorum and the Coh. I Hispanorum, we know that they were sent from
Egypt to Judaea in 105, but we have no subsequent information about them. See
Sergio Daris, "Le truppe ausiliarie romane in Egitto," ANRW II, 10, 1, 747.
Wheeler suggests that "a coin of Arados and a Domitianic issue thought to be from
Samarian Neapolis, both countermarked by the legio XV Apollinaris {LXV), attest
the activity of a vexillatio in Phoencia or Palestine in 115-117 — probably in
logistical support of operations elsewhere or in response to Jewish unrest: Wheeler,
"Legio X V Apollinaris," 291 and 291, n. 191.
2^ Within weeks, this treatment and indignadon at it among their fellow-coun-
trymen appear to have led to open revolt in Mauretania. See Biriey, Hadrian, 79.
JUDAEA 225
the disgruntled former marshall, alleged to have aspired to the

throne, and Crassus Frugi, who had plotted against Nerva as well as
Trajan, both languishing on islands. Moreover, as the SHA claim,
there was a widespread belief that Trajan had intended to make
Neratius Priscus and not Hadrian his successor. Lusius Quietus was
regarded as a barbarian, and besides must have been an old m a n now.
B u t Hadrian and he were enemies. T h e fear that Quietus might lend
his support to a rival might well have seemed serious enough in the
summer o f 1 \7}^ According to Biriey, the letter o f dismissal was pre-
sumably conveyed by Quietus' successor, probably one o f the men
serving with Hadrian in Syria, but there m a y have been an acting
governor.
If a papyrus quoted by Polemo refers to Quietus — which, how-
ever, is by no means certain — it would indicate that after being de-
prived o f his task. Quietus was placed in some sort o f custody in
Hadrian's vicinity.
R u m o r s about a conspiracy were spread some time later, while
Hadrian was en route to R o m e , sometime between the spring and
the summer o f 118:^^ "A plot to murder him while sacrificing was
made by Nigrinus, with Lusius and a number o f others as accom-
plices... but Hadrian successftally evaded this plot. Because o f this
conspiracy Palma was put to death at Tarracina, Celsus at Baiae,
Nigrinus at Faventia, and Lusius on his journey homeward, all by
order o f the senate, but contrary to the wish o f Hadrian, as he says
himself in his autobiography" {SHA, Hadr. 7, 1-2).
T h e historicity o f this conspiracy is impossible to substantiate,^^
just as it is impossible to prove the existence o f a connection between
28 Biriey, Hadrian, 79.

29 Biriey notes that at about this time the procurator Claudius Paternus
Clementianus, a man from Raetia, replaced an unnamed legate of Judaea, and sug-
gests that it might have been Quietus in 117: Biriey, Hadrian, 79.
See Petersen, "Lusius Quietus. Ein Reitergeneral," 216, n. 3.
^1 The conspiracy against Hadrian is mentioned in the SHA {Hadr. VI, 6-8)
immediately after the revolt of the Sarmathians which took place in the spring of
118 and before the arrival of Hadrian to Rome in July. See Benario, A Commentary,
69.
^2 It is defended by Michael Meckler, "The Beginning of the Historia Augusta,''
Historia 45 (1996): 370 and by Biriey, Hadrian, 75. Syme, however, recommends
prudence: "Conspiracy was the charge, ill authenticated, and a decree of the senate
enjoined or sanctioned their fate — against the wishes of Hadrian, or so he asserted
the four consulars condemned to death.^^ D / X observes: " H a d r i a n . . .

w a s . . . severely criticized for slaying several o f the best men in the be-
ginning o f his reign... T h o s e who were slain...were Palma and
Celsus, Nigrinus and Lusius, the first two for the alleged reason that
they had conspired against him during a hunt, and the others on cer-
tain other complaints,^^ but in reality because they had great influ-
ence and enjoyed wealth and fame" (LXIX, 2 , 5). In another passage,
too, D / X argues that Lusius Quietus "advanced so far in bravery and
g o o d fortune...that he was enrolled a m o n g the ex-praetors, became
consul, and then governor o f Palestine. To this chiefly were due the
jealousy and hatred felt for him and his destruction" (LXVIII, 3 2 , 5,
ExcVal. 290).
Biriey suggests that something may have happened, which — per-
haps only later — could be construed as an abortive assassination at-
tempt. If Nigrinus plotted — or could plausibly be alleged to have
plotted — to kill Hadrian, his real motive and that o f his supposed
fellow-conspirators might have been deep resentment at the aban-
d o n m e n t o f Trajans conquests. In any case, the account o f the SHA
reflects the official version, designed to show that all four acted from
unworthy personal motives, while it may be more plausible to postu-
late that they all opposed Hadrians policy shift.^^
in his autobiography (Hadr. 7, 2). Action having been taken in haste or error, it was
desirable to find a scapegoat. The evidence is far from establishing a conspiracy";
Ronald Syme, "Guard Prefects of Trajan and Hadrian,"//?5 70 (1980), repr. in Ro-
man Papers vol 3 (ed. A.R. Biriey: Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1984): 1281. See also
Ronald Syme, "More Trouble about Turbo," Bonner Historia Augusta Colloquium
1979/81 (Bonn: Rudolf Habelt Verlag, 1983), 307. From the SHA {Hadr. 9, 3) we
also learn that towards the end of his reign Hadrian refrained from killing one of
those responsible for Quietus' death, Atdan, for fear of a scandal: "unable to endure
the power of Attianus, his prefect and formerly his guardian, he was eager to mur-
der him. He was restrained, however, by the knowledge that he already laboured
under the odium of murdering four men of consular rank, although, as a matter of
fact, he always attributed their execution to the designs of Attianus." See Biriey,
Hadrian, 87-88.
See Petersen, "Lusius Quietus. Ein Reitergeneral," 216-17.
Petersen suggests that it was Quietus' position as legatus Augusti and his com-
mand of personal military forces that had made him dangerous to Hadrian
(Petersen, "Lusius Quietus. Ein Reitergeneral," 216).
^5 Biriey, Hadrian, 87-88.
JUDAEA 227
Quietus' governorship in Judaea, therefore, lasted for an extremely

short time, a fev^ months only, from the beginning or spring o f 117
until August o f the same year.^^
Diffuse bits o f information preserved by a number o f sources —
admittedly often ambiguous, vague, and o f controversial interpreta-
tion — suggest that s o m e kind o f clash took place in Judaea during
this period.
T H E T E S T I M O N Y OF T H E SOURCES
Archaeology
In the excavations at Jaffa, a public building was found where nu-

merous signs o f burning and soot seen on the cellar floor and on the
surrounding walls were apparently the result o f the destruction o f the
building by fire. Examination o f the finds^^ led Kaplan to conclude
that the building was destroyed by fire in Trajan's days.^^ Smallwood
observes that the fire could have been accidental, but the discovery
there o f a tile o f the legio XFretensis would suggest that "violence oc-
curred requiring the presence o f at least part o f the legion,"^^ an in-
terpretation rejected by Ayaso-Martinez, who argues that the finding
o f this tile may be accidental and carry no meaning whatsoever.
Coins
A number o f coins were issued at Tiberias in 1 1 9 / 2 0 : one represents

N i k e , the goddess o f victory, carrying a palm-branch and a wreath to
Werner Eck, "Jahres-und Provinzialfasten der senatorischen Statthalter von

69/70 bis 138/139," Chiron 12 (1982): 359-61 and idem, "Jahres-und Provinzial-
fasten der senatorischen Statthalter von 69/70 bis 138/139," Chiron 13 (1983): 148.
These findings consist of much pottery, stone objects, a bronze jug and a
hoard of bronze and silver coins, including three Greek inscripdons mentioning a
Jewish agoranomos Yehuda in office at Jaffa in 102 C E .
^« Jacob Kaplan, "The Fifth Season of Excavation at J a f f a , " 5 4 (1963/4):
111; idem, "Evidence of the Trajanic Period at Jaffa," (Hebr.) Eretz Israel 15 (1981)
(Yohanan Aharoni Memorial Volume: ed. B. Mazar: Jerusalem: Published by the
Israel Exploration Society in cooperation with the Institute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv
University, 1981): 412-16.
39 Smallwood, The Jews, 423.
Ayaso-Martinez, Judaea Capta, 63.
crown the victor.^^ According to Smallwood, it m a y refer to the suc-

cessful R o m a n military action against the Jews,^^ but o f course this
interpretation is in no way conclusive. Another coin was issued at
Tiberias at the same time, portraying Zeus seated in a tetrastyle tem-
ple,^^ probably the Hadrianeion built at Tiberias in Hadrians honor
in 1 1 9 / 2 0 , attested by Epiphanius. Jones suggests interpreting the
coin as meaning that Hadrian disenfranchised the Jewish and Sa-
maritan aristocracies that had hitherto ruled the Galilean cities where
the coins have been found, namely Tiberias, Neapolis and Sepphoris,
and entrusted their government to pagans,^"^ a measure which is in-
terpreted in various ways in modern scholarship.^^
More meaningful is the cessadon of Jewish minting at Sepphoris.
Here, in Trajans days was attested a mint striking coins that one might
call "Jewish-Roman," in which one side was devoted to the R o m a n
emperor, while the other depicted Jewish symbols: laurel wreaths,
palm trees, and the caduceus. N o t only are these coins characterized
by Jewish symbols that distinguish them from the other city coins of
Judaea, but, also, they bear another outstanding and unusual phenom-
Arie Kindler, The Coins of Tiberias (Tiberias: Hamei Tiberia Co., 1961), 8b,
pp. 39-40.
Smallwood, "Palesdne," 507.
Kindler, The Coins of Tiberias, 7b, p. 39.
Arnold H.M. Jones, "The Urbanization of Palestine,"/^^ 21 (1931): 82 and
idem. The Cities of the Eastern Roman Provinces (revised by M. Avi-Yonah et alii, 2"^
ed.: Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971), 278. See also Isaac and Roll, "Judaea," 63.
Oppenheimer suggests that it may have contributed to the arousal of ill will
among the Jews: Oppenheimer, "The Jewish Community in Galilee," 185; idem,
Galilee in the Mishnaic Period (Hebr.) (Jerusalem: Zalman Shazar Center for Jewish
History, 1991), 34-35. See also Isaac and Roll, "Judaea," 64. Schafer, on the other
hand, maintains that we possess no concrete evidence that the erection of the
Hadrianeia in Caesarea and Tiberias and the striking of pagan coins were carried
out against the will of the Jewish populadon and despite their resistance, and sug-
gests that these testimonies are rather to be seen as indications of an increasing
adoption by assimilated Jewish circles of the Hellenization propagated by Hadrian
(Schafer, "Hadrians Policy," 287, 296). In a private communication, Stemberger
was kind enough to point out to me that Epiphanius' statement that the building
of the Hadrianeion at Tiberias was never finished and that the citizens of Tiberias
wanted to transform it into a public bath has to be taken into consideration along
with the rabbinic texts which speak explicitly of Jewish bouleutai at Sepphoris and
probably at Tiberias. It therefore appears that even if Tiberias and Sepphoris were
entrusted to a pagan government, this measure would have had to be revoked
rather soon.
JUDAEA 229
enon, an inscription around the head of Trajan — T P A I A N O S

A Y T O K P A T f l P E A O K E N . Meshorer points out that the expression
E A O K E N , meaning "gave" or "permitted," is exclusive to these coins
o f Sepphoris and m a y be interpreted as reflecting positive relations
between the municipality o f Sepphoris and the R o m a n authorities,
which enabled the people o f Sepphoris to mint almost "real" Jewish
coins, which is remarkable in view of the fact that other cities, such
as Caesarea and Tiberias, had coinages depicting only pagan sym-
bols.^^ In these centers, the minting o f coins continues in H a d r i a n s
day, but at Sepphoris it stops abruptly. Against those scholars who
connect this cessation o f minting with the Bar Kochba rebellion,
Meshorer points out that between the death o f Trajan in 117 and the
Bar Kochba revolt some fifteen years elapsed, during which not a sin-
gle coin was minted for Hadrian in Sepphoris. T h i s fact surely calls
for an explanation, which Meshorer identifies with Jewish unrest at
the end o f Trajans days or at the very beginning o f Hadrians reign.^^
Unfortunately, we have no means to know what may have tran-
spired at Sepphoris, but the possibility has been pointed out by
Meshorer that after the destruction o f the Temple, in 7 0 , the popula-
tion o f Sepphoris was a combination o f the older generation, namely,
the "peace people" who had opened the gates o f the city to the Ro-
mans during the Jewish War against R o m e , and new elements, more
extreme and nationalistic, who nurtured feelings of frustration after
the destruction o f Jerusalem and included the very people who pre-
pared the background that led to the Bar Kochba war.^^
Concerning the meaning and purposes of Roman coinage, Sutherland ob-

serves: "The Roman world was not blind to the desirability of government both
efficient and ethical. Coin types could at least help to tell people if they were get-
ting it, for they were statements of self-justification which could be judged against
an independent knowledge of facts. The emperors did not write history themselves,
but they did see to it that..."two or three words" were produced on some millions
of coins, with types to match": Carol H.V. Sutherland, "The Purpose of Roman
Imperial Coin Types," RN 25 (1983): 82. See also Christopher T.H.R. Ehrhardt,
"Roman Coin Types and the Roman P u b l i c , " 3 4 (1984): 41-54.
Yaakov Meshorer, "Sepphoris and Rome," in Greek Numismatics and Archeol-
ogy. Essays in honor of Margaret Thompson (ed. O. Morkholm and N . M . Waggoner:
Wetteren, Belgium: fiditions NR, 1979), 163-65. One might be tempted to relate
the cessadon of minting at Sepphoris with a passage from the rabbinic tradition at-
testing to "times of danger" at Sepphoris, but see below, pp. 243-44.
See Meshorer, "Sepphoris and Rome," 163.
Inscriptions
A dedicatory inscription, perhaps o f an altar, found in secondary use

in the Turkish wall east o f Zion Gate, at Jerusalem, which calls
Trajan Parthicus, records a dedication to [I]ovi O.M. Sarapidi pro sa-
lute et Victoria by a detachment o f the legio III Cyrenaica^"^ This
means that at some point after the end o f February 116, when the
title Parthicus was conferred to Trajan,^^ a n d before August 1 1 7 ,
when Trajan died, a detachment o f the legio III Cyrenaica was sta-
tioned in Judaea. As for the meaning o f the "victory" mentioned in
the inscription, it probably refers to the Parthian war, but scholars
are also found w h o relate it to a repression o f disorder that m a y have
taken place in Judaea.
T h e presence o f this detachment in Jerusalem m a y be interpreted
in a variety o f ways. It m a y have c o m e simply to replace the X
Fretensis, which had been sent to the Parthian front,^^ but it is also
impossible to rule out the possibility that it had been an emergency
in loco that prompted the decision o f transferring the detachment to
Jerusalem.
It has also been regarded as meaningful that the inscription was
dedicated to Sarapis, the Greek representation o f the Egyptian g o d
Osiris-Apis, later called Serapis, which h a d from its very beginning
during the Ptolemaic period unmistakably political overtones. M a n e -
tho, whose writings constitute the first literary testimony against the
Jews,^^ had been a priest o f Sarapis. Later, Sarapis assumed the role o f
^9 [IJovi O(ptimo) M(aximo) Sarapidi I pro salute et Victoria I imp(eratoris) Nervae

Traiani Caesaris I optumi Aug(usti) Germanici Dacici / Parthici et populi Romani I
vexill(atio) leg(ionis) III Cyr(enaicae) fecit (ILS 4393). For the possibility that this
detachment arnved with Quietus, see Abel, Histoire de la Palestine, 63.
5^ See above, p. 213.
^1 This detachment was sent to Judaea from the Parthian front, where it was
active since Hadrian, while assembling a substantial army at Antioch in 114, moved
it from Bostra in Arabia. See Bennet, Trajan, 191.
^2 See for example Pareti, Storia di Roma, 204, n. 3.
^3 See Menahem Mor, "The Roman Army in Eretz Israel in the Years A.D. 70-
132," in The Defence of the Roman and Byzantine East, vol. 2 (ed. P. Freeman and
D. Kennedy: Oxford: BAR International Series 297, 1986), 589, n. 15 and Ayaso-
Martinez,/«/^^^ Capta, 6 1 .
See Alon, The Jews, vol. 2, 416-17; Applebaum, and Greeks, 3 0 1 ; Shatz-
man, "Armed Confrontation," 324.
55 See above, pp. 127, 132.
JUDAEA 231
protector o f the city o f Alexandria, and G a g e believes that the activi-

ties o f the Alexandrian Sarapeum played a part in the periodical out-
breaks o f conflict between the Jews and the Greeks o f Alexandria.
T h e lively hostility o f the Jews against this deity finds literary expres-
sion both in works written in Egypt, such as the Oracula Sibyllina^'^
and in the rabbinic literature composed later in Judaea.^^
Firpo suggests that this dedication to Sarapis by the detachment o f
the legio III Cyrenaica may have contributed to exacerbating the feel-
ings o f the Jews, stirring up some kind o f unrest.^^
T H E LITERARY T E S T I M O N Y
Hippolytus
A legion brought to Judaea by a certain Traianus Quintus (clearly a

conflation o f the name Quietus with that o f the emperor who had
sent him to Judaea) is mentioned by Hippolytus, a schismatic Pope
o f the early third century C E , while commenting u p o n M a t t . 2 4 : 1 5 -
2 2 . T h i s passage is preserved in a Syriac commentary to the Apoca-
lypse by Dionysius Bar-Salibi, a twelfth-century bishop o f the Syrian
Jacobite C h u r c h : "Vespasian did not erect an idol in the Temple, but
the legion brought by Trajanus Quintus, the first m a n o f the R o -
mans, did erect an idol there, called K o r e . "
Gage, "Uempereur romain devant Sarapis," 145-66.

