Ecclesiastical Geography and Topography of the Christian World - Chapter VIII

                                                                          Chapter VIII

Palestine in the time of Jesus and of early Christianization (to name the stages more important in the history of Palestine: the conquest of Pompey, the kingdom of Herod, the Jewish rebellions and their consequences, the Arab conquests, and the period of the kingdom of the Crusaders)

Palestine in the time of Jesus and of the first evangelization

The political situation

Politically and culturally the New Testament moves in the world created in the Persian era and in the Hellenistic-Roman period from the fifth century. We have the Jewish nation governed by the High Priests of Jerusalem under Roman occupation, distinct from the territory of the Greek cities of Hellenistic culture that were badly affected by the political interference of a High Jewish Priest or of the other theocratic states that had formed in the region.

In parallel with the formation and extension of the Jewish state, two other traditional Semitic states had been consolidating: Iturea in the north and Nabataean Arabia in the south. The Nabataean Arab kings, with control of the caravan routes, extended their commercial dominion over Arabia, the Sinai, and much of the trans-Jordan internal territory up to Damascus. The tetrarchy of the Ituraean High Priests, much closer to the government of Jerusalem, had consolidated near the sanctuary of Heiliopolis-Ba'albek in the Lebanese valley (the Baqa'), to the point of controlling the valley from the city of Chalcis and Libanum, their capital Lebanese or Baqa', the Anti-Lebanon, and towards the north the Lebanese mountain with the port towns of Byblos-Jibeil, Tripoli and Arca, and towards the south Mount Hermon, reaching as far as Galilee, before being expelled by Aristobulus I.

The dispute over power in Jerusalem between the two sons of Alexander Jannaeus, Hyrcanus II and Aristobulo II, gave the occasion to Pompey the Great, the Roman general who was in Syria with full powers of the Senate, to intervene in the affairs of the Jewish nation and to impose the political will of Rome now intent on conquering the markets of the East.

In 64/63 BC the occupation of Jerusalem by the Romans, led by Pompey, marked the end of Jewish independence and the beginning of a tormented period, during which, gradually, they acquired the power of Antipatro, a noble country and his two sons Fasaele and Herod the Great (so-called by Josephus in the Jewish Antiquities).

Pompey after his victory created the Roman province of Syria which, however, had no precise boundaries and embraced numerous territories governed by so-called client kings; some cities enjoyed the status of independent territories. In the year 40 BC Herod, in Rome, was appointed king of Judea, but only in 37 BC with Roman help, he managed to occupy Jerusalem by defeating Antigonus.

Palestine (the Greek toponym comes from Philistia, Philistine) was governed by King Herod (40/37 BC - 4 BC) under the control of the Syria legatos. King Herod spread the Greco-Roman culture and founded the cities of Cesareo Marittima di Sebasteia (named in honour of Caesar Augustus). He rebuilt the Temple of Jerusalem, of which only walls remain today, including the "crying " one. He died in the year 750 of Rome, that is in 4 BC, shortly after the birth of Jesus.

NB: It is well known that the Christian era, which fixes the first year after Christ in 754 in Rome, proceeds from a miscalculation in the sixth century by the monk Dionysius the Small.

On the death of Herod, the Great his kingdom was broken up between:

• Herod Archelao - the Governor of the southern part

• Philip - the Governor of the Decapolis until 34 A.D, in this year Philip succeeded Herod Agrippa

• Herod Antipas - north: Galilee and Perea until 39 A.D

In 6 AD the territories of Archelao passed under the direct control of Rome, governed by a prefect of equestrian rank with military, financial and judicial powers, but always under the control of the Ambassador of Syria. The governor's residence was Caesarea Marittima. From 41 to 44 Judea and the Samaria were ruled by King Agrippa (who died in 44) and 44 by not a perfect but a procurator

Roman (which was not military), but the northern part since 53 AD was assigned to Marcus Julius Agrippa II, (Agrippa II (Latin. Marcus Iulius Agrippa) - King vassal of Rome (c.28 AD - 100 AD), son of Agrippa I, in the fifteenth century, thanks to the Romans, the kingdom of Chalcis in Lebanon, which was removed in 53 AD and replaced with a larger kingdom, which included the Batanea, the Traconitide and regions to Lebanon, to which others later added Nero. He always ruled according to the will of the Romans and even in the Jewish revolt of 66 AD, he tried to induce the Jews to surrender, therefore compensated by Rome with territorial enlargements, he reigned still obscurely until his death) was born in Rome and was very loyal to the emperor, which also had the control of the high priest. Agrippa according to the Acts of the Apostles, he met with the Apostle Paul in Caesarea in about 58.

Rome, detail of the Arch of Titus with the raid on the second Temple of Jerusalem: the Menorah can be recognised.

