History and Hate: The Dimensions of Anti-Semitism

Anti-Semitism in the Ancient World

Anti-Semitism In the Ancient World LouiSH. Feldman "Almost every note in the cacophony of medieval and modern anti-Semitism was sounded by the chorus of ancient writers." I This observation is petfectly valid, but the phenomena that underlie it must be examined with meticulous care if we are to avoid hasty and exaggerated conclusions about the scope and intensity of classical anti-Semitism. First, the literary material itself is not unrelievedly hostile, and positive statements about Jews andJudaism must not be ignored. In addition, disL"'USSions of this subject often rest upon the assumption that the remarks of ancient intellectuals faithfully reflect societal attitudes in general. Thus a recent analyst declares that "a survey of the comments about Jews in the Hellenistic-Roman literature shows that they were almost universally disliked, or at least viewed with an amusedcontempt.n l In fact, a separate analysis ofthe positions of government, the masses, and the intellectual elite will reveal a far more nuanced picture ranging &om admiration to hostility to a toleration born of Realpolitik. Ancient anti-Semitism was significant and widespread, but it was part of a varied and complex reality.l /5 Governmental Anti-Semitism Has anti-Semitism been universally prevalent? Probably notand in the case ofgovernment policy, surely not. After the biblical Pharaoh (and one may question whether we should tenn his policy "anti-Semitic" in view ofthe Egyptian experience with the Semitic Hyksos), there is no recorded case ofanti-Semitism until Haman's attempt to wipe out the Jews of the Persian Empire in the fifth century B.C.E. This instance, whose historicity has, to he sure, been contested, was apparently exceptional, since the policy of the Persian Empire was generally one of toleration toward its many minorities, an attitude undoubtedly dictated by the fact that the ruling Persians were a relatively small minority in their vast realm. The destruction ofthe temple of the Jewish mercenaries at Elephantine in southern Egypt in 411 should he regarded not as anti-Semitism but as revenge by the native Egyptians against the hated Persian rulers whose interests had been represented by these Jews for two centuries. With Alexander (356-323 S.C-E.) a new era dawned for the Jews; they were now encouraged to settle in the cities that he established, most notably Alexandria in Egypt. Although he sought the spread ofthe Greek language and culture, Alexander was enough of a mllist to understand that he could not rule his vast, newly acquired empire containing so few Greeks and Macedoniansunlesshe continued to be tolerant ofnative peoples. He and his successors in Egypt, the Ptolemies, realized that they would never be able to control· the native Egyptians, who still remembered theirglorious kingdomofthe past, unless they could count on a group of''middlemen,'' a position readily filled by the Jews. From the Jewish point of view, this "vertical" alliance with their rulers which, of course, was not unique to the Jews but extended to other minorities, likewise appeared advantageous. Within a very short period Alexandria had displaced Athens as the cultural and commercial center of the Mediterranean world, 16 louis H. Feldman and the Jews flocked to the city in large numbers. The self-rule granted to them and theirability to enter various fields, including (perhaps because oftheir higher literacy) the civil service as well as the army, served as considerable inducements. It was theirsuccessful "meddling"in politicsand theirloyalty to the ruler in power that helped to inspire charges that the Jews were not truly loyal to the best interests ofthe state. Ironically, an early report by Hecataeus (ca. 300 a.c.E.) noted that it was precisely in recognition of the loyalty shown by the Jews that Alexander the Great added to their territory the district of Samaria free oftribute.4 Josephus emphasized that the Ptolemies in Egypt later trusted the Jews because of their extraordinary constancy in keeping oaths and pledges. Indeed, Ptolemy VI Philometor (181-145 a.c.E.) placed his entire army under the commandoftwoJews, and Cleopatra III, the wife ofPtolemy VII Physcon, shortly thereafter entrusted her army to two Jewish generals.S Jewish military influence, however, could be a mixed blessing; in 145 R.C.E., a massacre ofAlexandrian Jews appears to have been prompted by the fact that the commander-in-chief of the Ptolemaic army, the Jew Onias, had taken sides in a dynastic war.~ Apparently the Jews of Egypt retained their...