"Granny's Chapters" Part 33

Adrian, not believing that after all they had gone through, the Jews could raise an army, thought little of this revolt at first; and when at length he did send against them a powerful army, it was totally defeated. The news of this misfortune caused great astonishment and dismay at Rome: and Julius Severus, one of the greatest generals of his time, was sent to put an end to this dangerous rebellion,-a matter which he found it difficult to accomplish; but at length, in an attack upon Bither, Coziba was killed; a dreadful slaughter of men, women, and children followed; and Akibha and his sons were put to a cruel death by the Roman conqueror.

The Jewish historians say, that between battle, famine, sickness, fire, and other calamities, the number of Jews that perished in this war was greater than the number of the Children of Israel who originally came out of Egypt: and they also declare, that their terrible sufferings under Nebuchadnezzar and t.i.tus, were not so great as those inflicted upon them in the reign of Adrian. Both these statements are probably exaggerated; but they show that the misery of the unhappy Jews at this time, was most extreme.

Chapter II.--STATE OF THE JEWS TO THE END OF THE THIRD CENTURY.

The repeated provocations which, by their rebellions, the Jews gave to the Romans, could not, of course, tend to make their conquerors deal mercifully with them: thus did they, time after time, draw upon themselves those miseries, which were a chastis.e.m.e.nt for all their sins against G.o.d; and especially of that crowning one, the Crucifixion of "the Lord of Life and Glory."

After the rebellion under Coziba, numbers of the Jews who outlived it, were offered for sale at the same price as a horse, at the fair of Terebinth, held every year on the plain of Mamre. The horror of such a fate was doubled by the fact, that the plain of Mamre was looked upon by the Jews as a sacred spot; because here their great forefather Abraham received the angel, who gave him the promise of a son.

Those of the unhappy captives who were not sold at Terebinth, were taken to another fair, at Gaza, or sent into Egypt, to be disposed of there.

When this terrible war was at an end, Adrian caused the building of his city to be continued. He did all he could to profane, and hold up to contempt, whatever the Jews looked upon as most sacred: he placed a marble hog over the gate of the city nearest to Bethlehem; built a temple to Jupiter Capitolinus, on the spot where the temple of the Jews, the House of G.o.d, had stood; and used the stones which had been employed for the temple, to build a theatre.

As Adrian hated the Christians as well as the Jews, he set up statues of heathen deities at Bethlehem, where Jesus Christ was born; on the spot where He was crucified; and in the garden, from whence He rose again from the dead.

Adrian also forbade the Jews to enter Jerusalem, or even to go near enough to look upon its ruins. Before this time, they were constantly to be seen, clothed in rags, wandering sadly upon the Mount of Olives, and amongst the ruins of their once glorious temple and city: a Roman garrison was now charged to see that Adrian's harsh decree was obeyed, or to put the transgressors to death. But by giving money to the garrison, the unhappy Jews did get leave to go once a year, on the anniversary of the destruction of Jerusalem, to weep over the ruins of their beloved city.

Thus were the Jews forced to pay even for the privilege of shedding tears, in the places where they had purchased and shed the blood of Jesus Christ. Truly was "His blood," that is, the punishment for shedding it, "on them and on their children." When they had madly cried, "His blood be on us and on our children," they had, in fact, _asked_ that the curse of G.o.d might come upon them; and heavily indeed had it fallen. The dreadful fate of the Jews should ever be a warning to each individual Christian. We have owned Jesus Christ to be the Messiah, the Redeemer of mankind; we are called by His name; His Word is in our hands: if we do not love and obey Him, shall we not deserve a greater punishment even than the Jews? whose history is given us as a warning of the hatefulness of sin, in the sight of the Almighty.

Whilst the Western Jews had been suffering as has been described, the Eastern Jews were more fortunate. The Emperor Adrian had agreed to let the Euphrates be the eastern boundary of the Roman Empire, and therefore the Jews on the eastern side were no longer subject to his power. Many of them, however, eager for the liberty of their country, went into Judaea to help their brethren, but they only added to the number of sufferers.

