I'm watching the second half of the PBS program

[Lydia Leftcoast]

The Kingdom of David: the Saga of the Israelites. (I missed the first half.)

It takes a historical approach, and the second half begins with the Roman conquest. There's a lot of fascinating background about relations between the Jews and Rome during the time of Jesus, and about the strife among the various Jewish groups, as well as the several revolts by the Zealots, the Masada warriors, and Bar Kochba, the banishment from Jerusalem, and the beginnings of official anti-Semitism.