ABSTRACT
A look at the history of the Jews' presence in the capital of the Roman Empire helps gain a sense of the continuity of that presence. Jews were in Rome as early as the mid-second century B.C.E. Some were expelled from Rome in 139 B.C.E. for proselytism. The Jews seem to have received more favorable treatment under Julius Caesar after Jewish military help under Herod the Great saved Caesar in Alexandria in 47 B.C.E. This led to decrees that the Jews were to be allowed to follow their own customs and traditions in cities of the Roman Empire. The examples adduced suggest a vital and self-confident Judaism within the Roman Empire. The writers of the canonical Gospels highlighted in various ways that the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 was the fulfillment of Jesus' prophecy and part of the events leading to the inauguration of a new kingdom.
