The Virtual Jewish History Tour

Rome

By Rebecca Weiner

The Classic Period

The Jewish community in Rome is known to be the oldest Jewish community in Europe and also one the oldest continuous Jewish settlements in the world, dating back to 161 B.C.E. when Jason ben Eleazar and Eupolemus ben Johanan came as envoys of Judah Maccabee. Other delegations were sent by the Hasmonean rulers in 150 and 139 B.C.E. After the Romans invaded Judea in 63 B.C.E., Jewish prisoners of war were brought to Rome as slaves, Jewish delegates came to Rome on diplomatic missions and Jewish merchants traveled to Rome seeking business opportunities. Many of those who visited Rome stayed and the Jewish population began to grow.

While the treatment of Jews by the Romans in Palestine was often harsh, relations with the rulers in Rome were generally much better. Julius Caesar, for example, was known to be a friend of the Jews; he allowed them to settle anywhere in the Roman Empire. According to historians, when Caesar was assassinated by Brutus in 44 B.C.E., Roman Jews spent day and night at Caesar’s tomb, weeping over his death. His successor, Augustus, also acted favorably toward the Jews and even scheduled his grain distribution so that it would not interfere with the Jewish Sabbath. Two synagogues were founded by slaves who had been freed by Augustus (14 C.E.) and by Agrippa (12 B.C.E.).

Twice in the Classic period, Jews were exiled from Rome, in 19 C.E. and in 49-50 C.E. The first exile took place due to the defrauding of an aristocratic Roman woman Fulvia, who had been attracted to Judaism. The second exile occurred because of disturbances caused by the rise of Christianity. It is not certain, though, that these measures were fully carried out or that the period of exile lasted a long time.

During the Roman-Jewish wars in Palestine in 66-73 and 132-135, Jewish prisoners of war were brought to Rome as slaves. A number of the oldest Jewish Roman families trace their ancestry in the city to this period. Jewish scholars from Israel came to Rome in 95-96. In 212, Caracella granted the Jews the privilege of becoming Roman citizens

The Arch of Titus was built by the Roman commander to commemorate his Judean victory in 70 C.E. It shows the triumphal parade with the Temple vessels carried aloft.

From the second half of the first century C.E., the Roman Jewish community became firmly established. A majority of the community were shopkeepers, craftsman and peddlers, but other Jews became poets, physicians and actors. Satiric poets of the time, such as Juvenal and Martial, depicted the raucous activities of the Jewish peddlers and beggars in their poetry. Evidence has been found that twelve synagogues were functioning during this period (although not at the same time). Unfortunately, none of those synagogues have been preserved.

The Christian Empire

The Jewish position in Rome began to deteriorate during the reign of Constantine the Great (306-336), who enacted laws limiting the rights of Jews as citizens. Jewish synagogues were destroyed by Christian mobs in 387-388 and in 493-526 (during the reign of Theodoric). When Rome was captured by Vandals in 455, spoils of the Jerusalem Temple were taken to Africa.

Once Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire, emperors further limited the civil and political rights of the Jews. Most of the imperial laws dealing with the Jews since the days of Constantine are found in the Latin Codex Theodosianius (438) and in the Latin and Greek code of Justinian (534). Some of the relevant decrees in these codes include prohibitions against making proselytes, intermarriage, owning slaves (slave labor was very common and this prohibition severely restricted the economic life of the Jews), holding any esteemed position in the Roman state, building new synagogues and testifying against Orthodox Christians in court.

During this period there was a revival of Hebrew studies in Rome, centered around the local yeshiva, Metivta de Mata Romi. A number of well-known scholars, Rabbi Kalonymus b. Moses and Rabbi Jacob "Gaon" and Rabbi Nathan b. Jehil (who wrote a great talmudic dictionary, the Arukh), contributed to Jewish learning and development. Roman Jewish traditions followed those practiced in the Land of Israel and the liturgical customs started in Rome spread throughout Italy and the rest of the world.

