After the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70, which Jesus had
foretold in his Olivet discourse, the Romans introduced the fiscus Judaicus
(Jewish tax), the payment of which lifted the obligation of Jews to sacrifice
to Roman gods. The amount was 2 denarii, the same as observant Jews were used
to paying for the upkeep of the Temple in Jerusalem. This revenue was devoted
to the repair and upkeep of the temple of Capitoline Jupiter in Rome which had
been badly damaged by fire. Therefore, the tax was both an insult and an
embarrassment to Jews.
Suetonius reports that Domitian tightened up fiscal
policy in AD 81 by expanding the tax to all Jewish converts and to people who
concealed their Jewish origins. Since the Romans tended to regard Christianity
as a Jewish sect, Christians also had to pay the tax.
In AD 96, Nerva, Domitian’s successor, reformed the
administration of the tax and redefined Judaism as a religion. This meant that
Judaism was seen as distinct from Christianity and only those practising the
former were liable to the tax. This exposed Christians to Roman persecution,
which began a few years later and continued until the Edict of Milan in AD 313
gave Christianity the protection of legal status.
--- John C. Lennox, God, AI and the End of History:
Understanding the Book of Revelation in an Age of Intelligent Machines. 2025.
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