5^ No wonder therefore that it was Sarapis the deity brought to Rome to repre-
sent and protect the Greek delegation that had come along with the Jewish one to
Rome to appear before Trajan: see CPJU 157, col. Ill, 11. 51-53. See also Vincent
Tran Tam Tinh, "Les empereurs romains versus Isis, Sarapis," in Subject and Ruler:
The Cult of the Ruling Power in Classical Antiquity: Papers Presented at a Conference
Held in the University of Alberta on April 13-15, 1994, to Celebrate the 65^^ Anniver-
sary of Duncan Fishwick (ed. A.M. Small: Ann Arbor (Mich.): Journal of Roman
Archaeology 1996), 215-30. See also above, p. 135.
^8 See the bibliography quoted in Pucci Ben Zeev, "Greek Attacks," 47-48.
59 Firpo, "L'uldma fase," 248-49, n. 27.
See above, p. 83. Alon relates this passage to a Jewish source according to
which "on the seventh of Tammuz.. .Apostomus burned the Torah and set up an
image in the Sanctuary" and suggests that this Apostomus might have been an of-
ficer of Quietus' headquarters command: Alon, The Jews, 418-20 (but see also pp.
418-19 on other possible interpretations of this passage). A connecdon of the pas-
sage of Hippolytus with the dedicadon to Sarapis mendoned in ILS 4393, sug-
A p p l e b a u m suggests that the erection o f this image m a y have been

meant to reaffirm the pagan character o f the city,^^ and that this,
along with the dedication to Sarapis by a detachment o f the legio III
Cyrenaica,^^ can only have exacerbated the Jews' sensitivities. T h i s
view is shared by Ayaso-Martinez, a n d it is notable that the testi-
m o n y o f Hippolytus is the only source o n what transpired in J u d a e a
at the time that seems to be regarded as meaningful by this scholar,
one o f the m o s t skeptical a m o n g contemporary scholars about the
existence o f a rebellion in Judaea.^^
The Scriptores Historiae Augustae
According to the SHA, at the very beginning o f Hadrian's reign, in

August o f 1 1 7 , Aegyptus seditionibus urgebatur, Libya denique ac
Palaestina rebelles animos efferebant {Hadr, 5, 2).
T h e question is whether this statement can be taken at face value.
Its reliability is denied by G o l a n , who observes that it cannot stand
as independent historical evidence,^^ and, in fact, this passage does
not show up in the list o f the passages o f the Vita Hadriani recog-
nized by Barnes as attesting to "factual history. "^^
gested by Groag and by Applebaum, is rejected by Smallwood {The Jews, All), See
also Shatzman, "Armed Confrontation," 324.
^1 Simon Applebaum, "Notes on the Jewish Revolt under Trajan," ^ 5 2 (1950-
1): 29.
^2 715 4393. See above, pp. 230-31.
^3 "La mayorfa de la investigacion ha insistido en la identificaci6n Trajano
Quinto=Lusio Quieto. He de reconocer que esta suposici6n puede ser del todo
correcta... Podemos concluir con G. Alon que, si la noticia es del todo cierta, tal
profanacidn pudo crear un estado de crispaci6n...": A y a s o - M a r t i n e z , C a p t a ,
62-63.
"We read that Hadrian on taking possession of the imperial power, at once
resumed the policy of the early emperors, and devoted his attention to maintaining
peace throughout the world' {Hadr. 5, 1). What remains — the implied meaning
that instead of hoping for the better from the new emperor who had proclaimed a
policy of tenendae pact — depicts the Jews as lacking any sense of polidcal wisdom
behaving short-sightedly and hot-headedly, starting a new rebellion destined to be-
come hopeless and almost suicidal. This stereotype of *the curious Jews' certainly
assured the educated reader a kind of cultural entertainment": David Golan, ''Judaei
in the Scriptores Historiae Augustae,'' Latomus Al (1988): 335-36.
^5 The Tactual content' of the Historia Augusta concerning Hadrian's days is
dealt with by Barnes, The Sources, 33-34.
JUDAEA 233
It appears, however, that this piece o f information cannot be easily

dismissed. First o f all, the basic sources used by the SHA for the lives
o f the emperors from Hadrian to Caracalla — Marius M a x i m u s and
an unknown biographer^^ — seem to have been excellent, as Syme
points out.^^ Moreover, in the case o f Egypt, the piece o f informa-
tion provided by this passage o f the SHA fits well with the testimony
of the papyri, which attest that the last battles between Jews and R o -
mans were being fought in the summer o f 117. By August, it appears
that matters were almost settled, since immediately afi:er he was pro-
claimed emperor, even before he went to Seleucia to see the remains
o f Trajan a n d to have them sent to Rome,^^ Hadrian removed the
general Marcius Turbo from Egypt, where he had been successfiil in
repressing the Jewish uprising, and sent h i m to Mauretania.^^ M i n o r
episodes, however, m a y have occurred also after the election o f
Hadrian and after Turbo left the country, since the papyrological evi-
dence suggests September or October 1 1 7 as the terminus ante quem
for the definite end o f the fighting in all the districts o f Egypt,
therefore confirming the testimony o f the SHA that at the beginning
o f H a d r i a n s reign Aegyptus seditionibus urgebatur.
O n e wonders whether the same m a y be true concerning Judaea.
O n the one hand, the removal o f Lusius Quietus, known for his bril-
Syme calls him "Ignotus", and suggests identifying him with a Roman knight
living in the reigns of Macrinus and Elagabalus who composed separate biographies
of Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian and others. As for Marius Maximus, he was a senator, a
general of Septimius Severus, praefectus urbi in 217/8 and consul for the second
time in 223. He wrote after March 222 and devoted separate biographies to Nerva,
Trajan, Hadrian and others. See Ronald Syme, Emperors and Biography: Studies in
the Historia Augusta (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971), 124-28; Timothy D. Barnes,
The Sources of the Historia Augusta (Bruxelles: Latomus, 1978), 98-107; Ronald
Syme, Historia Augusta Papers (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1983), 33. For a different
view on the sources used by the SHA, see Gaden, "Structure et portee historique,"
130.
Syme, Emperors and Biography, 270. For a positive judgment on the accuracy
and historical soundness of the Vita Hadriani, see Meckler, "The Beginning," 375.
^« SHA, Hadr, 5, 8-9.
^9 Marcio Turbone ludaeis compressis ad deprimendum tumultum Mauretaniae
destinato-. SHA 5, 8. The command of Marcius Turbo, too, seems to have been
anomalous: see Syme, "More Trouble," 307.
'^^ See above, pp. 153-55. Biriey, too, observes that by this time Marcius Turbo
had virtually crushed the rebels in Egypt and the Cyrenaica, even if some fighting
sdll ensued (Biriey, Hadrian, 80).
liant activities against the Jews, from his governorship o f the coun-
try'^^ w o u l d suggest that the situation was considered safe enough
from the R o m a n point o f view, as Schafer points out,^^ but o f course
this does not exclude the possibility o f continued minor distur-
bances.
All in all, this passage — Libya denique ac Palaestina rebelles
animos efferebant — m a y well be construed as meaning that the "re-
bellious frame o f m i n d " was not a new or sudden outburst,^^ but
rather a continuation o f an o n g o i n g situation, as would also be indi-
cated by the use o f the imperfect tense.^^ In this case, the sources
used by the SHA^'^ m a y have wished to emphasize the difficulties o f
the situation that H a d r i a n had to cope with in order to stress the
value o f his accomplishments."^^
Rabbinic Sources
A war called 'War o f Qitos' OI^VlD) is mentioned by sev-

eral Rabbinic sources.
T h e historical value o f these sources is often questioned by m o d -
ern scholarship on three main grounds: they were transmitted orally
for a long time before they were p u t in writing, they were often
Benario suggests that "the new emperor may have felt that a general as cruel
and effective as Lusius in the extirpation of enemies (see the sources quoted by
Petersen, 'Lusius Quietus,' 113, no. 439 on his ruthless behavior against the Dacians
during the first Dacian war) had no role to play in his foreign policy, one of re-
trenchment and, where possible, peaceful relations" (Benario, A Commentary, 65).
Schafer observes: "Why would Hadrian have deposed the governor of Judaea
at a time when Judaea remained a hotbed of unrest? The recalling and execution of
Lusius Quietus naturally had inner polidcal motivations, but they would have
come at a very inopportune time had Judaea indeed found itself on the brink of
open revolt" (Schafer, "Hadrians Policy in Judaea," 286).
^3 As I suggested in my La rivolta, \1\'31.
See Mommsen, Romische Geschichte, vol. 5, 544 and Smallwood, The Jews,
421. A similar meaning may also be attached to a passage of Eusebius' Chronicon
translated by Hieronymus: Hadrianus Judaeos capit secundo contra Romanos rebellan-
tes (Hieron., CCXXIIII Olymp, ed. Helm, 197). See above, p. 155.
^5 See above, p. 233.
See also Therese Liebmann-Frankfort, "Les Juifs dans 1' Histoire Auguste,"
Latomus 33 (1974): 582. In the Vita Hadriani, Syme, too, notices "Hadrian's anxi-
ety to abate the odium consequent on the execution of the four marshals" and
"traces of apologia (Hadrian had much to explain away)" (Syme, Emperors and Bi-
ography, respectively, 113-14 and 124).
JUDAEA 235
chronologically removed from the events dealt with and, finally, they
display ahistorical character and p u r p o s e s / ^
T h e measure o f factual reality reflected in these sources is certainly
not easy to define. T h e passing o f time leads to a blurring o f clarity,
oral m e m o r y is treacherous^^ and m a y be " u p d a t e d " under the influ-
ence o f later developments,'^^ and, moreover, the very passage o f a lit-
erary work from exclusively oral to written/oral transmission is pro-
foundly transformative, since the writing d o w n o f originally oral
teachings m a y shift context in m o r e than one way. In whatever d o c u -
m e n t rabbinic traditions find their written h o m e , scholars argue, the
choice o f a precise context for quotation is probably rarely that o f the
"original" speaker or later tradent. It is, instead, ultimately the deci-
sion o f the "redactor" o f the d o c u m e n t , which means that the trans-
mission process m a y have been accompanied by distortions and de-
velopments. For these reasons, scholars can be found w h o argue that
rabbinic sources should not be used for historical reconstructions.^^
'^'^ An active historiographical undertaking was simply beyond the scope of the
rabbinic agenda. "The Sages were ahistorical," Herr notes, "and in their world there
was no question as boring and as meaningless as that regarding the need and use of
describing what really happened": Moshe D. Herr, "The Conception of History
among the Sages," (Hebr.) Proceedings of the Sixth World Congress of Jewish Studies 3
(1977), 142. Gafni, too, points out that the Rabbis did take notice of shifts in his-
torical reality, but only when such comparisons provided some contribution toward
an understanding of their own situation. The past thereby emerges as a way of de-
fining or categorizing the present. When the sages take up the issue of historical
periodization, it is primarily within the context of Biblical interpretation or
eschatological considerations, rather than a detached study of the past for the pur-
pose of knowing "what happened": Isaiah M. Gafni, "Concepts of Periodization
and Causality in Talmudic Literature,"/// 10 (1996): 34. As Momigliano puts it,
"history had nothing to explain and little to reveal to the man who meditated the
Law day and night": Arnaldo Momigliano, "Persian Historiography, Greek
Historiography, and Jewish Historiography," in The Classical Foundations of Modern
Historiography ( S C L V, 54, ed. A. Momigliano: Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1990), 23.
^8 Scholars emphasize that the many variations in tradition from one record to
another are meaningftil because it is in the nature of an oral tradition that teachings
change from one recitation to the next.
^9 Manual copying, too, is, by its nature, fraught with problems and imperfec-
tions. Eyes skip, hands slip, short-term memories fail: one sees on the page what
one has been prejudiced to see, and one often copies the version of one's memory,
not the version on the page.
8® Neusner argues that "it is very difficult to build a bridge from the tradition to
T h i s conclusion, however, seems somehow exaggerated, and a state-

ment o f Sir R o n a l d S y m e m a y be recalled here concerning another
problematic source, the work o f the Scriptores Historiae Augustae:
" S o u r c e criticism carries a n u m b e r o f hazards. It m a y be pursued
with i n h u m a n rigour, and it m a y issue in sterility or extravagance."^^
Moreover, narratives whose concerns are fundamentally non-histori-
cal d o lend themselves to analysis in historical terms, a n d it m a y be
precisely because the rabbinic sources are not history books that their
remarks concerning historical details m a y be regarded as being o f
particular value, since they are usually recorded incidentally, casually,
and in passing.^^ Even those cases in which rabbinic sources d o not
present reality but rather its image in the eyes o f the sage are highly
valuable for the m o d e r n historian, inasmuch as they witness the
long-term impact o f events on Jewish consciousness, the subjective
Jewish experience and m e m o r y o f e v e n t s . A s Stemberger convinc-
the event, still more difficult to cross that bridge": Jacob Neusner, "Rabbinic
Sources for Historical Study: A Debate with Ze ev Safrai," in Where We Stand: Issues
and Debates in Ancient Judaism (ed. J. Neusner and A.J. Avery-Peck: Vol. Ill, 1 of
Judaism in Late Antiquity, ed. J. Neusner: Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1999), 139-40. "In or-
der to use the evidence of a Rabbinic text for history," Kraemer observes, "one
would have to correct for errors and changes and recover the original' written
record. One would then have to correct for changes in context and meaning that
accompanied the reduction of the evidence to writing; one would have to recon-
struct the pre-written oral version. One would then have to correct for all the (of-
ten) many changes that transformed the evidence from the time of its first articula-
tion to its last oral repetition. If one could recover that original,' one could then
commence with the act of interpretation, but such a recovery is virtually impossi-
ble. ...Rabbinic sources for historical study? Barely": David Kraemer, "Rabbinic
Sources for Historical Studies," in Where We Stand, 205, 212.
8^ Syme, Historia Augusta Papers, 30.
82 See Richard Kalmin, "Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity as a Source for
Historical Studies," in Where We Stand, 187.
83 See Louis H. Feldman, "Rabbinic Sources for Historical Studies," in Where
We Stand, 215.
8^ Safrai raises the case of the account of the destruction of three Galilean towns
— Migdal, Cabul and Shihin — during the war of 66-70, provided by an anony-
mous Amora. "The description is embellished, but clearly stems from widespread
memories of settlements that had been destroyed. These recollections, however
faded, reflect the accepted historical memory at some point in the third and fourth
century. The memory was undoubtedly dimmed, exaggerated and distorted, but
why should it be doubted?" (Ze'ev Safrai, "Rabbinic Sources as Historical. A Re-
sponse to Professor Neusner," in: Where We Stand, 145-47).
JUDAEA 237
ingly points out, it would be the greatest damage to the history o f

J u d a i s m if the rabbinic texts were neglected altogether in the histori-
cal enterprise.
Concerning the events transpiring in Judaea in Trajans days, two
sources belonging to the early stage o f rabbinic literature tell us o f a
war which they call the "War o f Qitos" (OID^ VtT 01»VlD). O n e is
Seder Olam Rabbah, one the few works o f rabbinic literature to dis-
play a kind o f historical interest,^^ which is ascribed by the Palestin-
ian amora R. Johanan, o f the third century, to the second century
tanna Yose b. Halafta. T h e basic core o f the work, Milikowsky points
out, probably existed already before R. Yose's time, but he probably
added to it, giving it the shape it has today, and transmitted it.^^
Here we read: " F r o m the war o f Vespasian until the war o f Qitos^^
was twenty four years; from the war o f Qitos until the war o f Ben
Kozibah was sixteen years; and the war o f Ben Kozibah was two and
a half years, fifty-two years after the destruction o f the T e m p l e "
{Seder Olam Rabbah 30).
T h e lack o f chronological precision is striking but not surprising
in a source like this, which compresses the Persian period to no more
than 3 4 years.^^ O n e o f the chronological details, however, seems to
correspond somehow to historical reality. T h e war o f Qitos is said to
85 See Gunter Stemberger, "Rabbinic Sources for Historical Studies," in Where

