JEWISH EXEMPTIONS FROM ROMAN MILITARY SERVICE: A REPLY
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14795/j.v11i3.1030Keywords:
Jews, Military Service, Social Integration, Exemptions, Roman Army.Abstract
In my 2022 book I presented the line of interpretation put forward by H. Olshanetsky, according to whom sporadic exemptions from military service which the Roman authorities exclusively granted to Jews in the East are sufficient to prove that Jews were routinely recruited to serve in the Roman army. This same author insinuates a number of inappropriate objections in a paper entitled “The Best Evidence for Jewish Service in the Roman Army: A New Look at the Jewish Exemptions from Military Service as Appearing in Josephus, and Jewish Military Service in the Late Republic and Early Principate”, published in issue no. 10.3, 2023 of this Journal, to which this paper is intended as a forceful rejoinder. Indeed, not only do I posit that Olshanetsky wrongfully omits and misinterprets my contributions on several occasions, I also would also like to point out some unacceptable methodological errors in his research.
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