Editing History of Israel (section)

===Late Roman period (136–390)===
{{Further|Syria Palaestina|Rabbinic literature|Persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire}}

As a result of the disastrous effects of the Bar Kokhba revolt, Jewish presence in the region significantly dwindled.<ref>Oppenheimer, A'haron and Oppenheimer, Nili. ''Between Rome and Babylon: Studies in Jewish Leadership and Society''. Mohr Siebeck, 2005, p. 2.</ref>  Over the next centuries, more Jews left to communities in the [[Jewish diaspora|Diaspora]], especially the large, speedily growing Jewish communities in [[Babylonia]] and [[History of the Jews in Saudi Arabia|Arabia]].<ref name="Translation 1981, pg. 95">מרדכי וורמברנד ובצלאל ס רותת "עם ישראל – תולדות 4000 שנה – מימי האבות ועד חוזה השלום", ע"מ 95. (Translation: Mordechai Vermebrand and Betzalel S. Ruth – "The People of Israel&nbsp;– the history of 4000 years&nbsp;– from the days of the Forefathers to the Peace Treaty", 1981, p. 95)</ref> Others remained in the Land of Israel, where the spiritual and demographic center shifted from the depopulated Judea to [[Galilee]].<ref name="Ehrlich-2022">{{Cite book |last=Ehrlich |first=Michael |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1302180905 |title=The Islamization of the Holy Land, 634-1800 |publisher=Arc Humanities Press |year=2022 |isbn=978-1-64189-222-3 |location=Leeds, UK |pages=3–4, 38 |oclc=1302180905 |quote= |archive-date=9 July 2023 |access-date=23 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230709195021/http://worldcat.org/oclc/1302180905 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Cohn-Sherbok |first=Dan |title=Atlas of Jewish History |publisher=Routledge |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-415-08800-8 |page=58}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Lehmann |first=Clayton Miles |date=18 January 2007 |title=Palestine |url=http://sunburst.usd.edu/~clehmann/erp/Palestine/palestin.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130407005423/http://sunburst.usd.edu/~clehmann/erp/Palestine/palestin.htm |archive-date=7 April 2013 |access-date=9 February 2013 |website=Encyclopedia of the Roman Provinces |publisher=University of South Dakota}}</ref> Jewish presence also continued in the southern [[Hebron Hills]], in [[Ein Gedi]], and on the coastal plain.<ref name="Mor-2016" /><ref name="Ehrlich-2022" /> The [[Mishnah]] and the [[Jerusalem Talmud]], huge compendiums of Rabbinical discussions, were compiled during the 2nd to 4th centuries CE in [[Tiberias]] and [[Jerusalem]].<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Morçöl|2006|p=304}}</ref>

Following the revolt, Judea's countryside was penetrated by [[Paganism|pagan]] populations,<ref name="Bar-2005">{{Cite journal |last=Bar |first=Doron |date=2005 |title=Rural Monasticism as a Key Element in the Christianization of Byzantine Palestine |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4125284 |journal=The Harvard Theological Review |volume=98 |issue=1 |pages=49–65 |doi=10.1017/S0017816005000854 |jstor=4125284 |s2cid=162644246 |issn=0017-8160 |quote=The phenomenon was most prominent in Judea, and can be explained by the demographic changes that this region underwent after the second Jewish revolt of 132-135 C.E. The expulsion of Jews from the area of Jerusalem following the suppression of the revolt, in combination with the penetration of pagan populations into the same region, created the conditions for the diffusion of Christians into that area during the fifth and sixth centuries. [...] This regional population, originally pagan and during the Byzantine period gradually adopting Christianity, was one of the main reasons that the monks chose to settle there. They erected their monasteries near local villages that during this period reached their climax in size and wealth, thus providing fertile ground for the planting of new ideas. |archive-date=14 October 2023 |access-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231014000604/https://www.jstor.org/stable/4125284 |url-status=live }}</ref> including migrants from the nearby provinces of [[Roman Syria|Syria]], [[Phoenicia under Roman rule|Phoenicia]], and [[Arabia Petraea|Arabia]],<ref>קליין, א' (2011). ''היבטים בתרבות החומרית של יהודה הכפרית בתקופה הרומית המאוחרת'' ''(135–324 לסה"נ)''. עבודת דוקטור, אוניברסיטת בר-אילן. עמ' 314–315. (Hebrew)</ref><ref>שדמן, ע' (2016). ''בין נחל רבה לנחל שילה: תפרוסת היישוב הכפרי בתקופות ההלניסטית, הרומית והביזנטית לאור חפירות וסקרים''. עבודת דוקטור, אוניברסיטת בר-אילן. עמ' 271–275. (Hebrew)</ref> whereas Aelia Capitolina, its immediate vicinity, and administrative centers were now inhabited by Roman veterans and settlers from the western parts of the empire.<ref>Klein, E, 2010, "The Origins of the Rural Settlers in Judean Mountains and Foothills during the Late Roman Period", In: E. Baruch., A. Levy-Reifer and A. Faust (eds.), New Studies on Jerusalem, vol. 16, Ramat-Gan, pp. 321–350 (Hebrew).</ref>

