LW writes:
Quote:Brings to mind the scene in Mel Gibson's "Passion" where he invents Jewish uniformed soldiers. The Romans never let any of its conquered people have their own soldiers or police.
That isn't entirely correct. The Sanhedrin did have its own police force to serve as guards of the temple and keep the discipline among the Jews. The Jews were not allowed to carry out capital punishment and were required to appeal to the Roman governor for that, but the concept of the Sanhedrin temple police arresting Jesus in the garden is quite historically plausible. Whether they were uniformed is still a question--when I can I will check back through years of notes on that.
Gibson did some pretty good research putting that movie together, however, and I think it is reasonable to assume that the temple police did wear some kind of garb or insignia indicating their role and status.