CHAPTER 4

THEROMAN
PROVINCIAL
ADMINISTRATION

RUDOLF HAENS CH

1.

PRELIMINARY REMARKS

Between the first century CE and late antiquity, Judaea seems to have been quite a
wel1:.. known part of the Roman world based on the great number of literary sources
relating to this region: the first-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus as weil as
a number oOewish and Christian texts written and edited between the second and
sixth centuries CE These authors provide a great deal of information concerning
..

the daily life of the inhabitants of Judaea, but they do not deal with all parts of the
population; for example, we do not know much about the citizens of the Roman

coloniae in Judaea (cf Belayche 2001) .. What is even more important in this regard
..

is the fact that the Jewish and Christian sources from late antiquity are not very
interested in Roman administrators and their daily routine.. Rather they are
concerned with issues and problems of daily life faced by the Jewish community
at the time of the Roman Empire's Christianization, and with the internal quarrels
of its Christian groups (for the specific problems of the interpretation of rabbinic
sources in our context see e.. g.. Goodman 1983: 5-14) .. In his work The Jewish War

(Bellum Iudaicum), Josephus gives us many pieces of information concerning the

first Roman administrators and the Roman army of the middle of the first century
CE, but he is mostly concerned with extraordinary events-some misdeeds of the

72

THE OXFORD HANDBOOK OF JEWISH DAILY LIFE

LIFE IN A ROMAN PROVINCE

govemors and then the first Jewish revolt against Rome-and not with the daily
administrative routine.

73

a member of the second ordo of the Roman society, an equestrian with the title

praefectus Iudaeae (for this period see especially Lemonon 1981; Schrer 1973-1987,

Thus, despite the large quantity of Jewish and Christian literary sources, in the

vol. 1) . The Roman administration was based in Caesarea, from where the prae

case of the Roman administration the most important sources are those which are

fectus visited Jerusalern and probably also other parts of his province, but only for
short periods (Haensch 1997: 227-28, 234-237) .

also found in other provinces, that is, inscriptions, especially those on honorific
monuments and those conceming building activities. But the number of these

There is an ongoing scholarly controversy on the question of whether Judaea was

sources is not only quite limited, they also iliuminate only certain aspects of the

a province in the fu1l sense of its meaning as, for example, the Baetica was, or

Roman provincial administration. They offer the names and titles of the govemors

was only a part of the province of Syria with a separate organization headed by the

if it

(and to a certain extent those of important members of their staff) and teil us

praefectus (see, for example, Cotton 1999: 75-81; Eck 2007b: 24-51; Lemonon 1981:

about their careers, the army as their most important executive basis, and their

59-115; Schrer 1973-1987, vol. 1: 357, 360) . Our knowledge of the early empire, its

building activity. In these inscriptions we hear almost nothing, however, about the

large provinces, and the lirnited beginning of the so-called equestrian administra

most important part of their activity, namely their jurisdiction (but see Haensch

tion seems to point to the second possibility.

2002: 326) , and we do not leam much about the impact of their activities on the

In any case, the praefectus held the most important rights of a provincial

daily life of the provincials. Thus we are quite weil informed about certain aspects

govemor, namely, the right to condemn people to death and the right to command

of Roman provincial administration of Judaea but not about others.

This situation has apparently also influenced scholarly research on the topic: to
date, no detailed study of the Roman provincial administration of Judaea during

the first three centuries CE or the last three centuries of Roman rule has been
written. Hannah Cotton and Wemer Eck are currently working on a detailed study

aovemors of the first three centuries of Roman rule, and both have tackled a
of the '"
number of questions in this context in separate articles (see bibliography). But for

military units. During this period the army of the province consisted only of the
socalled auxilia troops, that is, units recruited from non-Romans: five cohortes and
one ala, about 2500 infantry and 500 cavalry men (Josephus, Bell. 3.66; cf. Ant.
20.176; Cotton 2007: 395; Haensch 1997: 237 n. 34) . Like other equestrian govemors,
the praefectus was the only authority in his sphere of responsibility, accumulating

all relevant powers, that is to say, the jurisdiction, the military command, and the
supervision of the financial administration (pace Eck 2007b: 42 ) . In provinces with

an overview in the English language we can refer only to the respective parts of
some general studies (see, e.g. Schrer 1973-1987, vol. 1; Miliar 1993; Sartre 2001 and

a senatorial govemor, on the other hand, these powers were divided between two

2005; Tsafrir et al. 199 9-19) .

and an equestrian, the so-called financial procurator.

