Julius Caesar Book

I almost left this one on the library shelf, I was sure that I had read through this before. I'm a Vermes fan and enjoy his contributions to the historical Jesus canon. Geza Vermes was the first Professor of Jewish Studies at Oxford and has many honorary doctorates to his name. He has been contributing to the picture of the authentic man from Galilee for more than forty years, and even in his late eighties shows little sign of slowing down. In 2010 he published 'Searching for the real Jesus' - 'Jesus-Nativity-Passion-Resurrection' and 'Jesus in the Jewish World'.
'Who's Who in the Age of Jesus' from 2005 is not the usual format. This is a compendium set out in alphabetical order. It's range encompasses the time of the first Roman sandal to enter the promised land, that of Pompey the Great, through to the second Jewish revolt against Rome led by Simeon Bar Kosiba ending in 135CE, which perfectly matches my own period of interest.
The short biographies in this Who's Who include Roman Emperors and Statesmen from Pompey to Hadrian, all the Hasmonaean and Herodian Jewish rulers, Roman Governors of Judaea and Syria, Jewish High Priests, Rabbis, leading female figures, Jewish charismatics and ascetics, revolutionaries, writers and a very comprehensive list of New Testament figures. The author is not only fluent in New Testament and Josephan texts but utilises the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmud, the Mishnah and Dead Sea Scrolls.
Vermes writes "Christianity does not primarily insist on the effort of humans to obey the teaching and follow the example of Jesus. It is characterized by belief in the redeeming power of the suffering,death and resurrection of Christ, a deified human being. This is a new religion, constructed not on the simple and down to earth gospel of the prophet from Nazareth, but on the mystical vision of the author of the fourth Gospel and of St.Paul, which has been developed into fully fledged Christianity by the various Churches over the centuries up to the present day."