Sources on the politics of Judaea in the 50s CE: a response to Martin Goodman
Martin Goodman argues that Josephus’ presentation of 6–66 CE Judaea as a place of growing tensions leading to war with Rome copies Thucydides and is contradicted by his own evidence. This theory is countered at several levels. First, Josephus’ Jewish War does not imitate Thucydides’ 50-year pre-war...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
[2017]
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| In: |
Journal of Jewish studies
Year: 2017, Volume: 68, Issue: 2, Pages: 234–259 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) |
| Summary: | Martin Goodman argues that Josephus’ presentation of 6–66 CE Judaea as a place of growing tensions leading to war with Rome copies Thucydides and is contradicted by his own evidence. This theory is countered at several levels. First, Josephus’ Jewish War does not imitate Thucydides’ 50-year pre-war period. Second, while Jewish War blames the war on the insignificant philosophy of Judas the Galilean and incompetent equestrian governors, Antiquities portrays Judas’s movement as a much more dangerous reaction against imperial policy. Third, Paul’s letters to the Galatians and Romans and the Acts of the Apostles reflect a process of increasing pressure in Judaea for Gentile Christians to accept circumcision and Jewish law. This phenomenon is reminiscent of the Hasmonean ‘politics of circumcision’ and is also evidenced in some ‘zealot’ interventions at the beginning of the war recorded by Josephus. Hence during the 50s CE, Judaea did see tensions with Gentiles rising. |
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| ISSN: | 2056-6689 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of Jewish studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.18647/3324/JJS-2017 |