166 292
166
györgy spiró
basket; it was the source
of the free grain, of which
Jews who had been granted
citizenship also partook.
Anyone who disturbed Egypt
would bring serious famine
down on Rome. Anthony had
been the last to try it, but his
navy was defeated at Actium
by Octavian, who became the
Emperor Augustus. He then
prohibited Roman senators
and legionnaires from visiting
Egypt. Tiberius must have
presumed that Germanicus,
passing through Judaea, had
cut a deal with the Jews living
there that they would stand
by him if a war were to break
out with Egypt. Indeed, it is
quite certain that this was
his thinking. Otherwise, why
not expel Egyptians, who
lived separately from the
Jews in Transtiberim, along
with the Jews? Germanicus,
subsequently, was fatally
poisoned. The rumor was that
the emperor had dismissed
the previous governor of
Judaea, Valerius Gratus, for
meeting with Germanicus,
although it would have been
difficult for him not to meet
with the emperor’s adopted
son when he was wandering
around Judaea. The matter
was of little importance,
one governor being much
the same as another viewed
from Rome. But this particular
event did become noteworthy
because the emperor waited
seven years before relieving
Gratus, which was not a sign
of forgetfulness but rather,
according to political analysts,
precisely the opposite: he
never forgot and sooner or
later would take vengeance
for sure. It was unusual, by
the way, for Emperor Tiberius
to replace procurators and
prefects, choosing rather to