A SOCIO–HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF JEWISH

BANDITRY IN FIRST CENTURY PALESTINE:

6 TO 70 CE

By

LAWRENCE RONALD LINCOLN

Thes is submi t ted in par t ia l fu l f i lmen t o f the requ i rements fo r

the degree

o f MPh i l (Anc ien t Cu l tu res )

a t the

Un ivers i t y o f S te l lenbosch

November 2005

SUPERVISOR

Professor Johann Cook

DECLARATION

I , Lawrence Rona ld L inco ln , the unders igned , hereby dec la re

tha t the work con ta ined in th i s thes is i s my own o r ig ina l work

and has no t p rev ious ly in i t s en t i re ty o r in par t been submi t ted

a t any un ive rs i t y fo r a degree .

S igna tu re : Da te :

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am indeb ted to the fo l low ing persons fo r the i r uns t in t ing

suppor t and ass is tance dur ing the t ime i t took to research and

wr i te th i s thes is :

I am espec ia l l y indeb ted to Pro fessor Johann Cook fo r h is

ex t raord inary suppor t and pa t ience dur ing the t ime i t took to

wr i te th i s thes is . H is un fa i l i ng encouragement and scho la r l y

ass is tance as I g rapp led w i th the comp lex i t i es o f the chosen

theme was remarkab le and i s deep ly apprec ia ted .

Gra t i tude mus t a lso be ex tended to the Depar tment o f Anc ien t

S tud ies fo r the enr i ch ing p rogramme prov ided in the M. Ph i l

degree as we l l as the en thus ias t i c and f r iend ly lec tu r ing s ta f f

who opened one ’s eyes to the r i chness o f the anc ien t wor ld .

Las t , bu t no t leas t , my long-su f fe r ing fami l y , espec ia l l y my

w i fe , An thea , who unse l f i sh ly gave me the t ime and space to

see th is work th rough to i t s end .

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE

ABSTRACT 1

OPSOMMING 3

ABBREVIATIONS 6

1 CHAPTER 1 7

1 .1 In t roduc t ion 7

1 .2 The Research Prob lem 12

1 .3 Methodo logy 14

1 .4 Sources 19

1 .4 .1 Josephus 19

1 .4 .2 Josephus ’s re l iab i l i t y as an h is to r ian 20

1 .4 .3 O ther Sources 23

1 .5 The S ta te o f the Research 25

1 .6 Hobsbawm And Soc ia l Band i ts 28

1 .7 Hobsbawm: An Ana lys is o f the Mode l 29

1 .8 R ichard Hors ley and Jewish Soc ia l Band i ts 35

1 .9 Landsberger and Rura l P ro tes t Movements 37

2 CHAPTER 2 41

2 .1 The Lega l and Po l i t i ca l Background : Rome 41

2 .2 The Lega l Background : Jew ish Law 46

2 .3 Who became a band i t? 52

2 .4 Soc ia l Band i ts 60

2 .5 Band i ts and V io lence 64

2 .6 Po l i t i cs and Economics 66

2 .7 The Band i t as Revo lu t ionary 71

3 CHAPTER 3 74

3 .1 H is to r i ca l Background 74

3 .2 The Or ig ins o f I s rae l i te Peasan t Soc ie ty 76

3 .3 A Po l i t i ca l , Economic , and Soc ia l H is to ry o f the Jewish Peasan t ry 81

3 .4 Roman In te rven t ion 85

3 .5 The Po l i t i ca l and Mi l i ta ry D imens ion 87

3 .6 The Economic S i tua t ion 94

4 CHAPTER 4 103

4 .1 Jewish Rebe ls and Band i t s 103

4 .2 The Band i ts and The i r Agenda 131

4 .3 Josephus and the Band i t s 134

5 CHAPTER 5 146

5 .1 Band i t ry and Peasan t Pro tes t Movements : An A l te rna t i ve V iew

146

5 .2 Pro tes t Movements 151

6 CHAPTER 6 159

6 .1 Conc lus ion 159

B IBL IOGRAPHY 169

ABSTRACT

Th is thes is se ts ou t to examine , as fa r as poss ib le w i th in the

cons t ra in ts o f a l im i ted s tudy such as th i s , the na tu re o f the

Jew ish p ro tes t movement aga ins t the occupa t ion o f the i r

homeland by the Roman Empi re in the years a f te r the te r r i to ry

had become a d i rec t p rov ince o f the Empi re . These p ro tes ts

were ma in ly ins t iga ted by and in i t i a l l y l ed by Jew ish peasan ts

who exper ienced the wors t aspec ts o f becoming a par t o f the

la rger Roman wor ld . Th is s tudy w i l l a rgue tha t Roman ru le

fundamenta l l y th rea tened the su rv iva l o f the peasan t ry on a

number o f f ron ts : po l i t i ca l , economic , soc ia l and re l ig ious . I t

w i l l be fu r ther a rgued tha t the Jewish band i t s were no t un ique

in th i s respec t and tha t band i t r y and peasan t revo l t s were

common in the anc ien t wor ld and down to modern t imes .

The s tudy o f peasan t p ro tes t movements i s a re la t i ve ly new

f ie ld in h is to r i ca l / soc ia l s tud ies and there have been a few

a t tempts made to c rea te mode ls and f rameworks in o rder to

dea l w i th the complex i t i es o f t r y ing to exp la in and unders tand

how soc ie t ies d is in tegra te and resor t to ex t ra - lega l ac t i v i t i es

in cha l leng ing the s ta tus quo . An in te res t ing soc io log ica l

mode l was f i r s t p roposed by Er i c Hobsbawm wh ich he ca l led

soc ia l band i t ry in wh ich he typecas t ce r ta in k inds o f band i t s .

Th is thes is w i l l examine th is mode l aga ins t the background o f

the scan t in fo rmat ion ava i lab le and de te rmine whether th i s

mode l i s app l i cab le to the Jewish band i t s o f the f i r s t cen tu ry .

I t w i l l be fu r ther a rgued tha t the b r igandage and descen t in to

po l i t i ca l chaos and v io lence shou ld be seen no t mere ly as

i so la ted band i t a t tacks and p rovoca t ions , bu t aga ins t the

w ider backdrop o f a soc ie ty a t odds w i th i t se l f and i t s inab i l i t y

1

t o adap t to the ex igenc ies imposed on i t by a fo re ign

occupy ing power .

Th is thes is w i l l l ook a t band i t r y f rom a b road h is to r i ca l

pe rspec t i ve in an t iqu i t y and then examine the p rec ise

h is to r i ca l , soc ia l , po l i t i ca l and re l ig ious c i rcumstances tha t

p reva i led in Pa les t ine p r io r to and a f te r the Romans imposed

d i rec t ru le ove r the Jewish te r r i to r ies . Band i t ry w i l l be

examined as a genera l phenomenon o f an t iqu i t y and the

Roman wor ld , i n par t i cu la r . In do ing so , i t w i l l be necessary t o

engage w i th the works o f Josephus who p rov ided a un ique ly

fu l l record o f these t imes , a lbe i t one tha t p resen ts i t own se ts

o f cha l lenges . Th is s tudy w i l l examine Josephus ’s nar ra t i ve in

re la t ion to the l i t e ra ry t rad i t i ons and conven t ions o f h is to ry

wr i t i ng o f h is age and a rgue tha t h is in te rp re ta t ion o f the

band i ts and the band i t g roups and the i r ac t ions matched those

o f o ther au thors f rom an t iqu i t y when dea l ing w i th cha l lenges

to s ta te power .

An a l te rna t i ve f ramework w i l l be used by wh ich i t w i l l be

sugges ted tha t the Jewish band i t s and the i r ac t i v i t i es shou ld

ra ther be seen as par t o f a p rocess o f a w idespread ru ra l

p ro tes t movement . A l though th is f ramework was deve loped fo r

use in examin ing modern peasant movements , i t w i l l be

demons t ra ted tha t i t i s remarkab ly app l i cab le to the po l i t i ca l ,

economic , soc ia l and ideo log ica l c i r cumstances o f f i r s t

cen tu ry Pa les t ine . Th is t hes is w i l l conc lude w i th a sec t ion in

wh ich modern band i t r y i s desc r ibed w i th the a im o f

demons t ra t ing tha t g iven the r igh t se t o f c i r cumstances ,

band i t r y as a phenomenon, w i th the consequen t b reakdown o f

c i v i l d i so rder , i s un ive rsa l th roughou t the wor ld and

th roughou t a l l t imes .

2

OPSOMMING H ie rd ie tes is poog , om so ver moont l i k b inne d ie begrens inge

van ‘n beperk te s tud ie soos d ie , d ie aard van d ie Joodse

p ro tesbeweg ing teen d ie bese t t ing van hu l le tu i s land deur d ie

Romeinse Ryk te ondersoek in d ie ja re nada t d ie geb ied ‘n

d i rek te p rov ins ie van d ie Ryk geword he t . H ie rd ie p ro tes te i s

hoo fsaak l i k aangeh i ts en aanvank l i k ge le i deur Joodse

landbewoners wa t d ie e rgs te aspek te be lee f he t van dee l word

van d ie g ro te r Romeinse wêre ld . H ie rd ie s tud ies sa l aanvoer

da t d ie Romeinse Ryk d ie oor lew ing van d ie k le inboere

fundamentee l op ‘n aan ta l f ron te bedr ieg he t : po l i t i es ,

ekonomies , sos iaa l en re l ig ieus . D i t sa l ve rder aanvoer da t d ie

Joodse s t ru ik rowers n ie un iek in h ie rd ie aspek was n ie , maar

da t rowery en p la t te landse ops tande rede l i k a lgemeen was in

d ie an t ieke wêre ld en se l f s to t i n moderne tye .

D ie s tud ie van p ro tesbeweg ings onder landbewoners i s ‘n

re la t iewe nuwe ve ld in h is to r ies /sos ia le s tud ies en ‘n paar

pog ings i s aangewend om mode l le en raamwerke te skep om

met d ie komp leks i te i te te behande l ten e inde te p robeer

ve rdu ide l i k en te ve rs taan hoe samelew ings d is in tegreer en

hu l le na bu i tewet l i ke ak t iw i t i e te wend om d ie s ta tus quo u i t te

daag . ‘n In te ressan te sos io log iese mode l i s d ie eers te keer

deur Er i c Hobsbawn voorges te l ; hy he t d i t “ sos ia le rowery ”

genoem en sekere t ipes rowers daar in ge t ipeer . H ie rd ie tes is

sa l d ie mode l teen d ie ag te rg rond van d ie ka r ige in l ig t ing

besk ikbaar , ondersoek en bepaa l o f d i t toepas l i k i s op d ie

Joodse rowers van d ie eers te eeu . D i t sa l ve rder aanvoer da t

d ie s t ru ik rowery en verva l to t po l i t i eke chaos en gewe ld n ie

ne t as ge ïso leerde roweranva l le en u i t ta r t ing ges ien moet

word n ie , maar teen d ie wyer ag te rg rond van ‘n same lew ing in

3

s t ryd met hu l lese l f en hu l le onvermoë om aan te pas by d ie

ve re is tes wa t deur ΄n v reemde besse t t ingsmag op hu l le

a fgedwing i s .

H ie rd ie tes is sa l rowery vanu i t ‘ n b reë h is to r iese perspek t ie f

i n d ie oudhe id bekyk en sa l dan d ie p res iese h is to r iese ,

sos ia le , po l i t i ese en ge loo fsomstand ighede ondersoek wa t in

Pa les t ina bes taan he t to t na d ie Romeine d i rek te beheer oor

d ie Joodse geb iede a fgedwing he t . Rowery sa l as ‘n a lgemene

verskynse l i n d ie oudhe id en spes i f i ek in d ie Romeinse wêre ld

ondersoek word . Sodoende sa l d i t nod ig wees om aan te s lu i t

by d ie werke van Josephus wat ‘n un ieke vo l led ige rekord

verska f van h ie rd ie t ye , a l i s d i t een wat sy e ie u i tdag ings

b ied . H ie rd ie s tud ie sa l Josephus se verhaa l in ve rhoud ing to t

d ie l i t e rê re t rad is ies en konvens ies van gesk iedkund ige

sk rywes van sy t yd ondersoek , en aanvoer da t sy

in te rp re tas ies van d ie rowers en rowergroepe en hu l le

op t redes ge lyks taande i s aan d ie van ander sk rywers van d ie

oudhe id wanneer s taa tsmag u i tgedaag i s .

‘ n A l te rna t iewe raamwerk sa l gebru ik word waar in d i t

voorges te l sa l word da t d ie Joodse rowers en hu l le ak t iw i t i e te

eerder ges ien moet word as ‘n p roses van wydverspre ide

lande l i ke p ro tesbeweg ings . A lhoewe l h ie rd ie raamwerk

on tw ikke l i s om ondersoek in te s te l na moderne

rowerbeweg ings , sa l d i t aangedu i word da t d i t opmerk l i k

toepas l i k i s op d ie po l i t i ese , ekonomiese , sos ia le en

ideo log iese omstand ighede van eers te eeuse Pa les t ina .

H ie rd ie tes is sa l e ind ig met ‘n a fde l ing waar moderne rowery

beskry f word met d ie doe l om te toon da t , gegewe d ie reg te

omstand ighede , rowery as ‘n ve rskynse l en d ie

4

daaropvo lgende a fb reek van s i v ie le o rde deur a l le t ye

un ive rsee l i s .

5

ABBREVIATIONS ANRW Au fs t ieg und N iedergang der Römischen Wel t .

CBQ Catho l i c B ib l i ca l Quar te r l y

DIG D iges ta

DSL De Spec ia l ibus Leg ibus

JRS Journa l o f Roman S tud ies

JSJ Journa l fo r the S tud ies o f Juda ism in t he Pers ian ,

Hel len is t i c and Roman Per iod

NTS New Tes tament S tud ies

6

CHAPTER 1 1 .1 INTRODUCTION

The two s ign i f i can t even ts f rom f i r s t cen tu ry Pa les t ine tha t

had a p ro found impac t on h is to ry down to modern t imes , bo th

came abou t as the resu l t o f peasan t upr i s ings . I n the f i r s t ,

Jew ish peasan ts , f rus t ra ted by years o f po l i t i ca l and

economic ins tab i l i t y , toge ther w i th cons tan t a t tacks aga ins t

the i r re l i g ious sens ib i l i t i es , f i na l l y rose up aga ins t the migh t

o f Roman oppress ion in a b loody revo l t wh ich las ted f rom 66 -

70 CE. The second even t was se t in mot ion by the teach ings

o f Jesus , a Jew f rom Ga l i l ee , who insp i red h is fo l lowers a f te r

h is dea th to es tab l i sh a re l ig ion wh ich wou ld subsequent l y

become the dominan t fa i th o f the wes te rn t rad i t i on .

The war aga ins t Rome resu l ted in t he devas ta t ion o f

Pa les t ine , the des t ruc t ion o f the temp le and the end o f a

Jew ish homeland in Pa les t ine fo r more than two thousand

years . Wi thou t the temp le as i t s cen t ra l focus , the Jew ish fa i t h

recons t ruc ted i t se l f i n to a fo rm o f Ta lmud ic o r Rabb in ica l

Juda ism in o rder to con t inue the co l lec t i ve re l ig ious , cu l tu ra l

and lega l t rad i t i ons o f the Mosa ic code and the Hebrew

Scr ip tu res . The Chr is t ian movement even tua l l y tu rned i t s back

on i t s Jew ish roo ts and spread i t s un ique iden t i t y th roughou t

the Roman wor ld and beyond by teach ing the word o f Jesus

th rough i t s own se t o f re l ig ious l i t e ra tu re , the Gospe ls . Bo th

these h is to r i ca l l y c r i t i ca l even ts came abou t as the d i rec t

resu l t o f a long ser ies o f up r i s ings , revo l t s and d is tu rbances

by the Jewish peasan t ry .

7

Notw i ths tand ing the g rea t dea l o f research tha t has gone in to

unders tand ing the Jewish revo l t and the second temp le per iod ,

much o f th i s research has focussed on the s tudy o f g roups ,

e l i tes and the minor i t y l i t e ra ry s t ra ta and in par t i cu la r , the

theo log ica l aspec ts concern ing th i s per iod . Our knowledge and

unders tand ing o f the la te second temp le per iod has been

t rad i t i ona l l y based on the h is to r i ca l works o f Josephus , the

Jewish sc r ip tu res , the Chr is t ian Gospe ls and an assor tment o f

re la t i ve ly lesse r impor tan t Graeco-Roman documenta ry

ev idence f rom the per iod . More recen t a rchaeo log ica l s tud ies ,

and in par t i cu la r the in te rp re ta t ions o f the Dead Sea Scro l l s

has g rea t l y expanded our knowledge o f the per iod .

However , the complex i t y o f Pa les t in ian Jewish soc ie ty as we l l

as the in t r i ca te se r ies o f even ts lead ing to the Jewish revo l t

has no t been adequate ly addressed un t i l fa i r l y recen t t imes .

The fac t i s tha t f i r s t cen tu ry Jewish Pa les t ine , a l though a

m inor ou tpos t on the edges o f t he Roman Empi re was very

d i f fe ren t i n many respec ts f rom the o ther te r r i to r ies under

Roman con t ro l and in f luence . The Jewish peop le were

un ique ly d i f fe ren t in many ways and Rome became

inc reas ing ly f rus t ra ted in i t s a t tempts to t r y and pac i f y t h i s

sma l l , heads t rong , and occas iona l l y rebe l l i ous peop le on the

per iphery o f i t s domains .

I t i s ve ry d i f f i cu l t to speak o f a Pa les t in ian Jewish peop le as

th i s te rm ser ious ly under -es t imates the in t r i cac ies o f wha t th i s

soc ie ty was composed o f . T rad i t i ona l t rea tments o f Jew ish

soc ie ty have focussed the i r e f fo r t s la rge ly on exp la in ing and

unders tand ing the p r ies t l y a r i s toc racy , the ma jo r g roup ings

such as the Phar i sees and the Sadducees , and the way these

g roups in te rac ted amongs t themse lves and as c l ien t ru le rs fo r

8

the Romans . Never the less , demograph ica l l y these g roups

represen ted on ly a ve ry sma l l po r t ion o f Jew ish soc ie ty , as the

la rges t g roup was the Jewish peasan t ry wh ich compr ised some

90-95% o f the to ta l popu la t ion , as was the accep ted norm fo r

anc ien t agra r ian soc ie t ies (Hors ley 1993 : i x ) . Nor is i t

poss ib le to pa in t a coheren t p ic tu re o f Juda ism based on ly on

the l i t e ra ry ou tpu t o f a few ind iv idua ls and g roups who

represen ted a sma l l sec t ion o f the soc ia l s t ruc tu re .

The Jewish peasan t ry was la rge ly i l l i t e ra te , despera te ly poor ,

and inc reas ing ly land less and burdened by taxes tha t were

ma in ly spen t on suppor t ing the l i f es ty le o f the p r ies t l y e l i t es

and o ther a r i s toc ra t i c g roup ings . Ye t , i t was th is soc ia l g roup

tha t represen ted the dynamic fo rce wh ich p rov ided the

insp i ra t ion and energy to undermine and con f ron t the power o f

Rome, a t f i r s t by means o f a se r ies o f unconnec ted rebe l l i ous

ac t ions , and la te r by becoming par t o f the genera l ou tb reak o f

a fu l l sca le war in 66CE.

Anc ien t h is to r i ca l sources d id no t devo te themse lves to

ana ly t i ca l s tud ies o f peasan t l i f e and i f even aware o f the i r

ex is tence , genera l l y v iewed the “common peop le ” as no t

su f f i c ien t l y no tewor thy fo r a read ing aud ience tha t m i r ro red

the i r own p r i v i l eged l i t e ra ry pos i t i on . The anc ien ts d id no t

compar tmenta l i ze l i f e in to de f inab le sec to rs o f human

endeavour l i ke economics , po l i t i ca l , soc ia l and re l ig ious , bu t

saw a l l o f l i f e and i t s do ings as a un i f i ed who le . Scho la rs o f

an t iqu i t y a re cha l lenged to c rea te workab le mode ls tha t w i l l

make anc ien t soc ie t ies comprehens ib le in the p resen t .

I t was on ly in the 1950 ’s tha t soc ia l sc iences s ta r ted to pay

ser ious a t ten t ion to the na tu re o f peasan t soc ie t ies (Har land

9

2002 : 511) . S ince then soc ia l sc ien t i f i c s tud ies tha t have had

an in f luence fo r scho la rs o f Juda ism and Chr is t ian i t y o f the

f i r s t cen tu ry have been , mos t no tab ly Rober t Red f ie ld ’s

Peasant Soc ie ty and Cu l tu re (1956) and Er i c Wo l f ’ s

an th ropo log ica l s tudy , Peasants (1966) , to name bu t a few

(Har land 2002 : 513) . The two recen t works tha t have

cha l lenged the conven t iona l v iews regard ing Jew ish band i t s

and the ru ra l p ro tes t movements have been by R ichard

Hors ley w i th John Hanson, Band i ts , P rophe ts and Mess iahs

(1985 , 1999) and Hors ley ’s Jesus and the Sp i ra l o f V io lence

(1987 , 1993) . In bo th these works , Hors ley has examined the

r i se and deve lopment o f the soc ia l con f l i c t i n Pa les t ine by

means o f a de ta i led examina t ion o f the h is to r i ca l na r ra t i ve o f

Josephus and re -eva lua ted these by means o f a soc io log ica l

approach us ing re la t i ve ly recen t modern ana ly t i ca l too ls in

o rder to a r r i ve a t a c leare r unders tand ing o f the na tu re o f the

con f l i c t and the peasan t popu la t ion who were the ma in

dynamic fo rce tha t led to the revo l t i n 66 CE.

The s tandard in te rp re ta t ion fo r the va r ious band i t movements

wh ich Josephus descr ibed as be ing one o f the ma jo r causes o f

the d is in tegra t ion o f Jew ish soc ie ty and cause o f the war

aga ins t Rome, have t rad i t i ona l l y been in te rp re ted as a w ide-

spread po l i t i ca l and re l ig ious movement ca l led the Zea lo ts . 1

Accord ing to th i s v iew, the zea lo ts can be t raced back in a

long l i ne to the ‘Four th Ph i losophy ’ wh ich was founded by

Judas the Ga l i l ean and who were descr ibed by Josephus a t

1 M. Henge l : (1961) has been the lead ing and mos t in f luen t ia l

commenta to r to ho ld th i s v iew in wh ich he uses the te rms band i ts , S ica r i i and zea lo ts as i f they were one and the same th ing .

10

var ious t imes as band i t s , b r igands and S icar i i who consp i red

toge ther to b r ing abou t the revo l t aga ins t Roman ru le in 66

CE. Hors ley a rgues tha t th i s approach was used to p lace

e i the r a theo log ica l o r po l i t i ca l sp in on the even ts . On the one

hand i t meant tha t theo log ians and scho la rs cou ld separa te

Jesus f rom the accusa t ion o f be ing assoc ia ted w i th rebe ls ,

zea lo ts and b r igands and o thers in oppos i t i on to Roman and

Jewish au thor i t i es by dep ic t ing h im as a non-v io len t pac i f i s t ,

( ‘ l ove thy enemy ’ ) ; wh i le on the o ther hand i t a l so served as a

po l i t i ca l means o f l i nk ing the zea lo ts w i th more modern

movements fo r Jew ish l i be ra t ion , such as the Z ion is t

movement , and in o rder to es tab l i sh a power fu l metaphor fo r

Jew ish res i l i ence and b ravery aga ins t un to ld odds fo r co -

re l ig ion is ts who were p repared to lay down the i r l i ves fo r

f reedom and na t iona l l i be ra t ion , much l i ke the S icar i i were

a l leged to have done a t Masada (Hors ley 1993 : x ) .

Wh i le the re ex is ts an ex tens ive body o f l i t e ra tu re on one

sec to r o f anc ien t Jew ish Pa les t in ian soc ie ty , tha t i s the e l i t e

re l ig ious and ru l ing s t ra ta , the re i s a g rea t dea l tha t rema ins

to be researched abou t t he la rges t g roup o f the peop le , the

peasan ts . Th is work in tends to focus p r imar i l y on the ru ra l

p ro tes t movements ca r r ied ou t la rge ly by these peasan t

p ro tagon is ts tha t subsumed Pa les t ine in the years be tween 6

and 66 CE. These ru ra l revo l t s took on a number o f fo rms ,

amongs t wh ich a pecu l ia r fo rm known as soc ia l band i t r y , a

v iew la rge ly p romoted by Hors ley , p layed a lead ing par t i n

con t r ibu t ing to the b reakdown o f l aw and o rder in the

coun t rys ide . Wh i l s t th i s ce r ta in ly i s a fac to r to be dea l t w i th in

de ta i l , i t , on i t s own does no t p rov ide su f f i c ien t g rounds fo r

exp la in ing how unconnec ted band i t - l i ke ac t ions and unre la ted

p ro tes t even ts resu l ted in revo lu t ion . Th is work w i l l the re fo re

11

at tempt to ana lyze the peasan t ru ra l up r i s ing on a number o f

f ron ts in o rder to adequa te l y address the h is to r i ca l

comp lex i t i es o f the s i tua t ion on the one hand and on the

o ther , a r r i ve a t an adequa te soc io log ica l unders tand ing o f

ru ra l soc ia l un res t in anc ien t peasan t soc ie t ies . A t ten t ion w i l l

a l so be focussed on the phenomenon o f band i t r y as i t

occur red in the Roman wor ld in genera l and the po l i t i ca l ,

m i l i t a ry and lega l reac t ions to i t , w i th spec ia l re fe rence to how

band i t ry was repor ted on and por t rayed by the l i t e ra te Graeco-

Roman wr i te rs o f the an t iqu i t y .

1.2 THE RESEARCH PROBLEM

Band i t ry in i t s va r ious fo rms i s the mos t p r im i t i ve fo rm o f

o rgan ized soc ia l p ro tes t by ru ra l peasan t popu la t ions

(Hobsbawm 1959 : 13) . Accord ing to Josephus , band i t ry was

one o f the ma jo r causes tha t l ed to the de te r io ra t ion in the

re la t ionsh ip be tween the ru ra l popu lace o f Pa les t ine and the

Jewish e l i tes on the one hand , and the Roman au thor i t i es , on

the o ther . Widespread ru ra l un res t became the cons tan t

backdrop in the years lead ing up to the war w i th Rome. 2

However , the l i t e ra tu re on th is per iod has la rge ly f ocussed on

s tud ies o f the l i f e and work o f Josephus , the h is to r i ca l

2 Examples o f occur rences o f modern va r ian ts o f soc ia l

band i t r y inc lude , amongs t o thers , nor th -eas te rn Braz i l where band i t ry reached ep idemic p ropor t ions in the 1870 ’s un t i l i t aba ted in 1940 ; a lso in Sou th Amer ica , band i t r y in Co lomb ia in the 1940 ’s became par t o f the anarchy lead ing to independence in tha t coun t ry ; Macedon ia in the ear l y par t o f the twen t ie th cen tu ry a lso had a la rge number o f band i t g roups ; the Anda lus ian res is tance to F ranco ’s reg ime a f te r the Span ish c iv i l war were rep le te w i th band i t s .

12

nar ra t i ve , and the re l ig ious d imens ion . So , a l though we know

a g rea t dea l abou t the Phar i sees , fo r example , we know very

l i t t l e abou t the ru ra l peasan ts and the u rban poor , who fo rmed

the vanguard o f the s t rugg le aga ins t the oppress iveness o f

Roman ru le . I t i s on ly recen t l y tha t a number o f a t tempts have

been made to examine the h is to r i ca l , po l i t i ca l and soc ia l wor ld

o f band i t s and band i t ry in f i r s t cen tu ry Pa les t ine and the ro le

th is p layed in the d ramat ic per iod tha t l ed to the ou tb reak o f

hos t i l i t i es in 60 CE.

Excep t fo r R ichard Hors ley , who in a number o f impor tan t

works , a t tempts to exp la in the v io lence and unres t o f those

years , the re a re few o ther scho la rs who have dea l t w i th the

top ic o f Jew ish Pa les t in ian band i t r y o f the f i r s t cen tu ry per se ,

beyond devo t ing a chap te r o r two , a lbe i t tha t these may be

impor tan t con t r ibu t ions in themse lves . Band i t r y in e f fec t , can

be descr ibed as mere ly one o f the symptoms o f the fa i lu re o f a

soc ie ty in wh ich the po l i t i ca l , soc ia l and cu l tu ra l m i l i eu cou ld

no t adequa te ly address the compe l l i ng i ssues and c r i ses faced

by a na t ion undergo ing fundamenta l changes .

Th is work w i l l dea l l a rge ly w i th the top ic o f band i t ry in f i r s t

cen tu ry Pa les t ine , by a t tempt ing to con tex tua l i se i t as an

in t r ins ic par t o f a w idespread ru ra l p ro tes t movement tha t l ed

to the ou tb reak o f fo rma l hos t i l i t i es aga ins t Rome. The

po l i t i ca l , soc ia l and re l ig ious upheava ls tha t accompan ied

these even ts were comp lex p rocesses and in o rder to

unders tand the rea l i t y o f p ro tes t and revo l t amongs t the

peasan t popu la t ion o f those t imes , i t w i l l be necessary to

inves t iga te i t on a number o f f ron ts :

13

1. How d id Rome perce ive c r ime and band i t r y and how d id

the Roman mi l i ta ry , po l i t i ca l and lega l sys tems dea l w i th

th is?

2 . Was there a d is t inc t l y Jew ish v iew on band i t r y and i f so ,

how d id they dea l w i th a s i tua t ion in wh ich they had l i t t l e

con t ro l o f even ts?

3 . A re the re ex is t ing soc io log ica l mode ls tha t a re ab le t o

e f fec t i ve ly exp la in the soc ia l rea l i t i es o f anc ien t

phenomenon l i ke band i t ry?

4 . Who were the Jewish band i t s and what mot i va ted la rge

sec t ions o f the ru ra l popu lace to par t i c ipa te in p ro tes t

and rebe l l i on aga ins t the mos t power fu l a rmy in the

wor ld?

5 . Las t l y , bu t pe rhaps mos t c ruc ia l l y , how d id Josephus

in te rp re t the inc iden ts o f Jew ish band i t ry in l i gh t o f h is

own exper iences as a par t i c ipan t o f the even ts tha t he

descr ibed and to wha t ex ten t was h is wr i t i ng i n f luenced

in th is by the w ider cu l tu ra l impac t o f the Roman mi l i eu

he l i ved in?

1 .3 METHODOLOGY

The approach p roposed fo r th i s s tudy w i l l be to ach ieve a

ba lance be tween the h is to r i ca l na r ra t i ve and the app l i ca t ion o f

appropr ia te ana ly t i ca l too ls in an a t tempt to unders tand the

soc ia l con f l i c t s tha t l ed to the r i se o f b r igandage among the

Jewish peasan t ry and the con t r ibu t ing fac to rs tha t l ed to the

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r i se o f peasan t movements as agen ts o f revo lu t ionary change

in Pa les t ine . As w i th mos t a t tempts a t a soc ia l h i s to ry o f

anc ien t soc ie t ies and in par t i cu la r , o f se lec ted soc ia l g roups

f rom an t iqu i t y , the re a re a number o f l im i t i ng fac to rs tha t

s tand in the way o f such a s tudy .

The f i r s t o f these i s the fac t tha t the Jew ish peasan t ry le f t no

l i t e ra tu re beh ind , excep t wha t can be g leaned f rom the

re l ig ious l i t e ra tu re and a few lesser impor tan t sources . The

on ly ma jo r non- re l ig ious source a t our d isposa l i s the works o f

Josephus . These a re immense ly p rob lemat i c and a f i e ld o f

s tudy in the i r own r igh t . The p r inc ipa l p rob lem w i th Josephus

i s h is apparen t b ias and lack o f ob jec t i v i t y , desp i te h is

persona l commi tment as an h is to r ian to te l l the t ru th in

accura te ly re la t ing the even ts he wro te abou t . To reassure h is

readers , he po in ted ly no ted tha t T i tus h imse l f had dec reed

tha t h is (Josephus ’s ) works shou ld become the o f f i c ia l ve rs ion

o f the Jewish War and he quo tes f rom a roya l re fe rence f rom

Agr ippa I , who in s i x ty - two le t te rs p ra ised h im fo r h is accuracy

in the re te l l i ng o f Jew ish h is to ry . (L i fe 360-366) . Josephus ’s

c la im to ob jec t i v i t y however , needs to be t rea ted w i th a g rea t

dea l o f c i r cumspec t ion as h is nar ra t i ve o f the war , and in

par t i cu la r tha t o f the revo lu t ionar ies , a re b iased and wr i t ten to

con fo rm to h is p ro -Roman and upper -c lass sympath ies . As

B i lde pu t i t , Josephus had a pass iona te in te res t i n h is to ry ,

a l though he in te rp re ted the top ics he dea l t w i th in l i ne w i th h is

own unders tand ing and in te rp re ta t ion , bu t one canno t on tha t

bas is a lone re jec t h i s h is to r i ca l accoun t o f the even ts tha t he

l i ved th rough and exper ienced (B i lde 1988 : 197-199) .

Josephus was no t un ique in te rms o f anc ien t h i s to r iog raphy as

the wr i t i ng o f h i s to r ies by con temporar ies who had

par t i c ipa ted in the po l i t i ca l and mi l i t a ry even ts o f the i r t ime

15

became an accep ted genre , as was the case w i th Thucyd ides ,

Po lyb ius , Sa l lus t and Herodo tus , amongs t o thers (Ra jak 2002 :

5 ) . However , un l i ke the modern p receden t whereby po l i t i ca l

and mi l i t a ry memoi rs a re de r igueur , the accuracy o f these

even ts and the re l iab i l i t y , ve rac i t y and po ten t ia l b ias o f these

modern h is to r ians can be eas i l y checked ou t by a vas t amount

o f a l te rna t i ve sources (Ra jak 2002 : 5 ) . We do no t have th is

conven ience when dea l ing w i th Josephus , bu t a re s t i l l l e f t

never the less w i th meet ing the requ i rements o f the in junc t ion

to te l l ‘ how i t rea l l y was ’ (w ie es e igen t l i ch gewesen) , as

po ignan t l y s ta ted by the eminen t h is to r ian , Leopo ld von Ranke

(F in ley 1986 : 47) . Josephus ’s works rema in the s ing le mos t

comprehens ive l i t e ra ry source we have a t our d isposa l and

th is s tudy w i l l t he re fo re make ex tens ive use o f h is nar ra t i ve o f

the even ts and the g roups who par t i c ipa ted in them. By means

o f a p rocess o f ca re fu l read ing and ana lys is , suppor ted by

secondary l i t e ra tu re , Josephus ’s works w i l l be used as the

nar ra t i ve f ramework a round wh ich the tumu l tuous even ts o f

the Jewish war w i l l be cons t ruc ted .

There a re a number o f l im i t i ng fac to rs when dea l ing w i th a

soc ia l en t i t y such as the ‘peasan t ry ’ . The f i r s t i s tha t the s tudy

o f peasan t ry and the i r soc ia l ro les i s a re la t i ve ly recen t f i e ld

p robab ly s ta r t ing in earnes t in the 1950 ’s (Hors ley and Hanson

1999 : xxx i i ) . As a s ta r t ing po in t , i t w i l l be necessary to de f ine

peasan t ry as a soc ia l cons t ruc t , keep ing in m ind the h is to r i ca l

con tex t on the one hand and tha t we a re p ropos ing to ana lyze

the soc ia l rea l i t y o f the anc ien t wor ld by us ing modern

ana ly t i ca l methods and too ls . The f i r s t cha l lenge i s the te rm

‘peasan t ’ i t se l f , wh ich has become a use fu l l abe l fo r h is to r ians

and soc ia l sc ien t i s ts to app ly as an iden t i f i e r o f a spec i f i c

soc ia l g roup w i thou t regard fo r the in f in i te va r ie t ies o f soc ia l

16

complex i t y and rea l i t y o f human soc ie ty . I t i s the equ iva len t o f

ca l l i ng a g roup ‘wea l thy . ’ The p rob lem is tha t the re a re

d i f fe ren t g rada t ions o f wea l th and there cou ld a lso be a range

o f de f in i t i ons to descr ibe those who a re ‘wea l thy . ’ 3 However ,

i n o rder to be p rac t i ca l , h i s to r ians and soc ia l sc ien t i s ts need

genera l accommodat ing te rms by means o f wh ich to descr ibe

b road genera l t rends , soc ia l g roups and movements tha t a re

eas i l y comprehens ib le and un ive rsa l l y app l i cab le .

In o rder to ana lyse and unders tand the Jewish peasan t ry as

cons t i tu t ing a movement fo r soc ia l and po l i t i ca l change in the

f i r s t cen tu ry th i s work w i l l t he re fo re need to focus on th ree

key a reas : the f i r s t w i l l be to inves t iga te peasan t ry as a soc ia l

phenomenon by means o f an appropr ia te ana lys is o f the

soc ia l , economic , po l i t i ca l and re l ig ious cond i t i ons tha t de f ine

a soc ia l cons t ruc t ca l led ‘peasan t ry ’ . Second ly , i t w i l l be

necessary to ana lyze the concep t o f a ‘ soc ia l movement ’ by

app ly ing a s t ruc tu red ana ly t i ca l f ramework as a bas is towards

exp la in ing the deve lopment o f band i t r y and i t s even tua l

cu lm ina t ion in to a b road f ron t fo r revo lu t ionary change . The

th i rd focus w i l l be on the h is to r i ca l con tex t , and in par t i cu la r

tha t o f the deve lopment and ex ten t to wh ich p ro tes t and

band i t ry p layed a ro le in Jew ish h is to ry , by re ly ing on the

works o f Josephus and secondary l i t e ra tu re as the nar ra t i ve

bas is fo r the h is to r i ca l con ten t .

F in ley descr ibed the s tudy o f h i s to ry as a s ing le sub jec t us ing

a va r ie t y o f techn iques tha t depend on par t i cu la r ques t ions

the h is to r ian i s t r y ing to answer by us ing ava i lab le ev idence

and a su i tab le method o f p resen ta t ion (F in ley 1986 : 59) . In

3 The p rob lem is fu r the r compounded by the fac t tha t de f in i t i ons a re a p roduc t o f the de f ine r : fo r example , a Marx is t vs . non-Marx is t wou ld d i f fe r subs tan t ia l l y on th is po in t .

17

th i s case , the method o f p resen ta t ion w i l l ba lance h is to r i ca l

na r ra t i ve w i th a soc io log ica l ana lys is in o rder to p rov ide the

s t ruc tu re a round wh ich the ques t ions w i l l be answered .

Namely , d id Jew ish band i t r y con fo rm to a phenomenon

descr ibed as soc ia l band i t r y ; were the occur rences o f band i t ry

i so la ted inc iden ts o f peasan t unres t ; o r , were they

man i fes ta t ions o f ru ra l peasan t movements fo r change? In

te rms o f soc ia l band i t r y , the mode l dev ised by Er i c Hobsbawm

wi l l be used ex tens ive ly in o rder to i so la te and examine one

par t i cu la r fo rm o f b r igandage . Fo r the aspec t o f ru ra l p ro tes t

movements , a mode l p roposed by Henry Landsberger w i l l be

used in an a t tempt to por t ray the ru ra l movements in Pa les t ine

in a b roader con tex t t han mere peasan t ag i t a t ion and

rebe l l i on , bu t ra ther as a dynamic fo rce fo r revo lu t ionary

change .

The Jewish par ts o f Pa les t ine were in tegra ted in to the Roman

Empi re and governed e i the r d i rec t l y as a p rov ince o r a t

va r ious t imes under the tu te lage o f P ro -Roman regen ts . A f te r

the Hasmonaean per iod in wh ich the Jews ru led the i r own

a f fa i r s as an independen t s ta te fo r a per iod o f one hundred

years , the Jew ish te r r i to r ies los t the i r i ndependence and

en te red in to a per iod o f po l i t i ca l , soc ia l , economic , re l ig ious

and cu l tu ra l i ns tab i l i t y and uncer ta in ty when, in 63 BCE

Pompey asser ted Roman hegemony in the Near Eas t in o rder

to ensure the secur i t y o f the Eas te rn f ron t ie rs . Wi th in Juda ism

i t se l f the in f luence o f He l len iza t ion was par t l y respons ib le fo r

ideo log ica l d iv i s ions be tween He l len ized Jews and those who

wanted to ma in ta in the i r ances t ra l ways . The resu l t was tha t

by the second temp le per iod , Juda ism had become d iv ided

a long ideo log ica l l i nes as severa l ma jo r sec ts fough t fo r

con t ro l over the na t iona l des t iny and exacerba ted the po l i t i ca l

18

and re l ig ious con f l i c t un t i l t he f ina l des t ruc t ion o f the Temple

b rough t abou t the demise o f a l l the sec ts , ba r one ,

Phar i see ism, wh ich con t inued the t rad i t i on as the de f in i t i ve

fo rm o f Juda ism t i l l cu r ren t t imes . G iven the fac t tha t the re

was no separa t ion in anc ien t t imes be tween re l ig ion and

secu la r l i f e , the re l ig ious d imens ion p layed a ma jo r ro le in

focus ing Jewish sen t iments and mob i l i z ing the Jewish

peasan ts in to ac t ion in the face o f con t inu ing p rovoca t ions by

a success ion o f Roman governors .

Band i t ry was endemic in the anc ien t wor ld and was a cons tan t

p rob lem tha t the Roman Empi re had to con tend w i th (McMul len

1967 : 256) . The Roman response to the unres t in Pa les t ine

was based on Roman lega l concep ts and p rac t i ce and i t w i l l

be necessary to examine these in o rder to unders tand the

po l i t i ca l and lega l con tex t wh ich fo rmed the bas is to the

Roman response . L ikew ise , i t w i l l a l so be necessary to touch

upon the Jewish lega l unders tand ing and bas is o f dea l ing w i th

band i t r y .

1.4 SOURCES

1.4 .1 Josephus

The on ly source o f no te fo r the even ts lead ing up to and

inc lud ing the revo l t , a re the co l lec ted works o f Josephus who

was born in 37 CE to a Jewish a r i s toc ra t i c fami l y o f p r ies t l y

descen t (L i fe : 1 -6 ) . He seems to have been a p recoc ious

you th who had a love fo r lea rn ing and in te rp re ta t ion o f the

Jewish laws and who, accord ing to h is au tob iograph ica l

de ta i l s , had exper imented w i th the var ious s t reams o f Juda ism

19

of tha t t ime and by the age o f n ine teen , had commi t ted h imse l f

to the Phar isa ic movement (L i fe : 7 -12) . Josephus exper ienced

a t f i r s t hand many o f the even ts and con f l i c t s tha t even tua l l y

cu lm ina ted in the an t i -Roman revo l t i n t he years 66-73 CE.

Indeed , he became an ac t i ve par t i c ipan t in the war as

commander o f the Jewish fo rces in Ga l i l ee . Josephus had a

ves ted in te res t i n the ou tcome o f the war bo th as a commi t ted

Jew on the one hand , bu t a lso as an ind iv idua l who was w i l l i ng

to be par t o f the w ider Roman Empi re and the Roman wor ld .

Josephus ’s works record the h is to ry o f Pa les t ine f rom the t ime

o f the Herods , the years o f the Roman governors , the Dead

Sea Scro l l s and the fo rmat ion o f Rabb in ic Juda ism, o f John

the Bap t i s t and Jesus (Ra jak 2002 : 1 ) . As Ra jak descr ibes i t :

“H is (Josephus ’s ) ca reer embod ies in a d is t inc t way the

p r inc ip le themes and con f l i c t s o f the Roman Midd le Eas t

dur ing th is per iod : the tens ion be tween loca l pa t r io t i sm and

the c la ims o f the imper ia l o rder , be tween na t i ve cu l tu re and

the a l lu re o f Graeco-Roman c i v i l i za t ion , be tween Semi t i c

languages and Greek , be tween p ragmat i c f l ex ib i l i t y and

commi t ted sec ta r ian ism, be tween c lass loya l t y and g roup

loya l t y ” (Ra jak 2002 : 1 ) .

1.4 .2 Josephus’s re l iab i l i ty as an h is tor ian

Josephus h imse l f l a id g rea t s to re in the p r inc ip le o f accuracy

and t ru th in the wr i t i ng o f h i s to ry . 4 No tw i ths tand ing th is , a

g rea t dea l o f scho la r l y research has taken p lace in o rder to

de te rmine whether Josephus ’s h is to r iog raph ica l p rac t i ces

4 These p r inc ip les a re recorded severa l t imes , mos t no tab ly a t L i fe 336-339 ; 357-367 ; The Jewish War 1 .1 -6 ; 5 .20 and in Ant iqu i t i es 1 .1 -4 ; 16 .183-187 ; 20 .154-156 ; A. Ap ion 1 .1 -56 .

20

con fo rmed to h is lo f t y idea ls o f accura te ly and t ru th fu l l y

record ing h is to ry as he so a rden t l y c la imed (L i fe 36 -66) .

Accord ing to B i lde , the re a re two c lear schoo ls o f though t on

th i s i ssue : the c lass ica l ve rs ion , in wh ich he was cas t ‘as poor

an h is to r ian as he was a person and a Jew ’ (B i lde 1988 : 192) .

