Herod's Judaea: A Mediterranean State in the Classical World

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Mohr Siebeck, 2008 - Religion - 445 pages
Samuel Rocca presents an in - depth analysis of Herodian society. The most important facet of this analysis was the relationship between Herod as ruler and the Jewish subjects over whom he ruled. Yet to understand the relationship between Herod and his subjects, between ruler and ruled, it is necessary, as part of the general background, to undertake a general analysis of Herodian Judaea and its relationship with the classical world, beginning with Augustan Rome, which was then the center of power, and followed by the main centers within the Mediterranean basin and the Hellenistic East. The author contends that Herod, though a Jewish ruler, regarded both Alexander the Great-the embodiment of the Hellenistic ruler-and Augustus as ideal models who were worthy of imitation. These models of inspiration influenced the shape of society in Herodian Judaea as a whole. In fact, Herod pushed Judaea towards major Hellenization, albeit with many elements more akin to Rome. This trend of Hellenization was present well before the Herodian period but intensified under Herod's rule. It seems that one of the reasons for the intensification of this trend was King Herod's domination of Judaean society, which allowed him to dictate socio-cultural trends to a greater extent than Augustus was able to do in Rome. Samuel Rocca deals with Herod as the head of Jewish society in Judaea, and hence this study is first and foremost a study of Herodian society. Thus he analyzes the Herodian ideology of rule, the court, the army, the administration, the economy, the ruling political bodies, the city as a microcosm, the religion, and the burial customs. This book anchors Herodian Judaea as firmly as possible within the surrounding Mediterranean world and therefore within the realities of Hellenistic Roman civilization in order to better understand its multi-faceted dimensions as part of the surrounding contemporary world, and not simply as an entity belonging to a biblical - New Testament reality.
 

Contents

Royalty and the Ideology of Power 2 2 2 2 2
22
Herod and the Hellenistic Ideology of Rule
36
Herod the Client King of Rome
52
Herod and Juba IIa Comparison
58
The Court of King Herod
65
The Royal Court of Herodian Judaea
72
the Herodian Palace
96
Conclusions
122
Conclusions
239
The Ruling Bodies of Herodian Judaea
249
The Ruling Bodies of the Herodian State
261
Conclusions
275
The Cults of the Herodian Kingdom
281
Herod and the Rebuilding of the Temple
291
A Civic Center
306
Herod and the Pagan Cults
315

The Gymnasium of Jerusalem
129
The Campaigns of Herods Army
147
The Fortifications
153
in the Herodian Kingdom
175
Military Colonies and Their Role in Defending
188
Conclusions
195
Taxation and Revenues in the Herodian Kingdom
203
The Division of the Land in the Herodian Kingdom
213
The Economic Resources
227
The Herodian City
323
Jerusalem a Classical City
332
Conclusions
347
Conclusions
363
Monumental Tombs of the Hasmonean
364
Final Conclusions
370
Bibliography
379
Indices
409
Copyright

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About the author (2008)

Samuel Rocca, Born 1968; 2006 PhD; since 2000 College and High School Teacher, The Neri Bloomfield College of Design & Teacher Training, Haifa; since 2005 at the Talpiot College, Tel Aviv and since 2006 at the Faculty of Architecture at the Judaea and Samaria College, Ariel.

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