Cotton Babatha 2q4h1e

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23-4;I5,11-4-5=i8-i9. 'EXuoOaxacdIoavr5g['EyX]a);I4,11. The verb xaOL(otL is commonlyused in Egyptian ofguardians:e.g. P.Ryl. I2I papyrifortheappointment (ii C.E.), 11. I I-I2: XaiL tJUlT(OJtg [atlTof) 016 XaTF,(Ja'0T; P.Oxy. 898 11.I5-i6: [lu'TQT0oOV albT xCttXaTaoa[04]vaL; (I23 C.E.), 11. 28-9: 9T6QOV FOU 3tLTQO3OV XalaTCO1)-

VaL.

10 So H. J. Polotsky,'The GreekpapyrifromtheCave of Letters',IEJ 12 (i962), 260, but not forthe whole

province,as assumedbyWolff,op. cit. (n. 2), 789f.The occurrenceof 'metropolis'in the titleof Petra does not makeitintothecapitaloftheprovince,see G. Bowersock, 'The Babathapapyri,Masada and Rome',JRA4 (I 99I), 340, n. 7 summingup his previous references.On divisionsand boundaries,see B. Isaac, istrative 'The Babathaarchive',IEY 42 (1992), 63-4; 67-70. 11The needto appointa guardianbya magistrate arose onlywhenno guardianhad been nominatedin thewillof the deceased (tutortestamentarius)and therewas no see A. Watson,The agnateavailableto be tutorlegitimus, Law ofPersonsin theLaterRomanRepublic(i967), I I 430. 12 For Latinisms in thearchive,see Lewis, Introduction 111.2, pp. i6ff.However,we do finddto aixTwv ,3osUXig

elsewhere,e.g. OGIS 595 (Tyre, I74 C.E.): for more see examplesfortheuse ofacta inconnectionwitha boukW Institutions H. J.Mason,GreekforRoman (i984), 20, s.v.; see now tn T'a a'xT[a] in Sh. Dar and N. fromSenaimon Mount Kokkinos,'The Greekinscription Hermon',PEQ I24 (I992), p. I3: No. 2, line4 and p. I6. 13 cf. Dig. XXVI.5.24; XXXVIII.I7.2.23: 'quoniam et magistratibus municipalibus dandi[sc. tutores]necessitas iniungitur',and the whole tenorof Dig. xxvii.8 (suits againstmagistrates).ittedlythereare textswhich had but a limited suggestthatthe municipalmagistrates forappointing authority guardians:e.g. Dig. XXVI.7.46.6: 'praesidisprovinciaepraeceptoa magistratibus aliustutor datusest'; xxvii.8.I .5: 'si curatoresfueruntminusidonei dati, dicendum est tenerimagistratusoportere,si ex suggestueorum vel nominibusab eis acceptis praeses dederit';XXVI.5.24 (when the city magistrateshave to look elsewhereforsuitableguardians)'nominapraesidi provinciae mittere,non ipsos arbitriumdandi sibi XXVII. IO. 2; CYv.34.6. vindicare'; 14

FIR/A 12, no. 2315 JRS 76 (I986), I57-

16 in theduovir'sappointThe citycouncilparticipates mentofguardiansonlyin cases in whichhe was unableto make the appointmentin consultationwith his fellowmagistrates, ibid., 11.22ff. For the participationof the decurions,see Dig. XXVI .5. I 9 pr.; 6. 3; xxvii.8.I pr. 17 ibid., 11.25-9: 'Is a quo ... postulatumerit,causa cognitain diebusX proxumis,ex decretodecurionum... eum, qui nominatit ... ei [sc. pupillo pupillaeve] tutoremdato'; 'the personfromwhom the requesthas been made,once thecase has been examined,withinten days, accordingto the decreeof the decunions... is to grantas guardianto him(or her)thepersonwhohas been

nominated'.

18 M. della Corte, 'Tabelle cerateercolanesi',Parola del ato 6 (I 95 I), 228, no. I 3; forthe reconstructed text, see V. Arangio-Ruiz,'Due nuove tavolettedi Ercolanorelativealla nominadi tutorimuliebri',Studi P. de FrancisciI ( I 954), 3-I 2.

This content ed from 212.189.136.198 on Thu, 28 Jan 2016 10:39:33 UTC All use subject to JSTOR and Conditions

96

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Aresc]usae Q. Vibidius [A]mpliatus sit tuto[r]'. Thus the phrase o& XaTaOTaOEVTER ?3itLTQO3tOL fJtio POviXqg TOV IIfTQaiCOV is not incompatible with the interpretation that heretoo themagistratesacted 'accordingto a decreeofthecouncil'.'9 The applicationof Roman legal formsto Petra is surprising:translatedinto Latin, the documentcould have been issued by a municipalitywithLatin rightsin the West. Since it is impossibleto believethatPetrapossessed Latin status,thedocumentassumesa highdegreeof Romanizationin a nativecitythathad just come withinthe Roman sphereofinfluence.20 If we comparethe situationwiththatin Egypt21we discoverthatit was the Strategos,22 or the Exegetes24who appointedguardiansforperegrineorphans.25This the Grammateus23 could well reflecttheabsenceofcitycouncilsand magistratesthere.26It would be interesting to knowthepracticein othercitiesin theeasternpartofthe Empirewherethesedid exist. In Egypt we findthe motherexercisingguardianshipalongside a male guardian and sometimesalone - obviouslya remnantof peregrinelaw,27perhapsmodifiedunder Roman influence.28 Roman law, as we shallsee below ingreaterdetail,barredwomenfromtheexercise ofguardianshipin no uncertain.29 Nevertheless,we do have anotherwoman in the archivewho seems to sharethe dutiesof a guardianwitha Jewcalled Besas. I referto the'mysterious'Iulia Crispina.30She appears for the firsttimewithBesas in P.Yadin 20: 'Besas son of Jesus,En-gediandomiciledin Mazraa, guardian of the orphans of Jesus son of Khthousion, and lulia TQOnOg Crispina,supervisorEtoxaonoo'(11.4-5; see 11.23-5). Togethertheyconcede rightsover a courtyard:'We acknowledgethatwe have conceded to you, fromthe propertyof Eleazar (also known as Khthousion) son of Judah, your grandfather,a courtyard... etc,';31 and promiseto it with the authorities:'This courtyardI will foryou with the public authoritieswhereveryou wish',32as well as defendit againstany counterclaim:'And if anyoneentersa counterclaimforthe said courtyard,we will conducta firmlegal defenceand will clear it foryou of any counterclaimantat our own expense'.33In P.Yadin 23-4 Besas acts alone, disputing Babatha's rightto a date orchard that had belonged to her late second husband. But in P.Yadin 25, because of her partner'sailment,lulia Crispina is on her own, launchinga naQayycla.34 -

19 N. Lewis in 'Two Greek documents from the ProvinciaArabia',IllinoisClassical Studies 3 (I 978), I IO rightlycites Ulpian, Dig. xxvii.8.i: 'si a magistratibus municipalibustutordatus sit, non videturper ordinem electus', for 'possible involvement'of the entire city council. 20 There is nothing to suggestthtat Petraeven had the constitutionof a Greek polis before I I4, see G. Bowersock,JRS 72 (i982), i98. Note, however,thatit became a colonia under Elagabalus, see S. Ben-Dor, 'PetraColonia',Berytus9 (i948-9), 4I-3; F. Millar,'The Roman coloniae of the Near East: a studyof cultural relations',in H. Solin and M. Kajava (eds), Roman EasternPolicyandOther Studies(I 990), 5I . 21 R. Taubenschlag,TheLaw ofGreco-Roman Egyptin theLightofthePapyri(332 B.C.-640 A.D.) (2ndedn, I955), i6i; Mitteis, Grundzuge I, 254. 22 P.Brem.39 (II 3/I20 C.E.); P.Oxy. 898 (I23 C.E.) 23 POxy. 487 = M.Chr.322 (I56 C.E.), butsee Hunt's inP.Ryl. I2I aboutthegrammateus'authority reservation to appointguardians. = SB 24 P.Mich. 232 = YEA i8 0933), I39 (36 CE.) 7568;P.Ryl. I2I (ii c.E.);M.Chr. 323 (2I8C.E.). 25 cf. N. Lewis,BASP 7 (I 97o), I I 6-i 8. 26 But see nowBowmanand Rathbone,op. cit. (n. I). 27 M. Kaser,RP2 (i97i), ?85 and n. 5; Taubenschlag, op. cit. (n. 2I), I53-5; I58f.; Mitteis,GrundzugeI, 253. By virtueofprovisionslaid downin thefather'swillor in the marriagecontract,the mothercould eithersharethe guardianshipwith a male relative,or even exerciseit alone: forappointment bywill,see e.g. SB 9065 (i B.C.E. = E. P. Wegener,'Petitionconcerningthe dowryof a widow',MnemosyneI3 (I 947), 302-I6), 11.5-8; and for marriagecontracts,see P.Oxy. 265 (8I-95 C.E.), 11.281. I2 and 497 (ii C.E.), 11. I2-I3. In 30, 496 (I27 C.E.),

BGU18 I3 (62/I B.C.E.), P.Mich.232 (= SB 7568,36 C.E.)

and P.Oxy. 898 (I23 C.E.) the motheris designated withnomention ofa willora marriage contract. tnLUToQtog 2 See 0. Montevecchi,'Una donna "prostatis"del figliominorenne inun papirodel I Ia, Aegyptus 6i (i 98i), I i4 and see belowat n. 36. 29 'There was no exception':see W. W. Bucklandand P. Stein,A Text-BookofRoman Law fromAugustusto Justinian(3rdedn, I 966), I 50. Y. Yadin, Bar Kokhba (i97i), 247; and see the 3 ingenious reconstructionby T. Ilan, 'Julia Crispina daughterof Berenecianus,a Herodian princessin the Babathaarchive- a case studyin historical identification',

JQR 82 (I992), 36i-8431 6[toXoyoi3[ev OUVExX(J)xeVaL OOL tt 6aQXOVVT(JV 'EXEt16a'QOU To xac XOouoGowOg ToO 'Ioi56oU na'Cou oou acn-Xv (11.6-8, see 11.27-9). vXiv 3232Ta,UTV v te ITV a 6V rooU av 3oUXiOfigTUoX (JOLIbLa 61bftOcL(O)V (11. I 2-I

eav

33

TaUOO'VItg tLavtog

E TLg

3, see 11.34-6). Tf

&VtMltOl)CTl

tYcbLX1POo4wV &VtLjtOLOUVOU

XaL

JtQoyya[

rg

<Xa>OaQOJtOL1(OOV TctLTa; aLb(Mg

acibXg dto

6VaXO4LcLaLV

see 11.36-9). The switchfrompluralto singular (i.e. from'we' to 'I') maybe nothingmorethaninadvertence; itis quitecommoninEgyptianpapyri(as pointedout to me by N. Lewis); thustheTEXiL'O(Omaynotprovethat, unlikeBesas, JuliaCrispinacouldnot landwiththe authorities. (11.I3-i6,

3

[b'L

t6V

El]rPEOX?WV0V

XaiL

3aLoqJCaLYLoaRv'()V

[RaQ]TU'Q[(OV J]aQ[ VYLX[CV 'lou[XLia K[Q[L(YJtV]a BEQVLXLaVO1D TdV O[u]yaQ [WrCoXo]nog RV]] 6QqcaV6V

'h1ooiov XMovoiwvogBaf40[ag 1']tXovog JtLi'N 6 'T&Qo3TogBRo&s 'Ihooi0ov tdV WbtOV [6Q]4PaV6V dOvwTeQo5

taTLVxcta oi-x fv6v.ta

3]vb[v] t[,uo]L (11.I4).


