BLOG: Social Life in the Roman World

Magdala and International Trade

The city of Magdala plays a vital role in A Ram for Mars as the final stop on Marcus’s quest to find his mother and the place where he and Miriam decide to settle down…

Galilee of the Gentiles?

Galilee, the northern district of Israel, plays a vital role in A Ram for Mars as both the homeland of Marcus’s ancestors (through his grandmother)…

A Roman Island in a Jewish Sea

Golda Meir, former prime minister of Israel, once quipped, “Let me tell you the one thing I have against Moses…

The Wild, Wild—East?

Anyone who has heard anything about Jesus knows that he was crucified by Roman soldiers after being condemned by the Roman prefect Pontius Pilate…

Marking time with the Romans

Since the A Slave’s Story series is written from the vantage point of one of the characters in the story, I made a conscious effort to…

An empire of cities

Artist’s rendition of a typical Greek city One of the hardest things for modern readers to comprehend about the ancient world, at least…

To market, to market…

Ruins of the commercial agora in Ephesus, Turkey Did you ever wonder where people in the ancient world bought the things that they needed…

Anti-Judaism in the Roman World

Colorized version of a panel from the Arch of Titus in Rome depicting the conquest of the Jews in 70 A.D. (For more on the colorization,…

Dining with Greeks and Roman

Where did Greeks and Romans eat? It depends on where you stood in the social pyramid. A vast gulf existed in Greek and Roman cities…

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