Jews and Judaism in the Mediterranean Diaspora in the Late-Roman Period: The Limitations of Evidence

Abstract

Abstract: Modem interpretations of the nature of Judaism in the Mediterranean diaspora in the late-Roman period have been based mainly on the evaluation of archaeological and epigraphic data. Such interpretations are mostly quite possible, but all involve eisegesis and (often undeclared) assumptions which are here systematically questioned. In particular, evidence customarily used to reconstruct a picture of a liberal diaspora Judaism is scrutinised to see how much of it in fact may have been produced by pagan polytheists who revered the Jewish God. The evidence from Sardis is treated as a test case. In the final section a decrease in the variety within Judaism, and a decline in the numbers of pagan polytheists worshipping the Jewish God, are postulated for the period after 388 C.E., when Roman emperors began to attack pagan shrines and to give state support to the Jewish patriarchs.