JtXQ[avy]

&ft

JESUS

SON

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BABATHA:

ROMAN

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LOCAL

LAW

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PROVINCE

OF ARABIA

97

It is true that she is called tnicxonog ratherthan tnLitQo0o. 'En3t'xonoq is used in a technicallegalsense onlyonce - so faras I know- in pre-ChristianEgyptianpapyri:35thisis too earlyto have anyrelevanceto our case. Perhapsitis because thetermlacksa technicallegal sense, thatit could be applied to lulia Crispinain orderto describeher positionvis-a-vis the orphans:36she is theircaretaker,she looks afterthem and theirinterests.37 John Rea has recentlypointedout thesimilarity betweenlulia Crispinaand the Egyptian tcaxokov'TOQLa,38 who also appearsaccompaniedbya maleguardian,butwho is attested or naxQxxokovuOTtQLa,39 If indeed,as seems quite in Egyptianpapyrionlyfromthesecond halfofthesecond century.40 likely,the laterinstitutionwas createdto satisfythe stricturesimposed by Roman law on the exerciseofguardianshipbywomen,4"thenwe mayhave in Arabiathefirstexampleforsuch an adaptation of local custom, and another expression of Romanization. ittedly,this contrastssharply with Babatha's total exclusion from the guardianship. There may be circumstancesunknownto us whichmayexplainthespecial statusenjoyedby lulia Crispina. One noticesimmediatelythatshe is notrepresentedbya male guardian42 liketheotherwomen in thearchive.43 II

If Babatha's legal positionvis-a-vis her orphanedson is not easily explained by the socalled 'law ofthepapyri',thisis hardlya cause forsurprise,sincethelatterwas to a largeextent " In P.Petr.iii 36 (a) (= M.Chr. 11.i6-I7: nt TlOV S), tnLax67rwv. It is used 'to describethe &nro8yjLyivwv judges specially qualified to judge complaintsmade againstofficials'(so Turnerin P.Hib. 2, p. IO9), but this belongstotheiiiB.C.E., as doesP.Hib. 2.I98,1. 242, where

ForexampleinP.Mich.Inv.2922 (JEA i8 (1932), 70 = SB 7558 = FIIM 1112, no. 30) a grandmotheris appointed in the father'swill t guardian with two other men; they are designated ?tnTQ0oto (1. 6) whereasshe is called ttaxokouOvHTQLa

trative enquiry' (p. 109). Cf. also ?tLaXO3TECt[w 6 olxov6jtog in P.Rev. (259 B.C.E.), col. 33, 1. 2 (re-edited in by J. Bingenin SB BeiheftI (I952)) and XnLaxo7rav 11.47; I83 (late iii B.C.E.) instructions of P.Tebt. 3.I.703, thedioiketesto theoikonomos 'to look intocontroversies between the farmersand the village scribes or the

(3.37).P.Oxy. 392I,11.6; 49 (2I9 C.E.) and see J. Rea ad loc. I findithardto believe,though,thatshe is themotherof theorphansand thewidowofJesus,sonofEleazar. In the Egyptianpapyritherelationship of the ctxoXoHU0TQMLa/ tctQctxo0ol0lTQLato theward(s) is alwayspointedout. I agree,though,thatshe maynotbe a Romancitizen.Had she beenone, itwouldhavemade itlessratherthanmore likely that she would be exercisingthe duties of a guardian.For herRomanname,see Rea. 40 See Montevecchi, op. cit. (n. 28), I09 and nn. there fora fulllist. 41 So Montevecchi, op. cit. (n. 28), I I Iff.She points out thatall the occurrencesof a female?t&TQo3to come fromperegrinecontexts,and thatthe 3tJLTQo7tO and #taxokoUvHTQLa do not overlap: thereis no female buTQo3togafterI 23 C. E. 42 Note that in the archive the word tn(TQo3tois used both for the guardianof minorsand for that of women;in Greek-speaking landsthetraditional termfor the latter was xVQLog. See H. J. Wolff ('Le droit provincialdans la provinceromained'Arabie',RDIA 23 (i 967), 279-83) forthesignificance oftheconfusionhere. Note, however,thatin the Aramaicthe guardianof a womanis called1 Adon- xQpLog:e.g. P.Yadin 172 i-l;l''Yehudah son of I WlrhD IS, 1. 37: in: Khthousion"lord"ofBabatha'. 43 Babatha is representedby her second husband, JudahsonofKhthousion (P.Yadin I4,11. 22-3; I5,11. 3I-2I 6,11. 35-6), byJacobsonofJoseph(P. Yadin I 7,11.4-5 = 11. 22-3), byJohnsonofMakhouthas (P.Yadin22,11. 28-9) and byBabelisSon ofMenahem(P.Yadin 27,11. 4-5; i8). Salome (alias Komais) is representedby X son of Menahem(P.Yadin 37,1. IS). Could themerefactofher literacy- she signs her name in Greek (P.Yadin 20, 11. 43-4) have made the differencebetween lulia Crispinaand theotherwomenin thearchive?There is no simpleanswerto thisquestion,see R. Taubenschlag,'La competencedu X1QLOg dans le droit greco-egyptien', OperaMinoraII (I9S9), 353-77; H. C. Youtie,'ArPAMMATOX: An aspectofGreeksocietyin Egypt',HS 75 ii (1973), 6i6. (1971), i66 = Scniptiunculae

XnLGxo7tELv ...

is said to 'evoke the idea of an is-

comarch' Finally 3TQL T'6V TOLOi6T(OVMV3X[OaOtoiL] [or] 8LXatcTaC in P.Oxy. 46, 3285, 1. 34 appears in a second-

ofa demoticlegal centuryC.E. COpyofa Greektranslation code whichitselfgoesbackto thePharaonieriod;see J. Rea's introduction inP.Oxy. vol. 46, pp. 30-I . We findMUyxo3toL as municipalor villagemagistrates in the inscriptions (e.g. M. Sartre,Bostra, Bibliotheque Archeologiqueet Historiquecxvii (1 985), 81-2 and H. I. MacAdam,Studiesin theHistoryoftheRomanProvince

ofArabia, BAR 295 (I986),

i69f., iii C.E., Trachonitis).

See also Dig. L.4.I8.7 (Arcadius Charisius'list of civil liturgies):'item episcopi, qui praesuntpani et ceteris venalibusrebus,quae civitatium populis cotidianum victumus sunt,personalibusmuneribusfunguntur' ('The episcopi,in chargeofthedailysupplyofbreadand othervictualsto thepopulationofthecities,also perform personalliturgies').But I do notthinkthatlulia Crispina was a magistrate. 36 As suggested by 0. Montevecchito explaintheterm acquired by the motherof an orphanby the nQoOT6TLg of her marriage contract: [3TQooTdTL;]

T;o5 O&5M a16TO10 (SC. 6Q4xaVO10) dn6 GU'YQac4vn GUVOLXLG(OU,Trf5 11. 4-6): I (42 acbTOi5 jifTQO5 (P.Med.Bar. B.C.E.),

'Prostatis e usato qui ad indicare una funzione di

responsibilita delladonnaneiriguardidel figlio,un potere su di lui, che si avvicinaalla tutelapur senza averneil carattere giuridico',op. cit. (n. 28), 107. 3 Like the faithful shepherd,btUixonog,of the New Testament, on which see G. Kittel, Theologisches Worterbuch zumneuenTestament(I935), 2, p. 6i iff.For the associationof tnt(xonog and Hebrew 'Mebaqqer' (l7D e.g. Damascus Covenant I4:12-I6), see now J. C. Greenfieldand M. Stone, 'Two noteson Aramaic Levi', in H. W. Attridgeet al. (eds), Of Scribes and Scrolls,Studies in the Hebrew Bible, Intertestamental 3udaism and Chn'stianOriginspresentedto]. Strugnell (I990),

38

[172/3 C.E.]

153-6 I, esp. iS8-6i.


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shaped by a mixtureof Egyptian and Greek legal practices and customs.44Whetherher situationas wellas hercourseofactioncould be edforby Nabataean legalpractices,we have no meansofknowing.Whateverthereis to knowabout Nabataean law is enshrinedin the unpublishedpart of the archive. But in view of Babatha's Jewishness,it is legitimateto ask what rightsshe would have had underJewishlaw and practices.In otherwords,what do we knowabout therulesgoverningtheappointmentofa guardianas wellas about thestatusofthe containedin the motherofan orphanin Jewishlaw ofthetime?I shallthenuse theinformation archiveitself,namelyBabatha's own awarenessand behaviour,in orderto address the more fundamentalquestion of whethertherewas any operativeJewishlegal systemin the period theJewishlegal textsfromthisperiod(see below) give concerned.45 Traditionallyinterpreted, us thebiased viewthatRabbinicor HalakhicJudaismas we knowit has alwaysbeen thereand ofJudaism.46 thatRabbinicJudaismwas theonlymanifestation NaturallyI shallbase mystudyoftheprinciplesgoverningtheJewishlaw on guardianship in this period only on Tannaitic sources,47thatis sources thatroughlybelong to the period the the destructionof the Temple - and the end of the second centuryC.E.70 C.E.redactionoftheMishnahbyJudahthePatriarch(R. Yehudah ha-Nasi ) .4 The Mishnah is the authoritativecollectionof religiouslaw which had been formulatedin the rabbinicschools duringthatperiod. There is, however,Tannaitic materialoutsideit.Barayta49'designatesall Tannaitic teachingsand sayingsoutside the Mishnah',50and thus is assumed to be roughly withit.51A special collectionofbaraytotis theTosefta('addition,supplement'), contemporary whichis much moreextensivethantheMishnah;52 therelationshipbetweenthetwo is stillfar fromclear.53Greaterprecisionforindividualages can sometimesbe achievedon thebasis ofrabbinicnamescitedin them.54 Jewishlaw does not have its own termforthe institutionof guardianship,but borrowed the Greek term ?tnt'o3To; to describe a guardian.55Gulak assumed that the institution developed under the influenceof Hellenistic and Roman law.56 On the other hand the conceptual differencesbetween the Roman and the Jewishformsof guardianshipput this

44 J. Modrzejewski,'La regle de droitdans l'Egypte ptolemaique',Essays in Honor of C. BradfordWelles

(I966), 125-73.