We Stand, 185-86.
8^ Whether Seder Olam may be regarded as an example of Jewish historio-
graphic literature, however, is highly doubtful. Scholars define it a "chronographical
midrash" or a "midrashic chronography" attempting at the synchronization of bibli-
cal events, with little interest in what transpired in the post-biblical period. In fact,
the biblical period takes up filly 9 8 % of the work, while the centuries from the
days of Ezra and Nehemiah to the Bar Kochba war constitute barely 2 % of the
book. What we do find here would be chronography at best, rather than any at-
tempt at a causal interpretadon of polidcal vicissitudes. See Herr, "The Conception
of History," 135; Gafni, "Concepts of Periodizadon," 22-24; Chaim J. Milikowsky,
''Seder 'Olam and Jewish Chronography in the Hellenistic and Roman Periods,"
A 4 / / ? 5 2 (1985): 117.
8^ See Milikowsky, "Seder Olam: A Rabbinic Chronography," vol.1 (Ph.D.
diss., Yale University, 1981), 16-17 and idem, "Seder 'Olam and Jewish Chrono-
graphy," 124.
88 On the different spellings — Qitos, Qitas, Titus — in the various manu-
scripts, see Milikowsky, "Seder Olam," 441-42.
89 On the confusions, alterations and adaptations of the historical fact in these
sources, see Ayaso-Martfnez, Judaea Capta, 58.
have taken place sixteen years before that o f Bar Kochba, and if we
start from the beginning o f the war, in 1 3 2 , we have 132 minus 16 =
116.
It m a y also be meaningful in this context to recall that the 52"^
year "after the Great War" (starting from the beginning o f the war,
we would have 6 6 + 5 2 = 1 1 8 ) is also recorded as a year o f troubles (re-
lated to the fall o f Bethar)^^ in a passage o f Lamentations Rabbah, one
o f the early midrashim edited in the land o f Israel, probably in the
fifth century, which seemingly includes earlier material.^^
T h e "War o f Qitos" is not mentioned only in the Seder Olam, In
Mishnah Sotah 9 : 1 4 , too, the same war is recorded between the war
o f Vespasian and that o f Bar K o c h b a : " D u r i n g the war o f Vespasian
they forbade the crowns o f the bridegroom and the [wedding] d r u m .
D u r i n g the war o f Quietus^^ they forbade the crowns o f the brides
and that a m a n should teach his son Greek.^^ In the last war they
forbade the bride to go forth in a litter inside the city; but our R a b -
bis permitted the bride to go forth in a litter inside the city."
Details and context are so different in Seder Olam Rabbah and in
the Mishnah that the possibility o f an interdependence between the
two passages can be excluded. T h e Mishnah and Seder Olam Rabbah,
therefore, m a y be regarded as two independent sources attesting that
"Bethar enjoyed fifty-two years of peace" {Lament. Rabbah II, 2, 4). Small-
wood construes this passage as meaning that the disturbances that led to the ulti-
mate destruction of Bethar began fifty-two years after the fall of Jerusalem ("Pales-
tine," 503, note 10; The Jews, 425).
Hasan-Rokem emphasizes the existence of earlier fragments; later material
was apparently added to it in the course of the various transmutadons of this work:
Galit Hasan-Rokem, Web of Life: Folklore and Midrash in Rabbinic Literature
(Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2000), 8 and 205, n. 16.
^2 This name is 01i:*'t> in M S Paris 328/29, n c p in M S Oxford 2657,2 and
01^7 in Genizah Fragment O R 1080 Box 4,55 00''[p]; Genizah Fragment Oxford
2850,51-52 Genizah Fragment Leningrad Antonin 267 [t]Viy', M S Cam-
bridge 470,1 DD7; M S Kaufman Budapest A50 Woy.
Derenbourg interprets the ban against the use of Greek as meaning that the
struggle had been one against the prevailing Hellenism (Derenbourg, Essai sur
Vhistoire, 405-406), while Schlatter suggests that this ban means rather that there
had been ties between the Jews of Judaea and those of Alexandria, who were well
versed in Greek studies, and who had encouraged their brothers in the land of Israel
to assist them in the war (Schlatter, Die Tage Trajans, 91). See Elimelech E. Halevy,
"Concerning the Ban on Greek Wisdom" (Hebr.), TarbizAl (1971/2): 269-74.
JUDAEA 239
a "War o f Qitos" took place between the war o f Vespasian and that
o f Bar Kochba.
T h e question is with which war can this 01D"'p OI^VlD be iden-
tified.
Ayaso-Martinez argues that no geographical implications should
be assumed here since the Mishnah is not indifferent to what hap-
pened to the Jews outside Judaea but, on the contrary, it provides
m u c h information o n details and legal problems o f the diaspora
communities. According to this scholar, what we find here would be
simply an echo o f such tragic events as those that took place in
Libya, Egypt and Mesopotamia. In this case, the "War o f Qitos"
would not have a geographical component at all.^^
M o s t scholars, however, d o look for a geographical context.
Derenbourg, Schurer, a n d recently G o o d m a n maintain that it was
the war that took place in M e s o p o t a m i a , where Quietus had been
active against the Jews.^^ Rokeah, on the other hand, suggests that
this "Qitos" m a y be Quintus Marcius Turbo, Trajans general charged
with the repression o f the Jews in Egypt. In this case, this war would
have taken place in Egypt, a n d the ban o n the Greek language
would be a manifestation o f solidarity with the destroyed Jewish
c o m m u n i t y . T h e s e possibilities are rejected by Smallwood, w h o
observes that a R o m a n general would be known in c o m m o n provin-
cial parlance by his nomen or cognomen a n d not by his praenomen,
and, moreover, a prohibition o f Greek, possible in J u d a e a as a na-
tional gesture, would be wholly impracticable in the Diaspora.
Smallwood, in contrast, endorses the view p u t forward by Alon, ac-
cording to w h o m the fact that both in the Mishnah a n d in Seder
Olam Rabbah the wars mentioned before a n d after that o f Qitos
took place in J u d a e a would suggest that this "War o f Qitos," t o o ,
Ayaso-Mardnez, Judaea Capta, 55-56.

^5 Derenbourg, Essai sur Vhistoire, 404-408; Schurer, Geschichte, GG7', Good-
man, "Judaea," 6 7 1 .
Rokeah, "The War of Kitos," 81-84. On p. 83, n. 13, Rokeah observes that
this restriction remained in force for one generation at the most. See also
Stemberger, Die romische Herrschaft, 77-7%.
The Jews, 424, n. 143. See also David Goodblatt, "The Jevs^s of Eretz Israel in
the Years 70-132," in Judaea and Rome: the Jewish Revolts (Hebr.) (ed. U. Rappa-
port: Jerusalem: Am Oved, 1983), 375, n. 164 and Hadas-L^bel,/^rwi^^/pw contre
Rome, 158, n. 46.
probably t o o k place in Judaea,^^ a view that has achieved wide con-

sensus in contemporary scholarship.^^
Another meaningful passage is contained in the Megillat Tdanit
("the scroll o f fasting"), a work most o f which was probably origi-
nally written before the destruction o f the Second Temple, and to
which a few additions m a y have been inserted later, but not after Bar
K o c h b a s days. It lists days o n which significant victories and h a p p y
events in the history o f the Jews during the Second Temple had
taken place, as a result o f which the rabbis forbade fasting on those
dates, as well as, in s o m e cases, eulogizing the dead.^^^ O n e o f these
days, falling on the 12th o f Adar, which corresponds to sometime in
February or March, is called the "day o f T i r i o n " in the Megillah cited
in the Jerusalem Talmud,^^^ while in that k n o w n to the Babylonian
Talmud the n a m e o f the day is spelled the "day o f Turi(a)nus."
Relying on the spelling o f the Jerusalem Talmud, "Tirion", s o m e
scholars suggest to identify h i m with Siron, the Seleucid general de-
feated by the H a s m o n e a n s , or with Tineius Rufus, the R o m a n gover-
nor o f J u d a e a at the beginning o f the Bar K o c h b a revolt, w h o is often
98 The more so since, having being written in Judaea, the Mishnah would
scarcely record an event from outside it without saying so. Alon also notes that the
ordinance against the teaching of Greek occurs also in other sources referring to
other events, all of which are explicitly rooted in the land of Israel (Alon, The Jews,
vol. 2, 414). See also Groag, "Lusius Quietus," col. 1883.
See Abel, Histoire de la Palestine, 62-63; Lucette Huteau-Dubois, "Les sur-
sauts du nationalisme juif contre I'occupation romaine. De Massada k Bar Kochba,"
RE] \27 (1968): 166; Smallwood, The Jews, 424, who points out that sumptuary
laws like the one recorded in the Mishnah seem more appropriate as a restricdon
made in the actual theater of war than as a gesture of sympathy toward Jews fight-
ing elsewhere. See also Shatzman, "Armed Confrontation," 437, n. 147; Isaac and
Oppenheimer, "The Revolt of Bar-Kochba," 50, n. 70; Oppenheimer, Galilee, 3 1 -
32; William Horbury, "Pappus and Lulianus in Jewish Resistance to Rome," in
Jewish Studies at the Turn of the Twentieth Century; Proceedings of the 6th EAJS
Congress, Toledo, July 1998, vol. 1 (ed. J. Targarona Borras and A. Sdenz-Badillos:
Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1999), 2 9 1 . See also Firpo, "Lultima fase," 252.
On the problems concerning the date of composition, see Vered Noam,
Megillat Tdanit: Versions, Interpretation, History (Hebr.) (Jerusalem: Yad Ben Zvi
Press, 2003), 20-21.
Jerusalem Talmud, Megillah, I 6 70c and Taanit, II 13 66a.
Babylonian Talmud, Tdanit 18b. For the variants (Turianus, Trianus, Tirinus,
Turinus, Trinus, Tirunus, Trinus, Turinis, Turinus, Tirinis and others) appearing in
the manuscript tradition, including Geniza fragments and the Yemenite manu-
script, see Noam, Megillat Tdanit, 54, 1. 3 1 .
JUDAEA 241
called Turnus (or Tyrannus) Rufiis in rabbinic literature, while others

read in the n a m e " T i r i o n " a deformation o f the word "tiran", refer-
ring it to H e r o d or other governors. M o s t scholars, however, rely
o n the reading T u r i ( a ) n u s ' found in the Babylonian Talmud, Tdanit
18b and identify h i m with the emperor Trajan: the more so since in
the Jerusalem Talmud, where the earliest extant quotation o f the
Megillah is found, this day is connected with the story o f two broth-
ers, Lulianus and Pappus, whose death at the h a n d o f Trajan caused
the day to be abolished. T h e fact that the day was later abolished
m a y well account for why the passage mentioning the "day of
Turi(a)nus" was later cancelled from the Megillah itself, so that we d o
not find it in the best manuscripts o f the Megillah^^'^ but only in later
Medieval manuscripts which m o s t probably copied it from the Ba-
bylonian Talmud}^^ It m a y have been the confiision in the sources
over the holidays origin coupled with the references to its abolition
that contributed to its disappearance from part o f the manuscript
tradition.
T h e story o f the martyrdom o f the two brothers, killed by Trajan
at Laodicea, is recorded in connection with this day in other sources
as well, a m o n g which are Sifra, the Babylonian Talmud, Lamentations
Rabbah^^"^ and the scholion o f Megillat Tdanit.™ It seems therefore
Conceming the various interpretations, see Lipsius, "Das Buch Judith", 107-
109; WzAdiS-Uhd, Jerusalem contre Rome, 159 and Noam, Megillat Tdanit, 297, n.
18-20.
Jerusalem Talmud, Tdan., II 13, 66a. The same passage appears also in Jerusa-
lem Talmud, Meg. I 6, 70c. See Stemberger, "Rabbinic Sources," 182.
Codex De Rossi 117/4 and M S Oxford Neunauer 867/2.
On these manuscripts, see Noam, Megillat Ta-anit, 15, 319-21.
Noam, Megillat Ta-anit, 295-96, 358. See also Vered Noam, "Tvô Tesdmo-
nies to the Route of Transmission of Megillat Tdanit and the Source of the Hybrid
Version of the Scholion,'' Tarbiz 65 (1996): 389-416 and Noam, Megillat Tdanit,
323-28.
See Peter Richardson and Martiii.B. Shukster, "Barnabas, Nerva, and the
Yavnean R a b b i s , " / r 5 34 (1983): 44, n. 30. In any case, by the end of the Amoraic
period or some time afterwards, not only this day but the whole Megillat Tdanit
was abolished. See Adiel Schremer, "The Concluding Passage of Megillat Ta'anit
and the Nullification of Its Halakhic Significance during the Talmudic Period,"
Zion 65 (2000): 411-39 and Noam, Megillat Ta-anit, 355-59.
Sijra, Emor 9, 5 (here, the oldest manuscripts spell the name as Trogianos
{Vat 66: two yod] or Troginos {Vat 31], as Prof Gunter Stemberger was kind
enough to point out to me); Babylonian Talmud, Taanit 18b; Lamentations Rabbah
possible that s o m e event taking place in Trajans days, in which

Lulianus and Pappus had a role, is to be found behind these ac-
counts, while the different details in the various texts m a k e a histori-
cal reconstruction impossible.^
Since in s o m e o f these sources the account o f Lulianus' and
Pappus' death is followed by the statement that the R o m a n leader
responsible for their death, too, was later p u t to death, the possibility
has been taken into account that the n a m e o f "Turi(a)nus" m a y stay
here in place o f that o f Lusius Quietus, killed by order o f the senate
in the spring o f 118.^^^ In this case, Trajan w o u l d be singled o u t as
the enemy o f Israel, a n d the story o f the execution o f Trajan w o u l d
3, 17. On other sources mentioning the story of Lulianus and Pappus, see Noam,
Megillat Ta-anit, 117. See also Rokeah, "The War of Kitos," 82, n, 11 and Stem-
berger, Die romische Herrschaft, 76. Concerning the two rival centers of the com-
memoration of Pappus and Lulianus, at Lydda and Laodicaea, see Alon, The
Jews, 420-23, Rokeah, "The War of Kitos," 79-84; Goodman, "Judaea," 671 and
Horbury, "Pappus and Lulianus," 292-93. O n the importance of Lydda in this pe-
riod, see Aharon Oppenheimer, "Jewish Lydda in the Roman Era," HUCA 59
(1988): 115-36.
On the nature of the scholion, see Vered Noam, "The Scholion to the
Megillat Tdanit — Towards an Understanding of its Stemma," (Hebr.) Tarbiz 62
(1992): 55-99; eadem, "Two Testimonies to the Route of Transmission of Megillat
Tdanit and the Source of the Hybrid Version of the Scholion,'' (Hebr.) Tarbiz 65
(1996): 389-416. It should also be noted that in our case some details appearing in
the Babylonian Talmud are lacking in the scholion, while other details appear in the
scholion that seem to have been taken from other sources. See also Hampel,
"Megillat Tdanit", 189 and Noam, Megillat Tdanit, 297.
Richardson and Shukster point out that the circumstances bearing on this
holiday were already a matter of some dispute in Talmudic times, so it should come
as no surprise that contemporary scholarship has reached no consensus (Richardson
and Shukster, "Barnabas," 44). These scholars, for example, deny any reladon be-
tween the story of Pappus and Lulianus and possible unrest in Judaea in Trajans
days, and suggest that the "Day of Trajan" was established in honor of Trajan hop-
ing, or perhaps even expecting, that Trdan would permit the rebuilding of the
Temple. According to these scholars, thisnope was shattered when Trajan executed
two of the principals (Lulianus and Pappus) involved in organizing the reconstruc-
don. Accordingly, this holiday was abolished ("Barnabas," 46-7). Ayaso-Martfnez,
Judaea Capta, 60, too, does not see any relation between these passages and unrest
in Judaea in Trajans days.
See Derenbourg, Essai sur Vhistoire, 408-410, Schlatter, Die Tage Trajans, 88-
99; Abel, Histoire de la Palestine, 64-65; Schurer, The History, 533, n. 9 1 .
JUDAEA 243
be a reconstruction of the tradition about the execution o f Lusius

Quietus.
Horbury emphasizes the fact that entirely different elements o f the
story of Lulianus and Pappus appear in Sifra, in the Jerusalem Talmud
and in Genesis Rabbah, and that within these sources it is uniformly
held that Pappus and Lulianus were pre-Mishnaic figures. A legend
about the brothers, Horbury concludes, must have been circulating
at least by the end o f the fourth century. T h u s the compiler o f
Genesis Rabbah, probably in early fifth-century Galilee, thought they
could be placed in the days o f R. J o s h u a b. Hananiah, and in Sifra,
too, the martyr-tradition holds Trajan responsible for their death.
Again, in Ecclesiastes Rabbah, Pappus and Lulianus are put earlier
than "the slain o f Lydda," who were themselves commemorated in
the early third century. In Judaea and Galilee in the fourth and fifth
centuries, therefore, it was assumed that Pappus and Lulianus be-
longed to the second century — an acceptable view, as H o r b u r y
points out, particularly as a post-Mishnaic origin o f the legend
would make it harder to account for the widely dispersed independ-
ent references to Pappus and Lulianus found from the late third to
the early fifth century.^
Other passages in rabbinic literature mentioning a general phe-
nomenon o f "brigandage" prevailing in Galilee and "times o f trouble
and persecution" during which religious practices were interrupted,
so that, for example, the reading o f the Megillah on Purim in
Sepphoris was held at night "because o f the danger," have been dated
to Trajans days,^^^ but the evidence is not conclusive, and the possi-
See Stemberger, Die romische Herrschaft, 76-77. Concerning the characteri-

zation of Trajan versus that of Nebuchadnezzar, Stemberger emphasizes the deep
contempt toward Trajan emerging from this source. While Nebuchadnezzar is de-
picted as a worthy man who deserves that innocent blood is not spread by him,
Trajan is portrayed as a simple man, not a real king, who is in fact guilty of offenses
against God.
Stemberger points out that Sifra, the core of which is not later than the third
century, is certainly not later than the Jerusalem Talmud which frequently quotes it,
probably from a written copy: Gunter Stemberger, "Sifra — Tosefta — Yerushalmi.
Zur Redaktion und fruhen Rezeption von S i f r a , " / S / 3 0 (1999): 277-311.
Horbury "Pappus and Lulianus," 290-91.
Schlatter, Die Tage Trajans, 89-90; Alon, The Jews, 423-24; Applebaum,
and Greeks, 302; Oppenheimer, "The Jewish Community in Galilee," 182; Isaac
bility has also been pointed out that the same sources rather refer to
Bar K o c h b a s time.^^^
All in all, no precise historical event o f this "War o f Qitos" is de-
tectable in these sources, but it is striking that the same word used in
the Rabbinic sources, "war," DIttViD, shows up in connection with
Judaea in Trajans days also in a R o m a n inscription found in Sar-
dinia.
The Epitaph of Tettius Crescens
T h e epitaph, found at Cagliari, Sardinia, in 1 9 2 9 , reads as follows:

L Tettius Crescens I domo Roma I vix(it) ann(is) (vacat) / expedition
nib(us) interfui(t) I Daciae bis Armeniae I Parthiae et ludaeae I se vivo
sibifecdt)}^^
Alon was the first scholar to relate this expeditio ludaeae to the
events that took place in Judaea in 117 CE,^^^ a possibiHty rejected
by Bruun in the early 1 9 9 0 s .
Tettius Crescens, Bruun argued, was probably not a soldier. O n his
funerary monument, no special achievement in battle is mentioned,
nor membership in a military unit, as we would expect to find in the
epitaph o f a soldier. Furthermore, the appearance o f an eagle in the
center o f his funerary m o n u m e n t has no special meaning, since it is
one o f the most c o m m o n symbols in R o m a n funerary art.^-^^
Bruun is probably correct. Tettius Crescens m a y have been a civil-
ian, one o f the drivers and porters, or one o f those who carried arms
in order to police and defend the baggage train and, when the sol-
diers were not present, the camp itself Alternatively, he m a y also
have been one o f the mercatores and negotiatores who always followed
the R o m a n armies.
and Roll, "Judaea," 64-65; Goodblatt, "The Jews of Eretz Israel," 182; Oppen-
heimer, Galilee, 32, 35-37.
See Herr, "The Participation of the Galilee," 191-97 and Schafer, "Hadrians
Policy in Judaea," 287.
AE 1929, 167= Giovanna Sotgiu, "L'epigrafia ladna della Sardegna dopo il
C.LL, X e r E.E, VIII," ANRWW, 11, 1 (1988): A 57 (ph.), p. 560.
This suggestion, put forward by Alon in the 1940s {The Jews, 417-18), was
later endorsed by Smallwood, by Applebaum and by myself See Pucci, "II movi-
mento insurrezionale," 63.
Bruun, "The Spurious 'Expeditio ludaeae" 98-106.
On the various categories of persons who followed the Roman army without
JUDAEA 245
Even if Tettius Crescens was not a soldier, however, the fact re-
mains that his epitaph mentions an expeditio ludaeae. T h e term expe-
ditio, Bruun suggests, m a y have the general meaning o f "travel."^^^
B u t here it is followed by the genitive ludaeae, and, as Syme points
out, there is no r o o m for doubt when the name o f a nation or a
country is attached to the term ''expeditio'' In this case, the meaning
is always a military campaign. All the expeditiones mentioned in
the epitaph o f Tettius Crescens, therefore, were military campaigns.
T h e question is with which campaign m a y this expeditio ludaeae
be identified. Ayaso-Martinez suggests that it refers to the Great War
o f the Jews against the Romans,^-^^ but it is unlikely that Tettius
Crescens, if he was old enough to take part in the Great War o f 6 6 -
7 0 , was still fit to participate in the Parthian war of 1 1 4 - 1 1 7 .
Chronological distance makes it also difficult to assume, with Rosen-
berger and Bruun, that, given a military meaning, the phrase may
refer to the famous war fought against the Jews by the emperor
H a d r i a n . T h e s e possibilities cannot be completely ruled out in
view o f the fact that old men did — sometimes — participate in
military expeditions. Lusius Quietus, for example, the N o r t h African
chieftain active against the Jews in Mesopotamia, had fought in
D o m i t i a n s days, participated in Trajans Dacian wars and was still
active in the Parthian expedition. Cases o f this kind, however,
were not c o m m o n , and, moreover, in this inscription the sequence of
wars is strictly chronological: expeditionib(us) interfui(t) I Daciae bis
Armeniae I Parthiae et ludaeae. T h e first expeditiones mentioned are
the well-known Dacian wars, fought in 101 and 102, and then we
find the Armenian and the Parthian wars, in 114-117. These expedi-
tions were all carried out in Trajans day, and this, as Eck pointed out
to me,^^'^ would suggest that the last, too, took place in the same
being part of the fighting forces, see Miriam Pucci Ben Zeev, "L. Tettius Crescens'
Expeditio ludaeae,"ZPE 133 (2000): 256.
See Bruun, "The Spurious 'Expeditio ludaeae'," 105.
Ronald Syme, "Journeys of Hadrian," ZPE7?> (1988): 166, repr. in Roman
Papers, vol. 6 (ed. A.R. Biriey: Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991), 353-54.
Ayaso-Martinez, Judaea Capta, 62.
Veit Rosenberger, Bella et expeditiones: Die antike Terminologie der Kriege
Roms (Stuttgart: F. Steiner, 1992), 97, n. 35. See also Timothy D. Barnes, "Emper-
ors on the Move,"//M 2 (1989): 254.
126 See above, pp. 191, 2 2 1 .
127 I would like to thank Prof Werner Eck for his precious insights v^^hile read-
years. Moreover, if the list also comprised Hadrians wars, there

would be a "missing campaign" here, namely, Hadrians first war, the
expeditio Britannica, which was fought in 1 2 2 , between Trajans
Parthian war (114-117) a n d H a d r i a n s war against Bar Kochba ( 1 3 2 -
135).
T h e most plausible conclusion seems to be that the expeditio
ludaeae mentioned in Tettius Crescens' epitaph, like those that pre-
cede it, belongs to Trajan's days.
N o r is this to be seen as a unique case. Other examples may be
found where the Roman repression o f the Jewish uprisings in Trajan's
days was called an expeditio. O n e o f these examples comes from
Berytus, where an inscription mentions a Roman soldier, Caius
Valerius Rufus, tribunus militum o f a vexillatio o f the legio VII Claudia
Pia Fidelis, ''misso cum vexillo...in expeditionem''XQ Cyprus against the
Jews at some time after 2 0 or 21 February 116 CE.^^^
In the time o f Trajan, the military campaigns are increasingly re-
ferred to as expeditiones in the epigraphical sources. Alfoldi identifies
the reason for this development as the growing necessity o f stressing
R o m a n political superiority in foreign affairs. T h e rulers found it
necessary to emphasize that the military events were not dictated by
Rome's enemies, but were the result o f their own planning a n d fore-
sight.129
O f course, it is difficult to know which kind o f campaign is meant
here. O n the one hand, the term expeditio is vague enough to desig-
nate any type o f military enterprise, but on the other hand the
epigraphical material dating from Trajan's days attests that at the
ing this inscription with me during his visit to Ben Gurion University in Beersheva
in 1999.
AE 1912, 179 = ILS 9491. See Rosenberger, Bella et expeditiones, 95.
The conquest of Britain, for example, is called bellum Britannicum in the
time of Claudius, but both bellum and expeditio are used for the wars under Domi-
tian and Trajan, while the term expeditio is used predominantly for wars in Marcus
Aurelius' time and later. See Geza Alfoldi, Romische Heeresgeschichte: Beitrdge (Am-
sterdam: J . C . Gieben, 1987), 479.
Prof Gunter Stemberger has pointed out to me that "after the Jewish upris-
ings in the diaspora and still remembering the great Jewish revolt, the Roman ad-
ministration might have had every reason to fear another revolt in Palestine and to
reinforce their military presence there. Any act of opposition, even on the part of a
few individuals, might have led to military reprisals and could thus justify the ran-
dom rabbinic references."
JUDAEA 247
time the terms expeditio a n d bellum were interchangeable/^^ which

would suggest more serious implications.
Oriental Sources
A military clash taking place in J u d a e a in Trajans time is also at-

tested, albeit in a confused fashion, by a n u m b e r o f late Oriental
sources written between the fifth and the thirteenth centuries.
T h e first, if he really belongs to the fifth century, is the A r m e -
nian M o s e s Khorenats'i, who states that, after pacifying all the east,
Trajan "descended on the Egyptians and Palestinians. H a v i n g sub-
jected them to his authority, he marched to the east against Persia."^^^
Legend and history are woven together in this work, but passages
can be isolated that seem to be based on reliable ancient sources,^^"^
possibly from Edessa, which m a y have included material from the
local archives^^^ and chronicles o f Antiochene origin.
A military action in J u d a e a in Trajans days is reported also by
Eutychios, patriarch o f Alexandria in the first half o f the tenth cen-
tury, w h o writes that in Trajans days the Jews had a " k i n g , " that
The first Dacian war is called bellum and the second one expeditio in ILS
308, while the Parthian war is named expeditio Parthica in ILS 2723, 2726 and
2727. See Rosenberger, Bella et expeditiones, 92-93, 95.
Against ToumanofF and Thomson, who claim a later date in view of possible
anachronisms, Traina follows a more traditional view suggesting that some of these
anachronisms are apparent, while others may be attributed to later elaborations of
the text. See Boghos L. Zekiyan, "Ellenismo, ebraismo e cristianesimo in Mose di
Corene," Augustinianum 28 (1988): 383; Giusto Traina, "Materiali per un com-
mento a Movses Xorenac'i, Patmut'iwn Hayoc', I*," Le Museon 108 (1995): 284
and Robert W. Thomson, A Bibliography of Classical Armenian Literature to 1500
AD (Turnhout: Brepols, 1995), 155-68.
Patmutmn Hayoc'l, 54-55. See above, pp. 90-91.
See Giusto Traina, "Mose di Khoren 2, 18, Mitridate di Pergamo e gli
ebrei," in Pensiero e istituzioni del mondo classico nelle culture del Vicino Oriente (ed.
R.B. Finazzi and A. Valvo: Alessandria: Edizioni dell'Orso, 2001), 297-303.
Numerous references appear in this work to documents from archives, writ-
ten in Greek or Aramaic, that are important for the reconstrucdon of the more an-
cient history of the Armenians. See Traina, "Materiali," 292. M X himself states that
he visited the archives of Edessa around 430. On the archives from Edessa see
Traina, "Materiali," 294, n. 72.
These sources may include Domninos, as the similarity with Malalas would
suggest: Giusto Traina, // complesso di Trimalcione. Movses Xorenac'i e le origini del
pensiero storico armeno (Venezia: Dipartimento di Studi eurasiadci, 1991), 79.
Trajan sent a general with great military forces to Jerusalem and that
on that occasion an enormous number o f Jews were killed.
Eutychios s work, too, as that of Moses Khorenats'i, is a historical-
legendary compilation often relying on local traditions o f a legendary
nature, unfortunately impossible to individuate.^^^ Since we know
that changes were m a d e later to the text o f Eutychios at Antioch by
the local Melkite community, it is also possible that the passage con-
cerning a Jewish king and a war fought at Jerusalem was a later addi-
tion m a d e at Antioch relying on earlier local chronicles.
A similar tradition is reported two centuries later by Michael
Syrus, Jacobite patriarch o f Antioch, according to w h o m the rebelling
Jews, under the leadership o f a king named Lomphasos, arrived in
Judaea and here thousands o f them were killed by Lysias, who was
sent against them by Trajan. Michael goes on to add that "for this rea-
son Lysias was made governor of J u d a e a , " c o n f t i s i n g the events of
Mesopotamia with those of Judaea. Conftisions and distortions, how-
ever, do not rule out the possibility that underlying these fantastic re-
ports local Oriental sources are to be found, possibly originating at
Antioch, which mentioned a clash between the Jews and the Romans
in Judaea. T h e way between these original sources and Michael's work
may have been long, passing, as Michael himself states, through the
chronicle composed by an anonymous m o n k in the monastery of
Zuqnin, in northern Mesopotamia, in the late eighth century, a work
later mistakenly believed to be the work o f Dionysius o f Tell Mahre,
Jacobite patriarch o f Antioch in the ninth century. T h e sources of this
Chronicle probably included Eusebian materials through an interme-
diate source,^^^ to which information taken from later sources was
added.1^1
Annates 9, 15. See above, p. 93.

The Parthian wâr, for example, is described as follows: "Now it happened
that at Babylon a rebel rose against this king Trajan. King Trajan marched against
him and there was a violent fight between the two. Many men fell on both sides
and in that war also king Trajan was killed." See Michel Breydy, "Etudes sur Said
Ibn Batriq et ses sources," CSCO vol. 450, Subsidia, tomus 69 (Lovanii: E. Peeters,
1983), 12 and Bartolomeo Pirone, Eutichius, Patriarch of Alexandria, 877-940: Gli
Annali (Studia Christiana Monographiae 1: Cairo: Franciscan Centre of Christian
Oriental Studies, 1987), 6-10.
Chronique de Michel le Syrien, patriarche Jacobite dAntioche (1166-1199) 4,
105. See above, p. 94,
This intermediate source may have been the Ecclesiastical History of John of
Ephesus. It was apparently a common practice to access the more ancient material
JUDAEA 249
O n e century later, M i c h a e l s statements are reported by another

Syrian author, Gregorius Abul-Farajus, a bishop w h o , because o f his
Jewish origins, was known as Bar H e b r a e u s . I n his work, too, the
" k i n g " o f the Jewish rebels in Egypt m a d e his way with an army to
J u d a e a , where he was defeated and killed by the R o m a n s under a
general called "Lysias."^^^ As he himself admits. Bar Hebraeus closely
followed the Chronicle o f Michael I the Syrian, which is not sur-
prising since Byzantine chronicles are often interdependent, fre-
quently to the extent o f outright plagiarism.
Against the background o f these conftised accounts stands a more
factual piece o f the epigraphic evidence, which attests that at the end
o f Trajans days or shortly afterwards the status o f provincia ludaea
was changed.
through intermediate sources. See Alon, The Jews, 416; Rivkah Fishman-Duker,
"The Second Temple Period in Byzandne Chronicles," Byzantion A7 (1977): 138;
Sidney W. Griffith, "Michael I the Syrian," in: The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium,
vol. 2 (1991), 1362-63. O n the ways in which Eusebius' work entered the Syriac
historiographic tradition, see Witakowski, The Syriac Chronicle of Pseudo-Dionysius
ofTell-Mahre, 78.
These sources have been identified with works by Annianus, Andronicus,
Jacob of Edessa, John of Litarba (eighth century), Ignadus of Melitene (d. 1094),
John of Kaishum (d. 1171) and Dionysius bar Salibi (d. 1171), the last four of
which are lost. See Witakowski, The Syriac Chronicle, 85. See also Sebastian Brock,
"Jewish Tradidon in Syriac Sources," ^ 5 30 (1979): 225, 3 2 1 . These authors may
have included in their works the local current annals kept at the court of the
Abgarids of Edessa, which recorded the more important events of the life of the city
and are mentioned by Eusebius in his Church History {HE I, 13, 5). The documents
of these archives seem also to have been the sources for the Chronicle of Edessa, an
anonymous compilation from the mid-sixth century. See Witakowski, The Syriac
Chronicle, 77-7%, 85. O n the sources used by this Chronicle, see also Sebastian
Brock, Studies in Syriac Christianity: History Literature and Theology (Collected
Studies Series C S 357: Hampshire and Brookfield: Variorum, 1992), 10-11.
In 1264, Gregorius Bar Hebraeus became the bishop of Tagrit, and thus the
maphrian or primate of the Monophysite community in the former Persian territo-
ries. He wrote major works in theology, philosophy, mysticism, law and Syriac
grammar. See Sidney H. Griffith, "Gregory Abu'l Faraj," in The Oxford Dictionary
of Byzantium, vol. 2 (1991), 878-79.
The Chronography of Gregory Abu I Faraj, 1225-1286, the Son of Aaron, the
Hebrew Physician Commonly Known as Bar Hebraeus, vol. 1, 52. See above, pp. 95-
96.
1 ^ In spite of the fact that Bar Hebraeus skillflilly adopted the works of others,
cases have also been detected in which he not only does not accept Michael's con-
clusions, but shows that he had made mistakes. See Budge, The Chronography of
Gregory Abu'l Faraj, X D / I .
145 See Fishman-Duker, "The Second Temple Period," 137.
Judaeds Change of Status
In the early 80's, the epigraphical material concerning the position o f