B i lde p rov ides a b r ie f summary o f the scho la rs who advoca ted

th i s v iew, mos t o f them f rom the la t te r end o f the n ine teen th

cen tu ry un t i l t he m idd le o f the twen t ie th , when new research

s ta r ted to emerge . Bes ides B i lde , more recen t au thors have

adop ted a more pos i t i ve v iew o f Josephus . 5

B i lde suppor ts the v iew tha t Josephus , wh i le g iv ing h is

sources a d is t inc t l y He l len is t i c f l avour , never the less app l ies

them to h is work w i th ‘ cau t ion ’ and p rec is ion . However , he has

a tendency to d ramat i ze h is s to r ies in o rder to p lace them in a

con tex t tha t w i l l be su i tab le to a Graeco-Roman aud ience

(B i lde 1988 : 196) . Accord ing to Josephus h imse l f , he used the

twen ty two books o f the B ib le as a source fo r the na t iona l

h is to ry o f the Jewish peop le (Cont ra Ap ion 1 .38 -44) , f rom the

t ime o f the c rea t ion to the Pers ian per iod and the F i rs t Book

o f Maccabees . The His to ry of N ico laus o f Damascus was an

impor tan t and ma jo r source fo r the per iod o f Herod ’s re ign , as

i s acknowledged by Josephus (Ant iqu i t i es 14:9 ; 104 and 16 :

183-186) . Josephus a lso used the los t His to ry o f S t rabo

ex tens ive ly , espec ia l l y in An t iqu i t i es (Ant iqu i t ies 14 : 35 -36 ;

5 Scho la rs , who ma in ta in a nega t i ve v iew o f the h is to r i ca l ve rac i t y o f Josephus ’s work , were as l i s ted by B i lde : O t to W, 1913 and 1916 ; Ho lscher G 1904 ; Von Des t inon 1896 he ld tha t Josephus was a copy is t o f anonymous works . Henge l , 1976 sugges ts tha t the va lue o f Josephus ’s work depended on the accuracy o f h i s sources . Fe ldman, 1975 c la imed tha t Josephus cou ld no t be re l ied on in mat te rs where he h imse l f was invo lved . Tak ing a more pos i t i ve l i ne on Josephus ’s ve rac i t y as an h is to r ian i s , B loch A 1968 ; Korach L 1895 ; Thackeray H ST. J 1929 ; Shu t t RJH 1961 and Cohen SJD 1979 .

21

14:111-118) . Josephus a lso re l ied on h is own knowledge o f

even ts f rom a per iod rough ly a genera t ion o r so f rom h is own

b i r th in 37 CE (B i lde 1988 : 196) .

The two ma jo r h is to r i ca l works a re The Jewish War and

Ant iqu i t i es o f the Jews. The Jewish War was h is f i r s t ma jo r

work in wh ich he descr ibes the course even ts lead ing up to

the revo l t , the revo l t i t se l f and i t s a f te rmath . The An t iqu i t i es

was wr i t ten a f te rwards and i s a b road h is to ry o f the Jewish

peop le f rom ear l y beg inn ings to the ou tb reak o f the war in

66CE. L i fe was wr i t ten to rebu t c la ims by Jus tus o f T ibe r ius

who was c r i t i ca l o f the ro le Josephus p layed in the War and

dea ls ma in ly w i th the per iod 66 CE and 67 CE. L i fe ag rees in

b road ou t l i ne w i th the even ts in War , bu t the re a re ma jo r

d i f fe rences when i t comes to ce r ta in de ta i l s (Grabbe 1992 :

372 ) . Con t ra Ap ion , wh ich was wr i t ten a f te r Ant iqu i t i es , was

composed by Josephus to de fend Juda ism aga ins t remarks

made by Ap ion who was a Greek o ra to r f rom A lexandr ia .

Josephus i s a con ten t ious and d i f f i cu l t h i s to r ian to come to

te rms w i th , pa r t l y because o f the vary ing range o f v iews tha t

have fo r cen tu r ies raged over h is re l iab i l i t y as an h is to r ian as

we l l as t he fac t tha t he was an ac t i ve par t i c ipan t in the a f fa i r s

o f h i s day , a t a t ime o f g rea t upheava l and s t ress fo r the

Jews . He adop ted a c lea r po l i t i ca l s tandpo in t tha t , i n sp i te o f

the ons laugh ts aga ins t key be l ie fs o f the Jewish fa i th and

t rad i t i on , i t wou ld never the less have been fu t i l e to cha l lenge

the power o f the Roman Empi re in tha t the on ly ou tcome wou ld

have been the des t ruc t ion and dec imat ion o f the Jewish

peop le . As th ings tu rned ou t , he was r igh t o f course , bu t he

persona l l y moved on a f te r the ca tac lysmic even ts o f 73 CE, to

become an h is to r ian who t r ied to exp la in the Jewish po in t o f

22

v iew. He became v i l i f i ed by co- re l ig ion is ts and some

commenta to rs as an apo log is t and p ropagand is t fo r the Roman

imper ia l cause . Whether the re i s mer i t i n tha t a rgument o r no t ,

w i l l no t be dea l t w i th in t he amb i t o f th i s s tudy . Never the less ,

the works o f Josephus a re the on ly de ta i led and

comprehens ive work on the per iod upon wh ich to base a s tudy

o f band i t r y in Pa les t ine o f tha t e ra , espec ia l l y because

Josephus b lamed band i t r y as a ma jo r cause fo r the

de te r io ra t ing re la t ionsh ip be tween Jews and be tween the

Roman es tab l i shment and as one o f the ma jo r causes fo r the

war .

1.4 .3 Other Sources

Jewish L i tera ture

Ph i lo was a He l len ized Jew who he ld an impor tan t pos i t i on in

the Jewish A lexandr ian commun i ty . He was chosen to head a

de lega t ion to the Emperor Ca l igu la in 39 C.E . in o rder to

p lead fo r the cause o f the Jew ish peop le who were be ing

persecu ted by the Greek popu lace o f A lexandr ia . In one o f h is

works , Gaium , he descr ibes the p lan by Ca l igu la to p lace a

s ta tue o f h imse l f i n the Temple in Je rusa lem (7 .3 .6 ) As such ,

he p rov ides ano ther co r roba to ry source to th i s inc iden t

bes ides tha t descr ibed by Josephus (Wa r 2 : 184-203 ;

Ant iqu i t i es . 18 : 2 -9 ; 261-309) .

Other Jew ish wr i t i ngs o f th i s per iod p robab ly da te to the

per iod a f te r the des t ruc t ion o f Je rusa lem and do no t dea l

d i rec t l y w i th h is to r i ca l even ts o f the e ra and i t s re levance l i es

more in i t s impor tance to Jew ish re l ig ious though t (Grabbe

23

1992: 375) . I t i s d i f f i cu l t to accura te ly da te these tex ts s ince

many surv ive as cop ies made by Chr i s t ians in languages o ther

than the o r ig ina l .

New Testament L i tera ture

Bo th the Gospe ls and the Ac ts o f the Apos t les a re impor tan t

fo r th row ing some add i t iona l l i gh t on Jew ish l i f e and

ins t i tu t ions o f the t ime , bu t need to be t rea ted cau t ious ly as

an h is to r i ca l source because they were p resumab ly composed

a f te r 70 C.E . and re f lec t a c lear an t ipa thy towards the Jews

and o ther enemies , bu t i t s ma in purpose i s tha t as a

theo log ica l body o f work ded ica ted to Chr i s t ian doc t r ine and

fa i th (Grabbe 1992 : 376) .

Graeco-Roman wr i ters

Tac i tus , mos t o f whose work i s no longer ex tan t , re fe rs on ly

b r ie f l y to the Jews . However , the por t ions tha t have been los t

a re known to us th rough the work o f Cass ius D io . The va lue o f

h is work i s no t so much as a record o f Jew ish h is to ry , bu t

more as a ma jo r source o f Roman h is to ry . Cass ius D io , mos t

o f whose work i s s t i l l ex tan t dea ls ex tens ive ly w i th the

Herod ian per iod . S t rabo , as we have seen , was in t u rn a ma jo r

source fo r Josephus . There a re o thers o f course , such as L ivy ,

P lu ta rch , Sue ton ius and App ian , whose in f luence i s

cons iderab ly less as h is to r ians o f Jew ish h is to ry and l i f e , bu t

a re never the less impor tan t as Graeco-Roman wr i te rs and

commenta to rs in the i r own r igh t .

24

Archaeology

P r io r to the es tab l i shment o f the S ta te o f I s rae l i n 1948 , l i t t l e

e f fo r t wen t in to us ing a rchaeo logy as a means to va l ida t ing

Josephus ’s re l iab i l i t y as an h is to r ian . As more and more

a rchaeo log ica l exped i t i ons uncovered impor tan t anc ien t s i tes

in I s rae l and the ne ighbour ing te r r i to r ies , a re -eva lua t ion

regard ing the works o f Josephus occur red and th is fu r ther

se rved to con f i rm h is re l iab i l i t y as an h is to r ian o f f i r s t -cen tu ry

even ts in Pa les t ine (B i lde 1988 : 18 ; 199) . Excava t ions a t

Masada , Caesarea , Je r i cho and Jerusa lem, espec ia l l y the

Temple a rea and Herod ’s pa lace , con f i rmed many o f the

de ta i l s con ta ined in Josephus ’s works . In suppor t o f many o f

these conc lus ions a re numerous papyro log ica l rema ins , o f

wh ich the ev idence ex t rac ted f rom the caves o f Qumran

rema ins the mos t v i v id and bes t a t tes ted example .

1 .5 THE STATE OF THE RESEARCH

Thomas Grunewa ld in Band i t s in the Roman Empi re : My th and

Rea l i t y p rov ides a use fu l synops is o f the l i t e ra tu re and

research on band i t r y w i th in the Roman Empi re inc lud ing some

o f those wh ich occur red in Judea (Grunewa ld 2004 , 9 -13) . The

s tudy o f band i t r y in the anc ien t wor ld on ly came in to i t s own

as a f i e ld o f scho la r l y endeavou r a f te r the pub l i ca t ion o f R

McMul len ’s work , Enemies o f the Roman Order i n 1966 . He

dea ls w i th b r igandage in a b r ie f bu t impor tan t append ix in

wh ich he de f ines what the Romans unders tood by the te rm

band i t ( l a t ro ) . Un t i l then mos t o f the l i t e ra tu re on Roman

25

h is to ry dea l t w i th band i t r y as no th ing more than random

co l lec t ions o f h i s to r i ca l mate r ia l and no t as a sub jec t wor thy

o f ana lys is and research in i t s own r igh t (Grunewa ld 2004 : 9 ) .

In the 1950 ’s t he soc ia l sc iences s ta r ted to pay ser ious

a t ten t ion to the na tu re o f peasan t soc ie t ies (Har land 2002 ,

511) .

McMul len however , was the f i r s t to dea l w i th how the Romans

regarded band i t s in the i r t ime and space , no t mere ly as

common c r im ina ls , bu t as ind iv idua ls and g roups who posed a

cons tan t th rea t to the po l i t i ca l we l l -be ing and secur i t y o f the

Roman s ta te (McMul len 1967 : 255 -68) . The s tudy o f band i t r y

in an t iqu i t y came in to i t s own as a leg i t ima te f i e ld o f research

there fo re on ly in the 1960 ’s . Marx is t h i s to r ians and soc ia l

sc ien t i s ts , no t su rp r i s ing ly , used d ia lec t i ca l mate r ia l i sm in an

a t tempt to in te rp re t band i t r y as a p rocess o f con t inuous c lass

con f l i c t be tween d i f fe ren t soc ia l c lasses .

E r i c Hobsbawm p ioneered the concep t o f the soc ia l band i t i n

h is to ry by d raw ing la rge ly on examples o f robber bands in the

modern e ra (Hobsbawm E: 1959 & 1969) . Desp i te th i s , h i s

work has had a s ign i f i can t impac t on subsequent s tud ies o f

band i t r y in an t iqu i t y , and in par t i cu la r , on the h is to ry o f

band i t r y o f f i r s t cen tu ry Pa les t ine . Accord ing to Hobsbawm,

soc ia l band i t s emanated f rom agra r ian soc ie t ies and the i r ac ts

o f c r im ina l i t y and v io lence were in response to soc io -economic

mot i va t ions and represen ted a fo rm o f i nd iv idua l o r m inor i t y

p ro tes t aga ins t the perce ived perpe t ra to rs o f the i r m is fo r tune .

R ichard Hors ley in a number o f semina l works on the sub jec t

o f the Jew ish band i t s and the ro le they p layed in the even ts

lead ing up to and dur ing the revo l t c la imed tha t the Jewish

band i ts con fo rmed nea t l y to the mode l o f soc ia l band i t r y as

26

descr ibed by Hobsbawm. Because o f the con t r ibu t ion o f

Hobsbawm to the deba te on band i t s and the fac t tha t h is i s

one o f the on ly comple te soc io log ica l mode ls aga ins t wh ich a

t ype o f band i t ry can be measured and assessed , a spec i f i c

sec t ion devo ted to Hobsbawm’s mode l o f soc ia l band i t r y w i l l

fo l l ow.

However , the works by Hobsbawm insp i red a number o f c r i t i ca l

s tud ies , some o f wh ich u l t ima te ly re jec ted the no t ion o f the

soc ia l band i t as a par t icu la r soc ia l t ype . Foremos t , a re two

a r t i c les by Bren t Shaw (Shaw B.D. 1984 & 1993) . I n the

fo rmer , Shaw f i r s t dea ls w i th the i ssue o f the ub iqu i t y o f

band i t r y in the Roman Empi re and then ana lyzes who became

band i t s . He comes to the conc lus ion tha t band i t s were no t

on ly endemic bu t a lso an in tegra l pa r t o f Roman soc ie ty

th roughou t the Empi re tha t a t c r i t i ca l t imes th rea tened the

secur i t y o f the s ta te . An ton van Hoof f i n “Anc ien t Robbers ”

con t r ibu ted s ign i f i can t l y to the deba te on band i ts by

a t tempt ing to unders tand how the Romans saw and re la ted to

l a t rones (band i t s ) and l a t roc in ia (band i t r y ) (Van Hoof f 1988 :

105-124) . Grunewa ld on the o ther hand has pu t fo rward an

a l te rna t i ve hypo thes is on the soc ia l ro le o f the band i t .

Essen t ia l l y , he wr i tes , the band i t ex is ted on ly as a

con temporary percep t ion o f the f igu re o f the l a t ro and th is i s

in essence what cons t i tu tes the band i t as a soc ia l t ype . The

l a t ro and la t roc in ium i s the re fo re mere ly ‘an a r te fac t o f l i t e ra ry

imag ina t ion ’ (Grunewa ld 2002 :13) .

Th is then cons t i tu tes a b r ie f su rvey o f the lead ing modern

scho la rs who have con t r ibu ted to the s tudy o f band i t r y in the

anc ien t wor ld and who have impac ted in some way , to a

g rea te r o r lesser degree , on the f ie ld o f s tud ies in to Jewish

27

band i t r y , pa r t i cu la r l y in the 60 years o r so tha t l ed up to the

revo l t aga ins t Roman domina t ion in 66 CE. The theory o f

soc ia l band i t r y deve loped by Hobsbawm in par t i cu la r p rov ided

a d i f fe ren t approach to ana lyz ing the ind iv idua ls and g roups

tha t p layed such an impor tan t par t i n con t r ibu t ing towards the

po l i t i ca l un res t and mayhem, so v iv id l y descr ibed by

Josephus . D id Jewish band i ts con fo rm to the mode l o f soc ia l

band i t ry? Cou ld they r igh t fu l l y be descr ibed as the on ly known

ins tance o f soc ia l band i t s who t rans fo rmed themse lves in to

revo lu t ionar ies?

1 .6 Hobsbawm And Socia l Bandi ts Er ic Hobsbawm, a Br i t i sh soc ia l h i s to r ian , was the f i r s t

scho la r to de f ine and exp la in soc ia l band i t r y as a spec ia l fo rm

o f p r im i t i ve p ro tes t and a phenomenon in i t s own r igh t . The

resu l t was the fo rmu la t ion o f a d is t inc t i ve soc io log ica l mode l

aga ins t wh ich anc ien t and modern rebe l l i ons cou ld be

compared and ana lyzed in o rder to exp la in some o f the

charac te r i s t i cs o f soc io -po l i t i ca l popu la r p ro tes t . He a t tempts

to p rov ide a c lear d is t inc t ion be tween the ac t i v i t i es o f mere

robber -c r im ina ls and soc ia l band i t s whom he ca tegor i zes as a

separa te soc io log ica l phenomenon a r i s ing as a resu l t o f

c lea r l y de f ined h is to r i ca l and soc io -economic c i r cumstances .

Hobsbawm prov ides a de f in i t i on o f soc ia l band i t r y tha t

desc r ibes i t as a un ive rsa l and unchang ing phenomenon, tha t

amounts to l i t t l e more than peasan t p ro tes t aga ins t oppress ion

and pover ty ; i t i s a fo rm o f vengeance aga ins t the r i ch and

o ther oppressors ; a vague d ream o f r igh t ing the wrongs o f the

p resen t and a re tu rn to a be t te r fo rm o f l i f e roo ted in some

myth ica l pas t (Hobsbawm 1959 : 5 )

28

In th i s theory , Hobsbawm c i tes tha t soc ia l band i t r y a rose as a

fo rm o f p re -po l i t i ca l p ro tes t by agra r ian based peasan ts as

resu l t o f the oppress ive un jus t , economic and soc ia l

cond i t ions they endured . They were inex t r i cab ly l i nked to the

commun i t ies f rom wh ich they o r ig ina ted and were suppor ted

by the i r k ins fo lk who respec ted and admi red the i r ac t i v i t i es

and were thus no t regarded as common c r im ina ls . They

opera ted in sma l l gangs o f no more than twen ty ind iv idua ls .

They typ ica l l y had no p rogramme fo r soc ia l re fo rm and had no

in te res t i n the v io len t over th row o f the ru l ing government , bu t

ac ted mere ly to b r ing abou t a re tu rn to the t rad i t i ona l way o f

l i f e o f the peasan t in wh ich soc ia l and economic jus t i ce

p reva i led . Hobsbawm saw soc ia l band i t ry as par t o f a p rocess ,

a con t inuum wh ich a t some la te r s tage in the h is to r i ca l

p rocess became revo lu t ionary .

1 .7 HOBSBAWM: AN ANALYSIS OF THE MODEL

E r i c Hobsbawm prov ides a conceptua l mode l fo r band i t r y tha t

sugges ts a sub- type o f band i t fo r wh ich he gave the te rm

‘soc ia l band i t s . ’ These a re made up o f g roups o f peasan ts

f rom ma in ly remote ru ra l se t t l ements who engage in

b r igandage as a fo rm o f p r im i t i ve rebe l l i on aga ins t some k ind

o f po l i t i ca l , economic o r soc ia l i n jus t i ce .

Accord ing to the de f in i t i on o f the mode l , soc ia l band i t r y i s :

• A un ive rsa l and unchang ing phenomenon

• I t i s a p r im i t i ve fo rm o f o rgan ized soc ia l p ro tes t

• They a re regarded as c r im ina ls by the s t ruc tu res o f

au thor i t y , bu t no t by the i r l oca l k ins fo lk

29

• They a re seen as avengers and heroes to the i r fe l l ow

peasan ts

• They a re peasan t re fo rmers , no t revo lu t ionar ies ,

a l though they cou ld become a l l i ed w i th those who a re

de te rmined to over th row the ex is t i ng o rder .

The focus o f Hobsbawm’s mode l i s la rge ly descr ip t i ve in tha t

he dea ls p r imar i l y w i th the reasons fo r the sp read o f band i t r y

in p r im i t i ve , p re - indus t r ia l commun i t ies . Hobsbawm sugges ts

tha t soc ia l band i t r y i s a fo rm o f p r im i t i ve p ro tes t conduc ted

ma in ly by the peasan ts and o ther ru ra l desperados , bu t he

dea ls on ly super f i c ia l l y w i th the wor ld o f the peasan ts and the

la rger soc ie t ies they a re a par t o f . I t the re fo re becomes

d i f f i cu l t to con tex tua l i ze the peasan t as a band i t i n re la t ion to

the la rger p rob lems o f a par t i cu la r soc ie ty . For ins tance ,

Hobsbawm uses the Co lomb ian s t rugg le o f the m id - twen t ie th

cen tu ry by ind igenous g roups fo r independence ex tens ive ly ,

bu t on ly as a means to descr ibe par t i cu la r k inds o f band i t s

and band i t ac t ion in o rder to suppor t h i s mode l . The reader

the re fo re lea rns tha t the ind igenous popu la t ion o f Co lomb ia

rebe l led in some fo rm o r ano ther , bu t canno t con tex tua l i ze

the i r ac t i v i t i es in re la t ion to the w ider po l i t i ca l s i tua t ion o f tha t

t ime. Th is v iew i s suppor ted by B lok , who s ta tes tha t band i t r y

o f any k ind canno t be unders tood w i thou t g i v ing due

cons idera t ion to the la rger soc ie ty in wh ich they ex is ted and

the pecu l ia r i t i es o f the ou ts ide wor ld tha t a f fec ted them (B lok ,

1974 : 497-8 ) . The p ic tu re tha t emerges there fo re in bo th

Pr imi t i ve Rebe ls and Band i ts i s one in wh ich i t i s d i f f i cu l t t o

con tex tua l i ze the soc ia l , po l i t i ca l and economic cond i t ions as

fac to rs wh ich were the ma jo r causes fo r the sp read o f band i t r y

in the anc ien t wor ld .

30

There a re th ree aspec ts o f Hobsbawm’s work wh ich a re

p rob lemat i c . The f i r s t dea ls w i th the p remise tha t soc ia l

band i t r y i s a phenomenon o f t rad i t i ona l peasan t soc ie t ies . The

p rob lem is tha t Hobsbawm does no t p resen t a de f in i t i on o r

desc r ip t ion o f wha t cons t i tu tes ‘ the peasan t ry ’ o r wha t

cons t i tu tes a ‘ t rad i t i ona l wor ld ’ i n wh ich such peasan ts l i ved .

Hobsbawm app l ies a b lanke t descr ip t ion o f peasan ts to a l l the

s i tua t ions o f band i t r y , soc ia l o r o therw ise , w i th no h is to r i ca l -

con tex tua l background o r a l l ow ing fo r ch rono log ica l

d i f fe rences .

T ry ing to de f ine ‘peasan t ry ’ i s d i f f i cu l t and con fus ing even

among modern au thors who a re exper ts in the f i e ld

(Landsberger 1974 : 6 -7 ) . On the one hand , peasan ts cou ld be

de f ined as persons who own land , a re lega l l y subord ina te and

a re cu l tu ra l l y d is t inc t i ve (Moore 1996 ; 111) ; o r they cou ld be

c lassed as ru ra l cu l t i va to rs who a re exp lo i ted because they do

no t con t ro l the means o f p roduc t ion , bu t a re dependent on

o thers to d ispose o f su rp lus p roduc t ion (Wo l f 1966 :3 ) . O thers

fo r example have s t ressed the cu l tu ra l d imens ion as the

de f in ing e lement o f peasan t ry . 6 Peasan ts a re there fo re

de f inab ly d is t inc t as a soc ia l g roup , bu t may be au tonomous

on the one hand as a soc ia l en t i t y , bu t on the o ther a lso fo rm

par t o f a la rger soc ie ta l con tex t . Landsberger ca l l s th i s t he

‘b lu r r ing a t the edges ’ (Landsberger 1974 : 8 ) . Ano ther

d i f f i cu l t y w i th Hobsbawm is the c la im tha t soc ia l band i t r y

a rose on ly in p re -cap i ta l i s t and p re - indus t r ia l economic

env i ronments (Hobsbawm 1969:18) ; ye t he does no t con t r ibu te

6 O ther scho la rs who have fo l lowed th is t rend : Rober t Red f ie ld , ‘The Fo lk Soc ie ty , ’ Amer ican Journa l o f Soc io logy , vo l . L I I (1947) , 293-308 ; G.M. Fos te r , ‘Peasan t Soc ie ty and the Image o f the L im i ted Good, ’ Amer ican An th ropo log is t , vo l . 67 (1965) , pp . 293-315 ; A .L . K roeber , Anthropo logy , New York , 1948 .

31

any a rgument as to why th is shou ld be the case , no r can he

exp la in the incons is tenc ies in th i s a rgument when he p rov ides

cop ious examples o f soc ia l band i t r y in cap i ta l i s t soc ie t ies ,

such as in twen t ie th cen tu ry I ta l y and Co lomb ia (O ’Ma l ley

1979 : 490-491) . Fo l low ing Hobsbawm’s a rgument , i t wou ld

mean tha t soc ia l band i t r y can on ly ex is t i n a soc ia l s t ruc tu re

tha t i s re la t i ve ly d isconnec ted and i so la ted f rom the w ider

economic and soc ia l ne tworks tha t ex is ted even in a rcha ic

soc ie t ies . O ’Ma l ley p roposes tha t soc ia l band i t r y cou ld ex is t i n

s i tua t ions where there i s no ‘ t rad i t i ona l peasan t ry nexus , bu t

more so where there i s ev idence o f a ‘ ch ron ic c lass s t rugg le ’

based on a shared sense o f con f l i c t and the ‘absence o f

e f fec t i ve ins t i tu t iona l i zed po l i t i ca l o rgan iza t ion o f the d i rec t

p roducers ’ fo r the a t ta inment o f the i r common ly sough t

ends ’ (O ’Ma l ley 1979 : 494) .

A th i rd p rob lem w i th Hobsbawm’s mode l i s tha t he based the

concep t o f soc ia l band i t r y on my th ica l charac te rs who

p resumab ly l i ved up to the idea l o f the Rob in Hood type o f

band i t , tha t i s , p ro tec t ing the poor and iden t i f y ing w i th the i r

s t rugg le aga ins t oppress ion and in jus t i ce .

‘…in many soc ie t ies i t i s regarded as such by the

poor , who consequent l y p ro tec t the band i t , regard

h im as the i r champion , idea l i ze h im, and tu rn h im

in to a my th : Rob in Hood in Eng land , Janos ik in

Po land and S lovak ia , D iego Cor r ien tes in Anda lus ia ,

who a re a l l p robab ly rea l f i gu res thus t ransmuted . In

re tu rn , the band i t h imse l f t r i es to l i ve up to h is ro le

even when he i s no t h imse l f a consc ious soc ia l

rebe l….However , someth ing l i ke an idea l t ype o f

soc ia l band i t r y ex is ts , and th is i s wha t I p ropose to

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d iscuss , even though few band i t s o f recorded

h is to ry , as d is t inc t f rom legend , co r respond

comple te ly to i t ’ (Hobsbawm 1959 : 13)

In h is la te r work , ‘Band i t s ’ , Hobsbawm dea ls in more de ta i l

w i th my th ica l band i t charac te rs f rom Aus t ra l ia , Ch ina , Turkey ,

As ia and Sou th Amer ica . In th i s work , as in the fo rmer ,

Hobsbawm s t resses tha t soc ia l band i t s a re necessary

c rea t ions by the peasan t ry fo r a f i gh te r who w i l l ded ica te h is

l i f e to f i gh t ing the i r cause aga ins t i n jus t i ce : ‘ t hey have a need

fo r h im, fo r he represen ts jus t i ce ’ (Hobsbawm 1969 : 13) .

Th is aspec t o f Hobsbawm mode l has come in fo r some harsh

c r i t i c i sm f rom a number o f scho la rs in the f ie ld . One o f these

i s An ton B lok , who wro te tha t ve ry few band i t s were in fac t

genu ine f igu reso f soc ia l p ro tes t . He cons idered band i t my ths

to be f lawed as a method o f exp la in ing the soc ia l band i t as an

express ion o f peasan t soc ia l p ro tes t . B lok ’s own researches

amongs t the Maf ia o f S ic i l y led h im to conc lude tha t the Rob in

Hood- l i ke band i t s were ’ v io len t , an t i soc ia l men who p reyed on

peasan ts whose in te res ts they were supposed to p ro tec t ’ (B lok

1972 : 496) . My ths a re too unre l iab le to use as ev idence o f the

h is to r i ca l soc ia l rea l i t y o f an even t o r an h is to r i ca l pe r iod

(B lok 1972 : 502) . I t i s wor th no t ing Hobsbawm’s reac t ion to

B lok ’s asser t ions . He sa id tha t wh i le he accep ted the fac t tha t

my th i s an unre l iab le measure o f soc ia l r ea l i t y as many o f the

band i ts may no t have been consc ious o f themse lves as soc ia l

p ro tes te rs , wha t was more impor tan t was what the peasan ts

bel ieved h im to be do ing (Hobsbawm 1972 : 503-5 ) .

Bren t Shaw agreed w i th B lok ’s a rgument and wro te tha t

Hobsbawm had based h is approach la rge ly on percep t ions by

33

t he peasan t ry as to who bes t rep resen ted the i r i n te res ts .

Percep t ions d i f fe r and a re re la t i ve to who i s mak ing a c la im

fo r o r aga ins t a band i t cause . The fo l low ing quo te f rom the

second cen tu ry phys ic ian , Ga len , nea t l y i l l us t ra tes the

d i lemma peasan t commun i t ies cou ld f i nd themse lves in :

“On ano ther occas ion we saw the ske le ton o f a

band i t l y ing on r i s ing g round by the roads ide . He

had been k i l l ed by some t rave l le r repe l l i ng h is

a t tack . None o f the loca l i nhab i tan ts wou ld bury h im,

bu t in the i r ha t red o f h im were g lad enough to see

h is body consumed by the b i rds wh ich , in a coup le o f

days , a te h is f l esh , leav ing the ske le ton as i f fo r a

med ica l examina t ion . ” 7

I f pe rcep t ions d i f fe r , then how is i t poss ib le fo r the h is to r ian

to choose a ve rs ion tha t accura te ly dep ic ts the soc ia l rea l i t y?

Shaw con t inues tha t the p rob lem w i th re ly ing on myth as a

fo rm o f ev idence i s tha t i t even tua l l y becomes rea l i t y and , as

used by Hobsbawm, i t i s f l awed as a methodo logy , as the re i s

no c lea r cu t separa t ion be tween the my th and fac t . In o ther

words , a t wh ich po in t i s i t my th and when i s i t fac tua l? I t

wou ld the re fo re mean tha t i t i s the percep tua l re la t ionsh ip tha t

d i f fe ren t ia tes be tween the nob le band i t and the c r im ina l (Shaw

1984 : fn .4 -5 ) .

An oppos i te conc lus ion i s d rawn by Cheah Boon Kheng who

researched the soc ia l p ro tes t movements tha t took p lace in

the Ma lays ian s ta te o f Kedah be tween 1915 and 1920 . In th i s

s tudy he used Hobsbawm’s p remise tha t peasan t my ths a re a

7 Ga len , On Anatomica l P rocedures , 1 .2 (Kuhn , i i , 221-2 ) , t rans . C . S inger , Ox fo rd , 1956

34

re f lec t ion o f the h is to r i ca l rea l i t y o f soc ia l band i t r y . He based

h is s tudy on a band i t ca l led Nayan b in Deran i who became a

genu ine peasan t band i t . Nayan became g lo r i f i ed as a Ma lay

fo lk hero , and accord ing to Kheng , demons t ra ted how cer ta in

economic and soc ia l cond i t ions gave r i se to band i t ry and

became durab le symbo ls o f peasan t soc ia l p ro tes t . The

conc lus ions he came to were tha t Hobsbawm was cor rec t i n

c la im ing tha t soc ia l band i t ry i s a un iversa l phenomenon.

However , i t i s on ly par t ia l l y t rue tha t soc ia l band i t s ac tua l l y

l i ved up to the i r l egends when measured aga ins t the h is to r i ca l

rea l i t y . Ned Ke l l y , Jesse James, Pancho V i l l a appear to be

examples o f such soc ia l band i t s whose h is to r i ca l rea l i t y

approx imated the myths bu i l t up a round the i r ca reers as

band i t s . In numerous o ther cases , such as tha t o f Sa lva to re

G iu l iano in I ta l y and Lampiao f rom Braz i l to ment ion bu t a few,

i l l us t ra ted tha t the under l y ing assumpt ions o f Hobsbawm’s

thes is i s f l awed (Cheah Boon Kheng 1985 : 1 -51) .

1.8 RICHARD HORSLEY AND JEWISH SOCIAL BANDITS The cen tu ry lead ing up to the Jewish revo l t i n 66 CE was a

per iod o f g rea t upheava l and change in many ways fo r the

Jewish peop le , i ndeed as i t was fo r the reg ion as a who le . As

in many o ther par ts o f the Roman Empi re , l a t roc in ium

(band i t r y ) was an endemic fea tu re o f da i l y l i f e . T ry ing to come

to te rms w i th the exac t na tu re and type o f band i t ac t i v i t y i s

comp lex and po ten t ia l l y con fus ing , tak ing in to accoun t too the

cau t ion by wh ich Josephus ’s t rea tment o f the sub jec t needs to

be approached .

35

Richard Hors ley , in a number o f s tud ies has sugges ted tha t

the “Jew ish revo l t aga ins t Roman domina t ion may be the mos t

v i v id and bes t a t tes ted example f rom an t iqu i t y o f a ma jo r

peasan t revo l t p receded and par t l y l ed by b r igands” (Hors ley

and Hanson 1999 : 77) . I t i s Hors ley ’s v iew tha t a l l t he

inc iden ts o f b r igandage f rom approx imate ly the 150 years

be fo re the ou tb reak o f the revo l t pe r se , a re per fec t examples

o f soc ia l band i t r y as de f ined by the mode l dev ised by Er i c

Hobsbawm.

Fur ther in th i s work , I sha l l dea l i n more de ta i l w i t h Hors ley ’s

(and par t l y Hanson ’s ) v iews on how ind iv idua l band i t s and

band i t g roups f i t ted in to the scheme o f soc ia l band i t r y .

However , i t i s per t inen t to no te tha t Hors ley does no t p ropose

a l te rna t i ve mode ls o r theor ies as to how b r igands became

soc ia l band i t s , beyond the reasons pos i ted by Hobsbawm. I t i s

on ly by c loser inves t iga t ion o f Josephus ’s mot i ves and a

de ta i led examina t ion o f some o f the band i t s tha t Hors ley

be l ieves were typ ica l soc ia l band i t s , coup led w i th a

soc io log ica l ana lys is o f s im i la r t ypes o f band i t s and the i r

ac t i v i t i es f rom o ther per iods w i l l i t be poss ib le to compare the

Jewish band i t s f rom the f i r s t cen tu ry to the mode l o f soc ia l

band i t r y and thereby re fu te Hors ley ’s somewhat (w i th respec t )

has ty assumpt ion tha t a l l the Jew ish band i t s o f f i r s t cen tu ry

Pa les t ine c lose ly resembled Hobsbawm’s mode l .

1 .9 LANDSBERGER AND RURAL PROTEST MOVEMENTS

36

Th is work w i l l endeavour to show tha t band i t ry became a by -

p roduc t o f a more comprehens ive movement o f p ro tes t , by

wh ich the peasan ts and the poor o f Pa les t ine engaged f rom

the dea th o f Herod onwards in a s t rugg le fo r j us t i ce and

even tua l l y f reedom f rom fo re ign domina t ion . Landsberger

p rov ides a rguab ly the mos t su i t ab le f ramework by wh ich the

ru ra l movements in Pa les t ine can be p laced in to a b roader

con tex t than mere peasan t ag i ta t ion and rebe l l i on and shown

to be ra ther as a dynamic fo r revo lu t ionary change .

Landsberger and o thers (Landsberger H .A . 1974) have app l ied

a va r ie ty o f soc io log ica l too ls to cons t ruc t an ana ly t i ca l

f ramework by wh ich ru ra l p ro tes t movements by peasan ts can

be ana lyzed and exp la ined . What i s in te res t ing i s t ha t

a l though the f ramework and methodo logy p roposed by

Landsberger et a l , was deve loped a round med ieva l and

modern no t ions o f peasan t ry and p ro tes t movements , the re

a re , in my op in ion , some charac te r i s t i cs tha t a re s ta r t l i ng ly

app l i cab le to ru ra l p ro tes t movements and revo l t s in ce r ta in

cases f rom the anc ien t wor ld and wh ich may he lp to

unders tand how w idespread d issa t i s fac t ion and enmi ty in the

coun t rys ide was ab le to sus ta in i t se l f fo r such a long per iod o f

t ime , and to even tua l l y coa lesce in to a revo lu t ionary

movement .

As a po in t o f depar tu re , i t w i l l be necessary to de f ine exac t l y

who i s re fe r red to by the te rm ‘peasan t ’ . Peasan t unres t has

been con t inuous in bo th space and t ime and has been

charac te r i s t i ca l l y common ac ross a w ide range o f ru ra l

soc ie t ies , bo th anc ien t and modern . How exac t l y d id band i t r y ,

such as i t ex is ted , f i t i n w i th peasan t p ro tes t and unres t? Was

i t a beg inn ing phase , and a t wha t po in t d id i t s l im i ted goa ls f i t

37

i n w i th the w ider ob jec t i ves o f a movement? Er i c Wo l f c la ims

tha t i t i s imposs ib le to de f ine peasan t ry w i th exac t p rec is ion

(Wo l f 1974 : 7 ) . Landsberger agrees and goes fu r ther by

s ta t ing tha t the re i s too much ‘b lu r r ing ’ a t the edges when

t ry ing to p lace human be ings in to spec i f i c ca tegor ies . I s

someone in o r ou t? I s he a peasan t o r no t? He p roposes

ra ther to de f ine ru ra l cu l t i va to rs ( the one cer ta in ty everyone

can agree on) by means o f a b roader mode l tha t dea ls w i th a

number o f d imens ions (Landsberger 1974 : 8 -18) . The two mos t

impor tan t de f in ing c r i te r ia fo r peasan t ry a re po l i t i ca l and

economic d imens ions . In o rder to a r r i ve a t a more accura te

de f in i t i on , Landsberger p roposes tha t these two be measured

aga ins t t h ree add i t i ona l sub-d imens ions : how much economic

and po l i t i ca l con t ro ls a re exerc ised over the land and cap i ta l ;

how much con t ro l over t rans fo rming the land (e .g . dec id ing

what to g row and when) ; and what leve l o f persona l and g roup

secur i t y ex is ts . F in ley a lso speaks o f a ‘peasan t spec t rum’ in

wh ich the de f in ing c r i te r ion i s some fo rm o f a t i e to the land ,

be i t as a peasan t w i th a landho ld ing (co lon i ) , bu t exc lud ing

the pas to ra l i s ts (F in ley 1999 : 104 -5 ) . Th is schema a l lows fo r a

fa r b roader and more inc lus ive approach as to who fa l l s w i th in

the ca tegory o f ru ra l cu l t i va to r , o r no t .

L i ke the res t o f the Roman Empi re , the peasan t ry in Pa les t ine

inc luded sma l l l andowners who surv ived by subs is tence

fa rming , tenan ts who l i ved and worked the land owned by

wea l thy landowners and wage laboure rs who worked the fa rms

o f the wea l thy fo r a wage o r were compe l led to tu rn to

band i t ry when there was no work ava i lab le . (Har land 2002 :

515) . A l l th ree ca tegor ies o f peasan t in Pa les t ine in the f i r s t

cen tu ry the re fo re fa l l i n to Landsberger ’ s and F in ley ’s

de f in i t i on w i th the land own ing peasan t hav ing re la t i ve ly more

38

secur i t y and the wage laboure r hav ing none , bu t s t i l l be ing

par t o f the ‘peasan t spec t rum’ iden t i f i ed as such by F in ley .

Th is mode l a lso exc ludes pas to ra l i s ts , the shepherds who

roamed be tween g raz ing a reas and were marg ina l i zed because

o f the i r p ro fess ion , bu t who were par t o f l i f e in the

coun t rys ide . We can a lso assume tha t the re was an e lement o f

mob i l i t y be tween the d i f fe ren t t ypes o f peasan ts in wh ich

landowners became tenan ts on fa rms o r worse , wage

laboure rs . Some became unemployed and roamed the

coun t rys ide in search fo r a means o f su rv iva l , w i th some

jo in ing up w i th b r igand bands . Na tu ra l d i sas te rs such as

d rough ts wou ld have added to the numbers o f despera te

peop le who tu rned to b r igandage and c r im ina l i t y . McMul len

desc r ibes cond i t i ons in the Empi re dur ing the four th cen tu ry ,

“ . . .And i t seems l i ke ly , t oo , tha t soc ia l mob i l i t y i n a

b road sense no t on ly took on a p redominan t l y ‘an t i ’

charac te r bu t a lso inc reased abso lu te ly . Many who

changed the i r p lace in l i f e became br igands – jus t

how many we canno t say , bu t peace in I saur ia , fo r

example , more o r less van ished , and t rave l was made

imposs ib le in Thrace and in par ts o f I ta l y in the las t

quar te r o f the fou r th cen tu ry ” (McMul len 1967 : 200) .

Turn ing once aga in to Landsberger ’ s schema, and w i thou t

engag ing w i th re levan t economic da ta , wh ich anyway doesn ’ t

ex is t , one can p ropose tha t the re la t i ve s ta tus o f the peasan t

popu la t ion ( in the b roades t sense) , was cha l lenged by

economic and po l i t i ca l even ts beyond the i r con t ro l . Those

g roups who had exper ienced rea l l osses in the remembered

pas t and the cons tan t th rea t o f con t inued and uncon t ro l lab le

39

l oss in the p resen t and in to the fu tu re were mot i va ted to

par t i c ipa te in despera te measures (Landsberger 1974 : 18) .

40

CHAPTER 2

BANDITS IN THE ROMAN WORLD 2 .1 THE LEGAL AND POLIT ICAL BACKGROUND: ROME

Shaw has acknowledged the comp lex i t y o f d i s t ingu ish ing

soc ia l band i t s f rom band i ts in the genera l sense in h is s tudy

on Band i ts in the Roman Empi re and p roposes an approach

tha t w i l l f i r s t examine band i t r y per se , as a genera l

phenomenon, be fo re a t tempt ing to dea l w i th the i ssue o f

soc ia l band i t r y (Shaw 1984 : 1 -5 ) .

I t was ax iomat i c o f the anc ien t wor ld tha t band i t s were never

regarded as s imp ly common c r im ina ls , bu t were seen as

ou t laws , bo th f igu ra t i ve ly and l i t e ra l l y , i n tha t they were

p laced in a pos i t i on ou ts ide o f t he law, as i t ex is ted . The

band i t became a ‘non-person , ’ tha t i s one who d id no t have

recourse to the norma l p ro tec t ions o f the law, bu t were

g rouped toge ther w i th s laves and the insane . Th is no t

su rp r i s ing ly became the bas is by wh ich the upper c lasses ,

inc lud ing ph i losophers and wr i te rs came to v iew band i ts , as

ou tcas ts f rom soc ie ty who were beyond the pa le (Shaw 1984 :

22-3 ) . I t can thus be a rgued by ex tens ion , tha t Josephus , an

upper -c lass and we l l educa ted Jew l i v ing in a Roman p rov ince

a t the per iphery o f Roman in f luence , was mere ly respond ing to

the p lague o f band i t r y in Pa les t ine accord ing to the lega l and

po l i t i ca l no rms o f h is e ra and background .

In Roman lega l t e rms , a band i t was de f ined as a l a t ro and the

ac t o f band i t r y as l a t roc in ium. Roman law however made

fu r ther d is t inc t ions be tween d i f fe ren t t ypes o f robbery :

41

robbery was des igna ted as rap ina and robbery w i thou t any

v io lence was fu r ther de f ined as f u r tum , t he f t . To con fuse the

i ssue even more , techn ica l l y , anyone invo lved in rap ina , cou ld

be sa id to be a l a t ro , depend ing on c i rcumstances wh ich

means tha t no t in every case was a robber a lways a l a t ro .

What was no t in doub t was tha t those who commi t ted robbery

w i th the use o f weapons and w i th an e lement o f p remed i ta t ion

and th rough fo rming o f bands w i th a common purpose o f

p lunder , these were a lways cons idered as l a t rones (Grunewa ld

2002 : 16) . Roman lega l j u r i sp rudence the re fo re adop ted the

l i ne tha t any fo rm o f v io len t oppos i t i on to es tab l i shed

au thor i t y was an ac t o f l a t roc in ia w i th a lmos t no a t ten t ion pa id

to degrees o f v io lence tha t cou ld emanate f rom the concep t o f

l a t roc in ia . The on ly fo rm o f o rgan ized and leg i t imate ‘ s ta te ’

v io lence recogn ized by the Roman lega l sys tem was tha t o f

war fa re , o r be l lum, by i t s lega l te rm. Roman ju r i sp rudence and

po l i t i ca l p rac t i ce recogn ized on ly one type o f o rgan ized

v io lence as leg i t ima te war fa re , as tha t occur r ing be tween two

‘ l eg i t imate ly es tab l i shed ’ s ta tes and ‘ shar ing po l i t i ca l l y

man i fes t s t ruc tu res , ’ who engaged in con f l i c t conduc ted

‘accord ing to recogn ized fo rms o f combat ’ (Shaw 1984 : 6 ) .

Lega l l y , th i s s i tua t ion was te rmed ‘be l lum i us tum. ’ The

oppos i te o f be l lum ius tum de f ined a cond i t i on tha t i s i dea l l y

descr ibed as ‘ i r regu la r war fa re ’ o r war fa re conduc ted aga ins t

a foe tha t was unrecogn izab le , uns t ruc tu red and soc ia l l y

in fe r io r ( ib id 6 ) . I t became the lega l no rm there fo re to g roup

a l l t ypes o f i r regu la r war fa re (as opposed to be l lum ius tum )

under the des igna t ion o f l a t roc in ium.

