Martin David Goodman (born 1 August 1953 in the UK) is a historian and writer on Roman history and the history and literature of the Jews in the Roman period.
Goodman was educated at Trinity College, Oxford, (B.A.) where he studied classical language and literature, ancient history and philosophy. He obtained a D. Phil in 1980. In 2010 he was awarded the degree of D. Litt. He is a Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford, where he is Professor of Jewish Studies . He teaches Roman history and Jewish history, and has written extensively on Jewish history in the Graeco-Roman period.
He was elected Fellow of the British Academy in 1996. He has edited the Journal of Roman Studies, and the Journal of Jewish Studies. He is past President of the British Association for Jewish Studies, past secretary of the European Association of Jewish Studies, and he is a fellow and governor of the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies.
Goodman specialises in Jewish history during the Roman period, including the, religious and political conditions of the Jews, and their interactions with other peoples of the Roman Empire. His publications include:
- State and Society in Roman Galilee AD 132-212, 2nd edition, London 2000 ISBN 0-85303-380-3
- The Ruling Class of Judaea: The Origins of the Jewish Revolt Against Rome, A.D. 66-70, Cambridge, 1987 ISBN 0-521-44782-8
- Mission and Conversion: Proselytizing in the Religious History of the Roman Empire, Oxford, 1994 ISBN 0-19-814941-7
- The Roman World, 44 BC-AD 180, London, 1997 ISBN 0-415-04970-9.
- (ed.) Jews in a Graeco-Roman World, Oxford, 1998 ISBN 0-19-815078-4
- (joint ed.) Apologetics in the Roman Empire: Pagans, Jews and Christians, Oxford, 1999 ISBN 0-19-826986-2
- (ed.) Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, Oxford, 2002 ISBN 0-19-829996-6
- "Judaism in the Roman World, collected essays, Leiden, 2007 ISBN 978-90-04-15309-7
- Rome and Jerusalem: The Clash of Ancient Civilizations, New York, 2007 ISBN 0-375-41185-2
- (joint ed) "Rabbinic Texts and the History of Late Roman Palestine", Oxford,2010 ISBN 978-0-19-726474-4
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