Jewish Perspectives on Hellenistic Rulers

This volume gathers sixteen essays on monarchy and power in the Hellenistic period and charts a new approach to Hellenistic history by focusing attention on biblical and Jewish evidence and reading that evidence in new ways. The essays consider the kings, queens, and power figures of the Hellenistic dynasties, as well as ancient Israelite kings, the Babylonian and Persian rulers of the Bible, Parthians, and Romans. The volume also represents a new kind of interpretation of the Greek Bible (Septuagint) and of the Jewish literature of the period, setting them in the context of Hellenistic political thought and practice.

Tessa Rajak is Professor of Ancient History, University of Reading, and Horace W. Goldsmith Visiting Professor at Yale. She was Codirector of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Parkes Greek Bible in the Graeco-Roman World Project. Her many publications include Josephus: The Historian and his Society. Sarah Pearce is Senior Lecturer in History, University of Southampton and was Codirector of the AHRC Parkes Greek Bible in the Graeco-Roman World Project. She is the author of The Land of the Body: Studies in Philo's Representation of Egypt. James Aitken was Research Fellow of the AHRC Parkes Institute Greek Bible in the Graeco-Roman World Project and is currently Teaching Fellow in Hebrew and Aramaic at Cambridge University. He is the author of The Semantics of Blessing and Cursing in Ancient Hebrew. Jennifer Dines was Research Associate of the AHRC Parkes Institute Greek Bible in the Graeco-Roman World Project and a former Lecturer at Heythrop College, University of London. She is the author of a classic handbook, The Septuagint.