Jesus and the Bath House

Assuming that Jesus actually existed (rather than being fictional or being based upon one or more other individuals), what might have his relationship been with the Roman occupation of the time? It has been assumed that a young Jesus would have had little contact with Roman authorities, but that seems unlikely now. In Nazareth, an almost perfectly preserved Roman bathhouse has been discovered - a huge one. It would only have existed had Nazareth been an important outpost with a large Roman garrison - meaning a young Jesus would have had regular contact with Roman soldiers and authorities.

The Guardian reports:

Professor Richard Freund, an academic behind important Holy Land digs at the ancient city of Bethsaida, near Tiberias, and Qumran in the Jordan Valley, says the significance of the find cannot be overstated. Over the summer he put aside other excavation projects to concentrate on the Nazareth site. "I am sure that what we have here is a bathhouse from the time of Jesus," he says, "and the consequences of that for archaeology, and for our knowledge of the life of Jesus, are enormous." ... Freund, of the Maurice Greenberg Centre for Judaic Studies at Hartford University in Connecticut, says the discovery means that historians will have to rethink the place and significance of Nazareth in the Roman empire and consequently the formative experiences of Jesus.

Sadly, religious politics is preventing a proper excavation from taking place. Israeli authorities are leery about digging under a city of 70,000 Arabs. The Vatican may be worried that the site would be too much competition for it's own tourist locations in the community. What a shame that fear is preventing the development of new knowledge and ideas.

Eric, at Classical Values where I found the above link, writes:

I have long believed that Jesus was not particularly anti-Roman, probably as understanding and tolerant of Roman Pagans as he was of Samaritans and others, and much more sophisticated in his thinking than some of his followers believe. His handling of the tribute penny showed an uncanny grasp of political reality, as well as an acceptance of Rome as the dominant culture which it would be foolhardy to oppose. If Jesus grew up in a Roman military center, he most likely spoke enough Latin (at least the Vulgate version in use by troops) to get by, and this could go far towards explaining Pontius Pilate's obvious sympathy for this street philosopher who was being bounced around like a political football. Jesus may have been fully versed in Roman customs and thus able to relate to Romans culturally as well as speak their language.

It is not difficult to see how the Roman bathhouse discovery could change the meaning of certain Biblical passages. For starters, it casts new light on the story of the Roman Centurian who accosted Jesus on the street and asked him to heal his slave . The story becomes not quite as culturally startling when seen in the context of a man who grew up in the midst of Roman military personnel. Ditto for the understanding and respect Jesus showed (Pagan) Gentiles.

Classical Values is an interesting site - check it out!

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