A.D. 429-622.
HONORIUS TO HERACLIUS.—JEWISH SLAVE-HOLDERS.—JUSTINIAN.—CHOSROES.
The great change in the condition of Europe, the first symptoms of
which had appeared a generation or two previously to this era, now
began to make itself everywhere felt. The irruption of the barbarian
tribes of the North, which resembled at first the few drops of an
approaching shower, became, as the century advanced, the heavy
downpour of the storm itself. Every year witnessed their further
advance into Europe, in vast and irresistible hordes, disorganizing,
and, in some instances, wholly changing the face of society. There
were new rulers in the seats of Government, new languages spoken in
the streets of cities. The armies carried strange standards, and
wielded weapons hitherto unknown in European warfare. Even at the
plough and by the cottage fireside, there were forms and faces of a
type hitherto unknown. In many places the ancient inhabitants had
been driven into exile; in many more, they had been put to the sword;
in many more, they cowered out of the sight of their new masters.
There must have been terrible and protracted suffering among high and
low alike.
But there was one class upon whom these woes fell harmlessly, and
this class was the Jews. It is bitter for men to be driven from their
homes and deprived of their rights of citizenship. But the Jew had
no home to lose, no right of citizenship to forfeit. His nationality
had long been destroyed, and could not be taken from him. He was
like Ladurlad, in Southey’s poem, whom the flood could not swallow
up or the sea-monster destroy, because Kehama’s curse had rendered
him secure against all minor ills. If the country in which the Jew
was a sojourner was threatened by the approach of an invading horde,
he simply removed elsewhere, and took his money with him. Nay, the
march of the barbarian armies, which brought terror and destruction
to others, was to him a source of profit. When some bloody defeat
on the battle-field, or some frightful sack of a populous town, had
plunged a whole people in misery and desolation, the Jew would drive
a thriving trade with the ignorant conquerors, purchasing of them
the spoil they had obtained by the plunder of palaces and churches,
for, it might be, the twentieth part of their value, and conveying
it to lands which were, as yet, safe from invasion; where they sold
it again at an enormous profit. Their establishment in all the great
cities of the known world, and the strong bonds of brotherhood which
subsisted among them, made it easy for them to carry on mercantile
transactions of this kind; nor can the rapidity with which they
acquired wealth—and which was popularly attributed to their alliance
with the Evil One—be any cause of wonder to us. Even in times when
the principles on which commerce is conducted have become generally
understood and acted on, the Jews have always had the advantage over
their Christian neighbours, by reason of their greater astuteness and
perseverance. But in those days, when they alone understood those
principles, even in the rudest manner, it would have been a marvel
indeed, if they had failed to gather riches, almost as easily as a
child gathers pebbles on the shore.
One very profitable, but somewhat odious, branch of commerce seems
to have fallen almost entirely into their hands. After one of the
great victories of the Goths or Huns, when large numbers of captives
became the property of the barbarian conquerors, their native
ferocity often induced them to put their vanquished enemies to the
sword; and possibly they might always have done so, had it not been
that avarice, stimulated by the offer of money in exchange for them,
proved the more potent passion of the two. The Jew knew what would
be the value of an able-bodied slave in the markets of Alexandria or
Constantinople, and was willing to pay, it might be, the sixth part
of that price to the Goth or the Hun, for the prisoner whom he had at
his disposal. None but the Jews, as has been observed, pursued this
particular traffic; and the consequence was, that large numbers of
Christian slaves passed into the possession of Hebrew masters, who
in every city exposed them publicly for sale. It would not have been
human nature if the Jews, despised and rejected as they were by their
Christian fellow-citizens, had not experienced a sense of triumph, at
finding themselves in this manner the undisputed owners and masters
of those who had long held them in contempt. It is even less wonder
that the spectacle should have roused the greatest indignation among
the Christians themselves.
