Gentiles

Ancient Rome and Judaism

In ancient Rome, Jews were separated from Gentiles by a variety of beliefs and practices. The official state Greco-Roman religion was polytheistic—worshipping multiple gods—and involved a set of practices governing everything from political appointments to market days and public holidays. Domestic and public spheres were closely linked in religious practices that encouraged respect and veneration for ancestors, for the state, and for the gods. The Roman regional authorities regulated the various religious cults tied to each god in order to ensure the security of the larger nation-state. As they took over new lands and peoples, the Romans found ways for conquered groups to maintain their former religious practices while also worshipping the Roman gods. Most cults and their practices were welcome in the Roman Empire, as long as they did not subvert the traditional order.

In this time, the Roman state viewed Jews as “atheists” because they believed in a single God who was not derived from the Greco-Roman pantheon. As a result, Jewish religious practices were often suppressed as subversive to the state. Roman Jews were conspicuously absent from state festivals and would not attend any form of worship except their own, since they viewed polytheistic practices to be the worship of false gods prohibited by the Ten Commandments given in the Torah. Jews were also exempt from military service and from paying the expenses associated with the state religion, as they sent an annual temple tax back to their homeland in Palestine. Practicing Jews observed strict rules surrounding food preparation and consumption, avoiding certain foods altogether and also observing specific dietary prohibitions at particular times of year, tied to religious ritual practices. All of these practices separated Jews into a distinct community and differentiated them from other peoples living in Rome. These practices were officially permitted by the state but in practice led to hostility and popular disapproval.

The concept of Jewishness as a unique national identity, not only an ethnicity or religion, also caused internal tensions among Jews. These tensions led to the formation of sects within Judaism. Some subgroups wished to assimilate more fully into Greco-Roman culture than Jewish tradition strictly allowed. Others sought to reestablish a Jewish nation-state tied to the temple in Palestine, and they focused on maintaining distinctions as a nation set apart through the purity of their religious practice. This tension is reflected in the New Testament gospel writings, which mention various Jewish factions and their relations to the state.

Jewish Subgroups and Greco-Roman Society

The Sadducees were the most integrated into Greco-Roman society and served as the temple priests. The Essenes, by contrast, lived remotely as desert monks, wishing to remain as physically separate as possible from the Gentiles. Meanwhile, the Pharisees chose a middle ground between integration and separation, focusing their work on Jewish laws and ritual practices, trying to practice their ancient faith within a changing cultural context. The sect most antagonistic to the Greco-Roman state, the Zealots, sought to remove the Roman ruler from power and replace him with a Jewish king. Each of these factions had complex political relations with other Roman peoples and with Roman authorities. Under such conditions, “Gentile” was a word that could be used to insult other sects of Jews as inauthentic, as well as holding its previous meaning of distinguishing Jews from non-Jews.

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