Ban on Circumcision
Historia Augusta, Hadrian 14.2
Late 4th Century
At this time also the Jews began war, because they were forbidden to practice circumcision.
Translated by David Magie.
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 2: Emerging Judaism.
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Engage with this Source
The Historia Augusta, written in the late fourth century CE, is a collection of biographies of Roman emperors and other prominent figures attributed to six authors, although its actual authorship is debated. The work is generally agreed to contain falsifications and interpolations. Its biography of Hadrian attributes the cause of the Bar Kokhba revolt to a ban on circumcision.
You may also like
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At Jerusalem he founded a city in place of the one which had been razed to the ground, naming it Aelia Capitolina, and on the site of the temple of the god he raised a new temple to Jupiter. This…
Bar Kokhba’s Defeat
The rebellion of the Jews once more progressed in character and extent, and Rufus, the governor of Judaea, when military aid had been sent him by the Emperor, moved out against them, treating their…
Christian Interpretation of Bar Kokhba’s Defeat
[ . . . ] After the destruction which occurred under Vespasian and Titus, these Jews rebelled during the reign of Hadrian and tried to go back to the old commonwealth and way of life. What they failed…
Roman Losses during the Revolt
On the Parthian War
To the Emperor Antoninus.
. . . . The God who begat the great Roman race has no compunction in suffering us to faint at times and be defeated and wounded. Or would Father Mars…