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''Religio licita'' ("permitted religion,"〔''Licita'' is the past participle of ''licet'', "is permitted, is lawful."〕 also translated as "approved religion"〔Jörg Rüpke, ''Religion of the Romans'' (Polity Press, 2007, originally published in German 2001), p. 35.〕) is a phrase used in the ''Apologeticum'' of Tertullian〔Tertullian, ''Apologeticum'' 21.1.〕 to describe the special status of Judaism under Roman Imperial rule. It is not an official term in Roman law.〔Philip Francis Esler, ''Community and Gospel in Luke–Acts: The Social and Political Motivations of Lucan Theology'' (Cambridge University Press, 1989, 1996), p. 211, begins his analysis of the ''religio licita'' theory "by immediately scotching the idea that Rome had some process for licensing foreign religions. There is no historical support for this whatsoever; … there never was a juridical category of ''religio licita''." See also Rüpke, ''Religion of the Romans'', p. 35; Solomon Grayzel, "The Jews and Roman Law," ''Jewish Quarterly Review'', 59 (1968), pp. 93-117; Ben Witherington III, ''The Acts of the Apostles: A Socio-rhetorical Commentary ''(Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1997), p. 542; John J. O'Keefe, entry on "Religio licita," in ''A Dictionary of Jewish-Christian Relations'' (Cambridge University Press, 2005), p. 371.〕 Although it occurs in only one patristic text and in no classical Roman sources or inscriptions,〔Benjamin H. Isaac, ''The Invention of Racism in Classical Antiquity'' (Princeton University Press, 2004, 2006), p. 449; Tessa Rajak, "Was There a Roman Charter for the Jews?" ''Journal of Roman Studies'', 74 (1984), pp. 107-123. As Stephen Wilson, ''Related Strangers: Jews and Christians, 70–170 C.E.'' (Augsburg Fortress, 1995, 2005), p. 68, has noted, ''religio licita'' "is not a Roman but a Christian concept."〕 the phrase has spawned abundant scholarly conjecture on its possible significance. Some scholars have gone so far as to imagine that all religions under the Empire had a legal status as either ''licita'' or ''illicita'', despite the absence of any ancient texts referring to these categories.〔Philip A. Harland, ''Associations, Synagogues, and Congregations: Claiming a Place in Ancient Mediterranean Society'' (Augsburg Fortress, 2003), p. 222.〕 The most extreme view has held that Tertullian's phrase means all foreign religions required a license from the Roman government.〔Esler, ''Community and Gospel in Luke–Acts'', p. 206, taking note of Foakes Jackson and Kirsopp Lake, B.S. Easton, and the early work of H.J. Cadbury as examples of this extreme of interpretation.〕 But it was Roman custom to permit or even encourage the subject peoples of the provinces and foreign communities in Rome to maintain their ancestral religion, unless specific practices were regarded as disruptive or subversive:〔Isaac, ''The Invention of Racism in Classical Antiquity'', p. 449; Jörg Rüpke, "Roman Religion – Religions of Rome," in ''A Companion to Roman Religion'' (Blackwell, 2007), p. 4.〕 "A ''religio'' was ''licita'' for a particular group on the basis of tribe or nationality and traditional practices, coupled with the proviso that its rites were not offensive to the Roman people or its gods."〔W. H. C. Frend, ''Martyrdom and Persecution in the Early Church: A Study of Conflict from the Maccabees to Donatus'' (Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1967), p. 106.〕 Tertullian uses the phrase in a passage arguing that Christians should be granted the same freedom to practice their religion as any other inhabitant of the Empire; the passage itself, and not the phrase ''religio licita'', is evidence of the general tolerance afforded under the Roman system of religion.〔Cecilia Ames, "Roman Religion in the Vision of Tertullian," in ''A Companion to Roman Religion'', p. 467.〕 ==Judaism as ''licita''== ''Religio licita'' has sometimes been taken as a formal recognition or charter originating with Julius Caesar and embodied by various pieces of Roman legislation pertaining to the Jews, conceived of as a coherent policy.〔E. Mary Smallwood, ''The Jews Under Roman Rule: From Pompey to Diocletian: A Study in Political Relations'' (2nd ed.; Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1981), p. 539 ''et passim''.〕 In fact, the various privileges and exemptions granted to the Jews were responses to specific complaints or requests, made in the context of the traditional patronage network,〔Harland, ''Associations, Synagogues, and Congregations'', pp. 221–222; Leonard Victor Rutgers, "Roman Policy towards the Jews: Expulsions from the City of Rome during the First Century C.E.," ''Classical Antiquity'', 13 (1994) pp. 58-59.〕 and had nothing to do with a supposed ''religio licita'' status.〔Esler, ''Community and Gospel in Luke–Acts'', p. 211.〕 To the extent that the Romans respected Judaism, it was because of the religion's great antiquity, ancestral tradition being regarded as a source of social and political stability.〔Esler, ''Community and Gospel in Luke–Acts'', p. 215.〕 It has been observed that "Roman magistrates treated the Jews the way they did not because they were consciously tolerant, but simply because they had no reason to hinder the free exercise of Jewish religious practices."〔Leonard Victor Rutgers, "Roman Policy towards the Jews: Expulsions from the City of Rome during the First Century C.E.," ''Classical Antiquity'' 13 (1994), p. 73.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Religio licita」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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