Religious Intolerance in the Later Roman Empire - Bad request ...

exemption. 72 This exemption was provided as a “solace” to the Jews of the “former
rule. 73 This “former rule” is probably a reference to exemptions granted to Jewish
members of a council under Septimius Severus and again in the early third century,
from the performance of a liturgy if that liturgy had forced a Jewish member to
transgress his religious duties and observations. 74 If this is the case, that this law of
Constantine was a partial repeal of the late second and early third century exemptions
for Jewish councillors, then it is evidence that Constantine was less favourable to Jews
than his predecessors. Alternatively, it is possible that the earlier exemptions were
make to enable Jewish councillors to absent themselves from any pagan proceedings;
Constantine may have felt it impolitic to admit (albeit only by inference) the
continuing existence of rituals from which the Jews had been exempted. As such,
there would have been no need for the exemptions which this law now ended and
therefore the clause allowing “perpetual” exemption for some Jews from liturgies may
be seen as very conciliatory.
CTh 16.8.1 of 18 October 329, 75 issued to Evagrius Praetorian prefect of the
East, 76 contains strong language and harsh penalties. The law drew Constantine’s
attention to incidents in which Jews who converted to Christianity were being stoned
by their former co-religionists. This law ordered the assaults to stop, on pain of death
by fire, and referred to Judaism as a “feral sect.” 77 If secta can be taken as a ‘way of life’
then in this context fera would mean uncivilised or barbarous. It can also have
connotations of inhumanity, or of belonging to wild animals or even of disobedience.
In the same law, Judaism is also referred to as a “nefarious sect.” 78 Nefaria goes further
than fera in suggesting that the sect is actually impious and contrary to both divine and
72
binos v el ternos priv ilegio perpeti patim ur m ullis nom ination ibus occupari
73
Verum ut aliquid ipsis ad solacium pristinae observ ationis relinquatur
74
Linder (1987) 121; he gives the earlier rulings: Ulpian Digest 50.2.3.3 (at 103-107) and Modestin The
Exem ptions 6 (at 110-113)
75
Linder (1987) 124-132; Corcoran (2000) 15 n48, 251 n104
76
Evagrius 2 PLRE I.284-5. Barnes (1994) VII 7 reckons he was “probably Christian”; For two further
anti-Semitic laws proposed by Evagrius see CTh 16.8.6 and 16.9.2 both of 13 August 339 below.
77
feralem …sectam
78 nefariam sectam
21