City of Sepphoris: Amidst this swoon of information of Jesus' youth, 'the missing years', there was a large construction site of a Greco/Roman city being rebuilt just a mile or so just up from Nazereth, do you suppose he worked there?
Sepphoris
en.wikipedia.org
At the time of Jesus, Sepphoris was a large, Roman-influenced city. Reza Aslan describes it at the time of Jesus's growing into maturity one mile away in the following terms:
Rich, cosmopolitan, deeply influenced by Greek culture, and surrounded by a panoply of races and religions, the Jews of Sepphoris were the product of the Herodian social revolution - the nouveaux riches who rose to prominence after Herod's massacre of the old priestly aristocracy.' [15]
It has been suggested that Jesus, while living in Nazareth, may have worked as a craftsman at Sepphoris, [16] where, during his youth 'the largest restoration project' of his time took place. [17]Archaeological investigations at the site have led to numerous debates about the influence of this town on Jesus, and shed light on differences within Galilean society.
The inhabitants of Sepphoris did not join the Great Jewish Revolt against Roman rule of 66 CE. The Roman legate in Syria, Cestius Gallus, killed some 2,000 "brigands and rebels" in the area, and sold its inhabitants into slavery. [18] The Jerusalemite Josephus, a son of Jerusalem's priestly elite had been sent north to recruit the Galilee into the rebellion's fold, but was only partially successful. He made two attempts to capture Sepphoris, but failed to conquer it, the first tie because of fierce Galilean resistance, the second because a garrison came to assist in the city's defence. [19] Around the time of the rebellion Sepphoris had a Roman theater - in later periods, bath-houses and mosaic floors depicting human figures. Sepphoris and Jerusalem may be seen to symbolize a cultural divide between those that sought to avoid any contact with the surrounding Roman culture and those who within limits, were prepared to adopt aspects of that culture. Rejected by Sepphoris and forced to camp outside the city Josephus went on to Jotapata, which did seem interested in the rebellion, - the siege of Jotapata ended on July 20 67 A.D. Towns and villages that did not rebel were spared and in Galilee they were the majority. [20] Coins minted in the city at the time of the Great Revolt carried the inscription Neronias and Eirenopolis, "City of Peace". After the revolt, symbolism used on the coins was little different from other surrounding pagan city coins with depictions of laurel wreaths, palm trees, caduceuses, and ears of barley
After Herod's death in 4 BCE, a certain Judas, son of a local bandit, Ezekias, attacked Sepphoris, then the administrative center of the Galilee, and, sacking its treasury and weapons, armed his followers in a revolt against Herodian rule. The Roman Governor in Syria, Varus is reported by Josephus - perhaps in an exaggeration, since archaeology has failed to verify traces of the conflagration- to have burnt the city down, and sold its inhabitants into slavery. [12] After Herod's son, Herod Antipas was made tetrarch, or governor, he proclaimed the city's new name to be Autocratoris, and rebuilt it as the "Ornament of the Galilee" (Josephus, Ant. 18.27). [13] An ancient route linking Sepphoris to Legio, and further south to Samaria- Sebastia, is believed to have been paved by the Romans around this time. [14] The new population was loyal to Rome.
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