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The Roman Army and the New Testament
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2018
Summary
Though New Testament scholars have written extensively on the Roman Empire, the topic of the military has been conspicuously neglected, leading many academics to defer to popular wisdom. Against this trend, The Roman Army and the New Testament provides a clear discussion of issues that are often taken for granted: Who served in the military of early Roman Palestine? Why did men join the Roman army, seemingly at odds with their own interests as subject peoples? What roles did soldiers serve beyond combat? How did civilians interact with and perceive soldiers? These questions are answered through careful analysis of ancient literature, inscriptions, papyri, and archaeological findings to paint a detailed portrait of soldier-civilian interactions in early Roman Palestine. Contrary to common assumption, Judaea and Galilee were not crawling with Roman legionaries with a penchant for cruelty. Rather, a diverse mix of men from Palestine and nearby regions served as soldiers in a variety of social roles: infrastructure construction, dispute mediation, bodyguarding officials like tax-collectors, etc. Readers will discover a variety of complex attitudes civilians held toward men of Roman violence throughout the Roman East.
The importance of these historical issues for biblical scholarship is demonstrated through a verse-by-verse commentary on relevant passages that stretches across the entire New Testament, from the Slaughter of the Innocents in Matthew’s nativity to the climactic battle with the Great Beast in Revelation. Biblical scholars, seminarians, and military enthusiasts will find much to learn about the Roman army in both the New Testament and early Roman Palestine.
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Bibliographic data
Copyright year
2018
ISBN-Print
978-1-9787-0402-2
ISBN-Online
978-1-9787-0403-9
Publisher
Lexington, Lanham
Language
English
Pages
186
Product type
Book Titles
Table of contents
ChapterPages
Contents No access
List of Figures No access
Acknowledgments No access
Abbreviations No access
Introduction. A War Machine in the Holy Land? No access
Chapter 1. Who Were the Soldiers in Palestine? No access Pages 1 - 22
Chapter 2. What Did the Military Do in Early Roman Palestine? No access Pages 23 - 48
Chapter 3. The Military in the Gospels and Acts No access Pages 49 - 106
Chapter 4. The Military in the Pauline Corpus No access Pages 107 - 124
Chapter 5. The Military in Revelation No access Pages 125 - 138
Conclusion. Reading a Complicated Bible in Complicated Times No access Pages 139 - 144
Bibliography No access Pages 145 - 164
Index No access Pages 165 - 168
Author Index No access Pages 169 - 172
Index of the Bible and Other Ancient Texts No access Pages 173 - 184
