“An Ornament to Empire:” The Temple of Herod as a Roman Building

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The Temple of Herod in Jerusalem was one of the largest and most thoroughly documented religious sanctuaries in the Roman world. Described as an “Ornament to Empire” by its destroyer, the future emperor Titus, it is the Temple that stood in the time of Jesus. Working with archaeological evidence as well as ancient Jewish, Christian, and Polytheist literary texts, Peter Schertz explores the Second Temple in its Roman context.