Jesus' Interactions with Rome

Though Jesus was in Egypt until Herod "the Great's" death, he would have come past these huge cliffs at Arbel hearing about what Herod did to the rebels who hid in the caves dotting these sheer rock walls. Josephus tells us soldiers were lowered in cages from above to root out these menaces to Rome and Herod's rule in the region. These cliffs can be seen clearly from the Sea of Galilee and Capernaum--in fact from most of the places where Jesus' ministry took place in the gospel stories.
A view from inside one of the caves
At the mixed Jewish and Roman city of Sepphoris, Betsy is sitting here in the ruins of a 6th Century synagogue. Though not dating back to Jesus' time, this Jewish assimilation with Roman culture would have also been happening in his day. Incidentally, this town which Herod Agrippa (Herod's successor in the region) was building in Jesus' lifetime is only about an hour's walk from Nazareth!
Again, later depictions of the influence of Rome around 200CE. Jews regarded the making of human images like this as idolatry.

This is one of the most amazing finds at Sepphoris--a theater dating back to the 1st Century. Jews would have avoided frequenting theaters which were considered pagan.
Betsy is walking on the remains of a Roman Road, a thoroughfare in Jesus' day running down to the Sea of Galilee and Herod Agrippa's town of Tiberias. It is likely Jesus would have used it, catching it on his way North from Nazareth.

And, of course, the cross, the penultimate symbol of who was in control in this land.
(Thanks to Hiking the Jesus Trail co-authors Dave and Anna Dintaman Landis for all this great information!)