by jimwalton » Wed Jan 01, 2020 2:15 pm
It's a worthy question, so let's examine it a little bit.
In my research I have been able to find plenty of discussion about the location of the Antonia Fortress (generally thought to be the northwest corner of the temple mount, but one scholar in particular thinks it's on the east), much debate about what it looked like (how large, what design), and some discussion about how many soldiers were stationed there (generally around 600, but as many as 10,000 could if the situation warranted it).
What I have been unable to find is historical examples of the soldiers of the Antonia intervening in disruptions. I was after what kinds of events prompted their show of force, how often such things happened, and how did they intervene. I have been unable to find anything. So if you have knowledge of or access to such information, I would be thrilled to see it and add it to my notes.
There is one such event in the Bible, but that's the only source I can find. In Acts 21.27, some Jews are making trouble for Paul. It is Pentecost, so Jerusalem is swollen with people. We can assume a large crowd at the Temple. This verse says "they stirred up the whole crowd." There is shouting and "the whole city was aroused" (v. 30). "The whole city was in an uproar" (v. 31), and the Roman commander acts (v. 32).
Even just a cursory reading of the cleaning of the temple shows a very different kind of scene: one man overturning an unknown number of tables, after which there is dialogue about what authority he claims to do such things.
If that's all we have to go by, it's very possible to see that the Romans may not have mobilized in that kind of situation.
What do you think?
It's a worthy question, so let's examine it a little bit.
In my research I have been able to find plenty of discussion about the location of the Antonia Fortress (generally thought to be the northwest corner of the temple mount, but one scholar in particular thinks it's on the east), much debate about what it looked like (how large, what design), and some discussion about how many soldiers were stationed there (generally around 600, but as many as 10,000 could if the situation warranted it).
What I have been unable to find is historical examples of the soldiers of the Antonia intervening in disruptions. I was after what kinds of events prompted their show of force, how often such things happened, and how did they intervene. I have been unable to find anything. So if you have knowledge of or access to such information, I would be thrilled to see it and add it to my notes.
There is one such event in the Bible, but that's the only source I can find. In Acts 21.27, some Jews are making trouble for Paul. It is Pentecost, so Jerusalem is swollen with people. We can assume a large crowd at the Temple. This verse says "they stirred up the whole crowd." There is shouting and "the whole city was aroused" (v. 30). "The whole city was in an uproar" (v. 31), and the Roman commander acts (v. 32).
Even just a cursory reading of the cleaning of the temple shows a very different kind of scene: one man overturning an unknown number of tables, after which there is dialogue about what authority he claims to do such things.
If that's all we have to go by, it's very possible to see that the Romans may not have mobilized in that kind of situation.
What do you think?