Jewish-Roman Rebellions

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

During the rule of emperor Claudius, he began to express the many great things that were detrimental to the Jewish citizens of the city. It was among the latter was the explosive relationship between the Greeks and Jews, which had erupted into riots and massacres at the news of the death of Caligula (Letter of Claudius 285). Caligula was known for his aggressive claim to divine worship that the Jews has resisted (Letter of Claudius 285). That is to say, that the Jewish people were prepared to create riots against the Alexandrians, and in these circumstances it was only natural that they as people deserve equal rights and citizenship to the Greeks.

Much like we see in daily in the media, power struggle has been a problem of humanity in many situations, and the Roman empire was no exception. The Roman Empire as a world power, extended its reach across parts of Europe, Africa, and Asia; however, the wars of conquest came with a price and especially effected the lie legionaries who had gone for years and where forced to sell their lands upon returning home (McKay, 110). After losing their lands many of the veterans were unable to find employment and would follow any leader until Gaius Marius recruited some of them to fight in Africa in return for land, however, the senate or the state refused to support Marius’ promise (McKay, 111). These events were one of the first destabilizing factors

The First Jewish-Roman war from 66 - 70 was the result of the half-century long religious and political tension between the Jewish people, Roman governors and Greco-Syrians reaching its apex. The Zealot, extremists who opposed Roman rule, created several uprisings and frequently raided and pillaged across the country side. The chaos in Jerusalem was now no longer ignorable, eventually Nero sent Vespasian and an army of 60,000 to swiftly conquer the entire country. In 70,

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