Question

According to the excerpt, which of the following best explains the effect of Hadrian’s “gift” of a new and modern city on the Jews of Judaea?

The emperor Hadrian spent almost half his reign on the road on state visits to different parts of the realm. His ambition was not to expand the empire but to consolidate it. In each city he would hear petitions and present gifts to the local people, hoping to leave behind the image of a benign and powerful government. When Hadrian arrived in Jerusalem in 130 CE, he decided that his gift to the people of Judaea would be a new city. The generous emperor would replace the unsightly ruin and desolate army base of Jerusalem with a modern metropolis.

Hadrian’s plan filled the Jewish people with horror. There was actually going to be a temple to Jupiter on Mount Zion, the site of the Lord’s holy Temple. Shrines to other deities would also appear all over the city. Over the centuries, the names “Jerusalem” and “Zion” had become central to the identity of Jews. Now these names were to be replaced with the names of a pagan emperor and his idols. Already the people of Jerusalem had experienced war and destruction; they had twice watched a victorious army raze the city to the ground, several times seen their Temple polluted and the walls demolished. But this was the first time that a building project had been experienced as a hostile act. Building had always been a religious activity in Jerusalem: it had held the threat of chaos and annihilation at bay. But now building had become a weapon in the hands of the victorious empire.

—Karen Armstrong, historian, Jerusalem: One City, Three Faiths, published in 1996

Answer 1

The correct answer is: "Hadrian’s plan filled the Jewish people with horror. There was actually going to be a temple to Jupiter on Mount Zion, the site of the Lord’s holy Temple. Shrines to other deities would also appear all over the city. Over the centuries, the names “Jerusalem” and “Zion” had become central to the identity of Jews. Now these names were to be replaced with the names of a pagan emperor and his idols."

Politically, Hadrian's "gift" was a poisonous one. It not only erased centuries of Jewish culture and history at the Jewish capital, it also reminded all Jews that this was no longer their land but a simple province of the Roman Empire. The City would thus be completely Romanized and deprived of its indigenous past.

Religiously it was even worse for the Jews and zealots of all persuasions as it built a pagan temple on top of their most sacred holy site, replacing their monotheistic Deity with the Pagan leading god of the Roman polytheistic pantheon. Furthermore, not only was the sacred Temple Mound desecrated but the rest of the city would be as well since it would be filled with new shrines for many other pagan gods.