From the Four Corners of the Mediterranean Sea: Testimonies of Non-Roman Jews in Late Ancient Rome (2nd–4th cent. CE)

Abstract

This paper deals with an often overlooked topic, namely the presence of non- Roman Jews in 2nd –4th century Rome, through a thorough study of the epigraphical material from the Jewish catacombs of Rome still available to us. After identifying the main places of origin of those foreign Jews, I aim to determine their integration into the broad Jewish Roman community as well as the diverse ways they sought to preserve their specific non-Roman identities, with a special focus on epigraphical practices peculiar to their local origin.