The Romans permitted a hereditary Rabbinical Patriarch from the [[House of Hillel]], called the "[[Nasi (Hebrew title)|Nasi]]", to represent the Jews in dealings with the Romans. One prominent figure was [[Judah ha-Nasi]], credited with compiling the final version of the [[Mishnah]], a vast collection of [[Oral Torah|Jewish oral traditions]]. He also emphasized the importance of education in Judaism, leading to requirements that illiterate Jews be treated as outcasts. This might have contributed to some illiterate Jews converting to Christianity.<ref>The Chosen Few: How education shaped Jewish History, Botticini and Eckstein, Princeton 2012, page 116</ref> Jewish seminaries, such as those at [[Shefaram]] and [[Bet Shearim]], continued to produce scholars. The best of these became members of the [[Sanhedrin]],<ref>M. Avi-Yonah, ''The Jews under Roman and Byzantine Rule'', Jerusalem 1984 sections II to V</ref> which was located first at [[Sepphoris]] and later at Tiberias.<ref>Vailhé Siméon, [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04798b.htm "Diocaesarea" in The Catholic Encyclopedia.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180626210432/http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04798b.htm|date=26 June 2018}}. Vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. 7 November 2013.</ref> In the Galillee, many synagogues have been found dating from this period,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Charlesworth |first1=James |date=2010 |title=Settlement and History in Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine Galilee: An Archaeological Survey of the Eastern Galilee |journal=Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=281–284 |doi=10.1163/174551911X573542}}</ref> and the [[Beit She'arim necropolis|burial site]] of the Sanhedrin leaders was discovered in [[Beit She'arim necropolis|Beit She'arim]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Necropolis of Bet She'arim: A Landmark of Jewish Renewal |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1471/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201117130712/https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1471 |archive-date=17 November 2020 |access-date=22 March 2020}}</ref><ref>History of the Jews, Volume II by Simon Dubnow (Barnes 1968), chapter 4 the Patriarchate in the Galillee (pages 96–117)</ref>  In the 3rd century, the Roman Empire faced an [[Crisis of the Third Century|economic crisis]] and imposed heavy taxation to fund wars of imperial succession. This situation prompted additional Jewish migration from Syria Palaestina to the [[Sasanian Empire]], known for its more tolerant environment; there, a flourishing Jewish community with important [[Talmudic academies in Babylonia|Talmudic academies]] thrived in [[Asoristan|Babylonia]], engaging in a notable rivalry with the [[Talmudic Academies in Syria Palaestina|Talmudic academies]] of Palaestina.<ref name="CherryRobert">Cherry, Robert: [https://books.google.com/books?id=dZRyDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA148 Jewish and Christian Views on Bodily Pleasure: Their Origins and Relevance in the Twentieth-Century] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030181443/https://books.google.co.il/books?id=dZRyDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA148|date=30 October 2020}}, p. 148 (2018), Wipf and Stock Publishers</ref>

Early in the 4th century, the Emperor [[Constantine the Great|Constantine]] made [[Constantinople]] the capital of the [[East Roman Empire]] and made [[Christianity]] an accepted religion. His mother [[Helena (empress)|Helena]] made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem (326–328) and led the construction of the [[Church of the Nativity]] (birthplace of Jesus in Bethlehem), the [[Church of the Holy Sepulchre]] (burial site of Jesus in Jerusalem) and other key churches that still exist. The name Jerusalem was restored to Aelia Capitolina and became a Christian city. Jews were still banned from living in Jerusalem, but were allowed to visit and worship at the site of the ruined temple.<ref>{{cite book | author = Arthur Hertzberg | editor = Jacob Neusner | year = 2001 | chapter = Judaism and the Land of Israel | title = Understanding Jewish Theology | publisher = Global Academic Publishing | page = 79}}</ref> Over the course of the next century Christians worked to eradicate "[[paganism]]", leading to the destruction of classical Roman traditions and eradication of their temples.<ref>The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World by Catherine Nixey 2018</ref> In 351–2, another [[Jewish revolt against Gallus|Jewish revolt]] in the Galilee erupted against a corrupt Roman governor.<ref>''[http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/jewish/lazare-anti.asp Antisemitism: Its History and Causes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120901162617/http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/jewish/lazare-anti.asp |date=1 September 2012 }}'' by [[Bernard Lazare]], 1894. Accessed January 2009</ref>