By the ancient law it was illegal, nay, a capital offence, for a
Jew to keep a Christian in bondage. But either this law was treated
from the first as a nullity, or it had been repealed by one of
Constantine’s successors; for the edict of Honorius, while it forbids
Jews to proselytize their Christian slaves, allows the full right of
ownership over them. Now, however, the Jews had become the masters,
not of a few Christian bondsmen, but of large numbers of them, many
being persons belonging to a higher station, and reduced to their
present state of degradation by having been conquered in battle
with the barbarians. This appeared an intolerable scandal; and it
is not unlikely that the old law of Constantine would have been
re-enacted, if it had not been for the pretty certain fact that,
in that case, all prisoners taken in battle would thenceforth be
massacred. Therefore, though many efforts were made, and especially
by the Church, to mitigate the evil, it was never proposed to
prohibit the purchase of slaves by Hebrew masters. The Council of
Macon, A.D. 582, distinctly lays down that ‘the conditions upon which
a Christian—whether as a captive in war or by purchase—has become the
slave of a Jew, must be respected.’ All that is stipulated for by
that, or any other of the many Councils which deal with the subject,
is, that the slaves shall have the right of purchasing their own
freedom, or that others shall have the right of purchasing it for
them. The Councils, further, continually exhort the clergy, indeed,
all Christians, to shelter any slaves who may take refuge with them
from the tyranny of their masters, and even to pay the price which
will redeem them from captivity.
It is needless to add that these injunctions had but little effect.
Neither clergy nor laity have, in any age, except that of the
Apostles, been thus ready to part with their money for the benefit
of any unhappy sufferer who might appeal to them. Gregory the Great,
who succeeded to the Papal chair A.D. 590, was very earnest in his
efforts to put down a traffic which he regarded as abominable. His
letters, addressed to kings and bishops and others in authority,
evince the warmth of his zeal and the nobility of his nature; but
they show also that all efforts, up to that time, to eradicate the
evil had proved abortive.
The condition of the Italian Jews at this period seems to have been
unusually prosperous. They were protected by Theodoric, who several
times—at Rome, at Milan, at Genoa—interfered to chastise those who
had wrecked and plundered Jewish synagogues, and directed that due
reparation should be made. The Bishops of Rome, throughout the
century, and especially Gregory, towards its close, treated them
with justice and clemency, and, though filled with an earnest desire
for their conversion, repressed all violence or imprudent zeal.
But it was different in other parts of the world about this time.
The attempts at proselytizing, which had hitherto erred on the side
of holding out worldly inducements to bribe men to embrace the
Gospel, were now exchanged for the still worse method of violent
compulsion. Chilperic, the youngest son of Clotaire I., a monster of
lust and cruelty, appears to have been the first who practised this.
Believing, perhaps, that his own misdeeds might be atoned for by what
he regarded as zeal in the cause of Christ, he forcibly compelled
all the Jews in his dominions to receive baptism on pain of instant
death. They appear to have complied—nothing more than the mere
performance of the ceremony having been required of them—but to have
carried on their own form of worship exactly as before.
Turning now to the Eastern Empire, we find that there is but little
mention of the Jews during the fifth century of Christianity. But,
whatever changes took place in their condition, we may reasonably
infer that they were changes for the worse. Notwithstanding the
religious distractions of the reign of the Eutychian Anastasius, the
Church continued throughout this century to grow in power, several
of the Roman emperors, Theodosius II., Marcian, and Leo, being her
devoted adherents. We do not wonder at hearing that in the reign
of Justin I., A.D. 518, who was at least as orthodox as any of his
predecessors, the Jews were excluded by statute from all offices of
state, as well as from holding commissions in the army. His nephew,
Justinian, who succeeded him, not only confirmed these laws, but
evinced such harshness to both Jews and Samaritans, as provoked a
rebellious outbreak among the latter people. One Julian, who (like
so many before and after him) professed himself the Messiah, stirred
up an insurrection, and was only put down and slain after a bloody
battle. Many of the Samaritans, we are told, became converts to the
Gospel: but there are shrewd reasons for suspecting that their motive
was to escape thereby the consequences of their rebellion.
