Six-Monday Lecture Series with Dr. Bruce Chilton

Dr. Bruce Chilton—congregational friend and Director of the Institute of Advanced Theology at Bard College—invites us to a six-lecture series exploring one of the most intriguing figures of the ancient world.

Topic: Rome’s Jewish Queen: The Story of Berenice

When (Mondays): February 23; March 9; March 23; April 6; April 20, and May 4

Where: Bard Hall

Synopsis: Berenice (born ca. 28 CE) was the most notorious Jewish woman in the Roman Empire of her time. Multiple marriages, rumors of incest with her brother Agrippa II of the Herodian dynasty, and her scandalous liaison with Titus—the Roman general and emperor-to-be—guaranteed her celebrity.

Yet this reputation does not tell the whole story. Berenice was a politically astute and influential figure whose effectiveness became legendary. The great-granddaughter of Herod the Great and daughter of King Agrippa I, she promoted her family’s distinctive form of Judaism alongside its expansive political ambitions. Berenice played a pivotal role in Agrippa II’s rise in imperial favor, was deeply involved during the Jewish-Roman War, and, as consort to Titus, supported his father Vespasian in his accession as Roman emperor.