Political, social, and economic life in the Land of Israel, 66–c. 235

Abstract

The failure of the Jewish revolt against Rome brought about a comprehensive transformation of life in Palestine: the old political system was replaced by direct Roman rule, the Roman army became a permanent presence, the size of the population and the ratio of Jews to pagans changed. This chapter explores how the norms of the Graeco-Roman city partly supplemented and partly replaced, as elsewhere in the High Roman Empire, native norms as the cultural ideal. For the Bar Kochba Revolt, the only accounts surviving are the highly folkloristic tales in rabbinic literature and brief notices in the works of Christian and pagan writers. The failure of the Jewish revolts, the consequent geographical dislocation of large numbers of Jews, the centralizing character of Roman rule, and the undeniable prosperity and success of the Empire, all conspired to transform Roman Palestine into a conventional eastern province, normal in its social, economic, political, and even religious life.