the R o m a n legions in the East led scholars to conclude that the sta-
tus o f provincia Judaea changed from praetorian to consular, with the
addition o f one more legion, before and not after the Bar K o c h b a
war,^"^^ a view confirmed by the fact that a fragment o f the Fasti
Ostienses attests that Q. Tineius Rufiis, w h o was governor o f Judaea
at the outbreak o f the Bar K o c h b a war, had been a consul suffectus in
127.^^^ W h e n he arrived in Judaea in 1 3 0 / 1 , therefore, he was a gov-
ernor o f consular rank, which means that by the time o f his arrival
Judaea had already attained the status o f provincia consularis.
In this case, a second legion must have been sent to Judaea before
the Bar K o c h b a war.
T h e problem remained o f identifying this second legion. In the
1 9 6 0 s , scholars identified it with the legio VIFerrata, relying on in-
scriptions found on the Caesarea aqueduct and the Caparcotna road
that attested to the presence o f this legion in Judaea in 130 CE.^^^
But the second legion o f Judaea was not the VI Ferrata, as Keppie
was the first to see and Bowersock confirmed a few years later: the
second legion o f Judaea could not have been the legio VI Ferrata,
since this legion was transferred from Syria to Arabia in 106 C E ,
where evidence exists o f its presence as late as 125 CE.^^^
A view was also put forward, which was later rejected, that the status of
provincia ludaea changed already at the beginning of Trajans reign, before 108 C E .
See Werner Eck, "Zum konsularen Status von ludaea im fruhen 2. Jh.," BASF 21
(1984): 60 (followed by Barnes, "Trajan and the Jews," 160), and Kad Strobel, "Zu
Fragen der fruhen Geschichte der romischen Provinz Arabia und zu einigen Pro-
blemen der Legionsdislokadon im Osten des Imperium Romanum zu Beginn des
2.Jh.n.Chr.,"ZP£'71 (1988): 270-71.
Inscriptiones Italiae 13, 1, 205.
Baruch Lifshitz, "Sur la date du transfert de la legio VI Ferrata en Palesdne,"
Latomus 19 (1960): 109-111. During the Parthian war, the legio X Fretensis had
been sent to the Parthian front, as attested by ILS 2727. See above, n. 53. Pflaum
suggests that the legion might have been transferred to Judaea in 123: Hans G.
Pflaum, "Remarques sur le changement de statut administratif de la province de
Judê: ^ propos d'une inscription recemment d^couverte k Sid^ de Pamphylie," lEJ
19 (1969): 232-33, repr. in Hans G. Pflaum, Gaule et I'empire romain: scripta varia,
vol. 2 (Paris: L'Harmattan, 1981), 207-208.
Glen W. Bowersock, "Old and New in the History of Judaea," ]RS 65
(1975): 184.
JUDAEA 251
Keppie and Bowersock were correct. In the summer o f 1 9 7 8 , a

milestone was discovered 13 k m southeast o f the colonia Claudia
Ptolemais (Acre), on the road that led from Acre, in the province o f
Syria, to Sepphoris (Diocaesarea) in Galilee, in the province o f Judaea,
approximately at the frontier between the two provinces, that attests
to the presence in loco o f the legio II Traiana in 120 CE.^^^ T h i s ,
therefore, m u s t have been the "legion brought to Judaea by Traianus
Quintus" alluded to in the fragment o f Hippolytus mentioned
above.151
T h e legion was stationed at Caparcotna, a site c o m m a n d i n g the
Jezreel Valley. It is remarkable that already seventy years earlier M c -
Elderry had suggested that the c a m p o f the second legion o f Judaea
was at Caparcotna: "Where then was the camp? Caparcotni or Capar-
cotia (Kefr-Kut) in Palestine suits the requirements very closely. . . . I t
was symmetrically placed with regard to the other legionary depot at
Jerusalem, so as to control the northern half o f the province. It was
o n the southern border o f rebellious Galilee. To the south it c o m -
m a n d e d the easiest access to friendly Samaria as well as to Judaea, the
way o f m a n y invaders in former days. T o the westward, again,
Caparcotia c o m m a n d e d the broad valley through which ran in an-
cient as in modern times the great highway leading from Caesaria
and the plain o f Sharon. It lay on the lower slopes o f a hill which
rises sharply to a height o f over 1500 feet — a c o m m a n d i n g height
for many miles round — close to the point where the valley opens
into the great plain o f Esdraelon. T h a t plain was the classic battle-
ground o f Palestine from the earliest t i m e s . . . . It may be inferred that
the whole plain was the *territorium legionis' reserved for the support
o f the troops. ...Caparcotia, though as yet it has no R o m a n remains
to show, was a central and c o m m a n d i n g position, and m a y well have
been the earlier head-quarters." ^"^^
AE 1978, 628. Another contemporary milestone was also found near Legio
(Caparcotna), on the road Legio-Diocaesarea that continued the road from Diocae-
sarea to Ptolemais {AE 1962, 268 = AE 1978, 629), which, however, does not men-
tion the name of the legion. See Isaac and Roll, "Judaea," 54-66; Benjamin Isaac
and Isaac Roll, ''Legio II Traiana in Judaea," ZPE 55 (1979): 149-56; John R. Rea,
"The Legio II Traiana in Judaea?" ZPE 5^ (1980): 220-21; Benjamin Isaac and Is-
rael Roll, 'Legio II Traiana in Judaea — a Reply" ZPE Al (1982): 131-32.
See above pp. 231-32.
152 R. Knox Mc-Elderry, "The Second Legionary Camp in Palestine," CQ_ 2
(1908): 111-12.
Military geographers have always held that through this plain and
across the Jordan was the natural access from the Mediterranean coast
to Damascus, from Damascus to the Euphrates and thence to India.
Isaac points out that the upheavals in Judaea during Trajan's Parthian
campaign would have convinced the Romans of the necessity o f safe-
guarding this route. Important in this connection is the evidence o f
the only other road known to have been constructed in this region
before 120, a road from Gerasa via Adra'a to Bostra. This road pro-
vided the legion in Bostra with direct access to the Decapolis. T h e
highway through the Valley of Jezreel linking the coastal plain with
the Decapolis was constructed in 6 9 by M . Ulpius Traianus the Elder,
while milestones o f Trajan and Hadrian record repair of the road.
From this it appears that immediately after the installation of a le-
gionary c o m m a n d in the Jezreel Valley, direct communication was
provided with the legion in Bostra. Moreover, the Jezreel Valley af-
fords a passage across Judaea from Ptolemais (Acre), from the coastal
plain, the Samarian hills, the River Jordan and Galilee. M o r observes
that the Galilee was the main region that was affected by the insuffi-
ciency of troops in the Judaean garrison, and it is striking that al-
ready more than one hundred years ago Graetz had suggested that the
plain o f Jezreel had to be one of the places in which the "War o f
Qitos" took place. It may therefore be no accident that the new le-
gion was stationed at Caparcotna, where it was in a position to check
any attempt at coordination between the Jews o f Galilee and those o f
J u d a e a ^ a n d also to secure the "lebenswichtige Verbindung zwischen
Agypten und Syrien. "^^^
Mor, "The Roman Army in Eretz Israel," 579. The need for a reinforcement
of the Roman military forces was certainly felt after the forces of the XFretensis had
been diminished and one vexillatio of this legion had been sent to the Parthian
front {ILS 2727 2indAE\955, 167). See Shatzman, "Armed Confrontation," 437,
n. 146 and Isaac and Roll, "Judaea," 55, n. 9.
Graetz, Geschichte, vol. 4,114= The History, vol. 2, 395.
Isaac, The Near East under Roman Rule, 190. On Caparcotna, see Isaac, The
Limits of Empire, 432; Shatzman, "Armed Confrontation," 325 and Isaac and
Oppenheimer, "The Revolt of Bar-Kochba," 51 on the pavement of a network of
roads that included: Legio (Kefar Otnay)-Sepphoris, Legio (Kefar Otnay)-
Neapolis, Ptolemais (Acre)-Sepphoris, Skitopolis-Jericho, Jerusalem-Beit Guvrin,
Jerusalem-Hebron. On the Legio-Scythopolis road, see Benjamin Isaac and Israel
Roll, Roman Roads in Judaea, vol. 1: The Legio-Scythopolis Road (BAR International
Series 141: Oxford, 1982) and Isaac and Roll, "Judaea," 59, n. 35 on the inscrip-
tions which mention the repair of the Caesarea high-level aqueduct by the military
units of the legions / / Traiana, VI Ferrata and XFretensis.
JUDAEA 253
A s for the time when the legio II Traiana was transferred to

J u d a e a , the terminus ante q u e m is the year 120 C E , when the road-
works carried out by the legio II Traiana were completed, but there
are g o o d reasons to think that the legion was stationed in loco at least
two years before, since a soldier belonging to it is known to have
died and have been buried at Sidon in 118.^^^
T h e legion, therefore, m a y well have arrived in J u d a e a with Qui-
etus, as Mc-Elderry suggested a possibility maintained later also
by Avi-Yonah,i6o Keppic^î Isaac and Roll^^^ B i d e / ^ ^ a n d Daris.^^^
As for the m e a n i n g that has to be attached to the change o f the
status o f the province, Schafer maintains that this action was not di-
rected towards the repression o f the Jewish population, but towards
the establishment o f peace a n d o f secure borders in the east o f the
E m p i r e . C h a n g e s o f this kind, however, are often attested follow-
ing episodes o f armed resistance. In the first century C E , J u d a e a was
Schafer, "Hadrians Policy in Judaea," 283, following Martin Hengel, "Ha-

drians Politik gegenuber Juden und Chnsttn" JANES 16-17 (1984-5): 159, n. 33.
See above, n. 150, p. 2 5 1 .
CIL III, 1, 151. This soldier. Gains lulius Fabianus, was recruited in 96 and
served for 23 years. The date of his death, therefore, was 118. See Emil Ritterling,
"Zur Geschichte der leg. II Traiana unter Traian," RhM 58 (1903): 477.
Mc-Elderry observes that "it is clear that there were two legions as early as
117 A D , when the uprising was suppressed by Lusius Quietus": Elderry, "The Sec-
ond Legionary Camp in Palestine," 111.
160 Yonah, "When Did Judaea Become a Consular Province?" 213. In 127,
the legio II Traiana fortisw2iS sent to Egypt: see CIL III, 42, dated 19 April 127 and
David L. Kennedy, ''Legio VI Ferrata: the Annexation and Early Garrison of Ara-
bia," HSCP 84 (1980): 304; Sergio Daris, "Legio II Traiana Fortis" in Les Ugions de
Rome, 359 and Cotton, "Legio VI Ferrata" in Les legions de Rome, 354, n. 30. Per-
haps it left Judaea as early as 123, when it was apparently acdve in an incident with
the Parthians; see Geza Alfoldy, Fasti Hispanienses: Senatorische Reichsbeamte und
Offiziere in den spanischen Provinzen des romischen Reiches von Augustus bis Diokle-
tian (Wiesbaden: E Steiner, 1969), 79-81.
Lawrence J.R Keppie, "The Legionary Garrison of Judaea under Hadrian,"
Latomus 32 (1973): 864
"Judaea," 59, n. 28.
Biriey notes that Lusius Quietus was installed as governor of Judaea presum-
ably with an extra legion, given his consular rank (Biriey, Hadrian, 75). Kennedy,
on the other hand, argues that the second legion arrived only after Hadrian became
emperor: "In the context of the Jewish revolts and the subsequent insecurity and
rebuilding the desirability of placing an extra legion in Judaea is understandable"
(Kennedy "Legio VIFerrata" 307.
164 Daris, Legio II Traiana Fortis, 359.
165 Schafer, "Hadrians Policy in Judaea," 295-96.
under the control o f native troops w h o formed the garrison of

Caesarea, but after the Great War o f 6 6 - 7 0 one legion, the legio X
Fretensis, which had actively participated in the fighting, was sta-
tioned at Jerusalem, and the governor was no longer a procurator o f
the equestrian order but a legate o f senatorial rank.^^^ T h e first out-
c o m e o f uprisings was always the strengthening o f the military forces
in loco. That is why Bowersock suggests that the accumulated
i n f o r m a t i o n . . . " m a k e s it not only reasonable but also necessary to as-
s u m e that the transformation o f J u d a e a belonged to the context o f
the so-called Polemos o f Quietus."^^^ G o o d b l a t t , too, observes that
the forces in J u d a e a were reinforced "not in relation to the new set-
tlement o f the R o m a n military forces after the retirement from
Mesopotamia, but in response to actual or potential unrest in
Judaea."i6^
Michael P. Speidel, "The Roman Army in Judaea Under the Procurators:

The Italian and the Augustan Cohort in the Acts of the Aposdes," in Roman Army
Studies, vol. 2. (ed. M.R Speidel: Mavors Roman Army Researches 8: Stuttgart: F.
Steiner, 1992), 224-32.
See Schurer, The History, 367, 514; Benjamin Isaac, "The Roman Army in
Jerusalem and its Vicinity," in Studien zu den Militdrgrenzen Roms, vol. Ill (13
Internationaler Limeskongress, Aalen 1983; ed. C. Unz et al. Forschungen und
Berichte zur Vor- und Friihgeschichte in Baden-Wurttemberg 020: Stuttgart:
Kommissionsverlag K. Theiss, 1986), 635-640; Lawrence Keppie, "Legions in the
East from Augustus to Trajan," in The Defence of the Roman and Byzantine East, vol.
2 (Proceedings of a Colloquium Held at the University of Sheffield in April 1986,
ed. P. Freeman and D. Kennedy: British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara Mono-
graph 9: BAR International Series 297 (II), 1986), 421 repr. in idem. Legions and
Veterans: Roman Army Papers, 1971-2000 (Mavors Roman Army Researches 12:
ed. M.R Speidel: Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Vedag, 2000), 194. The legio X Fretensis
remained in Judaea till 114 C E . See Edward Dabrowa, "Legio X Fretensis," in
Les Ugions de Rome sous le Haut-Empire, vol. 1 (Actes du Congres de Lyon [17-19
septembre 1998]: ed. Y. Le Bohec: Collection du Centre d' fitudes Romaines et
Gallo-Romaines Nouvelle serie 20: Lyon: Diffusion D e Boccard, 2000), 319-20.
"One of the mysteries of that Trajanic revolt...is the apparent absence of
major tumult in Palestine itself It now appears certain that by raising the status and
doubling the garrison of the Jewish province the Romans were able to block the
kind of violence that swept across the diaspora": Glen W. Bowersock, "A Roman
Perspective on the Bar Kockba War," in Approaches to Ancient Judaism, vol. 2 (ed.
W S . Green: Brown Judaic Studies 9: Chico, Calif: Scholars Press, 1980), 133.
Dabrowa observes that the presence of the legio II Traiana in Judaea became indis-
pensable for keeping law and order "that was disturbed by great unrest amongst the
Jewish inhabitants of the province": Edward Dabrowa, Legio XFretensis: a Prosopo-
graphical Study of its Officers (I-III C A.D.) (Stuttgart: R Steiner, 1993), 16.
Goodblatt, "The Jews of Eretz Israel," 182.
JUDAEA 255
T h e change o f the status o f Judaea appears to have been long-

term. Against the view that after Quietus' departure the country re-
turned to its praetorian rank^^^ stands the fact that the governors
sent to Judaea after Quietus were also o f consular rank.
T h e first governor after Quietus may have been Lucius Cossonius
Lucii filius Gallus Vecilius Crispinus Mansuanius Marcellinus N u m i -
sius Sabinus, who had been consul suffect in 116 and is mentioned
in an inscription from Caesarea Maritima published by H a n n a C o t -
ton and Werner Eck.^^^ Lucius Cossonius was sent to Judaea after his
consulate in 116 and before 120.^^^ After him, another governor at-
tested in Judaea between 119 and 130, and probably between 122
and 1 2 5 , is M . Paccius Silvanus Quintus Coredius Gallus Gargilius
Antiquus, probably to be identified with the Q. Gargilius Antiquus
consul suffectus in 119 together with Q. Vibius Gallus.
His presence in ancient D o r is attested in an inscription found by
the East G a t e o f the city and published by D o v C e r a and H a n n a h
C o t t o n : "(In honour of) Marcius Paccius, / son o f Publius, / o f the
Tribe Quirina, Silvanus Quintus / Coredius Gallus Gargilius / Anti-
quus, legatus Augusti / propraetore (i.e. governor) o f / the Prov-
i n c e " . T h e name o f the province is lacking. T h e editors suggest it
was Syria, assuming that at the time Dor, together with other coastal
cities, belonged to the province Syria and had ever since its annexa-
tion by Pompey the Great. ^'^^ S o m e years later, however, following
Kennedy observes that "there may, howêver, have been a period soon after
when the province of Judaea again became a one-legion province" (Kennedy, "Legio
VI Ferrata," 307), and Schafer, too, points out that "it is generally accepted that the
dispatching of Lusius Quietus to Judaea in the rank of consul in 117 does not nec-
essarily entail Judaea's status as having been that of a consular province, but was
rather the result of the particular situation following the suppression of the revolt in
the Diaspora" (Schafer, "Hadrians Policy," 282-83).
[L(ucio Cossjonio L(ucii) f(ilio) S[tel(latina) Gallo] / [Veciljio Crispino Main-
suanio] I [Marc]ellino Numi[sio Sabino] I [co(n)s(uli), VI]I vir(o) epul(onum) [leg(ato)
Imp(eratons) Hadri-] / [ani Aug(usti) p]r(o) pr(aetore) [p]rovin[ciae ludaeae] (Cotton
and Eck, "Governors," 219 and 223.
Cotton and Eck, "Governors and their Personnel," 222.
Numini sacrum I Siluano sancto I salutari conseruator(i) I restituto I Ti(berius)
Cl(audius) Priscus s(ua) p(ecunia) d(ono) d(edit)y / collegia item imaginem I Impera-
toris Caesaris / Hadriani Augusti I argenteam p(ondo) (unum) cum basi aerea (sic) / de
suo d(ono) d(edit)y actum VII k(alendas) lunias, I Qfuinto) Gargilio Antiquo, Q(uinto)
Vibio Gallo co(n)s(ulibus) {AE 1979, 62, dated 27 May 119 CE).
Dov Gera and Hannah M. Cotton, "A Dedication from Dor to a Governor
of S y r i a , " 4 1 (1991): 260.
175 Gera and Cotton, "A Dedication," 2 6 1 .
the research of Bowersock, M a c A d a m and Isaac, Dabrowa points out

