The Ancient Jews from Alexander to Muhammad

This is an accessible and up-to-date account of the Jews during the millennium following Alexander the Great's conquest of the East. Unusually, it acknowledges the problems involved in constructing a narrative from fragmentary yet complex evidence and is, implicitly, an exploration of how this might be accomplished. Moreover, unlike most other introductions to the subject, it concentrates primarily on the people rather than issues of theology and adopts a resolutely unsentimental approach to the subject. Professor Schwartz particularly demonstrates the importance of studying Jewish history, texts and artefacts to the broader community of ancient historians because of what they can contribute to wider themes such as Roman imperialism. The book serves as an excellent introduction for students and scholars of Jewish history and of ancient history.

Introduction; 1. Beginnings to 200 BCE; 2. Maccabean revolt and Hasmonean dynasty; 3. Herod to Florus; 4. The Jewish revolts, 66–135 CE; 5. Jews in the high Roman Empire; 6. Jews under Christian rule; 7. Jews in the ancient world; Bibliographical essay.

Seth Schwartz is the Lucius N. Littauer Professor of Classical Jewish Civilization and Professor of History and of Classics at Columbia University. He is the author of Imperialism and Jewish Society, 200 BCE to 640 CE (2001), which received the National Jewish Book Award and was a finalist for the Koret Book Award, and Were the Jews a Mediterranean Society? Reciprocity and Solidarity in Ancient Judaism (2010).