The studies in this collection deal with a variety of subjects. Their focus is the Roman Empire in the East, the Roman army, Judaea in the Roman period, and Jewish history. Inscriptions are published in them and literary sources discussed. First, Judaea in the period before the arrival of the Romans as well as under Roman rule forms the centre of attention. Here, articles on specific documents are presented and historical problems discussed ranging from the Seleucid period to the Later Roman Empire. The second part of the book contains studies of the wider area and the third part is concerned with the Roman army, its organisation and aims in the Frontier areas. Many of these papers are hard to find and it is particularly valuable to have all of them together and logically arranged in one volume. Moreover extensive discussions of recent publications and newly published material have been added here.

It is remarkable that Judaism could develop given the domination by Rome in Palestine over the centuries. Smallwood traces Judaism's constantly shifting political, religious, and geographical boundaries under Roman rule from Pompey to Diocletian, that is, from the first century BCE through the third century CE. From a long-standing nationalistic tradition that was a tolerated sect under a pagan ruler, Judaism becomes, over time, a threat that needs to be repressed and confined against a now-Christian empire. This work examines the galvanizing forces that shaped and defined Judaism as we have come to know it. This publication has also been published in hardback, please click here for details.

"Friedland has done an excellent job of examining from all possible angles this difficult corpus of fragmentary statuary from Panias." -- Irene Bald Romano, University of Arizona, Bryn Mawr Classical Review (2013.03.41) This constitutes the first publication of a deposit of broken, marble statues, discovered in 1992 during excavations of the Roman Sanctuary of Pan at Caesarea Philippi (Banias, Israel). From 245 fragments, twenty-nine statues ranging from colossal to miniature and representing mainstream Graeco-Roman deities and mythological figures are reconstructed. Most date stylistically to the first through the late fourth centuries AD. A catalogue discusses each sculpture's subject, comparanda, workshop associations, and date; three interpretive chapters present the artistic and material origins of the sculptures; patterns of patronage, chronology of sculptural dedication, and display; and sculptural evidence for the sanctuary's pantheon.

To get the full benefit of reading the Bible, you need to understand (1) spatial and geographical features that shape the text, (2) the history of the Jewish people, (3) the Israelite and Greco-Roman cultures, and (4) the religious beliefs of the ancient writers. As Marc Turnage takes you on a virtual tour of the Holy Lands, you'll see Bible events in a fresh new way.

Although Roman centurions appear at crucial stages in the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, the significance of the centurion’s office for the development of Luke’s story has not been adequately researched. To fill in that void, this study engages the relevant Greco-Roman and Jewish sources that reflect on the image of the Roman military and applies the findings to the analysis of the role of the Roman centurion in the narrative of Luke-Acts. It argues that contemporary evidence reveals a common perception of the Roman centurion as a principal representative of the Roman imperial power, and that Luke-Acts employs centurions in the role of prototypical Gentile believers in anticipation of the Christian mission to the Empire. Chapter 1 outlines the current state of the question. Chapter 2 surveys the background data, including the place of the centurion in the Roman military organization, the role of the Roman army as the basis of the ruling power, the army’s function in the life of the civilian community, Luke’s military terminology, and the Roman military regiments in Luke-Acts. Chapter 3 reviews Greco-Roman writings, including Polybius, Julius Caesar, Sallust, Livy, Velleius Paterculus, Tacitus, Appian, Cornelius Nepos, Plutarch, Suetonius, Plautus, Cicero, Virgil, Horace, Petronius, Quintilian, Epictetus, Juvenal, Fronto, Apuleius, as well as non-literary evidence. Chapter 4 engages the Jewish witnesses, including 1 Maccabees, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Jewish pseudepigrapha, Philo, Josephus, Talmudic sources, and non-literary sources. Chapter 5 examines the relevant accounts of Luke-Acts, focusing on Luke 7:1–10 and Acts 10:1–11:18. The Conclusion reviews the findings of the study and summarizes the results.