In this chapter I shall not deal with the administration of the neighbouing
provincia Arabia, even if a considerable number of Jews lived in its territory (as they

did in other provinces), and even though Cotton has argued that the behaviour of
the Jews living there towards the Roman govemment may have been typical of Jews
in the eastem parts of the empire (see, e.g. Cotton 1999 and 2002) . The govemors of
Arabia have been dealt with by Sartre ( 1982; see also Di Segni 1999: 166-178) , and

the administrative centres by Sartre ( 1985) and Haensch ( 1997: 238-244) The Jewish
documents were published by Lewis ( 1989) and Cotton and Yardeni ( 1997; for the
foilowing scholarly debate see, inter aha, KatzofffSchaps 2005) .

officials, each one appointed separately by the emperor: the senatorial govemor
If the praefectus of Judaea was subordinated to the govemor of Syria, this
probably meant only that the legatus Syriae could depose hirn in the case of grave
faults and could overrule his decisions in important matters. We know that the

legati Syriae did do so sometimes, but not often enough, so that some scholars
tried to explain these interventions with reference to special permissions by the
emperor. In any case, even if Judaea was only part of the province of Syria with a
special administration, like the Decapolis (Isaac 1981) and other parts of Syria
(Sartre 1999 ) , rather than a separate province, this political situation WOuld not
have made much difference to the lives of most of the provincials (conceming
the leading strata of society see Eck 2007b: 48 ) . The ethnic and religious
differences between the Jewish, Samaritan, and Heilenized pagan sectors of the
population, and the social tensions connected with them, would have mattered

2.

THE GENERAL CONDITIONS : THE PROVINCES

. . . . ...... .................................

After Herod Agrippa I had for three years (from 41 to 44 CE) united those parts
of the Herodian kingdom which had been divided between the sons of Herod in

AND THEIR BOUNDARIES

. . ................ ..... ................................

to them more.

... . . . . . . . ....

It was only after the expulsion of Archelaus in 6 CE that direct Roman rule was
po'r"hl;ol\prl in Tllrl::.P::' ::.nn S",m",ri<l. The new Dart of the empire was administered by

6 CE, from 44 CE onwards Judaea, Samaria and most parts of the Galilee were
administered again by an equestrian, now probably bearing the title procurator.

74

THE OXFORD HANDBOOK OF JEWISH DAILY LTFE

LIFE IN A ROMAN PROVINC E

75

This title had become customary for governors of equestrian rank during the reign

79-82); it was a Roman colonia-Caesarea was promoted to this status after the

of Claudius, as a consequence of certain aspects of his politics.

first revolt and perhaps even Roman veterans were settled there (Haensch 1997: 233,

In order to suppress the first Jewish revolt (66-70 CE) and to prevent another
revolt from developing, many more military units were necessary than had been
stationed in the province until 66 CE. Such a large number of units, and especially
the core formations of the Roman army, the legions, whose soldiers were Roman

n. 17; Eck 2007b: 192, 216-225)-and was therefore most suited to the needs of a
Roman governor; the lines of communication to Rome and other centres were
shorter in a harbour city; Caesarea was probably already considered ilie capital of
ilie province by the Romans (Tacitus, Hist. 2.78-4).

citizens, could be commanded by a senator only. Thus, Vespasian and the gover

On the other hand, the choice of Caesarea is astonishing because Jerusalern had

nors of Judaea from the late first until the third centuries came from this leading

been the traditional centre of the region. There the camp of the legion was

stratum of Roman society (for a list see Thomasson 1984-1990, vol. 1: 321-326,

established, whose direct commander the govemor. was. Yet similar conditions

vol. 3: 41-42; see further Eck 2006). To be more concrete, after the first revolt one

can be 0 bserved in other provinces with a garrison of one legion commanded

legion-the legio X Fretensis in Jerusalem-and a number of auxiliary soldiers,

direct1y by a praetorian governor, albeit of a later date, for example, Raetia or

corresponding altogether roughly to the number of legionaries (for a probably

Noricum (Haensch 1997, especially 365-66; idem, 2004). Once the legion was

complete list of their units-two alae and seven cohortes-see Ri\ilD V 332 from the
year 90; cf. Cotton 200T 396) were left in the province.

