Rome and Jerusalem: A Tale of Two Cities

Everyone knows that Rome destroyed Jerusalem in 70 CE. But most people do not appreciate how much, in the period before the War, Rome also built up Jerusalem, serving as a valuable ally and as a stabilizing force during the interminable Hasmonean family fights over who would be high priest. This evening together we will explore both the good and the bad in the the highly charged relationship between these two Eternal Cities.

“But here he [Josephus] was, in this room, in this chair, trying once more to explain – to explain the war, to explain his past, to explain his people. Explain to whom? Who still listened? His enemies, perhaps. Or that glittering circle that surrounded his imperial patrons – Vespasian at first, then Titus, later Domitian. Or perhaps he was speaking to his own people, those numberless wide-flung communities that flourished throughout the Mediterranean, from the rim of North Africa up through Alexandria to Caesarea to Antioch and Asia Minor and Greece and, indeed, who flourished even here, in Rome itself. Everywhere they flourish, he thought. Everywhere but Jerusalem.” (excerpt from Paula Fredriksen’s upcoming book Rome and Jerusalem: A Tale of Two Cities)

Join acclaimed historian Paula Fredriksen (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) on a fascinating journey into the formative era of Western Judaism.

Free and open to the public.

Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16 Street, New York, NY 10011