Aparché, aparchaí and fiscus Iudaicus

The article discusses various hypotheses explaining the significance of the drachma added to the didrachmon of the Jewish tax from 72/73 A.D., known as aparché or aparchaí. It argues that this addition’s timing is not due to chance in our documentation, but indicates that the extra drachma was introduced after the tax’s initial institution. The aparché’s amount is contextualized within Egypt’s specific currency system, explained as an additional sum needed to adjust a tetradrachm’s nominal value (24 obols) to its quoted value (28/29 obols). The term’s origin may refer to the technical meaning of ‘entry contribution’ and thus to the methods of creating taxpayer lists. However, the possibility that it refers to the actual Temple of Onias at Leontopolis, as previously suggested by other researchers, is not excluded.

Keywords: Fiscal records, Jewish tax, Aparché, Alexandrian tetradrachm, Denarius.