stationed in Jerusalern, the govemor may have spent more time there than before.
Furthermore, the roads between Caesarea and Jerusalem (and also between other

if all

cities) were apparently ameliorated at that time (Eck 1984: 27-29; idem 2007b:

senatorial governors of the so-called 'Imperial' provinces had the same title, namely,

76-77) While the governor occupied the palace built by Herod, for the procurator

To command these troops the govemor had to be of senatorial rank. Even

legatus Augusti pro praetore, there was an important difference between govemors
of provinces with two or more legions and those with a smaller military presence.
While the governors of provinces with two or more legions were senators of the
highest rank, originating from the former consuls, the governors of the rest of

a new praetorium was constructed at Caesarea (Cotton/Eck 2001; Eck 2007b: 94-96;
Haensch 199T 230-31; Patrich 2000).
Apparently, even a number of years before the Bar Kokhba revolt the Romans
got the impression that the number of soldiers stationed in Judaea was not

the provinces were chosen from the former praetors. Judaea was the first province

suffi cient. It was already during the time of Trajan, perhaps as early as 105/6 CE,

with only one legion-until then Roman provinces had either garrisons of two or

that a second legion (the legio II Traiana?) was stationed-permanently?-in the

more legions, or no legion at all. During the Julio-Claudian period, in provinces

with legions as, for example, the Tarraconensis, the governors had always been of

province (Eck 1984: 27-29, cf. idem 2007b: 104-5; on the legion see also Daris
2000: 359; Eck 2007b: 113-14). The number of auxiliary units was probably also

consular rank , and their legions had been commanded by senators of praetorian

increased at that time. Under the diplomata militaria from the later second

rank, appointed and discharged by the emperor but subordinated to the govemor

century (for a list see Eck 2006) we find two examples which list three alae and

for all matters of daily routine. Now there was one province where the govemor was
also commander-in-chief of the most important military formation (Thomasson
1973; Eck 2007b: 109-10). Perhaps these praetorian governors of Judaea were
subordinated to the govemors of Syria in ways similar to the equestrian governors
before them. Vespasian had, for example, also subordinated the praetorian governor
of Galatia to the consular legate of Cappadocia.
AB in the case of all imperial provinces with senatorial governors, the supervision

of the financial administration of the province was now dealt with by an equestrian
procurator, also appointed and discharged by the emperor and not subordinated to

twelve cohortes (CIL XVI 87 from 139 CE; EckiPangerl 2005: 101-3). Thus, even if
not all units of a provincial army are necessarily mentioned on a diploma
(sometimes there were no soldiers who had served for twenty-five years or
more in a specific unit), three alae and 12 cohortes were probably the whole
auxiliary garrison of the province. With the increase in the number of legions,
the rank of the governor was lifted. He was now chosen from the former consules.
Shortly before this reform the boundaries of the province had been extended by
including the land of Agrippa II (for a map see Tsafrir et al. 1994: 15).
From the Roman perspective, the necessity of

all of these decisions was con

the govemor. Apparently there was already one in place at the time of the first

firmed by the Bar Kokhba revolt (for the ongoing debate on its significance, see,

Jewish War (Josephus, Bell. 4.238; cf. Cotton 2007: 394).

most recently, Eck 2007a). The province which was now called 5yria Palaestina

Both Roman authorities were based at Caesarea. This is understandable in view

of the following: Caesarea had supported the Romans during the first revolt and

needed a governor wiili much experience, especially in the military field. Therefore
a consular governor was appointed and about 24,000 soldiers stationed there to

would probably not want to lose its importance; some of the buildings erected by

keep the region in a peaceful state. Further consequences of the second Jewish

Herod were already used by the Roman administration, especially by the govemor

revolt were the shift of the centre oOudaism to Galilee, because of ilie high number

(Haensch 199T 230-31; idem 2004a: 315; Patrich 2000; Cotton/Eck 2001; Eck 2007b:

of Jews who had been killed or sold into slavery in the regions traditionally settled