Encouraged apparently by this success, Justinian proceeded to still
harsher measures against the Jews. He no longer allowed their
evidence to be taken against Christians. He materially limited their
power of making wills and disposing of their property. He enacted
that in case of a marriage between a Jew and a Christian—which he
strongly discouraged—the control of the children should belong to
the Christian parent. Finally, he interdicted the use of the Jewish
Mishna, as a production full of absurdity and falsehood, and urged
the use of the Greek language by the Jews, instead of the Hebrew. It
is hardly necessary to add that these harsh measures had but little
effect. The use of the Talmud was not discontinued, and the empire
experienced, in the alienation of a wealthy and powerful body, such
as the Jews then constituted, a sensible loss of strength.[67] A few
years afterwards a new Imperial decree somewhat modified the rigour
of these enactments. The Samaritans were allowed to make wills;
but in case of intestacy, if any of their children had embraced
the Christian faith, they inherited the father’s property to the
exclusion of the others; if a will had been made, unbelievers could
inherit one-sixth only of the property under it. About twenty-five
years afterwards, the Jews and Samaritans in Cæsarea broke out in
insurrection, and were with difficulty put down.
Farther eastward, under the reigns of the Persian sovereigns,
beginning with that of Artaxerxes (the successor, A.D. 384, of
Sapor), the Magians, who had obtained the upper hand in the royal
counsels, persecuted Jews and Christians with equal severity.
Even the observance of the Sabbath by the former is said to have
been suppressed. Nevertheless, we are told that the Prince of the
Captivity still retained his office, and even his wealth and dignity.
The animosities between him and Chanina, the master of the Jewish
schools, are related at length by the historians of those times;
but are intermingled with wild and fanciful tales, to which it is
impossible to attach any credit. It was at some time during this dark
period that the Babylonian Talmud, to which reference was made in a
recent chapter, first saw the light. It was mainly the work of Rabbi
Asa, or Asche, chief of the schools at Sora. But he died before its
completion, and the finishing touches were given to it by his pupils.
The date of its appearance is a matter of much dispute; but the
probability is that it was first published during this period. (See
Appendix II.)
Not long after its appearance—early in the sixth century—a fierce
persecution was set on foot by Cavades, or Kobad, one of the Persian
kings, who desired to oblige all unbelievers in Magianism to embrace
its tenets. In his time a Rabbinical impostor, named Meir, who
probably pretended to be the Messiah, raised a rebellion, which was
prolonged for seven years. Whether the insurrection was due to the
persecution or the persecution to the insurrection, does not clearly
appear. The impostor pretended, as nearly all his prototypes had
done, to work miracles, and, amongst others, to raise up a fiery
column, which always accompanied his march, as had been the case with
his fathers in the wilderness. He was defeated, and slain by Kobad,
and the Prince of the Captivity was involved in his fate.[68]
The Jews fared no better under Chosroes, or Nushirvan, called ‘the
Great,’[69] who closed their schools and forbade the propagation of
their faith. But, notwithstanding this harshness, the severities of
Justinian were felt by the Western Jews to be so intolerable, that
they sent a deputation to Chosroes, inciting him to make war on the
empire. They roused his cupidity by describing to him the riches
which were to be found in Jerusalem, and offered to aid him with
50,000 men. Chosroes listened to their overtures, and twice made
preparations for war. But on the first occasion Justinian purchased
peace by payment of a large bribe; and on the second the superior
generalship of Belisarius obliged him to retreat.
After a reign of nearly fifty years, Chosroes was succeeded by
Hormisdas, a weak and vicious ruler, but who nevertheless permitted
the Jews to reopen their schools; and a new series of presidents of
these, called the Geonim, or the illustrious, assumed authority.