Little is known of these Eastern Jews: they chose chiefs, called "Princes of the Captivity," to preside over their synagogues; they founded schools, and encouraged learned men; so that some of their rabbis became famous for their learning. One of these rabbis, named Judah, wrote a book called "The Misna," of which some account must be given.

After the destruction of Jerusalem, the sect of Pharisees became very powerful amongst the Jews; the chief thing taught by them in the schools was, not the written Law of Moses, but all the _traditions_, or doctrines and precepts, handed down by word of mouth from father to son. Of course doctrines handed down in such a way, got sadly altered from what they had been at first; and thus the truth was corrupted. As time went on, fresh traditions were added, till at last they were so many, that the doctors, whose duty it was to explain the meaning of them, found it necessary to write them out, as it was impossible otherwise even to remember them. The disciples of the doctors again, took notes of the explanations given of these traditions; and all this made so much confusion, that the Rabbi Judah undertook to make a new arrangement of the traditions, or oral Law. The meaning of the word "oral," is "delivered by the mouth"; and this Law was called "oral,"

because it was originally given by the mouth. Judah, therefore, collected together all the traditions, with the commentaries or explanations given by the most famous amongst their teachers or doctors. This work occupied him for forty years; it contained all the laws and doctrines, with an account of the inst.i.tutions and modes of life, which the Jews supposed themselves bound to observe, _beyond_ those commanded in the Mosaical Law. The Jews held this work in the greatest possible veneration, and called it "The Misna"--Misna being a Hebrew word, meaning the Second Law. It was also called "The First Talmud." The Jews called it "The Misna," or Second Law, because they considered that it was as necessary to obey it, as it was to keep the Pentateuch, or First Law. The Misna did not, however, settle all the doubtful cases and questions often raised by the Jews; and another rabbi, with the a.s.sistance of two of Judah's disciples, wrote a commentary, or rather an addition to the Misna. This addition was called the Talmud of Jerusalem, because it was compiled or put together in the land of Judaea, for the benefit of those Jews who still remained in their native country.

During the second century the Jews became still further divided into sects, holding many opinions or doctrines contrary to those held originally by the Jewish people; but the sect of the Pharisees still continued to be the largest.

The consequence of these divisions into numerous sects was, that there were perpetual jealousies and contentions amongst them. One great subject of dispute was, as to the use of the Septuagint version of the Scriptures by the h.e.l.lenists. The h.e.l.lenists were Jews who spoke Greek, and did not understand Hebrew, so as to read the Scriptures in their original language; and who were, therefore, very glad to make use of the Septuagint version, which was written in Greek. The rest of the Jews used the Hebrew Scriptures; but at last they agreed that the h.e.l.lenists might use the Greek copies. Afterwards, however, finding that the Christians always used the Septuagint, when endeavouring to convince the Jews that Jesus Christ was the Messiah, their dislike to that version of the Holy Scriptures increased to such a degree, that they came to look upon all persons who used it as Schismatics; that is, as persons who sinfully separated themselves from their brethren, who held the true faith as delivered to them by Moses.

Antoninus Pius became Emperor of Rome towards the middle of the second century, that is, in A.D. 138. The edict forbidding the Jews to circ.u.mcise their children, was so hateful to them, that in spite of the warnings given them by former sufferings, they again revolted.

Antoninus put down the revolt by force; but afterwards he treated the Jews very mildly, and gave them the privilege for which they had fought; only forbidding their attempting to make proselytes. In the reign of Marcus Aurelius, who became Emperor A.D. 161, the Eastern Jews, who were subject to the king of Parthia, joined that monarch in a war against the Romans; and Marcus Aurelius was so angry, that he unjustly revenged himself upon his Jewish subjects, and once more ordered Adrian's law against circ.u.mcision to be put in force: but in the distant provinces this law was not observed.