THE OXFORD HANDBOOK OF JEWISH DAILY LIFE

by Jews. The number and significance of the Roman, Hellenized Greek, and
Samaritan inhabitants grew to a corresponding degree in the other parts of the
province.
These central elements of provincial government persisted until the late third
century. It was apparently only after the reign of Probus (276-282 CE) that an
equestrian combined both functions, those of the senatorial governor and those of
the financial procurator (Eck 2006: 256). A combination of these offices had existed

LIFE IN A ROMAN PROVINCE

77

103) During his reign the governor of Palaestina Secunda also obtained the right to
the title of consularis (Di Segni 1995: 318 n.16). Apart from the titles designating
their function, the ranks of the governors were also specified in relation to the

ranks of the leading strata of society. Because these titles changed to a considerable
degree during the last three centuries of Roman rule,it is not useful to discuss them
in detail here.

in other provinces for some decades already. From the third century onwards, the
governor would use the administrative building of the procurator, whereas the
former palace of Herod was given up.
Probably some years later and under Diocletian at the latest, another important
change took place. The governor lost his military command,which went to the newly
created office of the so-called dux Palaestinae, who became the commander-in-chief
of the units ofPalaestina,and especially of the legio X Fretensis now stationed at Aila
(for examples, see PLRE vol. 1: 144 v. Bacurius, and SEG 31. 1496; cf. ibid. 35. 1537;
see also Di Segni 2004,especially 132-33 n. 7). As their principal residence,these duces
seem to have chosen Beer Sheva (Di Segni 2004: 132-33,in an article dealing with the
so-called Beer Sheva Edict). Perhaps at that time, and. certainly before 307 (Barnes
1982: 213-215,223; Kuhoff2001: 364-65),the boundaries ofPalestine were expanded in
the south to annex the Negev, southem Transjordan (up to the river Zared/ Wadi
Hasa) and the Sinai. Until then, these regions had been part of the provincia Arabia.
In 357/8 CE (see Barnes 1982: 214; PLRE vol. 1: 214) this huge province was divided
into two provinces, perhaps because it had become too difficult to administer:

Palaestina (Prima ?) and Palaestina salutaris, the annexed southem part of the
former provincia Arabia with Petra as its capital (for a list of the govemors of these
provinces in the late third and fourth centuries see PLRE vol. 1: 1108 and Eck 2066:
254-256; for the importance of Petra in late antiquity see Haensch 2004b and
especially Frsen et al. 2002,2007). Around 400 CE the northem part was further
divided into two provinces, Palaestina Prima and Palaestina Secunda, the last one
stretching from the area of the Jezreel valley and the Lower Galilee to the regions of
Pella and Gadara (for a map see Tsafrir et al. 1994: 17; cf. Dauphin 1998: 66-68). Its
capital became Scythopolis (Tsafrir et al. 1994: 16, 223). It seems that this form of
Roman organization of the province continued until the Islamic conquest (for a list
of the governors of the

fifth and sixth centuries see PLRE vol. 2: 1286 and PLRE

vol. 3: 2: 1490-91, cf. di Segni 1995: 317-322 and 1999: 166-178; a number of inscrip
tions,especially from Scythopolis mentioning govemors are still unpublished).
While the governors of Palaestina Secunda and Palaestina Tertia were normally
only called governor (praeses), those of Palaestina Prima could use the title

consularis up to the 370S, and afterwards the even more prestigious title of procon
suL This was because Palaestina Prima contained the core of the region of Palestine
and, even more important, enclosed many famous Christian monuments. The
privileges of the governor of Palaestina Prima were enlarged by Justinian (Novella

3 THE PERSONNEL OF THE ROMAN GOVERNORS

. ' ..................... .............. ............... ..............

.............. .............. .........

......... .

The Roman governors were not alone in dealing with the administration of their
province (see generally Haensch 1997: 710-726; Rankov 1999; for late antiquity:
Palme 1999). The govemor had, first, his slaves and freedmen at his disposal
(Eusebis of Caesarea, Martyrs of Palestine 11.24), who were not only in charge
of certam aspects of his private life but also often served hirn in confidential
matters. Sometimes his family accompanied

him. Secondly, important decisions

were usually taken only after a council of officers and socialiy eminent people had
convened (Josephus, Ant. 20.117; Acts 25.12). Some of them held a permanent
membership in this council. They were paid as so-called comites praesidis by the
Roman state and came and went with the govemor by whom they were appointed.
References in the te.,"us of Gregory the Wonderworker (3rd century CE) show that
these officials would have been accompanied by their respective family members
and servants (Panegyric to Origen 65-72).
The most important part of the personnel of a governor,at least of the senatorial
govemors of the late first to third centuries CE, came from the units of the
provincial army. For a certain period during their time of military duty, a number
of soldiers were delegated to the staff of the govemor and became so-called

