46 MORTEN HØRNING JENSEN always be bad news for the peasants 12. Thus, it is the aim of this investigation to confirm or to deny the presence of rapid change in first-century C.E. Galilee. 3. Gauging Galilee’s Socio-Economic Pulse In order to detect rapid change, we must identify appropriate gauges or indicators that can provide us with a sense of the socio- economic pulse of Galilee. The task is to identify as many as possible. It is simply not convincing to say that, since the Herodian colonial administration was expanding at exactly the same time as John the Baptist and Jesus lived, their resistance was most likely a kind of peasant resistance 13. A gauge is defined by the ability to reveal a certain aspect of the socio-economic situation when measured over time. It has two intrinsic limitations. One is that it is a relative marker geared more towards detecting changes than describing the situation per se. Another is its limited scope designed only to describe the situation from a certain angle. The idea is nevertheless that each indicator will allow, first, the different types of source material and the different approaches to speak for themselves, and, second, when combined, they will provide us with a sense of the socio-economic conditions of rural first-century Galilee. The gauges to be dealt with are: the political history of Galilee, the impact of Herod Antipas, land ownership, settlement patterns, rural villages and living units, monetization, specialization and commerce, taxes and climate. In each case, the aim is to trace developments and change over time. 12 Not all would agree to this presupposition. Especially Douglas R. Ed- wards has, within a Galilean context, argued for the view that enhanced op- portunities of trade and a market-driven economy would present itself as a benefit to the peasants as well allowing more trade and interaction see D.R. EDWARDs, “Identity and Social Location in Roman Galilean Villages”, Reli- gion, Ethnicity and Identity in Ancient Galilee (eds. J. ZANGENBERG – H.W. ATTRIDGE – D.B. MARTIN) (Tübingen 2007) 373-374. 13 As often claimed, cf. e.g. R.A. HORSLEY – J.A. DRAPER, Whoever Hears You Hears Me. Prophets, Performance, and Tradition in Q (Harrisburg, PA 1999) 58-59 and S. FREYNE, Jesus, A Jewish Galilean. A New Reading of the Jesus-Story (London ‒ New York 2004) 134-139.