page_title: History of the Jews in Greece
section_title: Byzantine Empire
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Jews in Greece / History of Judaism in Greece / Byzantine Empire
caption_attribution_description: English: Cropped Image A fourteenth-century miniature Greek manuscript depicting scenes from the life of Alexander the Great. The priests of the Jews (Rabbis) offer Alexander the Great Gold and Silver, Alexander spent the gifts of the Rabbi’s on his Gods. The whole scene is depicted entirely in Byzantine fashion of the late Byzantine period (1204-1453). Alexander the Great is depicted as a Byzantine Emperor (Basileus) and his troops are depicted as Byzantine-Greek soldiers of the 14th century. The Jewish Rabbis (standing to the right) are shown wearing distinctive ceremonial robes and small caps on their heads. From the “Alexander Romance” in S. Giorgio dei Greci in Venice. עברית: היהודי רבנים היוונים של המאה הי"ד Ελληνικά: Οι ιερείς των Ιουδαίων προσφέρουν στον Αλέξανδρο χρυσό και άργυρο. Ο Αλέξανδρος αφιερώνει τα δώρα των ιερέων στους θεούς του. Εβραίοι λόγιοι και βυζαντινή Έλληνες του δέκατου τέταρτου αιώνα.
context_page_description: The history of the Jews in Greece can be traced back to at least the fourth century BCE. The oldest and the most characteristic Jewish group that has inhabited Greece are the Romaniotes, also known as "Greek Jews." The term "Greek Jew" is predominantly used for any person of Jewish descent or faith that lives in or originates from the modern region of Greece.
  Aside from the Romaniotes, a distinct Jewish population that historically lived in communities throughout Greece and neighboring areas with large Greek populations, Greece had a large population of Sephardi Jews, and is a historical center of Sephardic life; the city of Salonica or Thessaloniki, in Greek Macedonia, was called the "Mother of Israel." Greek Jews played an important role in the early development of Christianity, and became a source of education and commerce for the Byzantine Empire and throughout the period of Ottoman Greece, until suffering devastation in the Holocaust after Greece was conquered and occupied by the Axis powers despite efforts by Greeks to protect them. In the aftermath of the Holocaust, a large percentage of the surviving community emigrated to Israel or the United States.
context_section_description: After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, elements of Roman civilisation continued on in the Byzantine Empire. The Jews of Greece began to come under increasing attention from Byzantium's leadership in Constantinople. Some Byzantine emperors were anxious to exploit the wealth of the Jews of Greece, and imposed special taxes on them, while others attempted forced conversions to Christianity. The latter pressure met with little success, as it was resisted by both the Jewish community and by the Greek Christian synods.
  The Sefer Yosippon was written down in the 10th century in the Byzantine south Italy by the Greek-speaking Jewish community there. Judah Leon ben Moses Mosconi, a Romaniote Jew from Achrida edited and expanded the Sefer Josippon later.
  Tobiah ben Eliezer (טוביה בר אליעזר), a Talmudist and poet of the 11th century, worked and lived in the city of Kastoria. He is the author of the Lekach Tov, a midrashic commentary on the Pentateuch and the Five Megillot and also of some poems.
  The first settlement of Ashkenazi Jews in Greece occurred in 1376, heralding an Ashkenazi immigration from Hungary and Germany to avoid the persecution of Jews throughout the 15th century. Jewish immigrants from France and Venice also arrived in Greece, and created new Jewish communities in Thessaloniki.
caption: "Byzantine Emperor" Alexander the Great is offered gold and silver by the Rabbis.
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