that in the second century D o r rather belonged to Judaea. In this
case, if the consular governor attested at D o r was the governor o f
Judaea, this means that the governors sent to Judaea after Lusius
Quietus were, all o f them, o f consular rank.
Provincia ludaea, therefore, did retain its consular status after Qui-
etus' departure.
Conclusions
N o doubt, the sources dealing with the events o f Judaea in 117 C E

raise serious problems o f interpretation. Lack o f coinage at Sepphoris
at the beginning o f Hadrian's reign may be accidental; the coin is-
sued at Tiberias in 1 1 9 / 1 2 0 refers to a victory impossible to identify;
the destruction o f a building at Jaffa in Trajan's time cannot be dated
exactly; the testimony o f the SHA on the "rebellious frame of m i n d "
o f Judaean Jews is vague; the accounts o f the rabbinic literature d o
not allow the reconstruction o f any precise historical event; those o f
the Syriac sources are conftised and distorted; the expeditio ludaeae
mentioned in the epitaph o f Tettius Crescens m a y refer to a minor
episode.
O n e by one, these sources may be dismissed. There is, however,
the cumulative force o f inscriptions and literary sources o f pagan.
Christian and Jewish origin, spanning from the second to the twelfth
century C E , which, independently one from another, point all in the
same direction, to the existence o f some sort o f clash between the
Jews and the R o m a n authority taking place in Lusius Quietus'
days.i^^
Against this background, the change o f the status o f Judaea is cer-
tainly meaningful.
See Edward Dabrowa, " M . Paccius Silvanus Quintus Coredius Gallus Gar-
gilius Antiquus et son cursus honorum" in: Nunc de suebis dicendum est: studia
archaeologica et historica Georgii Kolendo ab amicis et discipulis dicata (ed. A. Bursche
et aL: Warszawa, 1995), 100. I wish to thank Prof. Hannah Cotton for having
brought this article to my attention and having made it available to me.
The story of Lulianus and Pappus, therefore, would not be a "legend com-
posed in modern times" as Lipsius suggests ("Das Buch Judith," 105) nor "the only
proof" of what transpired in Judaea in 117 as maintained by Schurer, Geschichte,
668.
JUDAEA 257
It m a y have been unrest taking place in J u d a e a that p r o m p t e d

Trajans decision to send there Lusius Quietus, but it cannot be ruled
out that disorders m a y instead have followed Quietus' arrival in
J u d a e a and the measures taken by h i m in loco.
In any case, one m a y well assume that D i o and Eusebius d o not
mention the events o f J u d a e a simply because they did not reach pro-
portions similar to those reached by the uprisings in the other coun-
tries. As Alon observes, had the Jewish uprising taken on anything
like the proportions o f the war in the Diaspora, this 'War o f Qitos'
could not have b e c o m e so blurred in the popular memory, nor
w o u l d it have been possible for the people to rise again a bare fifteen
years later in the Bar K o c h b a revolt.
See Samuel Krauss, "La fete de Hanoucca," REJ 50 (1895): 24-43, 204-19,
but see also Israel Levi, "Hanoucca et X^jusprimae metis" REJ30 (1895): 220-31.
Schlatter maintains that Quietus' behavior in Judaea afflicted the Jev^s more than
the events that took place in 70 (Die Tage Trajans, 89-90), v^hile Derenbourg points
out that it wâs the harsh measures adopted by Quietus in Judaea that led to the
appellation "polemos Qitos" for all the wars of the Jews in Trajans days
(Derenbourg, Essai sur Vhistoire, 404-405). See also Abel, Histoire de la Palestine, 64,
Smallwood, "Palestine," 507 and Firpo, who points out that it was probably the
dedication of the legio III Cyrenaica and the erection of the statue mentioned by
Hippolytus that caused the reaction of the Jews: Firpo, "L'ultima fase," 249. Waters
observes: "Smallwood discusses the question whether there was a revolt in
Judaea...the balance inclines to the view that Trajan found some repressive activity
necessary": Kenneth H. Waters, "The Reign of Trajan and its Place in Contempo-
rary Scholarship," ANRWW 2 (1975): 426.
The Jews, 426-27.
CHAPTER TEN
T H E ORDER, POSSIBLE INTERRELATIONS A N D

ACHIEVEMENTS OF T H E UPRISINGS
T H E O R D E R OF T H E UPRISINGS
For the reconstruction o f the order in which the Jewish uprisings

broke out in the different places, contemporary research focuses on
the literary sources, which are the only ones that deal with all the
uprisings, mentioning them one after the other in a sequence.
T h e interpretation o f these sources, however, is quite problematic.
In the abridgment o f D i o s work m a d e by Xiphilinus, the events o f
Libya are mentioned first, then those transpiring in Egypt and in
Cyprus. At the end, there is a brief notice on Lusius Quietus' mili-
tary action against the Jews, which leaves unspecified the place where
it took place.
As for Eusebius, the testimony o f the Chronicon differs substan-
tially from that o f the HE} T h e Chronicon, both in the translation o f
Hieronymus and in the Armenian version, gives the following order:
Libya, Egypt, Alexandria, Cyrene, Thebes. T h e n the revolt in M e s o -
potamia is mentioned, and last that in Cyprus. T h e HE, on the other
hand, presents the revolts in the following order: at Alexandria, in
the rest o f Egypt and in Cyrene. T h e revolt in Cyprus is not men-
tioned at all, and last comes the description o f Lusius Quietus' mili-
tary action against the Mesopotamian Jews.
Since both D / X and Eusebius' Chronicon mention first o f all the
uprising in Libya, and last Lusius Quietus' military action against the
Jews, this has become the order followed in virtually all the modern
works — so much so that no footnote is needed on this point. T h e
revolt would have started in Libya, and then spread into Egypt and
Cyprus. T h e events in M e s o p o t a m i a would come afterwards, since
this is the expUcit testimony o f Eusebius in both his works and,
1 For other instances in which the Chronicon differs from the HE, see above,
pp. 157-58, 192.
moreover, D i o , too, mentions Quietus' military action against the

Jews as the last o f the events o f this revolt. Whatever happened in
Judaea, it had to take place at the very end o f Trajan's reign, since
D / X and Eusebius agree that Lusius Quietus was sent there after his
repression of the Mesopotamian upheavals.^
In the late eighties, Barnes was the first to challenge this order.
H e points out that if we look carefiilly at the account o f D / X , we
realize that the order o f the events is quite the opposite. T h e revolt o f
"the previously conquered territories" in Mesopotamia, in which the
Jews, too, had seemingly had a role (in spite of the fact that they are
not explicitly mentioned),^ is recorded first, and then, some para-
graphs later, the Jewish uprisings. According to this interpretation o f
the text, therefore, Barnes argues that the Jews o f Mesopotamia were
the first to take up arms, followed by those o f Libya, Egypt and Cy-
prus. In this case, the events that took place in the East would have
been determinant in fomenting the uprisings in the western Mediter-
ranean region.^
T h i s view is endorsed by Frankfiirter^ but is rejected by Horbury,
who suggests that we should instead return to the conventional order
of the events since no definite evidence allows us to discredit Euse-
bius' testimony.^
B u t when we come to weigh the value o f the account o f D / X
against the double testimony o f Eusebius, we realize that a decision is
definitely not easy.
D / X mentions first the revolt o f "the conquered districts" and then
the appointment o f Parthamaspates as K i n g o f the Parthians, fol-
lowed by the treatment o f peace concluded with Armenia and by the
unsuccessfiil siege o f Hatra. At this point mention is made o f the
Jewish uprising. In other words, the Jewish uprisings are reported as
having taken place after Trajan left Hatra, which occurred in the
spring o f 117, before the beginning o f the summer.^ T h e papyri,
however, attest that at this time the Jewish revolt in Egypt was actu-
ally being crushed. It follows that the only possible way in which we
See above, p. 220.

See above, pp. 202-203.
Bames, "Trajan and the Jev^s," 154-62.
Frankfurter, "Lest Egypt's City be Deserted," 203.
Horbury, "The Beginnings," 292.
See above, pp. 144-46.
THE ORDER, INTERRELATIONS AND ACHIEVEMENTS 261
can retain the passage o f D / X is to construe it as meaning that it was

at this time, namely, after the unsuccessftil siege o f Hatra, in the
spring o f 117, that Trajan decided to undertake aggressive action
meant to repress the Jewish uprisings.^
In this case, the account found in D / X is relevant only for deter-
mining the m o m e n t at which Trajan decided to take definite meas-
ures against the Jews but not the time when the uprisings really
started. In other words, it remains impossible to establish whether
according to this account the rebellions in Libya, Egypt and Cyprus
started after or before that o f the "conquered territories" in M e s o p o -
tamia.
As for Eusebius, it is clear that the events o f Mesopotamia are the
last mentioned, but as for those in the other countries, there seems to
be no consistency between the Chronicon and in the Historia
Ecclesiastica,
T h e question whether Eusebius' accounts are preferable to that o f
D / X , or vice-versa, leads us nowhere. In order to know where the
Jewish uprisings started, there seems to be no choice but to resort to
other sources.
Such sources are not abundant. Concerning the chronology o f the
events that transpired in Libya and Cyprus, for example, we have
only an epitaph relevant to the revolt in Cyprus, for which we m a y
only trace a terminus post q u e m , 2 0 or 21 February 116.^ As for the
inscriptions relevant to Libya, they are all dated in the aftermath o f
the revolt and do not offer any chronological detail concerning the
revolt itself
We are better off in the case o f Egypt and Mesopotamia, for which
we have firmer chronological information.
As we have seen above, the ostraca found in Egypt attest that the
Jewish uprising started after the end o f M a y 116.^^ As for Mesopota-
mia, the terminus post q u e m for the revolt o f "the conquered dis-
tricts," in which the Jews, too, had a part, seems to be some point in
April or M a y 116.^^
^ See above, pp. 145-46.

T h e fact that these dates are almost identical is amazing, and raise
the possibility that the uprisings were more or less contemporaneous
in the various c o u n t r i e s , w h i c h would account well for the lack o f
consistency in the order o f their presentation found in the works o f
D / X and Eusebius. If the uprisings took place more or less at the
same time in the various places, it is clear that there could be no con-
sistent order in their presentation.
POSSIBLE INTERRELATIONS
At this point one m a y wonder whether the Jewish revolts may have
been the fruit o f a general plan, a notion already found in scholar-
ship in the nineteenth century, when Neubiirger argues for links be-
tween the revolts in the different places "which make premeditated
planning and a strong leadership very p r o b a b l e . A l o n g these lines,
in the 1 9 3 0 s Friedman suggests that all the revolts were organized
and directed by Judaea, and are to be related to the journeys abroad
of Rabbi Aqiba which preceded them,^^ while similar conclusions are
reached by Widengren and then by Ziegler in the '60s.^^
Unfortunately, the evidence o f the sources is extremely meager. A n
alliance between the Alexandrian Jews and those o f Cyrene is men-
tioned by Eusebius, who states that after having lost the help o f the
Alexandrian Jews (TTIQ S S Trapa TOUTCOV aufjifjia^ta^; (XTTOTUXOVTS^), those
o f Cyrene "continued to plunder the country o f Egypt" (HE IV, 2 ,
3). As for the Jewish upheavals in Egypt and in Judaea, a link is
borne out by late Syriac accounts, where the rebelling Jews are said
to have moved from Egypt and Libya to Judaea, where they were de-
stroyed by the R o m a n armies. From these last passages, however,
It is worth noticing that this possibility was already suggested by Ewald long
before the publication of the ostraca and the papyri: Heinrich Ewald, The History of
Israel, vol. 8 (transl. J. R Smith: London: Longmans, Green, 1886), 271.
Neuburger, "Zur Geschichte der Aufstande der Juden unter Trajan und Ha-
drian," MGWJ22 (1873): 385-97.
Kalman Friedmann, "La grande ribellione giudaica sotto Traiano," GSAI
N.S. II, 2 (1932): 117.
Geo Widengren, "Quelques rapports entre Juifs et Iraniens k I'epoque des
Parthes," Supplementum to Vetus Testamentum 4 (1957): 202; Ziegler, Die Bezie-
hungen, 103, n. 50.
no firm conclusions m a y be drawn, since, as we have seen above,

these sources are known to weave legend and history together.
O n e remains perplexed. O n the one hand, no c o m m o n plan for
the Jewish uprisings is attested in the extant sources. O n the other
hand, this silence is not easy to interpret, because we m a y well as-
sume that if such plans did exist, they had to be secret and therefore
they escaped the attention both o f the inhabitants o f Egypt who
wrote the letters preserved in our papyri and o f the Greek and Ro-
man historians who wrote about the uprisings centuries later.
We m a y look for a clue in the Jewish sources, but in vain. Rab-
binic sources are o f no help on this point: not only d o they fail to
mention any c o m m o n plan for the revolts, but actually they record
no revolt at all. T h e "War o f Qitos" is recorded in such a way as to
make any factual reconstruction impossible, and the destruction o f
the great synagogue o f Alexandria by Trajans troops is mentioned,
but not in relation with a Jewish revolt. According to their perspec-
tive, which was theological and not historical, the Sages identify the
real reason for the R o m a n attack against the Jews with the fact that
the Jews did not obey to the Divine c o m m a n d m e n t "not to go back
to Egypt."!^
T h e possibility o f a c o m m o n plan for the Jewish uprisings is
b o u n d to remain speculative.
Similarly speculative but also impossible to prove false, is the sug-
gestion often put forward by scholars that the Parthians might have
had some part in fomenting the revolts in the West in order to com-
pel Trajan to remove military forces from Mesopotamia.^^
^« See above, pp. 247-49.

1^ See Noah Hacham, "From Splendor to Disgrace: on the Destruction of
Egyptian Jev^ry in Rabbinic Literature," Tarbiz 72 (2002/2003): 463-88.
See Horbury, "The Beginnings," 302 and Goodman, "Judaea," 670.
On a possible influence of the Parthian diplomacy on the decision of the
Jews to revolt, see Guey, "Essai sur la guerre parthique," 126-27; Canavesi (pseudo-
nym for Levi), La politica estera, vol. 2, 364; Motta, "La tradizione," 483; Widen-
gren, "Quelques rapports," 202; Jacob Neusner, A History of the Jews in Babylonia.
1. The Parthian Period {2''^ ed. Leiden: Brill. 1969. Repr. in South Florida Studies
in the History of Judaism 217: ed. J. Neusner: Atlanta, Georgia: Scholars Press,
1999), 78; Neusner, "The Jews East of the Euphrates," 58: "The Parthian interna-
tional intelligence was excellent... one may assume that the Parthians made prepa-
rations to meet the (Roman) invasion by arousing Jewish rebellion in Alexandria,
Cyrenaica, and Cyprus. See also Smallwood, The Jews, 39G-97', Goodman, "Judaea,"
670 and Bidey Hadrian, 74. In view of the silence of the sources, however, in this
case, too, caution is imperative: see Ayaso-Martfnez, Judaea Capta, 50.
As for the possibiUty that the Jews o f Egypt, Cyprus and Cyrene
rose against R o m e primarily "because they feared that Trajans con-
quest o f the Jewish communities of M e s o p o t a m i a posed a threat to
the Jewish way o f life,"^^ it m a y be safely rejected. N o instance can
be found in the whole history o f the Second C o m m o n w e a l t h in
which the Jews took arms up in one place only in order to help Jews
living in other places, and, moreover, no attempt at undermining the
extent o f Jewish rights is attested in Trajans days in any place what-
soever.
As we have seen above, in each country the Jews had their own
good reasons for taking up arms.^^ In the West — Libya, Egypt and
Cyprus — it was mainly an episode o f civil strife between Greeks
and Jews,^^ while in M e s o p o t a m i a it seems to have been an episode
o f the Parthian war directed against the recent R o m a n conquest,
which would have endangered the measure o f freedom o f all the
population groups, Jews included.^^
ACHIEVEMENTS
From the Jewish point o f view, in Libya, Egypt and Cyprus, the re-
volt attained no achievment at all. T h e consequences of the uprisings
were disastrous. M o r e than simply the losses in life and the R o m a n
decree that was probably issued condemning the few survivors to the
confiscation of property, for which we have some detail concerning
Egypt, the failed revolt led to the very end o f the Jewish presence in
loco for a number o f generations. Jews simply disappear from the
sources, and in the case o f Cyprus this is also explicitly mentioned in
the account o f D / X , where we read that after the revolt no Jew could
"set foot on that island, and even if one o f them is driven upon the
shores by a storm, he is put to death" (LXVIII, 3 2 , 3).^^
O n l y in Mesopotamia a series o f concomitances made this rebel-
lion successful over the long term in spite o f its violent repression,
Barnes, "Trajan and the Jews," 162.

