Seth Schwartz. Imperialism and Jewish Society, 200 B.C.E. to 640 C.E. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001. 336 pages. $39.95.

Abstract

"Not only is Imperialism and Jewish Society an original and synthetic work - covering a period in Jewish history not usually defined as a coherent historical period - but within its pages are many provocative theses, well supported by the author's rigorous style of argumentation and detailed discussions of numerous cultural artifacts from ancient Jewish history. [2] The book is a synthesis of this particular period of Jewish history because the author wishes to challenge several prevailing assumptions about what constituted Jewish society in antiquity and how scholars study it. These are best spelled out by describing the three main parts of the book and the fundamental thesis of each. Part I covers the late Second Temple Period through the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in 70 C.E. While most scholars currently regard this period as one of radical sectarianism (Sadducees, Pharisees, Essenes, etc.) - so much so that some scholars no longer speak of "Judaism" but of "Judaisms" - Professor Schwartz argues that scholars have overstated the case for sectarianism. He admits there is a diversity of perspectives reflected in the literature of this period, just as there might be in any period, but such diversity does not imply that Jewish society was fragmented. He astutely points out that scholars' dependence on literary remains has skewed their perspective. Since literacy was rare among people of antiquity, we can safely assume that all ancient Jewish literature was essentially produced by literary elites. In order to get a fuller picture of ancient Jewish society, more needs to be done than simply to compare the Dead Sea Scrolls to the writings of Philo. As Schwartz explains in his introduction, his analysis is informed by a structural-functionalist view of societies, that is, societies are "organism-like systems that can be understood by analyzing the relations of their component parts" (3), which he proceeds to do mainly by emphasizing the social, political, and religious structures disseminated throughout Mediterranean antiquity. For example, he argues that the policies of late Second Temple political leaders, culminating with Herod the Great, were expansionist and represent various attempts to unify diverse territories and peoples under the banner of Judaism, perhaps in imitation of Imperial Rome. Herod's expansion of the Jerusalem Temple, which enabled the accommodation of far more pilgrims at Jewish festivals, is evidence of Herod's interest in turning "Judean institutions into Jewish ones by enhancing their attractiveness to non-Judean Palestinian Jews" - as Herod himself was - "and Jews of the Diaspora" (45). As for religion, Schwartz believes that the ideological system for those who identified themselves as Jewish in the first century was made up of a tripartite complex of symbols, namely, God-Temple-Torah, though he admits that there is evidence for more ideological diversity among Diaspora Jews."(pg 1)