Claudius Letter To The Alexandrians Analysis

840 Words2 Pages

Marc Falcon
Professor John Bauschatz
Classic 160 B1:
11/27/15
Claudius Letter to the Alexandrians Claudius letter to the Alexandrians was a valuable piece in Roman history that has given a personal insight into the social and political scene of Alexandria. Much has been said about the Jewish people of Alexandria, the most influential, as well as the most outspoken people in the community. Yet, the principal problem, which has provoked the publication of violent riots is the civic status that surrounds the Jewish people. While Claudius first discusses the statues, monuments, and temples that were given in his honor, he goes on to give his thoughts concerning the Jewish and Greek communities in Alexandria. From his decree we can infer that …show more content…

Claudius calls the conflict a riot “against the Jews,” rather than a conflict between the Jews and Greeks. Claudius defends the Jews’ right to practice their religion freely and live freely as part of the community, but while he does protect their basic rights, he denies them equivalent status to the Greek elite. Claudius asks the Greeks to “conduct themselves more gently and …. In Claudius Letter to the Alexandrians his main purpose is to reaffirmed Jewish rights in the city but also to forbade them to move in more families en masse. This brought great attention to the ideas of helping the city of Alexandria to prosper by respecting the rights of people while also limiting the amount of cultural aspects by reducing the migration of Jewish people into the city of …show more content…

The unrest to which he refers was unrest between the Greek and Jewish communities of the city, not within the Jewish community. The Jews who were sailing in from Syria are placed on the same footing as the Jews who sailed down the Nile to Alexandria from other parts of Egypt. There were many Jews in Egypt apart from those of Alexandria, but they did not enjoy the special privileges granted to their brethren in Alexandria. The significance of the illegal Jewish immigration into Alexandria from Syria and the rest of Egypt is probably to be found in the statement of Josephus that the Jews of Alexandria, having obtained no satisfaction from Gaius, took up arms when the news of his death arrived. That is to say, they prepared to attack the Greek Alexandrines, and in these circumstances it was only natural that they should try to augment their strength by inviting their fellow-Jews from other parts of Egypt and from Syria and Palestine to come to their aid. Such a situation would amply account for the severity of the emperor’s admonition to stop this at

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