See Ayaso-Martinez,/«^^^ Capta, 49. See also above, pp. 126-42.
Smallwood calls it a "racial movement" (The Jews, 396).
See Neusner, "The Jews East of the Euphrates," 46-69 and idem, "Jews in
Iran," 910-13.
26 See Terence B. Mitford, "Roman Cyprus," ANRWW 7, 2 (1980): 1380-81.
and it is undeniable that the simultaneity o f the Jewish uprisings in

the different places was meaningful in that it compelled Trajan to re-
move from the Parthian front military forces led by his best generals.
At the same time, the resistance in M e s o p o t a m i a was not yet d o o -
m e d , as the unsuccessful siege o f Hatra demonstrates. T h e "revolt o f
the conquered districts" had been suppressed but led to a compro-
mise with the Parthians. Trajan was still determined to restore the
situation and to make another expedition into Mesopotamia,^^ but
there was more bad news: war had broken out in Dacia.^^ All this
coincided with Trajans sickness and death, thus proving decisive in
preventing the annexation o f Mesopotamia.
H a d r i a n s withdrawal from the East m a y have been necessitated
not so m u c h by the situation but rather by his policy o f rejecdng
imperial expansion, in deliberate contrast with Trajan,^^ but the fact
remains that, in spite o f the triumph celebrated during the funerals
o f Trajan,^^ the Parthian war had failed.
"Three years o f R o m a n advances," Lepper observes, "had in one
year been virtually nuUified."^^ All the territory east o f the Euphrates
was immediately relinquished. D u r a Europos, for example, being
abandoned before 3 0 September 117.^^ Parthamaspates, meanwhile,
was rejected by the Babylonian Parthians and was reassigned to
another unnamed client kingdom, probably Osrhoene, in place of
27 Dio LXVIII, 33, 1.

28 See Biriey, Hadrian, 75.
2^ See Peter A. Brunt, Roman Imperial Themes (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1990),
AT5-7A. On receiving the nev^s of Trajans death, Bennet observes, the new princeps
at once reverted to the late Augustan policy, the consilium coercendi intra terminus
imperii, which stipulated that the empire should be kept within its natural bounda-
ries. He justified his actions by quoting the dictum of Cato, that those who could
not be held subject should be made free: see Bennet, Trajan, 203.
Jean-Claude Richard, "Les fimerailles des Trajan et le triomphe sur les
Parthes," REL AA (1966), 351-62. See also Barnes, Trajan and the Jews,' 162.
Lepper, Trajans Parthian War, 95. On the "disastrous consequences" of the
Parthian war, see also Hans G. Pflaum, "Tendances politiques et administratives au
He siecle de notre ^re," REL Al (1964): 115 and Paul Pent, "Le He siecle apres
J . - C : fitat des questions et problemes," ANRWW 2 (1975): 356. Ross observes:
"Trajan's accomplishments in the Parthian war had been vanities, no more substan-
tial than the arch in his honor that stood for a brief time outside the gates of Dura-
Europos": Ross, Roman Edessa, 33.
32 Smallwood, Documents, 53.
Abgarus; Vologaesus, the son o f Sanatruces, was allowed to retain Ar-

menia, and Mesopotamia was released from provincial status and had
the tribute lifted.^^
T h e Jewish revolts m a y therefore be regarded as one o f the devel-
opments that prevented R o m e from making Babylonia a R o m a n
province and extending R o m a n overlordship to the Persian G u l f
T h e long term historical consequences of these uprisings, there-
fore, would have equaled or even surpassed those of the two more
famous Jewish wars o f 6 6 - 7 0 and 132-135.^^
As for the Jewish point of view, the uprising helped prevent an-
nexation to the R o m a n Empire. T h e Jews o f Mesopotamia, therefore,
succeeded in remaining outside the R o m a n world, and this was fiiUy
appreciated by the sages of the Talmud, who observe that "the Holy
O n e blessed be H e knows that Israel is unable to endure the cruel
decrees of E d o m (=Rome), therefore he exiled them to Babylonia. "^^
^3 See Bennet, Trajan, 203.

See for example Barnes, "Trajan and the Jews," 162 and Tessa Rajak, "Jewish
Millenarian Expectations," in The First Jewish Revolt: Archaeology, History and Ideo-
logy (ed. A.M. Bedin and J.A. Overman: London and New-York: Roudedge,
2002), 164.
3^ Babylonian Talmud, Pesahim 87 b.
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INDEXES
SOURCES CITED
Inscriptions
No. 1. AE 1929, l67=Giovanna Sotgiu, "L'epigrafia latina della

Sardegna dopo il CLL X e Y RE. VIII," ANRWll 11, 1
(1988): A 57 (ph.), p. 560 p. 4
No. 2. ILS II, 1, 4393=Smallwood, Documents, 154, p. 65 pp. 4-5
No. 3. 715 III, 9491= Smallwood, Documents, 284, p. 98 pp. 5-6
No. 4. SEG XVII, 804= Luderitz, Corpus judischer Zeugnisse, 17,
pp. 32-33 pp. 6-7
No. 5. Gasperini, "Le iscrizioni del Cesareo," C9, p. 12=Luderitz,
Corpus judischer Zeugnisse, 18, p. 34 pp. 7-8
No. 6. Applebaum, "A Note on the Work of Hadrian," D I , p. 89=
Luderitz, Corpus jUdischer Zeugnisse, 19, p. 34 pp. 7-8
No. 7. Gasperini, "Le iscrizioni del Cesareo," C8, p. 12=Luderitz,
Corpus judischer Zeugnisse, 20, pp. 34-35 p. 8
No. 8. SEG IX, 168= Luderitz, Corpus judischer Zeugnisse, 2 1 , pp.
35-36 p. 9
No. 9. SEG XVII 800=Ludentz, Corpus judischer Zeugnisse, 22,
pp. 36-37 pp. 9-10
No. 10. AE 1928, 2= Luderitz, Corpus judischer Zeugnisse, 23, p. 37 p. 10-11
No. 11. SEG IX, 252 pp. 11-12
No. 12. AE 1951, 208; Luderitz, Corpus judischer Zeugnisse, 25, p. 39 p. 12
Papyri
No. 14: /? Giss. 47=Kortus, Briefe des Apollonios-Archives, 6 pp. 18-20
No. 15: RGiss. Inv. 246 = R Alex. Giss. 59 = 5 ^ 10, 10652 C pp. 20-21
No. 16: R Giss. 19 = CPJU, 436 pp. 21-22
No. 17: R Alex. inv. 50 = 7? Alex Giss. 60 = SB 10, 10652 D p. 23
No. 18: 7? Giss. 24 = CPJU, A?>7 pp. 23-24
No. 19: 7? Brem. 1 = CPJU, 438 = Small, Doc. 57 pp. 24-25
No. 20: SB 10, 10502 pp. 25-26
No. 21: Bremen inv. 7 = SB 10, 10277 pp. 26-27
No. 22: RGiss. Inv. 245 = RAlex Giss. 58 = SB 10, 10652 B pp. 27-29
No. 23: 7? Mich. 477 pp. 29-32
No. 24: 7? Heid Lat 7= Ch.La. XI, 500 pp. 32-33
No. 25: 7? Giss. 27 = CPJU, 439 pp. 33-34
No. 26: 7? Brem. 63 = CPJ II, 442 pp. 34-37
No. 27: 7? Giss. 22 pp. 37-38
No. 28: PVindob. L, 2= Ch.La. XLIII, 1242 pp. 38-40
292 INDEXES
No. 29: PSI 1063 = Fink, Roman Military Records, 7A pp. 41-44
No. 30: R Giss. AA = CPJ II, 443 = Select Papyri II, 298 pp. 44-45
No. 3 1 : Brem. U = CPJ II, 444 pp. 46-48
No. 3 2 : R Brem. 15 ^ CPJ II, 446 pp. 48-50
No. 33: P Oxy. 707 = CPJ II, 447 p. 50
No. 34: BGU SS9 = CPJ II, 449 pp. 50-51
No. 3 5 : P Oxy. 705, cols. I-II = CPJU, 450 pp. 51-54
No. 36: R Oxy. 1189 = CPJ II, 445 pp. 54-55
No. 37: P Oxy. 500 = CPJU, 448 pp. 55-56
No. 38: P BeroL Inv. 8143 A B C + 7397 recto = SB 12, 10892 pp. 56-68
No. 39: P BeroL inv 7440 recto = SB 12,10893 pp. 68-69
No. 40: P Bouriant AA, verso = CPJ III, 458 p. 69
No. 4 1 : Inv. 4306r = P Koln II, 97 pp. 70-71
No. 4 2 : BGU XI 2085 pp. 71-72
Papyri Which May Concern the Jewish Revolt
No. 43: P Bad 39, col. II = CPJ II, 4 4 1 , col. II = 7? Sarap. 88 pp. 72-73
No. 44: P Bad 39, col. Ill = CPJ AAl, col. Ill = P Sarap. 89 pp. 73-74
No. 45: P Bad 36 = CPJ II, 440 = P Sarap. 85 pp. 74-75
No. 46: P Brem. 48 p. 76
The Pagan Tradition
No. 47: Arrian, Parthica, apud Suda, s.v. dcTacrOaXa et TuapsLxot p. 77

No. 48: Appian, BelU Civilia II, 90, 380 pp. 77-78
No. 49: Appian, Liber Arabicus F 19 pp. 78-79
No. 50: Dio, Historia Romana LXVIII, 32, 1-3 pp. 79-80
No. 51: Artemidorus Daldianus, Onirocritica 4, 24 pp. 80-81
No. 52: Scriptores Historiae Augustae 5, 2 p. 81
No. 53: Scriptores Historiae Augustae 5, 8 p. 82
Christian Evidence
No. 54: Hippolytus, In Matthaeum 24, 15-22 pp. 82-83
No. 55: Hippolytus on Matthew 24, 15-22 p. 83
No. 56: Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica IV, 2, 1 - 5 pp. 83-85
No. 57: Hieronimus, Chronicon CCXXIII Olymp. pp. 85-86
No. 58: Eusebius' Chronicon: The Armenian Version pp. 86-87
No. 59: Rufinus, Ecclesiastical History IV, 2, 1 - 5 pp. 87-89
No. 60: Paulus Orosius, Historiarum adversum paganos libri V7/VII,
12, 6-8 pp. 89-90
No. 6 1 : Moses Xorenac'i, History of the Armenians II, 55, 11. 10-
14 pp. 90-91
No. 62: The Zuqnin Chronicle. Dionysii Telmahharensis Chronici Liber
Primus, 153, 11-15 pp. 91-92
No. 63: Georgius Syncellus, Ecloga Chronographica 1, 657 pp. 92-93
No. 64: l^xxvfchms Annales 9, 15 p. 93
No. 65: lohannis Zonarae, Annales XI 22 pp. 93-94
No. 66: Michael Syrus, Chronicon 6, 4 p. 94
No. 67: Gregorius Abu'l Faraj (Bar Hebraeus), Chronography fol. 19 pp. 95-96
No. 68: Anonymi Auctoris, Chronicon ad annum Christi 1234 per-
tinens p. 96
No. 69: Nicephorus Callistus, Ecclesiasticae Historiae tomus III, 22 pp. 97-99
Rabbinic Sources
No. 70: Megillat Tdanit 31 pp. 99-100
No. 7 1 : Seder Olam 30 pp. 100-101
No. 72: Mishnah Sotah 9:14 101-102
No. 73: Tosefta Peah 4:6 102-103
No. 74: Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, Tractate Beshallah 2 103-104
No. 7 5 : Sifra, Emor, Pereq IX, 5 on Lev. 22:32 104-105
No. 76: Jerusalem Talmud, Ketubot, 117 26 d 105-106
No. 77: Jerusalem Talmud, Megillah, I 6 70c = Jerusalem Talmud, Tda-
nit, II 13 66a 106
294 INDEXES
No. 78: Jerusalem Talmud, Sukka, V 1 55a-b pp. 106-108

No. 79: Babylonian Talmud, Sukka 5 1 b pp. 109-10
No. 80: Babylonian Talmud, Ketuboth 25 a pp. 110-11
No. 8 1 : The Babylonian Talmud, Tdanit 18a-b pp. 111-13
No. 82: Babylonian Talmud, Gittin, 57b pp. 113-14
No. 83: Midrash Rabbah, Ecclesiastes 3, 15 pp. 114-15
No. 84: Midrash Rabbah, Lamentations, I 16 (or I, 16, 45) = Midrash
Rabbah, Lamentations, IV, 19, 22 pp. 115-16
No. 85: Esther Rabbah proem, c-d pp. 116-18
No. 86: Semahot 8, 15 (47b) pp. 118-19
SOURCES DISCUSSED
Inscriptions C 7 y i l , 4 3 7 pp. 170-73

C P / I I , 438 p p 169-70, 175, 178-79
AE 1927, 161 p. 210
C 7 y i l , 4 3 9 p p 132, 170, 175
AE 1929, 167 p. 244 C P / I I , 442 p. 172
^ 1 9 5 1 , 2 0 8 p. 181
C P / I I , 445 p 188
AE 1953, 171 p. 185 C P / I I , 448 p p 186-89
AC" 1978, 628, 629 p. 251 C P / I I I , 458 p 189
^ £ - 1 9 8 2 , 904 p. 179 C P / I I I , 520 p 131
I. ltd. X I I I (1947)=:Small, Doc. 23 pp.
7? Bremen inv.7= SB 10, 10277 p. 171
213-14
P. Giss. 22 p. 173
ILS 2612 p. 178
7? Giss. A7 p 168
715 4393 pp. 230-31
P Flor. 332 p 172
7Z5 9491 p. 185
7? Heid.Ut 7 =Ch.La. X I , 500 p. 180
SEG IX, 252 p. 181
PKoln II 97 p 189
SEGXVll 584 p. 178
7? Mick 477 p. 177
7? Oa^. 528 p. 172
Papyri PSI 1063=Fink, Military Records, 74 pp.
BGUUO pp. 180, 182 155, 177
BGU 2m p. 185 7? Standford inv. G. 93 bv p. 136
C 7 y i , 141 pp. 127, 132 7? L , 2= CA.Z^. X L I I I , 1242 p.
C 7 y i l , 157 pp. 133-36 182
O y i l , 158 pp. 139-40 SB 10, 10277 p 171
O y i l , 158 a pp. 140, 175 SB 10, 10502 p. 174
C / y I I , 158 b pp. 140-41 SB 10, 10652 B p p 170-71
C P / I I , 435 pp. 137-39, 151-52, 167, SB 12, 10892 pp. 188-89
175 SB 12, 10893 p. 189
C 7 y i l , 436 pp. 168-69
Appian Euvfchms Annales 9, 15 pp. 247-48

