BOOK XXI. THE JEWS UNDER THE BARBARIAN KINGS AND THE BYZANTINE EMPERORS. Irruption and Conquests of the Barbarians-Trade of the Jews-Slave Trade-Decrees of Councils-Of Pope Gregory the First-Conduct of the Christians to the Jews-Arian Kings of Italy-Pope Gregory the First-State anterior to the Rise of Mahometanism in the Eastern Empire-Insurrections of the Samaritans-Laws of JustinianDispute about the Language in which the Law was to be read-State of the Jews in the Persian Dominions-Persecutions-Civil Contests -Conquest of Syria and Jerusalem by the Persians-Reconquest by the Emperor Heraclius. THE irruption of the northern Barbarians during the latter half of the fourth to about the end of the fifth century, so completely disorganized the whole frame of society, that the condition of its humblest members could not but be powerfully influenced by the total revolution in the government, in the possession of the soil, and in the social character of all those countries which were exposed to their inroads. The Jews were widely dispersed in all the provinces on which the storm fell-in Belgium, along the course of the Rhine-in such parts of Germany as were civilized-in Gaul, Italy, and Spain. Of their original progress into these countries, history takes no notice; for they did not migrate in swarms, or settle in large bodies, but sometimes as slaves following the fortunes of their masters, sometimes as single enterprising traders, they travelled on and advanced as convenience or profit tempted, till they reached the verge of civilization. On them the successive inroads and conquests of the Barbarians fell much more lightly than on the native inhabitants. Attached to no fixed residence, with little interest in the laws and usages of the VOL. III.-P different provinces, rarely encumbered with landed property, or with immoveable effects, sojourners, not settlers, denizens rather than citizens, they could retreat, before the cloud burst, to the more secure and peaceful dwellings of their brethren, and bear with them the most valuable portion of their goods. True citizens of the world, they shifted their quarters, and found new channels for their trade as fast as the old were closed. But the watchful son of Israel fled to return again, in order that he might share in the plunder of the uncircumcised. Through burning towns and ravaged fields he travelled, regardless of the surrounding misery which enveloped those with whom he had no ties of attachment;-if splendid cities became a prey to the flames, or magnificent churches lay in ashes, his meaner dwelling was abandoned without much regret, and with no serious loss; and even his synagogue might perish in the common ruin, without either deeply wounding the religious feelings of the worshippers, who had no peculiar local attachment to the spot, or inflicting any very grievous loss on a community who could re-establish, at no great expense, their humble edifice. If, indeed, individuals experienced considerable losses, their whole trading community had great opportunities of reimbursement, which they were not likely to overlook or neglect in the wild confusion of property which attended the conquests of the invaders. Where battles were fought, and immense plunder fell into the hands of the wandering Barbarians, the Jews were still at hand to traffic the worthless and glittering baubles with which ignorant savages are delighted, or the more useful, but comparatively cheap instruments and weapons of iron and brass, for the more valuable commodities, of which they knew not the price or the use. These, by the rapid and secret correspondence which no doubt the Israelites had already established with their brethren in every quarter of the world, were TRADE OF THE JEWS. 171 transported into more peaceful and unplundered regions, which still afforded a market for the luxuries and ornaments of life. As to the particulars of this commerce, we have no certain information, as, in truth, the fact rests rather on inference than on positive data; but if it existed to the extent we believe, it must have been highly lucrative, when the venders were ignorant Barbarians, and the purchasers intelligent, and, probably, not over-scrupulous traders, well acquainted with the price which every article would bear in the different markets of the civilized world. Nor is it improbable, that by keeping alive the spirit of commerce, which might otherwise have become utterly extinct amid the general insecurity, the interruption of the usual means of communication, and the occupation of the roads by wild marauders, they conferred a great advantage on society, by promoting the civilization of these wild and warlike hordes. But we have ample evidence that one great branch of commerce fell almost entirely into the hands of the Jews, the internal slave trade of Europe. It is impossible to suppose, but that this strange state of things must have inspired a sort of revengeful satisfaction into the mind of the zealous Israelite. While his former masters, or at least his rulers, the Christians, were wailing over their desolate fields, their ruined churches, their pillaged monasteries, their violated convents, he was growing rich amid the general ruin ; and, perhaps, either purchasing for his own domestic service, at the cheapest price, the fairest youths, and even high-born maidens, or driving his gangs of slaves to the different markets, where they still bore a price. The Church beheld this evil with avowed grief and indignation. In vain Popes issued their rescripts, and Councils uttered their interdicts; the necessity for the perpetual renewal both of the admonitions of the former, and the laws of the latter, show that they had not the power to repress a prac tice which they abhorred. The language of their edicts was at first just and moderate. The Christians had probably the wisdom to perceive, that however apparently disgraceful to their cause, and productive of much misery, it had also its advantages, in mitigating the horrors and atrocities of the war. Servitude was an evil, particularly when the Christian was enslaved to an infidel or a Jew, but it was the only alternative to avoid massacre. Conquering savages will only respect human life, where it is of value, as à disposable article-they will make captives only where captives are useful and saleable. In the interior of Africa, it may be questionable how far the slave trade increases or allays the barbarity of warlike tribes. No doubt many marauding expeditions are undertaken, and even wars between different tribes and nations entered into, with no other motive or object of plunder except the miserable beings which supply the slave marts; but where the war arises from other causes, it would probably terminate in the relentless extermination of the conquered party, if they were not spared, some may say, and with justice, for the more pitiable fate of being carried across the desert as a marketable commodity. But with the northern tribes, the capture of slaves was never the primary object of their invasions; they moved onward either in search of new settlements, or propelled by the vast mass of increasing population among the tribes beyond them; at this period, therefore, this odious commerce must have greatly tended to mitigate the horrors of war, which the state of society rendered inevitable. From the earliest period after Christianity assumed the reins of the empire, the possession of Christian slaves by the circumcised had offended the dominant party. Constantine issued a severe law, which prohibited the Jews, under pain of confiscation of property, from having a Christian slave -but this law was either never executed, or fell into disuse. A law of Honorius only prohibited the conversion of Christian slaves to Judaism, not inter fering with, or rather fully recognising, their right of property in their bondsmen. After the evil had grown, through the incessant Barbaric wars, to a much greater magnitude, the Council of Orleans (A. C. 540) took the lead, but with great fairness and moderation, in the laudable attempt to alleviate its baneful effects on the religious as well as the temporal state of the slave. That assembly enacted, "That if a slave was commanded to perform any service, incompatible with his religion, and the master proceeded to punish him for disobedience, he might find an asylum in any church: the clergy of that church were on no account to give him up, but to pay his full value to the master." The fourth council of the same place (A. C. 541) goes further, "If a slave under such circumstances should claim the protection of any Christian, he is bound to afford it, and to redeem the slave at a fair price." Further, Any Jew who makes a proselyte to Judaism, or takes a Christian slave to himself, (probably as wife or concubine,) or by the promise of freedom bribes one born a Christian to forswear his faith, and embrace Judaism, loses his property in the slave. The Christian who has accepted his freedom on such terms, shall not presume to fulfil the condition, for a born Christian who embraces Judaism, is unworthy of liberty." The first Council of Macon (A. C. 582) enacts, "That according to the laws both ecclesiastical and civil, the conditions by which a Christian either as a captive in war, or by purchase, has become slave to a Jew, must be respected. But since complaints have arisen that Jews living in the great and small towns have been so shameless as to refuse a fair price for the redemption of such bondsmen, no Christian can be compelled to remain in slavery; but every Christian has a right 66 1 |