What were the civic privileges created for the Jews by Porcius Festus?
Upvote:2
I think @FelixGoldberg has the core of it; the source is not reliable or useful. Somewhere in one of Asimov's robot novels he has a comment about reasoning based on flawed sources & assumptions, and I think the wikipedia quote in question falls into that category.
The best I could find is the following: Apparently Porcius Festus was the least offensive of a series of procurators.
It is fair to assert that the procurators were either openly hostile or, at best, indifferent to the needs of the Jewish populace. They were notorious for their rapacity. Their relatively short tenure, coupled with hostility toward Jews as a whole, may have impelled them to amass quick profits. Whatever the case, the last two procurators before the Jewish War (66 C.E.), *Albinus and Gessius Florus, as a consequence of their monetary extortions and generally provocative acts, were indubitably instrumental in hastening the outbreak of hostilities. The only exception appears to have been Porcius *Festus (60–62 C.E.) who made vain attempts to improve conditions. Jewish Library
One commenter has pointed out that the source may have a bias. Most of the sources I consulted have similar facts, but most of them share the same underlying interest - Jewish history. I doubt that Festus was that important in Roman history as whole.
In my comment, I mentioned my hypothesis that monotheism might have been the cause of the dispute. OP indicated that I needed to clarify. In a polytheistic society such as Rome, monotheism is very suspicious. Rejection of societies shared gods implies a rejection of societies shared values and foundation. If the Jews reject Roman values, then implicitly they must not be far from rebellion. The issue wasn't that the Jews were upset by monotheism, but that the Romans were suspicious of people who rejected Gods, Virtue and laws (the concepts weren't entirely distinct).
Update - searching on the term "civic privileges" suggests that the term may be analogous to what we now term "civil rights". Viewed in this light, Festus didn't create civic privileges, but inherited the problems that are presented by the Romans granting civic privileges to Jews. If Jews had no civic privileges, but were viewed as an alien tribe, then they effectively had even less rights than slaves. Granting them civic privileges meant that some fraction of Roman legal and jurisprudential tradition applied to the Jews. The Jews on their part were perceived as not fully participating (they could not serve in the army without participating in forbidden rituals, they refused to worship the state gods, etc.)
References: * Rome, Regal and Republican (warning; links to google books have been sketchy in the past) discusses the civic privileges of the libertini.
Heritage History provides the following quote:
It is also a remarkable instance of Roman respect for established usages that notwithstanding the rebellious disposition of the Jewish community in different parts of the empire, the Romans continued to allow the Jews to retain their civic privileges in all those cities where they originally possessed them.
A Companion to the Roman Republic contains the phrase:
Assimilation to Roman ways sufficed to authorize the award of full civic privileges
The Roman Republic: A Very Short Introduction
Capua and Rome's other Italian allies again had to provide men for military service in return for Roman protection and a share of the plunder, but also had to pay a set annual tribute and received fewer civic privileges.
More post
- 📝 Why is the Harappa (Indus Valley) civilization considered one of the six independent cradles of civilization?
- 📝 Why is syncretism mostly described through an "interpretatio graeca", rather than any other polytheism?
- 📝 How was nut milk made before blenders?
- 📝 How "successful" were WWII pigeon-guided missiles?
- 📝 Is there any idea of why Cao Cao's parents would give him a nearly identical name to the family name?
- 📝 What does the eighth samurai crest / symbol in this picture signify?
- 📝 What does it mean that the early supreme court "gave themselves" the power of judicial review?
- 📝 How did Jerusalem function as an ancient city without a major water source?
- 📝 How did Jews feels in the Confederate States of America and what was their political position?
- 📝 Why would high-ranking officers wear a helmet exhibiting their rank near the enemy?
- 📝 Was "Aku Soku Zan" (悪即斬) a real Shinsengumi motto?
- 📝 What do "zones of influence" mean, according to the Treaty of Sevres after WWI?
- 📝 Should the aluminados be considered to be the roots of the illuminati mythos?
- 📝 Are there any publications in English about the Saltukid dynasty of Erzurum?
- 📝 Where can I find information on American born WWII soldier locked up until they could prove they had an American birth certificate?
- 📝 Troy: How could a city be built on top of an older one?
- 📝 Has a food taster ever thwarted an assassination attempt?
- 📝 Why do (almost) all countries have a flag, coat of arms, anthem, national holiday etc.?
- 📝 How did western saloons lock up for the night?
- 📝 Are the Zemstvo Statistics Digitized?
- 📝 Did Lord Acton ever say "freedom faces four major challenges"?
- 📝 What Were the Types of Sieges?
- 📝 Why is Nazi Germany called a "fascist" regime?
- 📝 Is Josephus a legitimate historical text?
- 📝 Were the Germans quoting Hamlet to describe their existential struggle in the Great War?
- 📝 What was Captain Vozdvit's real name?
- 📝 How would one have gone about setting up a business during Communist Revolutionary China?
- 📝 How did European monarchies become nation states?
- 📝 Did the Latins see the Etruscans as a plague?
- 📝 what city was unix invented in?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 What were the civic privileges created for the Jews by Porcius Festus?
- 📝 What were the reasons for the Renaissance / scientific revolution in Europe?
- 📝 What were the reasons for making Prohibition a constitutional amendment?
- 📝 Are there any documented examples of wooden ships which were in active service for 100 years or more? If not, what is the longest?
- 📝 What were the criteria for class ranking at West Point prior to the Civil War?
- 📝 What were Argentina's intentions for the Falkland Islanders?
- 📝 What were the original casualty projections for Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
- 📝 What were the Japanese defenses for an allied invasion of Kyushu?
- 📝 What alternative locations were considered for the United Nations?
- 📝 What were the FBI's motives for wanting to discredit MLK?
- 📝 What were the most common reasons why draft-age men were not conscripted for the Union Army?
- 📝 What were the rejected designs for the Euro symbol?
- 📝 What is the historical evidence for asserting Huns were one and the same as Xiongnu?
- 📝 What were the requirements for Ancient Greek colonist groups?
- 📝 What were the military justifications for the bombing of Dresden?
- 📝 What jobs were available for migrants from the country to Rome?
- 📝 What were the requirements in order for a man to become a burgher (or citizen) in German cities in the middle ages?
- 📝 What were the incentives for joining the Roman army before the Marian reforms?
- 📝 What options were available to MacArthur to prepare for Chinese intervention in the Korean War?
- 📝 What Land Runs were there in the U.S., and were the Indians paid for their land?
- 📝 What containers were used for food prior to the industrial era?
- 📝 What were conditions like for Chinese men subject to recruitment by the army during the Second Sino-Japanese War and Chinese Civil War?
- 📝 What were Helfrich's orders for Doorman in 1942 prior to the Battle of the Java Sea, and did he comment on these in later life?
- 📝 What were Aurangzeb Alamgir's motives for reversing much of the religious tolerance in the Mughal Empire?
- 📝 What were the plans to use the atomic bomb if it had been in time for the war in Europe?
- 📝 What were the reasons for Japan's surrender in WWII?
- 📝 What were the reasons for the Federal Art Project?
- 📝 What were the plans for governance of the Jerusalem International Zone?
- 📝 What were the key difficulties for the Romans in the conquest of Germanic tribes?
- 📝 What were the requirements for Iron Cross first and second class?