The Promised Land took up very little geography when compared to other nations of the Mediterranean Region. Rome controlled every nation boarding on the Mediterranean Sea. There were between 40 and 50 states. Why was the Mediterranean Sea so important? Because it was the Roman Empire’s superhighway system transferring both goods and ideas. Today it would be the Internet and the Amazon Delivery system. It was also about control and having the ability to get troops around to ensure the vassal countries were following Rome’s rules. Later, Rome built a road system where the Mediterranean Sea did not exist. Roads crisscrossed all over the Empire. People could move about and ideas could spread with ease. Evolving Christianity used Rome’s roads and sailing vessels.
What did the Promised Land have which made it so important to the Romans? The Children of Israel lived at the crossroads of caravan routes from the east. It was a transfer point. There was lively trading between the far east and the Mediterranean shore. Judea was the trans-shipping point for goods, transported from land to water. Spices, silks, incense, mastic (as a medicine), tea, dyes, perfumes, porcelain and other Far East goods were highly valued in the west. It was a lucrative trade. Countries who allowed caravans of trade goods to cross their land could also exact a percentage of the value of the goods for simply crossing their land. Taxes! The population of Israel (Galilee) and Judea was not large enough to muster an army to beat off the conquerors. So, the people of the Promised Land became subjects of a conquering nation like Rome. The problem of Roman conquest in the Holy Land was two-fold: people who had faith in one God were conquered by a pagan nation and this did not mesh with Israelite faith rules; and Rome treated the land and people as a vassal state with the purpose of providing food for Rome, especially grain. In the Promised Land, most farmers enjoyed farming their own land. Farms were small. Farmers could grow enough to feed themselves and their own families and have a little left over to sell. Taxation, before the Romans, collected a per-capita “poll tax”, as well as an income tax paid in flour, meal, cattle, sheep, fowl, and other provisions. There was also a Temple tax. People could afford the taxes. After the Roman conquest, there was an additional poll tax and a percentage tax as high as 3%. on crops. This proved to be a tipping point for the local farmer and many were forced to sell their farms simply to pay their taxes. As a consequence, farms became very large and many farmers were absentee landlords. Local farmers became share croppers. When we think of industrial size farming, with specialized crops, we think of the 21st century. Not so! In Jesus’ time, in the Promised Land, many farms were owned and controlled by men who held the debts of Judean and Galilean framers. The farms grew in size. As a result, the farms were turned to specialized crops to satisfy the needs and demands of the Roman population. This specialization focused on grain crops, olives, grapes for wine making and certain spices. Because of this large-scale farming, old traditions of the Children of Israel were lost. There was a tradition where, every 50 years, one year would be set aside to forgive debts and return land and property to original owners or to their descendants, among other merciful acts. These so-called “Jubilee years” went undeclared under Roman rule. Many other rules that the Israelites and Judeans had which governed their day-to-day lives were lost as the Promised Land became more Romanized. By the year 70CE, when Rome burned the City of Jerusalem and expelled the majority of the Jewish people to the hinterland of the Empire, all rights were lost until 1948, when the modern state of Israel was born.
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AuthorI'm Rev. Dr. Pirie Mitchell and I live in Ontario, Canada. Archives
May 2023
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