Alabarch
Encyclopedia
The alabarch was the Greek
title of the customs official at the harbour of Alexandria during the Hellenistic and Roman periods. The title 'alabarch' needs to be distinguished from the title of 'ethnarch' which refers to the chief magistrate of a particular ethnic group within a city or territory.
It appears that some confusion exists as to the meaning of this word and even the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary makes the mistake of assuming that alabarch somehow equals ethnarch.
The following references should suffice to establish the meaning of the word alabarch:
Smallwood, E. Mary, The Jews Under Roman Rule. Leiden, 1976. P 227.
Philo's brother Alexander was alabarch (customs official) in the 30's A.D., and another Jew, Demetrius (otherwise unknown) held the same post late in Claudius' principate; neither case excites comment from Josephus as unusual.
Modrzejewski, Joseph M, The Jews of Egypt: From Rameses II to Emperor Hadrian. Jewish Publication Society. 1995. P 135.
(regarding Alexander the alabarch) ...he was inspector-in-chief of customs (alabarch) and not a banker, evenif he did occasionally lend sums of money, for instance to his eternally indebted friend, Agrippa I King of Judea.
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
title of the customs official at the harbour of Alexandria during the Hellenistic and Roman periods. The title 'alabarch' needs to be distinguished from the title of 'ethnarch' which refers to the chief magistrate of a particular ethnic group within a city or territory.
It appears that some confusion exists as to the meaning of this word and even the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary makes the mistake of assuming that alabarch somehow equals ethnarch.
The following references should suffice to establish the meaning of the word alabarch:
Smallwood, E. Mary, The Jews Under Roman Rule. Leiden, 1976. P 227.
Philo's brother Alexander was alabarch (customs official) in the 30's A.D., and another Jew, Demetrius (otherwise unknown) held the same post late in Claudius' principate; neither case excites comment from Josephus as unusual.
Modrzejewski, Joseph M, The Jews of Egypt: From Rameses II to Emperor Hadrian. Jewish Publication Society. 1995. P 135.
(regarding Alexander the alabarch) ...he was inspector-in-chief of customs (alabarch) and not a banker, evenif he did occasionally lend sums of money, for instance to his eternally indebted friend, Agrippa I King of Judea.
History
The following alabarchs are known by name:- Alexander the AlabarchAlexander the AlabarchAlexander the Alabarch, full name Tiberius Julius Alexander Major was an Alexandrian Jewish aristocrat who was one of the pro-Roman leaders of the Alexandrian Jewish community and one of the brothers of the exegete and philosopher Philo.-Ancestry and family:Alexander was born and raised in...
- Tiberius Julius AlexanderTiberius Julius AlexanderTiberius Julius Alexander was an equestrian governor and general in the Roman Empire. Born into a wealthy Jewish family of Alexandria but abandoning or neglecting the Jewish religion, he rose to become procurator of Judea under Claudius...
, son of the preceding. - Demetrius