Did Jews under Roman rule really do as the Romans? Or did they retain their religious identity? Or both? In Jewish Life in the Roman Empire, an upcoming three-part Sunday lecture series at Hebrew College, two archæologists and a historian will comb through Roman baths, burial grounds, utensils, mosaics and synagogues to address this question and its implications for modern Jews in Western societies.

The series will begin by placing life in the Roman Empire from the second century BCE to the fourth century CE against a political backdrop of alternating peace, oppression and revolution. On January 30, internationally acclaimed historian Dr. Shaye J.D. Cohen, the Nathan Littauer Professor of Hebrew Literature and Philosophy at Harvard University and author of From the Maccabees to the Mishnah (Westminster John Knox Press, 1987), will present "Rome and Jerusalem: Allies and Enemies." Providing historical context for the next two lectures, Cohen will probe Jewish texts for clues about the interactions and power struggles between Jews and Romans in Judea and beyond.

Then, two archæologists will dig through 2,000 years of history to reveal the daily rhythms of Jewish life in the Roman Empire. On February 6, Shlomit Weksler-Bdolah, a Jerusalem-based archæologist for the Israel Antiquities Authority, will discuss "Second-Temple Jerusalem: Hellenism Meets Judaism." Leading attendees on a "virtual dig" of Jerusalem of the Second Temple period, Weksler-Bdolah will showcase both the Hellenistic and Jewish cultural imprints on that city's life.

On February 13, Dr. Katharina Galor, visiting assistant professor at the Institute for Archæology and the Ancient World at Brown University and associate director of a ten-year dig in Tiberias, will give a talk entitled "Post-Temple Galilee: An Archæological Mix." Sharing slides from her excavations, including the recently unearthed palace-fortress at Ramat Hanadiv, she will show how Jewish culture and Roman civilization coexisted, mixed and sometimes merged.

This series is cosponsored by the Center for Adult Jewish Learning and the Consulate General of Israel to New England. Each Sunday lecture will take place at 7:00 p.m. in Berenson Hall at Hebrew College. To register or for more details, go to hebrewcollege.edu/rome or call 617-559-8709.

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