The Antonine Constitution

7. The Mishnah and Roman Law: A Rabbinic Compilation of ius civile for the Jewish civitas of the Land of Israel under Roman Rule

“…61 Imrie has emphasized the prominent role that Roman jurists obtained under the Severan emperors-a period that he calls "something of a golden age for jurists"including "significant administrative positions, and even rising to the praetorian prefecture." 62 At that time, rabbis may have feared that Jewish integration into the Roman civitas might imply their subjection to Roman civil law, if not forcefully then at least voluntarily, and would bring about a loss or gradual fading of traditional Jewish law based on the Torah and rabbinic jurisdiction. 63 The compilation of the Mishnah at the beginning of the third century CE may then be understood as a rabbinic attempt to create a specifically Jewish collection of citizen's law that could serve as a viable alternative to Roman ius civile within a rabbinically defined Land of Israel.…”