Sicker sheds new light on the political circumstances surrounding the emergence of Rabbinic Judaism and Christianity. He places the 300-year history of Judaea from the Hasmoneans to Bar Kokhba, 167 B.C.E.–135 C.E. in the context of Roman history and Judaea's geostrategic role in Rome's geopolitics in the Middle East. However, because of the unique character of its religion and culture, which bred an intense nationalism unknown elsewhere in the ancient world, Judaea turned out to be a weak link holding the Roman Empire in the east together. As such, it became a factor of some importance in the protracted struggle of Rome and Parthia for hegemony in southwest Asia. Judaea thus took on a political and strategic significance that was grossly disproportionate to its size and made its subjugation and domination an imperative of Roman foreign policy for two centuries, from Pompeius to Hadrian. In effect, the history of the period may be viewed as the story of the conflict between Roman imperialism and Judaean nationalism. A fresh look at ancient Middle Eastern and Roman history that will be invaluable for students and scholars of ancient history, post-biblical Jewish history and of Christian origins.

Rome and Judaea explores the nature of Judaea’s first diplomatic mission to Rome during the Maccabean revolt: did it result in a sanctioned treaty or was it founded instead on amity? This book breaks new ground in this debate by bringing to light the "Roman-Jewish Friendship tablet," a newly discovered piece of evidence that challenges the theory Rome ratified an official treaty with Judaea. Incorporating interdisciplinary research and this new textual evidence, the book argues that Roman-Jewish relations during the Maccabean revolt were motivated by the Roman concept of diplomatic friendship, or amicitia.

The present volume brings together papers by internationally renowned specialists in Jewish history in the Roman period. Most of them were read at a conference at Tel Aviv University in 2009 in honour of Aharon Oppenheimer. The volume focuses on a number of well-defined key topics in the history of the Jews both in Judea and in the diaspora: first of all the image of Jews among non-Jews and of non-Jews among Jews; questions of social and intellectual history, mostly those dealing with the transformation that took place as a result of the failed Jewish revolts against Rome and urgent issues in modern scholarship.Studies to be mentioned here are: the relationship and cultural differences between Palestinian and Babylonian Jews; the relationship between Jews and early Christians; the evolving image of first century Judaism as projected in the early Christian sources and modern scholarship; the role of the sages in this period, conversion to Judaism, and Jewish resistance and martyrdom under Roman rule.Many of the papers provide a new assessment of the relevant subjects in the light of changing views of social and religious history. Central to many of the papers is a focus on attitudes toward others and collective image: the Jews as seen by others; Jews looking at others and at internal groups. Another category of articles are chapters in social and intellectual history with a sensitive and controversial ideology in the background, some of them providing provocative re-assessments.

During the first and second centuries A.D., the supremacy of the Roman Empire was aggressively challenged by three Jewish rebellions. The facts surrounding the initial uprising of A.D. 66–74 have been filtered through the biased accounts of Judeao Roman historian Flavius Josephus. Primary information regarding the subsequent Diaspora Revolt (A.D. 115–117) and the Bar Kochba Rebellion (A.D. 132–135) is limited to fragmentary anecdotes emphasizing the religious implications of the two insurrections. In contrast, this analytical history focuses objectively on the military aspects of all three Judean uprisings. The events leading up to each rebellion are detailed, while the nine appendices cover such topics as the nature and number of the Jewish rebels and the factual reliability of the controversial Josephus. One appendix hypothesizes an alternative history of the war between Jerusalem and Rome.

“Both the knowledge of a scholar and the imagination of a poet are brought to bear upon Jesus as child, boy, and man. . . . A bold speculative adventure” (Harold Brighouse, Manchester Guardian). In Robert Graves’s unique retelling, Jesus is very much a mortal and the grandson of King Herod the Great. When his father runs afoul of the king’s temper and is executed, Jesus is raised in the house of Joseph the Carpenter. The kingdom he is heir to, in this version of the story, is very much a terrestrial one: the Kingdom of Judah. Graves tells of Jesus’s rise as a philosopher, scriptural scholar, and charismatic speaker in sharp detail, as well as his arrest and downfall as a victim of pitiless Roman politics. Bringing together his unparalleled narrative skill and in-depth expertise in historical scholarship, renowned classicist and historical novelist Robert Graves brings the story of Jesus Christ to life in a strikingly unorthodox way, making this one of the most hotly contested novels Graves ever wrote—and possibly one of the most controversial ever written. It provides a fascinating new twist to a well-known story, one that fans of this historical period are sure to love. “This is not reading for the easily shocked; it definitely presents Jesus as a sage and a [poet], if not divine. It moves, as does all Mr. Graves’ writing, at a brilliant fast pace, and with a tremendous style.” —Kirkus Reviews

*Includes pictures *Includes ancient accounts *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading Judea is one of the most important regions in the modern world. It is the center of two of the world's great religions and extremely important to a 3rd. Politically, the whole area is the focus of conflict between Jews and Arabs, as well as different Muslim sects. Its history is littered with wars, insurrections, and religious revolutions. To say that it has had a turbulent past is to understate the case in the extreme. The history of Judea is, of course, inextricably linked to the history of the Jewish people, their dispersal throughout the Mediterranean world, and their reestablishment of the modern state of Israel in the wake of the horrors of the Holocaust. And among all the tumultuous events associated with Jewish history, few can rival the period of Roman rule during the 1st century CE, when Roman attempts to suppress Jewish nationalism met with violent resistance. Ultimately, the Romans forcibly removed much of the Jewish population from the region, setting the scene for later events that have impacted so directly on world history. Events in the region during the 1st century CE also brought about the birth of Christianity, a religious movement that has been at the forefront of European history ever since. The fact that Jerusalem has been sacked and razed on approximately 20 occasions since the assumed dates of King David has made it virtually impossible to find any evidence to corroborate the theory, but the task was made a little easier by the discovery of the Tel Dan Stele which has been dated to the late 9th century/early 8th century BCE and contains a reference to the House of David. Many scholars now accept the existence of some kind of state ruled by David and Solomon, though have concluded that it was on a much smaller scale than portrayed in the Bible. This whole period relating to the United Monarchy, and the events leading up to the Assyrian invasion, has been the subject of fierce debate between religious scholars and what might be termed more dispassionate academics. The issue of the "Historicity of the Bible" is a massive field of study in its own right but for the purposes of this paper the words of T.L Thompson sums up the position of those who refuse to consider any possibility that the Bible may contain historical facts in relation to the original origins of the Kingdoms centered on Judea: "There is no evidence of a United Monarchy, no evidence of a capital in Jerusalem or of any coherent, unified political force that dominated western Palestine let alone an empire of the size the legends describe. We do not have evidence for the existence of kings named Saul, David or Solomon, nor do we have evidence for any temple at Jerusalem in this early period." Despite the lack of definitive corroborating evidence, the myths surrounding the Kingdoms of Judah and Israel became so ingrained in the Jewish psyche that any attempt to prove them to be misguided, historically speaking, invariably fall on deaf ears. Even today, Jewish claims to the ownership of the lands disputed with the Arabs are based on the belief in this "historic kingdom." The belief, and absolute conviction, in Jewish rights to inhabit and rule this land as an independent entity has existed from the Classical period onwards, and was just as fiercely held in the period of Roman rule. As events played out, that proved to be central in shaping the whole history of the region. The Roman Province of Judea: The Turbulent History and Legacy of Rome's Rule in Ancient Israel and Judah examines one of the most fascinating chapters in the history of the Roman Empire. Along with pictures depicting important people, places, and events, you will learn about the Roman province like never before.