4S See above all M. Goodman, State and Societyin Roman Galilee,A.D. 132-212 (i983), im,butesp. 3who thinks that the 178-8I, I55-71; 24; 93-1I8; ofthe Rabbiswas slowin evolvingand became authority dominantonlyfrommid-third centuryonwards.See also E. Goodenough,JewishSymbolsin the Greco-Roman vol. 12, I84-98; contraM. Smith, Period (1953-I968), 3BL 86 'Goodenough's3ewish Symbolsin retrospect', (I967), 53-68; E. E. Urbach,'The rulesof'AbodahZara realityin Eretz (idolatry)andthearchaeological-historical Israel in the second and thirdcenturies',Eretz Israel 5 = The Worldof the Sages: Collected (I958), I89-205 Studies (I988), 125-78 (Hebrew); L. Levine, The Rabbinic Class of Roman Palestine in Late Antiquity (I989), ch. 3. tothe Introduction 46 H. L. Strackand G. Stemberger, Talmudand Midrash(I 99 I), 54-5. 47 'Aramaictanna, fromHebrew shanah "to repeat, by learn"',tannaim:'themastersofteachingtransmitted op. cit. continualoral repetition',Strack-Stemberger, (n. 46), 7. The Tannaimwereactivein thefirsttwoand half centuriesof our era and were followed'by the of Amoraim(amar, "tosay",comment:thecommentators up toc. 500' (Strack-Stemberger). theTannaiticteachings) op. cit. (n. 46), I23; iS-6. 4 Strack-Stemberger, teaching (shortforAramaicmatnita 4 'Lit. the"outside" op. cit. (n. 46), i9S. baraita)', Strack-Stemberger, `0 ibid. The termusuallyrefersto Tannaiticteachings on in thePalestinianand quotedverbatimandcommented BabylonianTalmuds. 51 This assumptionsometimesproves to be wrong: orfalselyascribedto somebaraytotwereeithermistakenly

the Tannaim, see Strack-Stemberger, op. cit. (n. 46), 2 I 6-I 7, see also 54. 52 Strack-Stemberger, op. cit. (n. 46), i68-9. S Strack-Stemberger, op. cit. (n. 46), i68-77. Both theMishnahand theToseftaas we nowhavethemconsist of six maindivisionsor orders(sedainm),each of which consists of tractates,subdivided into chapters and sentences.The methodof citationis by work(m or t) tractate,chapterand sentence,but the'order'is omitted. The two Talmuds are also cited by work (y for Yerushalmi,i.e. the PalestinianTalmud and b forthe BabylonianTalmud), and respectiveMishnaictractate. In the BabylonianTalmud tractateis followedby page number,withthefrontand backofeach leafcountedas a and b; in thePalestinianTalmud (theVeniceedition)the tractateis followedby page number;each page has four columns(a-d). The Talmuds, beinglatercommentaries on TannaiticmaterialbytheAmoraim(see above, n. 46), but arecitedhereonlytocorroborate Tannaitictraditions, neveras evidenceforthestatusofJewishlaw intheearlier period. S Thereareno absolute dates;chronology is determined ofone rabbito anotheras histeacher: bytherelationship 'in this way generationsof rabbis can be co-ordinated' Strack-Stemberger, op. cit. (n. 46), 63; howeverattributionsarenotalwaysreliableorcertain,ibid., 63ff. ss Renderingit O1DItl'KD - epitropos; -1DllMlDN apotropos; Dt'UDM- epitropa,etc. see D. Sperber,A Dictionaryof Greekand Latin Legal Tenns in Rabbinic Literature(1984), s6ff.This is thetermused to thisvery dayin modernHebrew. A. Gulak,Principles(Institutions) ofjewishLaw III: FamilyLaw (I922), ch. 7, p. I46 (Hebrew); Z. W. Falk, 'Zum fremdenEinflussaufdas jiudischeRecht',RIDA i8 ( 97 1), I I-23, is muchmoreaffirmative.


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99

assumptionin question.57At all events,by thesecond halfofthesecond centuryC.E. themain linesoftheinstitutionhad alreadybeen drawn.58 There is no doubt thata womancould serveas a guardian,ifappointedby herhusbandin or ofthatofhis orphans.60The Toseftaadds his lifetime,whetheras guardianofhis property59 therestriction thatthecourtswould notappointa womanas a guardian,unlessshe had already served in this capacityin her husband's lifetime:'the courts should not take the initiative lekhathilah)and appointwomen and slaves as guardians,but ifthe fatherhad appointed any of them in that capacity duringhis lifetime,the courts should confirmthe appointment'(tTerumoth6'I . II ).62 Neitherin theMishnah nor in the Toseftais it suggested thata man could appointhis wifea guardianoftheircommonchildrenin his will. However,a on the courtsto appointa barayta in the BabylonianTalmud, while repeatingthe restriction womanas guardian,can be interpreted in such a wayas to meanthata man could makehiswife a guardianof theircommonchildrenin his will: 'Women, slaves and minors63 should not be madeguardians:if,however,thefatheroftheorphanschoosestoappointone, he is atliberty to do rn' niuvin 7'Ynn' ,nx 7r' oxi' (lit. 'it is in his hand', bGittin 52a).64 It seems to have so remainedtherulethatthecourtswereprohibitedfrominitiating theappointment ofa woman.65 It is likely that the orphan Jesus was living with Babatha, his mother,at the time documentedin thearchive,fortheguardianshand herthe moneyforhis upkeep.66We do not know whetheror not she insistedon having him with her. A Jewishmothercould indeed demand that the orphan be leftwith her. For many reasons she may have appeared more than those entitledto be the orphan's heirs.67And in fact such a claim was trustworthy accepted by the Jewishcourts: 'If a man dies leavinga son, and the mothersays: "let him be broughtup by me" and the heirssay: "let himbe broughtup by us", thenthe son maynotbe broughtup by thosewho are entitledto be his heirs'(tKet. I I.4). It seems thatboardingwith his motherdid not have the legal consequence of turning Babathaintotheguardianofherorphanedson, Jesus.This needs to be said sincein Jewishlaw notonlydid thereexisttwolegalwaysofcreatinga guardianship(appointmentbythefatherin his lifetimeor in his will, and appointmentby the court); therealso existeda defacto sortof -

57 See Y. K. Reinitz,'The Guardian of Orphans in JewishLaw: His Responsibility, MethodsofSupervision', (unpub. Ph.D. dissertation,the Hebrew Universityof JerusalemI984), introduction, pp. ivf.and bibliography cited in the notes; M. Block,Die Vormundschaft nach Mosaisch-Talmudischem Rechte(I 904) . 58 Reinitz,op. cit. (n. 57), ix putsitearlier:'bythefirst half'. In evidencehe mentionsthe controversy between Abba Saul and R. Eliezerb. Jacobaboutthetakingofthe oathby theguardianoforphansat theend ofhis termof office(bGittin('divorcecertificates') 52b); however,R. Eliezerb. Jacob(theYounger)andAbba Saul belongedto the thirdgenerationof Tannaites,c. I3o-i6o C.E., see Strack-Stemberger, op. cit. (n. 46), 83-6; see also A. M. Heiman,IIistoryoftheTannaimand Amoraim( I964), 1, s.vv. (Hebrew). 59 cf. mKetubboth (= Ket. 'marriagecontracts')9.4: 'If a mansetup hiswifeas a shopkeeperorappointedheras a guardian (epitropa) he may exact of her an oath whensoeverhe will'. The presenceof Rabbi Eliezerben Hyrcanusin thisMishnahdatesit to theearlyii century (see Strack-Stemberger, op. cit. (n. 46), 77); cf. tKet. 9.6; bKet. 86b; yKet. 54a; cf.bBaba Bathra (= BB 'last gate' i.e. the last tractateof Seder Nezikqn 'Damages') I3ib: 'If a [dying]mangaveall hisproperty to hiswifein writing,he [thereby] only appointed her guardian apotropa)';cf. bBB i44a; bGittinI4a. ( DI'lulD.See alsoyShevu'ot('oaths') 93a, whereboththeguardian and thewomanwho managesherhusband'sproperty are requiredto takean oath: 'And these[must]takean oath [even] when there is no claim [laid against them]: (I) partners(2) tenants(3) guardians(4) a womanwho managesherhouseholdand (5) son ofthehousehold'. 60 cf.mKet.9.6: 'If shewas madeaguardian[i.e. in her husband'slifetime], theheirsmayexactan oathfromher concerning [hertrustduring]thetimeafter[herhusband's death], but not the time before'.Afterthe husband's death, the widow is entitledto continueholdingthe

overhisproperty guardianship whichhas nowbecomethe orphans';cf.bKet.86b-88b; yKet.55a. 61 Ter. 'levies' or 'heave offerings' (e.g. priestlyheave offering). 62 I have adopted B. Cohen's translation, Yewishand RomanLaw i (i966), 243; see S. Lieberman,ToseftaKifeshutahPart I: Order Zera'im ('Seeds') (i955), 304 (Hebrew,themostimportant moderncommentary on the 'rosefta)cf.tBB 8. I 7. 63 'Minors'mustbe a mistake,see Lieberman,op. cit. (n. 62), 303. 64 The Rashba (R. Shlomo b. Aderet, I235-13Io) in his Commentaryon the Babvlonian Talmud on the SIAS) ny ( -"U 01 i',n - hiddushim on bGittin52a suggestsreading'theyareat libertytodo so (lit. 'in their hands' 7'11)' )', i.e. the courts, thus thebaravta intolinewithtTer.I. I I. His reading bringing of theBarayta leavesus withno Tannaiticauthority for theappointment ofa womanas a guardianin thefather's will. His proposedcorrectionof the textof bGittins2a fromv*rn ('in his hand',i.e. thefather's)to flln ('in their hands', i.e. the courts') is minuscule: the mere ofthewaw (1) to producea finalnun (X). lengthening 6S See S. Assaf, 'The appointmentof women as guardians',Ha-MishpatIIa-'Ivn (I 927), 75-8I (Hebrew); Y. K. Reinitz,'The appointment ofwomenas guardians', Bar-Ilan Law Studies4 (i986), I67-203 (Hebrew). 6 P.Yadin I3-I5 (I24-5 C.E.); 27 (32 C.E.). 67 Note thata similar provisionforthechildrento stay with their mothertill they come of age is found in Egyptianmarriagecontracts:e.g. PROxv.497 (early ii century), 1. 13: [,InTTQi

RUE(QL

T6V

TOV

[TEXVMvI 6LQLTOUEVWV Et5 1kLXCCV tkOEv;

rnCQ6

see

Tnj

also

P.Oxy. 496 (127 C.E.), 1. I2; Romanorphansalso tended to be broughtup by theirmothers,see J. F. Gardner, Womenin RomanLaw and Societv(i 986), I 47. 6' In thebaravta itsaysexplicitly: 'theyleavehimwith his mother', bKet. I02b.


