Fiscus Judaicus

Fiscus Iudaicus or fiscus Judaicus was a tax imposed on Jews in the Roman Empire after the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple in AD 70. The tax continued even after the Capitoline Temple was rebuilt, contributing to Roman finances and also serving as a deterrent against proselytism and conversion to Judaism. The amount levied was two denarii, equivalent to the one-half of a shekel that observant Jews had previously paid for the upkeep of the Temple of Jerusalem. Only those who had abandoned Judaism were exempt from paying it. According to Shmuel Safrai, the Romans believed that conquering a nation also subjected its gods, justifying their claim to the revenue of Israel's temple as spoils of victory. In Egypt, the documentary evidence (in the form of receipts) confirms the payment of the tax by women and children. The oldest person known from these receipts was a 61-year-old woman, which led Sherman LeRoy Wallace to conjecture that the tax was levied only until age 62, as was the regular Roman poll tax paid by individuals throughout the empire.