Imperialism, Apocalypticism, and Revolt in Roman Judaea Skip to main content
Detail from the Arch of Titus depicting the menorah taken from the temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD.

Imperialism, Apocalypticism, and Revolt in Roman Judaea

Wednesday, January 24
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
238 HRCB

Judaea’s history in the Early Roman period (63 BCE–70 CE) is framed by Roman conquest and a failed revolution that resulted in the Romans destroying the Jerusalem Temple. As the institutions of Roman imperialism were established in Judaea, local Jewish groups expressed dissent through both apocalyptic movements and armed uprisings. Were apocalypticism and revolt compatible or conflicting modes of dissent in Roman Judaea?

Tony Keddie is Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Fellow of the Ronald Nelson Smith Chair in Classics and Christian Origins at the University of Texas at Austin. He received his MAR from Yale Divinity School and PhD from UT Austin. He is a social historian, focusing on ancient Jewish and Christian experiences of class, labor, economics, and empire. He is the author or co-author of twenty articles and four books, including Class and Power in Roman Palestine: The Socioeconomic Setting of Judaism and Christian Origins.

Part of the Kennedy Center's winter 2024 lecture series, "Authoritarianism and Its Discontents."