The Jews in the Roman World

This book is illuminating. It's exposes the dynamics that existed during this time of history. It defines the names, motives and factional politics within a context of what the whole picture consisted of.

Professor Grant was one of the foremost scholars of the history of the Roman Empire, and this book fits in nicely with his many others concerning this subject. This book is primarily about the Jews of Judea/(Syria Palestine), as opposed to the larger population in the rest of the Roman Empire and the empires to the East. It is largely involved with the Jewish revolts against Rome and the rise of Christianity. This focus is understandable, as most of the original sources (such as that of Josephus) are concerned with this. Some information is included about the communities outside of the Roman Empire and about the pre-Roman era. Nonetheless, it was somewhat disappointing not to have very much information regarding other areas included. This is probably not so much a case of leaving things out, but rather it is a reflection of a scarcity of information. I found the pre-Roman history to be very hard to follow, not because of any deficiency on Professor Grant's part, but rather because the subject is far too complex to cover in the 46 pages that were allotted to it. The reader is directed to "The Kings Depart" by Alyn Brodsky for a highly readable account of the Hasmonaean period. Likewise, the history of the Roman/Christian period (starting with Constantine) is also covered only very briefly. I recommend this book to students of ancient history, Jewish history and the history of the early Christian church. The book was generally quite readable and up to the very high standards of Professor Grant's other works.

I won't drivel on and on how good this book is but I will give it a 5/5 rating as it is a very worthy read taking into as much historical sources to build a vivid picture of the day. From the false Massiah which sparked the Jewish War, told by Josephus, and killed by the Romans; Simon Bar Kochba to the domination of the Holy Land, exile and renaming of Israel/Judea to "Palestina". I found this book from another fabulous source for information on this topic: DeprogramProgram.Com A very good book...cover to cover...

If you've read Josephus, Tacitus, etc. you already know the bare facts of the relationship between Jews and pagans (and also between both groups and early Christians). Grant interprets these sources rather than adding new facts. So what makes Grant an invaluable resource? He answers the all-important question: "What were these idiots thinking?" Through well-informed speculation, Grant shows that what we may see as acts of complete stupidity were in fact choices that (although ultimately wrong) nevertheless had a rational basis. For example: *Why did Antiochus IV oppress the Jews (thus triggering the Maccabean revolt that led to modern-day Hanukah celebrations?) Grant explains that Antiochus was planning to make war on the Parthians, an empire that ruled Mesopotamia and Persia. If he was to do so, he needed to keep Israel under control. Unfortunately, Antiochus thought that by enforcing religious unity, he would create order - but in fact, he provoked a rebellion. *Why were the Jews in Israel so willing to have Rome take over their nation at first? Grant traces the long history of Roman-Israeli cooperation, beginning with the Maccabean wars. During those wars, the Romans allied with the Maccabees in order to weaken Antiochus. As part of this alliance, Romans and Jews not only agreed to support each other in war, but also agreed to guarantee freedom of worship for all Jews throughout the Roman empire and the lands of its allies. So if Roman vassal King X oppressed the Jews in X-Land, the X-Land Jews complained to the Jews in Israeli (or directly to the Romans) who in turn made X stop hassling the local Jews. Such protection was often necessary, because Greeks in nearby Greek cities often hated the Jews. (It is not quite clear why this is so; Grant speculates that relevant factors might have included (1) interpretations of Jewish dietary laws that meant that Jews refused to eat with Greeks and (2) Greek nationalists' resentment of Jews' good relationship with Romans, the occupying colonial power). Even after the Roman takeover of Israel, the vassal-kings of Israel often were able to work with the Romans to aid diaspora Jews. For example, when Asian city governments forced Jews to appear in court on Sabbath and preventing them from subsidizing the Temple in Jerusalem, King Herod (who ruled during the time of Augustus) complained to the Romans, who intervened on the Jews' behalf. *Why did the Herodian kingdom disintegrate? King Herod began the problem by splitting his kingdom among three sons (with Roman acquiescence). But the son who ruled over the core of Judaea was not politically deft, and splitting the kingdom insured that that king had less tax revenue than his richer neighbors. So this king could barely afford to pay his soldiers, thus reducing his ability to keep order, thus causing the Romans to take over and run the place directly through governors. *Why were Roman governors so incompetent? Because Romans viewed