Band i t r y was endemic to a lesser o r g rea te r degree in a l l pa r ts

o f the Empi re th roughou t i t s long h is to ry . T rave l by road was

f raugh t w i th g rea t danger and la rge numbers o f guard pos ts ,

42

watch towers and o ther assor ted for t i f i ca t ions were cons t ruc ted

a t s t ra teg ic p laces in the Empi re , i nc lud ing Syro -Pa les t ine ,

no t on ly as de fens ive measures aga ins t ex te rna l enemies , bu t

a lso p resumab ly to o f fe r some p ro tec t ion fo r t rave l le rs us ing

the ne tworks o f roads (Shaw 1984 : 12) . 8

Band i t ry was so abhor ren t to the Romans tha t i t i nd i rec t l y

a f fec ted many lega l cond i t i ons . Many laws tha t dea l t w i t h

mar r iage , c i v i l con t rac ts , w i l l s and dowr ies , fo r i ns tance , had

spec ia l cond i t ions a t tached to them whereby b r igandage i s

spec i f i ca l l y ment ioned as a cond i t i ona l fac to r a f fec t ing the

s ta tus o f the con t rac t and the con t rac t ing par t ies . Even in the

mi l i ta ry sphere , the law tha t dea l t w i th so ld ie rs m iss ing

w i thou t leave d i f fe ren t ia ted be tween those who go miss ing on

the i r own accord as opposed to those who a re absen t th rough

no fau l t o f the i r own when de ta ined by band i t s wh i le on o f f i c ia l

l eave (Shaw 1984 : 9 -10) . 9

The s ta te thus had a mora l du ty t o p ro tec t i t s c i t i zens as we l l

as i t s te r r i to r ia l i n tegr i t y . I t was a governor ’ s express du ty to

de fend h is p rov ince f rom any fo rm o f un res t and law lessness .

Shaw quo tes an ap t passage f rom the Roman lega l Diges t on

an ins t ruc t ion concern ing the du t ies o f p rov inc ia l governors :

“ I t i s the du ty o f a good and ser ious governor to see

tha t the p rov ince he governs rema ins peace fu l and

8 There a re numerous re fe rences to peop le be ing a t tacked o r go ing miss ing never to be seen a l i ve aga in . For ins tance P l iny wr i tes o f a f r i end o f h is , Robus tus who, toge ther w i th a f r iend went m iss ing wh i l s t t rave l ing on the V ia F lamin ia , a ma jo r h ighway to Po in the nor th . (P l iny , Le t te rs 6.25) . 9 Diges t and Codex Jus t in ianus dea l w i th a who le range o f l ega l ac t s tha t spec i f i ca l l y ment ion band i t r y in one sense o r ano ther as an a f fec t ing agen t in law, 3 .1 .1 -5 ; 4 .2 .2 -2 .

43

qu ie t . Th is i s no t a d i f f i cu l t task i f he sc rupu lous ly

r ids the p rov ince o f ev i l men, and ass iduous ly hun ts

them down. Indeed , he mus t hun t down desecra to rs

and p i l l agers o f sac red p roper ty , band i t s , k idnappers

and common th ieves , and pun ish each one in

accordance w i th h is m isdeeds . And he mus t use

fo rce aga ins t the i r co l labora to rs w i thou t whom the

band i t i s no t ab le to rema in h idden fo r long . ” (Shaw

2002 : 14) 10

Th is in junc t ion to governors there fo re reduced every ac t ion by

a common th ie f o r b r igand to the leve l o f a th rea t to the s ta te

(Shaw 1984 : 14) . In the absence o f an o rgan ized po l i ce fo rce

as in t he modern con tex t , the a rmy became the na tu ra l

en fo rcer o f l aw and o rder . What l i t t l e au thor i t y ex is ted a t the

loca l l eve l , i f any , d id no t have the consequent au thor i t y o r

power t o represen t any k ind o f l ong- te rm so lu t ion to

con t ro l l i ng band i t ry (Shaw 1984 : 18) . In the absence o f a

cen t ra l l y con t ro l led po l i ce fo rce , governors o f p rov inces w i th

l im i ted mi l i t a ry resources were a t t imes compe l led to use loca l

fo rces and ins t i t u t ions in o rder to cap tu re band i t s . The Roman

s ta te gave lega l j us t i f i ca t ion to such ind iv idua ls ( in the name

o f “ common peace” ) who took i t upon themse lves to cap tu re

band i t s and de l i ve r them to the au thor i t i es fo r t r i a l and

pun ishment . Th is po l i t i ca l exped iency a l lowed such a person

to pursue , in ju re and k i l l a l l eged band i ts w i thou t fea r o f

p rosecu t ion fo r t he i r deeds (Shaw 1984 : 19) . 11 Con tex tua l l y ,

th i s gave Judas and the par ty who accompan ied h im, the

au thor i t y to a f fec t a ‘ c i t i zen ’s a r res t ’ when they apprehended

10 Diges t , 1 .18 .13 11 The lega l sources a re Codex Jus t in ianus 3 .27 .1 -2 ; 9 .16 .3 and Diges t , 9 .2 .7

44

Jesus in the Garden o f Gethsemane. Jesus response was ,

“have you come ou t as aga ins t a band i t , w i th swords and c lubs

to cap tu re me?” (Mark 14 :48) . Th is d ramat ic example , i f

any th ing , se rves no t on ly to i l l us t ra te the ub iqu i tous na tu re o f

band i t ry and i t s pervas iveness in the cu l tu re and norms o f

even non-Roman soc ie ty , bu t i t a l so shows how ind iv idua ls

and g roups cou ld bear a rms and lega l l y ac t i n the name o f the

s ta te . Th is inc iden t i s ev idence o f a ‘Roman ’ response to an

essen t ia l l y loca l i zed Jewish occur rence in Judea . To what

ex ten t d id a band i t rea l l y th rea ten the sa fe ty and we l l - be ing

o f the s ta te? In the Roman lega l sys tem law there was l i t t l e

d is t inc t ion be tween c iv i l and c r im ina l l aw so tha t when the

var ious laws were app l ied , they were done so in the absence

o f any inves t iga t ing , po l i c ing and p rosecu t ing au thor i t i es , i n

the modern sense , be ing invo lved . The weakness o f the s ta te

to dea l w i th b reaches o f c i v i l l aw and o f the ind iv idua l to c la im

redress aga ins t the s ta te and ind iv idua ls , meant tha t any

suspec ted subver te r o f the law, cou ld po ten t ia l l y be accused

o f th rea ten ing the who le soc ia l o rder . Men commi t t ing ac ts o f

v io lence immed ia te ly became ou t laws and were dea l t w i t h by

the co l lec t i ve ins t ruments o f s ta te power (Shaw 1984 : 21) .

Because l a t ro were seen as ou t laws and ‘enemies o f the

s ta te , ’ i t i s to be expec ted tha t the pena l t ies were d i f fe ren t to

those exac ted on common c r im ina ls and the na tu re o f the

pun ishments fo r the i r c r imes , were concomi tan t l y savage and

uncompromis ing ly harsh . Tor tu re was a lmos t rou t ine and qu i t e

o f ten per fo rmed on the spo t where they were a l leged to have

commi t ted the i r c r imes . Savage re t r ibu t ion was bo th expec ted

and regarded as we l l -deserved and conv ic ted band i t s cou ld

expec t to be burn t a l i ve , th rown to w i ld beas ts o r c ruc i f i ed

(Diges t 48 .19 .16 .10) . Such pun ishments were o f ten car r ied ou t

45

pub l i c l y where a c lear s ta tement was made as a de te r ren t to

any one e lse f rom pursu ing any s im i la r ac t ion . As Shaw pu t i t ,

“ i t i s th i s pub l i c i t y o f pun ishment tha t makes them as men

apar t ” (Shaw 1984 : 21) .

Accord ing to Roman lega l though t , l a t roc in ium shou ld have

been used to deno te band i t r y o f a na tu re tha t wou ld have been

the equ iva len t o f i r regu la r war fa re , thus imp ly ing a po l i t i ca l

conno ta t ion to every such ac t ion . However , wha t i t bo i led

down to was tha t l a t roc in ium s imp ly came to be app l ied to a

who le range o f pe t ty deeds , o r as charac te r i zed by Grunewa ld

‘wrongdo ings ’ (Grunewa ld 2002 : 17) accompan ied by a s t rong

emot iona l b ias o f d isgus t and loa th ing abou t such ind iv idua ls

o r g roups .

2 .2 THE LEGAL BACKGROUND: JEWISH LAW

The two p r inc ipa l Hebrew words used in B ib l i ca l t imes to

deno te the f t were ganav and gaza l . I n the la te r Tanna i t i c e ra ,

the re was a c lea r cu t l ega l d is t inc t ion be tween what these

te rms ac tua l l y deno ted . The ganav was one who ac ted

sec re t l y , tha t i s by s tea l th , and the gaz lan was one who

robbed in the open and w i th an e lement o f v io lence assoc ia ted

w i th the ac t . However , i n the i r deve lopment , these two te rms

were never used cons is ten t l y in o rder to desc r ibe an t i soc ia l

and unaccep tab le ac t ions and they were used in te rchangeab ly

depend ing on c i rcumstances and the in te rp re ta t ion o f the t ime.

Ganav a lso desc r ibed the ac t ion o f an ind iv idua l , whereas

gaza l i n i t s p re -p rophe t i c con tex t , came to desc r ibe an ac t ion

usua l l y commi t ted by a g roup . Gaza l i n la te and pos t -B ib l i ca l

sources was la te r used as a lega l de f in i t i on fo r robbery

46

(Jackson 1972 : 6 ) . In ear l y B ib l i ca l t imes , the word gaza l

c lea r l y was used to descr ibe a ra id by an o rgan ized g roup o f

men. The inhab i tan ts o f Shekhem p laced men on the mounta in

tops to p resumab ly rob the t rave l le rs f rom Av ime lekh w i th

whom they were in d ispu te (Judges 9 .25) . Band i t - l i ke

ac t i v i t i es o f th i s na tu re was an accep ted means o f po l i t i ca l

oppos i t i on amongs t anc ien t commun i t ies tha t had weak cen t ra l

government and con t ro l over ru ra l a reas (Jackson 1972 : 7 ) .

The ear l i es t B ib l i ca l l ega l code , the Covenant Code in Exodus

(Exodus 21-22) app l ies the ganav t o the in te rna l o f fender , i n

o ther words , a member o f the commun i ty . Jackson p rov ides a

s ta rk example o f the d i f fe rence be tween ganav and gaza l by

quo t ing f rom Hosea…. . ’They dea l fa l se ly , the th ie f (ganav)

b reaks in and the band i t s (gedud ) ra id w i thou t ’ (Hosea 7 .1 )

(Jackson 1972 : 9 . ) So too , the example o f the inc iden t in

wh ich Rache l s tea ls her fa ther ’ s househo ld gods ( te ra f im ) to

wh ich the deed i s asc r ibed to a ganav , i n the sense tha t i t was

an in te rna l o f fender , i n th i s case supposed ly a member o f

Laban ’s househo ld (Genes is 31 . 19 ; 32) .

The verb gaza l was used in the p re -Dav id ic e ra when cen t ra l

au thor i t y was weak and the dangers f rom ra id ing par t ies were

more common. As these th rea ts g radua l l y lessened , so the

te rm gaza l became more b lu r red and i t was adap ted to o ther

con tex ts (Jackson 1972 :4 ) . I sa iah used the verb gaza l i n o rder

to ra i l aga ins t the economic exp lo i ta t ion o f the poor as a

p rophe t i c warn ing aga ins t the excess ive ly harsh measures

used in the co l lec t ion o f unpa id deb t wh ich fu r ther ens laved

the poor ( I sa iah 3 .14 ; Psa lm 35 .10) . S im i la r l y Ezek ie l , who

c r ied ou t aga ins t fo rc ib le deb t co l lec t ion , even though th is

may have been done w i th in the con f ines o f the law o f the t ime

47

(Ezek ie l 18 .7 -9 ) . Bes ides i t s lega l conno ta t ion , gaza l t ook on

an emot ive and p rophe t i c mean ing , p robab ly re f lec t ing the

po l i t i ca l and economic s i t ua t ion o f the t imes . Inc reas ing ly , t he

word was used less and less to re fe r to ra id ing g roups and i t

was a lso app l ied to ind iv idua l ac t s o f the f t o r robbery w i th the

resu l t tha t bo th ganav and gaza l was used in te rchangeab ly in

a lega l sense , in a number o f B ib l i ca l sources . 12

O ther anc ien t lega l sys tems fo l lowed a s im i la r te rm ino log ica l

pa t te rn . For ins tance , in the Code o f Hammurab i saraqu

denoted the f t by an ins ider f rom the commun i ty and haba tu f o r

tha t commi t ted by a ra id ing par t y . A s im i la r d is t inc t ion i s

found in the Nuz i documents as was the case in the h is to r i ca l

deve lopment o f ea r l y Roman law. Th is i s unders tandab le g iven

tha t ra id ing par t ies represen ted ser ious and cons tan t th rea ts

to the au thor i t y o f the s ta te in anc ien t t imes . Ra id ing par t ies

and band i t s cou ld no t the re fo re be dea l t w i th under the laws

o f the commun i ty , as they fe l l ou ts ide o f i t s p ro tec t ion and

came to be regarded as enemies who had dec la red war

aga ins t the au thor i t y o f the commun i ty s t ruc tu res and the

s ta te (Jackson 1972 : 12-14) . By pos t -b ib l i ca l t imes the s ta te ,

such as i t was , had s ta r ted to ga in con t ro l over un tamed a reas

and w i th th i s power came lega l j u r i sd ic t ion and the o f fences o f

ra id ing and band i t ry became an o f fence aga ins t the law o f the

land (Jackson 1972 : 16) .

B r igandage as a fo rm o f po l i t i ca l oppos i t i on represen ted a

ser ious po l i t i ca l th rea t to the govern ing au thor i t i es as

Josephus r igh t fu l l y perce ived , when he p laced a g rea t dea l o f

the b lame on the ac t i v i t i es o f b r igands in the b reak down o f

12 The Covenant Code (Exodus 21 .37 ; 22 .1 , 2 , 3 , 6 ) uses ganav and the Ho l iness Code (Lev . 19 .13) and Pr ies t l y Code (Lev . 5 .21 , 23 ) bo th make use o f the te rm gaza l .

48

l aw o rde r in Pa les t ine , wh ich w i l l be dea l t w i th in g rea te r

de ta i l fu r ther on . However , i t i s the po lemica l con tex t wh ich i s

o f g rea t in te res t , i n tha t i t desc r ibes the concep tua l f ramework

a round b r igandage and the way in wh ich i t was recorded by

au thors f rom anc ien t soc ie t ies . Leav ing Josephus as ide fo r the

moment , the charac te r i za t ion o f i nd iv idua ls who opposed the

k ing o r ru l ing au thor i t y , as band i t s , was an accep ted l i t e ra ry

p rac t i ce . Jackson fo r i ns tance , p rov ides a de l igh t fu l cameo o f

a parab le by R . Me i r o f tw in b ro thers , one who became a k ing

and the o ther a band i t (Tos . Sanh . 9 .7 ) . The po lemica l usage

o f por t ray ing the b ro ther as a robber was to emphas ize tha t he

was a p re tender to the th rone and thus a po l i t i ca l th rea t and

was a t yp ica l example o f the type o f Roman po lemic wh ich

was adop ted by Jew ish wr i te rs (Jackson 1972 : 35) . The

connec t ion be tween b r igandage and an ima l husbandry i s a

cons tan t re f ra in in anc ien t t imes , p resumab ly because

shepherds and herdsman roamed f ree ly and were no t eas i l y

ass im i la ted in to the ma ins t ream o f commun i ty l i f e . The

Mishnah more spec i f i ca l l y adv ises aga ins t ce r ta in p ro fess ions

wh ich were ak in to tha t o f robbers ( l i s t im ) :

‘A man shou ld no t teach h is son to be an ass -d r i ve r

o r a came l d r i ve r , o r a barber o r a sa i lo r , o r a

herdsman o r a shopkeeper , fo r the i r c ra f t i s the c ra f t

o f robbers ’ (M. K idd . 4 .14)

Ano ther example o f Jew ish a t t i t udes towards band i t r y can be

der i ved f rom the d ic tum g iven by R. Judah tha t adv ised ,

p resumab ly fa thers , tha t ‘ he who does no t teach h is son a

c ra f t , teaches h im b r igandage ’ (M. K idd . 29a) .

49

The lega l d i f fe rences be tween l i s t im on the one hand and the

ganav and gaza l on the o ther , were impor tan t as i t de te rmined

the ex ten t and sever i t y o f the pun ishments tha t cou ld be

imposed on a t ransgressor . The pun ishment fo r b r igandage,

espec ia l l y under Roman law, was usua l l y execu t ion wh ich was

qu i te o f ten conduc ted on the spo t as an example to o thers .

An impor tan t i ssue tha t needs cons ider ing i s the re la t i ve

len iency o f pun ishments imposed under Jew ish law fo r mat te rs

invo lv ing gne iva and geze i lu t . Accord ing to Jewish lega l

p rocesses , the robber was usua l l y on ly expec ted to res to re

the s to len p roper ty o r the equ iva len t va lue and i f the o f fender

con fessed w i l l i ng ly , then he wou ld be exempt f rom pun ishment

comp le te ly . Jackson be l ieves tha t the overwhe lm ing reason fo r

th i s len ien t approach to sanc t ions on o f fences invo lv ing the f t

and robbery was p r imar i l y due to the des i re o f the Rabb is to

keep the o f fender ou t o f reach o f Roman ju r i sd ic t ion (Jackson

1972 : 251) . As d iscussed e lsewhere , the Romans regarded

b r igandage as tan tamount to i r regu la r war fa re and dea l t w i t h i t

by m i l i t a ry means ra ther than the lega l rou te , usua l l y

demand ing tha t loca l i nhab i tan ts ass is t by g iv ing up

perpe t ra to rs o r ass is t ing in apprehend ing them. 13

I t i s a lso reasonab le to assume tha t the Roman ru l ing

s t ruc tu res in Pa les t ine were as l im i ted in manpower and

capac i t y as to have made i t un l i ke ly tha t they cou ld have had

much ju r i sd ic t iona l and mi l i ta ry con t ro l over mos t o f the

se t t lements . Judea was admin is t ra t i ve ly independent

(Sma l lwood 1981 : 145) and bes ides , the a rmy and

13 Dur ing the governorsh ip o f Cumanus an imper ia l s lave was robbed and Cumanus o rdered ne ighbour ing v i l l ages to ass is t i n cap tu r ing the o f fenders and then p roceeded to severe ly pun ish them when they were unab le o r unwi l l i ng to ca r ry ou t h is o rders (Jewish War 2 : 228-9 )

50

admin is t ra t i ve func t ions cons is ted o f a few mi l i t a ry cohor ts

based mos t l y in Caesarea whose ch ie f func t ion was to

ma in ta in con t ro l over the who le popu la t ion (Goodman 2002 :

21) . I t i s sa fe to assume there fo re tha t the vas t ma jo r i t y o f

cases invo lv ing the f t and robbery were hand led by loca l

v i l l age and town au thor i t i es us ing Jewish lega l p rocesses

a l though , as Jackson has ind ica ted Roman in te rven t ion was

no t on ly l im i ted to dea l ing w i th b r igandage, bu t tha t they a lso

on occas ion became invo lved in dea l ing w i th ins tances o f

pe t ty the f t ( Jackson 1972 : 254-6 ) . There i s an example o f

one , R . E leazar , who ass is ted a Roman o f f i ce r in a r res t ing

some Jewish th ieves by sugges t ing to h im a method o f

f l ush ing ou t the o f fenders (B .M. 83B) . The a r res ted th ie f ( i n

th i s case , ganav) was la te r execu ted , wh ich cou ld poss ib ly

mean tha t the re was a po l i t i ca l con tex t to the inc iden t , o r tha t

he may have been invo lved in smugg l ing o r p i racy ( ib id ) . I

wou ld sugges t tha t the passage a lso ind ica tes a leve l o f co -

opera t ion be tween loca l i nhab i tan ts and the Roman

au thor i t i es . Poss ib ly , the so lu t ion l i es in a ca re fu l read ing o f

the open ing passage : “R . E leazar , son o f R S imeon, once met

an o f f i ce r o f the (Roman) government who had been sen t to

a r res t th ieves (ganave i ) ” Had the o f fence been a loca l mat te r

o f some pe t ty th iev ing , the p robab i l i t y wou ld have been tha t

the loca l town o r v i l l age e lders wou ld have d isposed o f the

mat te r be tween themse lves . However , he re i t spec i f i ca l l y

s ta tes tha t the Roman so ld ie r was sen t , bu t does no t say by

whom. There mus t have been a p r ima fac ie mot i ve s t rong

enough to have mot i va ted a Roman o f f i ce r to seek ou t and

hun t down an a l leged o f fender who i t can be assumed, to the

Roman way o f reckon ing th ings , p robab ly f e l l i n to the ca tegory

o f band i t and gave the s i tua t ion an over t l y po l i t i ca l

conno ta t ion . I t a l so ind ica tes the tenuous l i nk tha t ex is ted

51

between what cons t i tu ted the f t / robbery and b r igandage and

how incons is ten t l y i t was app l ied in p rac t i ce .

Jackson a lso ment ions an inc iden t in wh ich a Roman o f f i ce r

wh ipped th ieves in Caesarea (Jackson 1972 : 256) . 14 There i s

insu f f i c ien t ev idence to d raw a f i rm conc lus ion tha t Roman

invo lvement in inc iden ts invo lv ing the f t and pe t ty c r ime

amongs t the Jew ish popu la t ion was w idespread , bu t tha t i t

cons t i tu ted more o f a po ten t ia l th rea t o f i n te r fe rence , tha t

p robab ly mot i va ted loca l Jew ish au thor i t i es to encourage

o f fenders to con fess and res to re the loss qu ie t l y amongs t

themse lves ra ther than ca l l i n the Roman au thor i t i es , wh ich

wou ld anyway have been rega rded as o f fens ive by the

commun i ty a t l a rge (Jackson 1972 : 260) .

2.3 WHO BECAME A BANDIT?

The ques t ion ra ised i s a t wha t po in t i n the h is to ry o f a rcha ic

s ta tes d id band i t r y become an iden t i f i ab le soc ia l t ype on i t s

own tha t mer i ted a lex icon and separa te iden t i t y? By the f i f t h

and s ix th cen tu r ies BCE, the te rms l es ta i and l es tes were

common ly emp loyed to deno te p i racy and band i t r y . P r io r to

tha t , these words d id no t have a nega t i ve conno ta t ion a t a l l ,

bu t descr ibed an accep ted way o f earn ing a l i ve l ihood by

means o f p lunder and boo ty (Shaw 1984 : 24-5 ) A r i s to t le in

descr ib ing the f i ve modes o f l i f e wh ich he be l ieved fo rmed

the bas is o f the s ta te , de f ined them as pas to ra l nomad ism,

hun t ing , f i sh ing , band i t ry and agr i cu l tu re . 15

14 Lev . Rabb . 6 .2 , a l though as conceded, the tex t i s doub t fu l ( Jackson 1972 : 256) . 15 Pol i t i cs , 1256 a -b : P la to descr ibed band i t r y as a sub- type o f hun t ing , bu t ca l led i t a ‘bad ’ t ype and on ly hun t ing on

52

One o f the o ldes t occupa t ions in the anc ien t wor ld tha t

became a lmos t synonymous w i th band i t r y i s tha t o f the

shepherd . These were t ranshumant pas to ra l i s ts who inhab i ted

the mounta inous a reas remote f rom urban cen t res and mi l i t a r y

and po l i t i ca l con t ro l . As such they represen ted a soc ia l l y

homogenous g roup tha t were se ldom a f fec ted by s ta te

ins t i tu t ions and soc ia l s t ruc tu res o f the s ta te bu t were

never the less in tegra ted in to the w ider economic ne tworks ,

e i the r as t raders o f l i ves tock o r as th ieves who were

dependen t on agen ts and land lo rds fo r t rad ing l i ves tock and ,

p robab ly the p rocurement o f supp l ies . These were tough ,

hardy men fo r whom cons tan t v ig i lance and v io lence was a

way o f l i f e . The i r band i t ac t i v i t ies were la rge ly focussed on

the the f t o f l i ves tock o r rus t l i ng , (ab igea tus ) , an o f fence so

common under Roman law, t ha t i t was cons idered an

aggrava ted c r ime (Shaw 1984 : 31 ; MacMul len 1967 : 192 ;

256) . 16 H igh land band i t r y was endemic and con t inuous

th roughou t mos t reg ions o f the Empi re and the cen t ra l

government was a t mos t t imes power less to con t ro l i t . To

i l l us t ra te how d i f f i cu l t i t became to con t ro l i t i n I ta l y in the

f i f th cen tu ry CE, the au thor i t i es a t tempted to take away the

one advan tage en joyed by shepherd -band i t s , tha t o f the i r

f reedom o f movement , by pass ing laws tha t res t r ic ted the use

o f horses to everyone bu t h igh rank ing o f f i c ia l s and o ther

o f f i ce rs o f the s ta te and the mi l i t a ry (Shaw 1984 : 32 ) .

ho rseback was the ‘good ’ t ype : P la to Laws, 7 .823d ; Thucyd ides no ted tha t the re were many Greek commun i t ies fo r whom band i t ry was an accep tab le and honourab le pursu i t : Thucyd ides 1 .5 . 16 D ig . 47 .8 .2 .21 ; 47 .14 .1 .3 as we l l as the tex ts o f U lp ian and Ca l l i s t ra tus .

53

That the re were many heav i l y popu la ted Jewish se t t lements in

mounta inous a reas o f Pa les t ine can be seen f rom the

a rchaeo log ica l rema ins o f v i l l age s i tes wh ich show tha t many

Roman per iod v i l l ages and se t t lements were bu i l t on h i l l s ides

o r spurs . Gamala , Jo tapa ta , G ischa la and Nazare th were

s i tua ted on s teep h i l l s , poss ib ly fo r de fens ive reasons , o f

wh ich p ro tec t ion f rom br igand gangs wou ld have been a p r ime

reason . However in the second cen tu ry the re i s a pa t te rn tha t

se t t lements were bu i l t on lower s lopes , e i t he r to be c loser to

wa te r sources o r because o f the a l te red secur i t y and po l i t i ca l

s i tua t ion in Pa les t ine a f te r the Second Revo l t (Anderson 1998 :

451) . Band i t ry f l ou r i shed in these remote ru ra l a reas fa r f rom

the loc i o f power and admin is t ra t i ve con t ro ls . The oppos i t e

ho lds t rue too , in tha t wherever ru ra l h in te r lands were opened

up by ne tworks o f roads and cen t ra l au thor i t y was es tab l i shed ,

so b r igand ac t i v i t y d im in ished .

The peasan t ry was a na tu ra l source o f band i t r y because o f the

na tu re o f the peasan t economy and the f i xed na tu re o f the

peasan t to the land . Th is f i x i t y i s based on the peasan ts ’

t rad i t i ona l roo ts to the land to wh ich he and h is o f f - sp r ing

were t ied . Hobsbawm and Shaw bo th concur tha t i t i s no t so

much the economic vu lnerab i l i t i es tha t impe l peasan ts to

become band i ts , bu t th i s immob i l i t y tha t t i es them permanent l y

to the land (Hobsbawm 1969 : 30-5 ; Shaw 1984 : 31) . Rura l

economies tha t were no t ab le to p rov ide jobs , o r expand

p roduc t ion e i the r because o f a lack o f su f f i c ien t l and fo r

d is t r ibu t ion amongs t ex tended fami l i es , o r s imp ly because o f

the na tu re o f pas to ra l fa rm ing in h igh land a reas , poor so i l and

weather cond i t i ons , resu l ted in a cons tan t s t ream o f su rp lus

labour f o rm ing w i th in loca l ru ra l economies . Ano ther fac to r

tha t wou ld have resu l ted in per iod ic unemployment i s the fac t

54

tha t fo r long per iods o f t ime o f each year the land wou ld l i e

fa l l ow. The na tu ra l ou t le t fo r the unemployed ru ra l p ro le ta r ia t

wou ld have been to g rav i ta te towards jo in ing a rmed bands as

an a l te rna t i ve source o f i ncome, a t l eas t fo r ce r ta in per iods o f

the year when jobs were scarce . ‘No th ing i s more na tu ra l tha t

some o f them shou ld become band i t s , o r tha t mounta in and

pas to ra l reg ions in par t i cu la r shou ld be the c lass ica l zones fo r

such ou t lawry ’ (Hobsbawm 1969 : 31) . Hobsbawm s ta tes

fu r ther tha t t yp ica l band i t g roups cons is ted o f young men,

usua l l y under the age o f twen ty f i ve , w i th no permanent soc ia l

t i es o r fami l y ob l iga t ions , who roamed the coun t rys ide in

pursu i t o f oppor tun i t i es to seek ou t a l i ve l ihood , a lbe i t

temporary , o f ten by means o f pe t ty the f t and o ther m inor

c r im ina l ac t i v i t i es . P resumab ly , these you ths , whom

Hobsbawm charac te r i zes as the ‘mob i le marg in o f peasan t

soc ie ty wou ld m ig ra te back to the i r i so la ted v i l l ages a t some

po in t i n o rder to se t t le down and mar ry and become par t o f the

se t t led l i f e o f a peasan t fa rmer (Hobsbawm 1969 : 31) .

Pover ty and economic hardsh ip a re on the i r own insu f f i c ien t

reasons fo r the sp read o f band i t r y , pa r t i cu la r l y in ru ra l

economies (Shaw 1984 : 30) . What appear to be c r i t i ca l a re

two o ther de te rminan ts : famine and land lessness . Dea l ing w i th

the fo rmer f i r s t , famine was an ever -p resen t danger fo r the

ma jo r i t y o f peop le in the anc ien t wor ld . Poor management and

s ta te con t ro l over v i ta l resources , the vagar ies o f wea ther and

c l imat i c pa t te rns as we l l as po l i t i ca l i ns tab i l i t y , resu l ted in

per iod ic famines b reak ing ou t f rom t ime to t ime. MacMul len

p rov ides an en t i re append ix on the sub jec t in wh ich he l i s t s a

p rod ig ious amount o f ep ig raph ica l sources f rom the Roman

wor ld dea l ing w i th th is sub jec t (MacMul len 1967 : 249-254) .

Essen t ia l l y , wha t happened was tha t wha tever su rp luses were

55

l e f t a f te r taxa t ion wen t to the c i t i es where these were hoarded

fo r the bene f i t o f the c i t y dwe l le rs . Peasan t fo l k in the ru ra l

h in te r land were le f t w i th l i t t l e e lse to ea t and had to subs is t

on unwho lesome foods tu f f s resu l t ing in nu t r i t i ona l d iseases

and s ta rva t ion . 17 In the th i r teen th year o f Herod ’s re ign there was a severe

famine in h is k ingdom. Josephus p rov ides a g raph ic

i l l us t ra t ion o f cond i t i ons tha t p reva i led due to th i s even t ,

i nc lud ing the fac t tha t peop le su f fe red f rom ma lnu t r i t i on and

d isease , “ th i s d is t ress they were in made them a lso ou t o f

necess i t y , to ea t many th ings tha t d id no t used to be ea ten . . . ”

(An t iqu i t ies 15 .303) . The ou tcome was despera t ion and

w idespread d issa t i s fac t ion fo r wh ich the peop le b lamed the

ru le r . “Nor had he ( the k ing) any peop le tha t were wor thy o f

h i s ass is tance , s ince th is m iserab le s ta te o f th ings had

p rocured h im the ha t red o f h i s sub jec ts ; fo r i t i s a cons tan t

ru le , tha t m is fo r tunes a re s t i l l l a id to the accoun t o f those tha t

govern . ” (Ant iqu i t i es 15 304) . I t i s poss ib le then to su rmise

tha t hunger and despera t ion d rove many to s tea l i n o rder to

su rv ive and tha t o rgan ized band i t r y , par t i cu la r l y by

economica l l y marg ina l i zed g roups mus t have been an ever -

p resen t rea l i t y in the anc ien t wor ld .

Josephus records de ta i l s o f ano ther famine wh ich occur red

dur ing the p rocura to rsh ip o f T iber ius A lexander 46? -48 CE.

However , i n th i s ins tance the generos i t y o f the roya l fami l y o f

Ad iabene he lped to aver t d i sas te r by purchas ing food supp l ies

f rom Cyprus and Egyp t (Ant iqu i t i es 20 .15) . Dur ing the s iege o f

Je rusa lem in the year 70CE, the g ra in c rops were des t royed

17 MacMul len R. 1967 : 253 , c i ted f rom a descr ip t ion g iven by Ga len o f a t yp ica l famine s i tua t ion in I ta l y f rom Mi l l a r F 1964 : a Study o f Cass ius D io , 174 .

56

which led to a d isas t rous s i tua t ion in the c i t y , g i ven tha t the

Roman t roops had sur rounded the c i t y wa l l s (War 5 . 24 ) , a

s i tua t ion made worse , accord ing to Smal lwood , because the

years 68-69CE were sabba t i ca l years and by May-Apr i l 70 ,

Je rusa lem was a l ready under s iege wh ich meant tha t food

s tocks were a l ready in shor t supp ly be fo re the f i re b roke ou t

wh ich des t royed the rema in ing s tocks o f food (Sma l lwood

1981 : 316-7 ) .

The changes imp lemented by Pompey a f te r 63 BCE saw a

huge reduc t ion o f a rab le land ava i lab le to Jew ish fa rmers

when he b roke up the Hasmonaean k ingdom by separa t ing the

fo rmer ly Greek c i t i es o f the coas ta l p la in , Samar ia and

Trans jo rdan f rom Judea . A s ign i f i can t number o f Jew ish

fa rmers los t the i r l and and were fo rced to re loca te to Judea

dur ing a per iod when the Jewish popu la t ion o f Judea had

reached i t s zen i th and was s t i l l i nc reas ing in number

(App lebaum 1977 : 361 ; Anderson 1998 :451) . A rchaeo log ica l

su rveys o f Jew ish se t t lement s i tes have shown a subs tan t ia l

i nc rease in the number o f se t t l ements in t he Roman-Byzan t ine

per iod wh ich ind ica tes tha t the re mus t have been cons iderab le

demand fo r land and p ressure on the a l ready cu l t i vab le a reas

as popu la t ion dens i t y inc reased , espec ia l l y in the h i l l y and

mounta inous a reas where a rab le land was in shor t supp ly and

competed w i th g raz ing requ i rements fo r l i ves tock (Anderson

1998 : 451) . Sma l lho ld ings were ex t reme ly sma l l i n some o f the

a reas wh ich meant tha t peasan t fa rmers had to eke ou t

enough p roduce to feed themse lves , p roduce a su rp lus and

pay taxes f rom the i r ou tpu t f rom a minuscu le p iece o f a rab le

g round . App lebaum c i tes the example o f two Ga l i l ean k insmen

f rom the Ga l i l ee who each had to subs is t on 2 .39 hec ta res o f

57

l and (App lebaum 1977 : 365) . 18 Wi th th i s s i tua t ion p reva i l i ng ,

one can deduce there fo re tha t la rge numbers o f ab le -bod ied

peop le e i the r m ig ra ted to the towns and c i t i es to seek

emp loyment the re , o r may have been tempted to jo in up w i th

g roups o f b r igand gangs as an a l te rna t i ve measure o f su rv iva l

(Goodman 1993 : 63) .

App lebaum sums i t up as fo l lows :

‘ …The Jewish peasan t a t the end o f the las t

cen tu ry BCE was su f fe r ing the e f fec ts o f

expropr ia t ion f rom the coas ta l p la in , Samar ia and

Trans jo rdan ; he had been a f f l i c ted by a

success ion o f wars and a rb i t ra ry impos i t i ons , was

despera te ly shor t o f l and and reserve cap i ta l , and

con t inued to exper ience g rue l l i ng taxa t ion

coup led , where a cons iderab le sec t ion o f h i s c lass

was concerned , w i th an oppress ive and

humi l ia t ing tenur ia l reg ime exacerba ted by deb t

and the non-Jewish o r p ro -Roman a t t i t ude o f i t s

admin is t ra to rs and land lo rds ’ (App lebaum 1977 :

378) .

As the Roman Empi re expanded, i t i nc reas ing ly made use o f

p ro fess iona l so ld ie rs . When these so ld ie rs re t i red f rom ac t i ve

m i l i t a ry se rv ice , i t o f ten happened tha t the i r accumula ted

sav ings and bonuses were insu f f i c ien t to fund an a l te rna t i ve

pos t - re t i rement ca reer , usua l l y as fa rmers . Many were no t

su i ted to a l i f e o f fa rm ing o r any o ther occupa t ion and i t was

eas ie r f o r them to con t inue w i th a l i f e o f v io lence , to wh ich

18 Heges ippus ap . Euseb . His t . Ecc les . , III , 20 , 1 -2 . Accord ing to Ha lakh ik t rad i t i on , the sma l les t d i v i s ib le p lo t had to be 0 .1 hec ta re .

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they had become inured over the years , as band i t s o r as men

o f v io lence in the emp loy o f l and lo rds (Shaw 1984 : 29) . I t was

indeed no t uncommon fo r band i t gangs to be h i red by s ta te

appo in ted o f f i ce rs and land lo rds fo r spec i f i c t asks . More

common were the deser te rs f rom army serv ice who d r i f ted in to

a l i f e o f band i t ry . The l i f e o f a so ld ie r in the Roman a rmy was

harsh and b ru ta l and deser t i ons were common occur rences .

There weren ’ t many a l te rna t i ves open to such ind iv idua ls who

had l i t t l e o r no sk i l l s o ther then so ld ie r ing , so i t became

common fo r many o f them to d r i f t i n to a l i f e o f band i t r y and

c r ime (Shaw 1984 : 30 ) .

Whenever s ta te power dec l ined th rough c iv i l wars and po l i t i ca l

upheava ls the re was an ebb and f low o f men who c rossed the

lega l boundar ies to become band i ts . Shaw sugges ts tha t the

na tu re o f the Roman s ta te made i t conduc ive to g roups o f

peop le who fe l l ou ts ide o f Roman soc ie ty to become

marg ina l i zed and fa l l ou ts ide o f i t s soc ia l and po l i t i ca l

s t ruc tu res . Roman soc ie t y cons is ted o f two d is t inc t en t i t i es

wh ich were never rea l l y in tegra ted comple te ly in to what can

be te rmed a Roman s ta te . The one was the ne twork o f

re la t ionsh ips tha t bound so ld ie rs , t raders , admin is t ra to rs ,

l and lo rds and o thers in to a fo rm o f a soc ia l sys tem. The o ther

was the po l i t i ca l sys tem. Th is e f fec t i ve ly meant tha t reg ions

tha t were geograph ica l l y d is tan t f rom the cen t ra l l oc i o f power

were ra re ly to ta l l y incorpora ted in to the Roman wor ld . La rge

g roups o f peop le tha t were under the domina t ion o f the Roman

po l i t i ca l and mi l i t a ry sys tem cou ld the re fo re be des igna ted as

band i t s , a lmos t as fo re ign enc laves w i th in the Roman Empi re .

Examples o f such peop les were the I saur ians who inhab i ted

the h igh land zones o f sou th -eas te rn Ana to l ia , the Sa tu r ian i o f

the la te r Emp i re , and the Mara tocupren i o f no r thern Syr ia and

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o f course , the band i t gangs o f Judea , who were p reva len t f rom

the midd le years o f the f i r s t cen tu ry (Shaw 1984 : 40-2 ) .

2 .4 SOCIAL BANDITS

A l though the concep tua l mode l o f soc ia l band i t ry as a spec ia l

t ype o f band i t i n i t se l f may be f lawed in many respec ts as a

descr ip t i ve too l , the re i s never the less a g rea t dea l o f

i n fo rmat ion as to the cond i t ions under wh ich band i t ry

f l ou r i shed in ru ra l reg ions and the economic and po l i t i ca l

charac te r i s t i cs tha t p romoted th is fo rm o f ac t i v i t y . Many o f the

fea tu res tha t Hobsbawm has de l inea ted as t yp ica l o f soc ia l

band i ts a re in fac t app l i cab le in some measure to band i t s and

band i t g roups in genera l .

Soc ia l band i t s a re roo ted in the coun t rys ide and the i r

ac t i v i t i es a re express ions o f peasan t rebe l l i on aga ins t the

loca l au thor i t i es . Hobsbawm s t resses th roughout tha t soc ia l

band i t s a re members o f peasan t commun i t ies who a re

regarded as heroes by the peop le l i v ing in those commun i t ies ,

bu t a re seen as ou t laws in the eyes o f the landho lder , l o rd o r

the s ta te au thor i t y . Soc ia l band i ts do no t p rey upon the poor

o r fe l l ow peasan ts , such as i s the case w i th common robbers

and bands o f p ro fess iona l ra iders who se ize any oppor tun i t y

to a t tack and s tea l f rom any g roup fo r purposes o f p lunder and

boo ty . What makes soc ia l band i t r y un ique i s tha t i t ex is ts as

“a un iversa l soc ia l phenomena” ; i t i s geograph ica l l y

w idespread and occurs in a l l t ypes o f human soc ie t y tha t has

evo lved f rom a t r iba l o r k insh ip phase to a cap i ta l i s t o r

i ndus t r ia l economic and soc ia l sys tem (Hobsbawm 1969 : 18-

19) .

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Desp i te the w idespread occur rence o f soc ia l band i t r y amongs t

a va r ie ty o f commun i t ies in d i f fe ren t con t inen ts and over a

cons iderab ly long per iod o f human h is to ry , the de f in ing

c r i te r ia a re amaz ing ly un i fo rm in na tu re , regard less o f the

spec i f i c ind iv idua l na tu re o f each ins tance . Pr im i t i ve soc ie t ies ,

espec ia l l y those w i th a tendency towards feud ing and ra id ing ,

wou ld a t some po in t deve lop more complex in te rna l soc ia l

s t ra t i f i ca t ion and soc ia l cohes ion and a consc iousness o f

be long ing to a d is t inc t i ve commun i ty w i th a de f ined iden t i t y

and common economic , re l ig ious and soc ia l i n te res ts wh ich

they wou ld r i se up to p ro tec t aga ins t such fo rces , i n te rna l o r

ex te rna l t r y ing to change the way o f l i f e they had fo rged fo r

themse lves . Accord ing to Hobsbawm, i t i s a t th i s po in t tha t

soc ia l band i t r y becomes rebe l l i on (Hobsbawm 1969 : 19) .

A l though soc ia l band i t r y was w idespread over many a reas o f

the wor ld , the numbers o f ac t i ve a rmed par t i c ipan ts were

un i fo rmly sma l l i n the ma jo r i t y o f cases . For example in the

c iv i l war in Co lomb ia dur ing the 1940 ’s t here were no more

than fo r ty d i f fe ren t bands o f rebe ls , each w i th be tween ten to

twen ty a rmed insurgen ts . Accord ing to Hobsbawm, the f i gu re

o f ten to twen ty men represen ts a norm fo r the s i ze o f t yp ica l

soc ia l band i t g roups th roughout a l l con t inen ts and h is to r i ca l

pe r iods . Tak ing th is as a base l i ne , band i t s wou ld no t have

exceeded more than 0 .1% o f the to ta l ru ra l popu la t ion

(Hobsbawm 1969 : 20) .

Fac to rs tha t encouraged the sp read o f band i t r y were per iods

o f g rea t economic s t ress b rough t on by na tu ra l d i sas te rs , c rop

fa i lu res , war , conques ts , oppress ive ru le and a b reakdown in

soc ia l and po l i t i ca l o rder . In the even t where soc ia l band i t ry

became par t o f ma jo r upheava ls in a soc ie ty , espec ia l l y in

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cases wh ich accompan ied the t rans i t i on f rom one soc ia l o rder

w i th ano ther , a t such moments in h is to ry soc ia l band i t r y cou ld

become par t o f a peasan t revo lu t ion . In Ch ina , fo r example ,

soc ia l band i t s ep i tomized a long t rad i t i on o f na t i ve popu la r

res is tance and w i th the demise o f dynas t i c imper ia l ru le , they

p layed a c r i t i ca l ro le in t he revo lu t ion as m i l l i ons o f peasants

became caugh t up in a revo lu t ionary ques t towards c rea t ing a

new soc ia l o rder .

The soc ia l band i t was a p roduc t o f the peasan t wor ld and the

vagar ies o f peasan t l i f e and he d id no t see h imse l f as a

revo lu t ionary t rans fo rmer o f h i s soc ie ty . Forced in to a

despera te s i tua t ion by economic c r i s i s , famine , war o r na tu ra l

d i sas te rs , the peasan t soc ia l band i t became an ou t law in o rder

to su rv ive o r de fend h is t rad i t i ona l peasan t way o f l i f e . They

typ ica l l y de fended what they knew and d id no t possess any

par t i cu la r ideo log ies o r p lans fo r soc ia l change . Accord ing to

Hobsbawm, the i r a ims were modes t in tha t they genera l l y

sough t s imp ly to res to re ‘ the t rad i t i ona l o rder o f th ings” ,

usua l l y based on some myth ica l cons t ruc t o f the pas t

(Hobsbawm 1969: 26) . A l though no t opposed to the r i ch , whom

they accep ted as par t o f the t rad i t i ona l o rder , they d id f i gh t

aga ins t undue and in to le rab le in jus t i ces perpe t ra ted by the

r i ch aga ins t the poor and the ru le r aga ins t the sub jec t . They

accep ted the fac t tha t the re wou ld be lo rds , k ings , r i ch and

poor , bu t w i th in the bounds o f wha t were deemed fa i r ,

to le rab le and mora l l y accep tab le fo r the t imes .

Hobsbawm a lso iden t i f i ed o ther marg ina l g roups who were

a t t rac ted to some fo rm o f band i t r y and who l i ved on the

per iphery o f ru ra l l i f e , such as demob i l i zed so ld ie rs , f reedmen

and mig ran ts who sough t resp i te f rom ev i l l and lo rds by mov ing

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to the coun t rys ide . He a lso c i tes herdsmen, tha t i s , i nd iv idua ls

who were par t o f peasan t l i f e , bu t l i ved a la rge ly i so la ted

ex is tence in the mounta ins , cu t o f f f rom the da i l y ebb and f low

o f v i l l age l i f e tha t iden t i f i ed w i th and suppor ted the band i t

g roups they came in to con tac t w i th and qu i te o f ten jo ined up

w i th them as ou t laws (Hobsbawm 1969 : 32-4 ) .

