The beginning : the introduction of public spectacles and competitions into ancient Palestine -- Shaping the city's landscape : buildings for mass entertainment in their urban context -- Entertaining the crowds : performances, competitions, and shows -- Financing, organization, and operation -- Adopting a novelty : Jewish attitudes toward Roman spectacles and competitions -- Public spectacles and socio-cultural behavior in late antique Palestine
Summary
Introduces readers to the panoply of public entertainment that flourished in Palestine from the first century BCE to the sixth century CE. Drawing on a trove of original archaeological and textual evidence, Zeev Weiss reconstructs an ancient world where Romans, Jews, and Christians intermixed amid a heady brew of shouts, roars, and applause to watch a variety of typically pagan spectacles
