One of the most widely told stories in all of rabbinic literature focuses on the wickedness of the emperor Titus, his blasphemy and execution through the agency of a lowly gnat. My current research focuses on these tales, the storytellers and their audiences within the frame of Roman culture. Rabbinic sources preserve the voice of a people defeated and forcibly integrated into Roman imperial culture; the tales of Titus and the Gnat a unique window into the experience of one of Rome’s conquered peoples. Material evidence is essential to this project, both as the “props” referenced by the storytellers and the “sets” in which the stories take place. This cultural history breaks down the lines separating “literary” and “material” evidence, presenting a more integrative approach to the primary sources.
