The Roman empire forms the broader political, social and religious context for the emergence of early Christianity. The path leading to Rome's imperial history was set by Gaius Julius Caesar, who was assassinated in 44 BCE by senators fearing that he was trying to become a new Roman king. Whereas, the very death of Jesus by crucifixion, a Roman capital punishment for slaves and non-Roman insurgents, demonstrates that the first century CE in Judaea was a time of unrest and conflict, too. Stoicism proved more congenial to the Romans, especially when concentrating on ethics. The importance of Graeco-Roman philosophy for early Christianity can be seen especially in two areas: the question of god, later called 'theology'. The first and second century CE saw the acme of Roman art and architecture which had developed through a blending of Etruscan and Italian with Greek and Hellenistic elements and which then was diffused from the capital through the cities of the empire.

As one moves from west to east, both Galilee and Judaea follow a similar pattern in geomorphic terms, coastal plain, central hill country, rift valley and the uplands of Transjordan. Galilee was recognised as a Jewish territory, together with Judaea in the south and Perea across the Jordan. These sub-regions were soon incorporated into the kingdom of Herod the Great, and were expected to make their contribution to the honouring of his Roman patron, Augustus. In the past twenty-five years, no region of ancient Palestine has received more attention than Galilee, because of Jewish and Christian interest in the career of Jesus and the emergence of rabbinic Judaism there after the revolt of Bar Kochba. In addition to the study of the literary evidence, mainly Josephus' works, the gospels, and the rabbinic writings, the focus has been on archaeology, both at key sites like Sepphoris and in surveys of various subregions.

Nearly all the main pillars of the structure of Judaean society were destroyed in AD 70. Jerusalem, the Temple and the priesthood were in ruins. Pagan writers wrote little about Judaea except when the province appeared a military threat to the empire; when at peace the region was neither strategically nor economically significant. This chapter discusses the nature of Jewish society in Palestine in the fifty years between AD 70 and the outbreak of the Bar Kochba War. It is likely that all Jews hoped, in vain, for the rapid rebuilding of the sanctuary in Jerusalem. Evidence for Jewish settlement in the countryside of Egypt and Cyrene comes to an abrupt halt, although a few Jews were attested again in Egypt from the late third century. In place of the great heterogeneity of the era before AD 70, rabbinic Jews began a process of religious self-definition parallel to the contemporary development within Christianity.

Herod to some extent presented himself as a Jewish monarch, and for some Romans his family were seen as representative of Jewry. But his rule over Judaea was inaugurated in 40 B. C and preserved until c. 4 B. C almost entirely at the behest of Rome. Herod was granted the throne of Judaea and Samaria by the triumvirs with the support of the Senate in autumn 40 BC Apart from the brief period (AD 41-4) when Agrippa I reigned, the same kind of Roman administration remained in force until AD 66, when a great rebellion led first to the establishment of an independent Jewish state and then to the fall of that state in an orgy of violence. The most important factor in the development of, and growth of tensions within, Judaean society in the first centuries B. C and AD was the economic role of the Jerusalem Temple.

A survey of territorial expansion under Augustus tempts conclusions about strategic designs, empire-wide policy, and imperialist intent. It has been claimed, for example, that Augustus adopted and refined a military system of hegemonic rule, resting on a combination of client states and an efficiently deployed armed force stationed in frontier sectors but mobile enough for transfer wherever needed. Many reckon the push to the north as a carefully conceived and sweeping plan that linked the Alpine, Balkan and German campaigns, and aimed to establish a secure boundary of the empire that ran along the line of the Danube and the Elbe. In Asia Minor and Judaea Augustus cultivated client princes, generally keeping in place those already established, regardless of prior allegiances. The imperial policy of Augustus varied from region to region, adjusted for circumstances and contingencies. Augustus reiterated the aspirations and professed to eclipse the accomplishments of republican heroes. The policy may have been flexible, but the image was consistent.