Jews have been present in Italy from the Roman period until
today. The first attested Jews in Italy were the ambassadors
sent to Rome by Judah Maccabee in 161 BC, Jason son of Eleazar
and Eupolemus son of John. According to I Maccabees they signed
a treaty with the Roman Senate. An embassy was sent later by
Simon Maccabees to Rome to strengthen the alliance with the
Romans against the Hellenistic Seleucid kingdom. The ambassadors
received a cordial welcome from their coreligionists who were
already established there. Large numbers of Jews lived in Rome
during the Roman Republican period.In Rome, the community was
well organized and presided over by heads called (archontes) The
Jews maintained in Rome several synagogues, whose spiritual
leader was called in Latin (archisunagogos). Jewish tombstones
inscriptions were in Greek, Hebrew/Aramaic or Latin and were
decorated with the ritual menorah (seven-branched candelabrum).
Rome had increased contact with military and trade dealings in
the eastern Mediterranean,