John North

Tessa Rajak

Judith Lieu

In the period of Roman domination there were communities of Jews, some still in Palestine, some dispersed in and around the Roman Empire; they had to face at first the world-wide power of the pagan Romans and later on the emergence of Christianity as an Empire-wide religion. How they coped with these dramatic changes and how they influenced the new forms of religious life that emerged in this period provide the main themes of The Jews Among Pagans and Christians. Essays by the leading scholars in the field together with the introduction by the editors, offer new approaches to understanding the role of Judaism and the pattern of religious interaction characteristic of the period.

The Jews Among Pagans and Christians in the Roman Empire

This work includes essays on aspects of Judaism in the Greco-Roman world.They derive from the author's long-standing interests in the analysis of texts as documents of cultural and religious interaction.

Studies in Cultural and Social Interaction

The Jewish Dialogue With Greece and Rome

Professor Tessa Rajak investigates various aspects of Josephus's life and thought in an effort to place him in the context of the Jerusalem high priestly aristocracy in which he grew up. She not only studies his judgments on the Jewish revolt against Rome, particularly their social and political aspects, but also explores the cultural and literary contexts of his writings. She underscores the consistency in Josephus's different version of his conduct, suggesting how each account reveals several renderings of what occurred. Furthermore, she believes that the influence of Roman imperial patronage upon Josephus's work is much less significant than historians suppose. Finally, she contends that Josephus was essentially a Jewish writer.

Josephus, the Historian and His Society

Sarah Pearce

James Aitken

Jennifer Dines

"The lively, serious, and informed discussions in this book provide impressive examples of the insights achieved when the Jewish evidence of the late Second Temple period is shown both to illuminate and to reflect the wider history of the Hellenistic world."—Martin Goodman, author of Rome and Jerusalem: The Clash of Ancient Civilizations "What sets this book apart is that it bears the fruits of a truly interdisciplinary investigation into the topic. The result sheds light not just on Hellenistic kings and how they were viewed by their Jewish subjects, but also on the early Greek Bible and, more generally, the meeting of, and cross-fertilization between, Jewish and Graeco-Roman culture that occurred in the centuries following Alexander's conquest."—Guido Schepens, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven "This wonderful collection of essays illuminates many facets of kingship in the Hellenistic world. The essays range over Hellenistic philosophy, Jewish fiction, the nuances of translation in the Greek Bible and archaeological evidence. Richly informative, and enjoyable reading besides!"—John J. Collins, author of Jewish Cult and Hellenistic Culture "This wide-ranging collection of essays brings together the too often separate perspectives of classical scholarship and Jewish studies. Jewish Perspectives on Hellenistic Rulers will be an indispensable reference work for anyone working on virtually any aspect of Hellenistic Jewish studies."—Sara Raup Johnson, author of Historical Fictions and Hellenistic Jewish Identity: Third Maccabees in its Cultural Context "This thought-provoking book presents a series of superb studies on Jewish-Greek views of hellenistic monarchy that together are suggestive of the rich interplay between Hellenistic Jewish intellectual traditions and their deep connections to the greater world of the Hellenistic monarchies. The volume will surely stimulate much more work on the subject, and will be required reading for all those whose interests touch on the subject of Hellenistic Judaism and Hellenistic history and culture more broadly."—J.G. Manning, author of Land and Power in Hellenistic Egypt: The Structure of Land Tenure

Tessa Rajak

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