Emperor Claudius’ Response to the Violence against the Jews

At the time of Emperor Gauis’ death in 41 CE, the political situation of the Jews was left in abeyance. In a letter, preserved on papyrus, to Alexandria’s Greek embassy—one of the most important sources for the study of ancient Jewish history in Egypt—Emperor Claudius (r. 41–54 CE) addresses the Jews. Preceded by a brief edict of the prefect ordering its publication, the letter offers a comparative lens through which to view the hostilities between Jews and Greeks in first-century Alexandria. After addressing aspects of the city’s affairs related to epheboi (young men being trained as soldiers and citizens) and neokoroi (temple officiants), the letter specifically turns to conflicts between Jews and other Alexandrians. The emperor mandates that the Alexandrians must show tolerance toward Jewish sacred places of assembly and Jewish ancestral laws. The Jews, for their part, must not petition for greater privileges than they already enjoy, cannot bring Jews from foreign lands to settle in Alexandria, and are prohibited from interfering in gymnasiarchic contests. It would appear that Claudius was interested mainly in maintaining the status quo and that any breach of that condition by either side would invite a severe imperial response.

Josephus’ account begins with an explanation that the situation of the Jews in Alexandria worsened during the reign of Gaius, who died in 41 CE. He recounts the violence between Jews and Greeks in Alexandria and includes Claudius’ decree. Josephus further includes a general letter by Claudius on the status of Jews in the empire, in which Claudius affirms the ancient status of the Jews by stating that they have “equal privileges” (ise politeia) with the Alexandrians. (It remains unclear what this meant for Jews in Alexandria. Some scholars think it involves recognition of the Jews as an alternative civic body, a politeuma.) Whereas the letter affirms the Jews’ right to follow ancestral laws and warns them not to aspire for more in a city that is not theirs, Josephus conveys the notion that Alexandrian Jews held actual citizenship. It should be emphasized that Josephus constantly uses this constitutional language extremely imprecisely, possibly because his goal, writing circa 90 CE, was simply to claim that the emperors supported the Jews, whatever the details.