The Middle Ages

From the 1200's to the mid 1400's, treatment of the Jews varied from pope to pope. For example, in 1295, Pope Bonifice VIII humiliated a visiting Jewish delegation that was sent to congratulate him on his ascendancy; whereas, Pope Boniface IX (1389-1404) treated the Jews benevolently. He favored a succession of Jewish physicians and recognized the rights of Jews as citizens. On the other hand, Eugenius IV (1431-47) passed anti-Jewish legislation in the Council of Constance.

The Renaissance

The Jews of Rome fully participated in the flourishing economic and intellectual climate of the Renaissance. They became merchants, traders and bankers, as well as artisans. During the reign of Pope Alexander VI (1492-1503), however, a special tax was imposed on the Jews of Rome to pay for his military operations against the Turks. Later popes during the first half of the 16th Century were more sympathetic to the Jewish community than Alexander VI. The Medici Popes, Leo X (1513-1521) and Clement VII (1523-1534), treated the Jews well. Leo X abolished certain discriminatory levies, did not enforce the wearing of the badges Jews had been forced to put on in the 12th century and also sanctioned the establishment of the Hebrew Printing Press. Leo X, as well as other popes from this period, such as Sixtus IV, retained Jewish physicians in Rome.

The Ghetto

During the Reformation, in 1555, Pope Paul IV decreed that all Jews must be segregated into their own quarters (ghettos), and they were forbidden to leave their home during the night, were banned from all but the most strenuous occupations and had to wear a distinctive badge — a yellow hat. More than 4,700 Jews lived in the seven-acre Roman Jewish ghetto that was built in the Travestere section of the city (which still remains a Jewish neighborhood to this day) If any Jews wanted to rent houses or businesses outside the ghetto boundaries, permission was needed from the Cardinal Vicar. Jews could not own any property outside the ghetto. They were not allowed to study in higher education institutions or become lawyers, pharmacists, painters, politicians, notaries or architects. Jewish doctors were only allowed to treat Jewish patients. Jews were forced to pay an annual stipend to pay the salaries of the Catholic officials who supervised the Ghetto Finance Administration and the Jewish Community Organization; a stipend to pay for Christian missionaries who proselytized to the Jews and a yearly sum to the Cloister of the Converted. In return, the state helped with welfare work, but gave no money toward education or caring for the sick. These anti-Jewish laws were similar to those imposed by Nazi Germany on the Jews during World War II.

During the Reformation, talmudic literature as a whole was banned in Rome. On Rosh Hashana 1553, the Talmud and other Hebrew books were burned. Raids of the ghetto were common, and were conducted to insure that Jews did not own any "forbidden" books (any other literature besides the Bible and liturgy). It was forbidden to sing psalms or dirges when escorting the dead to their burial place. Every Saturday, a number of Jews were forced to leave the ghetto and listen to sermons delivered in local churches. Also, whenever a new Pope was ordained, the Jews presented him with a Torah scroll. Jews continued to live in the ghetto for almost 300 years.

Sources:
Bridger, David (ed.). The New Jewish Encyclopedia. Behrman House, Inc. Publishers, New York. 1962.
Eban, Abba. Heritage: Civilization and the Jews. Summit Books, New York.1984.
Johnson, Paul. A History of the Jews. Harper & Row. New York. 1987
Lachter, Lewis Eric. "When in Rome, feast on beauty and history," Washington Jewish Week, May 4, 2000.
The Jewish Community in Rome
"Rome." Encyclopedia Judaica.
"Rome" Let’s Go Europe 1990, Harvard Student Agencies, Inc.
Jewish Communities of the World

Photo Credits: Photos of medieval Jews, ghetto map, Ostia synagogue, Travestere copyright © Jews and Synagogues. EdizioniStorti Venezia. 1999, the remainder copyright © Mitchell Bard.

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