Daily Life in the First Century

BASIC DIFFERENCES AND SIMILARITIES IN THE DAILY LIFE IN ISRAEL AND THE ROMAN EMPIRE
by Vaughn Wood

Daily life in first-century Israel
Drawing from two main sources one can get a good idea of what the daily life was like in first-century Israel. These are the writings of ancient scholars and archaeological findings.
1. The economy played a major role in the daily lives of Israel, which was interwoven with the Greco-Roman economy. The Jews were predominantly preoccupied with agriculture and many facets of manual labor and skill, such as the manufacturing of clothing, pottery, metal working and construction. The Israelites produced a variety of crops, as well as various types of livestock. The ongoing stress of taxation, tariffs, interest in loans, as well as the cost and supply to grow crops and raise livestock, kept many Israelites short of actually succeeding, leaving many in need of shelter and other various forms of charity.
2. Homes varied from tents to stone structures. In many homes, space was shared with livestock. Other space was provided for the preparation of food and daily meals with ingredients consisting of vegetables, fruit and bread. Some coastal northern community dwellings included the processing and cooking of fish, which provided much needed protein in their diet.
3. Clothing consisted of tunics for both the men and women. They would distinguish between their daily tunics and their special occasion tunics with the addition of colors and embroidery.
4. Education was provided to the young boys by rabbis with the usage of the Torah as the main text. Young ladies were taught by their mothers in the home.
5. Transportation and communication systems consisted of mostly walking on foot. Two roads that ran north and south, known as “The Way of the Sea,” provided access along the coast, but most Israelites stayed within close proximity to their homes. The Jews did use water a source of transport of commercial goods.
6. Medical care and practice was very crude among the Jews. Even though doctors existed within Jewish communities, much of the medical practice leaned heavily on superstition and magic.
7. Free time was filled usually with singing, feasting, dancing and various games. Archaeologists have uncovered several types of board games involving the use of dice. The kids commonly played in the streets and enjoyed toys such as homemade dolls, rattles and balls.
8. Crime was rampant in Israel. Due to logistics, such as the two roads that served as a main avenue of transportation, theft and murder were fairly easy and common. The crimes that were given most priority in the area of punishment were those committed against religious mandates.

Daily life in first-century Rome
1. The Greco-Roman economy was strong and supplied heavily by organized taxation, trade and investment enforced by the Roman army. Their affluence can be seen in their impressive buildings, roads, highways and water systems. The influence of intellectual elite made many of the sources of supply and meeting demand a reality, influencing much of the first-century world.
2. Homes in the Roman Empire consisted of beautiful architectural design built around unroofed courtyards. Far more durable material was used to build a Roman home than that of the Jews stone structures. Indoor plumbing, baths and even central heating were a part of many Roman households. From the flooring to the roofs, mosaic designs were part of the decor.
3. Clothing was worn to distinguish social classes set apart by wealth. Tunics were commonly adorned with the likes of color, design and leather.
4. Hellenistic systems in Rome provided education for both boys and girls. Pupils studied philosophy, mathematics, music, literature, and rhetoric. Intellectualism was valued and praised in the Roman Empire and their households.
5. Transportation and communication systems were created by Rome to mobilize military units easily and strategically to control commerce throughout the empire. The Roman roads were incredibly durable. Major cities were erected as chief ports for shipping efforts throughout the empire. Water was used to transport communication efforts effectively. The organization of town criers to post messages within local communities kept the entire empire well informed.
6. Because of educating and housing the intellectual elite, medical systems and practice was top notch in the empire, venturing into difficult cutting edge operation techniques and medicinal manufacturing never seen before. Many of the slaves in the Roman Empire were well educated and taught as well in the Hellenistic ways.
7. Free time in the Roman Empire was usually constructive. Public debates and philosophical discussions infiltrated halls and houses. Public games that mimicked much of our current professional sporting events were housed in coliseums throughout the empire that involved the killing of men and animals.
8. Crime in the Roman Empire was policed publicly and punished with the most sadistic methods of crucifixion and public torture techniques. Other forms of crime were demoted to a life of slavery.

Basic differences between the two
The intellectual ambiance and thriving economy of the Roman Empire propagated many of the major differences between that of the Jews and Romans. Things such as, Rome educating both girls and boys, compared to the Jews formally only educating the males; Rome’s innovation and construction advancement, compared to the Jews more simple, less efficient efforts; Rome’s promotion of their coliseums and death defying games, compared to the Jews board games and children playing in the streets with much simpler homemade toys; Rome’s medical advancement, compared to the Jewish influx of superstition and magic for curing elements; Rome’s exaltation of philosophy, compared to the Jews value of religion and tradition; Rome’s organized army, compared to the Jew’s unorganized attempts to revolt; Rome’s tireless efforts to build quality enduring roads that expanded their kingdom with multiple purposes in mind, compared to the Jews paths along the coast, to name a few basic differences.

Basic similarities between the two
There are a few similarities between the Roman Empire and Israel’s way of life: Both developed systems of education. Some assume that the Jews adapted their form of education from the Greco-Roman model; both had in place systems of law enforcement; both utilized water as forms of transport; both had within their society intellectual elite; and both the Roman Empire and the Jews instigated feasting, singing and dancing into their forms of entertainment.

Elements I find surprising
I find surprising that the Jewish culture and life-style was in many ways an outcome of surviving the influence and ascendancy of the Greco-Roman empire around them. The Jews continual attempt to maintain a sense of normalcy in this era caused them to focus on two main entities: The first was their faith. They built up a strong sense of faith-based systems to keep their focus on God in many retrospects, something I had thought of before, but it became very evident in my research; the second entity is that of the home. The Jew’s focused heavily on their marriages and families as a sense of continuity and strength, also something that I’ve never thought of as a survival mechanism until now.

Similarities between the first century and today
We have many similar elements to the Roman Empire and Israel separately and combined today. First, our university and overall education process in western civilization today echoes much of the methods and values of the Roman Empire; Secondly, the coliseums and entertainment venues of today mirror those of the Roman empire, such as the UFC, NFL and other sporting events that entertain people at times at the cost of someone’s life; Third, the faith-based culture and radical religious law enforcement methods of much of the middle eastern cultures today mirrors the life-style of the Jews; Combined, I can see similarities today among many “conquered” people groups, such as the native American Indians living on reservations, surviving and attempting to create a quality of life with the influx of a much larger, heavy handed, United States governing body advancing around them and the two cultures interblending at times; I also see combining both the Roman Empire and the Jewish state in the first century to much of the church today. Like Rome and Israel combined, there is an intellectual approach to truth, a celebration of traditions and religious practice above God’s actual presence and power. The lust for crowds and mega-church status mirrors much of the Roman passion for fame, influence and affluence over humility and meekness.

Sources:
Black, Thomas D. Lea and David Alan. The New Testament: Its Background and Message. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2003.

J. Julius Scott, Jr. Jewish Backgrounds of the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1995.

Barker, Glenn W. and William L. Lane and J. Ramsey Michaels. The New Testament Speaks. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1969