Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

FROM THE GOSPELS TO JESUS §9.8
during Antipas' rule all was relatively quiet. 254 Neither Sepphoris nor Tiberias
was a garrison town. 255 This is the background reflected in the Gospels, with
only religious and political figures of authority in view (priests, Pharisees,
Herodians, 'leading men', Antipas 'that fox'). The centurion of Capernaum
(Matt. 8.5-13/Luke 7.1-10) conceivably was in charge of a small garrison of
Herod Antipas's forces (Capernaum being close to the border, the river Jordan,
with Herod Philip's territory), though he may have been a mercenary or auxiliary,
or could possibly even have retired to Capernaum. 256 And the saying about
going the 'second mile' (Matt. 5.41) need imply only an occasional patrol or rotation
or transfer of detachments through the territory.
The main political impact on the villages of Galilee, and on Jesus for most
of his life, would have been in terms of taxes. That was why the Romans were in
Palestine, and why rulers ruled territory — for the taxes they could levy on their
subject peoples. 257 Galileans at the time of Jesus would have been subjected to
two or three layers of taxation. 258 One was the tithes due to the priests (Neh.
10.35-39) 259 and the half-shekel temple tax, 260 probably amounting to at least
fifteen percent of income. 261 The second was the levies (both land tax and custom
tolls) instituted by Herod Antipas, not least to support his extensive build-
254. On this Freyne, Galilee ch. 6, Horsley, Jesus ch. 4 (also Galilee 259), and Reed, Archaeology
84, are agreed. See also U. Rappaport, 'How Anti-Roman Was the Galilee?', in Levine,
ed., Galilee 95-102. Cf. Tacitus' report that 'under Tiberius (14-37 CE) all was quiet' (Histories
5.9). The incidents under Pilate were confined to Jerusalem (Josephus, War 2.169-77;
Ant. 18.55-62); the episode mentioned in Luke 13.1-2 involving Galileans is impossible to evaluate
satisfactorily as to either source or significance (Fitzmyer, Luke 1006-7); and Antipas's
only military campaign, his unsuccessful war against the Nabateans under Aretas, took place in
36 CE. See also D. M. Rhoads, Israel in Revolution, 6-74 CE (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1976), conclusions
174-75; Sanders, Judaism 35-43; also 'Jesus' Galilee' particularly 6-13.
255. Contrast Chilton — a 'corrupt Roman outpost' {Rabbi Jesus 35).
256. It is quite unrealistic to envisage a Roman garrison stationed in Capernaum, that is,
within the territory of a client ruler (Herod Antipas) (Reed, Archaeology 161-62); the legionary
bathhouse excavated in the 1980s on the easternmost fringe of the town dates to the second century
CE, when the territory was occupied by Roman forces (Reed 155-56; Crossan and Reed,
Excavating Jesus 87-89). The border with Herod Philip's territory was insignificant in Roman
eyes, the result of the subdivision of Herod the Great's kingdom on the latter's death.
257. Hence the census in Judea under Quirinius in 6 CE, to ascertain the taxation base.
That it included Galilee is unlikely, since that was under the rule of Antipas; the revolt led by
Judas 'the Galilean' in response to the census took place in Judea ('the Galilean' denoting region
of origin not place of revolt). See further below chapter 11 n. 29.
258. See particularly Horsley, Galilee 139-44, 177-78, 217-19; Sanders, Judaism 146-
69.
259. Referred to in Matt. 23.23/Luke 11.42; Luke 18.12.
260. Exod. 30.13; Matt. 17.24; Josephus, Ant. 18.312.
261. Sanders, Judaism 167; Horsley reckons over 20 percent (Galilee 217-18).
310