Does anyone here think the Nativity is not a myth?

[struggle4progress]

30. Other issues aside, your assumptions about the Roman census may be inaccurate.

The Romans did conduct regular censi over a long period, and these served multiple (and likely conflicting) purposes: on one hand, they were intended to tax property, but on another they also served the purpose of registering Roman citizens

Thus, a census potentially provided income to the Roman state, but also potentially diluted the political power of the traditionally aristocratic ruling class, even during the Republican era

In an old article "Roman Census Statistics from 225 to 28 BC" Classical Philology , Oct 1924, Vol. 19, No. 4 pp. 329-341), Tenney Frank quotes several Roman sources indicating that in the late Republic, the census registrations in Italy were conducted solely in Rome, and individuals were expected to travel there for that purpose (with rather limited compliance). The article is available on JSTOR

Roman Judaea was much smaller than the Italian peninsula; and if the authorities had recently been comfortable with one registration site for the peninsula, they would probably not have wanted multiple sites for Judaea