Language:
English
Year of publication:
1993
Titel der Quelle:
AJS Review
Angaben zur Quelle:
18,1 (1993) 1-27
Keywords:
Baron, Salo W.
;
Jews History To 500
;
Jews Historiography
;
Antisemitism History To 500
Abstract:
Baron was a pioneer in writing about the social history of the Jewish people. He objected to "the lachrymose conception of Jewish history". The stress on hatred of Jews throughout the centuries in traditional Jewish discourse served to unite the people, but it blurred the fact that the periods of Judeophobia in Jewish history were interspersed with periods of Judeophilia. Bigotry toward the Jews existed in the Roman world, but it was no greater than prejudice against other non-Roman peoples. Even the works of the most antisemitic ancient writers (Manetho, Apion, Tacitus) contain an element of respect for the Jews. The chief cause of ancient (primarily Roman) anti-Judaism was political: it was the refusal of the Jews to worship the state gods, a sign of disloyalty toward the state, and proselytism, which was perceived by the Romans as Jewish expansionism and a menace to Roman expansion. In Christian Rome, the situation of the Jews became even worse.
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