JOSEPHUS, SUETONIUS, AND TACITUS ON MILITARY SERVICE OF THE JEWS OF ROME: DISCRIMINATION OR NORM? Samuel Rocca Introduction This essay will discuss the well-known episode in which 4,000 Jews – liberti who were probably all Roman citizens – were sent to Sardinia as soldiers in 19 CE to repress brigands. The episode, which took place during the reign of Tiberius, is noted by Josephus, Suetonius, and Tacitus and provides a suitable opportunity to relect on the status of the Jews in the Roman army. This essay will focus on four main issues: the expulsion itself; the status of the Roman Senate decree in 19 CE regarding Jewish military service; how the Jews integrated into the army; and why they were sent speciically to Sardinia. With respect to the irst issue, the expulsion of 19 CE, it seems, de facto, that most of the Jews living in Rome were not expelled, neither those who enjoyed full Roman citizenship – these were the minority – nor those of servile status. The two categories threatened with expulsion were the Jews who enjoyed the status of liberti and the foreign Jews, or peregrini. The Jews who held the status of liberti were drafted into the army and sent to Sardinia, and there is no reason to believe that their families did not continue to live in Rome undisturbed. Thus, only a small segment of the Jews living in Rome was expelled, namely those who held the status of peregrinus, and this did not include Jews elsewhere in Italy. This being the case, it is important to analyze the confrontation between the Senate – which legislated the expulsion of the peregrini Jews living in Rome, as well as the draft of the liberti into the army – Italia 20.indb 7 8/3/10 12:54:03 PM