In A.D. 197, Septimius Severus became Emperor: at this time the Jews had settlements in Galilee, but the law forbidding them to enter Jerusalem was still in force. Though defeated and humbled so constantly, this unhappy people attempted to get possession of Samaria and Judaea by force. When the Romans had again brought them into subjection, Severus treated the Jews as Antoninus had done before; and in reward for some service they had done him, he also granted them the privilege of Roman citizens, and even allowed them to be chosen to fill offices of trust and honour. So ended the second century.

Early in the third century, Heliogab[=a]lus became Emperor of Rome, A.D. 218. This Emperor pretended to be in some respects a Jew himself, and would not, in consequence, eat the flesh of swine; but at the same time he built a temple in honour of the Sun, and was anxious to make both Jews and Samaritans mix this worship, with their own religious observances. The Jews, who never would have consented to such idolatry, were saved from the misery which a refusal would have brought upon them, by the death of Heliogab[=a]lus, who was a.s.sa.s.sinated by his own soldiers, A.D. 222. Alexander Severus, who succeeded him, favoured the Jews, and caused himself to be instructed in their religion. The great object of Alexander Severus was to mix up the Christian and Jewish doctrines with those of Paganism, and make one religion of the whole: this shows that he could have had no real knowledge of the two former. In his own private chapel, Severus placed statues of Jesus Christ, of Abraham, and of Orpheus, a famous musician of ancient times, of whom many mythological tales are told.

The Eastern Jews established academies in the beginning of the third century; and in Persia their rabbis were for some time treated with great respect: but at last the Persians became jealous of the power and influence of the Jews, and persuaded Sapor, king of the country, to allow a violent persecution to be carried on against these unhappy people: those who could escape sought refuge in other lands. Under Zen.o.bia, Queen of Palmyra, (the Tadmor built by Solomon,) the Jews flourished exceedingly: they built handsome synagogues in every part of her dominions, and filled the highest offices in the state. In A.D.

273, the Emperor Aurelian defeated Zen.o.bia, and took possession of her dominions: some of the Jews then returned into Persia; but under Aurelian, and the Pagan emperors who succeeded him during the remainder of the third century, the Jews enjoyed peace and tranquillity in the dominions of the Romans. In this respect they were more fortunate than the Christians, who were persecuted by various Emperors, and especially by Diocletian, who began to reign A.D. 284.

Whilst the Christians were treated with the most barbarous cruelty, because they would not give up their religion, the Jews were allowed to celebrate all the forms of their worship in the most public manner.

Thus ended the third century; but early in the next, an event took place, which made a great change in the condition of Jews and Christians.

Chapter III.--JEWS IN THE FOURTH CENTURY.

Early in the fourth century, as has been said, a great change took place in religious matters. Constantine, surnamed the Great, who began to reign as sole Emperor of Rome A.D. 324, became a Christian. It is said, that when going to fight against a rival who claimed the Imperial power, Constantine saw, or dreamed that he saw in the sky, a bright cross, and upon it the words, "In hoc vince" (in this conquer).

He gained the victory; and ascribing it to the G.o.d worshipped by the Christians, (whose emblem was a cross,) he became a convert to their religion, and adopted the cross as his standard. The example of Constantine was followed by the greater part of his subjects, so that Christianity was established as the religion of the Roman Empire, though many of the inhabitants still remained Pagans.

The city of Jerusalem, which Adrian had called Elia, took again its own name; and many beautiful churches were built in it by Constantine.

But the establishment of the Christian religion was by no means a favourable circ.u.mstance for the Jews, who were looked upon as its worst enemies: against them, Constantine, in the beginning of his reign, made some very severe laws. The Jews in Persia had grown insolent in consequence of the prosperity they had enjoyed: they insulted and abused all Christians, and were even supposed to have put to death some of their brethren who had embraced Christianity.

