Theirs a story in the bible about Jesus and an adulterous women who was spared from stoning. In the laws the Jews were following, a women committing adultery would be stoned. Romans didn't really care about that in their society. So were the Pharisees able to do this law on Roman soil or practice any of their laws there or would it be stopped?
Two things to note:
This story is set in the temple at Jerusalem, which was in Judea. It is not set in Rome. Judea was a province of the Roman Empire (or rather, a kind of sub-province of Syria, with a governor from the Equites class), but one in which local legal customs had much more force than in most provinces. This was, essentially, because the Jews had had so many revolts against Roman attempts to enforce Roman law and religion on them. The Romans decided it was easier to let them keep some of their own laws and customs, as long as Roman rule continued, than have yet more revolts. (It also, at this point, had been a Roman province for less than 30 years, before that having been a client kingdom)
Romans absolutely did care about women committing adultery (they didn't consider men who slept with slaves, freedwomen, or prostitutes to be adulterous, only if they slept with married women or the unmarried daughter of another Roman man) Punishments varied over time, but this story is set only a few years after Emperor Augustine introduced the Lex Iulia de Adulteriis (Julian law about adultery). This gave a father who found his married daughter sleeping with her lover in either her house or her husband's house, the right to kill both of them. A husband who discovered his wife's adultery with a slave or a man of certain occupations (like prostitute, actor or gladiator) had the right to kill the man, though he had to then divorce his wife in 3 days. In addition, a husband could charge his wife and her lover with adultery, and if successful, would be granted a large portion of their property, and the wife would be barred from re-marrying. Now, it's probable that your average Roman didn't actually consider adultery to be quite as serious as these laws indicate (this law was part of Augustus' attempt to show he was bringing back conservative family values, and show himself as paterfamilias of all Rome), but it's not like Romans didn't care about adultery at all, especially by women.
The provinces largely kept parallel legal systems, so that for example the Greeks in Asia Minor would largely settle intercommunal disputes using local legal systems, and would only fall under Roman legals systems if a Roman citizen was involved or local means of resolution proved unable to settle the dispute. From an administrative standpoint, one of the jobs of a provincial governor was to travel around to what were effectively assize courts and hear cases, but Roman provincial administration was simply incapable, and entirely uninterested, in settling every local dispute.
This even went to capital punishment, although that was a bit of a legal grey zone. Despite a degree of rhetoric about the power to give and take life being concentrated within Rome's imperium, Roman literature makes it pretty clear that such rhetoric did not necessarily go far in practice. A famous example is in the Golden Ass a comical novel that nevertheless reveals a lot about ordinary life in the empire, in which Lucius, the narrator, find himself facing the extremes of legal punishment as a pretty great prank.
I am not as clear about the specifics of the Jewish case, but I suspect the bored disinterest shown by the Roman soldiers has a great deal of truth behind it.
A good discussion of the parallel legal systems can be found in Taco Terpstra's Trading Communities in the Roman World.
I'm not sure if I'm allowed to just post links, but this is a question of a great deal of popular interest and there is a good explanation here:
http://www.pbs.org/empires/romans/empire/jews.html
In the first century AD, Jews lived across the Roman Empire in relative harmony.
Protected by Rome and allowed to continue their religion, everything was fine until rebellion in Judaea led to a major change in the practice of their faith.
By the beginning of the first century AD, Jews had spread from their homeland in Judaea across the Mediterranean and there were major Jewish communities in Syria, Egypt, and Greece. Practicing a very different religion from that of their neighbors, they were often unpopular. As a result, Jewish communities were often close-knit, to protect themselves and their faith.
Jews in Rome
Jews had lived in Rome since the second century BC. Julius Caesar and Augustus supported laws that allowed Jews protection to worship as they chose. Synagogues were classified as colleges to get around Roman laws banning secret societies and the temples were allowed to collect the yearly tax paid by all Jewish men for temple maintenance.
There had been upsets: Jews had been banished from Rome in 139 BC, again in 19 AD and during the reign of Claudius. However, they were soon allowed to return and continue their independent existence under Roman law.
The temple in Jerusalem
Although each Jewish community worshipped at its own synagogue, the temple in Jerusalem remained the spiritual center of their worship.
The temple had been rebuilt three times. The first was when it had been destroyed in 587 BC by Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylonia. The second was when it had been plundered and wrecked by Judaea’s foreign rulers. The third time, it had been rebuilt by Herod the Great in 20 BC.
It had several gates and chambers, some of which were open only to men, some only to women, while others were reserved for priests.
The temple was the meeting place of the Jewish Council, called the Sanhedrin. It also held Jewish holy scriptures and documents. Outside was the temple square – this was a marketplace, where pilgrims could buy sacrificial animals and convert foreign currency into temple coins.
Rebellion in Judaea
Although Judaea was ruled by the Romans, the governors there had practiced the same kind of religious tolerance as was shown to Jews in Rome [expert]. However, Roman tactlessness and inefficiency, along with famine and internal squabbles, led to a rise in Jewish discontent.
In 66 AD, this discontent exploded into open rebellion. Four years later, the Roman army had crushed the revolt, but had also destroyed the temple. The sacred treasures were seized and shown off in a procession through the streets of Rome.
Destruction of the temple
The destruction of the temple fundamentally changed the nature of Judaism. Taxes that were once paid to the temple were now paid to Rome, and the Jewish tradition of worshipping in the temple was over. With only the Western Wall remaining of the temple in Jerusalem, the local synagogues now became the new centers of the Jewish religion.