Bes ides ind iv idua ls who jo ined up as par t o f a g roup ,

Hobsbawm a lso makes ment ion o f men who d id no t meek ly

accep t the soc ia l i n jus t i ces o f the day , bu t took up a rms

aga ins t the in jus t i ces under wh ich the i r peop le l i ved . These

were ra re ind iv idua ls , the ‘Pancho V i l l as ’ o f the wor ld who

s tood up and fough t fo r a cause and thereby ga ined the

respec t o f the i r peers . They became the champions o f t he

underdog , the avengers and heroes a round whom myths were

c rea ted and kep t a l i ve fo r genera t ions . An example wou ld be

the Maf ios i o f S ic i l y , who carved ou t a n iche fo r themse lves as

s t rong men who moved f rom be ing mere band i t s t o respec ted

loca l over lo rds in the i r respec t i ve commun i t ies (Hobsbawm

1969 : 35-6 ) .

An impor tan t d is t inc t ion be tween peasan t band i t s and common

c r im ina ls was tha t peasan t band i t s shared the va lue sys tems

o f the peasan t soc ie ty o f wh ich they iden t i f i ed w i th and

be longed to . Cr im ina l robber bands , such as those o f cen t ra l

Europe and Ind ia o f the seven teen th and e igh teen th cen tu r ies

were composed o f members o f spec i f i c soc ia l cas tes , such as

the kn i fe–gr inders o f Germany and the hawkers and fa i rg round

peop le o f cen t ra l Europe . They lacked the soc ia l background

and common roo ts o f the peasan t and cou ld thus no t be

c lassed toge ther w i th the peasan t soc ia l band i t . These were

s imp ly jus t bands o f p ro fess iona l c r im ina ls , vagran ts and

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nomads who p reyed upon the peasan ts as we l l as the wea l thy

w i th in a w ider a rea o f ac t i v i t y than tha t o f the ru ra l peasan t

and soc ia l band i t (Hobsbawm 1969 : 39 ) . Some o f these

common c r im ina ls were somet imes idea l i zed in ins tances

when they robbed f rom the r i ch and avar i c ious merchan ts and

landowners who were t yp ica l l y desp ised by the poor . These

ind iv idua ls became the typ ica l med ieva l Rob in Hoods o f the i r

day and the myth ica l exp lo i t s o f these charac te rs were

perpe tua ted down the cen tu r ies in o ther par ts o f Europe . 19 Soc ia l band i t s were no t regarded as c r im ina ls by the i r k in fo lk

and were respec ted members o f the i r commun i t ies (Hobsbawm

1969 :47-8 ) . They genera l l y d id no t opera te fa r f rom the a rea

o f the i r v i l l age and they were ma in ta ined in food and supp l ies

by the i r peop le ou t o f a sense o f i den t i t y and commun i ty w i th

the i r goa ls . Hobsbawm makes the po in t tha t peasan t soc ie ty

made very c lear d is t inc t ions be tween soc ia l band i t s who

earned the i r approva l and those who d id no t (Hobsbawm 1969 :

49 ) . Soc ia l band i t s were thus no t revo lu t ionar ies who wanted

to over th row the s ta tus quo , bu t t yp ica l l y had ra ther modes t

ob jec t i ves : fa i rness , re -es tab l i shment o f the o ld ways o f the i r

ances to rs and soc ia l j us t i ce w i th in the paramete rs o f the

ex is t ing soc ia l o rder .

2.5 BANDITS AND VIOLENCE

The soc ia l band i t was no t a lways s imp ly jus t an avenger o f the

poor , robb ing f rom the r i ch and r igh t ing in jus t i ces perpe t ra ted

19 O ther such no tab le robbers were : D ick Turp in 1705 1739 ; Car touche 1693-1721 ; Johannes Peuck le r , who was a lso known “Sch inderhannes” , 1783-1803 and the French smugg le r , Rober t Mandr in , 1724-1755 .

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aga ins t the peasan ts . Excess ive v io lence and c rue l t y i s an

endemic ing red ien t o f band i t ry . As Hobsbawm pu ts i t , peasan t

band i ts ’ agendas were l im i ted and ranged be tween robber ies ,

in t im ida t ion and ac ts o f pe t ty v io lence . There were however

numerous examples o f band i t g roups who resor ted to ac ts o f

unbe l ievab le c rue l t y , i nc lud ing rape , murder , to r tu re and

who lesa le des t ruc t ion (Hobsbawm 1969: 65-6 ) . Hobsbawm

sugges ts two reasons fo r band i t s resor t ing to ex t reme fo rms o f

v io lence and savagery . The f i r s t i s tha t band i t s needed to

insp i re f ea r and te r ro r in the hear ts and minds o f the i r

oppressors and the second i s tha t vengeance and c rue l t y go

hand in hand w i th the in t im ida to ry tac t i cs and ob jec t i ves o f

band i t ac t i v i t y . Band i t gangs cou ld no t wreak vengeance on

the i r oppressors by us ing the s t ruc tu res o f wea l th , power and

soc ia l s tand ing , wh ich were a l l anyway in the hands o f the

wea l thy and p r i v i l eged . In the band i t ’ s v iew, the mos t e f fec t i ve

resources ava i lab le to ach ieve t he i r a ims were to in f l i c t u t te r

humi l ia t ion and c rue l t y on the i r v i c t ims , the reby de l i ve r ing a

c lear message o f oppos i t i on to and f rus t ra t ion w i th the

cond i t i ons under wh ich they and the i r commun i ty l i ved

(Hobsbawm 1969 : 63) . Examples o f ex t reme v io lence a re

found in g roups who a re par t i cu la r l y humi l i a ted and made to

fee l i n fe r io r , such as in ins tances o f ex t reme and pervas ive

rac ism as we l l as where minor i t i es a re b ru ta l l y oppressed by

ma jo r i t i es . The impover i shed peasan t Ind ian commun i t ies o f

Co lomb ia reac ted savage ly and ind isc r im ina te ly aga ins t the i r

wh i te oppressors dur ing the revo lu t ion o f the 1940 ’s .

There a re numerous examples o f peasan t rebe l l i ons tha t have

fa i led and le f t beh ind a las t ing legacy o f v io lence and

hope lessness tha t was passed on to fu tu re genera t ions . In

o rder to i l l us t ra te the dep ths o f u t te r despa i r he and h is

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peop le had endured , i t i s wor th quo t ing f rom an in te rv iew w i th

a Co lomb ian band i t ch ie f , Teo f i l o Ro jas , who a t the age o f

twen ty - two had been charged w i th abou t fou r hundred c r im ina l

charges rang ing f rom a l leged ly murder ing 110 peop le to o ther

assor ted ac ts o f v io lence and c rue l t y :

‘What has impressed you mos t?

See ing the houses burn .

What made you su f fe r mos t?

My mother and l i t t l e b ro thers weep ing fo r hunger on the

mounta in .

Have you been wounded?

Five t imes , a l l r i f l e sho ts .

What wou ld you l i ke mos t?

Let them leave me in peace and I sha l l work . I wan t to

lea rn to read .

Bu t a l l they want i s to k i l l me . I ’m no t one they w i l l l eave

a l i ve . ’ 20

2.6 POLIT ICS AND ECONOMICS

The band i t l ed a l i f e o f dua l ex is tence w i th in the soc ia l o rder :

On the one hand he was f ree f rom the cons t ra in ts o f no rma l

v i l l age commun i ty l i f e , wh i l s t a t t he same t ime he was no t ab le

to d ivo rce h imse l f en t i re l y f rom the s t ruc tu res and rea l i t i es o f

the loca l l andscape , o f wh ich he was by necess i t y , an in tegra l

pa r t . Accord ing to Hobsbawm, as much as the band i t i s apar t

f rom the norma l soc ia l o rder and conven t ions o f the da i l y l i f e

20 F rom Hobsbawm 1969 : 67 . Quot ing f rom Genaro Matos , ‘Operac iones I r regu la res a l Nor te de Ca jamarce ’ i n an in te rv iew conduc ted by Sa lamon V i l chez -Murga , Fus i les y Mache tes , a Loca l Source : 1968 , 390-398 : L ima.

66

of the commun i ty , the ex is tence and surv iva l o f band i t g roups

depended on in te rac t ing and re la t i ng to the economic , po l i t i ca l

and soc ia l sys tems o f the reg ions in wh ich they opera ted

(Hobsbawm 1969 : 84 )

Band i t s a re par t o f the loca l economies in wh ich they ca r ry ou t

the i r ac t i v i t i es in the sense tha t they need to ob ta in f ood ,

supp l ies and a rms. They a lso need to d ispose o f the i r boo ty in

some way o r ano ther , e i the r by d is t r ibu t ing i t amongs t the

poor and needy , o r by se l l i ng i t to the loca l peop le fo r money

by wh ich to buy supp l ies , o r by bar te r and thereby con t r ibu te

to the f low o f goods and money in to loca l economies . I n

numerous cases , they cou ld a l so become a par t o f the w ider

moneta ry sys tem, beyond the l im i ted amb i t o f the i r l oca l

domains when they se l l and t rade the i r i l l -go t ten ga ins w i th

loca l merchan ts , such as inn -keepers , ca t t le t raders and o ther

commerc ia l m idd le -men o f ru ra l soc ie ty . Band i t g roups wou ld

need to s tay in touch w i th the loca l economic rea l i t i es o f the

marke ts in o rder to success fu l l y d ispose o f the i r boo ty , i n

much the same way as wou ld a t rader o r a fa rmer . Ca t t le

rus t le rs wou ld o f ten a lso become bona- f ide l i ves tock dea le rs

as occur red in the Ba lkans , and merchan t cap ta ins wou ld t r y

the i r hands as p i ra tes , o r v i ce ve rsa , o f ten w i th the knowing

conn ivance o f the i r governments , the reby becoming leg i t ima te

p r i va teers (Hobsbawm 1969 : 85) .

The rus t i c l i f e o f a peasan t band i t cou ld change in d ramat ic

ways i f he was ab le to w iden h is economic and soc ia l ho r i zons

by jo in ing band i t g roups . An ap t example i s tha t o f S ic i l y and

Cors ica , where ru ra l thugs and o ther d isa f fec ted you th s ta r ted

o f f as loca l th ieves and rus t le rs and even tua l l y ended up

domina t ing the loca l economies o f these reg ions . These band i t

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groups in t ime came to be known as the Maf ios i , whose

leaders and fo l lowers evo lved in to respec ted bus inessmen

who expanded the i r i l l ega l ac t i v i t i es in to a w ide range o f

c r im ina l deeds , wh i l s t a t the same t ime bu i ld ing and runn ing

leg i t ima te bus iness emp i res (Hobsbawm 1969 : 87) .

A success fu l band i t ch ie f l i ved a l i f e o f dua l ro les : tha t o f the

poor man, labour ing under a yoke o f oppress ion , an ou ts ider

and a rebe l , who , th rough cunn ing , b ru ta l i t y and s t reng th , se t

h imse l f up in oppos i t i on to the h ie ra rchy o f l oca l po l i t i cs . The

i rony i s tha t the more wea l thy and power fu l he became, the

more he became par t o f the leg i t ima te es tab l i shment wh i le a t

the same t ime he rema ined a champion o f the poor . He was

ab le to do tha t due to the re la t i ve i so la t ion o f ru ra l l i f e , where

con tac ts w i th tax -co l lec to rs , po l i ce and o ther government

o f f i c ia l s were in te rmi t ten t and ra re .

The i so la t ion o f ru ra l commun i t ies was idea l fo r the sp read

and ex is tence o f band i t ry . The band i t g roup became a po l i t i ca l

rea l i t y fo r the loca l i nhab i tan ts , w i th whom they had to fo rm an

e f fec t i ve re la t ionsh ip , the re be ing no o ther means o f

ma in ta in ing law and o rder . By ca l l i ng on ou ts ide au thor i t i es ,

peasan t commun i t ies wou ld have exposed themse lves to more

harm than in tended ; as ou ts ide mi l i t a ry fo rces were wont to

lay was te the coun t rys ide in dub ious endeavours to res to re

peace to the reg ion . The fo l low ing passage succ inc t l y

encapsu la tes the d i lemma ru ra l commun i t ies faced in the

absence o f a s t rong cen t ra l au thor i t y and in a reas where

band i t r y f l ou r i shed :

‘ I much p re fe r dea l ing w i th band i t s than the po l i ce , ’

sa id a Braz i l i an landowner a round 1930 . ‘The po l i ce

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are a bunch o f ‘dog-k i l l e rs ’ who come f rom the

cap i ta l w i th the idea tha t a l l the backwoodsmen

p ro tec t band i t s . They th ink we know a l l the i r escape

rou tes . So the i r ch ie f ob jec t i s to ge t con fess ions a t

a l l cos ts…. . I f we say we don ’ t know, they bea t us . I f

we te l l them, they s t i l l bea t us , because tha t p roves

tha t we have been t ied up w i th the band i t s…….The

backwoodsman can ’ t w in……and the band i ts? – Ah

the band i ts behave l i ke band i t s . M ind you , you have

to know how to hand le them so tha t they don ’ t cause

t roub le . S t i l l , l eav ing as ide a few o f the lads who

rea l l y a re c rue l , they cause no harm excep t when the

po l i ce a re on the i r t ra i l ’ (Hobsbawm 1969:89) . 21 The po l i t i cs o f remote ru ra l a reas encouraged the g rowth in

power and p res t ige o f l oca l l andowners and magna tes . I t was

a s imp le fac t o f the p re - indus t r ia l e ra tha t the cen t ra l au thor i t y

had l i t t l e in te res t o r capac i t y fo r tha t mat te r , to po l i ce and

ma in ta in o rder over inaccess ib le and fa r - f l ung par ts o f the i r

domin ions . In these i so la ted reg ions , lead ing fami l i es who in

some way o r ano ther were ab le to accumula te su f f i c ien t

power , a rms and in f luence , wou ld t yp ica l l y f i l l t hese func t ions .

Band i t ry f l ou r i shed under such cond i t ions , as they were used

in o rder to advance the in te res ts o f a par t i cu la r magnate o r

landowner by o f fe r ing the i r se rv ices as a f i gh t ing fo rce o r to

garner po l i t i ca l suppor t fo r the i r pa t ron . Band i t r y the re fo re

became an impor tan t and in tegra l pa r t o f the po l i t i ca l

s t ruc tu res o f p re - indus t r ia l commun i t ies . The on ly s i tua t ions in

wh ich band i t g roups d id no t fo rm bonds w i th loca l i n f luen t ia l

k insmen were when such ou t lawed g roups were so rebe l l i ous

21 Leonardo Mota , 1968 : No Tempo de Lamp iao , R io de Jane i ro , 54 .

69

as to be too r i sky w i th wh ich to f o rm any sor t o f a l l i ance and

were be t te r o f f e l im ina ted than le f t to upse t the loca l po l i t i ca l

l andscape (Hobsbawm 1969 : 91- 93) .

Rura l po l i t i cs a re conduc ive to the spread o f band i t r y . Band i ts

a re p ro tec ted by the i r own peop le . Th is i s par t i cu la r l y so

where there i s weak o r no cen t ra l government in f luence over

the po l i t i ca l a f fa i r s and cond i t ions in ru ra l reg ions , espec ia l l y

in the remotes t and mos t inaccess ib le a reas . Power fu l l oca l

fami l i es made use o f band i t g roups to p romote the i r power

bases and p ro tec t t rade rou tes and per fo rm a hos t o f o ther

func t ions to conso l ida te the i r con t ro l over the loca l economy

and the i r po l i t i ca l power . However , as the wea l th and

in f luence o f such magnates inc reased , par t i cu la r l y as access

and t ranspor t rou tes opened up , they became in tegra ted , w i th

t ime , in to the leg i t ima te po l i t i ca l and economic s t ruc tu res o f

the s ta te . The a t t rac t ion o f u t i l i z ing band i t s fo r po l i t i ca l

pu rposes thereby g radua l l y d im in ished . A t such po in t , the

band i ts who had la rge ly been schoo led in v io lence and

c r im ina l i t y , came to be seen as a th rea t and were regarded

more as ou t laws who needed to be e rad ica ted . Ra ther than

con t inue to make use o f band i t g roups to p ro tec t the i r

i n te res ts , the “newly ” respec tab le loca l l eaders wou ld now

pre fe r to use regu la r po l i ce and a rmy un i t s to guard the i r l and ,

p roper ty and economic and po l i t i ca l i n te res ts . In the cour t o f

pub l i c op in ion , the image o f the band i t s as loca l “he roes , ”

changed , and they were inc reas ing ly seen as ou t laws to be

rev i led and k i l l ed .

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2.7 THE BANDIT AS REVOLUTIONARY

A d is t ingu ish ing d i f fe rence be tween common c r im ina l i t y and

genu ine soc ia l p ro tes t i s when band i ts become en thused w i th

va lues o f pa t r io t i sm and revo lu t ionary fe rvour to change the

soc ia l and po l i t i ca l cond i t i ons under wh ich they l i ve . Peasan t

band i t movements a re the re fo re par t i cu la r l y recep t i ve to

revo lu t ionary lean ings , g iven the r igh t cond i t i ons p reva i l i ng

fo r i t s sp read amongs t a d isa f fec ted popu lace . Cr im ina ls , w i th

a l im i ted agenda revo lv ing a round no th ing more than robbery

and o ther c r im ina l ac ts , on the o ther hand , feed o f f soc ie ty

and the i r ob jec t i ves a re no th ing more than a imed a t seek ing

persona l ga in and no to r ie ty . The ques t ion tha t begs to be

asked i s , a t wha t po in t does soc ia l band i t r y move beyond the

con f ines o f mere loca l p ro tes t in to a genera l movement fo r

revo lu t ion and genu ine soc ia l change? Accord ing to

Hobsbawm, band i t ry by i t s ve ry na tu re as a focus o f soc ia l

p ro tes t has w i th in i t the seeds f rom wh ich cou ld sp r ing the

beg inn ings o f w idespread revo l t . (Hobsbawm 1969 : 98 )

H is to ry has shown tha t many peasan t bands fo rmed a round

de te rmined b r igand leaders who a t t rac ted numerous adheren ts

un t i l t hey posed a cons iderab le th rea t aga ins t the s ta te ,

mob i l i z ing la rge numbers who were p repared to f i gh t fo r some

cause o r idea l , somet imes c lose ly re la ted to f reedom or a

re tu rn to some form o f a (o f ten myth ica l ) p rev ious way o f l i f e .

The Cossack peasan ts f l ed to S iber ia where they en joyed

some two hundred years o f au tonomy, un t i l t he t sa rs t r i ed to

incorpora te them in to the g rea te r Russ ian s ta te . These

Cossack ser fs , who g rea t l y va lued the i r f reedom, were jo ined

by numerous peasan t band i t g roups and la rge numbers o f

a rmy deser te rs who were unwi l l i ng to jo in the t sa r ’ s a rmy, as

71

wel l as escaped p r i soners and o ther ma lcon ten ts , and

embarked on a mass ive revo l t to re -asser t the i r i ndependence

tha t las ted f rom 1670 to 1774 un t i l t hey were overwhe lmed by

the Russ ian a rmy . The band i t ch ie fs who led these rebe l l i ons

were h igh ly es teemed as heroes who were regarded by the

peop le as the ‘good ’ t sa rs who wou ld rep lace the ev i l nob les

and lo rds o f Russ ia . However they lacked any rea l i deo log ica l

and po l i t i ca l agenda beyond a des i re to b r ing back the pas t

g lo r ies o f Cossack f reedom and ended up embark ing on a

p rogramme o f murder , p i l l age and des t ruc t ion .

The in te rna l s t ruc tu res and work ings o f the typ ica l band i t

g roup made i t h igh ly un l i ke ly tha t such g roups cou ld

metamorphose in to la rge-sca le revo lu t ionary movements

a imed a t b r ing ing abou t a new po l i t i ca l o rder . Mos t band i t s

g roups a re sma l l i n numbers and lack the necessary

ideo log ica l bas is to represen t an en t i re soc ie ty , bu t shou ld

ra ther be seen as on ly one aspec t o f the numerous p rob lems a

soc ie ty may be exper ienc ing . Such rebe l l i on the re fo re rema ins

ma in ly an express ion o f peasan t d issa t i s fac t ion and i s on ly a

re f lec t ion o f the p ro tes t o f one par t o f the la rger mob i l i za t ion

in the soc ie ty . Peasan t band i t s rea l l y on ly unders tood the

wor ld o f the poor and consequent l y d id no t read i l y re la te to

the wor ld o f the power fu l and r i ch . The i r revo lu t ionary v i s ions

were l im i ted and Hobsbawm be l ieves tha t genera l l y they d id

no t asp i re to d reams o f l i be ra t ion and b ro therhood . The

success fu l Mex ican band i t , Pancho V i l l a , mere ly wan ted to be

a landowner and had no v is ions o f becoming a na t iona l l eader

(Hobsbawm 1969 : 108) .

In sp i te o f th i s , band i t r y has p layed a ro le in many modern

revo lu t ions . Soc ia l band i t s cou ld and d id iden t i f y w i th na t iona l

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yearn ings fo r loca l au tonomy and res is tance to fo re ign

conques t and i s one o f t he ma jo r reasons tha t band i t r y cou ld

become so much a par t o f a peop les ’ s t rugg le fo r change . A t

the mos t bas ic leve l , band i t s p rov ided a ready body o f men

who were a rmed and s teeped in a t rad i t i on o f f i gh t ing . Mao

Tse Tung ac t i ve ly rec ru i ted f rom the many band i t g roups

wh ich roamed th roughou t the remote r par ts o f Ch ina . He

recogn ized the i r wor th as f igh t ing men wh ich was based on a

long t rad i t i on o f na t i ve res is tance in p ro tec t ing loca l f reedoms

and surv iv ing cen tu r ies o f peasan t oppress ion . A t f i r s t th i s

f i gh t ing fo rce resembled an a rmy o f ‘ rov ing insurgen ts ’ and

was composed o f ‘ so ld ie rs , band i t s , beggars and p ros t i tu tes ’ ,

( i n Mao ’s own words) .These e lements were even tua l l y

ass im i la ted in to the Red Army, bu t no t be fo re they had p layed

a s ign i f i can t par t i n the commun is t revo lu t ion in Ch ina .

Hobsbawm s ta tes however , tha t no t too much mus t be made o f

band i t s ’ con t r ibu t ion to modern revo lu t ions . Band i ts t yp ica l l y

have l im i ted revo lu t ionary and po l i t i ca l amb i t ions as they have

a lmos t a lways found themse lves in the amb iguous pos i t i on

be tween the men o f power and the poor on the one hand , and

the fac t tha t they opera ted w i t h in the po l i t i ca l and soc ia l

s t ruc tu res o f the i r commun i t ies , ra ther than ac tua l l y aga ins t i t

(Hobsbawm 1969 : 107) . So wh i le they may have p layed some

ro le dur ing per iods o f soc ia l un res t and s t rugg le , the i r l ack o f

the necessary m i l i t a ry s t ruc tu res , o rgan iz ing ab i l i t y ,

i deo log ica l j us t i f i ca t ion , bureauc ra t i c s t ruc tu res and resources

fo r sus ta in ing a s t rugg le on any la rge sca le o r fo r any long

per iods o f t ime resu l ted in them s imp ly be ing e l im ina ted o r

absorbed in to the la rger and more power fu l movements . In the

example o f Ch inese band i t g roups , they s imp ly s topped be ing

band i t s and became par t o f the regu la r a rmy fo rmat ions .

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CHAPTER 3

3 .1 H ISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The s to ry o f the Jew ish peop le i s p r inc ipa l l y the h is to ry o f i t s

domina t ion by a success ion o f fo re ign powers s ince the fa l l o f

the k ingdom o f Dav id in 587 BCE. The coun t ry came under

Pers ian ru le in 538 BCE and then some two hundred years

la te r , Pa les t ine fe l l to A lexander who annexed the te r r i to ry in

332 . Smal lwood h igh l igh ts the p rob lem o f nomenc la tu re and

the incons is tenc ies by wh ich the te rms ‘Pa les t ine ’ and ‘ Judea ’

a re app l ied (Smal lwood 1981 : 1 ) In an t iqu i t y , Judea was used

to desc r ibe the a rea cen t red a round Jerusa lem in i t s

nar rowes t sense . I t was a lso used more w ide ly to deno te the

who le Jew ish and semi -Jewish a reas wh ich even tua l l y became

the Roman p rov ince and incorpora ted Judea , Samar ia and

Idumea. A f te r 44 CE the te r r i to r ies o f Ga l i l ee and Perea were

inc luded in the p rov inc ia l boundar ies . Pa les t ine became the

name o f f i c ia l l y o f these a reas a f te r 135 CE. For ease o f

conven ience I p ropose to fo l l ow the sugges t ion made by

Smal lwood to use the te rm ‘Judea ’ when dea l ing w i th the

te r r i to ry in and a round Jerusa lem and Pa les t ine when re fe r r ing

to the who le Jewish te r r i to ry (Smal lwood 1981 : 1 ) . The

te r r i to ry o f Sy ro -Pa les t ine fe l l under the sway o f the ru le rs o f

the P to lema ic Dynas ty o f Egyp t un t i l 200 BCE, when i t then

became par t o f the Syr ian Se leuc id House . The Jews fough t

va l ian t l y aga ins t a success ion o f Se leuc id ru le rs and

even tua l l y ga ined the i r i ndependence in 141 BCE. A f te r 80

years o f i ndependent Jew ish ru le under the Hasmonaean

Dynas ty , Pa les t ine fe l l under par t ia l Roman con t ro l as the

Roman Empi re aggress ive ly asse r ted i t s po l i t i ca l and mi l i ta ry

in f luence over a weak Syr ia in o rder to secure i t s Eas te rn

74

f ron t ie rs . In 6 CE, Pa les t ine became a fu l l p rov ince o f the

Roman Empi re .

What was there in the na tu re o f the Jew ish Peop le tha t caused

them to revo l t th ree t imes in the las t th ree cen tu r ies? The f i r s t

aga ins t Se leuc ids in the Macabaean revo l t (168-165 BCE) ,

then aga ins t the Roman Empi re (60 -70 CE) and f ina l l y , the

Bar Kochba revo l t (132-135 CE) . What was so pecu l ia r i n the

charac te r o f the Jew ish Peop le tha t made them rebe l aga ins t

Roman ru le? Were Jews par t i cu la r l y revo lu t ionary as a resu l t

o f the i r ea r l i e r h i s to ry? Toynbee seems to th ink tha t the

fo rmat i ve years o f the ear l y K ingdoms o f Judah and Is rae l

were a p roduc t o f the revo lu t ionary o r ig ins o f the peop le who

even tua l l y came to be the Jews (Toynbee 1976 : 162) . Hors ley

and Hanson have sugges ted tha t the long h is to ry o f Jew ish

res is tance to t y ranny and oppress ion i s par t o f an anc ien t

t rad i t i on o f rebe l l i on go ing back to the o r ig ins o f the Jew ish

na t ion by the Jew ish peasan t ry d r i ven by a des i re to be f ree

and fue l led by an uncommon devo t ion to i t s fa i th and be l ie f i n

i t se l f as a separa te peop le under the sp i r i tua l gu idance o f a

s ing le God (Hors ley and Hanson 1999 : 4 ) .

“ I t i s by now a t ru ism in theo log ica l and b ib l i ca l

s tud ies tha t , fo r I s rae l i te and Jewish fa i th , the

peop le ’s h is to ry was a ma jor a rena in wh ich they

encoun te red and in te rac ted w i th God and God ’s

w i l l . There fo re , to unders tand the popu la r

movements and leaders among the peasan t ry in the

f i r s t centu ry CE, i t may be espec ia l l y impor tan t to

ske tch the h is to ry f rom wh ich they emerged , and

wh ich fo rmed the i r memor ies and shaped the i r

i dea ls . A t the same t ime, we shou ld keep in m ind

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the two c lass soc ia l s t ruc tu re tha t pers is ted f rom

b ib l i ca l I s rae l to Jew ish Pa les t ine . For such a

s t ruc tu re , when more than n ine ty percen t a re

peasan ts domina ted by a sma l l m inor i t y , i s sub jec t

to a lmos t inev i tab le tens ions tha t a re a ma jo r fac to r

in i t s h is to r i ca l deve lopment ” ( ib id ) .

I t i s wor thwh i le the re fo re to examine th is in more de ta i l i n

o rder to see i f a para l le l can be d rawn be tween the

revo lu t ionary tendenc ies o f ear l y Jew ish found ing h is to ry and

the rebe l l i ous charac te r o f the Jewish popu lace a t the t ime o f

Roman ru le in Pa les t ine in the f i r s t cen tu ry .

3.2 THE ORIGINS OF ISRAELITE PEASANT SOCIETY

The o r ig ins o f ear l y I s rae l has been an a rea o f i n tense deba te

and specu la t ion , however , i t i s genera l l y accep ted by mos t

scho la rs o f ear l y I s rae l i te h i s to ry tha t the p re -monarch ic

per iod had a s ign i f i can t normat i ve e f fec t on the deve lopment

and h is to ry o f l a te r I s rae l , even though the ev idence ava i lab le

i s a t bes t pa tch , specu la t i ve and incomple te (Chaney 1983 :

39 ) .

There a re many d i f fe ren t approaches , a l l o f them h igh ly

specu la t i ve and s t i l l f i e rce ly deba ted tha t have been p roposed

as to how ear l y I s rae l o r ig ina ted .

Three o f the mode ls bear fu r ther d iscuss ion as a means to

examin ing whether the re i s a l i nk be tween the ear l y

‘ revo lu t ionary ’ tendenc ies o f the peop le who even tua l l y

became the Jews , and the i r p roc l i v i t y t o rebe l l i ousness in

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l a te r h is to r i ca l pe r iods . By the ear l y par t o f the twen t ie th

cen tu ry , two bas ic approaches to the p rob lem had been

fo rmu la ted :

• The mi l i t a ry conques t mode l ( Jos . 1 -15) tha t advoca ted an

o rgan ized , sw i f t m i l i t a ry conques t f rom deser t g roups who

des t royed the Canaan i te C i t y S ta tes and se t t led in the

conquered a reas .

• Nomad ic in f i l t ra t ion (Jos 15 , Judges 1 ) by peace fu l

pas to ra l i s ts (who cou ld poss ib ly have been the Api ru o r

Shoshu) i n to the popu la ted reg ions o f the h i l l Coun t ry .

The a rchaeo log ica l da ta sugges t tha t these se t t lements o f

p re -monarch ic I s rae l were f ron t ie r te r r i to r ies wh ich

a t t rac ted the marg ina l e lements o f soc ie ty who had fa l len

in to d is favour w i th loca l o f f i c ia ldom or who chose to

w i thdraw f rom the ex is t ing agra r ian pa t te rns o f se t t l ement

(Chaney 1983 : 49 - 50 ) . Mendenha l l based th is mode l o f

peasan t revo l t a round the Amarna le t te rs wh ich cons is ted

o f a d ip lomat i c a rch ive f rom the four teen th cen tu ry BCE

and d iscovered a t E l -Amarna on the N i le . These le t te rs

dea l t w i th the rebe l l i ous ac t i v i t i es o f a g roup o f peop le

ca l led ap i ru , who d i rec ted the i r hos t i l i t y aga ins t the pe t ty

dynas ts o f Sy ro -Pa les t ine . L i t t l e e lse i s known abou t the

ap i ru beyond the p rob lems ment ioned in t hese despa tches

by the minor k ings o f Syro -Pa les t ine to the i r nomina l ru le r ,

the Pharaoh in Egyp t . The iden t i t y o f the ap i ru has been

the sub jec t o f i n tens ive scho la r l y research , ma in ly because

o f the poss ib le e tymo log ica l re la t ionsh ip to the word ‘ i b r i ’

o r “Hebrews” and “ I s rae l i tes ” o f the B ib le . Accord ing to

Chaney , wha t can be re l iab ly agreed on i s tha t the ap i ru

were geograph ica l l y assoc ia ted w i th Syro -Pa les t ine and

no t an ex te rna l nomad ic in f luence . The ap i ru i s no t an

e thn ic appe l la t ion , bu t re fe rs to e lements in the popu la t ion

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who were “dec lassed , fug i t i ve , up roo ted , o r who o therw ise

s tood ou ts ide the acknowledged soc ia l sys tem” (Chaney

1983 : 53) . However , a l l th ree te rms, ap i ru , “Hebrews” and

“ I s rae l i tes ” a re amb iguous and l i ngu is t i ca l l y they vary

accord ing to con tex t i n the sense tha t they deno te soc ia l

ro les , espec ia l l y dur ing the p re -monarch ic per iod (Chaney

1983 : 57) .

• In the 1960 ’s , the p rob lem was approached f rom a

soc io log ica l pe rspec t i ve . Th is approach advoca ted tha t the

I s rae l i tes were in fac t fug i t i ves f rom the lower c lasses who

rebe l led aga ins t the oppress ive Canaan i tes ru le rs by

means o f an a rmed s t rugg le . Th is schoo l re jec ts the

no t ion tha t the Is rae l i tes emerged as an ex te rna l f o rce and

con tends tha t they were a loca l i zed phenomenon f rom

w i th in the amb i t o f the Canaan i te te r r i to r ies .

Desp i te near l y a cen tu ry o f research and scho la rsh ip t he

ques t ion o f who the Is rae l i tes were , where they come f rom and

how to iden t i f y them e thn ica l l y rema ins unreso lved . The ma in

i ssue o f how to recons t ruc t the i r se t t l ement ( f rom Egyp t , the

S ina i Deser t , Urban Canaan o r the ru ra l h in te r land) and the i r

re la t ionsh ip to the Canaan i tes and the i r ne ighbours a re s t i l l

comp lex ques t ions tha t have no t been adequate ly answered by

the a rchaeo log ica l records o r the tex tua l rema ins .

Much la te r , w i th the S ina i covenan t se rv ing as an ideo log ica l

b lue p r in t , the commun i ty o f I s rae l i tes s ta r ted to become

a t t rac t i ve to those who were l i v ing under oppress ive reg imes .

‘Common loya l t y to a s ing le over lo rd , and ob l iga t ion

to a common and s imp le g roup o f no rms c rea ted the

commun i ty , a so l ida r i t y wh ich was a t t rac t i ve to a l l

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persons su f fe r ing under t he burden o f sub jec t ion to a

monopo ly o f power wh ich they had no par t i n

c rea t ing , and f rom wh ich they rece ived v i r tua l l y

no th ing bu t tax co l lec to rs . Consequen t l y , en t i re

g roups hav ing a c lan o r “ t r i ba l ” o rgan iza t ion jo ined

the newly - fo rmed commun i ty , i den t i f i ed themse lves

w i th the oppressed in Egyp t , and rece ived

de l i ve rance f rom bondage ’ (Mendenha l l 1970 : 108) . Th is commun i ty ex is ted fo r some two hundred years as a f ree

and independent peasan t ry w i thou t a ru l ing c lass excep t fo r

the Mosa ic code wh ich served as an ear l y fo rm o f a

cons t i tu t iona l p rogramme. As such th is ear l y commun i ty o f

I s rae l i tes , were ab le to fend o f f th rea ts to the i r ex is tence f rom

bo th w i th in and w i thou t , pa r t i cu la r l y f rom the Canaan i te k ings

who cou ld no t make e f fec t i ve use o f the i r char io ts in the h i l l y

a reas inhab i ted by the Is rae l i tes .

Accord ing to Hors ley and Hanson , i t was the co l lec t i ve

memory o f th i s commun i ty tha t was passed on to subsequent

genera t ions by means o f the B ib l i ca l na r ra t i ve . Th is became a

re fe rence po in t fo r fu tu re genera t ions who s t rove , a t va r ious

t imes , to re tu rn the commun i ty to an epoch when the Jewish

peasan t ry l i ved under the ru le o f God in a jus t and ega l i ta r ian

soc ie ty , w i thou t over lo rds , k ings o r ru le rs and f ree o f fo re ign

domina t ion (Hors ley and Hanson 1999 : 6 ) .

Dur ing the e leven th cen tu ry the Ph i l i s t i nes became a ma jo r

reg iona l power . On ly I s rae l was ab le to success fu l l y ma in ta in

the i r i ndependence by rad ica l l y res t ruc tu r ing the i r po l i t i ca l

env i ronment as a monarch ica l reg ime, based on the k ingsh ip

mode l o f the type the Is rae l i te s ta te , as i t was , had res is ted

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up to th is po in t . Dav id o rgan ized the resources and peop le

in to a cen t ra l i zed po l i t i co - re l ig ious s ta te . The monarchy under

Dav id as k ing now became the med ia t ing ins t i t u t ion be tween

the peop le and Yahweh, g iv ing the monarchy the d iv ine

sanc t ion and leg i t ima t ion to ru le . Dur ing the re ign o f So lomon,

the monarchy cen t ra l i zed the fa i t h in the temp le in Je rusa lem.

In I s rae l , the ma jo r i t y o f the peasan t ry found i t d i f f i cu l t t o

reconc i le i t se l f to the s t ruc tu res and au thor i t y o f a

monarch ica l sys tem and were suppor ted by p rophe ts l i ke

Hosea and Amos , who harsh ly c r i t i c i zed the k ings and ru l ing

c lasses fo r the oppress ion and in jus t i ces under wh ich the

common peop le l i ved and p red ic ted d iv ine re t r ibu t ion fo r the

na t ion un less they re tu rned to the i r fo rmer way o f l i f e . The

bas is fo r the i r c r i t i c i sm was deep ly roo ted in the p r inc ip les o f

the Mosa ic covenan t and the abhor rence o f oppress ion by a

ru l ing c lass and the soc ia l i nequa l i t i es o f monarch ica l ru le .

I s rae l was conquered by the Assyr ians in 722 BCE and Judah

fe l l to the Baby lon ians in 587 BCE.

The Pers ians conquered Baby lon in 539 BCE and a l lowed the

ex i led I s rae l i tes to re tu rn to the i r homeland and rebu i ld the i r

cap i ta l Je rusa lem and the Temple . The head o f the Judean

soc ie ty became the h igh p r ies t who was based in the temp le ,

toge ther w i th the h igh p r ies t l y fami l ies who became the de

fac to po l i t i ca l , re l ig ious and economic power s t ruc tu res as

we l l as the emergen t upper -c lass o f Jew ish soc ie t y . Wi th the

adven t o f He l len is t i c ru le and la te r the Roman Empi re , Judea

con t inued to func t ion as a temp le commun i ty , bu t under the

ex te rna l con t ro l o f an imper ia l government . The soc ia l and

economic rea l i t i es meant tha t a l though the peasan ts were ab le

to con t inue l i v ing under the i r Mosa ic t rad i t i ons , they became

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i nc reas ing ly a l iena ted f rom the ru l ing p r ies t l y au thor i t i es as

they were burdened by taxa t ion and o ther res t r i c t i ve measures

tha t marg ina l i zed the i r ex is tence .

3 .3 A POLIT ICAL, ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL HISTORY OF

THE JEWISH PEASANTRY IN THE HASMONAEAN ERA The o r ig ins o f a g rea t dea l o f the cond i t i ons under wh ich the

Jewish popu lace found themse lves in the f i r s t cen tu ry , had i t s

roo ts in the res is tance aga ins t Se leuc id domina t ion and the

subsequent r i se o f the Hasmonaean Dynas ty . Success ive

Se leuc id monarchs a t tempted to fo rc ib l y conver t the Jews

away f rom the mos t cher i shed tene ts o f the i r fa i th the reby

caus ing a popu la r g roundswe l l o f res is tance and rebe l l i on ,

wh ich was to cu lm ina te in the es tab l i shment o f an independent

Jew ish s ta te . Judas the Maccabee, one o f the sons o f a

p r ies t l y Hasmonaean fami l y led the revo l t as an underg round

movement and was so success fu l tha t they de fea ted a number

o f l a rge a rmies sen t aga ins t them. The peasan ts ’ res is tance

on ly inc reased when i t became c lear tha t the Se leuc ids ’

u l t ima te a im was to end the ex is tence o f the t rad i t i ona l way o f

l i f e o f Judean soc ie ty by con f i sca t ing the land , se l l i ng the

peop le in to s lavery and se t t l i ng non-Jews on to the con f i sca ted

land , ma in ly in o rder to repay the deb t the Se leuc ids owed to

Rome as overdue t r ibu te (1 Macc .4 .36-59) .

A f te r a leng thy s t rugg le , the peop le o f Judea succeeded in

the i r war o f na t iona l l i be ra t ion . The ou tcome however , was no t

a re tu rn to a t rad i t i ona l way o f l i f e based on a Mosa ic idea l ,

bu t the es tab l i shment o f a s ta te tha t was ind is t ingu ishab le

f rom any o f the o ther semi -He l len ized s ta tes in the reg ion

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(Hors ley and Hanson 1999 : 23) . In o rder to conso l ida te and

expand the amount o f l and unde r Jew ish con t ro l , a na t iona l

a rmy o f cons iderab le s ize was fo rmed. 22 The land expans ion

p rogramme was ach ieved by the conques t o f ne ighbour ing

te r r i to r ies , the fo rced convers ion o f non-Jews to the Jew ish

fa i th and the d isp lacement and expu ls ion o f thousands o f l oca l

i nhab i tan ts . A l though l i t t l e i s known exac t l y how the l i ves o f

the ru ra l peasan t ry changed as a resu l t o f the es tab l i shment

o f the Hasmonaean s ta te , a few fac to rs can be surmised : As

new land was won over by conques t , Jew ish fa rmers were

se t t led on these te r r i to r ies in o rder to c rea te a c lass o f l and

ho ld ing peasan t ry who wou ld be f ree f rom economic

exp lo i ta t ion . I t i s a l so poss ib le tha t in re tu rn fo r the land , the

peasan t ry wou ld have to make themse lves ava i lab le fo r

m i l i t a ry se rv ice , hence the capac i t y to rec ru i t a la rge na t iona l

m i l i t a ry (Schä fe r 2003 : 66) . Wi th regards to taxa t ion , Schä fe r

has sugges ted tha t the ha ted t r ibu te exac ted by the fo rmer

Se leuc id ru le rs was abo l i shed , the land tax was resc inded and

on ly app l ied to t he roya l es ta tes , l eav ing the re fo re on ly t he

po l l tax , cus toms du t ies and a poss ib le inc rease in the Temple

tax f rom one th i rd o f a sheke l to ha l f a sheke l (Schä fe r 2003 :

67) . 23 Less cer ta in i s to wha t ex ten t the land in the newly

es tab l i shed k ingdom was d iv ided ou t amongs t the members o f

the roya l fami l ies and how much was g ran ted to nob les and

o ther lead ing fami l i es o f the rea lm. App lebaum has sugges ted

tha t the re appears to be su f f i c ien t ev idence f rom Ta lmud ic

22 Jona than had 30 ,000 Jewish so ld ie rs a t h i s d isposa l accord ing to 1 Macc . 10 :36 and cou ld p rov ide fo r the h i r ing o f 3000 so ld ie rs to f i gh t aga ins t the rebe l l i ous so ld ie rs o f An t ioch (1 Macc . 11 : 42 -51) 23 For a more de ta i led assessment o f the land and tax i ssue dur ing the Hasmonaean and Roman per iods , see S . App lebaum (1977) . ‘ Judea as a Roman Prov ince : The Count rys ide as a Po l i t i ca l and Economic Fac to r ’ , ANRW I I .8 , 355-396 .

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sources and f rom Maccabees tha t the Hasmonaean ru le rs had

appropr ia ted la rge t rac ts o f l and fo r themse lves , as was the

cus tom and p rac t i ce in the o ther su r round ing He l len is t i c

monarch ies o f the reg ion (App lebaum 1977 : 358-9 ) . 24

“ I t the re fo re seems permiss ib le t o conc lude tha t on

the eve o f the Roman adven t the g rea te r pa r t o f the

Jewish peasan ts o f Judea had v ind ica ted the i r

t rad i t i ona l r i gh t t o be mas te rs o f the i r own lands , and

tha t the sma l l -ho lder was the p redominan t f i gu re on

the Jew ish agra r ian scene , a l though i t i s ev iden t t ha t

es ta tes o f the Hasmonaean nob i l i t y a l so ex is ted , and

roya l domains among them” (App lebaum 1977 : 360) .

Hav ing ach ieved i t s f reedom f rom fo re ign ru le rs , the Jew ish

peop le were now ab le to con t ro l the i r own des t iny . However ,

the c i r cumstances under wh ich the f ledg l ing s ta te won i t s

independence and the subsequent conduc t o f i t s ru l ing house

wou ld p rove d isas t rous . The Maccabaean movement had i t s

ideo log ica l roo ts in the par ty o f the Has id im which even tua l l y

became the Phar isees (Schä fe r 2003 : 70) . The i r en t i re f rame

o f re fe rence was based on the s t r i c tes t and unswerv ing

observance o f the Law in a l l mat te rs o f pub l i c and p r i va te l i f e .

However , once Jewish l i be r ty had been res to red , the

Maccabaean e l i te and ru l ing c lass sh i f ted i t s focus to the

po l i t i ca l sphere in o rder to advance the na t iona l i n te res t by

24 The sources a re : 1 Macc . 10 , 89 ; Josephus ’s Ant iqu i t i es o f the Jews 13 : 102 wh ich dea ls w i th the g ran t ing o f Ek ron to Jona than ; 1 Macc . 14 , 10 re fe rs to the v i l l ages o f t he P la in o f Esdra lon he ld by Hyrcanus I I as we l l as in Ant iqu i t i es 14 : 207 ; 14 : 208 dea ls w i th Hyrcanus ’s p roper ty r igh ts in Lydda ; B . G i t t i n 57a , regard ing A lexander Janneus ’s ownersh ip o f p roper ty in numerous v i l l ages in the “K ings ’ Coun t ry ” , and o ther Ta lmud ic re fe rences to no tab les possess ing land in th i s reg ion .