Constantine, indignant at such conduct, visited it upon the Jews in his own dominions, and treated them with the greatest severity, even forbidding Christians to eat with them. In short, the unhappy Israelites were now subjected to every sort of insult and suffering.

The Persian Jews were very angry at such treatment of their brethren; and as they had great influence over the King of Persia, they now tried to avenge the Jews in the west, by raising a b.l.o.o.d.y persecution against Christians in the east: numbers of Christ's followers were accordingly killed; their churches destroyed; and their sacred book burnt. This persecution was carried on, until every trace of Christianity was almost rooted out of the country.

But the cruelty of the Persian Jews did not go unpunished, although the Roman Empire was now greatly disturbed by internal strife, as well as by the attacks of foreign enemies.

Constantine the Great died in A.D. 337; and after his death the Roman Empire rapidly declined, both in extent and power; but of this we need say nothing here, as our business is with the Jews. Constantius, who succeeded Constantine as Emperor, hated the Jews, and by his cruel treatment, drove them to raise an insurrection in Palestine. This only enraged the Emperor still more, and led him to add new and more severe laws to those already made against these unhappy creatures, by former Emperors. Any Jew who dared to marry a Christian, was to be put to death; and the same punishment was inflicted upon one who tried to make a proselyte of his own slave; or who kept in slavery any man who had become a Christian.

On the death of Constantius, A.D. 361, the Jews experienced some relief from his successor the Emperor Julian, surnamed the Apostate; because, after having been brought up as a Christian, he renounced that true religion, and lived as a Pagan.

When Constantine the Great died, he left Constantius and two other sons, who were to divide his dominions amongst them: and he left two brothers, who had sons also. Gallus and Julian were the sons of one of these brothers, and were consequently cousins to Constantius. The generals and ministers of Constantine, persuaded the people after his death, that there would be constant struggles for power between the brothers and sons of the late Emperor. The soldiers, who were very fond of Constantine, declared that no one but a son of their beloved Emperor should reign over his dominions, or rule in the city of Constantinople, which he had built to be the capital of his dominions, and the royal residence. The soldiers stirred up the people, and formed a plot to destroy the brothers and nephews of Constantine.

Constantius, when he first came to Constantinople after his father's death, had solemnly promised to protect his uncles and cousins from all their enemies; but in spite of this, he was easily persuaded to join in the plot for their destruction; and a pretext was soon found for carrying out the scheme. A paper was produced, which was pretended to have been written by Constantine just before his death. In this paper, the Emperor was made to declare his belief, that he had been poisoned by his brothers; and he desired his sons to revenge his death, and secure their own safety, by the destruction of their uncles and cousins. Such a pretext was quite sufficient; and the soldiers, without waiting for any inquiry or trial, murdered the suspected princes and all their sons, excepting the two young boys Gallus and Julian, who were hidden by their attendants from the fury of the soldiers; and thus escaped the fate of the two brothers and seven nephews of Constantine, who were now murdered.

Gallus and Julian, who alone escaped the slaughter, were of the respective ages of twelve and six years. Constantius justly felt, that to put these children to death in cold blood, would be looked upon by all mankind as an act of wanton and needless cruelty: perhaps, too, he felt some sorrow for the crime already committed. At any rate, the two boys were allowed to live, and were sent to some city in Bithynia, or Ionia, where persons were appointed by the Emperor to educate them. As Gallus and Julian grew up, Constantius feared that they might plot against him; and he therefore chose for their residence a strong castle, standing in a pleasant situation, with extensive grounds belonging to it: having been an ancient palace, it contained very good rooms. Here, attended, or rather _guarded_, by a numerous household, the young princes lived for six years: they were carefully instructed by the best teachers, in all branches of learning, as well as in active exercises; but in spite of every attention and comfort, they felt themselves to be prisoners, shut out from all society except that of persons devoted to Constantius, and ready to obey him in every matter. A very strict observance of all the outward forms of Christianity, had been forced upon them; but upon the heart of Julian, at least, the blessed truths and precepts of the Gospel had taken no hold. He had rather learnt to connect Constantius and his religion, with cruelty and tyranny; and the violent disputes carried on by the bishops, who professed to be the followers of Jesus Christ, still further increased his dislike to a religion, a.s.sociated in his mind with his own sufferings.

