unikchou's infinite parse: Josephus and The Jewish War

It is impossible to see through a historical figure exhaustively; consequently, all the four characteristics mentioned in the question above are proper descriptions of Josephus if viewing him through different prisms.

He can be counted as a patriot, since his opposition to rebellion against the Roman Empire in order to keep the Jewish community in Jerusalem from Roman invasion can be interpreted as a sign of patriotism. He can be viewed as a traitor for the same reason, especially under a populist circumstance that most Jewish people support the rebellion. He can be regarded as an opportunist, since he defends the Roman authority in The Jewish War, “you should flatter, not provoke, the authorities”, and eventually he became a Roman citizen after the Jewish War. He can be perceived as a pragmatist, because the argument he makes in The Jewish War is very pragmatic. For example, he enumerates many empires that are conquered by the Romans, such as Gaul, Germans and Spain, in order to illustrate the murky scenario of rebellion against Roman Empire, “Almost every nation under sun bows down before the might of Rome”. Moreover, he points out that Jews have no allies other than their own God, and God is not on their side.

The perspective to see through Josephus certainly will matter our reading for the Jewish Wars, because it is widely accepted that every historical narrative is biased, if Josephus adopts any one of the four ideologies (that is patriotism, treachery, opportunism and pragmatism), the validity and reliability should be questioned because his own biased values will have an impact on his writings such as The Jewish War.

unikchou's infinite parse

2011年11月11日星期五

Josephus and The Jewish War

没有评论:

发表评论