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The Cultural Impact of Visits to the Roman Metropolis: Jews and the Big City
As a leading administrative-cultural center, the Roman metropolis constituted a major tourist attraction for visitors from both the center and the periphery of the empire, among them Jews from the land of Israel. Using ancient Jewish culture as a test case, this lecture addresses the extent and type of influence of such visits on local cultures. It focuses on how the encounter with the city’s spatial aspects, its buildings and traditions, left their impress on Jewish culture, law, collective memory, and art in the first centuries CE. The examples taken from the literary realm – rabbinic law and legend – and the numismatic sphere, all relate to space identity and shed light on how the encounter with the city of Rome influenced a minority culture.
The presentation will be followed by discussion and drinks. The event is free.
This event will take place in accordance with the framework developed by a number of Oxford colleges, including Worcester College, to promote free speech at Oxford. Details of this framework and ‘tips’ for productive discussion of difficult topics are to be found at: www.worc.ox.ac.uk/fos. By attending this event, attendees agree to adhere to these guidelines and the terms and conditions of the event which uphold Worcester College’s commitment to freedom of speech: www.worc.ox.ac.uk/fos/massada
Date:
16 February 2026, 17:15
Venue:
Worcester College, Walton Street OX1 2HB
Venue Details:
Sultan Nazrin Shah Centre
Speaker:
Professor Eyal Ben-Eliyahu (University of Haifa)
Organising department:
Worcester College
Organiser:
Dr Naomi Rokotnitz (University of Oxford)
Organiser contact email address:
naomi.rokotnitz@worc.ox.ac.uk
Part of:
Massada Public Seminars
Booking required?:
Required
Booking url:
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/worcester/1963640
Booking email:
naomi.rokotnitz@worc.ox.ac.uk
Cost:
Free
Audience:
Public
Editor:
Nathan Stazicker
