This collection of essays brings together a number of studies of Galilee in Hellenistic and Roman times. Sean Freyne evaluates the important archaeological work in the Galilee and brings this evidence into a critical dialogue with the literary evidence. The emerging profile of the social and religious world of Galilee has proved highly influential in discussions about the historical Jesus, especially in relation to the matrix of Early Christianity. Several individual studies demonstrate how the reconstructed social world, viewed as text, offers the possibility of new readings of familiar gospel texts.