Most studies of Jews in the period from Alexander to Trajan have concentrated almost exclusively on Jerusalem and Judea. In this book, John Barclay assembles and analyzes evidence about the Jewish communities in Egypt, Syria, Cyrenaica, Rome, and Asia. Barclay"s ambitious goal is to describe, as precisely as the evidence allows, the varying levels of assimilation and antagonism between Jews and the non-Jewish communities in these areas for this 440-year period. With a concluding review of Jewish identity in the Diaspora as a whole, this book provides our first comprehensive and multi-faceted survey of Diaspora communities and Diaspora literature. "The book reflects the best of contemporary scholarship and is likely to become an indispensable source of information and reflection on the problems Jews encountered with living in a frequently hostile environment." - A. P. Hayman, Edinburgh University. "This is a superb book which has lifted our discussion of Jews in the...