177 292
177
captivity
he often went on strolls on
the other side of the Tiber. In
Rome, Jews could go wherever
they pleased, and Uri, thanks
to his grandfather, who had
scraped together the money
from his work as a slave to
pay for his manumission, got
married, begot a son, then
died straight after—thanks to
him, the grandson, Uri, had
been born a Roman citizen.
Jewish though he was, he
was a Roman citizen with full
rights, so he did not pay the
taxes that were imposed on
non-Romans and non-Italians.
Indeed, he was given money
by Rome: through his patron’s
intervention, he was awarded
the
tessera
, which he was
entitled to under the law since
the age of fourteen, although
the magistrate was perfectly
able to string this out for
years if some big shot did not
snap at them. He had drilled
a hole in the small lead token
and wore it hidden under his
tunic, slung low on his neck so
it would not be stolen, and he
would feel for it compulsively
at frequent intervals.
If he showed it at the biggest
distribution center on the
Campus Martius, he would
receive the monthly ration of
grain that was due to paupers
of unemployed Roman
freedmen, the libertines who
were capable only of begetting
children—plebeians, as they
were also called. Meat he
would obtain on the right
side of the Tiber, at home, as
on the other side it was not
possible to procure kosher
meat; that was also where
he drew the wine ration.
There were a few taverns on
that side that let it be known
that they also held stocks of
kosher food and drink, but
the public was banned from
those taverns by the Roman
gerousia or synedrion, or