I00

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COTTON

guardianship:guardianshipacquired by virtueof 'orphans boardingwith the householder' ( -mr'nosemikhah).69 This formmaywell have been theoriginaland authenticJewishformof This couldoffera wayforwomentobecomedefactoguardiansoftheirchildren.7" guardianship.70 We maymentionin ingthatone ofJesus'guardianswas nota Jew.72It is hardto know whytheboule ofPetraappointeda non-Jewas one oftheguardiansoftheJewishorphanJesus. to the principleof personalitycould have been a local custom,73as has been The indifference suggestedforthenamingoftwoguardiansinsteadofone.74 None oftheJewishpracticesand rulesdelineatedabove regardingtheorphan'smotheris presentin thisarchive.Indeed thereis nothingto showthatBabathawas awareofanyofthem. The exampleoftheJewsofEgyptspringsto mind. The editorsoftheCorpusPapyrorum Iudaicarum expressedtheirsurpriseat the absence of any documentsreflecting the existence of Jewishcourtsin Egyptand of the exerciseof Jewishlaw there;75 not even forAlexandria, wherewe know thata Jewishtribunalexisted,do we possess any evidence.76'On the other hand, the papyricontainrich evidence of Jewsusing freelythe common Hellenisticlaw.77 They conclude, therefore,that 'the laws and regulationsformingthe legal basis for the business lifeof the Jewsare the common laws of the Greeks in Egypt .. . the familylifeof Alexandrian Jews, their marriagesand divorces, were regulated by Greek contracts in accordancewiththe principlesof Hellenisticlaw'.78 Thus noteven in Egyptwheredocumentsdo exist,do we possess anyproofthatJewsdid use their own courts and laws. What is, therefore,the precise meaning of the privilege successfullysoughtand grantedto Jewsby the Roman government,namelyto live according to theirancestrallaws or customs(vo[totor eOr)? Surelythe papyrifromEgyptand Arabia rendertheevidenceforlegal autonomyelsewhereverydifficult to interpret.80 69 mGittin5.4: 'If orphans were ed (1=zO samkhu)by a householder,or iftheirfatherappointeda guardianforthem,he mustgive tithefromthe produce thatbelongsto them.If a guardianwas appointedby the orphans'fatherhe musttakean oath; ifhe was appointed by the courthe need not takean oath. Abba Saul says: 'The ruleis to thecontrary etc.'; cf.tTer. I. I2; tBB 8.I3. 70 See Falk, op. cit. (n. 56): 'Das ersteVerhaltnis, das manvielleicht nennenkann. . .', p. I4 and proto-epitrope im; cf. Y. K. Reinitz,'Guardianshipby virtueof "orphansboardingwiththehouseholder"',Bar-Ilan Law StudiesI (1980),2I9-50. Gradually thisdefactosortof guardianshipwas assimilatedintothelegal institution of guardianshipand made equal withthe othertwo forms: 'The householderwithwhomtheorphansboardedhas all the legal rightspossessedby guardiansappointedby the court or by the orphans' father',R. Asher b. Yehiel (I250-I327), Responsa,87a; cf. Reinitz,op. cit. (n. 57), 93ff71 As someinterpret thefamousstoryoftheold woman Xlmn (xn ), bGittin52a: 'Certainorphanswhoboarded withan old womanhad a cow whichshe tookand sold. Their relativesappealedto R. Nahman(thirdgeneration ofAmoraimin Babylonia)saying:whatrighthad she to sellit?He saidtothem:we learn"iforphansboardedwith the househQldgr"'.Set the Rashba's (see above, n. 64) Responsa (nlniiLn n*xWL),II, no. 49: 'And evenifthey boardedwitha womanwhomthecourtdoesnotappointas guardian... she is like a guardianto them,as we learn fromthe storyof the old woman [bGittin52a], and it seemsto be thesamein thecase ofa mother. . .'; see also ResponsaII, no. 285; cf.Reinitz,'Guardianshipbyvirtue of "orphansboardingwiththe householder"',Bar-Ilan Law Studies I (I980), 223-4, and esp. 243-7: 'The Guardianshipof the widow by virtueof the orphans boardingwithher'. 72 'Apbopbcag'IkkouOa of P.Yadin I2 is clearly a Nabataean:see P.Yadin IS, 1. 38; p. I39 (Yadinand Greenfield, op. cit. (n. 3), no. IS), and pl. I2. 73 It thus contrasts with Roman law whichdemands thattheguardianshouldcome fromthesame nationality as his ward, see Taubenschlag, op. cit. (n. 2I), I58; Mitteis,GrundzugeI, 252-3, on Egypt. J. Juster(Les Juifsdans l'empireromainii (19I4), 24, n. i) takesDig.

XXVII . I.IS5.6: 'H8, 'IoUbda(Ov

8be

xa'L of 'Iou8aiom T'WV

3t7LTQO3[1JGOUOLV,(OOnUQ

XaL

tLa

[

koLatc

XLTO1UQ(Y0ou0 V, to referto Jewswho possessedRoman citizenship, andthusnottoconstitute an infringement ofthe principleof personality; see Juster,62-4; A. Linder,The (I987), no.4. YewsinRomanImperialLegislation 7 See Lewisp. 48 onP.Yadin I2. See belowAppendixI. 7 The one clear exceptionis Y II no. I43 which mentionsthedepositingofa will(8LaO1nx1v) in theTo Tidv 'IoubcdaLvd&xFZov11.7-8; forJewisharchivesin Asia Minor, see CIY 74I (burial inscriptionfromSmyrna): IJo6XFLTaLEl To TLYQ(W4 To &vu(yQaov" &QXtLOV; 775 (Hierapolis) mentions T14) &QXp TiV 'Ioubtavow;seealso776; 778; 779. See alsoJos.,BJVI.354. 76 Strabo apud Jos.,AJ XIV.II7 (= M. Stern,Greek

TaWMtT;is

and LatinAuthors onjews andYudaismI (I974), no. IOS; tKethubboth 3.I = tPeah ('corner')4.6; JII, PP. 4-5; Bowmanand Rathbone,op. cit. (n. I), I I7. 7 I (Prolegomena),33; see also II, 4-5. 78ibid.,33-4; cf.V. Tcherikover, inEgyptin TheyJews the Hellenistic-Roman Age in the Light of the Papyri (I963), I03-I5 (Hebrew). 9 See T. Rajak, 'Was therea Roman charterforthe Jews?', JRS 74 (i 984), I 07-23 . 8 I referofcourseto thefamouschartersmentionedin Josephus,Ay XIV.I85-267. ittedly an explicitgrant ofjudicialautonomyis attestedonlyforSardis,wherethe JewsclaimedbeforeL. Antoniusthattheyused to adjudicate cases betweenthemselvesin a courtof theirown: (oi6vobov eXFLV tlbcav xaTa Tois 3taTc(oSU v61oUg dat' tXN5 xact T6tov lbLOV, V q) T'a TF,QatylTaTa XatTLa JQOg "iAXougduvLXoy'Lac XQLVOuLV,Jos., Ay XV.235); as

a resultofthisappeal thecitycouncilissueda rulingthat the Jewswereto: xaTa T'a VOI4tUo'LVa N11 [o1ivayeOaL] xac

[sokXLTeU5FGOaL]xac

[bLabLx4aL5Ei]

tQog awftou'

(ibid. 260). I findit hardto believewithRajak, op. cit. (n. 79), iI6 and n. 35 there,thatthiswas uniqueto Sardis. See L. Roth-Gerson,'The Civil and ReligiousStatusof the Jews in Asia Minor fromAlexanderthe Great to Constantine336 B.C.-A.D. 337' (unpub. Ph.D. dissertation, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem,

I972), 65-)2

(Hebrew); T. Rajak, 'Jewishrightsin the Greek cities under Roman rule: a new approach', in W. S. Green (ed.), ApproachestoAncientyJudaism (I985), I9-36.


JESUS

SON

OF

BABATHA:

ROMAN

AND

LOCAL

LAW

IN

PROVINCE

OF ARABIA

101

Finallybut mostimportantly: whatconclusionsshouldbe drawnabout theauthorityand influenceof the Rabbis and of Halakhic Judaismat the time fromthe factthatJewsin this cornerofArabia, close to theborderwithJudaea,81althoughnot Hellenized Jews- formost of them sign in Aramaic - did not resortto Jewishlaws and practices in mattersthat concernedpersonallaw82and property?How shall we forthe totalabsence of Jewish law and Jewishlaw courtsin the Greek partofthe archive?83 The answermustbe thattheexistenceofa coherentand operativeJewishsystemoflaw at the time is therebycalled into question. Such a system,if alreadybeing formulatedin the schools of the Rabbis, has yetto become normative.It has certainlyleftno tracehere. 'It was only throughcenturiesof developmentthat [Rabbinic Judaism] became the 'normative' Judaismwhichit has oftenbeen assumedto have been fortheentireperiod'.84 This conclusion,althoughbased solelyon theGreekpartofthearchive- whichis all we haveso far- seemsto me hardlylikelyto changewiththepublicationoftherestofthearchive. It is trueofcoursethatBabatha's own marriagecontractis writtenin Aramaic,85and is said to be in harmonywiththe rulesformulatedin MishnahKethubboth.86 It seems thoughthatthe Greeklanguagetakesoverwithtime:typesofcontractthatwerewrittenbeforein Aramaicand Nabataean87are now writtenin Greek.88The marriagecontractof Shelamzion, Babatha's second husband's daughterfromhis otherwife(P.Yadini8, 5 April iz8), is writtenin Greek and so is thatof Salome-Komais ofP.Yadin 37 (7 August i3i).89 And when the documentis writtenin Greek, the rules formulatedin the Rabbinic schools seem no longerto apply. It reads thenlikea Greeklegal instrument.90 Once we accept,however,thattheJewsoftenused foreignlaws and practices- alongside theirown- theabsence of documentswitha distinctly Jewishflavourfromthe Greekpartof the archiveis not as strikingas it seemed at first.The Jewsused the Greek languageforthe same reason thattheyused Greek diplomatics,Greek practicesand Greek laws: theyhad to makesurethattheirdocumentswerevalid and acceptablein non-Jewish courtsoflaw, and that theycould be deposited'withthe public authorities',91 which mustreferto the cityarchives 81'En-gedi-the patria ofBabatha'ssecondhusband, Judahson ofEleazar,wherehe ownedproperty (P.Yadin i I; i 9-20) andwhere hisfirst wifewasliving (P.Yadinz6) -is alreadyin theprovinceofJudaea:x6tqs AlvyabUov nF,Qi IseFto!vTa-r5 Iovuia5La(P.Yaldin I6,1. I6). 82 The two marriage contractsin the archive(P.Yadin i8 and 37) havenothingdistinctly Jewishaboutthem;see A. Wasserstein, 'A marriagecontractfromtheprovinceof Arabia Nova: Notes on Papyrus Yadin I8', Jewish QuarterlyReview 8o (I989), I05-30 and J. Geiger,'A note on P.Yadin i8', ZPE 93 (i99z), 67-8; contraR. Katzoffin N. Lewis, R. Katzoffand J. Greenfield, 'Papyrus Yadin i8', IJ3J 37 (I987), 236-47; N. Lewis ralliesto Katzoff'sdefencein 'The world of P.Yadin', BASP 28 (I99I), see also Katzoff,'PapyrusYadin 35-4I; i8 again: A reder',YQR 82 (I99I), I7I-6 (wherethe is modified);idem,'P. Yadin i9: A interpretatioHebraica giftafterdeathfromthe Judaeandesert',Proceedingsof the TenthWorldCongressofJewishStudies,Jerusalem I989 Div. C, vol. I (I990), i-8 (Hebrew); 'An interpretation of P. Yadin i9 ... etc.', Proc. XXth Int. Congr. Papyrology I992 (forthcoming). 83See also the Greek remarriagecontractfromWadi Murabba'at(DJD ii, no. II5 of I24 C.E.): althoughit comes fromJudaea itself,it has nothingto markit as Jewishapart fromthe names; the same is true of an unpublishedmarriagecontractin Greek (said to come from Wadi Seiyal, but in all likelihood also from Nahal Hever), now in the RockefellerMuseum in Jerusalem.DJD ii, no. ii6 is too fragmentary, but I suspectthatthesameappliesto it (see below,n. 89). Strack-Stemberger, op. cit. (n. 46), 5f. Furthermore,we stillfindunresolveddisputesintheMishnah,see S. Cohen,'The significance ofYavneh: Pharisees,Rabbis and the end of sectarianism',HUCA 56 (1984), 27-53 im. "IP.Yadin I0 (unpub.). This contractis ofhersecond marriage,to Judahson of Eleazar Khthousion,between I22 and 125. 8 See Yadin, op. cit. (n. 6), 244-5. See L. J. Archer,

