Martin Goodman explores the history of a titanic struggle whose repercussions are still felt today. In 70CE, after four years of Jewish rebellion, Roman legions devastated the great city of Jerusalem. Sixty years later, its ruin was completed when Emperor Hadrian built a new city on top of it that Jews were forbidden even to enter. In this highly acclaimed book, Martin Goodman examines the background and course of this titanic conflict - from the political ambitions of Roman military leaders to the spread of Christian influence through the empire - and its lasting consequences. 'In this remarkable book Martin Goodman casts a truly fresh eye over well-known figures and events'

This is exhausting stuff--Goodman knows a lot about this period, and he has put it all in this book, which would have been better served divided in two, or perhaps three. The 'comparison' stuff is unhelpful; saying 'the Roman political system was like this, and the Hasmonean political system was like that' over and over, just subbing out 'political system' for something else gets very tedious, very quickly. I read it because Goodman's history of Judaism was very, very good, and because I'm teaching some stuff in this vague arena this semester, so I thought it would be useful. It was not. The imbecilic subtitle doesn't help, but I'm sure that was the publisher's fault. I blame the editor for the generally low standard of prose; again, Goodman can do better, as his more recent big book shows.

Having said all of that, it'll be a great reference work if I ever need to look up something about the second temple era, the end of it, or even early imperial Roman history. ( )

A well researched and comprehensive analysis of the history of Roman-Jewish relations from the first century BC through the third century A.D. The author is commendably objective in his presentation of both sides of these often complex relations over time. This is a complicated yet highly informative work.

I would have rated this book far higher except for the fact that it contains a significant amount of minutia that does not move the story forward in a compelling fashion. To the contrary, much of the middle section of the work bogs down and can become a bit tedious.

Recommended for those with a particular interest in this fascinating period- but be prepared for a substantial time commitment. As for those with a more general interest, there are probably better books out there. ( )

This is a Well-written account of the similarities and differences as well as the history of both cities. The book gives plenty of interesting information as well as good pictures in an engaging manner. I bought this book expecting a history of the jewish revolt against Rome but it gave me so much more. This book is highly-recommended. ( )

His main point: origin of antisemitism almost an accident, a by product of new emperor Vespasian's need to have a victory to prove his credentials. This followed on equally random acts of incompetence by Roman military leaders on the ground in Judea. The anti- Jewish stance then maintained by subsequent emperors (with 1 or 2 exceptions) and then picked up and magnified by Constantine and the Church. Previously Jews had just been another minority religion within the Empire and tolerated as such. Convincing case but seems amazing that something so long-lasting and intense should have such shallow roots. The main bulk of the book is more a cultural comparison of the Roman and Jewish world-views, more info than I really wanted. I personally felt much more at home in the pre-Christian Graeco-Roman world, with its scepticism and love of pleasure and the arts; the Jewish world felt disturbingly like fundamentalist America or, unsurprisingly, settler/orthodox Israel today. ( )