138 BE1WEEN1CXTANDARTIFACT"byarchaeologistsandbiblicalscholars.Itisnowcommontothinkthatthe
growthofthesecitieswouldhavegraduallyshiftedtheeconomicfocusin
Galileeawayfromanagrariansocierywithanetworkofsmallmarketsin
thevillagestoasystemthatwascharacterizedbytherelationshipofthe
villagestothelargeurbanandcommercialcenters.Thereisnodoubtthat
thevillagenetworkremaineda significantand,byandlarge,unchanged
partofRomanGalilee;however,thereareseveralreasonstothinkthatthe
socioeconomicshiftsintheregionwereimpossibleforanysociallycon-
sciousgroup(suchasthefollowersofJesus)toignore.
AnarticlebyMarkChanceyandAdamPorterinNearEastemArchae-
ologyprOVidesanexcellentsummaryoftheHerodianbuildingprojectsand
illustratestheextensivedevelopmentofurbancentersbyHerodandhis
sons.^6 Additionally, students interested in the extent towhich Herod
shiftedtheeconomicconditionsofhisdayandtheconsequencesforthe
riseofChristianityshouldbereferredtoPeterRichardson·sstudyofthelife
ofHerod.^7 Richardson'ssummary isbalancedandmorepositivethanis
typicalofmuchNewTestamentscholarship.Forexample,heconcludes
that"Herodwasnota monster;hehadthegoodofhispeopleatheart,just
ashehadthebestinterestsofRomeinview."8Richardson'sapproachto
theinfluenceofHerodconvincinglyillustratesthepositiveimpactthathis
buildingprojectshadonthelocaleconomy.Heconcludes,"Theprojects
duringthisperiod[after 30 n.c.E.]werebroadlyconceived(militarysettle-
ments, new cities, tradefacilities, religious buildings,personalcomfort
projects...),buttheoverallstrategyseemstohavebeenaimedtostimulate
theeconomyofJudea,enhanceitstradeposition,andsecurefullemploy-
ment"9However,itisalsoclearthattherural,agrarian-basedpopulationin
Galileedidnotbenefiteconomicallyfromtherapidexpansioninthesur-
roundingregions. Severalrecentstudies(surveyedbelow)haveargued
thatthepeasantsoftheregionwerenegativelyaffectedbytheHerodian
policiesandth.at manyoftheteachingsofJesuscan beunderstoodas
responsestotheeconomicconditionsoftheday.
Therearemanyusefulresourcesthatintroducethematerialrelatedto
theHerodianbuildingprojectsinGalileeandtheirsocioeconomicfunc-
tionsandimpact. It is difficultto overestimatetheworthofthe new
archaeologicalfindsforthestudyoftheGospelsandthehislOricalJesus.
6 MarkChanceyandAdamPorter, "111eArchaeologyofRom;mPalestine."NEA 64
(2ool}t64-203.
7 PeterRichardson, Herod: KillSofrbeJeu'SandFriendoftheRomans(Minneapolis:
Fortress,1999).
8 Ibid.,314.
9 Ibid.,194.