tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12543231.post4804180938854480613..comments2023-06-15T09:41:19.355-05:00Comments on NT/History Blog: Augustus' Registration of the 'Oikoumene'Bill Heromanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05283809456471966882noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12543231.post-53304767212054418222011-07-27T08:43:20.250-05:002011-07-27T08:43:20.250-05:00I've just been considering this issue myself. ...I've just been considering this issue myself. There is the combination of Herod's declining health; multiple wills asking (requiring?) Augustus' consent; and Herod's increasingly horrid temperament that lead to losing the status of "Friend of Caesar" and being regarded as a subject instead. Add to that what surely must have been Rome's desire for a Roman Judean province quite early on, and it's then-present consideration of the region to be within its "sphere of influence", and you have a set of circumstances that quite plausibly could have prompted Augustus to extend an <i>enrollment</i> (before, and definitely not, the <i>census</i> of 6 CE) to Herod's kingdom in anticipation of/preparation for its annexation.<br /><br />Question: What changed on the ground when Herod lost the Friend designation?<br /><br />And please comment if you will on the varied scholarly interpretations of the enrollment event as manifestly Jewish versus your interpretation of it as Roman. I think the difference between it and the census of 6 CE are very important.<br /><br />Thanks,<br />Rick C.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com