Review of Horbury, Jewish War under Trajan and Hadrian

REVIEWS OF BIBLICAL AND EARY CHRISTIAN STUDIES:

Jewish War under Trajan and Hadrian
In Cambridge University Press, Empire, Jesse Nickel, Judaism, War, William Horbury on August 3, 2016 at 2:00 pm
9780521622967

2016.08.14 | William Horbury. Jewish War under Trajan and Hadrian. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014. pp. 520. ISBN: 9780521622967. Hardcover.

Review by Jesse Nickel, University of St Andrews.

Many thanks to Cambridge University Press for providing a review copy.

In Jewish War under Trajan and Hadrian, William Horbury offers a fresh historical presentation of the two major Jewish uprisings against Rome that occurred in the first half of the second century CE: first, that which took place in Cyrenaica, Egypt, Cyprus and Mesopotamia in 115–117, towards the end of Trajan’s principate; and second, that which took place in Judaea in 132–135, during the reign of Hadrian. With this work, Horbury, a fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and the British Academy, adds to his already significant contributions to the historical study of Judaism. In this study of these enigmatic, yet major incidents of the late Second Temple period, Horbury (i) thoroughly examines the ancient sources, literary and otherwise; (ii) presents as comprehensive a historical narrative of these events as the sources allow; (iii) analyses previous scholarship and the various interpretative lenses through which these revolts have been viewed; and (iv) offers his own take on their significance within the history of Judaism, focusing in particular on questions such as: How did these incidents affect Roman perspectives on and/or treatment of Jews across the empire? To what extent do they mark the end of an “era” within Jewish history? And how can they be understood in the context of the relationship between Judaism and the early church?

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Cross-file under New Book, since I haven't mentioned it before.