This study raises that difficult and complicated question on a broad front taking into account
the expressions and attitudes of a wide variety of Greek Roman Jewish and early Christian
sources including Herodotus Polybius Cicero Philo and Paul. It approaches the topic of
ethnicity through the lenses of the ancients themselves rather than through the imposition of
modern categories labels and frameworks. A central issue guides the course of the work: did
ancient writers reflect upon collective identity as determined by common origins and lineage or
by shared traditions and culture?
