The Jewish War: Preface

[cahn]

This week: All right! As a preface to Josephus Book Club, I am just reading the preface this week and we will do a bigger chunk starting this next week (see below). The preface is just a few pages long (I'm reading up until what in Oxford is paragraph 30, "All of these contents are set forth in seven books... I shall now begin my narrative as indicated at the start of my summary.")

I'm sure you all will have deeper things to say than I do about this, but wow I am just amused by how Josephus just starts out pulling no punches about how annoying and inferior he thinks the other historians are. (The footnote to The historians of this war fall into two categories... hearsay... or distort the facts namechecks Justus, who featured prominently as a frenemy in Feuchtwanger's Josephus trilogy.) I do like his logic in saying, hey, if you want to make the Romans look good, why make the Jewish side look feeble? Also his logic in saying, hey, actually, it makes more sense to be writing contemporary accounts for which one has eyewitnesses, as opposed to writing about ancient history "as if the ancient historians had failed to give their own accounts sufficient finesse," lol. (Although I guess that is what academic historians do!)

Titus Caesar is also namechecked, lookin' good.

The footnotes also say that historiographical writers generally claimed impartiality, so Josephus talking about his personal feelings of sorrow here is atypical, which I thought was interesting.

In fact, looking over the whole sweep of history, I would say that the sufferings of the Jews have been greater than those of any other nation -- and no foreign power is to blame. Oooooof. I guess that's a good tagline to pique interest in the book, though...

(I'm really glad I read Feuchtwanger's Josephus books first to orient myself, though!)

Next week: We'll start Book 1! selenak advised that we read up to Herod the Great's killing his favorite wife. My Oxford edition has "verse"/paragraph numbers but not chapter numbers as selenak's has, but I think (selenak, please let me know if this is incorrect) in my edition the idea is to read up to paragraph 443/444: Maddened by unbridled jealousy, Herod ordered the immediate execution of them both. Remorse quickly followed rage: his anger subsided, and his love was rekindled. The heat of his desire for her was so intense that he could not believe she was dead...

WELL ALL RIGHT THEN. I can see we have lots of sensationalistic gossip ahead of us!

Comments

[cenozoicsynapsid]

I've read some of the Talmud, but I wouldn't call myself a talmudist, and I don't know the passage you're referencing. I'm still waiting for the book to arrive, so... otherwise I don't have much to say yet. Hopefully it'll arrive soon enough for me to engage with Herod the Great and his favorite wife. (Just started Silvia Moreno Garcia's book about Salome, so it'll be an interesting contrast?)

[cahn]

Ha, well, this was just a couple of pages (that selenak sums up above anyway), so you haven't missed much yet! On purpose because I knew you might not have the book yet :)

Ooh. I'm pretty sure Salome shows up (from poking around while I was trying to find the part selenak referenced) though it may be in next week's reading? I also have watching Strauss's opera Salome on my list of things I have promised people I will do, sooooo yeah maybe now is a good time, or at least a time that will lead to interesting contrasts, as you say!

[selenak]

Just pointing out here that the Salome who shows up in connection to Herod the Great is his sister. Salome the daughter of Herodias of John the Baptist fame is two generations later.

[cenozoicsynapsid]

Ah, of course she is. Makes sense when you consider the time periods, doesn't it?

[selenak]

I found the passage I was referring to here:

https://www.talmudology.com/jeremybrownmdgmailcom/2023/7/24/talmudology-for-tisha-bav-that-gnat-in-the-ear-of-titus

(Before the death by gnat and divine punishment, they also have Titus not only being fully responsible for the destruction of the temple but having sex with a prostitute on a Torah scroll in the holy of holies in it (presumably before it was burned). Good grief. This is full supervillaindom and not even a little believable. I mean, I definitely think Josephus is whitewashing Titus somewhat. (Not completely, because Josephus is writing only a few years after the event, at a time where you have lots of survivors on both sides - i.e. Jewish and Roman - who could have refuted him, even with an eye to the imperial throne in mind, and Josephus very much wanted to be taken seriously as a historian.) But however much personally responsible Titus was for the destruction of the Temple, I very much doubt mid conquering Jerusalem he took the time to have sex with a prostitute on a Torah scroll in the about to be destroyed Temple.)