officiales. The exact number of these officiales depended to a certain degree on

the strength of the provincial army: on the one hand, the units should not be
depleted of too many soldiers; on the other hand, a higher ranking governor with
more demanding tasks needed more soldiers to help hirn. Therefore provinces with

n:vo legions would have approximately twice the number of

officiales than pro

vmces with only one legion.

From the legions the soldiers with the more important tasks, and especially the

lerks,were recruited. Among these soldiers we find in Judaea (SyriaPalaestina),as

lil

other important provinces, a centurio as head of an office, three cornicularii as

supervisors of the other officiales, three commentarienses, who were especially

r sponsible for the reports (commentarii) of juridical proceedings and L.e execu

tlOn of the juridical decisions, ten or twenty speculatores as executioners, thirty or

THE OXFORD HANDBOOK OF JEWISH DAILY LIFE

LIFE IN A ROMAN PROVINCE

sixty beneficiarii as all-round officials, often sent out to other place than the apital
.
of the province (AE 2003: 1807), frumentarii (AE 2003: 1805), that lS, em1ssanes for

4. THE ACTIVITIES OF GOVERNORS

AND PROCURATORS

special missions (but not agents of a secret service), a few quaestionarii as torturers
.
(cf. Pesiqta de Rav Kahana cited by Lieberman 1944: 28-29), an uncertam number
of exceptores and librarii for the real writing work, quite a number of stratores
under the command of a centuno strator, who dealt with the govemor's horses, etc.
Without doubt the number of functions in such an officium would have expanded
durina the Hiah Empire (and therefore the number of officiales in general). For

exam le, the

fficium custodiarum (AE 2003: 1804), the department dealing th

imprisonment, seems to have been added only in the later second o th1rd

centuries. As already shown implicitly, in the case of Judaea, these OffiClalS are
mostly documented by inscriptions from Caesarea, published in the last yea s

especially by Eck and Cotton and collected in the annual volumes of Annee
Epigraphique

(AE).

From the auxiliary units came the guards of the govemors, the singulares, some
of whom were mounted on horses. Several hundreds of such soldiers had to
accompany and protect the govemor during his various duties, so

rr:e

of them

also in peaceful times (Eusebius, Martyrs of Palaestine 4. 8; 7.7; on thelr numbers

see Speidell978: 11-15; Haensch 1997: 723-24; idem, 2004: 315)

.
.
The equestrian procurator was supported by an imperial freedman Wlth the htle

procurator, who acted as his second, and by an unknown number of the emeror's serfs
and freedmen who worked as tabularii (clerks and accountants), dIspensatores
and arcarii (cashiers) etc. (Boulvert 1970; idem 1974; Haensch 1997: 725-26; Weaver
1972). He also had some soldiers delegated to hirn, probably as a sign of reverence
and to protect hirn. We know of a monument erected to one of t e procuat rs

of Syria Palaestina by a centurio strator, that is, the commander of hlS equernes, at
Caesarea (Lehmann/Holum 2000, no. 7, cf.

AE 1985. 829

Lehmann/Holum 2000,

nO4)
Late antiquity, and especially the reign of Diocletian, also brought about a
number of changes amongst the administrative staff (Palme 1999) working in the
three sections of Roman Palestine. The most important ones were the unmcation
of the officia of the legatus and of the procurator to one officium, de ing now wi

jurisdictional and financial matters, and the end of the former prachce of recr:ut

ing these officiales either from the army or the familia Caesans. Even if the officrales
of late antiquity were nominally part of the Roman army, they no longer had any
military background. The govemor's palace of t..hat time provides interesting
inscriptions from the financial department, which not only name different ranks
of officiales (Lehmann/Holum 2000, no. 90

SEG 32. 1498), but also show that one

already used phrases from the New Testament to encourage obedience to the
provincial administration (Lehmann/Holum 2000, no. 88-89)