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fo l l ow ing p ragmat ic po l i c ies tha t were a imed a t ensur ing

economic and po l i t i ca l s tab i l i t y and re l ig ious compromise .

Th is meant rea l ignment away f rom the Phar i sees to the

Sadducaean par t y , wh ich was compr ised ma in ly o f the wea l thy

and p r ies t l y a r i s toc racy who were more inc l ined to iden t i f y

w i th and compromise w i th the He l len is t i c wor ld and i t s over t l y

secu la r in te res ts . The Phar isees , accord ing to Josephus , had

g rea t in f luence and c red ib i l i t y over the peop le and one can

p resume tha t by the t ime the Hasmonaean dynas ty had

es tab l i shed i t se l f , they were a ma jo r fo rce in Jew ish po l i t i cs

(War 2 . 162-166 ; Ant iqu i t ies 13 .171-173 ; An t iqu i t i es 18 . 11-

17) . The po l i t i ca l s i tua t ion thus can be charac te r i zed as

fo l lows : a f te r a long s t rugg le , Jew ish independence i s re -

asser ted . The leaders o f the movement fo r l i be r ty , the

Maccabees es tab l i shed a cen t ra l i zed monarch ica l k ingdom

and no t a s ta te based p r inc ipa l l y on theocra t i c p r inc ip les and

ins t i tu t ions . The ru l ing e l i t es adop ted He l len is t i c s ta te

fo rmat ions , con t ra ry to the w ishes o f the ma jo r i t y who became

a l iena ted f rom them and the ru l i ng ins t i t u t ions resu l t i ng in the

ou tb reak o f a p ro t rac ted and b loody in te rna l i nsur rec t ion . A

g rea t dea l o f the hos t i l i t y came abou t as a resu l t o f the

Hasmonaean House dec id ing to abroga te to themse lves the

t i t l e o f ‘ h igh p r ies ts ’ . (Sma l lwood 1976 : 16-20) Tha t the

po l i c ies o f the Hasmonaean monarchs , and in par t i cu la r those

o f A lexander Janneus , were deep ly repugnan t to much o f the

Jew ish popu lace can be a t tes ted to by the b loody s ix year

revo l t tha t b roke ou t t owards the end o f h i s long re ign .

Josephus p rov ides what i s p robab ly an apocrypha l ta le o f how,

on h is dea thbed , A lexander Janneus u rged h is w i fe to make

peace w i th the par ty o f the Phar isees in o rder to con t inue w i th

the dynas ty he had es tab l i shed (Ant iqu i t i es 13 .372-83 ; 399-

404 ; War 1 . 88 -98 . ) The ex ten t and fe roc i t y o f the revo l t i s

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graph ica l l y desc r ibed by Josephus , however what i s o f

pa r t i cu la r no te , i s tha t the ideo log ica l sch ism be tween the

Phar i sees and Sadducees had hardened , no t on ly on pure ly

re l ig ious g rounds , bu t a lso on the bas is o f who he ld the

po l i t i ca l r i gh t to lead the peop le . G iven tha t Jew ish soc ie t y

was f ragmented and p lu ra l i s t i c w i th se l f - con ta ined g roups ,

each w i th the i r own au thor i t y f igu res , these fau l t l i nes in

Jew ish soc ie ty , ca r r ied over to the Herod ian e ra and served as

a background to the con f l i c t tha t was to un fo ld la te r in the f i r s t

cen tu ry (Ra jak 2002 : 109) .

As a resu l t o f th i s s t rugg le , the coun t ry was sp l i t be tween

th ree ma jo r par t ies , the Phar i sees , the Sadducees and the

Essenes . Essen t ia l l y , th i s was the domest i c po l i t i ca l scene

wh ich the Romans encoun te red when they f ina l l y en te red

d i rec t l y in to the Syr ia -Pa les t i ne reg ion in o rder to conso l ida te

the i r con t ro l over the Eas te rn reaches o f the Empi re .

3.4 ROMAN INTERVENTION Before he d ied , the Hasmonaean ru le r , A lexander Janneus

bequeathed h is k ingdom to h is w idow, A lexandra Sa lome, who

in i t i a ted a per iod o f peace be tween the war r ing monarchy and

the Phar i sees . Th is however was shor t - l i ved , as soon a f te r her

dea th there a rose a per iod o f con t inuous con f l i c t and

ins tab i l i t y i n the k ingdom as her two sons , Hyrcanus and

Ar i s tobu lus , s t rugg led fo r power amongs t themse lves . In the ,

meanwh i le , Pompey had a r r i ved in Se leuc id te r r i to ry in 64

BCE and se t abou t fo rma l l y annex ing the reg ion in o rder to

secure Rome’s eas te rn borders f rom the con t inuous anarchy

wh ich p reva i led th roughout the Eas t . The con f l i c t be tween the

two war r ing Hasmonaean p r inces gave Pompey the p re tex t to

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i n te rvene in Pa les t ine os tens ib ly to p reven t the in te rna l

con f l i c t f rom caus ing fu r ther ins tab i l i t y i n the reg ion , bu t a l so

to f i rm ly secure Roman imper ia l i n te res ts th roughou t the

reg ion . The resu l t was the even tua l d i sso lu t ion o f the

Hasmonaean K ingdom and d ras t i c reduc t ion o f Jew ish

te r r i to ry . Pompey ’s a im was to ensure tha t Pa les t ine wou ld

become an ins ign i f i can t par t o f Sy r ia and wou ld no t be ab le to

mount a po l i t i ca l o r m i l i t a r y th rea t to the s tab i l i t y o f the reg ion

(Smal lwood 1981 : 27) . He s ta r ted by d ras t i ca l l y reduc ing the

ex ten t o f Jew ish te r r i to ry and res to red the fo rmer Greek c i t i es

o f the coas ta l p la in , Samar ia and Trans jo rdan , f rom Judea .

The rema in ing Jewish te r r i to r ies now cons is ted on ly o f

Ga l i l ee , Perea , Idumea and Judea . The who le a rea descended

in to tu rmo i l as r i va l Roman fac t ions fough t amongs t each

o ther , wh i le the con t inu ing con f l i c t and in te r r i va l ry amongs t

the Hasmonaeans raged on w i th Par th ian mi l i ta ry invo lvement

add ing to the chaos in the reg ion .

The e f fec ts on the Jewish popu lace were devas ta t ing . Mass ive

taxes were imposed on them, the land was ru ined and

w idespread soc ia l tu rmo i l became the o rder o f the day

(Hors ley and Hanson1999: 31 ; Grabbe 1992 : 334) .

By the year 6 CE when Rome s ta r ted to admin is te r Jew ish

Pa les t ine as a d i rec t co lony o f the Empi re , Josephus

descr ibed the s i tua t ion in the land as a genera l s i ckness

tha t… “So deep ly were they a l l i n fec ted and s t rove w i th one

ano ther in the i r s ing le capac i t y , and in the i r commun i t ies , who

shou ld run the g rea tes t leng ths in imp ie ty towards God, and in

un jus t ac t ions towards the i r ne ighbours , the men o f power

oppress ing the mu l t i tude and the mu l t i tude earnes t l y labour ing

to des t roy the men o f power ” (War 7 .260) . The havoc and

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i ns tab i l i t y in th is per iod led to g rea t soc ia l and economic

d is t ress amongs t the peasan ts on the land and the poor o f the

towns and c i t i es .

3 .5 THE POLIT ICAL AND MIL ITARY DIMENSION

In a t tempt ing to govern Judea as a p rov ince , the Romans

commi t ted themse lves to p ro tec t ing Jew ish re l ig ious l i be r ty ,

bu t f rom a po l i t i ca l v iewpo in t , were adamant l y opposed to any

na t iona l i s t asp i ra t ions among the Jewish popu lace . Accord ing

to Jew ish t rad i t i on and p rac t i ce there was concep tua l l y no

separa t ion be tween the po l i t i ca l sphere , the re l ig ious and

cu l tu ra l as they saw i t a l l as one and the same. There fo re , any

th rea t , rea l o r pe rce ived , towards any face t o f the i r fa i th ,

re l ig ious p rac t i ces and way o f l i f e , au tomat ica l l y qua l i f i ed

i t se l f as a po l i t i ca l th rea t to the i r ve ry ex is tence as a separa te

peop le w i th the i r own re l ig ious ideo logy . In the absence o f

modera te Jew ish op in ion be ing ab le to p reva i l fo r any leng th

o f t ime , the resu l t i ng be l l i ge ren t and mi l i tan t res is tance r igh t

a t the s ta r t o f d i rec t Roman ru le in 6 CE became the

fundamenta l cause fo r repea ted tu rmo i l over the nex t s i x ty

years tha t cu lm ina ted in the ou tb reak o f war in 66 CE.

One o f the p r imary ob jec t i ves o f Roman p rov inc ia l governors

was to ma in ta in the peace and s tab i l i t y in the p rov inces to

wh ich they had been ass igned . In the la rger and po l i t i ca l l y

more dangerous p rov inces , la rge a rmy un i t s were s ta t ioned

and on s tandby in case o f any ou tb reaks o f un res t . In less

s ign i f i can t p rov inces , and we can sa fe ly assume tha t Pa les t ine

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i n i t i a l l y fe l l i n to th i s ca tegory as i t was s i tua ted on the

per iphery o f the eas te rn par t o f the Empi re , the m i l i t a ry

p resence was ex t reme ly sma l l and l im i ted . Pa les t ine fe l l under

the m i l i t a ry and admin is t ra t i ve command o f a lega te o f

sena to r ia l rank s ta t ioned in Syr ia and who repor ted to the

Emperor wh i le Pa les t ine p roper , was in t u rn p laced under the

con t ro l o f a prae fec tus or a p rocura to r ( f rom C laud ius

onwards) , usua l l y o f eques t r ian rank and was no t seen as a

‘p lum’ pos t ing fo r a po l i t i ca l l y o r m i l i t a r i l y amb i t ious Roman.

Prov inces governed by a prae fec tus o r procura to r usua l l y had

on ly aux i l i a ry t roops (aux i l i a ) a t the i r command, as was the

case in Judea . These were composed o f so ld ie rs who were

rec ru i ted f rom the ind igenous popu la t ion who d id no t have

r igh ts to Roman c i t i zensh ip , (excep t fo r the o f f i ce rs ) . The i r

ma in du t ies were to man the gar r i sons and ma in ta in in te rna l

o rder . Jew ish c i t i zens o f Judea however , were exempt f rom

mi l i ta ry se rv ice . Bes ides ma in ta in ing o rde r , the governor was

en t rus ted w i th the task o f tax co l lec t ion and the admin is t ra t ion

o f j us t i ce .

Josephus ment ions a t the conc lus ion o f Ant iqu i t i es t ha t on the

dea th o f Arche laus the government changed f rom a

monarch ica l fo rm o f ru le to one based on ru le by an

a r i s toc ra t i c e l i te (An t iqu i t ies 20 .251) . The Jews re ta ined the

r igh t to admin is te r loca l l aws , accord ing to the i r cus tom and to

imp lement the cus tomary c i v i c and c r im ina l l aws , a l though

on ly Roman governors had the r igh t o f impos ing cap i ta l

pun ishment . F rom Josephus ’s observa t ion , i t can be

conc luded tha t Judea was once aga in a commun i ty ru led by an

a r i s toc racy o f h igh p r ies ts , a l though in p rac t i ce , the Romans

reserved the r igh t to themse lves to appo in t and depose the

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h igh p r ies ts , a r igh t they la te r ceded to the c l ien t k ings , Herod

o f Cha lc is and Agr ippa I I .

Accord ing to Goodman, the no t ion o f a soc ia l c lass based on

feuda l t i es o r on inheren t d is t inc t ions o f b i r th d id no t ex is t i n

Judean Jewish soc ie ty . Peop le d id no t au tomat ica l l y see

themse lves as peasan ts , fa rmers , c ra f t sman, landowners o r

merchan ts , o r o ther such g roups w i th c lear l y i den t i f i ab le

in te res ts . Peop le regarded themse lves as d is t ingu ishab le on ly

as ca tegor ies w i th in the con tex t o f Jew ish ideo logy and fa i th .

A person was born a Lev i t e , a p r ies t , an I s rae l i te o r a na tu ra l

bo rn Jew. The v ic t ims o f economic m is fo r tune d id no t con fuse

the i r p l i gh t w i th es tab l i shed Jewish soc ia l no rms, nor d id the

poor iden t i f y w i th o ther poor , and the resen tment towards the

r i ch and the exp lo i ta t ion they su f fe red rema ined un focussed

(Goodman 1993 : 67) . Wh i le c lass d is t inc t ions may have been

b lu r red because o f the cen t ra l ro le tha t re l ig ion p layed in the i r

l i ves , i t p resupposes tha t a l l Jews be l ieved equa l l y and in the

same measure in the tene ts o f the i r fa i th wh i le i t i s now

common ly accep ted tha t the re were a number o f

i n te rp re ta t ions o f Jew ish law, bes ides the in f luences o f

ex te rna l cu l tu res such as Roman He l len ism; in add i t i on one

can surmise tha t fo r the ex t reme ly despera te , the d ispar i t i es

o f wea l th and cond i t ions o f l i f e mus t have been on ly too

apparen t and focussed . Someone d ispossessed o f h is land

mus t su re ly have borne acu te resen tment towards the

d ispossessor .

When the Romans assumed con t ro l o f Pa les t ine they na tu ra l l y

app l ied a fo rm o f governance w i th wh ich they were fami l i a r

and had worked fo r them in o ther p rov inces in the Empi re .

Th is was based on the p rac t i ce o f l eav ing loca l i ns t i tu t ions

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i n tac t under the con t ro l o f the ex is t ing ru l ing e l i t es , such as

they were . In Judea , the s i tua t ion was d i f fe ren t , in tha t a f te r

the demise o f Herod ’s son , Arche laus , the monarch ica l fo rm o f

ru le had by then d isappeared and w i th i t the who le panop ly o f

a r i s toc racy as an ins t i tu t i on o f government . The Romans

there fo re had to ‘ i nven t ’ an a l te rna t i ve a r i s toc racy , and tu rned

to the o ld and venerab le ins t i tu t ion o f the h igh p r ies thood .

They c rea ted what Goodman ca l l s an ‘a r t i f i c ia l ’ a r i s toc racy

and the b lame fo r much o f wha t subsequen t l y wen t wrong can

be b lamed on th is fac t a lone (Goodman 1993 : 110) . The

p rob lem f rom the Jewish perspec t i ve was tha t the H igh

p r ies thood had become deva lued as an o f f i ce in the eyes o f

the Jewish peop le a f te r 37 BCE when Herod had appo in ted

ind iv idua ls to the o f f i ce who lacked au thor i t y and leg i t imacy

fo r the b road mass o f the popu la t ion . The p res t ige and

c red ib i l i t y o f the o f f i ce had so d im in ished by tha t s tage

a l ready , tha t when the Roman p rocura to rs took i t upon

themse lves to appo in t the h igh p r ies ts , the incumbents were

regarded as mere puppe ts o f the Roman governor . As fa r as

the b road mass o f the Jewish peop le were concerned , the h igh

p r ies thood was seen as co l l abora t ing w i th the Roman

au thor i t i es , wh i le a t the same t ime there ex is ted a g rea t dea l

o f con f l i c t be tween o rd inary p r ies ts , the h igh p r ies ts , the

sc r ibes and scho la rs who had a t ta ined a degree o f semi

independence w i th in the Temple and were consequent l y

hos t i l e t owards the Roman au thor i t i es (Hors ley 1993 : 130) .

There fo re as a rmed res is tance and unres t i nc reased in the

coun t rys ide in the years p r io r to the ou tb reak o f the revo l t i n

66 CE, the h igh p r ies ts based in t he Temple in Je rusa lem d id

l i t t l e to in te rvene in the con f l i c ts tha t a rose in the coun t rys ide

and peop le tu rned inc reas ing ly to p rophe ts and se l f -

p roc la imed mess iahs w i th fan tas t i ca l v i s ions o f a renewa l o f

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Jewish independence , f reedom and a re tu rn to a pas t

t rad i t i ons and way o f l i f e (Hors ley 1999 : 115) . The fau l t l i nes

in Judean soc ie ty can be summed up as a ser ies o f con f l i c t s

be tween the exp lo i ted peasan t ry and f rus t ra ted inhab i tan ts o f

Je rusa lem, on one s ide , and the h igh p r ies t l y a r i s toc racy and

Roman ru le rs on the o ther . The i l l eg i t imacy o f the h igh

p r ies thood and the i r a l iena t ion f rom the common peop le as

we l l as the res t o f the Temple h ie ra rchy resu l ted in the i r

i nab i l i t y to ru le e f fec t i ve ly . 25 The bas ic soc ia l fo rm o f anc ien t ru ra l soc ie t ies was the

househo ld and v i l l age commun i t ies . G iven the fac t tha t these

had undergone t raumat ic and i r re t r ievab le s t resses in the

years 63 BCE to 6 CE, they had exper ienced Roman conques t

and reconques t th ree t imes over the pas t s i x ty years . Roman

b ru ta l i t y , devas ta t ion and scorched ear th p rac t i ces d is loca ted

who le commun i t ies , up roo ted v i l l ages and caused la rge

numbers to f l ee to seeming ly more secure Jewish a reas o f

hab i ta t ion w i th in Ga l i l ee and Judea (Hors ley 2002 : 87) .

The o ther ins t i tu t ions wh ich may have been a key fac to r in

Judean po l i t i cs were a lso rendered re la t i ve ly ine f fec t i ve . The

f i r s t was the Sanhedr in , bu t ev idence o f i t s ro le in f i r s t

cen tu ry even ts a re ske tchy and second cen tu ry rabb in ica l

accoun ts a re con fus ing , espec ia l l y when eva lua ted aga ins t t he

ro le th is body p layed in New Tes tament accoun ts . Goodman

a lso c la ims tha t the supreme dec is ion mak ing ins t i tu t ion was

the popu la r assembly . Th is ins t i tu t ion was s teeped in re l ig ious

s ign i f i cance and p layed a dec is i ve ro le a t t imes o f g rea t

25 M. Goodman (1993) : The Ru l ing C lass o f Judea p rov ides a de ta i led and exce l len t ana lys is o f the ru l ing c lass in Judea and the i r fa i l u re to impose e f fec t i ve ru le a t a t ime when i t was mos t needed .

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impor t fo r the Jews. The theo log ica l bas is fo r th i s assembly

was based on the ga ther ing o f a l l the peop le to convene w i th

God a t Mount S ina i (Exodus 23 .14-17) . 26 The cus tom o f a

peop le ’s conven t ion was t ransmi t ted th rough the genera t ions

by the mass ga ther ing o f mu l t i tudes o f peop le in Je rusa lem fo r

the annua l Passover fes t i va l . These were h igh ly emot i ve

occas ions dur ing wh ich the Jewish yearn ing fo r i t s pas t l i be r ty

and f reedom f rom oppress ion was a r t i cu la ted . These

ga ther ings were h igh ly dangerous occas ions fo r the secu la r

au thor i t i es who were scared o f sporad ic and uncon t ro l led mob

v io lence (Goodman 1993 : 110) . “For when the mu l t i tude were

come toge ther to Je rusa lem, to the Feas t o f Un leavened

Bread , and a Roman cohor t s tood guard over the c lo is te rs o f

the Temple ( fo r they were a lways a rmed and kep t guard a t the

fes t i va ls , to p reven t any innova t ion wh ich the mu l t i tude thus

ga thered toge ther m igh t take) ” (War 2 .224) . However , popu la r

assembl ies were no t coun tenanced by the Romans and were

suppressed wherever Rome assumed power , o r emascu la ted

as rubber s tamp ing bod ies , where th i s was conven ien t and

exped ien t (Goodman 1993 : 110) .

The d iscuss ion so fa r has focussed la rge ly on Judea as the

t rad i t i ona l cen t ra l focus o f Jew ish a f fa i rs . However , Ga l i l ee ,

had i t s own un ique h is to ry and the un fo ld ing even ts p r io r to

the revo l t and dur ing the course o f the revo l t , deve loped

ra ther d i f fe ren t l y to tha t o f the Judean exper ience . Ga l i l ee

had , un t i l Hasmonaean t imes , been e i the r an independent

en t i t y , o r ru led as a separa te un i t o f imper ia l admin is t ra t ion

fo r e igh t hundred years . Hors ley remarks tha t the Judean

26 A t a Jewish assembly in 140 BCE, S imon Maccabee was con f i rmed as E thnarch (1 Macc . 14 .40) ; Herod con f i rmed h is he i rs to the th rone in 12 BCE dur ing a ga ther ing o f the peop le in the Temple (An t iqu i t i es 16 . 132-135) .

92

exper iences and in te rac t ion w i th the Temple cu l t based in

Je rusa lem had no t a f fec ted Ga l i l ean Jewish soc ie ty to the

same ex ten t as i t had in Judea p roper nor , i s the re c lea r

ev idence tha t the re ex is ted any a t tempts a t b r idg ing the d iv ide

be tween the two Jewish ‘ fac t ions ’ (Hors ley 2002 : 88) . He

descr ibes the d i f fe rences as the “g rea t t rad i t ion ” person i f i ed

by the Jerusa lem-based e l i tes and the i r temp le -s ta te ve rs ion

o f Juda ism as opposed to the “ l i t t l e t rad i t i on ” exempl i f i ed by

an “ I s rae l i te popu la r t rad i t i on ” as found in the Ga l i l ean v i l l age

commun i t ies (Hors ley 2002 : 88) . I t i s p robab le tha t Ga l i l eans

may have he ld con f l i c t ing v iews to those p reva i l i ng amongs t

the Jewish e l i te in Je rusa lem. 27 The Roman mi l i t a ry d id no t t yp ica l l y en t rench la rge a rmies in

the sma l le r and less r i sky p rov inces . When a rebe l l i on d id

occur , they mus te red as much manpower as was ava i lab le to

con ta in i t , o f ten us ing numer ica l l y sma l l and poor l y equ ipped

fo rces as a show o f fo rce and to qu ick ly rega in the in i t i a t i ve

be fo re the s i tua t ion cou ld sp in ou t o f con t ro l . Th is w i l l i ngness

to face an enemy, even i f g ross ly ou tnumbered , was meant t o

show con tempt fo r the enemy and an unwaver ing be l ie f i n the

migh t and power o f the Roman mi l i ta ry to even tua l l y p reva i l . I f

th i s in i t i a l m i l i t a ry in te rven t ion was unsuccess fu l then a fu l l y

equ ipped a rmy w i th adequa te resources was sen t to que l l the

rebe l l i on . The Jew ish fo rces ach ieved an ear l y v i c to ry when

f igh t ing b roke ou t in 66 CE, when the Jews de fea ted a modes t

Roman fo rce under the command o f Ces t ius (War 2 .517-22) ;

(Go ldswor thy 2000 : 144) . The Roman fo rces tha t were p laced

27 Sean F reyne exp lo res the e f fec ts o f reg iona l i sm on the even ts lead ing up to the revo l t i n a shor t chap te r en t i t l ed , ‘The Revo l t f rom a Reg iona l Pe rspec t i ve . ’ Ber l i n and Overman (Eds) . (2002) . The F i rs t Jew ish revo l t : Archaeo logy , H is to ry and Ideo logy . London : Rou t ledge .

93

i n Pa les t ine cons is ted o f two cohor ts in Je rusa lem wh ich were

s ta t ioned in the An ton ia fo r t ress cons is t ing o f abou t one

thousand men. Ano ther cohor t was based in Caesaraea , and

ano ther two cohor ts and one squadron o f cava l ry se rved

th roughou t the p rov ince . P rac t i ca l l y then , i f t he Jew ish ru l ing

c lass wanted to asser t i t s au thor i t y in response to the

endemic unres t , i t cou ld no t do so e f fec t i ve ly w i thou t an a rmy

o r m i l i t i a o f i t s own and was thus dependent on the Roman

mi l i ta ry , wh ich i t was re luc tan t to do anyway g iven the b ru ta l

na tu re and heavy-handedness o f the Roman a rmy. The on ly

avenue to dea l ing w i th the sporad ic ou tb reaks o f un res t , was

to use persuas ion ; bu t g iven the lack o f c red ib i l i t y towards the

Jerusa lem ru l ing c lass , th i s was a rou te tha t was d i f f i cu l t , and

in on ly a few ins tances , success fu l . 28

3 .6 THE ECONOMIC SITUATION

The economy o f Pa les t ine was s im i la r to those o f o ther

reg ions o f the Roman Empi re in tha t i t was la rge ly agra r ian in

na tu re w i th the peasan ts p roduc ing the food consumed in the

c i t i es and ru ra l commun i t ies . As ide f rom a few reg iona l

pecu l ia r i t i es , Pa les t ine was par t o f the la rger Roman economic

wor ld and there a re comparab le soc io -economic cond i t ions

tha t ex is ted e lsewhere in the Empi re (Har land 2002 : 515) .

The economy o f Pa les t ine was an underdeve loped and

agra r ian economy based on subs is tence leve l fa rm ing by the

peasan t ry . By means o f the payment o f ren ts and taxa t ion , the

28 The res is tance to the census imposed by the Roman admin is t ra t ion in 6 CE was med ia ted by the h igh p r ies t , Joazar , who conv inced the peop le to co -opera te . (An t iqu i t i es 18 1 -2 ) .

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peasan ts suppor ted the soc io -economic s t ruc tu re a l though th is

resu l ted in a g ross ly unequa l d is t r ibu t ion o f the wea l th in

favour o f the e l i tes who represen ted on ly a f rac t ion o f the

popu la t ion . The income genera ted in the fo rm o f the taxes and

ren ts the re fo re f l owed in to the c i t i es and were red is t r ibu ted

amongs t the wea l thy fo r the i r own par t i cu la r ends w i thou t

any th ing f l ow ing back in to the coun t rys ide , the reby keep ing

the ru ra l a reas perpe tua l l y under funded and in a s ta te o f

cons tan t penury . Dona ld Enge ls exp la ins tha t the peasan ts in

the anc ien t economy l i ved on the marg ins o f su rv iva l and had

v i r tua l l y no th ing le f t over a f te r pay ing the i r taxes and o r ren ts

and ma in tenance cos ts , so tha t any u rban exchange o f goods

and serv ices wou ld no t have been v iab le as the peasan t

s imp ly d id no t have enough money le f t over to se rve as

d isposab le income (Enge ls 1990 :1 ) . Th is , i n essence , la rge ly

cap tu res the sp i r i t o f the p r im i t i v i s t mode l o f the anc ien t

economy in wh ich F in ley has been the mos t in f luen t ia l . More

recen t s tud ies have revea led tha t a l though the Roman

economy was p re - indus t r ia l i n na tu re , i t never the less showed

s igns o f comp lex i t y , o rder and sys tems to an ex ten t tha t any

economic mode ls der i ved f rom ind iv idua l c i t i es need to be

care fu l l y qua l i f i ed (D ’ A rms 1981 : 59) . Doug las Edwards

a rgues tha t ru ra l v i l l ages in Ga l i l ee fo r ins tance , exper ienced

a v ib ran t in te rchange o f goods be tween u rban cen t res and

back to the v i l l ages . (Edwards 1992 : 58-62) . The v i l l age o f

K fa r Hananya p roduced h igh qua l i t y po t te ry wh ich was

d is t r ibu ted over a w ide rad ius , incorpora t ing v i l l ages and

u rban cen t res ac ross the Ga l i l ee , i nc lud ing Sepphor i s and

T iber ius , wh ich p robab ly se rved as the d is t r ibu t ion cen t res fo r

the ne ighbour ing v i l l ages (Bayewi tz 1985 : 243-253) .

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Desp i te the comment f rom Josephus tha t Pa les t ine was no t a

mar i t ime na t ion o r much in te res ted in t rade (Cont ra Ap ion

1 .60) , he re too some cau t ion needs to be app l ied as the

rea l i t y may have been d i f fe ren t . I t i s p robab le tha t th i s

comment der ives f rom the res t r i c t ions p laced on fo re ign t rade

by the rabb is , (wh ich cou ld poss ib ly exp la in why Josephus

may have wanted to downp lay th is ac t i v i t y ) as we l l as the

cus tom o f some c lass ica l au thors to dep ic t commerc ia l t rad ing

ac t i v i t i es in a hos t i l e l i gh t , i nc lud ing Ca to (Agr . 1 .2 -4 ) , C ice ro

(Of f . 1 .150-51) , Var ro (Rus t . 2 .10 .1 -3 ) and Co lume l la (Rus t .

1 .1 -17) , a p rac t i ce tha t Josephus may have been fo l l ow ing

(Har land 2002 : 518) . A rchaeo log ica l ev idence has revea led

tha t the re may have been qu i te ex tens ive impor ta t ion o f goods

in to Pa les t ine , desp i te comments to the con t ra ry (Har land

2002 : 518) .

The economic s t ruc tu re o f the Jew ish te r r i to r ies was one

based on v i l l ages , no t un l i ke mos t o f Roman Near Eas te rn

soc ie ty (M i l l a r 1993 : 350) , bu t w i t h la rge towns a round wh ich

they were anchored fo r purposes o f t rade and c iv i l

admin is t ra t ion . 29 However , Je rusa lem p layed an impor tan t ro le

in the Judean economy as i t was a cen t re o f cons iderab le

wea l th and in f luence (War 3 .54) . Je rusa lem became a wea l thy

c i t y because o f th ree fac to rs . We know tha t the coun t rys ide

was par t i cu la r l y p roduc t i ve and p roduced g ra in , wood , f ru i t

and ca t t le (War 3 .49-50) . The Temple spen t a cons iderab le

sum o f money purchas ing agr i cu l tu ra l and o ther goods f rom

the loca l economy tha t was used in sac r i f i ces and o ther

re l ig ious ceremon ies . The Temple a t t rac ted a g rea t number o f

p i lg r ims every year tha t spen t a g rea t dea l o f money in the

29 Josephus p rov ides an ex tens ive l i s t o f c i t i es , ne ighbour ing v i l l ages and Toparch ies in War 3 . 35 -38 .

96

c i t y on accommodat ion and o ther se rv ices as we l l as by

dona t ing g i f t s to the Temple . Herod and h is descendan ts a lso

in jec ted huge sums o f money on bu i ld ing p ro jec ts and u rban

improvement schemes. Th is can be deduced f rom the la rge

number o f workmen who were kep t busy on these p ro jec ts and

on comple t ion in 64 CE were unemployed thereby caus ing

concern tha t they cou ld pose a th rea t to c i v i l o rder . Agr ippa

subsequent l y o rdered tha t they be emp loyed on a scheme to

pave the c i t y . (An t iqu i t i es 20 .222)

There were wea l thy fami l ies based in Jerusa lem and o ther

c i t i es whose p r imary source o f wea l th was ves ted in land

ownersh ip . Th is was par t i cu la r l y so in the case o f Je rusa lem,

where a rchaeo log ica l ev idence has revea led the rema ins o f

sumptuous p r i va te v i l l as . Goodman proposes tha t landowners

were l im i ted in the i r ab i l i t y to c rea te wea l th f rom the land on ly

by means o f su rp lus p roduc t ion as mos t o f i t was consumed

loca l l y . Nor was Judea ab le to c rea te an expor t based

economy o f no te . Wea l thy landowners and c i t y dwe l le rs who

had la rge reserves o f cap i ta l exp lo i t ed the oppor tun i t y

p resen ted by the de te r io ra t ing cond i t ions in the coun t rys ide by

becoming money lenders to despera te f reeho ld peasan ts and

impover i shed landowners o f sma l l ru ra l l andho ld ings

(Goodman 1993 : 57-64) . The loss o f l and , oppress ive taxa t ion

and the genera l impover i shment o f the Jew ish peasan t c lass

was a ma jo r source o f subsequen t c i v i l d i so rder , b r igandage

and w i thou t doub t , a con t r ibu to r to the revo lu t ionary fe rvour

wh ich swept th rough the coun t rys ide in the 60 ’s CE

(App lebaum 1977 : 379-380) .

What exac t l y led to the impover i shment o f the Jew ish fa rmer?

Pompey ’s reorgan iza t ion o f the Jew ish te r r i to r ies d ras t i ca l l y

97

reduced the land a rea on wh ich Jews had se t t l ed , and

re tu rned these to the i r fo rmer Greek owners ; the Jewish

popu la t ion had been s tead i l y inc reas ing and reached i t s peak

in the f i r s t cen tu ry , the reby c rea t ing add i t i ona l p ressure on

what l i t t l e land was s t i l l ava i lab le fo r agr i cu l tu re (Goodman

1993 : 54) . A rchaeo log ica l ev idence f rom the Upper Ga l i l ee

has revea led tha t in the Roman Byzan t ine e ra there were 32

se t t lement s i tes in compar ison to the 19 f rom the Ear l y I ron

Age ; in Wes te rn Ga l i l ee 53 s i tes when compared w i th the 36

f rom He l len is t i c t imes ; in the Jordan Va l ley there were 36

Roman Byzan t ine s i tes compared to the 12 Ear l y I ron Age

s i tes ; i n the Go lan 182 s i tes in the Roman Byzan t ine per iod

compared to the 75 found fo r the He l len is t i c per iod (Anderson

1998 : 451) . App lebaum es t imates tha t the re were abou t 600

se t t lement s i tes in Judea and Samar ia and a popu la t ion o f

be tween 300 ,000 and 600 ,000 (App lebaum 1977 : 362) . La rge

c i t i es inc luded in the i r t e r r i to r ies m inor u rban cen t res wh ich

served a number o f ou t l y ing towns wh ich in tu rn se rved

v i l l ages (Anderson 1998 : 451) . Mos t o f the popu la t ion l i v ing in

ru ra l a reas were found in nuc lea ted v i l l ages e i the r on h i l l t ops

o r c lose to wa te r supp l ies and fo r reasons o f mutua l

ass is tance (App lebaum 1977 : 363) . The resu l t was tha t land

ho ld ings became too sma l l to suppor t the peasan t fa rmer .

Landho ld ing s izes ranged f rom 0 .1 hec ta re , wh ich was the

sma l les t recommended by Ha lakha (M. BB I , 6 ) ; un less

o therw ise agreed by the par t ies invo lved , some p lo ts had a

p lough leng th o f no more than 22 met res (Targ . Jona th . Ad

Sam. 14 , 14) . Rabb in ica l records speak o f ho ld ings o f be tween

0 .3 and 0 .35 hec ta res (App lebaum 1977 : 365-67) .

Goodman sugges ts tha t the r i s ing popu la t ion f igu res in Judea ,

and p resumab ly in the o ther Jew ish se t t led a reas was due to

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the inheren t na tu re o f the Jewish a t t i t ude towards fami l y and

car ing fo r o ther fe l l ow Jews. The Jews took the B ib l i ca l o rder

to be f ru i t fu l and mu l t ip l y l i t e ra l l y and ser ious ly wh ich meant

tha t con t racep t ion wou ld no t have been used . In add i t i on ,

abor t ion and in fan t i c ide was no t p rac t i ced (Cont ra Ap ion

2 .202) . In add i t i on , Jew ish a t t i tudes towards char i t y

(Tzeddakah ) as an ins t i tu t ion and as one o f the mos t

impor tan t p recep ts o f Jew ish l i f e (m i tzvo th ) ensured tha t sma l l

ch i ld ren and the ind igen t wou ld have a reasonab le chance to

su rv ive the depreda t ions o f pover ty and na tu ra l d i sas te rs tha t

be fe l l the reg ion f rom t ime to t ime (Goodman 1993 : 61 ) .

The p ressure on the ru ra l fa rmers to ma in ta in ownersh ip o f the

land and to fa rm i t p roduc t i ve ly mus t have been in tense . Th is

was espec ia l l y so a t the dea th o f the fa rm owner when the p lo t

s i ze , judg ing f rom a fo rement ioned da ta on the average s ize o f

l andho ld ings , made i t s imp ly imprac t i ca l t o d iv ide up the land

be tween a l l the descendants , g iven the fac t tha t la rge fami l ies

wou ld have been the norm. Under Jew ish law, the e ldes t son

wou ld have inher i ted a doub le por t ion , bu t th i s wou ld have

represen ted an un tenab le s i tua t ion fo r the inher i to r , who faced

a b leak fu tu re on a por t ion o f l and tha t was a l ready be ing

u t i l i zed to capac i t y and the need to p roduce add i t iona l

su rp luses wou ld no t have been easy o r even poss ib le . Fu tu re

p rospec ts o f fu r ther subd iv id ing the land fo r add i t i ona l

descendants on the inher i to r ’ s dea th (keep ing in m ind a lso the

p roc l i v i t y towards la rge fami l ies ) , posed a b leak p rospec t fo r

the peasan t landowner t r y ing to keep land and fami l y toge ther .

Cond i t i ons dur ing famines and d rough ts inc reased the

p ressure on the land to sus ta in the peop le l i v ing thereon

(Ant iqu i t ies 20 .51 ; 101) .

99

There were few op t ions ava i lab le to the v ic t ims o f such

mis fo r tune . They cou ld have emig ra ted to o ther Jew ish

cen t res in the d iaspora , a l though i t i s un l i ke ly tha t they wou ld

have had the cap i ta l to under take such a move . For the

land less , an op t ion cou ld have been to move to the c i t i es t o

seek emp loyment the re . We know f rom the c r i s i s tha t was

p rec ip i ta ted by the comp le t ion o f the cons t ruc t ion work

under taken by Agr ippa in Jerusa lem tha t a cons iderab le

number o f workmen faced unemployment , e igh teen thousand ,

i f Josephus i s to be be l ieved . Agr ippa , fea r ing c iv i l un res t

shou ld the unemployed become res t i ve , engaged them on a

p ro jec t to pave the c i t y (Ant iqu i t i es 20 . 219-222) . O ther

land less ind iv idua ls wou ld have sough t work on the b ig

es ta tes o r the roya l domains as laboure rs . Goodman s ta tes

tha t the re was a l ready a la rge mass o f pe rmanent l y land less

peop le vy ing fo r the l im i ted jobs tha t were ava i lab le dur ing

harves t t imes (Goodman 1993 : 62) . I t was un l i ke ly t ha t

persons f rom a ru ra l and agr i cu l tu ra l background wou ld have

been ab le to en te r in to a c i t y based c ra f t , wh ich was

t rad i t i ona l l y handed down f rom one genera t ion to the nex t

(Goodman 1993 : 62) .

For despera te landowners there were few cho ices . The one

resor t was to lend f rom the wea l thy landowners and c i t y

dwe l le rs , the possessors o f spare cap i ta l , i n o rder to t i de

themse lves over bad harves ts o r na tu ra l d i sas te rs . The fac t

tha t the deb t a rch ives was burn t down dur ing the t ime tha t

F lo rus was p rocura to r , 64 -66 CE, i s ev idence tha t money

lend ing was a leg i t imate and p resumab ly w idespread ac t i v i t y

under taken by the possessors o f spare cap i ta l . Accord ing to

Josephus , the ‘ sed i t i ous par ty ’ d i d th i s in o rder to persuade

the ‘mu l t i tude ’ o f deb to rs and poor to jo in the i r cause in the

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mount ing insur rec t ion aga ins t F lo rus ’s ru le (War 2 .427) . I t i s

deba tab le o f course to wha t ex ten t the e f fec ts o f money

lend ing caused the who lesa le impover i shment o f the ru ra l poor

and the ex ten t to wh ich th is in i t se l f was a reason tha t a

‘mu l t i tude ’ wou ld take up a rms aga ins t the Roman au thor i t i es .

Tha t money lend ing had become an ins t i t u t ion o f the cap i ta l

and f inanc ia l marke ts o f Pa les t ine can p robab ly be gauged by

the fac t tha t the Jewish laws cance l l i ng the deb t in a Sabba th

year were amended, in a sense , so tha t deb to rs acknowledged

tha t the fu l l deb t wou ld s t i l l be repayab le desp i te the adven t

o f a Sabbath year dur ing the te rm o f the loan . 30

W i th th i s as the background , i t i s poss ib le to d raw the

conc lus ion tha t i t was un l i ke ly tha t those fa rmers who had

bor rowed heav i l y and were deep ly in deb t wou ld have found i t

easy o r even poss ib le to work themse lves ou t o f a per i l ous

s i tua t ion . Unab le to repay the i r l oans , the mos t l i ke ly ou tcome

was tha t they wou ld have fo r fe i ted the i r l ands to the i r

c red i to rs (Goodman 1993 : 51-57) . They e i t he r le f t the i r fo rmer

homes o r rema ined on the p roper ty as tenan t fa rmers , o r

worse , as laboure rs . Some may have been ab le to f i nd

emp loyment in Je rusa lem on cons t ruc t ion p ro jec ts , a l though i t

i s no t c lear whe ther these were d rawn f rom the u rban poor

and what percen tage were der i ved f rom the ru ra l poor who had

mig ra ted in to the c i t y look ing fo r an a l te rna t i ve l i ve l ihood

(Ant iqu i t ies 20 .219) .

30 A l though the Prosbu l (wh ich i s a t t r i bu ted to H i l l e l ) i s descr ibed in rabb in ica l t ex ts f rom the second cen tu ry CE, (m. Sheb i . 10 . 3 -7 ) , Goodman sugges ts tha t i t was p robab ly in p rac t i ce in the f i r s t cen tu ry a l ready as i t i s l i ke ly tha t i t wou ld have taken a wh i le fo r t he law to adap t a f te r a p rev ious ly f rowned upon cus tom wou ld become the norm (Goodman M. 1993 : 57-58) .

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The i ssue o f money lend ing by the r i ch to those in need o f

f i nanc ia l ass is tance , be they poor fa rmers , u rban dwe l le rs o r

even the po l i t i ca l l y amb i t ious , was no t a phenomenon

res t r i c ted to Pa les t ine , bu t was a common fea tu re o f the

economies o f the Graeco-Roman wor ld . Accord ing to F in ley ,

vas t amounts o f money were advanced as loans a t usur ious

in te res t ra tes to bor rowers in the towns and the coun t rys ide

(F in ley 1985 : 198) . Desp i te the fac t tha t the land was

p roduc t i ve (Wa r 3 . 49 -50) , one o f the more access ib le means

to wea l th fo r r i ch Jews was to lend money and acqu i re asse ts

in the fo rm o f con f i sca ted land o r money by charg ing in te res t

on loans , ra ther than by inves t ing in agr i cu l tu ra l g rowth o r

manufac tu r ing ou tpu t . As F in ley has a rgued , because o f the

absence o f a bank ing o r f iduc ia ry sys tem, accumula ted wea l th

ex is ted e i the r in the fo rm o f land o r co in , wh ich was hoarded

fo r persona l aggrand izement , bu t was no t used as a means fo r

na t iona l wea l th c rea t ion due to ‘power fu l soc ia l -psycho log ica l

p ressures aga ins t i t ’ (F in ley 1985 : 140) .

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CHAPTER 4

4 .1 JEWISH REBELS AND BANDITS

A good depar tu re po in t w i l l be to examine the per iod a f te r

Pompey had reorgan ized the reg ion as i t ushered in a per iod

o f po l i t i ca l and soc ia l tu rmo i l . Th is per iod o f fo re ign

domina t ion , land shor tage and economic and soc ia l upheava ls

i s the background to much o f the t roub le tha t took p lace f rom

64 BCE and ended on ly when the Jews were f ina l l y de fea ted

by Rome in 74 CE w i th the fa l l o f Masada.

4.1 .1 Hezek iah

In 47 BCE, Hezek iah , a b r igand ch ie f (arch i les tes ) te r ro r i zed

the border reg ion be tween Syr ia and Ga l i l ee . Herod I , near

the very beg inn ing o f h is re ign in 40 BCE, cap tu red h im and

had h im and some fe l low robbers summar i l y execu ted .

Josephus does no t p rov ide any more de ta i l than th is , o ther

than to say tha t Herod won the approva l o f the consu l o f

Syr ia , Caesar Sex tus , fo r a l lev ia t ing the p rob lem in the border

a reas (Wa r 1 . 204-5 ; Ant iqu i t i es 14 .159) . Grunewa ld sugges ts

tha t Hezek iah was more than a mere band i t and cou ld have

been a suppor te r o f the Hasmonaean dynas ty and there fo re a

poss ib le c la imant to the th rone ; nor , he adds , wou ld the

Syr ian governor have pa id as much a t ten t ion to h is demise as

he d id (Ant iqu i t i es 14 . 160) i f he was s imp ly a robber p lagu ing

the a rea (Grunewa ld 1999 : 95) . I t i s poss ib le tha t Josephus

used the te rm ‘band i t ’ as oppos i t e to ‘ k ing . ’ I t was common

p rac t i ce f rom the t ime a f te r the fa l l o f the repub l i c to use the

te rm l a t ro to descr ibe a po l i t i ca l opponen t . C ice ro was

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amongs t the f i r s t to emp loy th is word in h is campa ign to v i l i f y

and des t roy the career o f Ca t i l i ne . Th is t rad i t i on t rans fe r red

i t se l f to the Eas t and o ther par ts o f the Empi re where i t

became common to re fe r to se l f - s ty led loca l po ten ta tes o r

p re tenders to power who were unaccep tab le to the Roman

au thor i t i es , as ‘band i t s ’ (Grunewa ld 1999 : 1 -90) . 31 I f we

accep t tha t Hezek iah and h is fo l l owers were indeed a po ten t ia l

r i va l to Herod , then i t wou ld no t be p ruden t to c lass i f y them as

soc ia l band i ts w i th a l im i ted agenda a imed on ly a t oppos ing

peasan t oppress ion (F reyne : 1988 : 58) . Th is i s con t ra to

Hors ley who app l ied the Hobsbawm mode l o f soc ia l band i t r y

as a means to exp la in ing the ac t ions o f i nd iv idua ls l i ke

Hezek iah and h is fo l l owers (Hors ley and Hanson 1999 : 63-69) .

