FISCUS JUDAICUS:
(Redirected from PROCURATOR AD CAPITULARIA JUDÆORUM.)The yearly Temple tax of half a shekel prescribed by the Law (Ex. xxx. 13; compare Sheḳ. i. 1), and which the Jews of the Diaspora contributed during the time of the Second Temple. It was diverted by Vespasian, after the destruction of the sanctuary in 70
There was some relief during Nerva's short reign. One of his coins, still extant, bears the inscription "Fisci Iudaici calumnia sublata" (Proceedings on account of the fiscus imposed upon the Jews are abolished). But this put a stop merely to the vexations connected with the collection of the tax, which was still levied (Appian, "Syr." § 50; Origen, "Ep. ad Africanum," § 14; Tertullian, "Apologet." § 18). It is not known when it was formally abolished. It was revived in the Middle Ages under the name of Opferpfennig by the German-Roman emperors.
- Zorn, Historia Fisci Judaici, Altona, 1734;
- Münter, Der Jüdische Krieg, p. 5;
- Grätz, Gesch. 3d ed., iv. 24, 111;
- Schürer, Gesch. 3d ed., i. 640, ii. 259, iii. 75;
- Vogelstein and Rieger, Gesch.der Juden in Rom, pp. 37 et seq.;
- Madden, History of Jewish Coinage, p. 199;
- Reinach, Textes d'Auteurs Grecs et Romains Relatifs au Judaïsme, pp. 196, 333.