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The Clash of Ancient Civilizations
by Martin Goodman
A magisterial history of the titanic struggle between the Roman and Jewish worlds that led to the destruction of Jerusalem.
In 70 C.E., after a four-year war, three Roman legions besieged and eventually devastated Jerusalem, destroying Herod’s magnificent Temple. Sixty years later, after further violent rebellions and the city’s final destruction, Hadrian built the new city of Aelia Capitolina where Jerusalem had once stood. Jews were barred from entering its territory. They were taxed simply for being Jewish. They were forbidden to worship their god. They were wholly reviled.
What brought about this conflict between the Romans and the subjects they had previously treated with tolerance?
"Absorbing work by a strong, capable writer and teacher who imparts his vast knowledge with great style and clarity." - Kirkus Reviews.
"Starred Review. The result is a scholarly tour de force, a resonant story of a tragic conflict caused by political miscalculation and opportunism." - Publishers Weekly.
"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." - Sunday Telegraph (UK).
"A monumental work of scholarship … the parallels with modern day Baghdad are all the more resonant for Goodman studiously avoiding them." - The Independent (UK).
"An impressive, scholarly book." - The Economist.
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