I'm not sure if I'm allowed to just post links, but this is a question of a great deal of popular interest and there is a good explanation here:
http://www.pbs.org/empires/romans/empire/jews.html
In the first century AD, Jews lived across the Roman Empire in relative harmony.
Protected by Rome and allowed to continue their religion, everything was fine until rebellion in Judaea led to a major change in the practice of their faith.
By the beginning of the first century AD, Jews had spread from their homeland in Judaea across the Mediterranean and there were major Jewish communities in Syria, Egypt, and Greece. Practicing a very different religion from that of their neighbors, they were often unpopular. As a result, Jewish communities were often close-knit, to protect themselves and their faith.
Jews in Rome
Jews had lived in Rome since the second century BC. Julius Caesar and Augustus supported laws that allowed Jews protection to worship as they chose. Synagogues were classified as colleges to get around Roman laws banning secret societies and the temples were allowed to collect the yearly tax paid by all Jewish men for temple maintenance.
There had been upsets: Jews had been banished from Rome in 139 BC, again in 19 AD and during the reign of Claudius. However, they were soon allowed to return and continue their independent existence under Roman law.
The temple in Jerusalem
Although each Jewish community worshipped at its own synagogue, the temple in Jerusalem remained the spiritual center of their worship.
The temple had been rebuilt three times. The first was when it had been destroyed in 587 BC by Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylonia. The second was when it had been plundered and wrecked by Judaea’s foreign rulers. The third time, it had been rebuilt by Herod the Great in 20 BC.
It had several gates and chambers, some of which were open only to men, some only to women, while others were reserved for priests.
The temple was the meeting place of the Jewish Council, called the Sanhedrin. It also held Jewish holy scriptures and documents. Outside was the temple square – this was a marketplace, where pilgrims could buy sacrificial animals and convert foreign currency into temple coins.
Rebellion in Judaea
Although Judaea was ruled by the Romans, the governors there had practiced the same kind of religious tolerance as was shown to Jews in Rome [expert]. However, Roman tactlessness and inefficiency, along with famine and internal squabbles, led to a rise in Jewish discontent.
In 66 AD, this discontent exploded into open rebellion. Four years later, the Roman army had crushed the revolt, but had also destroyed the temple. The sacred treasures were seized and shown off in a procession through the streets of Rome.
Destruction of the temple
The destruction of the temple fundamentally changed the nature of Judaism. Taxes that were once paid to the temple were now paid to Rome, and the Jewish tradition of worshipping in the temple was over. With only the Western Wall remaining of the temple in Jerusalem, the local synagogues now became the new centers of the Jewish religion.
I'm not sure if I'm allowed to just post links, but this is a question of a great deal of popular interest and there is a good explanation here:
http://www.pbs.org/empires/romans/empire/jews.html
In the first century AD, Jews lived across the Roman Empire in relative harmony.
Protected by Rome and allowed to continue their religion, everything was fine until rebellion in Judaea led to a major change in the practice of their faith.
By the beginning of the first century AD, Jews had spread from their homeland in Judaea across the Mediterranean and there were major Jewish communities in Syria, Egypt, and Greece. Practicing a very different religion from that of their neighbors, they were often unpopular. As a result, Jewish communities were often close-knit, to protect themselves and their faith.
Jews in Rome
Jews had lived in Rome since the second century BC. Julius Caesar and Augustus supported laws that allowed Jews protection to worship as they chose. Synagogues were classified as colleges to get around Roman laws banning secret societies and the temples were allowed to collect the yearly tax paid by all Jewish men for temple maintenance.
There had been upsets: Jews had been banished from Rome in 139 BC, again in 19 AD and during the reign of Claudius. However, they were soon allowed to return and continue their independent existence under Roman law.
The temple in Jerusalem
Although each Jewish community worshipped at its own synagogue, the temple in Jerusalem remained the spiritual center of their worship.
The temple had been rebuilt three times. The first was when it had been destroyed in 587 BC by Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylonia. The second was when it had been plundered and wrecked by Judaea’s foreign rulers. The third time, it had been rebuilt by Herod the Great in 20 BC.
It had several gates and chambers, some of which were open only to men, some only to women, while others were reserved for priests.
The temple was the meeting place of the Jewish Council, called the Sanhedrin. It also held Jewish holy scriptures and documents. Outside was the temple square – this was a marketplace, where pilgrims could buy sacrificial animals and convert foreign currency into temple coins.
Rebellion in Judaea
Although Judaea was ruled by the Romans, the governors there had practiced the same kind of religious tolerance as was shown to Jews in Rome [expert]. However, Roman tactlessness and inefficiency, along with famine and internal squabbles, led to a rise in Jewish discontent.
In 66 AD, this discontent exploded into open rebellion. Four years later, the Roman army had crushed the revolt, but had also destroyed the temple. The sacred treasures were seized and shown off in a procession through the streets of Rome.
Destruction of the temple
The destruction of the temple fundamentally changed the nature of Judaism. Taxes that were once paid to the temple were now paid to Rome, and the Jewish tradition of worshipping in the temple was over. With only the Western Wall remaining of the temple in Jerusalem, the local synagogues now became the new centers of the Jewish religion.
I don't understand the question. Are you asking if the Jews were able to practice their religion under Roman rule, or are you asking something different?