Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1827) Vol 2.djvu/165

 OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 147 by the opinion, that it was unlawful for them to pay CHAP, taxes to an idolatrous master ; and by the flattering '_ promise which they derived from their ancient oracles, that a conquering Messiah would soon arise, destined to break their fetters, and to invest the favourites of heaven with the empire of the earth. It was by an- nouncing himself as their long expected deliverer, and by calling on all the descendants of Abraham to assert the hope of Israel, that the famous Barchochebas col- lected a formidable army, with which he resisted during two years the power of the emperor Hadrian^ Notwithstanding these repeated provocations, the Toleration resentment of the Roman princes expired after the °^^^ religion victory ; nor were their apprehensions continued be- yond the period of war and danger. By the general indulgence of polytheism, and by the mild temper of Antoninus Pius, the jews were restored to their ancient privileges, and once more obtained the permission of circumcising their children, with the easy restraint, that they should never confer on any foreign proselyte that distinguishing mark of the Hebrew race ''. The numerous remains of that people, though they were still excluded from the precincts of Jerusalem, were permitted to form and to maintain considerable esta- blishments, both in Italy and in the provinces, to ac- quire the freedom of Rome, to enjoy municipal hon- ours, and to obtain at the same time an exemption from the burdensome and expensive offices of society. The moderation or the contempt of the Romans gave a legal sanction to the form of ecclesiastical police which was instituted by the vanquished sect. The patriarch, who had fixed his residence at Tiberias, was empowered to eighty thousand jews were cut off by the sword, besides an infinite number which perished by famine, by disease, and by fire. "^ For the sect of the zealots, see Basnage, Histoire des Juifs, 1. i. c. 17; for the characters of the Messiah, according to the Rabbis, 1. v.c. 11, 12, 13; for the actions of Barchochebas, 1. vii. c. 12. ^ It is to Modestinus, a Roman lawyer, (1. vi. regular.) that we are in- debted for a distinct knowledge of the edict of Antoninus. See Casaubon ad Hist. August, p. 27. l2