II. in Civitate Captivity and Inheritance in Tannaitic Halakha in Light of Roman Law

The question of the influence of Roman law on tannaitic legal literature, composed in Roman Palestine from the first to the third centuries CE, is currently the focus of an intense scholarly debate. While some argue for a deep link between rabbinic and Roman legal discourse, others regard the impact of Roman law on the rabbis as merely superficial. The current article aims to contribute to this debate by presenting a case study that demonstrates a high level of engagement, by some rabbis, with Roman legal discourse, one that goes well beyond superficial borrowing. In this case study, a rabbinic ruling regarding the inheritance of captives is shown to depend heavily on Roman juristic discourse over the ramifications of the Lex Cornelia de captivis. In a sophisticated process of reworking, the rabbis adapt Roman legal materials and principles into a rabbinic framework. Most importantly, we show that this reworking includes the reappropriation of a native tannaitic term ('in the medina') in order to translate a Roman technical legal term (in civitate), infusing the Hebrew term with new legal meanings. The details of this case study reveal what is normally concealed: the self-awareness of the rabbis who handle a Roman legal literary source, most probably derived from a concrete juristic discourse, deliberately reworking it to accord with rabbinic terminology, style, and form. This was probably not a one-time process, and it could well have been standard practice among some of the rabbis. Thus, this case study suggests that the evidence for a dramatic impact of Roman legal discourse on tannaitic halakha might be hiding in plain sight.