Why the Roman state came into conflict with Jews and Christians
There were many reasons why the Jews and Christians came into conflict with the Roman state, considering the Jews had rebelled against the Roman state several times causing serious problems for the Roman state. The Jewish conflicts with the Romans were predominantly about Jewish customs and laws. In Alexandria under the reign of Augustus, one source of tension between the Roman state and the Jews was the laographia or poll tax. This tax was imposed on all except the Greek citizen elite. The Jews felt this tax was a statement that they were inferior.
Often there was unrest in the cities of the Roman Empire that had mixed Greeks and Jews this often ended up involving riots and other disturbances of the peace. Under the emperor Gaius who was well known for his dislike of the Jews that it came to the point that full scale rioting occurred. The Greeks and Jews often came into conflict and there were serious outbreaks of trouble in A.D 66 and A.D 115.
In a letter dated around A.D 41, Claudius writes to the city of Alexandria where he blames the recent unrest and riots on the Jews and he simply states that if the conflict is not resolved then he will show the city what a benevolent ruler is like when he is turned to righteous anger. He then goes on to say that he pleads with the Alexandrians to behave gently and in a kindly manner with the Jews. He also tells the Jews not to insinuate themselves into the games presided over by the Gymnasiarchs and Kosmetai, since they already enjoy the benefits of the city even though it is not their own city. He also advises the Jews not to bring more Jews into the city from Syria or Egypt, which would bring more suspicion onto them and if they did he would come against them as a