What did the Romans think of the Jews?

The Jewish War by Flavius Josephus - This is the ultimate source on the first Jewish War, but the bias is clear and revisionism is definitely in there somewhere (unless Josephus possessed the gift of prophecy and Titus was a real big-dicked badass). Read it with the knowledge that Josephus was trying to not look like a traitor to the Jews AND to the Romans at the same time. It is a book that reads like it was written by a man straddling a tight-rope, but is still engaging and worth your time. It is not often we have a complete history written by a first-hand eyewitness, but the fact Josephus' work was financed by Vespasian and he lived in Rome at the time obviously taints it with bias.

Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus - Could barely understand a word of it lol. It presumes a lot of knowledge on the Levant and the various rulers/religions/ethnic groups that inhabited it in antiquity. Not a beach read but very informative if you don't mind googling 10 terms/rulers/ethnic groups per minute.

A history of the Jewish War by Steve Mason - This is a BEEFY book, but approachable. Steve Mason is the best kind of historian. That which is not trying to impress, but rather inform. He doesn't know all the answers, but rather guides the reader through his attempts to find them. The overall aim of the book is to look critically at Josephus' account, as it is the most complete one we have. As Mason walks you through his doubts, beliefs, and assumptions on the First Jewish War, you learn a great deal about what separates good history from bad history. Highly recommend, weirdly enthralling coin section, I have never touched a boob and never will.

Rome: Rise and Fall of an Empire by Simon Baker - Approachable, fun, light, I've talked about it before. There's a chapter on the first Jewish War which sparked my interest in this subject, there's a bit too much moral grandstanding though, and I think they drank the Josephus kool-aid a bit too much.

Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan - This is largely an argumentative work that's trying to prove that Jesus Christ was a Jewish nationalist whose beliefs were later white-washed in order to be more palatable to the Roman elite. I'm not going to remark on whether or not that's accurate, but the first half of the book delves into the zealot faction, the sicarii, Herod the Great, and the political significance of the "messiah". Very fun read, until it talks about this weird cult-classic book called, "The Bible". It's short, regardless. An interesting place to start, if you wish to.

Cicero is right

jotapata is spelled yodfat

Poor kitty! :O

Now they are about to rebuild the temple and intentionally end the world. Aint it neat how we come full circle......

Any intellectually honest person who makes a genuine effort to do a bit of sincerely objective research will find some curious things. One will find that this group has been expelled from 109 countries around 1030 different times. This is absolutely true, and the historical details are available for all to see.
Now, that's a lot of upset hosts, and is pretty curious in itself, but then you find the historical grievances that led up to these events. It is quite thunder striking when you learn that some common criticism you hear today is nearly identical to complaints made over hundreds and thousands of years. Vastly different hosts, some of them half a world away from the others, and millennia removed from one another...yet they so often identified the same problems.

Any normal person, in their right mind, would suggest a little self reflection, and behavioral examination is in order. It is ridiculous and unrealistic to even suggest that the hosts are ALWAYS and FOREVER the primary issue. Frankly, more and more are finding the neurotic critique and finger pointing(among countless other awful behaviors) is getting VERY VERY tiresome.

When will these eternal discontents learn to admit their wrongs, and finally allow peace? I really don't think they will...until they eradicate everyone else.

Eat the chalk slower daddy

Just found your content and I'm binging it and sharing it, love your style of story telling

When you can't defeat them through military
Defeat them through your religion

I wanna see him the history of the Abraham if religion

I wonder when Western leaders will stop listening to ''prophecies'' from people who create stories.

I know... I really don’t like them neither

It seems that J€₩$ are always on the right side of history no matter what.

This is a major conceptual fail. Some interesting observations mixed with total fiction (Herod was not a "convert"; his mother was a jewess and his father's Edomite family had been forcibly converted generations prior under the Hasmonean leader John Hyrcanus I over 100 years before he was born). I guess this series is marketing to nerds who are pretending to be "cool" by using vulgar language and references while at the same time invalidating any points by inserting weak attempts at humor? I dig history and humor, but this fails on both sides.

Damn the Jews can't get a break damn...

Wow almost like how modern muslims are perceived in west.

Facts : The Romans love to mock Jewish sex life and their ‘one-god’

God Bless the Roman Empire

Is this dude eating chalk?!

Let's ask Trajan what he thinks

Wait...what the heck did I just watch?! Is the head of god a chicken pot pie?!? That's amazing! 😂

It took about 45 seconds before I was forced to click ‘like’ and about 2mins 45 seconds before I had to sub. Good work that man.

Jews in the holyland ong before its named palstinen by the romans? Fake news. Its palstine from 1000000 BC jews dont have any connections to the land of israel!

When Tacitus says the Jews worship Dionysus he was likely using interpretatio graeca to describe Jesus because he had likely only encountered proto Christians who were living in rome.

Did you know Christianity isn't white European religion

Cleopatra was black.....it came to me in a dream.😅😂😂😂😂

I had to stop and get more info on why you need to “ get out” of a city you just entered with 30.000 legionaries.

the city had twice as much civilians, ( just googled it, they say jerusalem had 60-70,000) your army was made to withstand greater numbers if you know how… wauw! Assuming every child and grandmother was a Bossfight to hold the line against… and the untrained people of fighting age, you could have constantly moved in (testudo) formation. Do what you needed to do. And let them suffer way more losses because, training( and formations allowed men to switch back to the end of the lines, refreshing the front line, preserving your numbers). That and your gear would grant You victory, you could have destroyed that city woth 30.000 good men.

Maybe im overthinking this, so im glad you clearly said the that roman leader was dumb af. I dont know why this gets to me.

You say Little Caesar's, I say the entire month of July.

Herod was most certainly NOT above slaughtering scores of children. Dude did it in Syria. Find God

Omg a true historian!!! You sir are more than worthy of a like and share!

Please finish this bro, the 2nd half is ESPECIALLY important considering currant events

I just got a history lesson from Kent Mansley wth 💀

It's funny how often xenophobic hedonism claims are made about hard working people. Mexicans in USA, rural portuguese in 70s France, etc.
It's just to undermine the need that advanced societies' elites have of hard working cheap labour.
But, when the middle-class is squeezed by top and bottom, without upward mobility, it's actually a real issue. Just don't be dumb about making your point, xenophobes. It's so hard, I know.

Why yes, he would Make Learning Fun Again.😏

Judea delenda est

The Romans invented Christianity, it was like a ancient psy op that ended up getting completely out of hand.

What is that song you use with the chick singing you use in every other video

Wait hold up! Is god a quiche or a chicken pot pie in this video? I always felt the lords presence as like a sausage egg and cheese myself.

I would have loved this video if you could have not been eating the chalk.

It's Yodfata not jotapata 😭
But great video!

Some may argue that US is a Theocracy (partly joking)

I have been kicked out of 109 pubs since I came of legal age to drink. I suspect that there is an overarching conspiracy against me, and part of that is any criticism of me. Would you agree with me that we should make it illegal to throw me out of any more pubs, and further criminalize any criticism of my behaviour?

On the point of how bewildering it is for the Romans to get things wrong about the Jewish faith, you only need to look at the average American and how they view Islamic beliefs. It's not that bewildering when all you have for sources is lies and you never actuallly meet people of that faith.

If being a member of the Roman empire was against their religion then why didn't they fight back?

This film is a MAJOR disappointment, a "kewl dood" blathering.

This might be how conspiracies get started but the ending makes me wonder if Jesus was a Roman propaganda tool.

But What did the Jomans think of the Rews?