The fiscus Iudaicus or Judaicus was a tax imposed on Jews in the Roman Empire after the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple in AD 70. Revenues were directed to the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus in Rome.
A coin issued by Nerva reads fisci Judaici calumnia sublata, "abolition of malicious prosecution in connection with the Jewish tax"
History of the Jews in the Roman Empire
The history of the Jews in the Roman Empire traces the interaction of Jews and Romans during the period of the Roman Empire. A Jewish diaspora had migrated to Rome and to the territories of Roman Europe from the land of Israel, Anatolia, Babylon and Alexandria in response to economic hardship and incessant warfare over the land of Israel between the Ptolemaic and Seleucid empires from the 4th to the 1st centuries BCE. In Rome, Jewish communities thrived economically. Jews became a significant part of the Roman Empire's population in the first century CE, with some estimates as high as 7 million people; however, this estimation has been questioned.
Image of Joshua from the 3rd-century wall paintings at the synagogue of Dura-Europos
Siege and destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, painted c. 1504
Detail of a menorah relief on a column, Ostia Synagogue, 1st century
Jewish ritual objects depicted in 2nd century gold glass from Rome
