Sepphoris

A few miles north of Nazareth was Sepphoris, in the region of Galilee and the largest city in Palestine outside of Jerusalem. Josephus told of 240 cities and villages around Galilee, the least of which was around 15,000 residents. Altogether including the small towns, there were about 440. Josephus mentions Tiberias, Sepphoris, and Gabara, as the principal cities, though Capernaum and Nazareth are more frequently mentioned in the gospels.

Jesus was from Nazareth, which was only of suburb of Sephoris and must have come into contact with its bustling life. Nazareth itself was wholly Jewish but like other cites in the area, Sepphoris was Greek in culture and in language. "Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans," Jesus told His disciples, the implication recognized Gentile districts in Palestine-Tiberias and Techeae; for example, cities on the Sea of Galilee, Scythopolis south of the Sea, and Sepphoris just north of Nazareth. The home town of Jesus was thus surrounded by Hellenistic influence.

For many years Sepphoris was the capital of the king of Palestine and the Roman military had the army stationed there. When Judas of Gamala first raised the standard of rebellion when Jesus was only a boy, he marched on Sepphoris, seized the king's royal arsenal and for a brief time triumphed, until Varus, the Roman general, came down with two legions and with the help of Arabia auxiliaries dispersed the Galilean rebels. Sepphoris burned to the ground and the population sold as slaves. Herod Antipas later built a wonderful new city on the shore of the lake, called it Tiberius, and moved his capital there from Sepphoris.
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