Judaism Triumphant



In OTL, the Roman emperor Vespasian, fresh off his victory over the Jewish rebels of the Roman-Jewish War of 66-73 CE, imposed a special tax on all Jews as a punishment for their revolt. The tax went to the Roman Temple of Capitoline Jupiter, perhaps the holiest site in ancient Roman paganism, and was a substitute for the older tax that the Jews had to pay for the Temple in Jerusalem.

Also, in OTL, a later emperor, Nerva, exempted early Christians from the tax. Christians now had a financial advantage over Jews, in spite of persecutions every now and then.

The emperor Constantine would, one day, centuries in the future, convert to Christianity, and forever alter the balance of religion in ancient Rome.

What if it had been a liberal version of Judaism instead? What if it had been, say, something like Reform Judaism, and it had been backed up by more conservative Jews as a missionary activity?

POD
Vespasian goes easier on the Jews in ATL 73 CE and does not impose the tax. There is thus no reason for Nerva to exempt Christians from anything.

Christianity is seen by many Romans as a weird branch of Judaism, and, with a liberal version of Judaism to turn to, the Romans go for the latter, which strikes them as less "weird" and more "rational".

After Constantine
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