Her Price is Beyond Rubies: The Jewish Woman in

Graeco-Roman Palestine (I990),

I7I-88,

onthedevelop-

mentoftheJewishKettubahin Tannaitictimes.I do not accept, however,her interpretation of DJD II5 as a Jewishinstrument. "' The Nabataeancontractpublishedsometimeago by J. Starcky('Un contratNabateen sur papyrus',Revue Biblique 6i (954), i6i-8i), maywell have been partof thearchive; seeYadin,op. cit.(n. 6), 228-9; 242, n. 2I, andBowersock, op. cit.(n. IO), 340, sinceit mentions property(mrni- ganatha -'orchard') whichbelonged to Babatha'ssecondhusband'sfamilyand whichlateron edintoherhands; see P.Yadin 2 I, 1. I o and 22, 1. I I: yavvaONLxaQxog.This documentwillbe republishedas P.Yadin 36. 88WiththeexceptionoftheunpublishedP.Yadin 0-io, butthesebelongto theearlyI 20S. 89 cf. also the marriagecontractsin DJD II: two marriagecontractsin Aramaic:no. 20 is fromII6/7 C.E. ('theeleventhyearoftheProvince',i.e. Arabia); no. 2I iS probablyfromI 26/7 (assumingthat'twenty-one' refersto theprovince);and two marriagecontractsin Greek: nos I I5 (I24 C.E.) and I I6 (first halfofii C.E. accordingto the editors); the unpublished marriage contract in the RockefellerMuseum in Jerusalemdates fromI30 (see above, n. 83). On Jewishmarriagecontracts,see M. A. Friedman,Jrewish Mariage in Palestine:A Cairo Geniza Study: I: The KetubbaTraditionsofEretzIsrael; II: The Ketubba: Texts(I980). 90 I use 'Greek'herein thesenseused by Wasserstein, op. cit. (n. 82), to explainthe use of XT)VLXv;g vo'og in P.Yadin i8 and 37, namelyas thatamalgamof laws of variousoriginswhichseems to be called Hellenic in the RomanEast. I supposeGoodman,op. cit. (n. 45), means somethingsimilar by 'simple Semitic common law' (p. I6o) 'intowhichsomeGreekideashad crept'(p. I6I). 91 See the TFvXLtEL &La b?tooCv of P.Yadin I9, 11. 26-7 and the TEUXUoRsOL bLa b6%oLvov of P.Yadin 20, 1. 13 = 11.35-6.

H


I02

HANNAH

COTTON

used byJewswe learnforexamplefrommGittini.5: (&@XiLa). That thesewerefrequently 'Anywritis valid thatis drawnup in the registriesof thegentilesexcepta writof divorceor a writof emancipation.R. Simeon92says: "These, too, are valid; theywere not mentioned[as invalid]unless theywere preparedby such as werenot [authorized]judges".'93 I have been able to findonly two Tannaitic ages which explicitlydiscourageJews fromusinggentilecourts.Rabbi Tarfon,who livedbeforetheBar Kokhba revolt,94 is citedin a barayta in bGittin88b: 'In any place whereyou findgentilelaw courts,95even thoughtheir judgements[ 0'b' ] are the same as thoseof Israel, you mustnot resortto themsince it says, "These are thejudgementswhichthoushaltsetbeforethem"[Ex. 21 :I], thatis to say,"before them"and not beforegentiles.'This followsa discussionof whetheror not a deed of divorce givenundercompulsionby a gentilecourtis valid. The second age is again a commentary on Ex. 2 I:I, by Rabbi Eleazar ben Azariah,96cited in the Mekhilta d'R. Ishmael:9 'If the gentilespronouncejudgementsin accordance with Jewishlaw [+KXi1Uv' "Yll:) III], are their judgementsvalid? No, forit is written:"These are thejudgements":you judge thembut they do not judge you.'98The harshlanguageemployedby the Rabbis in the prohibitionon using gentilecourtsmaywell indicatethattheJewsdid use them.We mayassumethatin theabsence of a Jewishcourtin Maoza or its vicinity,the partieshad to attendnon-Jewishcourtswhere local customswere followed.Alternatively, perhapstheseJewspreferrednon-Jewishcourts. However thatmay be, theselocal customsseem at timesextremelyRoman in character,and the courtspreferredby the partiesturnout to be Roman. The restof the discussionwill be devotedto theformand shape of Romanizationin Arabia soon afteritsannexationas revealed in thisarchive. III

We have discovered (above, Sections I and II) that neitherthe 'law of the papyri' nor Jewishlaw explainsBabatha's situation.We maylook therefore morecloselyat Roman law.99 Women were excluded by Roman law fromthe exercise of guardianship: 'Feminae tutoresdari non possunt' (Dig. XXVI. I. I8); the fathercannotmake the mothera guardianof theircommonchildrenin his will: 'lure nostrotutelacommuniumliberorummatritestamento The factthatBabathaseemsto be excludedfromthe patrisfrustramandatur'(Dig. XXVI.2.26). guardianshipof her son also fitsthe Roman legal practice- thistimesubstantivelaw rather thanprocedure.'0? Althoughexcludedfromtheguardianshipofherchildren,themotheris expectedto take an interestin theirwelfare,and the guardianswould do well to heed the mother'sadvice, if to do so by thetestator- withno diminutionoftheircompetenceand responsibility instructed (Dig. XXVI.7.5.8).'0' The Senatus ConsultumTertullianumof Hadrianic date, whichgave a mother(withius triumliberorum)the rightto inheritfromher childrenin case of intestacy, made it her dutyunder sanctionto ensurethatguardianswere legallyappointed; should she 9 R. Simeonwithout meansR. Simeonben patronym Yohai (= Yohanan),thirdgeneration ofTannaim,c. I 30i6o, see Strack-Stemberger, op. cit. (n. 46), 83-4, buthe is clearlyreferring to an earlierrule(ItinT &'they were notmentioned'). 93 cf.tGittin I.4; bGittiniia; See G. Alon,TheYewsin their Land in theTalmudic Age(70-640C.E.) II (i984), 553-7; A. Gulak, Towards a Study of the Historyof Jewish Law in the Talmudic Period I(1929), s4ff. (Hebrew). 94 See Strack-Stemberger, op. cit. (n. 46), 8o; Heiman, op. cit. (n. 58), II, 524-9. 9 The HebrewhasAgorai'oth ( n xvi X ) fromdyoea. 9 He belongedto the second generationof Tannaim (90-I30);

of RabbanGamalielII, the contemporary

leaderofrabbinicJudaismbetween80/90-I I0, whomhe replacedtemporarily, Strack-Stemberger, op. cit.(n. 46), 76; 78. 9 Mekhilta 'is the Aramaic equivalent of Hebrew

midda or kelal, "rule, norm" ... the derivationof halakhah ['law'] from Scriptureaccording to certain rules', Strack-Stemberger, op. cit. (n. 46), 275. The Mekhiltad'R. Ishmaelis a commentary on somechapters of Exodus 'witha core going back to the school of R. Ishmael'[middleofthesecondcentury],althoughitsfinal redactiontook place 'in the second half of the third century',Strack-Stemberger, (above, n. 46) 278-9. 98 H. S. Horovitzand I. A. Rabin (eds), Mekhiltad'R. Ishmael (2nd edn, I960), 246. The two ages, however,are notunrelated:bothrefertomGittin9.8 and toEx. 2I: I ; see Juster,op. cit. (n. 73), II, 95f. 9 The followingdiscussionbenefited a greatdeal from thepertinent criticism ofJ. F. Gardner. 10I referto the mannerof appointingguardians,the tutoris datio describedabove. 101 'Viris bonis convenietsalubre consilium matris ittere. . .' etc.


JESUS

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LOCAL

LAW

IN PROVINCE

OF ARABIA

I03

102 However,thelaw stoppedshortof saying failto do so, she lost herclaim to theinheritance. that it was the duty of a motherto prosecute a guardian who failed in his duty (Dig. xxvI.6.4.4).103Finallyand mostcruciallyforthe discussionhere: 'even womenare itted but onlythosewho takethisstep as a familyduty, [to bringa chargeof untrustworthiness],10

(Dig. XXVI. I 0. I .7).105 as forexamplea mother'

We may examine Babatha's behaviourin the lightof thesestatements.Shortlyafterthe appointmentof theguardiansby the citycouncil of Petra,Babatha tookthecase againstthem to the governor,and to the governorof the province.106P.Yadin I3 is a petition(dcta) P.Yadin I4 is theactualsummonsofone ofthemto his court.'07It is onlyinP.Yadin I5 thatwe getthefullgroundsforhercomplaintagainstherson's guardians:(i) thattheydid notgiveher son 'the maintenancemoneycommensuratewiththe incomefromthe intereston his money but only halfa per cent (1. 7 = 11.22-3), which as we learn and the restof his property',108 to maintain (2) thatthe amountwas insufficient elsewherecame to two denariiper month;109 thestyleoflifetheboy was accustomedto (or his social standing?);110(3) thatiftheygave her the moneyon security,she could investit in such a way as to get 'a denariusand a half [per month]per hundreddenarii'(11.9-i = 1. 26). We do notknowat whatratetheguardianshad investedthemoney;theymayhaveinvested it at the usual rateof I2 per cent per annum and added to the capitalwhateverwas leftover aftertheygave the boy his allowance,unless we take the words et be , Eiat TOlTO [To [La(TvO]3tOi11Wa E1; &xaCw[ta

