Jews in Rome

This entry retraces the scholarly debate on the history of the Jews of Rome in Renaissance and Reformation. It argues that this history is inextricably linked to the fluctuating and complex history of Jewish-Christian relations and their reciprocal evolution. During the centuries of the long Renaissance, the special position of the local Jewish group was further confirmed both for Jews and for Christians. In fact, from the Jewish point of view, the presence of this very ancient community, which had its roots in the era of the Roman Republic and had grown in pontifical Rome, represented a history of millennial resistance.