Eternal Strangers Critical Views of Jews and Judaism through the Ages - Chapter Two

Part One: Critiques from the Old World
Chapter Two :
Of Romans and Christians
by Thomas Dalton PhD

The turn of the millennium was significant on several counts. Rome had
formally become an empire under Augustus, as of 27 BC. Jesus of Nazareth was (allegedly) born 3 BC. Jewish philosopher Philo was active at this
time, as was perhaps the most notorious ‘anti-Semite’ of that age, Apion.
His notoriety derives not so much from his accusations—which for the
most part were preexisting ones—but instead for his renown amongst the
upper classes of Alexandrian society, and because the Jewish writer Josephus elected to title one of his own books Against Apion (‘Contra Apionem’). As Stern (1974: 390) says, “Apion was a rather popular writer,”
and thus it is no wonder “that it was Apion, among all the anti-Semitic
Graeco-Egyptian writers, whom Josephus chose as his main target.” A
sample of the criticisms laid by Apion in his book Against the Jews includes:
– The leprosy-ridden Exodus story.
– An etymology of the Jewish term ‘Sabbath’ that derives from ‘tumors
of the groin’.
– Numerous tales of Jewish foolishness or naiveté.
– Well-deserved mistreatment by Cleopatra (withholding of corn during a
regional famine, and various conflicts with the Jewish king Herod).
– Jews’ failure to erect statues of the emperors.
– Tendency “to show no goodwill to a single alien, above all to Greeks”.
– Unjust laws.
– “Erroneous” religious practices.
– Failure to produce any geniuses in the arts or crafts.
– Not eating pork.
– Circumcision.
Apion evidently supplied something of a catalog of complaints against the
Jews, and added a few of his own. This again suggests a lengthy and persistent history of well-deserved criticism.

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