What was life like for Jews settled throughout the Mediterranean world of Classical antiquity--and what place did Jewish communities have in the diverse civilization dominated by Greeks and Romans? In a probing account of the Jewish diaspora in the four centuries from Alexander the Great's conquest of the Near East to the Roman destruction of the Jewish Temple in 70 C.E., Erich Gruen reaches often surprising conclusions.
By the first century of our era, Jews living abroad far outnumbered those living in Palestine and had done so for generations. Substantial Jewish communities were found throughout the Greek mainland and Aegean islands, Asia Minor, the Tigris-Euphrates valley, Egypt, and Italy. Focusing especially on Alexandria, Greek cities in Asia Minor, and Rome, Gruen explores the lives of these Jews: the obstacles they encountered, the institutions they established, and their strategies for adjustment. He also delves into Jewish writing in this period, teasing out how Jews in the diaspora saw themselves. There emerges a picture of a Jewish minority that was at home in Greco-Roman cities: subject to only sporadic harassment; its intellectuals immersed in Greco-Roman culture while refashioning it for their own purposes; exhibiting little sign of insecurity in an alien society; and demonstrating both a respect for the Holy Land and a commitment to the local community and Gentile government. Gruen's innovative analysis of the historical and literary record alters our understanding of the way this vibrant minority culture engaged with the dominant Classical civilization.
Show moreWhat was life like for Jews settled throughout the Mediterranean world of Classical antiquity--and what place did Jewish communities have in the diverse civilization dominated by Greeks and Romans? In a probing account of the Jewish diaspora in the four centuries from Alexander the Great's conquest of the Near East to the Roman destruction of the Jewish Temple in 70 C.E., Erich Gruen reaches often surprising conclusions.
By the first century of our era, Jews living abroad far outnumbered those living in Palestine and had done so for generations. Substantial Jewish communities were found throughout the Greek mainland and Aegean islands, Asia Minor, the Tigris-Euphrates valley, Egypt, and Italy. Focusing especially on Alexandria, Greek cities in Asia Minor, and Rome, Gruen explores the lives of these Jews: the obstacles they encountered, the institutions they established, and their strategies for adjustment. He also delves into Jewish writing in this period, teasing out how Jews in the diaspora saw themselves. There emerges a picture of a Jewish minority that was at home in Greco-Roman cities: subject to only sporadic harassment; its intellectuals immersed in Greco-Roman culture while refashioning it for their own purposes; exhibiting little sign of insecurity in an alien society; and demonstrating both a respect for the Holy Land and a commitment to the local community and Gentile government. Gruen's innovative analysis of the historical and literary record alters our understanding of the way this vibrant minority culture engaged with the dominant Classical civilization.
Show more[Gruen's] book reminds us that, remarkably, there was a time in
history when there was no anti-Semitism. Its virulent strain only
broke out in the terrible race riot in Alexandria of 38 CE, when
the Romans were already ruling the city and the Jews and the
Egyptians were vying for their favor--and their jobs. Gruen's fine
book is obviously the labor of a lifetime.--Erich Segal"Times
Literary Supplement" (12/06/2002)
Eloquently, learnedly, persuasively, Gruen invites the reader of
his new book to consider familiar evidence from the Jewish past
from a new--one might say a non-diaspora--perspective. His point is
simple, but its historical implications are profound. As he
observes, in the nearly four hundred years that stretch between
Alexander the Great...and the emperor Nero...Jews could be found in
large numbers, and in well-established communities, throughout the
Mediterranean. Neither military compulsion nor the vicissitudes of
captivity had brought most of them to those places. To state the
point a little differently: the Roman destruction of Jerusalem and
its Temple in 70 C.E. did not cause the second diaspora. Many
ancient Jews--probably most ancient Jews--had by that point lived
outside the land of Israel for centuries. They did so, evidently,
because they wanted to do so.--Paula Fredriksen"New Republic"
(07/15/2002)
Gruen's greatest contribution is that he sees the events...of
Jewish history and the literature produced by Hellenistic Jews
against the backdrop of events of contemporary non-Jewish history
and culture...I have seldom read a book on such a controversial
topic that is so full of common sense--and so readable.--Louis
Feldman "American Journal of Philology "
Mr. Gruen, a specialist in the history of the Hellenistic period
and author of the magisterial volume "The Hellenistic World and the
Coming of Rome", explores the complex and often ambiguous place of
Jewish communities in the classical world and the ways in which
Jewish literary culture grew and flourished in this diaspora. He
argues forcefully that Greece and Rome were not the unrelenting
oppressors that Jewish tradition makes them out to be.--Mark
Miller"Washington Times" (06/16/2002)
Rather than seeing Jews as passive or as mere victims of hostile
forces, Gruen presents a complex picture of large and dynamic
communities unafraid to assert their Jewish identity while
interacting with other groups in Rome, Alexandria, and Asia
Minor...This is a rich, novel, and accessible approach to the
realities of one of history's most important diasporas.--B.
Weinstein"Choice" (12/01/2002)
ÝGruen's¨ book reminds us that, remarkably, there was a time in
history when there was no anti-Semitism. Its virulent strain only
broke out in the terrible race riot in Alexandria of 38 CE, when
the Romans were already ruling the city and the Jews and the
Egyptians were vying for their favor--and their jobs. Gruen's fine
book is obviously the labor of a lifetime. -- Erich Segal "Times
Literary Supplement" (12/06/2002)
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