An Annual Tribute to Jupiter Capitolinus

Dio Cassius

Roman History 65.7.2

Early to Mid-3rd Century

Thus was Jerusalem destroyed on the very day of Saturn, the day which even now the Jews reverence most. From that time forth it was ordered that the Jews who continued to observe their ancestral customs should pay an annual tribute of two denarii to Jupiter Capitolinus. In consequence of this success both generals received the title of imperator, but neither got that of Judaïcus, although all the other honours that were fitting on the occasion of so magnificent a victory, including triumphal arches, were voted to them.

Translated by Ernest Cary.

Credits

Dio Cassius, Roman History 65.7.2, from Dio Cassius, vol. VIII, trans. Earnest Cary, Loeb Classical Library, vol. 176 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1925), p. 271.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 2: Emerging Judaism.

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Ancient, weathered stone relief showing people in robes carrying a large menorah and other objects in a procession.
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Creator Bio

Dio Cassius

ca. 160–ca. 230
Also known as Cassius Dio, this Greek historian was born in Nicaea between 155 and 164 CE and died sometime after 229 CE. His father was a Roman senator, and Dio spent much of his life as a Roman government official. Although he wrote many shorter works, he is best known for Historia Romana, an eighty-volume work composed in Greek that details ancient Roman history. This valuable chronicle includes details of the siege of Jerusalem under the Flavian dynasty that go unmentioned by Josephus and others.

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