scene of divine action among the nations and in behalf of Israel. God
withdraws into other, more private, realms of Israel's life, where he may
manifest his kingship.

Recognition of the reality of Rome's dominion transformed the Mes-
sianic concept from activist and militant into passivist and peaceful;
from an urgent expectation of change into a distant, quiet, hope; from a
history-centered doctrine into a meta-historical one. This shifting of
emphasis, with its far reaching consequences for the self-understanding
of Israel and its position in the world, in the making for several genera-
tions, came to a classic formulation in the third century school of Johanan
bar Nappaha of Tiberias. Johanan, who died about 270, exerted a pro-
found influence on a large group of men; his teachings were reported also
in the Jewish academies of Babylonia; he laid the foundations of the
Palestinian Talmud. Our sources preserve many of his non-legal, hag-
gadic teachings; the relevance, and even accuracy, of the statements
vary; some are mere rewordings of older traditions, others, mere applica-
tions to the Scriptural text of established hermeneutical techniques; yet
much authentic material remains from which to reconstruct the trends of
thought of the period. Johanan's teachers were Yannai and Hanina bar
Hama, both of Sepphoris (Galilee). Among his disciples were the
Babylonian Eleazar ben Pedat and Hoshaya, Abbahu (later head of the
school of Caesarea), Levi and Isaac, both great teachers of Haggadah,
Samuel bar Nahman of Tiberias, and Abba bar Kahana; to his circle
belonged also Simeon ben Lakish. Another important figure of the
period is Joshua ben Levi of Lydda, with whom Johanan engaged in
learned discussions.

The pages that follow are an attempt to present a selection of the
talmudic-midrashic material that illustrates the change in the Judaic
image of Rome and in Messianic theory, as well as some major tenets
effected by this change. As much as possible the sources will be allowed
to speak for themselves.

Third-century Rome offers a picture of decline of her former greatness;
her northern and eastern frontiers deteriorated, economic life collapsed,
literature and art faltered. But the classical concept of Rome's power is
preserved in the contemporary Jewish literature, with only occasional
hints at her shortcomings.

Daniel saw the "fourth beast" in a separate vision at night (Dan. 7:7),
because, so Johanan opined, Rome is as strong as the three other king-
doms combined; according to Simeon ben Lakish, Rome surpasses all in
power. ¹⁶ Dan. 7:23 is interpreted by Johanan as referring to Rome,
"whose power is known to the whole world." ¹⁷ Rome is "the beast that

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