Jews and Non-Jews in Ancient Cities: Alexandria, Antioch, Caesarea, Rome

This chapter focuses on a specific phenomenon that is instructive in a somewhat different manner. Several major urban centres had a substantial Jewish population in the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods. There was a good deal of tension between Jews and other groups in cities, tension that at times led to minor or major outbursts of violence as reported by various authors. These also describe measures taken by the local and imperial authorities on those occasions. The chapter offers a brief survey of such events in an attempt to show that one may gain an extra perspective on the position of the Jews in the ancient world. According to Philo the Jews constituted about two-fifths of the population of Alexandria in Egypt. They formed an autonomous organization in the framework of the city and enjoyed specific rights. Caesarea was a substantial city with a mixed population, not as big, of course, as Alexandria and Antioch, but definitely significant.