Civil Strife, Power and Authority in the Judicial Sphere: A Case Study from Roman Palestine

Abstract

Summary: This paper examines Josephus' account of a judicial incident that occurred in around 62 C.E., which involved both Judaean elites and the Roman imperial powers. While traditional readings of the passage have focussed on mining it for information about the nature of the Judaean council that is often referred to as the „sanhedrin“, it is here argued that this report sheds light on several other key issues related to the operation of law within the region: indigenous perspectives on loci of authority within a judicial context, the importance of judicial power within broader societal conflicts, and the role of Judaean-Roman interactions in maintaining and redefining jurisdictional boundaries. It thus constitutes a valuable testimony for understanding the operation of law in this particular part of the Roman Empire.