XE,ot,; yE(uQOl

TOv 6QPx1avovet Lo6vMEE. . . (11. 29-30)

to

mean that theyappropriatedthe profits."' At any event her last offerseems to implythat theyhad made a poor investmentwiththe money; she could get i8 per cent per annum.112

nonpetierit D0Tig.XXXVIII. 17.2.23 (Ulpian):'Si mater tutoresidoneosfiliissuis vel prioribusexcusatisreiectisve non confestimaliorumnominaediderit,ius non habet sibi bonorumintestatorum vindicandorum filiorum';cf. Dig. xxvi.6.2.2 (Modestinus);xxvI.6.4.2 (Tryphoninus); interpretation Gardner,op. cit.(n. 67), I4q, hasa different forthe purposeof the injunction;cf. CJ V.31.6: 'Matris pietas instruerete potest,quos tutoresfiliotuo petere debes,sed et observare,ne quid secusquam oportetin re filiipupilli agatur'(224 C.E., 'Your maternalpietycan youwhichguardiansto requestforyourson,but instruct also to see to it thathis propertyis being looked after mothers). properly';ibid., 8; 9; i i (evenunmarried 10i 'Quae autem suspectumtutoremnon fecit, nec incidit,quod eiusmodi verbisnec sententiaconstitutionis facta diiudicareet aestimarevirilisanimi est et potest etiamdelictaignoraremater. . .', see belowon thecrimen suspectitutoris. 0' The crimensuspectitutoris,see Dig. xxvi.I O; Inst. I.26. Kaser (RP2 (I97I), ? 88, p. 364) cautionsthatthe accusatio suspectimayhave applied in classicaltimesto testamentary guardiansonlyandnottothoseappointedby themagistrates. 105 'Quin immo et mulieresittuntur [suspectos postulare],sed hae solae, quae pietate necessitudinis ductaead hoc procedunt,ut putamater',butalso a nurse, a sisteras well as othersmotivatedby a grandmother, cf.Inst. I.26.3. pietasnecessitudinis; 10 Aboutfourmonthslater:see P. Yadin 13, 11.19-21. 07 P.Yadin 14, 11.28-9 seemto suggestthat'Abdobdas son of Ellouthaswas not guiltyof the same offencein Babatha's eyes; and althoughP.Yadin iS is directed RaaQTVQOV against both (irL T6)V ?7tntEXTfiEV)V XaTCL tLuaQTVQonoLTO(LToBac4aOaVUOwvogTOO Mavay,tuou 'Ioxivov'Iwo0[tov tolO 'Eyka [x]ai Apboopba 'EXkovOx 'Iooi' LTCTQO6Jo)v

'IhooiTos

vtoif

clftfg

6Q(Pavo-3

('before the attendingwitnessesBabatha daughterof Simon son of Menahem deposed againstJohn son of JosephEglas and 'Abdoobdasson ofEllouthas,guardians ofherson Jesusson ofJesus,appointedguardiansforthe said orphan'),11.3-4 = 11. 17-19; cf. 11.32-3), theactual summonsis given only againstJohnson of Eglas: bri doMo6aocw Fl?Qi Tfj dnELOapC(Xag ovo(the governor) TG)V TQO4OLWV EaQTVy?LXa Eyd BaciaOa 'I1dvn T) JrQOy?-

NVEi TWV tnlTQOtO)V TOO 6Q40avoO ('before whomI, Babatha,summonedtheaforesaidJohn,one of theguardiansoftheorphanforhisrefusalofdisbursement of the [appropriate]maintenancemoney') 11. II-I2 = 11. 28-9. Perhapsat this pointshe has to serveseparate summonsto eachofthem. yQaREvQ),

108al 1tT5,u&g L bE&Ox&vaMT( 10P t,O[V6Q(pav6)] V lb[]V%Uv V T[6x]'oV &Qy[o]Q(oo ;tQtog 11. 5-7 aftou, alft0o xai TlOV XOLJtov ntaQX6VTWv

TQO(la

11. 20-I.

09FromP.Yadin i3, 11. 19-24: xai

of ;tQo W6vdv

7TXELW XaTaOTaOVTE; 3tnLTQO7TOL [i5;t]O 001XiOV TO[vJ nETQa[C]Jv Apboopba EXXooOa xai'LIwavq ['EyAJa ofjb[f a[i6TOL TQ]OqpLa

TEOO[&QjOV

x[alt

TO[V 6QjqavoO E6&xa[v] Et ti1 t,[ovjovbrjvEQLabi1W [xaTaa,ijiva, itfollowsthattheyhad400 denariito invest;

see also a receiptforsix denariiforthreemonths,P.Yadin 27.

110P.Yadin I5,

7to; 11. 6-7 = 1. 22: xac IaLXO xo[oa] ... ac]bTC (for the reading see Lewis ad loc., pp. 62-3). The recentpublicationof 'Annual of a Guardian'from219 C.E. (P.Oxy. 3921-2 see above, n. 39), allows us to compareJesus' one: thetwoboys' allowancewithan earlythird-century maintenancecame to 99 dr. per month = roughly8 denarii,i.e. 4 denariiper child; twice as much as that providedfor Babatha's son. Babatha mighthave had groundsforcomplaint. Lewis translates:'Otherwisethis depositionwill from evidenceof[your]profiteering serveas documentary the moneyof the orphanby giving...', p. 6I; see also Lewis, op. cit. (n. I9), iii: '[shel is hereaccusingthe fromtheirtrustby pocketingthe guardiansof profiting restoftheinterest themselves'. 112 The usual rateseemsto be 12 per centper annum, see P.Yadin II, 11.6-7 = 11. 20-2. Lewis suspectsthat'a usurioussqueeze' is concealedin theerasureoffortyand insertion ofsixtyin 1.3 oftheinnertext:'he theinterlinear was compelled to sign the note for sixtydenarii but actuallyreceivedonlyfortydenariiin hand' (p. 41). This would yield an interestof more than 6o per cent per annum, see M. Broshi, 'Agricultureand economyin Roman Palestine:seven notes on the Babatha archive', 6[LELkCiavV

11742

(1992),

239-40.


HANNAH COTTON

I04

Withsuch an incomeshe could ensurethather 'son ... be raised in splendid stylerendering thanksto the[se]mostblessed timesofthegovernorshipofJuliusJulianus'."13 It is somewhatsurprisingto findherean echo of the imperialmentof the good timesusheredin by Nerva and Trajan. When Plinythe Younger asked Trajan to bestowthe praetorshipon AttiusSura, he assured the emperorthathis friend'is encouragedto hope for such an honour by his distinguishedantecedents,his exceptionalintegrityin the midst of poverty,and, above all, by thehappinessofyourtimeswhichencouragesyourbest citizensto make use of your paternal indulgence' (Pliny, Ep. X. I2).114 This is not the only Roman styleoflifetheboy sentimentin thisdocument.Babatha's demandforan incomebefitting'the is accustomed to"'" is familiarfromthe Roman juristicsources dealing with guardianship: 'Since a guardianis put in chargenot onlyof his ward's property,but also of his conductand character,he should not assign the lowestpossible wages to the teachers,but [pay them] in accordance withtheresourcesof theinheritanceand therank of thefamily; he will provide maintenanceforthe slaves and freedmen,sometimeseven forthose outside the household if thiswillbe advantageousto thewardetc.' (Dig. XXVI 7 2.3) ;116 'a guardianhas to considerthe rank and the resources of his ward in estimatingthe number of slaves who are to be in

attendance' (Dig.XXVI.7.

I3.pr.).

17

It looksas ifwhoever familiar composedthedocumentwas

withRoman turnsof thoughtand sentiment,and perhapswithRoman legal argumentation; he was certainlyacquaintedwiththeimperialpropagandaof'thesemostblessed times'. We maywell inquireintoherreasonsfornotapproachingthecitycouncilofPetra:118 was it her fear that they mightnot prove impartial,since it was they who had appointed the guardians, or was there some other, technicalor legal, obstruction?Were charges against guardianswithintheexclusivecompetenceofthegovernorofthe province? The legal sourcesoffersome help here. As pointedout above, a mothercould laycharges againstan untrustworthy guardianand askforhis removalunderthecrimensuspectitutoris.119 'There was no definitelistofgroundsofremoval;itwas at thediscretionoftheCourt'.'20'The rightof removinguntrustworthy (suspectos)tutors'was granted'at Rome to the praetorsand in theprovincesto theirgovernors'(Dig. XXVI. 10. .3)I121 I Furtheron in thesame sourcewe are told that'a guardianwho does not use his resourcesto provideforhis ward is untrustworthy The instructionin CJ V.50.I fitsour case and can be removed' (Dig. XXVI.I1.3.14).122 irably:'If a guardiandoes not providemaintenanceto his ward, the lattermay approach theprovincialgovernor'.123Althoughtherulepostdatesour textby almosta hundredyears(it dates from2I5 C.E.), it may well have been in forceearlier. Whetheraware of these legal niceties or not (or alerted to them by her lawyers), Babatha confidentlyapproaches the governoroftheprovince,and no one else, withhercomplaintagainsttheguardians. 113 O'Ov XatmQdo&aaowf Ftov6 uto; vbXaQLOt6Cv (11. io-ii: bXaQLoToivTa) xaLeo rO!; paxaeQtwriroLt = (11. IO-II hyF,uOv,ag'IovXtov'IovXiavoi,hFrttdOvog 11.26-7). Fergus Millar remindsme of Acts 24:2 (the rhetorTertullusto Felix): noXXs dQnVn TUXCVOV W

&ac GOv, xciL o(OQOOWtc,TO)V xOvF1 yLVOIWV T(O

T UTOi 6Ia

Tii uij uQovo'ag('Seeing thatby thee we enjoy great quietnessand thatveryworthydeeds are done untothis nationbythyprovidence'). 14 'Ad quam spem [sc. praeturae] ... hortaturet nataliumsplendoret summa integritasin paupertateet anteomniafelicitastemporum, quae bonamconscientiam civium tuorumad usum indulgentiaetuae provocatet attollit';cf. Pliny, Ep. x.58.7: 'Quaedam sine dubio, Quirites,ipsafelicitastemporum edicit';Tacitus,Agr.3.1: NervaTralanus'; 'augeatquecotidiefelicitatem temporum Hist. I. I : 'raratemporum felicitateubi sentirequae veliset quae sentiasdicerelicet'. 115 Above,n. iio. 116 'Cum tutornonrebusdumtaxat,sed etiammoribus pupillipraeponatur,imprimismercedespraeceptoribus, non quas minimaspoterit,sed profacultatepatrimonii, prodignitatenataliumconstituet, alimentaservislibertisque, nonnumquametiamexteris,si hoc pupilloexpediet, praestabit... etc.'; cf. (C v.so.2: 'ut arbitriopraetoris alimentapro modo facultatum pupillis vel iuvenibus andDig. XXVII.2. I: 'si veropraetornonest constituantur'; aditus,pro modofacultatum pupillidebetarbitrioiudicis

117 'Tutor secundumdignitatem facultatesquepupilli modum servorumaestimare debet'. Lewis, op. cit. (n. i9), iio, citesCGL III, 36, 5-14: 'Adrianusdixit curatori: "propterhoc ergo datus es, ut fame neces pupillum?pro modo ergofacultatisalimentaei praesta"' ('Hadriansaid to a guardian:"Was itforthispurposethat we appointedyou,so thatyouwouldstarveyourwardto death?Give himprovisionsin accordancewithhis (your) means!"'). 118 Assumingthat nominationimpliesjurisdiction in mattersarisingfromit,see Isaac, op. cit. (n. io), 63-4.