The public activity of Jesus began in Galilee under the reign of Herod Antipas, while Rome was Tiberius, and ended in Jerusalem then governed by the Roman procurator Pontius Pilate. The "Roman pax" allowed the Jewish people a certain autonomy: religiously and even civilly governed the Sanhedrin, a council of 70 elders led by the highest priest. Rome, however, maintained the 'order with his troops, imposed its taxes and reserved the decision in litigation that carried the death penalty. The Jewish religion enjoyed the particular status of religio licita (admitted religion) in the Roman Empire: for this reason, the Jews were exempt from making religious homage to the emperor and to the deities of the empire. Early Christianity will also enjoy this situation, having developed as a branch of Judaism.

The Jews of Palestine had a strong national identity based on religion, tradition and a corpus of writings. Between the power exercised by foreign princes or monarchs and imperial procurators or prefects, the space granted to the political life of the Jews was very limited and was expressed primarily in that council presided over by the High Priest, the Sanhedrin, who judged in religious matters, civil and criminal. We must take into account such a situation, deeply suffered by the Jews, to understand the many living ferments of Jesus' era, and then in the first century AD, some of which turned into riots or real and armed struggle movements (the two great revolts 66 AD and 132 AD that led to the destruction of the Jewish nation that also lost its name).

The great revolt of 66 AD

For provocative and oppressive attitudes of the Roman procurators and for bad government, for taxation, due to the impetus given to Romanization not well accepted, and for the development of nationalist aspirations, a revolt broke out in 66 A.D with consequent carnage on both sides. The Roman legions, led by Vespasiano and his son Tito in 67 A.D. began the reconquest, which ended with the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D by Tito. Masada, the last stronghold of Jewish resistance, was conquered only in 74 A.D.

The destruction of the temple of Jerusalem resulted at the end of sacrificial worship, the abolition of the Levitical priesthood, the disappearance of the Sadducees, and the dissolution of the Sanhedrin. The religious and cultural guide of the Jews passed to the rabbis who transformed traditional Judaism into rabbinic Judaism, which became established in the following centuries in Galilee. The process of Hellenization / Romanization proceeded with difficulties: the creation of colonies and other cities of non-Jewish culture, co-optation of the local upper classes and emigration of the Jews.

 

Caesarea, the capital of the Syria-Palestine Province

Destruction of Jerusalem (70 A.D): Palestine before and after the rebellion of 66 A.D

After the reconquest, Palestine became a Roman province with the name Judaea under an Ambassador Augusti pro pretore of senatorial rank, who had available the legion Fretensis and resided normally in Caesarea, which received the title of the colony. On the death of Agrippa II, his territory passed to the province of Judaea. In 72 AD the colony Flavia Neapolis (today Nablus) was founded, the homeland of the martyr Justin. Veterans were appropriated to Emmaus (later renamed Nicopolis) in the early third century.

Cesarea Marine: Aerial photo of the current ruins of the city of Caesarea. In the background, the modern city of Caesarea in Israel

The rebellion of 132 A.D – 135 A.D

In 106 A.D. Trajan created the province of Arabia with the capital Bostra (today Bosra al-Sham in Jordan). In the years 132-135, Palestine was devastated by the revolt of Simone bar-Kochba and by the Roman repression. Hadrian, who had promoted buildings all over the world, re-founded the city of Jerusalem with the name Colonia Aelia Capitolina, which became a city inhabited only by people of ethnic origin; it was forbidden to the Jews (to the circumcises) to enter the city. The new colony was organized according to the structure of a typical Roman city.

The region was reorganized in the Syria-Palestine province with two legions, which from 295 extended to some territories of Arabia. With the creation of the Province of Syria-Palestine at the time of Hadrian, Caesarea became the metropolis of the new province. The complete recurring title in the monuments is: Colonia Prima Flavia Augusta Felix Concordia Caesarea Metropolis of the Province of Syria Palestine. The Jews, to whom circumcision was forbidden, moved to the north (Galilee and Gaulanitis). Many cities received new names. From then until the 7th century, the new province remained in peace, for which it had an economic and cultural development; an articulated Roman road system was set up, which favoured communications.

Reorganization of the Province of Syria-Palestine

 

In 358 A.D - a new subdivision of the region in Palestine and Palestina Salutaris, the part detached from Arabia.

Around 400 A.D, the region was divided into three provinces:

• Palaestina I (Idumaea, Samaria, Perea, Judaea and the coast, with capital Caesarea)

• Palaestina II (Galilee, Esdraelon, part of the Decapolis with capital Scythopolis)

• Palaestina III also called Palaestina Salutaris (a part of Sinai and Negev and some territories located to the east of the Dead Sea, with the capital Petra

The Arab conqueror

In 614 the Sassanids occupied Jerusalem; in 629 the emperor Heraclius reconquered Palestine, but in 634 the Arabs occupied Gaza. With the battle press or the Yarmuk River in 636 the imperial army was defeated and withdrew; Damascus was occupied in 636; Jerusalem was conquered in 638, also Caesarea in 641-642. In a few years, Syria and Palestine passed under the dominion of the Arabs. (To be Continued)

Fr. Nicholas Macedon OCD

Carmelite Priory, Oxford.            

9698453101

nicholasocd@yahoo.com

nicholasocd.blogspot.com/