Be tween 39 and 38 BCE, Herod had to w in back the Ga l i l ee

wh ich appears to have s ided w i th An t igonus , who had been

p laced in power by the Par th ians in 40-39 BCE. Once he had

subdued Sepphor is , he then sen t h is t roops to subdue “ the

robbers tha t were in the caves , who over ran a g rea t par t o f

the coun t ry , and d id as g rea t a m isch ie f to i t s i nhab i tan ts as a

war cou ld have done” (War 1 .304) . Accord ing to Josephus ’ss

descr ip t ion , these b r igands were no t on ly o f a cons iderab le

number , bu t were a lso sk i l l ed in the a r ts o f f i gh t ing and i t took

qu i te a long t ime fo r Herod to de fea t them and sca t te r the

remnants ac ross the borders . Th is ep isode i s ind ica t i ve o f the

ex ten t and s t reng th o f the oppos i t i on to Herod and the

oppos i t i on to the oppress ion tha t the peop le were

exper ienc ing , espec ia l l y due to the aggress ive manner in

wh ich Herod se t abou t co l lec t ing the add i t i ona l taxes imposed

by the Romans . Hors ley c la ims tha t these band i t s shou ld no t

31 A lso T . Hab inek 1998 : The Po l i t i cs o f La t in L i te ra tu re . P r ince ton : Pr ince ton Un ivers i t y Press , 69-87 .

104

be c lass i f i ed as mere suppor te rs o f An t igonus and hence

po l i t i ca l oppos i t ion to Herod , bu t shou ld be seen in the l i gh t o f

the ‘ soc ia l rea l i t y ’ o f band i t r y (Hors ley and Hanson 1999 : 64) .

I t seems tha t Hors ley i s imp ly ing tha t these g roups a re

iden t i f i ab le w i th the Hobsbawm mode l o f soc ia l band i t r y . The

on ly ev idence tha t he p rov ides to jus t i f y th i s i s tha t these

rebe ls were in oppos i t i on to the gen t ry , who then s ided w i th

Herod once he had r id the reg ion o f the band i t g roups . Tha t

may have been inev i tab le , g i ven tha t they represen ted the

landowners and were p robab ly v i c t ims o f the b r igands anyhow.

However , the dep th and scope o f the c i v i l d i s tu rbances were

o f fa r g rea te r na tu re , fe roc i t y and in tens i t y than tha t wh ich

wou ld qua l i f y i t to be te rmed soc ia l band i t r y . Soon a f te r Herod

had subdued the b r igands , many f led to inaccess ib le caves in

the v ic in i t y o f Arbe la t ha t were perched p recar ious ly on

mounta in s ides . I t took a g rea t dea l o f e f fo r t and gu i le to f l ush

ou t and k i l l t hese band i t s . Once comple ted , he le f t P to lemy in

charge and re tu rned to Samar ia in o rder to dea l w i t h

An t igonus . Hard ly had he gone , when the rebe ls fe l l on

P to lemy and k i l l ed h im, thereby p lung ing Ga l i l ee once aga in

in to chaos . Herod re tu rned and res to red the coun t ry to a

semb lance o f o rder (War 1 . 309-14) .

I t can be a rgued there fo re tha t the mode l o f soc ia l band i t r y

does no t adequa te ly cover the even ts tha t occur red in those

years and in par t i cu la r in th i s case . Ga l i l ee and i t s

ne ighbour ing te r r i to r ies were exper ienc ing w idespread c iv i l

un res t as a resu l t o f the po l i t i ca l changes and mi l i t a ry

conques ts combined w i th the in te rna l s t rugg les tha t were

tear ing a t the fabr i c o f the Roman Repub l i c . In 40 BCE the

Par th ians invaded the p rov ince o f Syr ia and the reg ion ,

inc lud ing Pa les t ine and was engu l fed in a wave o f f i e rce an t i -

105

Roman sen t iment . An t igonus se ized the oppor tun i t y to t r y and

rega in t he th rone o f h is fa ther and the f igh t ing spread up to

Je rusa lem (War 1 .250) . The c iv i l d i so rder , p rope l led by the

f i e rce oppos i t i on to Rome, can on ly be descr ibed as a ma jo r

insur rec t ion aga ins t Herod and Rome, and to descr ibe the

par t i c ipan ts as soc ia l band i t s does no t e f fec t i ve ly cap tu re the

sca le and dep th o f th i s per iod o f ma jo r oppos i t i on to Rome.

We know l i t t l e beyond Josephus ’ss c rude descr ip t ion o f them

as band i t s ( l es ta i ) , however i t i s c lea r tha t they were p robab ly

a m ix o f peasan ts , suppor te rs o f the Hasmonaean dynas ts and

o ther ru ra l e lements un i ted under a common ha t red o f the

fo re ign oppressor , d i sp laced f rom the i r l and by the Roman

reorgan iza t ion in 64-3 BCE, buck l ing under c r ipp l ing taxa t ion

imposed by the Romans a t a t ime o f chao t i c c i v i l

admin is t ra t ion and po l i t i ca l upheava ls . G iven th is scenar io , i t

i s h igh ly un l i ke ly tha t these g roups cou ld be c lass i f i ed as

t yp ica l soc ia l band i t s , f i gh t ing aga ins t the un jus t possessors

o f wea l th and cap i ta l i n o rder to re tu rn to an idea l way o f l i f e

tha t ex is ted in the pas t . There i s no apparen t ev idence in

Josephus tha t these band i t s l i ved in caves o r were o rgan ized

as t yp ica l h igh land peop le based in remote mounta in la i r s . I t

wou ld be more l i ke ly , tha t they used the te r ra in to the i r

advan tage l i ke any guer r i l l a fo rce , e i the r as a re fuge o r fo r

o f fens ive reasons . A c loser read ing o f Josephus revea ls the

fo l l ow ing :

• The f igh te rs were mi l i ta r i l y o rgan ized by An t igonus ,

under h is command as an a rmy (War 1 . 295-7 ) . Th is

hard ly f i t s the l im i ted agenda o f soc ia l band i t s who

opera te in sma l l bands o f be tween ten and twen ty men

(wh ich Hobsbawm c la imed was the norm on a l l

con t inen ts and in a l l pe r iods ) who s imp ly rob and

a t tack by s tea l th (Hobsbawm 1969 : 20 ) .

106

• An t igonus ’s men were ab le to man gar r i sons as a

de fens ive and tac t i ca l measure (War 1. 296) .

• The rebe l fo rces were ab le to engage Herod in a

p i t ched ba t t le (War 1 .305) .

• They were ab le to and d id bes iege fo r t resses a f te r

they had k i l l ed P to lemy, Herod ’s genera l , a l so

ind ica t ing tha t these g roups o f rebe ls were h igh ly

o rgan ized mi l i ta r i l y and under tac t i ca l l eadersh ip and

were no t s imp ly in ten t on random a t tacks fo r purposes

o f robbery (War 1 . 316) .

I t can be sugges ted tha t the s i tua t ion wh ich p reva i led was

the re fo re mos t l i ke ly ak in to a c i v i l war fough t by two oppos ing

po ten t ia l ru le rs . Tha t g roups o f b r igands poss ib ly took the

oppor tun i t y to jo in in the chaos caused by the oppos ing fo rces

vy ing fo r power i s ve ry l i ke ly . Bu t , the ques t ion tha t a r i ses i s ,

tha t wh i le Herod was f igh t ing o f f the th rea t posed by

An t igonus and wh i le t r y ing to conso l ida te h is power in Ga l i l ee ,

i nc lud ing oppos i t i on f rom urban cen t res l i ke Sepphor is (War

1 .304) , then i s i t no t un l i ke ly tha t he wou ld have bo thered to

use h is fo rces to combat common band i t g roups , espec ia l l y

those hang ing ou t in caves and remote a reas , i f they were no t

par t and parce l o f the same common th rea t to h is con t ro l o f

the reg ion?

4.1 .2 Judas Son of Hezek iah (c . 4BCE) , S imon (c .4BCE) and Athronges (c 4 -2BCE)

Th is sec t ion dea ls w i th th ree ind iv idua ls who a re iden t i f i ed by

Josephus as p re tender -k ings and no t as b r igands . Th is

occur red dur ing a t ime when Pa les t ine once aga in descended

in to ungovernab le chaos and was leader less a f te r the dea th o f

107

Herod I . I t was dur ing a per iod when Herod ’s son , Arche laus ,

was t ry ing to con f i rm h is appo in tment as k ing by Augus tus in

Rome and a t ime when the Jews were in tumu l t fo l l ow ing the

dea th o f the ha ted fo rmer monarch and saw an oppor tun i t y to

redress some o f the in jus t i ces and b ru ta l i t i es o f h i s ru le as

we l l as reduce the pun i t i ve taxes tha t were lev ied dur ing h is

long re ign . Dur ing the Passove r ce lebra t ions , A rche laus ,

fea r ing tha t the mob wou ld become uncon t ro l lab le , un leashed

h is t roops on the tu rbu len t c rowds who had ga thered in

Je rusa lem and thousands were massacred (Ant iqu i t ies 17 .206-

18 ; War 2 .8 -14) . A rche laus le f t fo r Rome shor t l y the rea f te r to

so r t ou t h i s appo in tment w i th Augus tus . Wi th Arche laus ou t o f

the coun t ry , Sab inus , who was the imper ia l rep resen ta t i ve fo r

Sy r ian a f fa i rs on ly in f lamed Jewish anger even fu r ther by h is

rapac ious and insens i t i ve behav iour , so tha t when the fes t i va l

o f Pen tecos t came a round , thousands o f Jews s t reamed in to

Je rusa lem f rom Judea , Ga l i l ee , Idumea and f rom reg ions eas t

o f the Jordan and , in Josephus ’s words “a t the ind igna t ion a t

the madness o f Sab inus , and a t the in ju r ies he o f fe red

them….and were more zea lous than the o thers in mak ing an

assau l t on Sab inus , in o rder to be avenged on h im”

(Ant iqu i t ies 17 .254) . Wi th th i s as the background , w idespread

rebe l l i on b roke ou t , no t on ly in Je rusa lem, bu t th roughou t t he

coun t ry . As Josephus descr ibed i t , th i s was an a t tempt by the

Jewish masses “ fo r the recovery o f the i r coun t ry ’ s anc ien t

l i be r ty ” (Ant iqu i t i es 17 .267) . I t i s c lea r tha t Josephus regarded

these even ts as par t o f a w idespread war o f na t iona l l i be ra t ion

a imed a t “ res to r ing a f ree and ega l i ta r ian soc ie ty ” (Hors ley

and Hanson 1999 : 116) . The i r anger was d i rec ted a t the

ins t i tu t ions o f power in tha t they sacked the roya l pa laces in

Je r i cho and Sepphor is , o ther roya l res idences they came

across and the homes o f the r i ch and the landed gen t ry fo r

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these represen ted the symbo ls o f the i r oppress ion , bo th

po l i t i ca l and economic .

Josephus te l l s o f th ree o ther p ro tagon is ts who p layed a ro le in

the tu rmo i l i n the days a f te r Herod ’s re ign tha t Varus , the

Roman lega te o f Syr ia , had to con tend w i th be fo re he cou ld

res to re o rder aga in in the reg ion . A f te r the repress ive ru le o f

Herod , the re occur red a sudden power vacuum in government

c rea ted by the leng th o f t ime i t took Augus tus to reso lve the

success ion i ssues resu l t i ng f rom Herod ’s w i l l , du r ing wh ich

there was a spon taneous reac t ion to the b ru ta l i t y o f

A rche laus ’s ac t ions and those o f Sab inus in the in te r im. There

was an ou tpour ing o f anger and uncer ta in ty tha t resu l ted in

chaos th roughou t the coun t ry . Excep t fo r the a rea o f the

Nor thern T rans jo rdan and the d is t r i c t o f Samar ia , the res t o f

the coun t ry became submerged in b r igandage and guer r i l l a

war fa re as a number o f p re tenders to the th rone made the i r

c la ims to power . G iven th is se t t i ng , the peasan ts f l ocked to

suppor t any number o f these se l f - t i t l ed k ings . “However , the i r

end was no t t i l l a f te rward , wh i le a t p resen t they f i l l ed a l l o f

Judea w i th a p i ra t i c war ” (War 2 .65) .

4.1 .3 Judas

The f i r s t o f these was Judas , who was the son o f Hezek iah the

band i t , dea l t w i th above . Judas was based in Sepphor is in

Ga l i l ee and o rgan ized a la rge number o f ‘ despera te men ’ who

p i l l aged the pa lace and roya l a rmour ies and , accord ing to

Josephus , p lundered f rom and a t tacked anyone who came in

h is way (An t iqu i t i es 17 .271-2 ; War 2 .56 ) .

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4.1 .4 S imon

Ano ther wou ld -be k ing who a rose dur ing these tu rbu len t t imes

was S imon, a one- t ime roya l s teward o f Herod I . He was an

impos ing and phys ica l l y s t rong man. He o rgan ized some

fo l lowers who p roc la imed h im k ing and they des t royed the

Pa lace a t Je r i cho , a f te r hav ing f i r s t p lundered the goods tha t

had been taken f rom the peop le and s to red there . They a lso

p lundered o ther roya l res idences in o ther par ts o f the coun t ry .

Tha t S imon had a subs tan t ia l fo l l ow ing i s revea led by the

comment tha t they were j o ined by “a g rea t number o f Pereans”

(Ant iqu i t ies 17 .276) , and i t took a g rea t e f fo r t on the par t o f

Gra tus , the commander o f the roya l t roops to sca t te r th i s

g roup , cap tu re S imon and behead h im (Ant iqu i t i es 17 . 273-

76) .

4.1 .5 Athronges

The th i rd ind iv idua l who came to p rominence dur ing th is t ime

was A th ronges . He was a s t rong and impos ing shepherd who

c rowned h imse l f k ing . 32 He and h is men b ru ta l l y a t tacked roya l

and Roman t roops , s to le boo ty no t on ly f rom the a rmy, bu t

even f rom amongs t the i r own peop le , caus ing a g rea t dea l o f

chaos in the coun t rys ide un t i l he sur rendered la te r to

Arche laus . I t i s i n te res t ing to no te , tha t on ly a t th i s po in t ,

does Josephus ment ion , tha t Judea was in fes ted w i th band i t s .

32 Peop le who worked w i th an ima ls , such as shepherds , were regarded as synonymous w i th band i t s , accord ing to Jew ish t rad i t i on , (Jackson B .S . 1972 : 38) . In the Roman wor ld herdsmen (pas to r ) , were assoc ia ted w i th band i ts and became a recur r ing l i t e ra ry dev ice tha t se rved to assoc ia te the ind iv idua l w i th semi -barbar i c o r ig ins and consequent l y no t f i t fo r h igh o f f i ce (Grunewa ld T . 1999 : 35-37) . Hobsbawm c i tes tha t herdsmen were na tu ra l a l l i e s o f and rec ru i t s fo r band i t g roups (Hobsbawm E.J . 1969 : 32-34) .

110

I t i s on ly now tha t he makes the connec t ion be tween

ind iv idua ls who c la im themse lves k ing , bu t end up caus ing

misery , b loodshed and g rea t d i s t ress amongs t the i r own

peop le (Ant iqu i t i es 17 .278-85) . Paren te observes however ,

tha t in the para l le l descr ip t ion in Ant iqu i t i es on ly a few

chap te rs ear l i e r (An t iqu i t ies 17 . 269-70) , Josephus seems to

lay mos t o f the b lame on Herod ’s ve te rans who fough t w i th

so ld ie rs s t i l l l oya l to the Herodon ian dynas ty and led by

Herod ’s cous in , Ach iabus , bu t in War he makes l i t t l e ment ion

o f th i s , bu t p laces th is inc iden t in Idumea and no t in Judea

(War 2 .55) ; (Paren te 1985 : 185) .

In many ways the even ts tha t be fe l l Pa les t ine fo l low ing on

Herod ’s dea th a re no t un l i ke the per iod p reced ing h is

assumpt ion o f the th rone . Once aga in , the re ex is ted a per iod

dur ing wh ich the po l i t i ca l au tho r i t y o f the land was be ing

con tes ted and as the e f fec ts o f Roman domina t ion on ly

worsened , the t ime seemed appropr ia te to t r y and reasser t

Jew ish independence . The res is tance tha t fo l lowed a f te r

Herod ’s dea th may a lso have been par t l y based on re l ig ious

mess ian ic movements tha t were deepened by fe rven t

escha to log ica l expec ta t ions (Rhoads 1976 : 84) . Hors ley

comments tha t Josephus s tud ious ly avo ids over t re fe rences to

fundamenta l Jew ish concep ts and ‘pa t te rns o f though t ’ when

descr ib ing the upr i s ings and we have to make do w i th the l i t t l e

in fo rmat ion we have a t hand (Hors ley and Hanson 1999 : 110) .

Hors ley ’s approach seems to award a g rea t dea l o f impor tance

to mess ian ic and escha to log ica l mot i va t ions fo r the upr i s ings

tha t occur red p r io r to the revo l t o f 66 CE tha t swept th rough

the Jew ish te r r i to r ies a t th i s t ime (Hors ley 1999 : 110-117) .

Ra jak takes a more p ragmat ic approach and cha l lenges those

111

who p lace too much re l iance on mess ian ic be l ie fs in the

po l i t i ca l h i s to ry o f f i r s t cen tu ry Juda ism (Ra jak 1993 : 140-2 ) .

The t ru th poss ib ly l i es somewhere in be tween. The upr i s ings

tha t occur red a t th i s t ime came abou t a t a t ime o f in tense

po l i t i ca l , economic and soc ia l d i s loca t ion caus ing , one can

sa fe ly assume, fee l ings o f g rea t uncer ta in ty abou t the fu tu re

amongs t the Jewish popu lace . I t i s l i ke ly the re fo re , tha t a

g rea t many may have had expec ta t ions o f a renewa l fo r the

en t i re wor ld and the a r r i va l o f a mess ian ic age (Goodman

1993 : 91) . What i s ce r ta in i s t ha t the agenda was c lear l y

po l i t i ca l i n na tu re as was i t s in tended ou tcome: tha t i s the

remova l o f fo re ign domina t ion and i t s rep lacement w i th an

a l te rna t i ve who l l y led Jewish au thor i t y . The upr i s ing tha t

s ta r ted as a se r ies o f even ts f rom Herod I’s dea th , esca la ted

f rom tumu l tuous ga ther ings o f the peop le to w idespread

res is tance in the coun t rys ide in wh ich , the th ree p re tender -

k ings took the oppor tun i t y to o rgan ize suppor te rs , p roc la im

the i r k ingsh ip and un leash ep isodes o f b ru ta l i t y and

insur rec t ion amongs t the i r own k i th and k in and the Roman

fo rces . On th is bas is a lone , they had c lear po l i t i ca l a ims , and

fo r tha t reason a lone , they canno t be c lass i f i ed as soc ia l

band i ts o r even as l es ta i , but ra ther as usurpers ; i f they were

regarded as l es ta i , i t can on ly be because tha t i s how

Josephus descr ibes them (Grunewa ld 1999 : 95-6 ) . A lso , the

re fe rence by Josephus to A th ronges ’s g rea t s i ze and

superhuman s t reng th was a c l i ché used to descr ibe semi -

barbar ian ru le rs (Grunewa ld 1999 : 86) . I t became a common

l i te ra ry conven t ion , par t i cu la r l y o f l a te an t iqu i t y , to labe l

ups ta r ts and usurpers as band i ts and to imp ly tha t they were

semi -barbar i c . Grunewa ld p rov ides an example o f the Emperor

Max im inus Thrax who , accord ing to h is b iographer , was a

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good so ld ie r , was o f a huge s ize , i nc red ib ly b rave , un tamed,

rough and a r rogan t , bu t possessed o f a f i ne sense o f jus t i ce :

he cou ld take on s ix teen su t le rs o r seven o f the b raves t

so ld ie rs and he ha ted anyone o f nob le b i r th in h is p resence .

Th is s ty l i zed p ic tu re o f Max im inus on ly se rved to obscure the

ac tua l na tu re o f the man. (Grunewa ld 1999 : 84-5 ) . Con t ras t

th i s w i th the descr ip t ion o f A th ronges f rom Ant iqu i t i es 17 .278-

84 . He had been a shepherd and o f l ow ly b i r th ; he was ta l l

(h i s fou r b ro thers were a lso ta l l ) ; he was exceed ing ly s t rong ;

he was a competen t m i l i t a ry commander ; he had no sc rup les ;

and he ha ted the Romans and a t tacked them whenever he

cou ld . Farmer conc ludes tha t these ind iv idua ls who asp i red to

become k ings , Judas , S imon and A th ronges , were p robab ly

f rom Hasmonaean fami l i es and tha t Judas and S imon a re

t yp ica l Macabaean names (Farmer 1957 : 147-155) . 33

4.1 .6 Judas the Gal i lean

When the p rov ince o f Judea was fo rma l l y annexed in 6 CE, i t

became l iab le to pay the t r i bu tum cap i t i s , the persona l tax

tha t was pa id by a l l the inhab i tan ts o f the p rov inces . Th is tax

was in add i t ion to the tax on t he p roduce o f the land tha t had

been imposed in 63 BCE in o rde r to f i nance Roman mi l i ta ry

campa igns ; 34 the t r i bu tum so l i , a land tax as we l l as ind i rec t

33 The name Ath ronges i s p robab l y der i ved f rom the Hebrew word , eth rog , fo r the l imes tha t a re used dur ing the ce lebra t ion o f the Feas t o f the Tabernac les . Farmer W.R. ‘ Judas , S imon and A th ronges ’ , NTS 4 (1957-8 ) , pp .147-155 34 I t i s poss ib le tha t the tax was modera ted by Ju l ius Caesar in e i the r 48 o r 47 BCE by a decree : “Ga ius Caesar , Impera to r the second t ime, ha th o rda ined , tha t a l l the coun t ry o f the Jews, excep t ing Joppa , do pay a t r ibu te year l y fo r the c i t y Je rusa lem, excep t ing the seven th , wh ich they ca l l the sabba t i ca l year , because thereon they ne i ther rece ive the

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taxes , known as the vec t iga l ia , o f wh ich the por to r ia , t he

harbour dues were the mos t impor tan t .

Augus tus ins t ruc ted the Syr ian lega te , P . Su lp ic ius Qu i r in ius ,

w i th the ass is tance o f the newly appo in ted governor fo r Judea ,

Copon ius (6 -9 CE) to under take a census in the new prov ince

in o rder to a r r i ve a t a re l iab le es t imate o f i t s popu la t ion and

ex ten t o f i t s l andho ld ings . In o rder to a r r i ve a t the amount

payab le and by whom, i t was lev ied i n t he name o f a person in

h is home town o r c i t y , h i s s laves and on h is p roper ty . Once

th is was known, the tax was co l lec ted by the loca l au thor i t i es

us ing the toparch ic admin is t ra t i ve sys tem (Smal lwood 1981 :

152) . 35

There was immed ia te res is tance to the census based on wha t

can be asc r ibed to a na tu ra l unw i l l i ngness to pay add i t i ona l

taxes as we l l as in th is ins tance , os tens ib ly re l ig ious reasons .

As Josephus descr ibed i t , “bu t the Jews , a l though a t the

beg inn ing they took the repor t o f a taxa t ion he inous ly , ye t d id

they leave o f f any fu r ther oppos i t i on to i t ” (Ant iqu i t i es 18 .3 ) .

The res is tance movement aga ins t the census was led by

Judas the Ga l i l ean . 36 The oppos i t i on to the census was based

on the d iv ine p roh ib i t i on o f coun t ing the popu la t ion as th is

wou ld have meant t ransgress ing the p romise God made to

Abraham: “And I w i l l make thy seed as the dus t o f the ear th ;

so tha t i f anyone cou ld coun t the dus t o f the ear th , then thy

seed sha l l a l so be coun ted” (Gen. 13 .16) . Judas toge ther w i th

Saddok , a Phar i see con federa te , a rgued tha t the census wou ld

f ru i t s o f the i r t rees , no r do they sow the i r l and . ” (Ant iqu i t i es 14 .200) 35 Josephus l i s t s 9 Toparch ies . (War 3 . 54 -56) . 36 He i s named as such in War (2 .118) , o r “ Judas o f Gamala ” o r “Gau lan i t i s ” as he i s a l te rna t i ve ly ca l led in Ant iqu i t i es (18 .4 and 18 .23-25) , bu t i s doub t less one and the same person (Paren te F . 1985 : 191) .

114

resu l t i n the ens lavement o f the peop le and tha t they wou ld be

compe l led to f i gh t fo r the i r l i be r ty , “and exhor ted the na t ion to

asser t the i r l i be r ty (Ant iqu i t i es 18 . 4 ) , and e lsewhere , “and

sa id they were cowards i f they wou ld endure to pay a tax to

the Romans , and wou ld a f te r God, submi t to mor ta l men as

the i r l o rds ” (War 2 .118) .

I t does no t appear f rom the sparse de ta i l s i n Josephus tha t

the res is tance to the census i t se l f was a l l tha t se r ious and i t

was qu ick ly suppressed . Joazar , the h igh p r ies t managed to

persuade the popu la t ion tha t res is tance was fu t i l e and to le t

the census take i t s course . As Smal lwood has observed , the

long te rm consequences were fa r g rea te r as , “ the ex t remis t

fee l ing thus un in ten t iona l l y c rys ta l l i zed by the Romans gave

b i r th to the na t iona l i s t pa r ty , he i r to the rebe ls o f 4 BCE and

ear l i e r , wh ich was to deve lop fo rm idab le d imens ions dur ing

the fo l low ing s ix t y years ” (Smal lwood 1981 : 153-54) .

What has made th is ep isode par t i cu la r l y in te res t ing i s tha t

Josephus a t th i s po in t revea ls the ex is tence o f wha t he ca l led

‘The Four th Ph i losophy , ’ the o ther th ree schoo ls o f though t

be ing the Phar isees , Sadducees and the Essenes . The Four th

Ph i losophy has g rea t l y engaged scho la rs who have t r ied to

connec t i t s o r ig ins and be l ie fs to the va r ious inc iden ts and

revo lu t ionary a tmosphere tha t u l t ima te ly ended in War .

Accord ing to Hors ley , the re i s no ev idence whatsoever tha t

t i es the o r ig ina to rs o f the Four th Ph i losophy , who were Judas

o f Ga l i l ee and Saddok , w i th the Zea lo ts , the S ica r i i o r fo r tha t

mat te r , even to the b r igands (Hors ley 1993 : 77-89) . The

zea lo ts and the S ica r i i on ly appeared on the scene in the

midd le o f the revo l t i n the mid 60 ’s . Accord ing to Hors ley the

c la im tha t the re was a connec t ion be tween Judas , Saddok and

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the Phar isees and the movements wh ich sprung up dur ing the

revo l t , has been made repea ted ly in Jew ish l i t e ra tu re and New

Tes tament s tud ies . Foremos t o f the modern genera t ion o f

scho la rs to make th is e r roneous c la im, accord ing to Hors ley ,

has been Mar t in Henge l . Hors ley in a f oo tno te a lso asser ts

tha t Rhoads had a lso mis read the tex t and tha t he too i s gu i l t y

o f the c la im tha t the adheren ts to The Four th Ph i losophy were

the d i rec t descendants to the zea lo ts (Hors ley 1993 :24 f n )

However , Rhoads c lear l y s ta tes tha t “a l though there i s no

ev idence tha t these Zea lo ts embraced the Four th Ph i losophy

o r were connec ted w i th Judas ’ sec t , they may have shared a

her i tage o f de te rmined res is tance reach ing back to the t ime o f

Judas ’s revo l t (Rhoads 1976 :60) .

Par t o f the deba te seems to revo lve a round Josephus ’s

s i lence on the Four th Ph i losophy a f te r the census i ssue was

reso lved spec i f i ca l l y because o f h i s unambiguous re fe rence to

the found ing o f a sec t . “Th is man was a teacher o f a pecu l ia r

sec t o f h is own, and was no t a t a l l l i ke the res t o f those o f

the i r l eaders ” (War 2 .118) . In the para l le l sec t ion in

Ant iqu i t i es , Josephus wr i tes , “bu t o f the four th sec t o f Jew ish

ph i losophy , Judas the Ga l i l ean was the au thor . These men

agree w i th a l l o ther th ings w i th the Phar i sa ic no t ion ; bu t they

have an inv io lab le a t tachment to l i be r ty ; and say tha t God i s

to be the i r on ly ru le r and Lord ” (Ant iqu i t ies 18 .23) . I f Judas

had founded a sec t based on d iv ine g rounds fo r res is t ing

Rome, then the impac t th i s wou ld have had on the in te r lock ing

even ts and persona l i t i es wou ld have p rov ided a compe l l i ng

ra ison d'et re fo r subsequent even ts and wou ld have exp la ined

the morb id fana t i c i sm o f the Jewish res is tance f igh te rs .

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Josephus does no t rea l l y expand on what the ‘new ’ ph i losophy

s tands fo r , bes ides i t s l ove o f l i be r ty . In Ant iqu i t i es he c la ims

tha t the “sys tem o f ph i losophy , wh ich we were be fo re

unacqua in ted w i tha l , ” bu t he does no t exp la in any fu r ther

spec i f i ca l l y wh ich par ts a re new to Jewish though t o r how th is

connec ted w i th the ex is t ing s t reams (An t iqu i t i es 18 .9 ) . As

Paren te has sugges ted tha t i f The Wars o f the Jews was

a imed a t a spec i f i ca l l y Roman aud ience , then i t wou ld have

su i ted Josephus to por t ray the founder o f the an t i -Roman

l i be ra t ion movement as a “soph is t ” ra ther than as an adheren t

o f one o f the ma ins t ream Jewish movements . I f Ant iqu i t i es o f

t he Jews was a imed fo r a Jew ish readersh ip w i th i t s

knowledge o f the Jewish movements , then he migh t have been

more inc l ined to admi t tha t the movement founded and led by

Judas , was a rad ica l o f f shoo t o f the Phar isees (Paren te 1985 :

192-93) .

There i s no spec i f i c name g iven to the sec t (Rhoads 1976 :

53) . The te rm Zea lo ts on ly appears as an iden t i f i e r o f a

spec i f i c g roup in the la te 60 ’s , as does the appe l la t ion , S ica r i i

wh ich on ly came in use in the 50 ’s by the Romans to descr ibe

a par t i cu la r t ype o f res is tance ( ib id 53) . However , beyond the

re fe rence tha t the Four th Ph i losophy was in some way

connec ted to Phar i sa ism, we know abso lu te ly no th ing abou t

how th is re la ted to the o ther s t reams w i th in Juda ism and mos t

impor tan t , how i t a l i gned the enemies o f Rome w i th in Juda ism

(Ra jak 2002 : 89) .

The on ly ev idence tha t can assoc ia te Judas w i th the

revo lu t ionar ies tha t a rose la te r , tenuous as i t may be , a re the

fami l y connec t ions tha t a re ment ioned in Josephus . Two o f

Judas ’ sons , S imon and James were cap tu red by T iber ius

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Alexander and c ruc i f i ed some t ime in 46 -48 CE (Ant iqu i t i es

20 .102) ; Menahem who s to le weapons f rom Herod ’s a rmoury

and took over the s iege in Je rusa lem as one o f i t s l eaders and

who a lso p roc la imed h imse l f a k ing was a son o f Judas (War

2 .433-34) ; then there was E leazar who commanded the S ica r i i

and accord ing to Josephus , was a lso a descendant o f Judas

(War 7 .253) . In sp i te o f the fac t tha t the re i s some ev idence o f

genea log ica l descen t o f Judas and h is d i rec t ances to rs w i th

some o f the la te r revo lu t ionar ies who par t i c ipa ted in the

rebe l l i on in some fo rm or ano ther , i t i s s t i l l deba tab le whe ther

a c la im can be made fo r an ideo log ica l re la t ionsh ip tha t

con t inued down the years to the ou tb reak o f hos t i l i t i es .

Rhoads c la ims tha t on face va lue there appears to be a s t rong

a rgument in favour o f an ideo log ica l connec t ion based on the

fac t tha t a f te r 6 CE un t i l 66 CE no ment ion i s made o f the sec t

o r any revo lu t ionary ac t i v i t y f rom 6 to 44 CE; nor i s the re

ment ion o f any ideo log ica l j us t i f i ca t ion g iven fo r the per iod 44

to 66 CE. As Rhoads has observed , th i s s i l ence in the

nar ra t i ve i s su rp r i s ing fo r the p re -war per iod espec ia l l y so as

Josephus spec i f i ca l l y t r i ed to b lame the war on a sma l l g roup

o f fana t i cs who fo l lowed a re l ig ious v iew tha t was an

‘ i nnova t ion ’ w i th in Juda ism; i f th is g roup there fo re had been

ac t i ve and had been caus ing unres t in the p re -war per iod ,

then p resumab ly , he wou ld have wr i t ten abou t i t (Rhoads

1976 : 56-8 ) .

The conc lus ions tha t can be d rawn on Judas and the tax revo l t

a re tha t the re i s l i t t l e to jus t i f y tha t the sec t he s ta r ted had

such a s t rong in f luence on the peop le ; ra ther i t appears to

have been a sma l l g roup and somewhat ine f fec t i ve . I t i s

poss ib le tha t the ra l l y ing c ry fo r na t iona l f reedom under one

God cou ld have been pu t on the agenda by Judas , bu t the

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i dea l o f f reedom f rom fo re ign domina t ion was no t new in

Jewish re l ig ious and po l i t i ca l t hough t (Rhoads 1976 : 60) . As

Hors ley s ta ted , “ the idea l o f f reedom was thus no t d is t inc t i ve

o f the Four th Ph i losophy , bu t i t was unders tandab ly an idea l

tha t they wou ld have shared w i th o ther Jews who took the i r

fa i th se r ious ly ” (Hors ley 1993 : 83) . 37

4.1 .7 E leazar ben Dina i (30 ’s to 50 ’s CE)

E leazar ben D ina i was a b r igand ch ie f who opera ted in the

mounta inous a reas be tween Judea and Samar ia . He became

invo lved in the inc iden t tha t a rose when some Ga l i l eans were

a t tacked by Samar i tans and k i l l ed in a v i l l age ca l led G inea ,

th rough wh ich they had to t rave l on the i r way to a re l ig ious

fes t i va l i n Je rusa lem. Josephus re la tes tha t the “p r inc ipa l o f

the Ga l i l eans” approached the Roman p rocura to r , Cumanus ,

fo r red ress and jus t i ce , bu t , as he had supposed ly been b r ibed

by the Samar i tans , the mat te r came to nough t (An t iqu i t i es

20 .118-124) . In War however , Josephus wr i tes tha t on ly one

person , “a Ga l i l ean” was k i l l ed (War 2 . 232) . The peop le were

deep ly d issa t i s f ied and wanted to take up a rms in o rder to

avenge the k i l l i ngs . One can in fe r tha t the long-he ld enmi ty

be tween the Jews and Samar i tans came to the sur face and as

these were border a reas , loca l r i va l r ies and an imos i t i es

poss ib ly fanned the f lames o f ex t remism. We read tha t the

Jews had cus tomary r igh t o f passage th rough Samar i tan

te r r i to ry , bu t we do no t know what caused the p rovoca t ion tha t

resu l ted in the dea th / s o f the Jew/s dur ing th is par t i cu la r

jou rney . One can p resume tha t the Samar i tans resen ted Jews

37 Ra jak comes to a s im i la r conc lus ion in tha t the Four th Ph i losophy had no th ing new to o f fe r than what was a l ready in the o ther th ree s t reams (Ra jak T 2002 : 89) .

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mov ing th rough the i r l and . 38 The Jews he ld ve ry nega t i ve

v iews abou t the Samar i tans and be l ieved tha t they were o f

pagan o r ig in . On the o ther hand , the Samar i tans however

be l ieved tha t they too came f rom a common ances t ra l fami l y

t ree and tha t a l though they fo l lowed the re l ig ion o f Moses , i t

d i f fe red in ce r ta in fundamenta l p rac t i ces in the i r fa i th , such as

worsh ip a t Mount Ger iz im ra ther than the Temple in Je rusa lem

and tha t the i r l i t u rgy and adap ta t ion o f the Pen ta teuch was

d i f fe ren t , amongs t o thers . 39

When the Jews who a t tended the fes t i va l heard tha t Cumanus

was re luc tan t to ge t invo lved they en l i s ted the he lp o f the

b r igand ch ie f , E leazar and a con federa te , A lexander , and in

sp i te o f t he “p r inc ipa l men” a t tempt ing to ca lm the c rowds and

take the mat te r fu r the r w i th Cumanus , E leazar subsequent l y

a t tacked severa l Samar i tan v i l l ages , k i l l ed the inhab i tan ts and

burn t them to the g round . Th is roused Cumanus to ac t ion and

he p roceeded aga ins t them dur ing wh ich t ime he k i l l ed some

Jews and cap tu red a number o f them. See ing mat te rs ge t t i ng

ou t o f hand , the mag is t ra tes o f Je rusa lem, assembled to

beseech the rema in ing men who had gone to seek vengeance

aga ins t t he Samar i tans , to des is t and re tu rn to the i r homes.

Mos t o f the Jews d ispersed , bu t a number o f them con t inued

to p i l l age a round the coun t rys ide . As observed by Rhoads ,

th i s inc iden t se rved as a tu rn ing po in t i n Jew ish-Roman

re la t ions (Rhoads 1976 : 73) , and Josephus comments tha t

‘A f te r th i s t ime the who le o f Judea was in fes ted w i th bands o f

b r igands (An t . 20 . 124) . ’

38 Luke 9 . 52-56 in wh ich Jesus exper ienced resen tment f rom the loca l towns fo lk when t rave l ing th rough a Samar i tan v i l l age . 39 The an t i -Samar i tan po lemic can be found in Second K ings 17 ; Ben S i ra 50 : 25 -26 ; Josephus ’s Ant iqu i t i es 11 .302-347 ; Second Maccabees 6 . 1 -2 .

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There a re a number o f i ssues tha t fo l l ow f rom th is inc iden t :

• The inc iden t d id no t have an ideo log ica l bas is . I t

a rose f rom the deep sea ted f rus t ra t ion w i th the

lack o f l eadersh ip f rom the Roman governor and

the percep t ion tha t he was no t even-handed

because , as the s to ry wen t , he accep ted a b r ibe

f rom the Samar i tans .

• The Jews had l i t t l e fa i th in the c red ib i l i t y o f the i r

own leadersh ip ( “p r inc ipa l men” ) , hence the

appea l to E leazar ben D ina i to a t tack the

Samar i tans . Ano ther i l l us t ra t ion o f th i s i s when

the Jews o f Perea took up a rms aga ins t the

peop le o f Ph i lade lph ia concern ing some border

d ispu te and k i l l ed some o f them “w i thou t the

consen t o f the i r p r inc ipa l men. ” When Fadus

became procura to r shor t l y the rea f te r , he was

ex t reme ly upse t tha t the mat te r had no t been

re fe r red to h im fo r cons idera t ion and he execu ted

one o f the r ing leaders and impr isoned the o thers

(Ant iqu i t ies 20 .2 -4 ) . I t a l so demons t ra ted the

obv ious lack o f c red ib i l i t y tha t loca l peop le had in

the Roman admin is t ra t ion to dea l competen t l y and

even-handed ly w i th loca l a f fa i r s .

• Bes ides the s t resses caused by Roman

oppress ion , loca l d ispu tes and vende t tas a lso

p layed a ro le in foment ing unres t , some o f these

b reak ing ou t i n band i t r y in the coun t rys ide .

• By the t ime o f th i s inc iden t , the re was a l ready

w idespread d issen t and c iv i l r es is tance in the

coun t rys ide , ind ica t ing tha t law and o rder had

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broken down comple te ly . In fac t , a f te r Cumanus

had w i thdrawn to Rome, the c iv i l d i s tu rbances

on ly became worse under the nex t p rocura to r ,

Fe l i x (52-60 CE) . F rom then on there a re

con t inuous desc r ip t ions o f b r igandage and c iv i l

un res t , r i gh t up to the per iod o f the revo l t , desp i te

the e f fo r t s o f a success ion o f Roman governors to

con ta in i t . “Bu t the re were s t i l l a g rea t number

who be took themse lves to robb ing , in hopes o f

impun i ty ; and rap ines and insur rec t ions o f the

bo lder sor t happened over the who le coun t ry . ”

(War 2 . 238) .

• The Jewish leadersh ip in Je rusa lem was acu te ly

aware o f the dangerous s i tua t ion tha t they had on

the i r hands and t r ied the i r bes t to pac i f y the

mu l t i tude . They rea l i zed the po l i t i ca l imp l i ca t ions

o f rebe l l i on in the coun t ry a reas sp i l l i ng over in to

the c i t i es and caus ing mass ive re ta l ia t ion f rom the

Roman au thor i t i es .

• The fac t tha t the mat te r was heard in the imper ia l

cour t i n Rome ind ica tes tha t the Roman

au thor i t i es a lso v iewed the Samar i tan inc iden t

and i t s a f te rmath as rebe l l i on and hence o f a

po l i t i ca l na tu re and no t jus t a case o f l oca l

band i t r y .

What abou t E leazar ben D ina i h imse l f? Accord ing to Hors ley ,

he embod ied the typ ica l fea tu res o f a soc ia l band i t , based on

the fac t tha t the peop le tu rned to a b r igand ch ie f fo r he lp ,

ra ther than the leg i t imate au thor i t i es (Hors ley and Hanson

1999 : 74) . We know tha t he opera ted in the mounta inous

a reas border ing on Ga l i l ee and Samar ia fo r a long t ime . We

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can a lso assume tha t he was h igh ly respec ted (even Josephus

a t t r i bu tes to h im the t i t l e o f arch i les tes , and no t the more

common l e i s tes ) o r the aggr ieved mu l t i tude wou ld no t have

asked fo r h is he lp . He was ab le to o rgan ize g roups o f men in to

a f i gh t ing fo rce , ind ica t ing tha t he had some f igh t ing

exper ience . However , I am no t so sure tha t in th i s inc iden t , he

to ta l l y f i t s the ca tegory o f soc ia l band i t . The inc iden t i t se l f

sparked a po l i t i ca l c r i s i s and the ac t ion under taken by E leazar

and A lexander was o f an over t l y po l i t i ca l na tu re , in tha t he

cha l lenged the leg i t imacy o f the Roman au thor i t i es . Tha t

robbery p robab ly took p lace i s ve ry l i ke ly , bu t i t was a lso an

ac t o f po l i t i ca l subvers ion and accord ing to the mode l o f

soc ia l band i t r y , the two do no t go toge ther (Grunewa ld 1999 :

97) . I wou ld sugges t fu r the rmore , tha t i t wou ld be h igh ly

un l i ke ly tha t fo r the twen ty years o r so tha t E leazar and h is

band opera ted as a band i t , as a l leged by Josephus , tha t he

d id so pure ly on the bas is o f ‘ s tea l ing f rom the r i ch to feed the

poor , ’ as some k ind o f my th ica l Rob in Hood f igu re ; o r tha t he

consc ious ly saw h imse l f as such . G iven the d i f f i cu l t y o f

po l i c ing the mounta inous and remote a reas o f Judea , the lack

o f a respec ted and c red ib le c i v i l au thor i t y , i t can be conc luded

tha t E leazar cou ld have been a loca l war lo rd who con t ro l led a

g iven a rea wh ich was par t o f a ne twork o f v i l l ages and loca l

commun i t ies and tha t one o f h i s ac t i v i t i es cou ld have been

robbery , espec ia l l y in l i gh t o f the de te r io ra t ing economic and

po l i t i ca l cond i t ions , in wh ich such ind iv idua ls t yp ica l l y took

the advan tage to bu i ld a power base , respec t and a fo l low ing

as s im i la r d i sadvan taged persons were a t t rac ted to h im and

h is ac t i v i t i es . Th is i s no t d iss im i la r to the a t t rac t ion tha t l oca l

p re tender - dynas ts had fo r the despera te , angry and poor , who

had l i t t l e o ther means o r capab i l i t i es o f dea l ing w i th the

con t inu ing in jus t i ces o f oppress ion and pover ty . I t i s h igh ly

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un l i ke ly tha t Josephus wou ld have por t rayed E leazar , and fo r

tha t mat te r any o f the o ther s im i la r f i gu res , i n any o ther l i gh t

than as b r igand ch ie fs as w i l l be seen in h is t rea tment o f John

o f G ischa la , and in l i ne w i th the common Roman lega l and

mi l i t a ry p rac t i ce o f c lass i f y ing any and a l l th rea ts to law and

o rder by ‘ cas t ing them beyond the pa le ’ i n the mos t

den ig ra t ing manner poss ib le , tha t i s , as l a t rones and the i r

deeds as l a t roc in ium .

Th is inc iden t and i t s a f te rmath a lso served to h igh l igh t the

comp lex na tu re o f the re la t ionsh ips tha t ex is ted in the

coun t rys ide be tween peasan t commun i t ies and band i t g roups .

Such g roups wou ld fo rm a par t o f the loca l economy and wou ld

need to bar te r w i th the i r goods , s to len o r o therw ise , and they

wou ld purchase goods f rom loca l t raders and merchan ts

(Hobsbawm 1969 : 85) . They a lso fo rmed a par t o f the soc ia l

s t ruc tu res o f the commun i t ies w i th in the i r base o f opera t ion

w i th fami l y and k insh ip t i es and w i th be l ie f sys tems based on

the cu l tu ra l d i s t inc t i veness o f peasan t l i f e , va lues and

percep t ions (Landsberger 1974 : 8 ) .