119 Atnn.99-Ioo.

See Bucklandand Stein,op. cit. (n. 29), I6o. 'Damus autem ius removendisuspectos tutores Romae praetoribus,in provinciispraesidibus earum' (Ulpian,AdEdictum35); cf.Inst. I.26.I. 12 'Tutor, qui ad alimentapupillopraestandacopiam sui nonfaciat,suspectusestpoteritqueremoveri', Ulpian, Ad Edictum35. 123 'Pupillus,si ei alimenta a tutoresuo nonpraestantur, praesidemprovinciaeadeat',see M. Lemosse,'Le proces de Babatha',TheIrishJurist3 (i968), 372ff.,whofindsin this claim the explanationfor her approachingthe governor rather than the boule who appointed the guardians.Lewis, op. cit. (n. III), maintainsthatshe is chargingtheguardianswithfraud. 120

121

aestimari'.


JESUS

SON

OF BABATHA:

ROMAN

AND

LOCAL

LAW

IN PROVINCE

OF ARABIA

I05

It has to be emphasized thatat no stage does she contestthe guardianshipor ask to be made guardianherself.Z. W. Falk'24and B. Klein'25arewrongto maintainthatBabatha's first offer(whichtheguardiansmusthave rejected)to lend hertheorphan'smoneyon security126is tantamountto a requestto have theguardiansremovedso as to be made guardianherself.On the contrarythis proposal demonstratesthat she recognizedtheirultimateauthority.'27If anythingshe was seekingcompensation,as thepresenceoftheactio tutelae inP.Yadin 28-30 ittedlythe presenceof these documentshere is disconcerting;the seems to suggest.128 legal proceedingsand remediesenvisionedin themare quite distinctfromthoseofthecrimen suspectitutoris,so fardiscussed. - and to make The use oftheformulary system,in a provincialsetting,betweenperegrini province- has naturallyinvitedmuchspeculamattersmorecomplicated,in a newly-created tion.12 In addition,the language of the textbooksleaves no room fordoubt thatactions on tutelagebecame availableonlywhenthetutelagehas ended: itcould be ended eitherwhen the wardcame ofage or by thedeathofeithertheguardianor theward (Dig. xxviI. 3 .4pr) .130 This certainlyis notthecase here.We knowthatJesuswas a minoras lateas I9 August I 32, thedate ofP.Yadin 27, the latestdated documentin the archive.There his motheracknowledgesthe receiptof maintenancemoneyfromhis guardian,Simon 'the hunchback'.The latteris, as we learn,theson ofJohnson ofEglas, one ofJesus'twoguardians;he had been appointedby the council of Petra to replace his father.'13Thus neitherthe death of one of the guardiansnor Jesus'comingof age can forthe presenceof threecopies of the actio tutelae in our archive.Variousexplanationshave been offered.132It has been claimedthatwe have evidence fromEgyptthat'theactio tutelaemayalso be entereddurantetutela'.133 This is tantamountto sayingthattherewereno fixedrulesand thatthesystemaccommodatedmorethanthelegalists would assume. At the veryleast the presenceof the threecopies of theactio tutelae suggests thatwhoeversupplied Babatha withthemacted in thebeliefthattheycould be put to use.131 Since theyare Roman legal instruments, theywereintendedfora Roman courtoflaw, thatis forthegovernor'scourt.135 Babatha may well have been misinformedabout the applicabilityof the actio tutelae in hercase; was she also wrongabout theaccessibilityoftheRomangovernor?In thenextsection will be examined. theroleof Roman authorityas arbitrator

124

toJewishLaw oftheSecond CommonIntroduction

wealthII

(1978), 330-

125 'Die Stellungder Frau in Judentum:Rabbinische Initiativeoder Legitimation?Demonstriertam Beispiel (unpub. Magisterdes judischenVormundschaftsrechts' arbeit, Hochschule fur JudischeStudien, Heidelberg, I9 ?26 1), 44-5P.Yadin I5, 11. 23-6 = 11. 7-IO: ([xouv]a

130 'Nisi finitatutelasit tutelaeagi non potest:finitur autemnon solum pubertate,sed etiammortetutorisvel

pu1pilli'; cf.XXVII.3.9.4. 31 BafiaOa; XCtuiv]og ...

O 6QYUQLoV] ob [Tof) lTQaxo[VTa] d6[(OxpEaJ toTi[tJov tOl 6QWavov, &O 71QOELaQTUQo7UoLTha LVC et QlOV Ol' ofV .L t^lXv '!VaX O0XEZ t0] 0tov dmpaxdag ... 3tEQ'L 1bnrOi'X% TiV 1JntaQXo6vTOV

X(ttuoViXUQT 'IOxivov 'EyXa [T1]gXaOit[j] Ma(Otag xa69Q[v] (oov 6ut&Q ov ztR6Tov xaXaTaraOoS [c. i6 lettersmissing] 6p vov lab[o03ovsxiHIExQQ]atv'Imo[i5JovbIooovo o9c Ftou('Babathas (sic) daughterof Simon ... to v(-oi3J] SimonthehunchbacksonofJohnsonofEglas, ofthesaid Maoza, greetings.You having been appointedby the councilof Petrato be the secondguardianof myorphan son Jesusson of Jesus'). Lewis rightlyholds that 'the

of the orphan'sthat you have, thereforeI previously deposed in orderthatyou mightdecide to give me the money on security... involvinga hypothecof my etc.). property', N Wolff,op. cit. (n. 2), 8oi; Wolff,op. cit. (n. 42),

Even withoutthatexplicitstatement, thenamesaloneare sufficient torevealthatthesonhad succeededthefatheras thesecondguardianofBabatha'sson' (p. I1 7) . 132 Lemosse, op. cit. (n. 59), 375-6; E. Seidl, 'Ein StudiG. Papyrusfund zumklassischen Zivilprozessrecht',

EXETE

equivalentin valuetothismoney xTX.('as I haveproperty

287.

topaytheamountof A similarcase oftutorsrefusing maintenancemoneystipulatedin the will to the person withwhomthe orphansare livingis mentionedin Dig. xxxIII.I.7pr., discussed by Watson, op. cit. (n. ii), i43f.; but the implicationof the ruling there, if I is thatsuchconductdoes notgive understanditcorrectly, rise to actio tutelae; in fact, the tutorsrun the risk (periculum)of beingsued by meansof the actio if they spendtoo muchon livingexpenses. 129 For the norm, see Kaser, Das romischeZivilprozessrecht(I966), ii9f.; forspeculationson P.Yadin 28-30, see Wolff,op. cit. (n. 2), 784-8 withthe older citedin thenotes. literature 128

lacunais likelyto have been &VTL

WtO naTQw06 Jou.

Grosso iI (I968), 345-61-

133 Taubenschlag, op. cit. (n. 21), i68 and n. 6o. However,onlyone of the examplescited thereis of an actio tutelae,and even thisone (BGU 136 (I3S C.E.) = M.Cr. 86) takesplace afterthewardcame of age, see 0. Gradenwitz,'Protocolvon Memphisaus Hadrianischer Zeit', Hermes 28 (i893), 321-34; A. Biscardi,'Nuove testimonianze di un papiroarabo-giudaico perla storiadel processoprovincialeromano',Studi in Onoredi Gaetano Scherilloi (I972), I i6-17 has no otherevidence. 134

See Biscardi, op. cit. (n. 133), i4o-5 ifor

on theoriginofsuchcopies. 135 See below,Appendixii.


conjectures

io6

HANNAH

COTTON IV

Babatha first(P. Yadin

second half of I24)

approaches the governor(nr9Eof3Evtfi the exact contentof which is now lost. Nevertheless,the sequel demonstratesthat her petitionwas answered and that she was instructedto proceed. In P.Yadin I4 Babatha uses theparangelia procedure,knownto us fromEgyptianpapyri: a summons to appear beforethe governor'scourt; in the Egyptian papyri, however, the petitionis addressed to the strategoswho serves it on the plaintiff through his subordinate (the bn1Q7rTn) 36 Here these links in the chain are missing; Babatha herselfserves the summons on the defendants:137 'beforethe attendingwitnesses Babatha daughterof Simon, son of Menahem ... summoned (naQ vyLXEv) John son of I summon Joseph Eglas ... saying: on of your not having given ... etc.... (naQavy_XXw)you to attend at the court of the governor Lulius lulianus in Petra [the metropolisof] Arabia [untilwe are heard] at thetribunalin Petra.'138 It seemsthatas a rulea petitionto thegovernorprecededa summons.This we learnfrom a latersuitin whichBabathawas involved.In P. Yadin 25 (9 JulyI 3I) lulia Crispinasummons Babatha to appear beforethegovernorin Petra: 'I now summon(naQavyFXXCo) you pursuant to thesubscription(i[zoy9aJ>) ofhis Excellencythegovernorto accompanyme to Petra.'139 Clearlythe governor'ssubscriptionwas affixedto a petitionsubmittedto him previouslyby lulia Crispina. Babatha repliesthatseeingthatshe has been summonedto the governor,she too has given (I6coxa) a petition(nwtaxtv) to the governorand he has writtenunder it a in Petra.140 subscription(Q6nFy"Qa]V4v [ot) to performthe legal formalities Thus the sequence 'petition- subscription- summons' should be assumed to have existed also in Babatha's suit against the guardians, even though the middle stage is not explicitlypresent.Furthermore,everywherein the archiveit is assumed by the litigantsthat theycan presentthemselvesor call on othersto attend,whenevertheywish and in whichever assize centrethegovernormightbe.'14Thus Besas son ofJesussummonsBabatha 'to meethim beforeHateriusNepos legateand propraetorin Petraor elsewherein his province. . .';142and Babatha forestallslulia Crispina'ssummonsto appear beforethegovernorin Petralaterin the herto appearbeforehim year(P.Yadin25, 9 JulyI3I, 11.7-20 = 11.37-54),bysummoning now in Rabbath-Moab.143 FinallyBabatha summonsMiriam,her late husband's firstwife,to appear with her beforethe governorHaterius Nepos 'whereverhe happens to be exercising justicein theprovince... and to attendbeforethesaid Nepos untiljudgement'.144 P.Yadin 27, fromI9 August I32, the latestdated documentfromthearchiveand the last one to deal with the guardianshipof Jesus, shows Babatha acknowledgingthe receipt of maintenancemoneyin theamountofsix denariiofsilverfora periodofthreemonths:thesum .f3aUtov UvtLVtQcLtayTp)

I3,

with a petition (iowx),

136 On the parangelia in Egypt, see Kaser, op. cit. (n. I29), 374; Taubenschlag,op. cit. (n. 21), 5ooff.; G. Foti Talamanca,Ricerchesul processonell' EgittoGrecoRomanoIL.i: Introduzionedelgiudizio(I979), 65ff.and 81-2,

n. 72 fora list.