Bella Civilia II, 90 p. 144 Fronto, Princ.Hist. 17 pp. 195, 210,
Liber Arabicus ¥ 19 p. 144 214
Arrian, Parthica, apud Suda, s.v. Gregorius Abu 1 Faraj (Bar Hebraeus),
dcTocaOaXa et TiapsLXOi p. 209 Chronography fol. 19 p. 249
Dio Cassius Hippolytus, In Matthaeum 24, 15-
LXVIII, 23, 2 p. 213 22 pp. 231-32
LXVIII, 28, 4-30, 3 pp. 195-96 Josephus,
LXVIII, 30, 3 p. 201 Ant 19, 278 p. 128
LXVIII, 3 1 , 1-4 pp. 144-145 Bell. 2, 487-98 p. 128
LXVIII, 32, 1 p. 171 Bell. 7, 100-103 p. 128
LXVIII, 32, 1-3 pp. 158-161 Bell. 7, 407-415 pp. 128-29
LXVIII, 32, 3 p. 193 Bell. 7, 433-439 p. 129
LXVIII, 32, 4 p. 191 Bell. 7, 441-50 p. 130
LXVIII, 32, 5 (ExcVal. 290) pp. 220, VitaA2A p. 130
226 Malalas, The Chronicle 11, 270-77 pp.
LXIX, 2, 5 p. 226 197-201
The Zuqnin Chronicle. Dionysii Telmah- Megillat Tdanit 31 pp. 240-41
harensis Chronici Liber Primus, 153, Michael Syrus, Chronicon 6, 4 p. 248
11-15 p. 192 Mishnah Sotah 9:14 pp. 238-39
Eusebius Moses Xorenac'i, History of the Arme-
Chronicon, ed. Helm, 196 pp. 146, nians II, 55 p. 247
158, 192, 259 Nicephorus Callistus, Ecclesiasticae
Chronicon, ed. Helm, 197 pp. 155, Historiae tomus III, 22 pp. 192-93
158, 188, 259 Philo
HEIW, 2, 1 p. 159 In El. 6, 36-39 p. 140
HEW, 2, 1-2 pp. 150, 259 SHA, Hadr. 5, 2 pp. 155, 232-34, 256
HEW, 2, 1-3 p. 161 SHA, Hadr. 5, 8 p. 224
HEW, 2, 2-3 pp. 177, 207, 259 SHA, Hadr. 5, 8-9 p. 233
HEW, 2,3 pp. 1 5 1 , 2 5 9 , 262 SHA, Hadr. 7, 2 p. 226
HEW, 2, 3-4 pp. 176, 259 SHA, Hadr. 9, 3 p. 226
HEW, 2, 5 pp. 157-58, 192, 205-206, SHA, Hadr. 12, 8-13, 1 p. 181
220, 259 Seder Olam Rabbah 30 pp. 237-38
Chronicon and HE pp. 158-61, 259 Synkellos, 348 D p. 155
GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES
Adiabene pp. 198, 208 Egypt pp. 130, 132, 136, 138, 141-42,
Afnca p. 164 147, 151-56, 158, 160-61, 165-67,
Alexandria pp. 127-28, 133, 135-38, 167, 168-69, 171, 174-85, 187,
140-41, 151-52, 158, 161, 167, 189-90, 193, 205, 207, 233, 239,
172, 179-80, 230, 247, 259, 263 259-64
Andoch pp. 128, 141, 147, 149, 196- Euphrates (river) pp. 181, 214, 252
99, 248 Galilee pp. 243, 251-52
ApoUinopolis-Heptakomia pp. 153, 168, Gerasa p. 252
170 Greece p. 127
Apollinopolis Magna (Edfu) pp, 152- Hatra pp. 145, 159, 184, 202, 211,
54, 167, 189 221-22, 2 6 0 - 6 1 , 2 6 5
Apollonia p. 181 Herakleopolite p. 188
Arabia pp. 165, 171, 181, 250 Hermopolite nome p. 153
Armenia pp. 198, 2 1 1 , 216, 260, 266 Hermoupolis pp. 154, 168, 170-71
Arsinoite p. 188 Hormuz p. 210
Asia pp. 127, 177 Jaffa pp. 227, 256
Athribite p. 188 Jerusalem pp. 180, 222, 230, 248,
Attaleia (Pamphylia) pp. 178-79 251
Babylon pp. 149, 194, 2 1 1 , 215 Jezreel (valley) pp. 251-52
Babylonia pp. 211, 214, 266 Jordan (river) p. 252
Bactria p. 210 Judaea pp. 127, 189, 220-21, 224,
Bostra p. 252 227, 233, 228, 2 3 1 , 237, 239-40,
Caesarea pp. 229, 250, 254-55 243-45, 247-56, 260, 262
Caparcotna pp. 250-2 Kynopolite p. 188
Cappadocia p. 164 Leontopolis p. 129
Cilicia p. 164 Libya pp. 129-30, 132, 146-47, 158-
Colonia Claudia Ptolemais pp. 251-2 59, 163, 165, 171, 193, 207, 234,
Cornutum p. 178 239, 259-62, 264
Ctesiphon pp. 149, 194, 196, 202, Malabar p. 210
212-14 Masada p. 128
Cyprus pp. 146, 158, 161, 165, 184- Mauretania p. 233
85, 193, 205, 246, 259-61, 264 Memphis pp. 132-33, 169-70, 175
Cyrenaica pp, 127, 184-85, 205 Mesene p. 214
Cyrene pp. 129, 138, 152, 158, 178- Mesopotamia pp. 158, 161, 165, 191-
79, 181, 259, 262, 264 94, 197, 205-206, 209-213, 217,
Dacia pp. 165, 198, 265 220-22, 239, 245, 248, 254, 259-
Damascus p. 252 6 1 , 263-66
Danube (river) p. 198 Misenum pp. 180-81
Decapolis p. 251 Moesia pp. 164, 183
Dor pp. 255-56 Mons Claudianus p. 178
Dura Europos pp. 202, 216, 265 Neapolis p. 228
Edessa pp. 195, 202, 208, 215-16, 247 Nicopolis p. 179
298 INDEXES
Nisibis pp. 195, 202, 208, 210, 215- Seistan p. 210

16 Seleucia pp. 2 0 2 , 2 1 1 , 2 1 6 , 233
Osrhoene pp. 216, 265 Sepphoris pp. 228-29, 243-44, 2 5 1 ,
Oxyrhynchite p. 188 256
Parthia p. 165 Sidon p. 253
Pelusium p. 165 Singara p. 210
Persian Gulf pp. 194, 210, 212, 214- Spasinu Charax p. 210
15, 266 Sumatra p. 210
Ravenna pp. 180-81 Syria pp. 127, 164, 224-25, 250-51,
Rome pp. 127, 135, 141, 197, 210, 255
212, 2 2 1 , 225, 229, 233, 264, 266 Thebaic region pp. 153, 158, 259
Salamina p. 161 Tiberias pp. 227-29, 256
Satala p. 178 Tigris (river) p. 214
Scythopolis p. 224
PERSONAL N A M E S
Abgarus p. 266 Lysimachus p. 132

Aline pp. 168-71, 175 Manethon pp. 127, 132
Andreas p. 159 Q. Marcius Turbo pp. 146, 169, 175,
Annius Rufus p. 178 80-81, 233, 239
Apion p. 132 Marius Maximus pp. 195, 233
ApoUonios pp. 153-54, 168-73, 175 Mebarsapes (King) p. 198
Appian pp. 164-166, 176, 206 Nemesis (goddess) p. 165
Aqiba (Rabbi) p. 262 Neratius Priscus p. 225
Ariston of Pella pp. 163-64, 206 Nigrinus pp. 225-26
Attembalos (King) pp. 210, 214 Nike (goddess) pp. 227-28
Atdanus p. 224 Onias p. 129
Axidares p. 202 Osroes (King) pp. 194, 198
Baebius Macer p. 224 M. Paccius Silvanus p. 255
C. Brutdus Praesens pp. 164, 206 Palma p. 225
L. Catilius Severus p. 216 Pappus pp. 241-43
Catullus p. 129 Parthamaspates (King) pp. 196, 200,
Celsus p. 225 216-17, 260, 265
Chaeremon p. 132 Pastor p. 134
Claudius Terentianus p. 177 Philoxenos p. 134
L. Cossonius Gallus p. 255 Plodna p. 135
Dionysius p. 134 Q. Rammius Martialis p. 174
Domninus p. 198 L. Rutilius Lupus p. 175
Erucius Clarus p. 195 M. Rutilius Lupus pp. 137, 139, 161,
Eudaimonis pp. 154, 170-73 169, VIA'IG, 180
Flavius Josephus pp. 128-30, 132 Sanatruces pp. 198, 266
L. Gavius Fronto p. 178 Sarapis (god) pp. 131, 135-36, 230-31
Hermes (god) p. 171 Sotion p. 134
Isis (goddess) p. 131 Tettius Crescens pp. 244-45
lulius Alexander p. 195 Theon p. 134
C. lulius Karus p. 184 Tiberianus p. 177
T. lulius Maximus pp. 195, 216 Q. Tineius Rufus pp. 240, 250
Jonathan pp. 129-30 M. Ulpius Traianus p. 252
Johanan (Rabbi) p. 237 C. Valerius Rufus pp. 146, 185, 246
Joshua b. Hanania (Rabbi) p. 243 Vologaesus pp. 216, 266
Laberius Maximus p. 224 Xiphilinus pp. 160, 162, 196
Lomphasos p. 248 Yose b. Halafta (Rabbi) p. 237
Lukuas pp. 152, 159 Zeus p. 228
Lulianus pp. 241-43
Lusius Quietus (Lysias) pp. 191-94, Emperors
202-206, 216, 220-21, 223, 225-
27, 233-34, 242-43, 245, 248, 253- Augustus p. 126
54, 256-57, 259-60 Caligula p. 127
300 INDEXES
Caracalla p. 233 Titus p. 128

Claudius pp. 128, 139, 145 Trajan pp. 130, 132-33, 135-36, 138-
Domitian pp. 125, 130, 164, 191, 39, 141, 145, 148-51, 158-59, 162,
206, 245 165, 177, 178-79, 183-85, 191-
Hadrian pp. 130, 155, 181, 183, 185, 205, 209-216, 219-21, 223-26,
187-89, 197-98, 224-26, 228-29, 228-30, 237, 239, 241-43. 245-49,
233-34, 245-46, 252, 256, 265 252, 256-57, 260-61,263-65
Nerva p. 225 Vespasian pp. 189, 237-38
R O M A N MILITARY F O R C E S
Cohors I Augusta praetoria Lusitanorum equitata pp. 155, 176, 182

Cohors I Flavia Cilicum equitata p. 180
Cohors I Hispanorum equitata p. 175
Cohors I Thracum milliaria p. 223
Cohors VI Hispanorum praetoria p. 185
Cohors VII Breucorum equitata civium Romanorum p. 185
Legio II Traiana pp. 181, 223, 251-53
Legio III Cyrenaica pp. 78-82, 181-84, 184, 223, 230, 231-32
Legio VI Ferrata p. 250
Legio VII Claudia pia fidelis pp. 185, 246
Legio X Fretensis pp. 227, 230, 254
Legio XVApollinaris pp. 178-79
Legio XXII Deiotariana pp. 178-80, 182, 184
Selected Topics
Acts of the Alexandrians pp. 133-36
Alliance between Alexandrian and Cyrenian Jews p. 262
Arms pp. 185-86
Battles pp. 155, 177-78, 233
Casualties in the Roman army in Egypt pp. \7G-77, 182-84
Christian sources' attitudes towards the Jewish upheavals p. 123
Civic rivalry and strife between Jews and Greeks pp. 127-28,135-41, 264
Coins found in Judaea pp. 227-29, 256
Conspiracy against Hadrian pp. 225-26
Contemporaneity of the uprisings pp. 261-62, 265
Consular status of provincia ludaea pp. 250, 253-56
Ctesiphon, capture of pp. 194, 212A4
Dates in Eusebius' Chronicon pp. 146-49
Differences between Eusebius' Chronicon and the HE pp. 149-150, 157-58, 192,
205-206, 259, 261
Difficuldes of the Jews in Egypt and Libya (38-73 CE) pp. 123-30
Dio's source: Arrian pp. 161-63, 203-205
Earthquake at Antioch pp. 141-42, 149, 196
Eusebius and the testimony of CPJW, 435 pp. 151-52
Expeditio Britannica p. 246
Expeditio ludaeae pp. 245-47
Fiscus Judaicus pp. 124-25, 167, 189, 211
Funerary monument of Tettius Crescens p. 244
General plan for the revolts? pp. 262-63
Greek Attacks against the Jews at Alexandna pp. 133-41
Ideological antagonism between Jews and pagans pp. 130-33, 141
TouSatxo^ Xoyoc; p. 189
302 INDEXES
Lands «formedy held by Jews» pp. 186-88

Lands belonging to Greeks died without heirs pp. 188-89
Leader of the Jews (in Libya and Egypt) p. 159
Malala's sources pp. 199-200
Martyrdom of Lulianus and Pappus pp. 241-43
Messianic expectations pp. 124, 130
Military action in Mesopotamia pp. 192-93
Military forces in Egypt pp. 176-85
Military forces in Judaea pp. 223-24, 230, 232, 250-53
Mimes at Alexandria p. 140
Moorish tribesmen pp. 222-23
Opposition to Hadrian's election to throne p. 224
Ostraca from Egypt pp. 152-53
Parthian propaganda pp. 212, 263
Rabbinic sources: historical value pp. 234-237
Revolt of «the territories previously conquered» pp. 194-197, 204, 217, 260-61,
265
Roman consuls pp. 221, 250, 255
Scholarly views on upheaval in ludaea p. 219
Sea forces (in Egypt) p. 177
Sibylline Oracles pp. 130-33, 141, 231
fleeing from Judaea pp. 128-30
Siege of Hatra pp. 144-45, 184, 260-61, 265
Strategoi involved in the Jewish upheaval in Egypt pp. 168-70, 175, 188
Synagogue of Alexandria p. 263
Trade in Mesopotamia p. 211
Trajan's death p. 148, 162
Trajan's voyage to the Persian Gulf pp. 194-95, 214-15
Triumph during the funerals of Trajan p. 265
Uprising in Egypt, beginning pp. 153, 167
Uprising in Egypt, end pp. 153-56
Wars: Bar Kochba war pp. 223-24, 229, 237-38, 240, 250, 257, 266
Dacian Wars pp. 139, 191, 245
The «Great War» (66-70 CE) pp. 123-24, 2 1 1 , 237-38, 245, 254, 266
Parthian war pp. 184, 191, 194, 196, 204-206, 217, 245, 252
«War of Qitos» pp. 234, 237-40, 244-45, 252, 254, 257, 263
Xiphilinus' abridgment of Dio's work pp. 196, 259

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Interdisciplinary Studies in Ancient Culture and Religion 6

DIASPORA JUDAISM IN TURMOIL,

MIRIAM PUCCI B E N ZEEV

Library of Congress Record

LC Control No.: 2004060194

5. T h e Chronological Framework 143

6. T h e Question o f Eusebius' Sources 157

7. Egypt: N e w Dates, N e w Readings and N e w Interpreta-

10. T h e Order, Possible Interrelations, and Achievements o f

the Uprisings 259

Indexes Sources 291

AAJR Proceedings o f the American Academy for Jewish Research

Inscriptions are also included when they provide information on the

Applebaum, "A N o t e on the Work o f H a d r i a n . "

Gasperini, " L e iscrizioni del Cesareo."

Luderitz, Corpus jUdischer Zeugnisse,

Oliverio, " C a m p a g n a di scavi."

Reynolds, " T h e Inscriptions."

INSCRIPTIONS RELEVANT TO JUDAEA

Epitaph from CagHari, Sardinia, m i d - 2 n d century.

Lucius Tettius Crescens, from R o m e , lived for — years, took part in

Dedicatory inscription, perhaps o f an altar, found in secondary use

To Jupiter O p t i m u s M a x i m u s Sarapis, for the welfare and victory o f

INSCRIPTIONS RELEVANT T O CYPRUS

Honorary inscription on a slab, found in secondary use in Beirut,

Lucius Careius Adiectus Sedatianus (dedicated this monument) to

INSCRIPTIONS RELEVANT TO LIBYA

Bilingual inscription on blocks from a wall from the Caesareum, in

1 [Imp(erator) Caesar d]ivi Tr[aiani Parthici fil]ius diy[i Nerva] e

T h e emperor Caesar Trajan Hadrian Augustus, son o f the g o d Trajan

^ Duumvir = chief magistrate of a Roman colony.

3 [AuToxpdcTcop] K a i a a p d[zou Tpatavou r[]ap6i.x[oi) UIOQ], OSOU

4 [[xeyiCTTO^;] Syifxapxtx-^^ [s^ouaialc; TO [uTraxoc; TO T/J] TTOXSL

T h e emperor Caesar Trajan Hadrian Augustus, son o f the g o d Trajan

A large block o f limestone; found in the H o u s e o f Jason M a g n u s ,

[. . . Caes]ar[eu]m tumultu I[udaico d i r u t u m . . .

. . . the Caesareum, which h a d been destroyed . . . in the Jewish r i o t . . .

Single line inscription from the architrave o f the northern internal

Bibl.: Applebaum, "A Note on the Work of Hadrian," D I , p. 89;

[Imp(erator) Caesar divi Traiani Parthici fiUus divi Nerv]ae

T h e emperor Caesar Trajan Hadrian Augustus, son o f the g o d Trajan

Bibl.: Gasperini, "Le iscrizioni del Cesareo," C 8 , p. 12; Luderitz, Cor-

Fragments possibly from the same m o n u m e n t :

[. . . tumultu] I[udaico d]irutum

...destroyed in the Jewish riot

b. and c. further south-west o f the vestibule at the south-east corner

Stone, slab, fragment o f bilingual inscription from the temple o f

[Imp(erator) Caesar divi Traiani Parthici fil(ius),]

T h e emperor Caesar Trajan Hadrian Augustus, son o f the g o d Trajan

Inscription from the temple o f Zeus, originally in the pronaos wall

1954, 4 1 ; SEG XVII 800; Richard G. Goodchild and Joyce M.

[*T]TC£p TOLQ [Au]To[xpaTOpo<; K a i a j a p o ^ M(apxo)) AupTjXica

Marble slab in two pieces concerning the reconstruction o f the baths,

Imp(erator) Caesar divi Traiani

Traianus Hadrianus Aug(ustus) pontif(ex)

T h e emperor Caesar Trajan Hadrian Augustus, son o f the g o d Trajan

Milestone o n the Cyrene-ApoUonia road, found at the fifth R o m a n

Imp(erator) Caes(ar) divi

corrupta erat res-

T h e emperor Caesar Trajan Hadrian Augustus, son o f the g o d Trajan

Milestone discovered outside the Trajanic baths, near the Fountain o f

Imp(erator) Caes(ar) divi

T h e emperor Caesar son o f the g o d Trajan Parthicus, grandson o f the

Bibl.: Gaspare Oliverio, La stele dei nuovi comandamenti e dei cereali:

(Arbeiten Zur Geschichte Des Antiken Judentums Und Des Urchristentums 71) Edited by Jörg Frey, Daniel R. Schwartz & Stephanie Gripentrog-Jewish Identity in the Greco-Roman World_ Jüdische Identität In

(Arbeiten Zur Geschichte Des Antiken Judentums Und Des Urchristentums 71) Edited by Jörg Frey, Daniel R. Schwartz & Stephanie Gripentrog-Jewish Identity in the Greco-Roman World_ Jüdische Identität In