Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

§9.6 The Historical Context
eluding Sepphoris, 195 and must have substantially shaped Jesus' own ideas, as
evident particularly from the Q tradition of his teaching. 196
Unfortunately, such hypotheses have failed to consider the historical evidence
regarding lower Galilee, as Horsley has again been quick to point out.
Sepphoris and Tiberias were not in fact like the Hellenistic cities of the
Decapolis: they were built as administrative capitals, not as independent Hellenistic
poleis; and unlike the latter, they had no territoral jurisdiction over the
surrounding districts. 197 More to the point, they were not major Hellenistic cities
(like Scythopolis or Caesarea Maritima) but minor provincial centres, quite
lacking in the typical marks or wealth of Hellenistic cities. 198 The road running
from Tiberias to Ptolemais through Sepphoris was not a major international
trade route but carried only inter-regional traffic. 199 And the archaeological evidence
for Sepphoris is as clear as for the rest of Galilee: no indications of
large numbers of non-Jews and plenty of evidence of the same four indicators
of Jewish religious identity (stone vessels, miqwaoth, absence of pork remains,
195. Downing's speculation on the point in Cynics becomes steadily more confident and
far-reaching by dint of repetition: Cynic influence was possible (146, 148); 'the most likely explanation
is that Jesus was formed in response to native Cynic . . . influences' (150, 153); 'a
Cynic-influenced Galilean Jewish culture' (157); 'an existing Cynic influence among ordinary
people in the Galilee of his own day' (161); 'Cynic tradition in some form had permeated ordinary
Jewish society in southern Galilee' (164). Contrast Crossan, who notes that 'the Cynics
avoided rural areas, preferring the greater audiences.. . found in larger cities' (Historical Jesus
340). But according to Mack, Jesus 'may have read some scriptures, just as he may have read
Meleager' (Myth 64).
196. See above chapter 7 n. 70.
197. Horsley, Galilee 214-15 and n. 36, citing A. H. M. Jones, The Greek City (Oxford:
Clarendon, 1966) 80 n.; Freyne, 'Jesus and Urban Culture' 195.
198. Freyne notes that, unlike the major Hellenistic cities, Sepphoris and Tiberias had
no power to mint their own coins ('Jesus and Urban Culture' 193-94). Reed estimates the population
of Scythopolis and Caesarea Maritima as between 20,000 and 40,000, in contrast to
Sepphoris and Tiberias (8,000-12,000) (Archaeology 79-82, 89, 93-96, 117-24); 'no temple, no
gymnasium, no hippodrome, no odeon, no nymphaeum, no euergistic inscriptions' (95);
Sepphoris 'could not afford marble or imported columns' (124); its theatre, dating to the latter
half of the first century, was one of the more modest theatres on the Eastern Mediterranean,
with seating capacity of around 4,000 (108, 119-20); the inhabitants' private possessions do not
appear to have been expensive (126); see also Crossan and Reed, Excavating Jesus 62-70; E. P.
Sanders, 'Jesus' Galilee', in I. Dunderberg et al., eds., Fair Play: Diversity and Conflicts in
Early Christianity, H. Räisänen FS (Leiden: Brill, 2002) 3-41 (here 29-34, 37-39). Acknowledging
some dispute on the dating of the theatre in a private conversation at the SBL meeting in
Denver, Colorado (November, 2001), Reed continued to maintain that it was probably not constructed
till some decades after Jesus and Antipas. We should remember, however, that excavation
of Sepphoris is incomplete and that it has been possible to excavate only a small part of
Tiberias. On Jerusalem see Charlesworth, Jesus ch. 5.
199. Reed, Archaeology 146-48.
299