A muchlaterexampleofthisisP.Colt 29 (590 C.E.), wheretheeditorobservesthat'The documentis unique, 137

since taQaQyyFkLaL havehitherto been knownonlyby

reference,principallyin petitionscontaininga request that a summonsto appear in court be served to the accused'. 138 P.Yadin I4 (II or 12 October 125): ?tn TudV

Bac4aOa XEovog nLPF34X1j&flLVoV ilfQUAQWV 3a QJvyL[kev OOL taQEFbQEFVaL T0o1 Mavai]Thov ... bLO tapavyFokkW

[tnd |3tiajto;

[I&rxQq

'Iov ov

[RioT6XQOnOL -ijJ

X0vO6U40FV

'IoLkLavov hyptdwvog?v

f]V T(O ?V [I4'[T,a

'AQapc4ag

oiD

[ttXQL

TQLPOVVaLq

(11.

bLa-

20-32).

A reference to thesummonsinP.Yadin 14 canbe foundin P.Yadin I5 (of the same date): ?ni o0 [sc. 'Iovk(ov 'IovXLavov 1FyEIi6vo;] ntEQL tf5 &ntELOaQXELca; ?yw -QOq6@wv naQ1vyELka &nob60oEWg TV BaP3aOa MIDWv -TQO4 &v, ?VEL TCOV 3tLTQO3T(OVTOV) tQyEyaFI = 28 (11. I see n. I-I2, above, 107). 6QPaVOf) 139 [JT]aQavy?XXw OOL xaTa' T'iv toyQawp]Tv Tov oavvFeskXsv abn ?-5 xQaTioTou hyp,Iovog [H14pTQav](11.6-8). 140 ?Jtl

tQo

TOii

taQyLQVyLX;

ttiE

[ AbQLCaVTV

... xai []y[E]ova [L&rQaV nQt6 TrOv] xQapTL]o[T0]ov b6wxa xaO' Ibt]6v tLTTaTXLVT13 xp[a&TO]GTQ i-yE6OvL v IOL [?tg L]&rQp[av oiV IAt]Z[vT]a xai [tiypQa]c4

XQ6ak]aL (11. 15-21). lv6IALJlAa

141 Thus I cannotagreewithIsaac, op. cit.(n. io), 64-5 that 'this demonstratesthe hardshipscaused by the Romanjudicialsystem,whichforced provincialsto travel to assize cities'(italicsmine); theredoes not seem to be anyquestionofcoercion. 42 P.Yadin23 (I7 November 130), 11.I-5 = 11.io-i6: 'Besas son of Jesus ... ?5 [I`Qav ' akkov ?v Tfi

a'Tov bcaQX'Lq'.

143 See Lewis on 11.2I and 55 (p. 112). 144 P.Yadin 26, 11. 2-i i: 'Babatha...

summoned

Miriam... to accompanyher in personbeforeHaterius Nepos ... 'onou av p' i5t' aiov ntaqX[O]a... xaL taQb6QEV[Lv ?i T'OV afTov N?rwTa ?WXQL 6Layv?Ox g'. I translate o5nov av i i5t' aixoTI btaQX[]a by 'whereverhe happens to be exercisingjustice in the province'in agreement withwhatLewis sayson p. 115: it doesnotmeanherea subdivisionoftheprovince,andpace Isaac it can hardlybe used as evidencethat'Arabiawas dividedintodistricts calledhyparcheia',cf. Isaac, op. cit. (n. io), 69. One would have expected somethinglike here, as in P.Yadin 14, 1. 14: iq ?; -1 V naQovoya aiErovieyLota naQ[lovcTav (cf. 11.32-3 and Lewis, p. 57 on naQovoLa),buttheu beforenaQ [ is veryclear.


JESUS

SON

OF BABATHA:

AND

ROMAN

LOCAL

LAW

IN PROVINCE

OF ARABIA

I07

Eithershe dropped herchargesagainsttheguardiansor of moneyhad not been increased.145 the governorruled againsther. Whicheverexplanationwe choose to accept, thereseems no good reasonto assumethatBabatha'sconfidencein thegovernor'saccessibilitywas unfounded 146 ormisguided.

Was therecourseto Roman law and Roman courtsrequiredby the Roman authorities?147 This would be out ofcharacterwiththerestofthearchive- as well as withmuchevidenceto thecontraryfromotherpartsofthe Roman world- wheretheinitiativeis seen to be takenby thesubjects.There is nothingin thedocumentswe havereviewedhereto suggestthatrecourse to Roman law and Roman courtswas anythingbut voluntarilyadopted. Withoutcoercionor the verypresenceof the Romans as the supremeauthorityin attemptsto impose uniformity, the provinceinvitedappeals to theirauthority,to theircourts as well as to theirlaws. The provincialsseem morethanwillingto let the centralgovernmenthandle theirdisputes; they take the troubleof preparingblank formsof the actio tutelae, of searchingforRoman legal argumentsand of introducinginto theirpersonalclaims Roman propaganda slogans of 'the most blessed times'. They are active and enterprisingin invitingintervention.Having previouslyused Aramaicand Nabataean, theynow resortto Greek in theirlegal documents, forno otherreason,itseems,thanto makethemvalid in a Romancourtoflaw. No othercourts occur in thisarchive,and thereis no good reason forassumingthatNabataean and Aramaic could notbe used in a local court. Most of the people involvedin thisarchiveare Jews; but, as thereis nothingspecifically justifiedin regardingtheJewsas Jewishabout the Greek partof thearchive,we are perfectly representativeof the provincials in general. Moreover, they representthat part of the provincialpopulationwhichwas less taintedby the 'epigraphichabit' of the Graeco-Roman world,i.e. theycome fromtheless Hellenized sectionoftheprovincialpopulation,thosewho would have leftus no inscriptions- in thiscase thegreatmajorityofthepopulation.Precisely because of this we can be sure that theirdealings with the Roman authoritiesconstitutea faithfulpictureofthe realitiesof lifein the province. APPENDIX I

Havingexploredthe Romanlegalsystemto explainBabatha'sappeal to the governorof the different namelythat hypothesis, province,I wouldliketo raise,withall due caution,an altogether therefore, replacedinthis underNabataeanlawsuchcasescamebeforetheKing;theRomangovernor, We knowverylittleabout Nabataeanlegalpractices- and mostof our instanceroyalauthority. derivesfromthisarchive,to whichas we haveseen(above,n. 87) theNabataeancontract knowledge wasinvolvedinprivate belongs;butitseemsthatroyalauthority agobyJ.Starcky publishedsometime ofthefinetobe endwith'a specification as witnessed byP. Yadin1-3 whereallthreecontracts contracts, of thecontract, bothto thevendorand to the non-observance paid, in theeventofthepurchaser's and to our lordRabel thekinglikewise")',Y. Yadin, X Nabataeanking:("nivD inP.YadinS (2 June isrendered intoGreekandappliedtotheEmperor op. cit.(n. 6), 24I. Thisformula ] JtQOyyQTQanTaL x[ ] xai KaiWaQL6oaiVO IIO), frg.a, col. ii, 11.q-II: 8[L]JtXO4[V] TOV[ op. cit. (above,n. IO), 340). One neednotgo hereintoanyextended ... (pointedoutbyBowersock, when localpractices, especially acceptedandcontinued to provethattheRomansfrequently argument ofthe clausesforthebenefit theirown(forprivatecontracts containing contradict theydidnotdirectly JRS 53 (I963), 37-8). Likewise,royal fiscus,see F. Millar,'The fiscusin the firsttwocenturies', P.Yadin 2 (from oftheunpublished as witnessed bya comparison becameimperialproperty property 99 C. E.): 1tn

15'

5X:1

' mwim nn xrwl-'to

the Nabataeans'(Yadin, ibid.,

240-I)

thesouththegroveofour lord Rabel theking,kingof

and P. Yadin i 6, 11. 23-4:

KaivaQog. On themeaningof,uooXavTLx1,see Bowersock,ibid., 341. 145

Seeabove,atn. IO9.

Goodman,op. cit. (n. 5), 172, quite rightlydraws attentionto theabsencefromthedocumentsofevidence 'for an effectivelocal rulingclass interposedbetween ordinaryprovincialsand the machineryof the Roman shouldmakeiteasierto acceptthe state';thisobservation inthe and involvement viewofthegovernor's accessibility legalaffairsoftheperegrini in theprovincesput forward 146

ylTOVEg

tOOXaVTLX1

XVQOV

some timeago by G. Burtonin 'Proconsuls,assizes and of justiceunderthe empire',JRS 63 the istration (I973),

esp.101-2.

no isconcerned, Asfaras jurisdiction

distinctionshould be made between proconsulsand legati. 147 cf. Wolff,op. cit. (n. 2), 788ff.; Isaac, op. cit. (n. io), 64-5 and see n. 14I above.


io8

HANNAH

COTTON

APPENDIX

II

There is some evidenceforlimitationson the competenceof local courtsin cases involvingtutela. The Lex IrnitanaIXA <84>, 11.io-ii (JRS 76 (i986), I75) makesit quite clear thatthe local duovir who is in chargeoftheistration ofjustice('qui ibi iuredicundopraeerit')does nothave jurisdiction in cases involvingtutela. (See A. Rodger,'The jurisdictionoflocal magistrates:Chapters84 ofthe Lex Irnitana',ZPE 84 (I990), I47-5I.) Furtheron, though,thereis a mitigatingcircumstancein whichthe duovir can exercisejurisdiction(11.I7-i8): 'and even about these mattersif each of the two partiesis willing' ('de is rebus etiam, si uterque interquos ambig{er}etur volet'). One could mentionalso the provisionin the municipalcharterknownas the FragmentumAtestinumto the -effect that municipal magistratesmightappointa judge in cases involvingtutela onlywhen the sum of moneyinvolveddoes notexceed io,ooo sesterces,or 2,500 denarii(FIRA I2, no. 20, 11.I-7). This sum ofmoneyhappensto be mentionedtwice as -theupper limitin the actio tutelae containedin P.Yadin 28-30: judges are to be appointedonly ifthe matterinvolvesup to 2,500 denarii; and again: theirjudgementcannot involvea sum ofmoneywhichwill exceed 2,500 denarii.But see theEdictumAugustideAquaeductu Venafrano, FIRA I2, no. 67,11. 6sff.whichmentionsthe same sum of money; perhapsthe sum of io,ooo sesterces was used arbitrarily forconvenience,and no special significanceshould be attachedto it (I owe boththe observationand the referenceto ProfessorM. Crawford).Moreover,assumingthatit is the governor ratherthanlocal magistrateswho would issue theactio tutelae,itis hardto see whya limitwas setat all in the presentcase. The Hebrew University ofyerusalem


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