When Gallus was twenty-five years old, disturbances in his dominions induced Constantius to release him, and even to place him as governor over part of the country. The cousins, therefore, met, and took a solemn oath, never to do anything to injure each other; and then Gallus was settled at Antioch, to rule over the neighbouring provinces. Gallus was not unmindful of his brother, but also obtained liberty for him. Julian, now nineteen years of age, having been so long restricted in his choice of society, eagerly sought that of learned men, the greater part of whom were unfortunately Pagans; to whose ideas of religion he willingly listened, until he became convinced that Paganism was a better religion than Christianity, which he accordingly renounced; and from that time, became a devout and sincere worshipper of the G.o.ds of Rome and Athens. On the death of Constantius, A.D. 361, Julian became Emperor of Rome, and he proved a just and wise ruler. As it was his great wish entirely to destroy the Christian religion, Julian gave great encouragement to its enemies the Jews; allowing them the free exercise of their religion, and treating them with the greatest kindness. This emboldened the Jews to destroy the churches of the Christians, and commit other acts of violence against them--an example followed by their brethren in Egypt, who destroyed the finest churches in Alexandria. Julian issued a law establishing Paganism as the religion of his empire; but he did not put to death those who held contrary opinions.

He hated the Christians, and would not allow them to have any power in the State; he forbade them to teach any sort of science in the public schools; he fined and banished their clergy; and also fined all who refused to offer sacrifices to the Pagan deities. But nothing he could do had any effect upon the Christians, who held firm to the true faith.

The Emperor then determined to rebuild the temple, and settle a powerful colony of Jews in Judaea; where they would be always ready to join in any measure against the Christians. The destruction and desolation of the temple having been foretold by Jesus Christ, Julian thought, that by rebuilding it, and re-establishing in it the ancient worship, he should shake the faith of mankind as to the truth of Christianity.

Great preparations were made for the work; but when the workmen began to clear out the foundations, they were hindered by b.a.l.l.s of fire which broke out, scorching and burning the unfortunate people. Some writers doubt the truth of this account; but though we cannot be quite sure, there is great reason to believe that it really did happen. We may well believe that the Almighty worked this miracle, to prove the truth of prophecy; and to show that the Christians were now his chosen people, instead of the Jews, who had filled up the measure of their iniquities by crucifying the Saviour of mankind. At any rate, Julian gave up the attempt to rebuild the temple. Julian was killed in battle A.D. 363, and was succeeded by Christian Emperors. Christianity was then re-established as the national religion, although both Pagans and Jews were allowed to practise their own forms of worship in peace, until the close of the fourth century, when the Emperor Theodosius put an end to Paganism in the Roman Empire: sacrifices to the heathen deities were absolutely forbidden; and all the heathen temples were destroyed, or shut up.

Chapter IV.--FIFTH AND SIXTH CENTURIES.

By the close of the fourth century, the Roman Empire was very considerably weakened and diminished, by the attacks of barbarian tribes on all sides.

On the death of the Emperor Theodosius, A.D. 395, all that remained of the once Roman Empire was finally divided between his two young sons: Arcadius becoming Emperor of the East, with Constantinople for his capital; Honorius Emperor of the West, with the ancient capital of Rome.