79

As already mentioned in the introduction above, we do not know much generally

about the daily routine of the govemors and procurators of Roman Palestine,
except for those activities which are reflected in inscriptions, that is, their building
projects and the monuments erected to honour them. Only from the times of
Justinian do we have a catalogue of the duties of the proconsul Palaestinae I from his
Novella 103. From various other sources we get some insight into the activities of
earlier govemors and procurators (for a general overview see for example Eck 1998:
107-145, 167-185; Demougin 2007; Haensch 2006; for late antiquity, see Slootjes
2006 and Palme 2007)
At different points in his work Eusebius mentions those govemors of the late
third and early fourth centuries who tried to stop the Christianization of the
province by condemning Christians to forced labour or death, as the emperors
had ordered them (Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica 6. 39. 2: Decius; ibid. 7.12:
Valerian; ibid. 7.15: Gallienus. Eusebius, Martyrs of Palestine: Diocletian <Uld the
other tetrarchs). Especially ilIuminating for the linlited radius of action of a
govemor in his province is Eusebius' report about the Christian martyrs under
Valerian (Historia Ecclesiastica 7.12): these Christians had to go to Caesarea to
provoke the govemor; otherwise they would not have been molested, since they
were living in the countryside. The report suggests that a huge part of the popula
tion lived outside of the perception of a govemor unless they tried to call his
attention to themselves. This corresponds to what recent studies have shown about
the Galilee (Goodman 1983; see generally Miliar 1981).
-The jurisdiction of a govemor did not only deal with the most important crimes
(Eck 2007b: 103), but also with a number of minor affairs. Of course, these were
often delegated to judges appointed by hirn, the so-called iudices delegati (cf. y.
Meg. 3:2, 74b referred to by Goodman 1983: 155-56; see further Cotton/Eck 2005).
A recently published inscription from late antique Caesarea offers a full catalogue
of fees, not only in the context of criminal trials but also for minor jurisdictional
acts (Di Segni/Patrich/Holum 2003

AE 2003: 1808, cf. BE 2004: 394). These

juridical duties were without doubt the most important part of the tasks of a
governor. Thus, the typical presentation of a govemor, at least during the third and
following centuries, was that of a judge sitting on his high tribunal (Eusebius,
Martyrs of Palestine 7.7). People are shown waiting for their trials before the

praetorium (ibid. 7. 1). If one was accused, one could not escape from the com
mentarii (cf. Sifre Num. 180, 1:21, Pinhas 134 referred to by Goodman 1983: 166
n. 144; for commentarii in general see Haensch 1992: 209-245).

80

THE OXFORD HANDBOOK OF JEWISH DAILY LIFE

Eusebius also mentions other aspects of the daily routine of a governor,such as

offering sacrifices (Martyrs of Palestine 4. 8; see generally Eck 1998: 203-217), and
his presence at games (Martyrs of Palestine 3. 3). Papyri offer further insight into
the activities of the higher Roman officials during the High Empire. For example,a
petition published in Papiri greci e latine, pubblicazioni della Societa Italiana no.
1026

Corpus papyrorum latinarum 117; translated in Campbeil 1994: 201-2) is

one of the thousands of petitions submitted to governors in Roman times

(Haensch 1994). In this case, dismissed soldiers asked for confirmation of their
dismissal from a legion and not the fleet (where they had begun their military
service),because they feared that without such a confirmation they would not get
all their privileges as veterani legionis. A second papyrus document (Sammelbuch

LIFE IN A ROMAN PROVINCE

social background, their tasks, and especially their role between the different
religious groups and leaders living in the province.
The use and interpretation of rabbinic sources for the historical investigation of
various aspects of Roman rule in Palestine is a very complex task because of these
texts' a-historical nature,that is,the impossibility to date them accurately,and the
prevalence of indirect allusions rather than direct references to historical events
and personages (see generally Goodman 1983: 5-14). Therefore interdisciplinary
approaches,in which classicists,ancient historians,and scholars of rabbinic litera
ture cooperate and share their respective expertise,seem to be the most appropriate
way forward.