Hormisdas was assassinated after a reign of eleven years, and a
usurper named Behram (or Varanes, as he is also called) seized the
throne, and received considerable support from the Jews. By the
help of the Greek Emperor Mauritius, Hormisdas’s son, Chosroes II.
succeeded in crushing Behram, punishing at the same time with great
severity the Jews, who had upheld him. Among others, the Jews of
Antioch were put to death, or reduced to slavery.
In A.D. 602, Mauritius was murdered by Phocas, who usurped the
throne; and Chosroes, claiming to avenge his old ally, declared
war on the assassin and marched on Constantinople. Meanwhile the
Jews in Palestine, too eager to wait for the arrival of Carusia,
Chosroes’s general, rose against Phocas, who had attempted their
forcible conversion, and laid siege to Jerusalem. It was defended by
the Bishop Zacharias, whose first step was to seize all the Jews in
the city. The besiegers gained possession of the suburbs, and began
burning the Christian churches. The besieged retaliated by beheading
100 Jewish prisoners for every church destroyed. Neither party would
be outdone in barbarity. Twenty churches were demolished, and the
heads of 2000 Jews were thrown over the city wall! Unable to reduce
the place, the Jews retired to join Carusia, under whose standard
they presently entered Jerusalem. They had the insults and wrongs
of five centuries to avenge, and they exacted the penalty with no
sparing hand, their Persian allies permitting them apparently to do
much as they pleased. Every Christian church was destroyed, and the
entire Christian population, to the number of 90,000, massacred.
But neither they nor Chosroes reaped much advantage from this
success. The war with Phocas was carried on with various fortune
until 610, when Heraclius,[70] the son of the Exarch of Africa,
attacked Constantinople, overthrew Phocas, and was proclaimed emperor
in his place. After a few years of inaction, he roused himself
to confront the enemies of the empire. In a campaign, extending
over several years, conducted with amazing energy and ability, he
recovered the whole of the provinces overrun by Chosroes, who was
soon afterwards deposed and slain. Palestine was among the countries
reconquered; and we are told that in 629 Heraclius went as a pilgrim
to Jerusalem, where the cross was replaced in its ancient position,
the Christian bishop restored to his patriarchal throne, and heavy
retribution exacted of the Jews. Among other severities, the law of
Adrian was revived, forbidding the Jews to approach nearer than three
miles’ distance from Jerusalem.
But a new actor now appears on the scene, destined to exercise
the most momentous influence on the fortunes of the Jews for many
generations to come. We must direct our attention to him.
FOOTNOTES:
[67] What injury they were capable of inflicting on their oppressors,
was seen plainly enough at the siege of Naples by Belisarius.
Convinced that they would receive no mercy at his hands, the Jews
persuaded the citizens to abandon the proposals for capitulation
which they were meditating, by promising them supplies of provisions
and arms. The siege was in consequence considerably prolonged; and
when the assault took place, the Jews defended one quarter with a
desperation which caused great loss of life.
[68] He was hanged, together with the President of the Council. No
successor to him was appointed. His son, Zutia II., fled to Judæa,
and became President of the Senate there. The office, however, was
subsequently revived, and lasted as late as the eleventh century. The
Resch Glutha, or Exilarch, as the Prince of the Captivity was called,
was, it should be remarked, a distinct person from the Geon. The
latter was concerned with religious matters only; the former, with
politics.
[69] Of this king many fables are related. A monkish chronicler says
that he besieged a fortress defended by evil spirits. Failing to take
it by assault, he summoned the ministers of all the religious bodies
in his dominions, and ordered them to use their superhuman powers
for its capture. The Magi, the Magicians, and the Jews, each in turn
essayed the task, but in vain. But, it is added, when the Christian
priests employed the sign of the cross, the place was immediately
captured.
[70] Heraclius is one of the most extraordinary characters in
history. Some of his exploits are as grand as any achieved by the
most renowned of his predecessors, while sometimes his conduct was
unaccountably weak and contemptible. He began by restoring the
ancient glory of the Roman empire, but he left it at last weaker than
he had found it. The first few years of his reign are the last of
Roman glory.