Chapitre D'ouvrage Année : 2024

"Josephus’s multilayered discourse on the Judean revolt against Rome"

Résumé

This article argues that Josephus’s account of the Judean revolt in BJ reflects his situation in Rome and his exposure to Roman norms, values and discourses on unrest. It analyses Josephus’s discourse from three perspectives, as the Judean historian describes the war as (1) a revolt (polemos, neōterismos, apostasis) against Rome, (2) a civil war (stasis), and (3) a rebellion against the God of Israel. These interwoven narratives reflect Josephus’s historiographical and theological perspectives but also some apologetic concerns—to defend not the Romans or the Flavian dynasty, as scholars have sometimes argued, but rather the people of Judea (at least the majority), a great part of its nobility and Josephus and his historical work. In addition, the interpretation of the revolt as a war against God, closely connected to Josephus’s dismissal of the rebels’ religious motives and theological vision, probably aimed to defend the Jewish religio against Roman discourses that mocked Jewish superstitio and celebrated the failure of the Jewish God, and to reassert the soundness of the Jewish faith in the God of Israel. Yet while some aspects of Josephus’s discourse on the war may reflect a subaltern perspective (that of the Jews under Roman domination), others are connected to his original social milieu and express the view not of a subaltern but rather of an aristocratic leader who was once in a dominant position and understood unrest as a threat to his station.
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Dates et versions

hal-04844445 , version 1 (17-12-2024)

Identifiants

  • HAL Id : hal-04844445 , version 1

Citer

Katell Berthelot. "Josephus’s multilayered discourse on the Judean revolt against Rome". Lisa Eberle; Myles Lavan. Unrest in the Roman Empire: A Discursive History, Campus Verlag; University of Chicago Press, pp.105-124, 2024, 978-3593519326. ⟨hal-04844445⟩
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