There fo l lows a success ion o f re fe rences to b r igand ch ie fs and

the i r ac t i v i t i es as the c iv i l d i s tu rbances , espec ia l l y in Judea

esca la ted in the two decades lead ing up to the war . One o f

these i s abou t a band i t ch ie f ca l led Tho lomeus , who ravaged

the te r r i to r ies o f the Idumeans and the Arab ians in the ear l y

40 ’s CE. He was soon caugh t by Fadus and s la in . Josephus

conc ludes th is ep isode by dec la r ing tha t Fadus was success fu l

i n c lea r ing Judea o f ac ts o f robbery and p i l l age (Ant iqu i t ies

20 .5 ) . Because o f a lack o f any o ther in fo rmat ion abou t

Tho lomeus and h is exp lo i t s , i t i s no t poss ib le to d raw any

conc lus ions abou t h im excep t to comment tha t he appears to

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have been ano ther example o f a power fu l l oca l ch ie f ta in , who

had carved ou t a te r r i to ry over wh ich he he ld sway .

The same canno t be sa id abou t Jesus son o f Sapph ias , who

Josephus descr ibed as “one o f t he mos t po ten t o f the men

among the sed i t i ous ” who s to le t he horses be long ing to the

envoy tha t Vespas ian had sen t to T iber ius to w in over the

peop le in tha t c i t y to h is s ide (War 3 . 450 ; 457-59) . I f t h i s i s

the same person tha t i s desc r ibed in L i fe , then he wou ld have

had a cons iderab le fo rce o f 800 men whose in f luence seems

to have been in the c i t i es ra ther than the coun t rys ide wh ich

wou ld immed ia te ly d isqua l i f y h im f rom be ing the leader o f a

g roup o f soc ia l band i t s . He cou ld have been the band i t ch ie f

tha t Josephus conv inces no t to a t tack the an t i -Roman par ty

and conv inces the c i t i es in the Ga l i l ee to pay them a sum o f

money in o rder to s top them f rom a t tack ing the Romans o r the

ne ighbour ing se t t lements (L i fe 77 -79) . In L i fe Josephus

iden t i f i es Jesus , “ the cap ta in o f those robbers who were in t he

con f ines o f P to lema is ” who i s p romised a g rea t dea l o f money

by the c i t i zens o f Sepphor i s to f i gh t on the i r s ide (L i fe 105) . I f

he was the same ind iv idua l , then h is m i l i t a ry and po l i t i ca l

i n f luence wou ld have s t re tched f rom Pto lema is on the coas t to

Sepphor is and T iber ius in the Eas t , mak ing h im a reg iona l

th rea t , and in tha t case , a leader o f rebe l fo rces o f some

in f luence .

4.1 .8 John of Gischala and S imon bar Giora

Josephus devo tes more space to John o f G ischa la and S imon

bar G io ra than any o f the o ther l es ta i i n h i s ch ron ic les . The

re la t ionsh ip be tween John and Josephus was an in tense ly

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persona l one and h is l i t e ra ry t rea tment o f John deserves

spec ia l a t ten t ion .

A f te r the ambush and de fea t o f Ces t ius Ga l lus , the governor

o f Sy r ia , near Be th Horon in Oc tober /November 66 CE, even

the rema in ing opponents o f the war became en thused w i th th is

in i t i a l m i l i t a ry v i c to ry and i t sen t ou t a s igna l tha t the re was a

chance o f ach iev ing a f i na l and las t ing conques t aga ins t the

ha ted Romans (War 2 .540-555) . The rebe l fo rces now began

fo r the f i r s t t ime to o rgan ize the conduc t o f the war in a more

sys temat i c manner and tha t meant appo in t ing reg iona l

commanders in a l l the Toparch ies who wou ld p rov ide s t ra teg ic

leadersh ip and o rgan ize the reg ions to p repare fo r the coming

war (War 2 . 562-568) .

I t was obv ious tha t the Romans wou ld move the i r fo rces down

f rom the nor th and they wou ld the re fo re a t tack Ga l i l ee f i r s t .

The task o f de fend ing and p repar ing the Ga l i l ee fo r the war in

th i s reg ion was g iven to Josephus . As a member o f the

a r i s toc racy , and one who had jus t re tu rned f rom Rome, h is

appo in tment was met w i th a lo t o f susp ic ion by the rad ica l

e lement in the leadersh ip in Je rusa lem. John o f G ischa la t oo ,

was scep t i ca l o f h i s mot i ves , and be l ieved tha t h is u l t imate

a im was to a r r i ve a t a nego t ia ted peace w i th the Romans

ra ther than the des t ined showdown in ba t t le .

Sepphor i s rema ined s taunch ly loya l to Rome f rom the ou tse t .

T iber ius on the o ther hand , was engrossed in fac t iona l

d i spu tes wh ich a re dea l t w i th in g rea t de ta i l by Josephus .

Essen t ia l l y wha t i t bo i led down to , was tha t the more urban

and p rosperous e l i tes in the town led by the c i t y counc i l , s ided

w i th the Romans , wh i le the res is tance e lement were d rawn

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main ly f rom the poor and the ru ra l i nhab i tan ts a round the

genera l a rea o f the c i t y . An i l l us t ra t ion o f th i s con f l i c t i s

p rov ided in L i fe when Josephus meets w i th the “p r inc ipa l men”

o f T iber ius headed by Cape l lus , to in fo rm them o f the dec is ion

taken by the leadersh ip in Je rusa lem to des t roy Agr ippa ’s

pa lace . However , Jesus son o f Sapph ias , whom Josephus

descr ibes as “one o f those whom we have a l ready ment ioned

as the leader o f a sed i t ious tumu l t o f mar ine rs and poor

peop le ” and who appears to have been the Archon o f T iber ius ,

bu t c lea r l y the leader o f a revo lu t ionary fac t ion , took mat te rs

in to the i r own hands and burn t down the pa lace , p resumab ly

no t t rus t ing Josephus ’s mot i ves o r tha t o f the res t o f the

leadersh ip fac t ion . As Josephus descr ibed th is inc iden t , Jesus

and h is men s imp ly wanted to take advan tage o f the s i tua t ion

by d iv id ing ou t the spo i l s amongs t themse lves fo r persona l

ga in . The fac t tha t Jesus son o f Sapph ias was A rchon on the

c i t y counc i l i nd ica tes tha t the revo lu t ionary par ty cons is ted o f

a m ix o f soc ia l , re l ig ious and less a f f luen t c i t i zens and tha t

the enmi ty and d is t rus t was in the d i f fe rences be tween the

soc ia l background o f the par t i c ipan ts (Schä fe r 2003 : 124) .

Be fo re the f i r s t ac tua l con f ron ta t ion be tween Jewish and

Roman fo rces cou ld take p lace near Sepphor i s , mos t o f

Josephus ’s men deser ted and Josephus h imse l f re t rea ted to

the fo r t ress a t Jo tapa ta where he was even tua l l y de fea ted by

Vespas ian . He managed to su rv ive the encoun te r and then

por t rayed h imse l f to Vespas ian as a messenger f rom God and

fo re to ld tha t he , tha t i s Vespas ian , w i l l one day become

emperor , “ thou , o Vespas ian , a r t Caesar and emperor , thou ,

and th is thy son” (War 3 .399-402) .

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Vespas ian was then ab le to de fea t a l l the o ther ma jo r u rban

cen t res and Ga l i l ee was f ina l l y subdued and in Roman hands

by the end o f 67 CE. John o f G ischa la su r rendered to the

Romans , bu t managed to f lee to Je rusa lem be fo re he cou ld be

cap tu red , where he jo ined up and led the rad ica l zea lo t

movement in Je rusa lem. Under John ’s leadersh ip , the zea lo ts

se ized power and se t abou t e l im ina t ing the p ro -Roman fac t ion

and the more modera te fac t ion o f the ru l ing c lass by e i the r

impr ison ing o r k i l l i ng the i r l eaders . They then conn ived to

over tu rn the p rac t i ce o f appo in t ing the h igh p r ies ts by b i r th

and managed to ge t the i r own loya l i s ts p laced in o f f i ce by

means o f the cas t ing o f a lo t .

The modera te fo rces , under the leadersh ip o f the Phar isee ,

S imon ben Gamal ie l and the h igh p r ies t Ananus were

even tua l l y ab le to expe l the zea lo ts , bu t th i s was shor t - l i ved

as John o f G ischa la smugg led Idumean fo rces in to the c i t y

who then imp lemented a re ign o f te r ro r and murdered the i r

modera te opponen ts . Wi th tha t the Zea lo ts were to ta l l y in

power under the leadersh ip o f John o f G ischa la .

In dea l ing w i th S imon bar G io ra , the re i s a s ingu la r lack o f the

in tense persona l invec t i ve tha t Josephus had used when

dea l ing w i th John o f G ischa la .

S imon was a se l f -appo in ted leader who commanded a g roup o f

ex t remis ts who had been ac t i ve in p lunder ing the Toparchy o f

Accraba tene in nor thern Judea (War 2 .652-54) . He caused so

much devas ta t ion tha t the leadersh ip in Je rusa lem had to send

ou t a fo rce to con t ro l h im. The Jerusa lem leadersh ip was wary

o f S imon ’s mot i ves , poss ib ly based on the fac t tha t S imon had

waged a campa ign o f te r ro r aga ins t the wea l thy , murder ing

128

and s tea l ing f rom the r i ch as he went abou t h is campa ign tha t

s ta rk ly resembled a soc ia l revo lu t ion in favour o f the poor

(Smal lwood 1981 : 301) . He then f led w i th h is fo l lowers to

Masada to jo in up w i th t he S icar i i ho led up there where he

was rece ived w i th some susp ic ion . He and h is g roup however

con t inued to ra id in to Idumea and the su r round ing

coun t rys ide . I t can be deduced f rom the ac t i v i t i es o f John o f

G ischa la and S imon bar G io ra tha t na t iona l un i t y had no t ye t

been ach ieved and tha t fac t iona l con f l i c t s and persona l

amb i t ion became the o rder o f the day (Hayes and Mande l l

1990 : 192-195) . S imon had fa r l o f t ie r amb i t ions however , and

he wan ted to cha l lenge John fo r the leadersh ip pos i t i on o f t he

rad ica l fac t ion in Je rusa lem (War 4 . 509-514) . He d id th i s by

a t tack ing Idumea and was ab le to bu i ld up a s izeab le fo rce

toge ther w i th the Idumeans who came over to h is s ide and by

69 CE he se t t led in ou ts ide the wa l l s o f Je rusa lem. S imon ’s

scheme fe l l i n to p lace when he was admi t ted in to Je rusa lem

by the h igh p r ies t l y fac t ion tha t by now had become so fear fu l

o f the re ign o f te r ro r tha t John o f G ischa la and the zea lo ts

were wag ing , tha t they be l ieved tha t S imon wou ld represen t a

lesser ev i l . In o rder to ge t sense o f wha t th i s S imon was l i ke ,

and i f Josephus i s to be be l ieved , S imon ’s w i fe was cap tu red

by the zea lo t par ty and he ld cap t i ve in Jerusa lem. Th is so

enraged S imon tha t he encamped ou ts ide the wa l l s o f the c i t y

and in an uncon t ro l lab le rage he enac ted deeds o f g rea t

c rue l t y aga ins t any who came h is way . In Josephus ’s words :

“Accord ing ly , he caugh t a l l those tha t were come ou t o f the

c i t y ga tes , e i the r to ga ther herbs o r s t i cks , who were unarmed

and in years ; he then to rmented them and des t royed them, ou t

o f the immense rage he was in , and was a lmos t ready to tas te

the ve ry f l esh o f the i r bod ies . He a lso cu t o f f the hands o f a

ve ry g rea t many , and sen t them in to the c i t y to as ton ish h is

129

enemies , and in o rder to make the peop le fa l l i n to a sed i t i on ,

and deser t those tha t had been the au thor ’ s o f h is w i fe ’s

se izu re ” (War 4 . 541-43) . Even i f one accep ts tha t the re i s

poss ib ly an e lement o f hyperbo le in th i s accoun t , S imon mus t

s t i l l have been a fe roc ious and d read fu l foe , bu t i t

never the less cap tu res the tenor and a tmosphere o f how b ru ta l

and despera te the s i tua t ion had become, no t because o f the

imminen t th rea t o f a t tack by the Roman fo rces , bu t because o f

how in te rna l fac t iona l i sm and persona l amb i t ion had now

become the d r i v ing fo rce o f the revo l t , ra ther than un i t y and

s t ra teg ic fo res igh t .

By the t ime tha t Vespas ian was ready to resume the war in 69

CE, he had to rega in the a reas he ld by S imon, in the nor th o f

Judea and Idumea. I t d id no t take long to ach ieve tha t and

then he tu rned h is a t ten t ion to Je rusa lem. The fo rces he faced

in the c i t y were by now bad ly d iv ided , t he p loy to b r ing in

S imon hav ing bad ly back f i red . There were now th ree separa te

fac t ions ho ld ing d i f fe ren t par ts o f the c i t y : the inner cour ts

were he ld by two thousand four hundred zea lo ts under the

command o f E leazar ; John o f G ischa la ’s fo rces were

en t renched in t he ou te r cour ts and numbered some s i x

thousand f igh te rs ; and S imon w i th b igges t fo rce o f some

f i f teen thousand con t ro l led mos t o f the upper and lower par ts

o f the c i t y (Smal lwood 1981 : 316) .

130

4.2 THE BANDITS AND THEIR AGENDA

One o f the p rob lems w i th Josephus ’s accoun t o f the

insur rec t ionary ac t i v i t y bo th be fo re and dur ing the course o f

the war i s tha t i t i s d i f f i cu l t to d i f fe ren t ia te be tween the

ac t ions o f l a rge band i t g roups and ad hoc loca l rebe l ac t ions

(Hors ley 2002 : 99) . For ins tance , the ac t i v i t i es o f the band i t s

in Ga l i l ee represen ted one o f the few un ique ins tances where

band i t r y had led to w idespread peasan t revo l t . Numerous

re fe rences in Josephus pa in t a p ic tu re o f band i t r y be fo re the

ou tb reak o f the war tha t was c lea r l y ou t o f con t ro l in Judea

and Ga l i l ee . Termino log ica l l y , i t i s d i f f i cu l t to d is t ingu ish f rom

Josephus the exac t na tu re o f such upr i s ings as they a re a l l

l umped toge ther as ‘ robbery ’ o r ‘p lunder ’ , even when there a re

g roups engaged in c lea r revo lu t ionary ac t i v i t i es , such as in

the fo l low ing sec t ion :

“Now, when these were qu ie ted , i t happened, as i t

does in a d iseased body , tha t ano ther par t was

sub jec t to an in f lammat ion ; fo r a company o f

dece ive rs and robbers go t toge ther , and persuaded

the Jews to revo l t , and exhor ted them to asser t the i r

l i be r ty , i n f l i c t i ng dea th on those tha t con t inued in

the i r obed ience to the Roman government , and

say ing , tha t such as w i l l i ng ly chose s lavery ough t to

be fo rced f rom such the i r des i red inc l ina t ions ; fo r

they par ted themse lves in to d i f fe ren t bod ies , and lay

in wa i t up and down the coun t ry , and p lundered the

houses o f the g rea t men, and s lew the men

themse lves , and se t the v i l l ages on f i re ; and th is t i l l

a l l Judea was f i l l ed w i th the e f fec ts o f the i r

madness . And thus the f lame was every day more

131

and more b lown up t i l l i t came to a d i rec t war ” (War

2 .264-265) .

As Ra jak has no ted , Josephus uses a vocabu la ry d rawn f rom

the Greek po l i t i ca l vocabu la ry to descr ibe the rebe ls and

rebe l l i on . Hence the te rms: ‘ sed i t i ous ’ , ‘ i nnova to rs ’ ,

‘ f o rmento rs o f c i v i l s t r i f e ’ , revo lu t ionar ies ’ , and fo r the i r

l eaders he uses the word , ‘ t y ran ts . ’ (War 2 .274 ; 325 ; 330 ;

407 ; 422 ; 442 ; 652) These a re genera l l y words wh ich s ign i f y

the v iews o f a po l i t i ca l opponen t (Ra jak 2002 : 86) .

What Josephus does no t over t l y dea l w i th i s tha t the band i t s

in the coun t rys ide may have had a po l i t i ca l agenda in o rder to

rec t i f y some o f the wors t aspec ts o f the i r l i ves . Th is in i t se l f

was no t unusua l in the Roman wor ld , where b r igandage was

an ever -p resen t rea l i t y . F rom the works o f Greek and Roman

wr i te rs le f t to us , i t i s no t easy to gauge the soc ia l aspec ts

wh ich in f luenced the i r c r im ina l behav iour . For Josephus , as

o ther wr i te rs o f an t iqu i t y , who were ma in ly se t t l ed , p roper t ied

and upper c lass , the re was no rea l unders tand ing o r sense o f

iden t i f i ca t ion w i th the oppressed and the des t i tu te (Ra jak

2002 : 85) .

We have a l ready seen tha t c r ipp l ing taxa t ion , indeb tedness ,

famine , po l i t i ca l oppress ion and f requen t leadersh ip changes ,

in Ga l i l ee in pa r t i cu la r , resu l ted in dec l in ing soc ia l and

economic cond i t i ons fo r the peasan t ry in the coun t rys ide , w i th

many tu rn ing to b r igandage as a means o f su rv iva l . Tha t some

o f these may have con fo rmed a t t imes to the de f in i t i on o f

soc ia l band i t s i s indeed poss ib le . O thers may s imp ly have

op ted ou t o f l eg i t ima te soc ie ty and se t themse lves up as

rov ing c r im ina l bands , feed ing o f f the poor as we l l as the r i ch .

132

There i s su f f i c ien t ev idence f rom Josephus tha t c lea r l y

ind ica tes tha t be fo re the s t rugg le tu rned to the common

enemy, Rome, much o f the anger was de f lec ted aga ins t the

r i ch and the p roper t ied , (War 2 .265 ; Ant iqu i t i es 18 .7 ) and

even more so when these e l i t es chose a more modera te

course than ou t r igh t oppos i t i on to Rome. As the b reakdown o f

l aw and o rder acce le ra ted , f i r s t i n Ga l i l ee , then Judea and

Idumea, anarch ic cond i t i ons p reva i led , and the la rge b r igand

g roups tha t fo rmed a round power fu l l eaders , cou ld no t be

descr ibed , by any s t re tch o f the imag ina t ion , as soc ia l band i t s

(a ma jo r re -assessment o f p rev ious ly he ld v iews by Hors ley )

(Hors ley 2002 : 100) . On the o ther hand , Shaw con tends , tha t

the re may have been some band i t s who on occas ion cou ld

have ac ted as soc ia l band i t s , bu t tha t in i t se l f does no t

exp la in the phenomenon o f band i t ry o r i t s evo lu t ion in to a

fo rm o f soc ia l p ro tes t . The few examples tha t cou ld poss ib ly

f i t w i th the Hobsbawm mode l tend ra ther to con fo rm more to

an imag ina t i ve idea l , than ob jec t i ve rea l i t y (Shaw 1984 : 51) .

Shaw proposes tha t ins tead o f mere ly look ing a t i nd iv idua l

ac t ions by band i t s in o rder to de f ine the i r ro le as p r im i t i ve

rebe ls w i th in the po l i t i ca l economy o f the s ta te , i t wou ld be

be t te r to look a t the s t ruc tu ra l fo rm o f the soc ia l v io lence in

wh ich they were engaged (Shaw 1984 : 44-52) . He ques t ions

fu r ther the va lue o f ment ion ing i so la ted ins tances where in

band i ts a t tacked the houses and r i ches o f the wea l thy as th is

in i t se l f does no t fu l l y exp la in the ex ten t o f a band i t ’ s soc ia l

mot i va t ion in do ing so . Band i t s , l i ke o rd inary c r im ina ls ,

a t tacked a range o f pe rsons , rang ing f rom s ta te o f f i c ia l s , the

wea l thy , the poor , and as no ted by Josephus , women,

ch i ld ren , the e lder l y and in fac t anyone who came in the i r

way . Po l i t i ca l cond i t ions w i th in Ga l i l ee , and Idumea,

133

par t i cu la r l y a f te r the dea th o f Herod , when the power o f the

s ta te was cons iderab ly weakened, c rea ted a s i tua t ion in wh ich

s ta te au thor i t y d id no t pene t ra te in to the remoter reg ions as

e f fec t i ve ly as p rev ious ly . Ga l i l ee fo r ins tance , exper ienced

severa l changes in ru le rs in the 40 ’ and 50 ’s , wh ich c rea ted

the ‘ space ’ w i th in wh ich loca l l eaders such as John o f

G ischa la were ab le to f i l l . F rom the t ime a f te r Pompey ’s

reorgan iza t ion up to the po in t where Herod f ina l l y

conso l ida ted h is pos i t i on as k ing , the re was a g rea t dea l o f

b r igandage tha t a rose under the weaker fo rms o f s ta te con t ro l .

T rachon i t i s and Aur in i t i s were f i l l ed w i th b r igands fo r many

years un t i l Herod b rough t them under h is con t ro l (Ant iqu i t ies

15 .343-53) . In such cond i t i ons , band i t gangs can en t rench

themse lves and ru le over la rge t rac ts o f te r r i to ry , sa fe in the

knowledge tha t the a rmy o r c i v i l admin is t ra t ion can do no th ing

to s top them. Th is phenomenon o f ‘ s t rong men ’ as loca l

l eaders i s espec ia l l y s ign i f i can t in Ga l i l ee and Judea. John o f

G ischa la , S imon bar G io ra , E leazar the a rch robber , Hezek iah ,

were a l l men o f cons iderab le power and in f luence in the i r

reg ions and were ab le to command la rge bod ies o f men by

ins t i tu t iona l i z ing the i r own power in the absence o f c red ib le

and power fu l s ta te s t ruc tu res and au thor i t y . Tha t they were

ab le to genera te a la rge fo l low ing i s due to the i r fo l l owers ’

despera te long ing fo r someone to save them f rom the i r

oppress ion and who cou ld p rov ide an a l t e rna t i ve soc ia l o rder

w i th in wh ich they cou ld f i nd some fo rm o f pe rsona l and soc ia l

i den t i t y .

4.3 JOSEPHUS AND THE BANDITS

Wi th the a fo rement ioned as a background to the even ts bo th

be fo re and dur ing the war , i t w i l l now be necessary to ana lyze

134

Josephus ’s re la t ionsh ip and a t t i t ude towards the band i t s and

band i t r y in genera l . Because he devo ted so much space and

a t ten t ion to John o f G ischa la and S imon bar G io ra in

par t i cu la r , i t i s poss ib le to use these to examine Josephus ’s

po l i t i ca l and h is to r iog raph ica l c reden t ia l s f rom the v iewpo in t

o f a par t i c ipan t in the even ts he wro te abou t , and as a

Graeco-Roman wr i te r .

When Josephus became commander o f Ga l i l ee he seems to

in i t i a l l y have go t ten on we l l w i t h John and pa in ts a favourab le

p ic tu re o f h im. Josephus re la tes how John res t ra ined the

insurgen ts in G ischa la f rom v io len t ac t ion as loca l hos t i l i t i es

resu l ted in a t tacks f rom ne ighbour ing towns on G ischa la . John

a rmed h is men, fough t back and a f te rwards rebu i l t and

fo r t i f i ed the town (L i fe 43 -45) . Ear l i e r , i n War , Josephus

descr ibed how he gave h is agreement to John ’s p lan to bu i ld a

wa l l a round G ischa la (War 2 .575) . A l l o f wh ich seems to

ind ica te tha t in i t i a l l y the re was p ro fess iona l respec t and

cour tesy .

However , immed ia te ly fo l l ow ing on these favourab le

comments , Josephus does a comple te vo l te face i n the very

nex t chap te r and sudden ly un leashes an inc red ib le ve rba l

ons laugh t on the charac te r and in ten t ions o f John .

“Now, as Josephus was thus engaged in the

admin is t ra t ion o f the a f fa i r s o f Ga l i l ee , the re a rose

a t reacherous person , a man o f G ischa la , the son o f

Lev i , whose name was John . H is charac te r was tha t

o f a ve ry cunn ing and very knav ish person , beyond

the o rd inary ra te o f o ther men o f eminence there ;

and fo r w icked p rac t i ces he had no t h i s fe l l ow

135

anywhere . Poor he was a t f i r s t , and fo r a long t ime

h is wan ts were a h indrance to h im in h is w icked

des igns . He was a ready l ia r , and ye t ve ry sharp in

ga in ing c red i t to h is f i c t ions ; he though t i t a po in t o f

v i r tue to de lude peop le , and wou ld de lude even

such as were the deares t to h im. He was a

hypocr i t i ca l p re tender to human i ty , bu t , where he

had hopes o f ga in , he spared no t the shedd ing o f

b lood : h is des i res were ever ca r r ied to g rea t th ings ,

and he encouraged h is hopes f rom those mean

t r i cks wh ich he was the au thor o f . He had a pecu l ia r

knack o f th iev ing ; bu t i n some t ime he go t ce r ta in

compan ions in h is impudent p rac t i ces : a t f i r s t they

were bu t few, bu t as he p roceeded on in h is ev i l

course , they became s t i l l more and more numerous”

(War 2 . 585-87) .

Josephus then c la ims tha t John ga thered a round h im a band

o f fou r hundred vagabonds w i th wh ich he la id was te a l l o f

Ga l i l ee (War 2 .588-589) . Con t ras t th i s w i th the descr ip t ion o f

John in L i fe : “…When John , the son o f Lev i , saw some o f the

c i t i zens much e leva ted upon the i r revo l t f rom the Romans , he

laboured to res t ra in them; and en t rea ted them tha t they wou ld

keep the i r a l l eg iance to them” (L i fe 43 ) , a much d i f fe ren t

p ic tu re o f the man, bu t wr i t ten a t a la te r t ime when Josephus

p resumab ly had had t ime to re f lec t on h is and John ’s ro le in

the h is to ry o f the t ime and i t s ou tcome (B i lde 1988 : 104-

106) . 40

40 B i l de p roposes tha t t he “Ant iqu i t i es o f t he Jews ” and “L i fe ” was a dua l work , ( ‘Ant . -V i ta ’ ) and bo th were comp le ted i n 93 -94 CE (B i l de 1988 : 105 ) . “For the Jew ish War” B i l de p roposes tha t t h i s was p robab ly wr i t t en and pub l i shed i n the 70 ’ s when Josephus was a l ready se t t l ed i n Rome (B i l de 1988 : 79 ) .

136

By cas t ing John as a l es ta i , Josephus i s compe l led to dep ic t

h im as one o f low soc ia l s ta tus and c la ims tha t he was o f

“ low ly b i r th ” and f rom a pover ty s t r i cken background . Th is

does no t co r re la te w i th la te r de ta i l s where he i s dep ic ted as a

c lose assoc ia te o f the r i ch Phar i see , S imon ben Gamal ie l f rom

be fo re the war (L i fe 190-92) . He was wea l thy enough however

to c rea te a monopo ly in t he sa le o f Jew ish o l i ve o i l to t raders

in Caesarea Ph i l i pp i and Syr ia (Wa r 2 .591-92 ; L i fe 74 -76) .

Ano ther ind ica t ion o f h is s ta tus as a personage o f h igh b i r th i s

the way he was t rea ted as a rebe l l i ous a r i s toc ra t whom T i tus

was p repared to nego t ia te w i th as commander o f G ischa la

(War 4 .98-103) and a f te r the fa l l o f Je rusa lem he was

sen tenced to l i f e impr i sonment ra ther than c ruc i f i x ion , a f a te

common ly meted ou t to l es ta i (War 6 . 434) . Goodman

comments tha t one has to ignore the descr ip t ion o f John as a

band i t a t War 2 .585 - 589 and ra ther focus on the subsequen t

in fo rmat ion tha t fo l l ows , as i t i s d i f f i cu l t to accep t tha t a

pover ty -s t r i cken ind iv idua l wou ld have been ab le to have had

f inanc ia l and o ther dea l ings w i th the wea l thy c lasses o f

Ga l i l ee (Goodman 1993 : foo tno te 202) , a po in t tha t Grunewa ld

a lso makes (Grunewa ld 1999 : 100-106) . Grunewa ld goes

fu r the r and sugges ts tha t John may have been descended

f rom the o ld landed a r i s toc racy wh ich had become

impover i shed as a resu l t o f the economic changes b rough t

abou t by the Romans in the i r He l len is t i c reorgan iza t ion o f the

te r r i to ry (Grunewa ld 202 , foo tno te 69) . Hors ley makes a

s im i la r observa t ion tha t he may have been a member o f one o f

the lead ing fami l i es who had become impover i shed (Hors ley

1981 : 431) . I t i s wor th no t ing however , tha t i n an ear l i e r work ,

Hors ley c la imed tha t John was a loca l b r igand who s ta r ted ou t

on h is ca reer ‘as a lone band i t ’ (Hors ley 1979 : 59) .

137

The fundamenta l na tu re o f the i r re la t ionsh ip was based on the

fac t tha t they were b i t te r po l i t i ca l r i va ls who were engaged in

a f i e rce s t rugg le fo r po l i t i ca l and mi l i t a ry con t ro l over the

Ga l i l ee (Grunewa ld 1999 : 102) . John appears to have had the

f inanc ia l suppor t o f the upper c lasses in the Ga l i l ee w i th

whom he consp i red to ge t r i d o f Josephus . The lead ing men

a round John a lso sen t h im two thousand f i ve hundred men and

eminen t spokesmen to persuade the peop le to w i thd raw the i r

suppor t f rom Josephus (War 2 .627-28) . Josephus managed to

rega in h is ho ld over h is command, bu t had to resor t to t r i cke ry

and f ina l l y cowed the leaders o f T iber ius to suppor t h im and

then p lundered Sepphor is and G ischa la in o rder to b r ing them

back under h is con t ro l (War 2 .632-46) .

By naming John w i th the ep i the t o f l es ta i , Josephus was

d raw ing on a long and we l l es tab l i shed Roman l i te ra ry

po l i t i ca l t rad i t i on in l i t e ra tu re tha t emp loyed a number o f

l i ngu is t i c and h is to r i ca l resources to d i f fe ren t ia te be tween

loya l and d is loya l c i t i zens . By us ing these dev ices , the a im i s

to f r i gh ten the reader , much as modern te r ro r i sm does today ,

in to suppor t ing the ru l ing e l i t es and avo id ing a l te rna t i ve

s t ruc tu res (Hab inek 1998 : 70) . Josephus there fo re had to

por t ray John h imse l f , and h is ro le in Ga l i l ee , as i l l eg i t ima te .

He i s descr ibed in the mos t rad i ca l te rms poss ib le in o rder to

d is tance h im and d i f fe ren t ia te h im f rom leg i t imate power

ho lders , i n o ther words , Josephus h imse l f .

Th is was a method o f po l i t i ca l d i scourse tha t was e f fec t i ve ly

used by C icero in h is fou r o ra t ions in descr ib ing the power

s t rugg le be tween h imse l f and Cat i l i ne in 63 BCE. The s t ra tegy

tha t C ice ro used was to ma l ign Cat i l i ne in the mos t damag ing

way poss ib le by cas t ing h im in the mou ld o f a band i t . By us ing

138

band i t ry as an aspec t o f o ra to ry , C ice ro imp l ied tha t band i t ry

d i rec t l y opposed the ideo log ica l , economic , re l i g ious and

mi l i t a ry founda t ions o f the s ta te and by cas t ing the band i t i n

such a ro le i t meant tha t the mere use o f the te rm band i t

au tomat ica l l y exc luded an opponent f rom ra t iona l deba te o r

s tand ing w i th in t he commun i ty and he i s exc luded f rom the

ru les and p rocedures tha t app ly to leg i t ima te po l i t i ca l deba te ,

o r as Hab inek pu ts i t , “…Band i t ry , as the m i r ro r image o r ev i l

tw in o f the Roman a r i s toc ra t i c s ta te ” (Hab inek 1998 : 71) .

Josephus adop ted what Grunewa ld ca l l s a ‘ schemat ic

un i fo rmi ty ’ by wh ich he c lass i f i ed a l l the par t i c ipan ts o f a l l the

g roups tha t were invo lved w i th rebe l l i ous and sed i t ious

ac t i v i t i es , bo th be fo re and dur ing the even ts lead ing to the

revo l t , as l es ta i (Grunewa ld 1999 : 94) . Josephus thus tapped

in to a t rad i t i ona l i deo logy tha t a lways cas t band i t s as

ind iv idua ls who were opposed to the s ta te o r the ru l ing

au thor i t y . He a l ludes to John ’s low ly b i r th and o r ig ins in o rder

to spec i f i ca l l y exc lude h im f rom hav ing any re la t ionsh ip w i th

the loca l ru l i ng e l i tes . H is descr ip t ions o f John a re a imed a t a

la rge ly conserva t i ve read ing aud ience , who wou ld have shared

the same va lues as he had and by cas t ing doub t on John ’s

o r ig ins , he wou ld have been made to look l i ke a p re tender o r

usurper o f power . Josephus uses names l i ke ‘ knavery ’ ,

‘ cunn ing ’ , ‘w icked p rac t i ces ’ and s im i la r desc r ip t ions , w i th the

coup de g race , the u l t ima te invec t i ve be ing tha t John had

consp i red to ga ther a round h im a band o f men who p lundered

and la id was te a l l o f Ga l i l ee (War 2 . 588) .

Josephus was mis t rus ted f rom the ou tse t as many be l ieved

tha t he was go ing to be t ray them to the Romans a t some

po in t . “Now wh i le a l l Ga l i l ee was f i l l ed w i th th i s rumour , tha t

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the i r coun t ry was abou t to be be t rayed by me to the Romans ,

and when a l l men were exaspera ted aga ins t me…” qu i te

p robab ly l i es a t the hear t o f h i s hos t i l i t y aga ins t John . As

th ings tu rned ou t , Josephus d id indeed abandon the f igh t

aga ins t Rome and therea f te r worked toge ther w i th them to

d issuade the rema in ing rebe ls f rom con t inu ing the s t rugg le

aga ins t Rome, wh i le John went on to con t inue the f igh t i n

Je rusa lem. Th is earned Josephus the enmi ty o f h i s f e l l ow

Jews and in The Jewish War , one can assume, he was

mot i va ted to jus t i f y ( to a Jew ish readersh ip ) h is convers ion to

the Roman cause in the mos t log ica l manner poss ib le , by

por t ray ing h is own ro le as hero fo r the Jewish cause ; as

opposed to tha t o f John who was an ou t law and a band i t who

s to le , conn ived , p lundered and murdered . As Grunewa ld has

observed , “ I f John had ever had the oppor tun i t y to desc r ibe

the war as he remembered i t , one o f the par t i c ipan ts wou ld no

doub t have been a par t i cu la r l y v i l l a inous l e i s tes ca l l ed

Josephus” (Grunewa ld 1999 :100) .

The d ia t r ibe aga ins t John con t inued a f te r he had managed to

s l i p away f rom the sur round ing Roman fo rces and went to

Je rusa lem, where he jo ined the zea lo ts . However , when

Josephus descr ibes th i s ep isode , he does so in such a way as

to show John as t y rann ica l , t reacherous , un t rus twor thy and

conn iv ing and ou t to pursue on ly h is own ends . He ass igns to

h im the mos t t reacherous charge poss ib le dur ing war fa re , tha t

he was in fac t on ly p re tend ing to suppor t the h igh p r ies t

Ananus in o rder t o pass on in fo rmat ion to the zea lo ts . In o ther

words , John was a qu is l ing (Grunewa ld 1999 : 104) .

Was John o f G ischa la a soc ia l band i t? Hors ley a t f i r s t seemed

to th ink so . “The f ina l example o f soc ia l band i t r y to be

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d iscussed , tha t o f John , son o f Lev i , a l so i l l us t ra tes how, in

the c i r cumstances o f open rebe l l i on , a loca l b r igand cou ld r i se

to become one o f the p r inc ipa l l eaders o f the na t iona l revo l t .

He s ta r ted ou t mere ly as a lone band i t ” (Hors ley 1979 : 59) .

F rom the a fo rego ing , i t i s c lea r tha t John became invo lved in

the war o f na t iona l res is tance ; i t i s sa fe to c la im there fo re tha t

he was ne i the r a soc ia l band i t no r a robber . In a la te r a r t i c le ,

Hors ley p rov ides a percep t i ve ana lys is o f how br igand ac t i v i t y

deve loped in to rebe l l i on , bu t has d ropped the te rm ‘soc ia l

band i t r y ’ a l toge ther and in fac t , when he does re fe r to

Hobsbawm’s mode l , i t i s on ly in t he con tex t o f how peasan ts

and b r igand g roups wou ld jo in fo rces in a common f igh t

aga ins t oppress ion . He i s a lso less ce r ta in abou t John ’s

band i t o r ig ins , ra ther say ing tha t i t i s c red ib le t ha t he may

have come f rom such a background to become one o f the

lead ing f igu res in Ga l i l ean po l i t i cs (Hors ley 2002 : 95) .

In the case o f S imon bar G io ra , Josephus dea ls w i th h im

ex tens ive ly , bu t no t on a persona l p lane as was the case w i th

John o f G ischa la . Accord ing to Josephus , S imon ’s a im was

ty ranny , and a f te r the dea th o f Ananus he assembled a gang

in the mounta ins where he p romised f reedom fo r the s laves

and rewards to f reedmen who jo ined h is g roup . Th is cou ld

s imp ly have been a p loy to a t t rac t rec ru i t s to h is g roup , bu t i t

a l so ind ica tes tha t he had a soc ia l consc ience , wh ich , as

Grunewa ld has po in ted ou t , were in l i ne w i th the ega l i ta r ian

goa ls o f the S ica r i i (Grunewa ld 1999 : 203 , foo tno te 6 ) .

I t was no t uncommon in Roman h is to r iog raphy and s to ry

te l l i ng to den ig ra te an opponent o r h is to r i ca l f i gu re by

c la im ing tha t they conn ived w i th s laves and o ther lower fo rms

o f l i f e in Roman soc ie ty . Tac i tus re fe rs to the band i t

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Tac fa r inas , who was a Nor th A f r ican res is tance leader in the

per iod 17 -24 CE and whom he accuses o f consor t ing w i th

s laves . 41 I t i s p robab le tha t Josephus used a s im i la r tac t i c t o

ins t i l f ea r and hor ro r in the charac te r and a ims o f S imon

(Grunewa ld 1999 : 104) . Grunewa ld c la ims tha t the ca reer o f

S imon as to ld by Josephus i s s imp ly a f i c t ion and in l i ne w i th

the conven t ion o f por t ray ing po ten t ia l usurpers in a mos t

nega t i ve l i gh t , a lbe i t a lways w i th the same fo rmu la : so ld ie r -

deser te r -band i t . Th is i s a lso the fo rmu la tha t Josephus

app l ied in h is descr ip t ion o f t he r i se to power (o r in famy

accord ing to Josephus) , o f John o f G ischa la . Mate rnus w i th a

band o f a rmy deser te rs s ta r ted to ra id the coun t rys ide , bu i l t

up wea l th and a power base un t i l he was ab le to p resen t a

s ign i f i can t cha l lenge to the Roman a rmy in Spa in and Gau l . A

s im i la r s te reo type was app l ied in descr ip t ions o f the f i r s t

S ic i l i an s lave war by Herod ian . 42 Mate rnus was cas t as a

deser te r , wh ich in Roman eyes was synonymous w i th l a t ro , as

deser t ion was a c r ime o f d i shonour , a b reak ing o f a sac red

oa th and when the deser te r / l a t ro i s i nvo lved w i th rebe l l i on , no

m i t iga t ing fac to rs wou ld be cons idered . By means o f th i s k ind

o f l i t e ra ry a r t i f i ce , a “ l i t e ra ry s tock theme” i s app l ied in o rder

to make up fo r an au thor ’ s ignorance abou t wha t ac tua l l y

occur red and fo r an absence o f any th ing spec ia l to wr i te abou t

(Grunewa ld 1999 : 126) . The theme a lways c la ims tha t the

cunn ing and c rue l band i t ch ie f s ta r ted o f f h i s ca reer by f l ee ing

to the mounta ins , f rom where he imposed a re ign o f te r ro r by

robb ing and p lunder ing the ne ighbour ing v i l l ages and

co l lec t ing a round h imse l f c r im ina ls and o ther base ind iv idua ls .

The i r mot i ves a re a lways cas t as a lus t fo r boo ty . Even tua l l y

these band i t g roups a re s t rong enough to ven tu re f rom the i r

41 Tac i tus , Ann . 2 .52 f rom books 2 to 4 o f the Anna les . 42 Herod ian 1 .10 .1 and by A then ian fo r the Spar tacus s lave rebe l l i on (A then ian Flo r 2 .7 .10) .

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i naccess ib le s t rongho lds and they s ta r t to p lunder the la rger

towns un t i l they a re ab le to become a po l i t i ca l th rea t

(Grunewa ld 1999 : 105 :126) . By means o f th i s k ind o f f i c t i ona l

accoun t o f an opponent , he i s au tomat i ca l l y de leg i t im ized in

the eyes o f the Graeco-Roman upper c lass readersh ip .

S imon and h is fo l l owers were ab le to deve lop in to a s ign i f i can t

power base and a t t rac ted a w ide spec t rum o f adheren ts who ,

i f Josephus i s to be be l ieved on th is po in t , t rea ted h im l i ke a

k ing , “and s ince he was now become fo rmidab le to the c i t i es ,

many o f the men o f power were co r rup ted by h im; so tha t h i s

a rmy was no longer composed o f s laves and robbers , bu t a

g rea t many o f the popu lace were obed ien t to h im as the i r k ing ”

(War 4 . 510) . There was thus John o f G ischa la in the nor th o f

the coun t ry and S imon in the sou th o f Pa les t ine who had

es tab l i shed what amounted to a s ta te w i th in a s ta te . Tha t they

were no t regarded then as mere band i t s f i t on ly fo r c ruc i f i x ion

can be deduced f rom the fac t t ha t bo th S imon and John were

sen t to Rome by T i tus , wh ich as Grunewa ld has percep t i ve ly

observed , we see Josephus , as an a r i s toc ra t , desc r ib ing a

soc ia l equa l and no t a common band i t . S imon was g iven a

spec ia l p lace in T i tus ’s t r i umpha l march th rough the s t ree ts o f

Rome and la te r execu ted , (War 7 .154-155) , i nd ica t ing tha t he

was regarded as more impor tan t than John (Grunewa ld : 1999 :

105) .

S imon can there fo re a l so no t be c lass i f i ed as a soc ia l band i t .

Hors ley in fac t ca tegor i zes h im as a mess ian ic leader ,

toge ther w i th Menahem, A th ronges and Judas son o f

Hezek iah . Hors ley ’s a rgument i s tha t S imon can be compared

to K ing Dav id in l i ne w i th the t rad i t i on in Juda ism o f popu la r

k ingsh ip . L ike Dav id , S imon ga thered abou t h im a la rge a rmy

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and s ta r ted h is b id fo r power as a m i l i t a ry leader , who

sur rounded themse lves w i th ma lcon ten ts and v i l l a ins . L i ke

Dav id , S imon a lso had g rea t phys ica l s t reng th and peop le

looked to h im fo r leadersh ip , and even tua l l y , as in Dav id ’s

case , so too d id the peop le o f Je rusa lem. He a lso comments

tha t l i ke Dav id , S imon a lso had a soc ia l -economic agenda.

Hors ley amp l i f i es the fac t tha t S imon cap tu red Hebron , a c i t y

s teeped in Jew ish s ign i f i cance , bu t in th i s ins tan t , because

th is was the p lace where Dav id was o r ig ina l l y ano in ted

(Hors ley and Hanson 1999 : 118-27) . I t does no t appear tha t

Josephus de l ibe ra te ly records the r i se to power o f S imon as a

para l le l to tha t o f Dav id . Tha t su re ly wou ld have g iven even

more leg i t ima t ion to S imon ’s ro le in the war , a t l eas t amongs t

Jew ish readers , someth ing tha t Josephus wou ld have wanted

to avo id . By Hors ley ’s own accoun t , “ Josephus s tud ious ly

avo ids Jewish mess ian ic language in h is accoun ts , we can

never the less d iscern a number o f Dav id ic fea tu res in the r i se

o f S imon” (Hors ley and Hanson 1999 : 119) . Any p re tens ions to

k ingsh ip may on the o ther hand , have been p rac t i ca l . Ou ts ide

o f the Jewish and Roman po l i t i ca l and ins t i tu t iona l s t ruc tu res ,

someone who cons idered h imse l f to have ga ined su f f i c ien t

suppor t to become ‘o f f i c ia l l y ’ acc la imed as a leg i t ima te ru le r ,

d id no t have much cho ice in te rms o f te rm ino logy and type o f

pos i t i on in an t iqu i t y , bu t tha t o f be ing ca l led a k ing .

I t i s i ron ic in a sense , tha t the very band i t s tha t Josephus

v i l i f i ed in many par ts o f the nar ra t i ve were in fac t used by h im

in a s t ra tegy to reduce the con f l i c t i n Ga l i l ee and to se rve as

an a rmed vanguard in h is campa ign to con t ro l the reg ion . No t

hav ing an a rmy o f h is own, he co-op ted b r igands to h is s ide

and then he conv inced the peop le o f Ga l i l ee to pay them in

o rder to p reven t them f rom p lunder ing th roughou t the reg ion

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(L i fe 77 -78) . I t appears tha t the p rac t i ce o f us ing es tab l i shed

band i ts w i th the i r l eadersh ip ab i l i t y was a p rac t i ce emp loyed

by the upper c lass ru l ing e l i te . Sepphor i s too , bough t the

se rv ices o f Jesus and h is e igh t hundred men in o rder to

p reven t Josephus f rom us ing the Ga l i l ee as a base aga ins t the

expec ted Roman incurs ion (L i fe 105-6 ) . Josephus was ab le to

nu l l i f y th i s th rea t and by means o f a we l l p lanned ruse he was

ab le to w in Jesus and h is men over to h is s ide (L i fe 107-11) .

