Rome and Jerusalem: The Clash of Ancient Civilizations

The first book to bring together these two ancient civilisations In AD 70, after a war that had flared sporadically for four years, three Roman legions under the future Emperors Vespasian and his son Titus surrounded, laid siege to, and eventually devastated the city of Jerusalem, destroying completely the magnificent Temple which had been built by Herod only eighty years earlier. What brought about this extraordinary conflict, with its extraordinary consequences? This superb book, by one of the world's leading scholars of the ancient Roman and Jewish worlds, narrates and explains this titanic struggle, showing why Rome's interests were served by this policy of brutal hostility, and how the first generation of Christians first distanced themselves from its Jewish origins and then became increasingly hostile to Jews as their influence spread within the empire. The book thus also provides an exceptional and original account of the origins of anti-Semitism, whose history has had often cataclysmic reverberations down to our own time.

About the Author :
Martin Goodman has divided his intellectual life between the Roman and Jewish worlds. He has edited both the Journal of Roman Studies and the Journal of Jewish Studies. He has taught Roman History at Birmingham and Oxford Universities, and is currently Professor of Jewish Studies at Oxford.

Review :
"This is an important book, on a difficult subject: the reason why the Romans, who had so much in common with the Jews, sought to destroy the Jews and Judaism completely. Only one man could have written it. Martin Goodman is professor of Jewish studies at Oxford and has the unique distinction of having edited both the Journal of Roman Studies and the Journal of Jewish Studies. This polarity of expertise enables him to describe in a penetrating way the terrifying Jewish revolts against Rome of AD 66-70 and 132-5, as well as provide a fresh and convincing analysis of their origins and consequences. . . Goodman has written a splendid book." --Paul Johnson, "The Tablet" "Martin Goodman's massive new treatment of two crucial centuries of Jewish history should be read by anyone seeking seriously to understand modern Middle Eastern tanges. . . It would be pleasing to feel that international statesmen might draw lessons from Goodman's lucid account of ancient tragedy." --Diarmaid MacCulloch, "The Guardian" "Sombre and magisterial. . . a brilliant comparative survey. . . There can be no doubting that the issues raised by "Rome and Jerusalem" will have a resonance with readers far beyond the confines of university classes or theology departments. The Roman world has begun to hold a mirror up to our own anxieties in a way that would have appeared wholly implausible a bare decade ago. If it was the fall of the Bastille that shaped 19th and 20th century history, then it can sometimes seem as though the 21st century is being shaped by the fall, nearly 2000 long years ago, of Jerusalem." --Tom Holland, "Sunday Times ""His style is brisk and clear, his learning prodigious and hisscope immense. . . as Goodman's compelling and timely book reminds us, even the most pessimistic could hardly have guessed that it would take 2000 years for [the Jews] to return to their holy city -- or that even then, their battles would be far from over." --Dominic Sandbrook, "Saturday" "Telegraph" ""Rome and Jerusalem" is, among many other things, a history of anti-Semitism -- or, if that term is felt to be anachronistic for Goodman's period. . . judaophobia. . . Martin Goodman has spent his career studying both ancient Rome and ancient Jerusalem ...He is thus the ideal scholar to try to hack a way through these tangled thickets of belief, prejudice and false consciousness." --Paul Cartledge, "Sunday Telegraph ""A monumental work of scholarship ... the parallels with modern day Baghdad are all the more resonant for Goodman studiously avoiding them." --Rabbi David J. Goldberg, the "Independent" "An impressive, scholarly book." --"The Economist" "From the Hardcover edition."