This is the first monograph devoted to the system of community benefaction practised by Jews in Palestine from the second century BCE to the sixth century CE. Principal is the evidence from synagogue inscriptions erected to patrons and donors from the second century CE onwards. All these inscriptions are reviewed, together with a re-examination of how they are to be translated.Sorek is especially interested in the motivation for benefactions, and concludes that the Jewish system attested in the inscriptions is specific to the Jewish community. It was not merely a copy of the well-known Graeco-Roman system of euergetism, in which rich citizens contributed from their wealth to public expenses. But neither was the Jewish system properly an expression of charity, as has often been thought. Sorek argues that the benefaction system is best understood as an expression of hesed, the meaning of which she explores in detail.

This is the first book to examine the causes, events and consequences of a major conflict in ancient Palestine, and assess the accounts of its star witness, Josephus. The Jewish war, culminating in the siege of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple, can be called the most significant event in Roman military history. The war demanded a massive concentration of forces and was the longest siege in the whole of the Imperial period. Lasting roughly five months it took four legions, twenty infantry cohorts, and eighteen thousand men supplied by four independent kings to affect a victory. In fact, the forces committed to the siege, were larger than those deployed for the invasion of Britain in AD 43. The Jewish revolt was not inspired by any ideological objection on the part of the Jews toward Rome, nor any Roman anti-Semitism: instead a variety of underlying causes helped spark the revolt including social tensions, the divisions amongst the ruling class, the rise of banditry and poor harvests, and, perhaps most significantly, the apocalyptic storm brewing over 1st century Palestine. All revolutions change history, whether they are successful or not, and the Jewish war against Rome in AD 66-73 was no exception - the ramifications were enormous and still have an impact on the world today. The revolt had a profound influence on the development of Judaism and Christianity. If this revolt had not occurred, two major religions would simply not exist, certainly not in their present forms. The other exceptional fact about the Jewish war is the extraordinary amount of information that has survived. For that we have to thank one man, Flavius Josephus, a Jew of Pharisaic origin and eyewitness to the events he describes. Born Joseph ben Mattiyahu, he held a command in Galilee during a pivotal stage of the revolt and was captured by the Romans. Eventually, through his skillful manipulation of events, he became a client and friend to the future Roman emperors, Vespasian and Titus and worked as a translator and mediator during the fateful siege of Jerusalem. To the Jews, he became a traitor.>

Obelisks, originally associated with sun cult, had their heyday between 2000 and 1500 BCE, when they adorned the Nile's banks and proclaimed the splendour of the pharaohs. Yet today there are more of them (13) surviving in Rome than in Egypt. They were brought there in the first four centuries CE by successive Roman emperors, each with there own agenda for doing so. Fascination with these spectacular monuments continued into modern times: in transporting 'Cleopatra's Needle' to London in the 19th century six sailors died and the stone was almost lost at sea; another was more securely transported to New York. And it was during these exercises that the skills of the Egyptian engineers who constructed, transported and erected obelisks became apparent, and that the study of them, including eventually their hieroglyphic inscriptions, began. This unique book traces the history of the obelisk and has its emphasis very much on the role played by Rome in their preservation.

This is an accessible and concise overview of Greek and Roman history writing. The ancient historians were not always objective or accurate, and their intentions for writing were very different from those of modern historians. This introductory guide helps to unravel some of the difficulties involved in dealing with ancient source material, placing the work of ancient historians in its political, social and historical context for the contemporary reader. The chapters survey all of the major historians whose works are encountered most often by students during their period of study, including Herodotus, Thucydides, Sallust and Livy, as well as more minor Greek and Roman historians. Further chapters assess works of biography and literature as historical source material. "Alexander the Great", the subject of multiple works of history, biography and fiction, provides an enlightening case study in ancient historiography. Timelines of major historical events will place the writers within their historical context, and each chapter includes a full bibliography for ease of reference.