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CHAPTER 5 5 .1 BANDITRY AND PEASANT PROTEST MOVEMENTS: AN ALTERNATIVE VIEW

The h is to ry o f the Roman Empi re was f i l l ed w i th numerous

a t tempts a t revo l t aga ins t i t s ru le v i r tua l l y th roughou t i t s

ex is tence , bu t where these have been repor ted , the records o f

these , such as they ex is t i n the ex tan t l i t e ra tu re a t ou r

d isposa l , l ack any s ign i f i can t de ta i l s o r a re mere ly jus t

ment ioned in pass ing . There were more than n ine ty d i f fe ren t

p rov inc ia l up r i s ings , fo r example , in the ear ly imper ia l pe r iod

up to the re ign o f Commodus , o f wh ich we have de ta i led

records fo r on ly a f rac t ion o f them (Goodman 2002 : 21) .

However , i n the case o f the f i r s t cen tu ry con f l i c t be tween the

Jews and Rome in Pa les t ine we have an incomparab le amount

o f mate r ia l w i th wh ich to work , a lbe i t tha t mos t i s de r i ved f rom

one p r imary source on ly . Wh i le mos t scho la rs have accep ted

tha t the re were a number o f fac to rs tha t even tua l l y resu l ted in

a fu l l b lown war w i th Rome, some have iden t i f i ed one

par t i cu la r d imens ion as p lay ing a more impor tan t ro le than

o thers as the ca ta lys t tha t made the Jewish war un ique in the

Roman wor ld . Some o f the more recen t work in th i s f i e ld ( in

Eng l i sh ) can be summar ized as fo l lows :

• Goodman: the fa i lu re o f the ru l ing c lass to asser t

i t s au thor i t y du r ing t imes o f economic , re l i g ious

and soc ia l c r i s i s .

• B run t : because o f the re l ig ious d imens ion , c lass

con f l i c t tu rned in to revo lu t ion in Pa les t ine ,

d is t inc t f rom anywhere e lse in the Roman Empi re .

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• Mende ls : the revo l t was due to an i l l - de f ined

sense o f na t iona l i sm.

• Henge l : the unres t was fanned by the f lames o f

re l ig ious fana t i c i sm and the d i f fe ren t g roups in

the s t rugg le were a l l zea lo ts , i n a genera l sense .

• Co l l i ns and Horbury : Mess ian ic be l ie f s were

pervas ive be fo re and dur ing the revo l t and were

the c r i t i ca l fo rce wh ich impe l led the Jews towards

rebe l l i on .

• Hors ley : Mos t o f the band i t g roups , a t l eas t those

be fo re the ou tb reak o f the war , were

charac te r i s t i c o f soc ia l band i t s based on a

soc io log ica l mode l deve loped by Er i c Hobsbawm

to s ign i f y a spec i f i c t ype o f band i t r y separa te f rom

common c r im ina ls .

I t i s the re fo re obv ious tha t any a t tempt a t ana lyz ing the na tu re

o f Jew ish band i t r y as one o f the p r imary fac to rs in Pa les t ine

in the per iod lead ing up to the War aga ins t Rome, i s f raugh t

w i th immense complex i t y as i t rep resen ts one aspec t on ly o f

even ts and h is to r i ca l p rocesses . Par t o f the p rob lem is tha t

mos t s tud ies on f i r s t cen tu ry Judea a re f i l t e red th rough

Josephus ’s h is to r i ca l pe rspec t i ve . Josephus adop ted an

approach o f examin ing var ious inc iden ts in the s ix ty years

lead ing up to the war , exp la in ing them and then b laming

someone fo r them. (Goodman 2002 : 16) .

However , fa i l u res in the economic sys tem, soc ie ta l changes ,

re l ig ious fe rvour , oppress ive ru le , na t iona l i s t i c yearn ings and

an ine f fec t i ve ru l ing c lass do no t in themse lves exp la in how

band i t ry can become so w idespread and coa lesce in to a

power fu l movement tha t w i l l a t tempt to over th row the yo lk o f

oppress ion . (Shaw 1984 : 41) . The Jewish revo l t was a

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conca tena t ion o f i n te r - re la ted even ts and deve lopments w i th in

Jew ish soc ie ty i t se l f a t a t ime when i t had become a p rov ince

o f the Roman Empi re .

“There i s now subs tan t ia l ag reement tha t peasan t

upr i s ings a re (a ) invar iab ly , bu t (b ) in no way s imp ly

re la ted to economic and po l i t i ca l changes fa r more

p ro found than those a f fec t ing the peasan t ry a lone :

more p ro found even than deve lopments in the

agr i cu l tu ra l sec to r as a who le . Changes occur in the

ob jec t i ve cond i t i ons wh ich govern soc ie ty as a

who le , and la rge ly as a resu l t o f these changes

the re occur o thers wh ich u l t ima te ly p roduces the

s ta tus incongru i t i es , re la t i ve s ta tus losses and the

th rea t o f fu r ther losses to wh ich we have d rawn

a t ten t ion p rev ious ly . These d iscon ten ts a re , then the

immed ia te bu t o f course no t the more p ro found

cause o f un res t . One i s tempted to f i nd a s ing le ,

un ive rsa l l y p resen t u l t ima te cause , bu t

un fo r tuna te ly , th i s wou ld be mis taken” (Landsberger

1974 : 28) . {My i ta l i cs }

B r igandage, as i s p roposed above , was mere ly one sub tex t o f

a w ider p ro tes t movement wh ich spread f rom the ru ra l a reas

and even tua l l y in to the c i t i es . The who le o f Book 20 o f The

An t iqu i t i es o f the Jews , reads a lmos t l i ke a coun tdown to the

ou tb reak o f War in 66 CE. Wi th the a r r i va l o f Cusp ius Fadus

(44-46 CE) as p rocura to r , the re fo l l owed a success ion o f o ther

d read fu l p rocura to rs who d id l i t t le to govern and , in some

ins tances , were ins t rumenta l i n on ly in f laming the s i tua t ion

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even more . 43 A se r ies o f ac t ions by Roman governors who

were insens i t i ve to Jewish re l i g ious fee l ings deep ly a f fec ted

p ious Jews, such as the a t tempt by P i la te to b r ing mi l i ta ry

s tandards w i th g raven images on them in to t he Temple

p rec inc ts and thereby v io la t ing the p roh ib i t i on o f the

in junc t ion on the dep ic t ion o f human images , espec ia l l y in a

sac red p lace . Ga ius Ca l igu la ’s a t tempt to have a s ta tue o f

h imse l f e rec ted in the Temple g rounds , (a l though th is was no t

the ac t ion o f a governor ) , caused ex tens ive d is tu rbances

th roughout the coun t ry and were i t no t fo r the common sense

o f Pe t ron ius , the governor o f Syr ia , and the good fo r tune o f

Ca l igu la ’s t ime ly assass ina t ion , th is inc iden t cou ld have had

t rag ic consequences . Bru ta l i t y , rapac i t y , i ncompetence and an

unwi l l i ngness and inab i l i t y to unders tand the peop le they were

govern ing , marked the ru le o f the a fo rement ioned governors .

The hardsh ip caused by the burden o f doub le taxa t ion ( loca l

and Roman t r ibu te ) as we l l as the temp le tax , caused immense

su f fe r ing , espec ia l l y in t imes o f d rough t and famine , and i t s

u l t ima te e f fec t was to fo rce fa rmers w i th sma l l l andho ld ings

in to deb t and penury . The r i se o f a wea l thy Jewish c lass o f

l andowner and t rader on ly se rved to h igh l igh t how fa r the

Jew ish peop le had moved away f rom i t s ega l i ta r ian idea ls o f

the pas t . As Goodman has shown in The Ru l ing C lass o f

Judea , the men appo in ted by Rome to p rov ide loca l l eadersh ip

d id no t se rve the purpose o f ensur ing peace and secur i t y , as

the Roman p rac t i ce o f appo in t ing ind iv idua ls o f wea l th was

inappropr ia te to the c i rcumstances p reva i l i ng in Judea a t the

onse t o f d i rec t Roman ru le . The chosen e l i tes had no suppor t

43 These were T iber ius A lexander , 46 -48 CE; Ven t id ius

Cumanus , 48-52 CE; An ton ius Fe l i x , 52 -58 /9 CE; Lucce ius A lb inus , 62-64 CE and Gess ius F lo rus 64-66 CE.

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base and lacked c red ib i l i t y wh i l s t con f l i c t amongs t the

leadersh ip , p r imar i l y w i th in the h igh p r ies thood on ly se rved to

exacerba te an a l ready uns tab le s i tua t ion . Loca l r i va l r ies and

tens ions be tween c i t i es and commun i t ies , fo r example the

inc iden t be tween the Jewish and Syr ian c i t i zens o f Caesarea ,

and espec ia l l y in He l len ized commun i t ies , c rea ted add i t i ona l

i ns tab i l i t y . As mat te rs de te r io ra ted , g roups o f re l ig ious

fana t i cs a rose and p reached an apoca lyp t i c message o f a new

wor ld to come ou t o f the ashes o f the p resen t chao t i c s ta te .

Josephus p roc la imed tha t “Now as fo r the a f fa i r s o f the Jews ,

they g rew worse and worse con t inua l l y ; fo r the coun t ry was

aga in f i l l ed w i th robbers and impos to rs , who de luded the

mu l t i tude” (Ant iqu i t i es 20 .160) . Th is quo te becomes someth ing

o f a re f ra in th roughou t the course o f the even ts tha t l ead up to

the ou tb reak o f the war . A t f i r s t g lance , one can deduce tha t

the re was w idespread rebe l l i on in the coun t rys ide , wh ich

inc luded b r igandage ; i t i s o f ten no t c lea r who the impos to rs

were bu t p resumab ly they were ind iv idua ls o r g roups o f

i nd iv idua ls who were spread ing messages o f d i ssen t and

revo lu t ion amongs t the peasan ts and o ther ru ra l dwe l le rs , by

‘de lud ing ’ the mu l t i tude . Here , as in o ther ins tances , Josephus

dea ls w i th the ex te rna l f ocus o f a phenomenon o r h is to r i ca l

even t , bu t ra re ly does he re la te the in te rna l dynamics o f a

p rocess o r even t . The same occurs fo r ins tance , in h is

nar ra t i ve concern ing the Four th Ph i losophy , where we lea rn o f

the ex is tence o f th i s movement , where i t poss ib ly cou ld have

a r i sen f rom and i t s e f fec ts , bu t l i t t l e e lse concern ing i t s

in te rna l dynamics .

The responses to the oppress iveness o f Roman ru le and the

consequen t po l i t i ca l , economic , soc ia l and ideo log ica l

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s t resses tha t the ru ra l i nhab i tan ts exper ienced resu l ted in a

campa ign o f w idespread ru ra l p ro tes t , o f wh ich b r igandage , as

has been d iscussed , fo rmed on ly one aspec t o f a res is tance

movement . As no ted ear l i e r , the peasan ts o f an t iqu i t y d id no t

leave beh ind any tex tua l ev idence o f wha t they though t and

how they saw themse lves and the wor ld a round them. By us ing

modern too ls based on peasan t exper iences f rom re la t i ve ly

modern t imes , we can a t tempt to cons t ruc t a bas is fo r

examin ing and exp la in ing peasan t a t t i t udes and be l ie f sys tems

f rom the anc ien t wor ld .

5.2 PROTEST MOVEMENTS

A f te r the dea th o f Agr ippa I Judea again fe l l under d i rec t

Roman ru le in 54 CE. A l l the o ld hos t i l i t i es and apprehens ions

re tu rned and in tens i f i ed . Poor governance and re l ig ious

sens i t i v i t i es mere ly exacerba ted a worsen ing s i tua t ion and law

and o rder led to unres t o f anarch ica l p ropor t ions and

even tua l l y to open war fa re .

The t rad i t i on o f mass popu la r p ro tes t i ns t iga ted by and

conduc ted by ru ra l peasan t ry became a fea tu re o f Judea and

Ga l i l ee . There a re numerous inc iden ts recorded by Josephus

dea l ing w i th spec i f i c inc iden ts o f popu la r up r i s ings a f te r the

w ide-sca le campa ign o f res is tance to the Roman imposed

census o f 6 CE. In a l l o f these p ro tes ts , peop le f rom the

coun t rys ide p layed a lead ing ro le . Amongs t the ma in

p rovoca t ions tha t resu l ted in mass p ro tes t was the inc iden t o f

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the m i l i t a ry s tandards tha t were b rough t in to Je rusa lem, (War

2 .169-174 ; Ant iqu i t i es 18 .55-59) ; Josephus wro te : “meanwh i le ,

s t i r red by ind igna t ion o f the townspeop le , the peop le f rom the

coun t rys ide came toge ther in c rowds” ; when Jewish b r igands

a t tacked an imper ia l baggage t ra in Cumanus sen t so ld ie rs to

pun ish nearby v i l l ages dur ing wh ich a Torah sc ro l l was

desecra ted (War 2 .228-29 ; Ant iqu i t i es 20 .113-14) . The

subsequent mass upr i s ing o f the common peop le was on ly

de fused a f te r Cumanus had the o f fend ing so ld ie r execu ted

(War 2 .230-31) . Ga ius ’s a t tempt to have a s ta tue o f h imse l f

p laced in the p rec inc ts o f the Temple evoked a huge popu la r

upr i s ing in wh ich peasan ts were the lead ing fo rce ; Josephus

says “ robber ies wou ld g row up” i f the s ta tue was pu t in p lace

(Ant iqu i t ies 18 .274) and tha t the en t i re coun t ry cou ld have

been p lunged in to c r i s i s as the imminen t harves ts wou ld no t

have been co l lec ted , ind ica t ing thereby the ex ten t o f peasan t

invo lvement .

At some po in t the w idespread b r igandage and re la ted p ro tes t

ac t ions became a na t iona l fo rce o f res is tance aga ins t Roman

ru le . Th is , i f Josephus i s to be t rus ted , occur red dur ing the

ru le o f An ton ius Fe l i x (52 -59(? )CE) . Fe l i x ac t i ve ly pu rsued

band i t s th roughou t Judea , bu t a l so had to con tend w i th

va r ious p rophe ts and o ther revo lu t ionary bands . There was a

charac te r known as the Egyp t ian Jew who was go ing to lead a

g roup up on to the Mount o f O l i ves a f te r wh ich he c la imed the

wa l l s o f Je rusa lem wou ld fa l l down (War 2 . 261-262) .

Josephus summar ized the esca la t ion o f revo l t i n the te r r i to ry

w i th the fo l low ing words : “Now, when these were qu ie ted , i t happened, as i t

does in a d iseased body , tha t ano ther par t was

sub jec t to in f lammat ion ; fo r a company o f

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dece ivers and robbers go t toge ther , and persuaded

the Jews to revo l t , and exhor ted them to asser t

the i r l i be r ty , in f l i c t i ng dea th on those tha t

con t inued in obed ience to the Roman government ,

and say ing , tha t such as w i l l i ng ly chose s lavery

ough t t o be fo rced f rom such the i r des i red

inc l ina t ions ” (War 2 .264) .

Even i f th i s s ta tement concea ls an amount o f rhe to r i ca l

exaggera t ion , i t does ind ica te tha t dur ing th is per iod there

ex is ted a g rea t amount o f popu la r sen t iment fo r revo lu t ion

aga ins t Roman ru le , bo ls te red by re l ig ious teach ings ,

na t iona l i s t fe rvour and a yearn ing fo r be t te r t imes f rom the

pas t (Grabbe 1992 : 442) . A t th i s po in t i t i s poss ib le to d iscern

a coa l i t i on o f so r ts , be tween band i ts , peop le f rom the

coun t rys ide and a var ie ty o f o ther g roups coming toge ther to

fo rm a movement fo r na t iona l res is tance .

How do p r im i t i ve p ro tes t movements w i th a la rge ly ru ra l base

p rogress to becoming a w ider movement revo lu t ionary

change? Landsberger has sugges ted tha t when cons ider ing

peasan t movements , i t shou ld be done on the bas is o f the

re la t i ve ly low s ta tus under wh ich peasan ts l i ve and a

movement i s to be seen as “a co l lec t i ve reac t ion to such low

s ta tus ” (Landsberger 1974 : 18) .

The co l lec t i ve na tu re o f the many p ro tes ts by ru ra l peasan ts

and to a ce r ta in degree , the c i t y mob, was qu i te l i ke ly deep ly

roo ted in a common v is ion o f wha t l i f e was l i ke in the pas t .

When the var ious rebe l g roups and peasan ts came toge ther ,

th i s v i s ion was mos t l i ke ly shared by many , bu t the d issens ion

a rose as to how i t was to be ach ieved , the reby con t r ibu t ing to

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the c iv i l war amongs t the Jewish g roups . We wi l l o f course

never know what the peasan ts ac tua l l y though t and how they

ra t iona l i zed and jus t i f i ed the i r ac t ions . The i r goa ls were deep

enough to sus ta in the movement fo r a long per iod o f t ime , bu t

how these a ims were c rys ta l l i zed in to a revo lu t ionary fe rvour

fo r the over th row o f Roman domina t ion , can on ly be conc luded

f rom draw ing conc lus ions f rom modern revo lu t ions tha t were

in i t i a l l y d r i ven by peasan ts and resu l ted in the b i r th o f a new

soc ia l and po l i t i ca l o rder . I t i s poss ib le to conc lude tha t in the

f i r s t ha l f o f the cen tu ry , peasan t p ro tes ts were la rge ly

conserva t i ve in na tu re , i n tha t they s imp ly des i red to ‘ r i gh t a

wrong , ’ as was the case in wh ich Roman o f f i c ia l i nd isc re t ions

in f lamed popu la r sen t iment . When the peasan t and h is

commun i ty su f fe red some fo rm o f p rovoca t ion genera l l y t he

in i t i a l reac t ions were usua l l y no t v io len t o r revo lu t ionary

(Landsberger 1974 : 37) .

The g roups in Pa les t ine wh ich fe l l ou ts ide the revo lu t ionary

movement were the wea l thy and those p r ies ts who p re fe r red a

modera te course and who e i the r saw oppos i t i on aga ins t Rome

as fu t i l e o r wan ted to ma in ta in the i r p r i v i l eged s ta tus quo . As

po in ted ou t by Landsberger , i n o rder to qua l i f y as a co l lec t i ve

movement , the re needs to be cer ta in o ther mot i ves than jus t

mere ly reac t ing to low s ta tus , such as na t iona l i sm and a

combina t ion o f na t iona l i sm and re l ig ious mot i va t ions . These

were c lear l y the case w i th the Jew ish peasan t movements and

o ther g roups and the i r r eac t ions to many o f the p rovoca t ions

go ing as fa r back as Hasmonaean t imes , th rough to the Jew ish

revo l t o f 66CE. Ind iv idua l peasan ts , who had ‘m ig ra ted ’ to

b r igand g roups because o f the p reva i l i ng soc io -po l i t i ca l -

economic c l imate , wou ld have shared many o f t he common

v iews o f who the oppressors and the i r suppor te rs were ; and

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the reasons fo r oppress ion as we l l as a shared common goa l

as to the ac t ions tha t shou ld be taken . The soc ia l and

economic fac to rs on the i r own wou ld no t have been enough,

bu t the ex ten t to wh ich ideo logy and re l ig ion p layed a ro le in

mob i l i z ing the peasan ts i s deba tab le . Hobsbawm observes

tha t i t i s charac te r i s t i c o f p r im i t i ve movements o f na t iona l

res is tance to exh ib i t a m ix o f band i t ac t i v i t y and mi l l enn ia l

sec ta r ian ism aga ins t the occupy ing fo rces (Hobsbawm 1969 :

103) .

Peasan t movements a rose because o f p reced ing h is to r i ca l

changes . These may evo lve as a resu l t o f one o r more o f the

fo l l ow ing soc ie ta l changes : a los t war , new taxes , bad

harves ts , changes in the compos i t ion o f then ru l ing c lass ,

changes a f fec t ing the cond i t ions o f the h igher s ta tus peasan ts

and passed on to lower s ta tus peasan ts , changes in the

economic s i tua t ion and ideo log ica l fac to rs (Landsberger 1974 :

24) . A l l o f these fac to rs occur red in Pa les t ine to a lesser o r

l a rger degree , a l l ow ing fo r reg iona l d i f fe rences . In add i t ion ,

the Jewish peasan t movement emp loyed a range o f means and

methods bu i l t up over a long h is to ry o f res is tance and s t rugg le

aga ins t fo re ign domina t ion . These inc luded amongs t o thers ,

popu la r p ro tes ts , th rea ts to w i t hho ld the in -ga ther ing o f the

harves t , b r igandage , a t tacks aga ins t the homes o f wea l thy and

the e l i tes , even tua l l y end ing up in d i rec t assau l t s aga ins t the

Roman a rmy. As Goodman has demons t ra ted the lack o f an

e f fec t i ve and c red ib le Jewish ru l i ng c lass , fo rced peasan ts to

tu rn e lsewhere fo r gu idance when p rovoked .

In o rder to qua l i f y as a movement as opposed to a

d iso rgan ized rabb le , the re needs to be ev idence o f l eadersh ip

and d i rec t ion towards the common goa ls . Wh i le leadersh ip

155

seems to have come f rom a number o f b r igand ch ie f s

(a rch i les tes ) , they a lso seem to have had d i rec t ion f rom loca l

s t rong men, such as John o f G ischa la ; bu t the leadersh ip ro le

changed as i t moved f rom a ma in ly p ro tes t -based movement

tha t resor ted to sporad ica l l y con f ron t ing the au thor i t i es by

means o f band i t - l i ke ra ids , amongs t o thers , towards a

coheren t mass-based o rgan iza t ion led by power fu l l eaders

who were ab le t o conso l ida te and focus the va r ious a rms o f

the movement and t rans la te i t i n to a p rogramme o f

revo lu t ionary ac t ion . Landsberger no tes tha t few genu ine

peasan t leaders have been work ing peasan ts ; i n fac t as

peasan t movements become ‘na t iona l ’ (as opposed to loca l o r

commun i ty cen t red) , so the leadersh ip ro les moves ou t o f the

hands o f peasan ts (Landsberger 1974 : 38) . An example o f tha t

wh ich was re fe r red to ear l i e r , i s tha t o f John o f G ischa la , who

i t seems, may no t have been o f peasan t o r ig ins , bu t was ab le

to o rgan ize d ive rse g roups a round h is leadersh ip in the

Ga l i l ee and la te r became one o f the es tab l i shed leaders who

p layed a much w ider ro le in the even ts tha t l a te r un fo lded in

Je rusa lem.

By the t ime tha t the var ious fac t ions had assembled in

Je rusa lem soon a f te r the ou tb reak o f the Revo l t , the re were

severa l l a rge a rmies w i th a cons iderab le number o f men a t

a rms based in Je rusa lem. Of the th ree la rge g roups , the

Idumeans had f i ve thousand t roops under the i r command,

S imon had ten thousand , John had s ix thousand and the

zea lo ts had two thousand four hundred loya l adheren ts (War

5 . 248-50) . Goodman does no t th ink tha t a common ideo logy

and jo in t pu rpose o f f i gh t ing the Roman enemy tha t p reva i led

amongs t a l l the fo l lowers o f the va r ious fac t ions wou ld have

been su f f i c ien t to ma in ta in the loya l t y o f the t roops to the i r

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po l i t i ca l l eaders . I t i s p robab le tha t John commanded f ie rce

loya l t y f rom cer ta in fac t ions w i th in the Ga l i l ee , bu t more so

was the p romise and expec ta t ion o f rewards tha t they wou ld

rece ive fo r the i r l oya l t y to h is s ide . The Idumeans i t seems

rema ined f ie rce ly loya l to the i r l oca l l eaders and re ta ined a

un ique and s tead fas t i den t i t y w i th the i r Idumean o r ig ins . L i ke -

w ise i t appears tha t S imon ’s char i smat i c leadersh ip ab i l i t i es

was enough to t i e h is men loya l l y to h is s ide . The Zea lo ts on

the o ther hand , d id no t have the suppor t o f the peasan ts f rom

the Judean coun t rys ide and had to h i re the serv ices o f the

band i t l eaders and the i r fo l l owers to f i gh t on the i r s ide

(Goodman 1993 : 223-225) . As a l ready observed , Josephus

h imse l f was a lso w i l l i ng to acc rue a rmed band i t gangs to

suppor t h i s e f fo r ts in the Ga l i l ee as a s t ra teg ic p loy to ach ieve

h is a ims as governor o f Ga l i l ee .

As loca l band i t l eaders and the i r fo l l owers became par t o f the

w ider movement , they became inc reas ing ly t i ed in to the w ider

po l i t i ca l and mi l i t a ry scene , and the po l i t i ca l e l i tes assumed

the ro le o f the leadersh ip in conduc t ing the revo lu t ionary a ims

o f the s t rugg le and the war aga ins t the Romans .

Hobsbawm no ted tha t band i t s lack the techn ica l , i n te rna l and

ideo log ica l o rgan iza t ion to lead revo lu t ionary movements . He

c i tes the example o f the Cossacks who had we l l es tab l i shed

and la rge commun i t ies and were ex t reme ly e f fec t i ve in the i r

ra id ing campa igns , w i th ve ry capab le leaders , bu t were no t

ab le to deve lop beyond th is in to the mode l requ i red to become

a na t iona l movement . As he con t inues : “band i t r y i s the re fo re

more l i ke ly to come in to peasan t revo lu t ions as one aspec t o f

a mu l t ip le mob i l i za t ion , knowing i t se l f to be a subord ina te

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aspec t , excep t in one way : i t p rov ides f igh t ing men and

f igh t ing leaders ” (Hobsbawm 1969 : 102) .

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CHAPTER 6 6 .1 CONCLUSION

Th is work has a t tempted to exp la in and unders tand the

dynamics o f the ro le p layed by Jew ish peasan t band i t s in t he

years lead ing up to the Jewish revo l t aga ins t Roman ru le in

the f i r s t cen tu ry . The changes b rough t on by the a r r i va l o f

Pompey in 64 BCE a f fec ted the who le o f Sy ro -Pa les t ine and

was p robab ly mos t keen ly fe l t by the Jew ish popu la t ion in the

then Jewish te r r i to r ies o f the reg ion . Mos t d ramat i c was the

loss o f the independent Jew ish na t ion s ta te led by the

Hasmonaean dynas ts and the resu l tan t even ts tha t cu lm ina ted

in Jew ish Pa les t ine becoming a p rov ince o f the Roman

Empi re .

However , wha t became apparen t wh i l s t conduc t ing the

requ i red read ing and research fo r th i s paper i s tha t i t i s no t

poss ib le , g i ven the cur ren t dear th o f sources and the

l im i ta t ions o f soc io log ica l too ls ava i lab le to the modern

h is to r ian , to come up w i th a de f in i t i ve , a l l -encompass ing

exp lana t ion and mode l tha t w i l l adequa te ly cover a l l aspec ts

o f peasan t revo l t s in Roman an t iqu i t y . The use o f modern

para l le l s as a means o f exp la in ing comp lex se ts o f soc ia l ,

po l i t i ca l and cu l tu ra l c i r cumstances f rom the anc ien t wor ld

poses a who le hos t o f p rob lems, and can on ly par t ia l l y exp la in

these even ts and there fo re need to be used c i rcumspec t l y .

Dyson has sugges ted tha t in o rder to unders tand peasan t

rebe l l i ons a t a loca l l eve l , i t i s impor tan t to s tudy the

phenomenon o f peasan t revo l t s as a con t inuous pa t te rn o f

c i v i l un res t in the Roman Empi re a t l a rge , in o rder to

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unders tand how ind iv idua l revo l t s evo lved aga ins t genera l

chang ing h is to r i ca l and soc ia l c i r cumstances in the d i f fe ren t

par ts and per iods o f Roman iza t ion (Dyson 1971 : 171) .

Band i t ry appears to have been a common fea tu re o f everyday

l i f e in many par ts o f the anc ien t wor ld , i nc lud ing the Jew ish

par ts o f Pa les t ine and par t i cu la r l y in those a reas where s ta te

power was a t i t s weakes t , much l i ke c r ime i s taken fo r g ran ted

as an accep tab le co ro l la r y to modern day l i f e . The awesome

power o f the Roman mi l i t a ry mach ine and pervas iveness o f i t s

c i v i l and admin is t ra t i ve ru le genera l l y encouraged mos t o f the

oppressed na t ions under i t s con t ro l to acqu iesce and accep t

the inev i tab i l i t y o f becoming par t o f the g rea te r Roman Empi re

(Dyson 1971 : 172) . However , the re seems to have been some

nexus a t wh ich po in t the excesses o f the impos i t i on o f Roman

ru le s imp ly became in to le rab le and resu l ted in mos t l y fu t i l e

a t tempts a t rebe l l i on . A s im i la r po in t can be made fo r

Pa les t ine , where Josephus has to ld o f band i t g roups who

inhab i ted the mounta inous a reas and go t on w i th the i r

ne fa r ious ac t i v i t i es as a genera l way o f l i f e . However , a po in t

was reached in the m id f i f t i es o f the f i r s t cen tu ry a t wh ich the

ex ten t and scope o f band i t r y became iden t i f i ab le w i th la rge

sca le d issen t and rebe l l i ousness by the mos t oppressed and

vu lnerab le o f the ru ra l commun i t ies , desp i te the t rad i t i ona l

j a rgon o f band i t r y tha t was emp loyed to desc r ibe the

d iss iden ts and the i r ac t ions . In modern te rms , these g roups o r

ind iv idua ls wou ld have been descr ibed as ‘ te r ro r i s ts , ’

‘ i nsurgen ts , ’ o r ‘ f reedom f igh te rs , ’ depend ing on your

v iewpo in t .

As a conc lus ion to the h is to r i ca l / soc ia l deba te on band i t r y and

peasan t rebe l l i on Dyson has p rov ided a use fu l summary o f the

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pr inc ipa l c r i te r ia , o r ‘ c r i s i s po in ts ’ wh ich mot i va ted peasan t

(and o ther poor and d isa f fec ted e lements in anc ien t soc ie t ies )

to jo in soc ia l p ro tes t movements and par t i c ipa te in ac t ions

aga ins t the e l i tes and the s ta te . These ‘ c r i s i s po in ts a rose

exac t l y because o f the p rocess o f Roman iza t ion i t se l f wh ich

p roduced the tens ions w i th in the conquered soc ie t ies tha t

d rove the loca l popu la t ions to repea ted ac ts o f rebe l l i on

(Dyson 1971 : 175) . These a re :

Taxat ion : Roman fo rms o f taxa t ion tha t had to be pa id

in co in f o rced sub juga ted commun i t ies to par t i c ipa te in

the Roman marke t economy, the reby caus ing tens ions

w i th in the es tab l i shed agr i cu l tu ra l economies . Judea

fo l lowed the pa t te rn o f many o ther conquered te r r i to r ies

in wh ich the ear l y exper ience o f Roman ru le was the

impos i t i on o f new tax reg imes resu l t i ng in w idespread

tens ion and revo l t .

Debt : The inc reased tax burden and exposure to

economic changes even tua l l y led to g row ing leve ls o f

deb t in o rder to su rv ive .

Landlessness : A resu l t o f r i s ing leve ls o f deb t and

penury was the loss o f l and and changes in the soc ia l

and economic s ta tus o f peasan t cu l t i va to rs .

Front ier Zones: soc ie t ies l i v ing ad jacen t to f ron t ie r

zones and remote h igh land a reas made e f fec t i ve con t ro l

o f l a rge swathes o f te r r i t o ry d i f f i cu l t to po l i ce and

admin is te r and p rov ided te r r i to ry to wh ich d iss iden t

g roups cou ld f l ee and con t inue to oppose Roman ru le

f rom the edges o f the Empi re . As Dyson sugges ts

“w i thou t th i s p rox im i t y o f the f ron t ie r , sus ta ined

res is tance i s more d i f f i cu l t a l though by no means

imposs ib le . ” (Dyson 1971 : 172) .

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The loca l ar is tocracy : A l though the Romans

ma in ta ined the loca l a r i s toc racy by co -op t ing them in to

the loca l po l i t i ca l sys tems in o rder to ass is t i n que l l i ng

res is tance , th i s s t ra tegy d id no t work success fu l l y i n

Jewish Pa les t ine .

Rel ig ion : A l though the Romans appear to have been

genera l l y accep t ing o f l oca l re l i g ions , as indeed i t was

in Judea and the o ther Jew ish te r r i to r ies in the f i r s t

cen tu ry , where the loca l popu lace were le f t to p rac t i ce

the i r t rad i t i ons re la t i ve ly f ree ly , Jew ish adherence to

the core p r inc ip les o f the Mosa ic code and i t s common

iden t i t y as a na t ion tha t reve l led in i t s f reedom, was a

ma jo r fac to r tha t mot i va ted , sus ta ined and imbued the

revo l t aga ins t Roman occupa t ion (Dyson 1971 : 170-

173) .

As a compara t i ve exerc ise , i t i s poss ib le to conc lude tha t the

h is to r i ca l c r i te r ia p roposed by Dyson c lose ly resemble and

con f i rm the e lements tha t Landsberger has pu t fo rward in h is

mode l fo r exp la in ing ru ra l res is tance movements , a lbe i t f rom a

modern soc io log ica l pe rspec t i ve . In Landsberger ’ s exp lana t ion ,

changes in the ob jec t i ve cond i t i ons tha t govern soc ie ty as a

who le take p lace , and as a resu l t o f these changes , a who le

conca tena t ion o f o ther changes occur tha t cause fu r ther losses

in the s ta tus o f the peasan t and o ther ru ra l p roducers , resu l t i ng

in the g rowth o f w idespread unhapp iness and a r i se in the

numbers o f i nd iv idua ls and g roups who a re p repared to oppose

the ru l ing e lements (Landsberger 1974 : 28-29) . In shor t , the

ob jec t i ve cond i t i ons can be summar ized as the d ramat ic loss o f

na t iona l i ndependence , the in t roduc t ion o f the Pa les t in ian

economy in to the w ider economic marke t o f the Empi re and the

d is in tegra t ion o f the p r ies thood as the de f in ing symbo l o f

162

Jewish leadersh ip and sp i r i tua l au thor i t y and the

re l ig ious / ideo log ica l d imens ion .

The tempta t ion to c rea te d i f fe ren t band i t ‘ t ypes ’ as

exp lana to ry mechan isms i s appea l ing , bu t as th i s paper has

endeavoured to p rove , tha t band i t r y i s fa r more comp lex than

any one mode l and needs to be seen in the l i gh t o f h i s to r i ca l

c i r cumstance and p reva i l i ng po l i t i ca l and soc ia l and cu l tu ra l

rea l i t i es . The concep t o f soc ia l band i t r y has been pos i ted as a

l i ke ly exp lana t ion o f Jew ish d issen t lead ing even tua l l y to a l l -

ou t war , p r imar i l y by R ichard Hors ley . Hobsbawm’s no t ion o f

soc ia l band i t ry as a soc io log ica l descr ip t ion o f a phase o f

band i t r y o r t ype o f band i t , wh i le d isp lay ing some mer i t s as a

descr ip t ion o f an idea l i zed fo rm o f loca l i zed rebe l l i on , hard ly

su f f i ces , as th i s paper has in tended to show, as an adequa te

h is to r i ca l o r soc io log ica l too l fo r exp la in ing any th ing more

than minor ou t lawry and in mos t cases , in a my th ica l sense .

Tha t the Rob in Hood band i t f i gu re ex is ted in bo th rea l i t y and

my th , may we l l be , bu t th i s can hard ly be used to descr ibe and

exp la in the fo rmat ion o f movements fo r w idespread and

sus ta ined revo lu t ionary tendenc ies w i th in a soc ie ty

exper ienc ing fundamenta l changes to i t s ex is t ing and fu tu re

way o f l i f e . As Hobsbawm h imse l f admi t ted in the in t roduc to ry

words to the open ing chap te r on soc ia l band i t r y… ”We sha l l be

dea l ing w i th a fo rm o f ind iv idua l o r m inor i t y rebe l l i on w i th in

peasan t soc ie t ies . ” (Hobsbawm 1969 : 17) . Whether these

types o f legends sur rounded any o f the arch i les tes f rom the

p ro tagon is ts descr ibed by Josephus and whether these

in fo rmed peasan t pub l i c op in ion i s someth ing we w i l l never

know fo r su re (Grunewa ld 1999 : 93-94) . Modern research

conduc ted in the 1970 ’s a t tempted to match the behav iour o f

soc ia l band i t s as descr ibed by Hobsbawm to rea l band i t s f rom

163

South Amer ica . One researcher , B i l l y Chand le r , examined the

l i f e and t imes o f Lampiao the Braz i l i an band i t . Chand le r ’ s

conc lus ions were tha t “…The ma jo r p rob lem is tha t h is

(Hobsbawm’s ) de f in i t i on o f a soc ia l band i t i s , i t seems,

inver ted . I t res ts no t so much on the ac tua l deeds o f the

band i ts as on what peop le though t them to be , o r , more

p recar ious ly , on how they were repor ted by ba l ladeers and

o ther popu la r s to ry te l le rs even genera t ions la te r ” (Chand le r

1978 : 241) .

In the case o f Josephus we have the ra ther un ique s i tua t ion

tha t he par t i c ipa ted in the even ts he wro te abou t and was

persona l l y invo lved w i th some o f the lead ing p ro tagon is ts . He

was a member o f the e l i te l i t e ra te m inor i t y who were o f ten the

p r ime v ic t ims o f b r igandage themse lves . A l though on tha t

po in t , i t mus t be s t ressed , tha t the ev idence f rom recen t

s tud ies on b r igandage in bo th anc ien t t imes and modern ,

c lear l y shows tha t band i t s ind isc r im ina te ly and b ru ta l l y k i l l ed

and robbed f rom the very r i ch and the poor regard less o f the i r

communa l o r ig ins o r fo l k lo r i c asp i ra t ions (Langer 1987 : 124) .

As has been demons t ra ted , Josephus ’s h is to r iog raph ica l

t rea tment o f band i t s matched the conven t ions and a t t i t udes o f

the Graeco-Roman t rad i t i ons o f h i s day . He was never the less

as tu te enough to have rea l i zed the fo l l y o f oppos ing the

m i l i t a ry m igh t o f the Roman Empi re and the consequences tha t

wou ld have fo l lowed thereon , wh i l s t a t the same t ime

consc ious o f h is Jew ish her i t age and background . Much has

been made abou t the apparen t b iases in h is nar ra t i ves and

espec ia l l y tha t he ended h is days l i v ing in Rome a t the behes t

and pa t ronage o f h i s F lav ian hos ts . F rom an overa l l

pe rspec t i ve however , Overman has po in ted ou t , tha t the

con f l i c t i n Judea dur ing the f i r s t cen tu ry shou ld be in te rp re ted

164

as a par t o f the la rger po l i t i ca l s t rugg le in wh ich Vespas ian

and h is son T i tus was invo lved , in o rder to es tab l i sh the i r

bas is fo r supreme con t ro l over the Empi re and hence by

ex tens ion , tha t Josephus ’s wr i t i ng re f lec ted th i s

p ropagand is t i c b ias (Overman 2002 : 214) .

What re levance , i f any , i s the re in any o f th i s to the modern

wor ld? F rom a cu l tu ra l con tex t the my th o f the band i t he ro , the

ou t law as ep i tomized by Rob in Hood l i ves on in modern

memory and myth . F ic t iona l ou t laws tha t s tand up and f igh t fo r

the poor and the oppressed abound in l i t e ra tu re and in f i lm . In

some cases i t ca te rs fo r the pub l i c ’ s tas te fo r b lood and gore

o r as S la t ta has observed , “…The power and a l lu re o f these

images (o f band i t l i f e and deeds) come in par t f rom a seeming

need fo r even h igh ly u rban ized soc ie t ies to re t rea t to a

somet imes hero ic pas t ” (S la t ta 1987 : 23) . The fo lk lo re tha t

su r rounds many o f the we l l - known band i t charac te rs f rom

l i te ra tu re and f i lm imbue them w i th a repu ta t ion tha t i s usua l l y

a t odds w i th rea l i t y . Th is po in t re in fo rces the weakness in

many respec ts o f re l y ing on my th , o ra l t rad i t i on and legend as

a means to p rov ing the va l id i t y o f soc ia l band i t r y as a t ype o f

“ spec ia l ” band i t . I t i s wor th quo t ing in fu l l t he fo l low ing

sec t ion in o rder to i l l us t ra te the d i f f i cu l t i es o f dea l ing w i th

band i t charac te rs and how eas i l y rea l i t y can be d is to r ted :

“As par t o f a Federa l Wr i te rs ’ P ro jec t i n the 1930 ’s ,

i n te rv iewers ques t ioned New Mex ico res iden ts who

c la imed to have known B i l l y the K id . Some

respondents avowed persona l knowledge o f ep isodes

c rea ted by f i c t iona l wr i te rs . One person repor ted a

conversa t ion w i th B i l l y ’ s mother dur ing the spr ing o f

1877 . H is mother d ied some th ree years ear l i e r , on

165

September 1874 . Fau l t y memory and v iv id

imag ina t ion shaped many reco l lec t ions….The K id

en joyed a g round swe l l o f rehab i l i t a t ing myth -mak ing

dur ing the 1930 ’s and 1940 ’s a l though b r ie f

i ns tances o f the K id ’s “nob le ” band i t charac te r i s t i cs

c ropped up in accoun ts in s to r ies be fo re the 1930 ’s ,

a ve r i tab le e rup t ion o f s to r ies occur red in the nex t

twen ty years p resen t ing the K id ’s a f f i n i t y w i th Rob in

Hood o r C laude Duva l ” (Ta tum 1982 : 98) .

A per fec t example f rom recen t t imes o f band i t r y and the

fo lk lo r i c my th bu i ld ing mach inery and fasc ina t ion fo r the

ou t law and the i r exp lo i t s i s tha t o f Phoo lan Dev i , the in famous

Ind ian c r im ina l who became known as the Band i t Queen to her

admi re rs . She came f rom a low-cas te fami l y and a f te r a v io len t

and unhappy ch i ldhood and mar r iage , f l ed to the mounta inous

par ts o f U t ta r Pradesh where she became invo lved w i th Daco i t

bands , Ind ia ’s modern day band i t gangs . Dev i became

in famous fo r he r dar ing and b loody exp lo i t s . In 1981 she

a t tacked and a l leged ly k i l l ed some twen ty - two H indu v i l l agers

f rom a h igh cas te landown ing commun i ty who had repor ted ly

k idnapped and raped her . She became na t iona l l y famous and

was wanted fo r f i f t y murders . She was impr isoned bu t never

conv ic ted . I ron ica l l y , she was e lec ted to par l i ament where she

success fu l l y represen ted the downt rodden , espec ia l l y women

and low-cas te H indus . A mov ie , the Band i t Queen e leva ted her

popu la r i t y and fu r ther embe l l i shed her repu ta t ion as some k ind

o f modern Rob in Hood l i ke charac te r . She was assass ina ted a t

the age o f 38 and to da te the reason beh ind her v io len t dea th

i s s t i l l unknown. The t ru th i s tha t be fo re her resur rec t ion as a

po l i t i c ian and champion o f t he poor , she was a v io len t and

166

bru ta l gangs te r who spread mayhem and des t ruc t ion

th roughou t her na t i ve s ta te (Ma l l i k 2001 : 1 -3 ) .

Band i t ry i s s t i l l endemic in some lesser deve loped a reas in

Sou th Amer ica , Ind ia , A f r i ca and par ts o f As ia where

ind igenous inhab i tan ts a re f i gh t ing aga ins t l oss o f te r r i to ry

and rac ism and cu l tu ra l ob l i v ion , po l i t i ca l i ndependence and

oppress ion and espec ia l l y where cen t ra l s ta te con t ro l i s weak .

A s ta te loses i t s leg i t imacy and ab i l i t y to impose i t s au thor i t y

on s izeab le por t ions o f a soc ie ty when a c red ib le a l te rna t i ve

a r i ses and i s ab le to deny the s ta te and i t s o rgans access and

con t ro l to ce r ta in par ts o f i t s cons t i tu ted te r r i to r ies . A t yp ica l

example i s Somal ia in the Horn o f A f r i ca where band i t g roups

have been ab le to cause the d is in tegra t ion o f the s ta te in to

th ree f ie fdoms tha t a re based on a con federacy o f dominan t

c lans (Mburu 1999 : 90-92) . Fur ther sou th in Sudan, a long

t rad i t i on o f b r igandage has con t inued on in to modern t imes as

the modus operand i o f the var ious mi l i t i a fac t ions f igh t ing the

government in Khar toum or amongs t each o ther ( ib id ) .

The phenomenon o f band i t r y has been a round fo r m i l l enn ia as

a fo rm o f ou t lawed ac t i v i t y wherever soc ia l , po l i t i ca l and

economic in jus t i ce p reva i l s coup led w i th ine f fec t i ve s ta te

con t ro l . I t s pervas iveness and des t ruc t i veness on da i l y l i f e , as

c i ted in the examples above , a t tes t to i t s po tency as a fo rm o f

p ro tes t and i t s ab i l i t y to cha l lenge t rad i t i ona l and en t renched

ho lders o f power . Th is too , p roved to be the case in f i r s t

cen tu ry Pa les t ine , where the Jew ish ru ra l peasan t popu la t ion

re fused to accep t the in jus t i ces tha t came w i th be ing par t o f

the Roman Empi re and par t i c ipa ted in a s immer ing campa ign

o f c i v i l un res t wh ich inc luded numerous ac ts o f b r igandage

and o ther fo rms o f soc ia l p ro tes ts even tua l l y cu lm ina t ing in a

167

war fo r f reedom and na t iona l i ndependence f rom fo re ign

occupa t ion . The shor t war ended in t ragedy fo r the Jew ish

na t ion and resu l ted in a huge loss o f l i f e and even tua l

d ispers ion and the end o f a s ign i f i can t Jew ish p resence in the

land o f the i r fo re fa thers fo r some two thousand years .

168

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