Imperialism and Jewish Society
200 B.C.E. to 640 C.E.
Introduction
IMPERIALISM AND JEWISH SOCIETY traces the impact of different types of
foreign domination on the inner structure of ancient Jewish society,
primarily in Palestine. It argues that a loosely centralized,
ideologically complex society came into existence by the second century
B.C.E., collapsed in the wake of the Destruction and the imposition of
direct Roman rule after 70 C.E., and reformed starting in the fourth
century, centered now on the synagogue and the local religious community,
in part as a response to the christianization of the Roman Empire.
This book thus covers a longer period and has a broader scope than is
conventional for books on ancient Judaism, aside from the not uncommon
handbooks, which are characterized by varying degrees of comprehensiveness
but the absence of an explicit argument. One reason I chose to treat a
broad topic is the character of the evidentiary basis of ancient Jewish
history. In brief, it is slender. This fact has paradoxically contributed
to, though it is certainly not ... read full excerpt from Imperialism and Jewish Society: 200 B.C.E. to 640 C.E. ebook