The Jews of the Eastern Empire, emboldened by the mild treatment they had experienced, now insulted the Christians. Whilst celebrating the Feast of Purim, in remembrance of their deliverance from the wicked plots of Haman, instead of hanging a figure of Haman on a gibbet, and burning it, according to custom; the Jews, in mockery of the Christians, nailed the figure to a cross, and burnt that. This, of course, greatly displeased and shocked the Christians; and the magistrates caused the houses, as well as the synagogues of the Jews, to be burnt. Laws were now made, forbidding the Jews to insult the established religion; and also forbidding the Christians to destroy the synagogues of the Jews: but these unhappy people were still subject to great cruelty and injustice from the zeal of the Christians, and the Emperor was obliged to make fresh laws, for their protection from those, who would have done well to copy the _example_ of Him, Whose followers they professed to be.

During the early part of the fifth century, the Jews in the West, enjoyed the free exercise of their religion under the Emperor Honorius: the office of Patriarch was, however, abolished by law; and this was a great grief to the Jews, who from this time were under the direction of chiefs of the synagogues, whom they called Primates. The fifth century was remarkable for the still further curtailment of the Roman dominions, especially in the West. Britain was lost. Rome itself was plundered, and a Visigothic Empire established in Spain. The Jews of the Eastern Empire were much worse off during the fifth century than their brethren in the Western. A great number of Jews had settled at Alexandria, in the north of Egypt: they were very clever in their various trades, and therefore prospered and grew powerful; but they were not at all disposed to obey any rulers or magistrates. As early as A.D. 415, they had become much less strict in their observance of the forms and ceremonies enjoined by their religion; and instead of attending the services of the synagogue on Sat.u.r.day, their Sabbath, they fell into a habit of going to witness the public amus.e.m.e.nts which took place on that day. On these occasions, there were frequent quarrels between the Jews and the Christians, and blood was often shed. Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria, who had an extreme hatred of the Jews, threatened them with the severest punishments; but as the governor of the city was their friend, they paid no attention to the bishop, and even laid a plot, and attacked the Christians during the night, killing many of them. Cyril, without waiting for a legal sentence against these murderers, encouraged the Christians to attack and destroy the synagogues. After doing this, the people entered the houses of all Jews, whether innocent or guilty, and robbed them of their goods, which were given up for the use of the Christian Church.

The Jews were thus forced to quit the city, and Alexandria lost a useful and rich colony. The governor Orestes was much displeased at the Jews having been driven out of the city; and fresh disturbances arose in consequence, between him and Cyril.

Towards the middle of the fifth century, a man appeared in the island of Candia, pretending that he was a second Moses. There were a great many rich Jews in the island, and this impostor persuaded them that he was sent by the Almighty to deliver His people from worse than Egyptian bondage; and that the sea would be divided before them, to give them a safe pa.s.sage to their own land. This man pa.s.sed through every town and village in Candia, and persuaded the Jews to meet him at a particular spot on the sea-sh.o.r.e, on a certain day which he named. Mult.i.tudes did so, taking with them as much of their wealth as they could carry. The impostor then led the a.s.sembled mult.i.tude to the top of a rock, and ordered them to throw themselves into the sea. Men, women, and children, with a faith worthy of a better cause, at once jumped into the sea, where most of them were, of course, drowned: some were rescued from their fate by Christian fishermen. The survivors, convinced too late of the falsehood of their pretended deliverer, now attempted to seize him, but he managed to escape. Many of the Jews, ashamed of having believed in such an impostor, are said to have become Christians. What the object of this man was it is hard to see: it certainly does not seem that he was any friend to the Jews, whom he misled to their destruction.

During the fifth century, the Jewish work, called "The Talmud of Babylon," was probably compiled: like "The Talmud of Jerusalem," it contained the Misna of Judah, with other remarks and explanations. It is supposed that another work, called "The Masora," was also written at this time. The Masora fixed the true reading of the Hebrew words, and numbered the chapters and verses, and even the words and letters, of the Old Testament Scriptures. The object was, to prevent the Hebrew Scriptures from being in any way altered, and so corrupted; and therefore the Jews called the Masora "the hedge of the Law."