griechischer Urkunden aus Aegypten no. n043, translated in Eck 2007b: 149; for an
interpretation see Haensch 1992: 274 n. 186) shows how such a veteranus tried to
obtain the right to a piece of land which apparently had been part of his pension.
Both of these papyri are typical in a certain way: if one wanted to get the
Roman administration involved in one's problems,one had to directly approach
the responsible officials. Otherwise,provincials would have had difficulties gain
ing these officials' attention. The Roman authorities were primarily interested in
keeping peace, collecting taxes, and supporting the local administrators if they
encountered problems. From a legal point of view,the governor had to decide the
most important criminal cases. But if he was not informed of such cases, he
would not take any action on his own initiative. While the Greek and Roman
sectors of the population would not normaily have had any problems in ap
proaching the governor, at least after 136 CE some Jewish provincials may have
refrained from doing so (but see Gen. R. 49:9: 'R. Yehudah b. R. Shimon said: rIn
i
the case of) a mortal, one can hang up [i.e. announce} against hirn an app'eal,
from the commander [dux} to the prefect, from the prefect to the commander in

.. . ..... . . .... . . .. . . . .. .
..

..

SUGGESTED READING
.. .. ..

.. . ..... . .... . ..... . .. ... . . . . . .... . . . . . . .... . . . . . . ... . . . . .. . . . .. . .

.. ..

..

The most comprehensive work dealing with the history of Roman Palestine from
tlIe first century BCE to the second century CE is the revised English edition of
Schrer (1973-87). Cotton and Eck have advanced our knowledge about tlIe Roman
administration in Judaea/Syria Palaestina, especially during the second and third
centuries CE, in a number of studies,which are partly summarized by Eck (2007b).
Jones (1964) remains the most comprehensive survey of late antiquity. Compara
tively little research effort has been devoted to the functioning of the Roman state,
especially in the provinces,during this period (Slootjes 2006 collected only a part of
the relevant material; for a number of studies dealing with specific problems see the
journal Antiquite Tardive 6,1998 and 7,1999).

chief '; see also ibid. 64:10 and b. Meg. 29a for rabbis' awareness of the possibility
of such appeals).

ABBREVIATIONS

5.

DIRECTIONS FOR FUTURE SCHOLA RSHIP

AE

BE
Generally speaking,the history of Judaea as a province in late antiquity is a topic
which has not yet been weil researched. We do possess a number of studies that deal
with the specific problems and internal quarrels of Jews and Christians in Judaea
during that time. But not much research has been done on the administrative
structure of the province and the more 'secular' aspects of its history. For example,
one could examine the situation of the governors of late antique Palestine: their

. ... . . . . ... . .. .. . . .... . . ......... .. . .....

n

Annee Epigraphique, Paris: Presses Universitaires de France 1889 ff.

Bulletin Epigraphique, annual part of Revue des Etudes Grecques, Paris: Les

Beiles Lettres,1888 ff.

CIL

Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum.

PLRE

T he Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, 3 vols. ed. J.- R. Martindale

et al., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,1971-1992.

RMD

Roman Military Diplomas, ed. M.-M. Roxan and P. Holder, London:

Institute of Classical Studies,1978 ff.

SEG

Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum, Leiden and Boston: Brill, 1923 ff.

82

THE OXFORD HANDBOOK OF JEWISH DAILY LIFE

LIFE IN A ROMAN PROVINCE

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ROMAN Palestine is unique in the diversity and complexity of its sources for its legal

system and the settlement of disputes. Many written sources, as elsewhere in the
Roman world, reflect upper-dass perspectives. The Roman jurists who commen
tated on provincial jurisdiction were themselves members of that upper dass and
wrote ithin a legal tradition which did not always reflect changing realities 'on the
.
ground . In Palestme the works of the historian Flavius Josephus are all-important

as source material, but he is also in many respects biased. More significant is the
extensive rabbinic literature, which represented the rabbis as, in some sense,
adjudicators with courts or as informal legal advisors and judges. As we shall see,
there is little consensus as to how this literature should be read as evidence for the
realities of dispute settlement. In addition, there are increasing numbers of papyri,

otably from the so-called Babatha Archive, which provide an alternative perspec
tlve to that provided by both the Roman and rabbinic sources.

". ' "

.. .. . . .. . . . .. . . . .
..

..

1.

....

JUDICIAL DIVERSITY

. .. . .. . . . . . . . . . . .
..

..

..

.""" """" . " " ,, ." ""." ..""" . "." ..

"

... " .... """ .. ." ..""".",,

Courts and judges existed for a number of reasons:

to punish crimes or offences
against the community; to provide remedies
for wronged individuals; and to