The Jewish War: First half of Book 4

[cahn]

Last week: Josephus really hypes Vespasian up! Galilee is also very nice! Discussion of Josephus' prophecy of Vespasian, both in Josephus and in Feuchtwanger's novelization, with detours into Antonia and Caenis.

This week: Internal strife in Jerusalem! Lots of internal strife!

Next week: Last half of book 4.

Comments

[selenak]

Internal strife: depends on the era, especially since in a lot of centuries, the Eastern Romans loved nothing as much as arguing about theology, famously on all social levels, but you've guessed right in that the century of Arab/Muslim conquest until the Empire literally struck back (not least because the original Kalifates started crumbling due to interior Muslim divisions) and started reconquering ground was relatively free of internal strife. Mind you, the theological clashes restarted practically the moment the Arabs weren't an immediate danger anymore, not least because if you understand yourself as first the second Rome and then the second Jerusalem and God's people and then God allows nearly all of your Empire getting conquered by a bunch of upstart nomads with a new religion and this goes on for decades before you finally start getting back into imperial shape - well, there has to be a theological explanation. Obviously it must be divine punishment for your sins. What did you do wrong? The Byzantine explanation started a whole new controversy, because it was....

...drumroll....

...icons! And thus was iconoclasm born. And you got some Emperors who were iconoclasts and some who were iconophiles, and each held an eonomic council which declared the previous council illegitimate, and meanwhile the Western Romans (about to be called Catholics but not yet, this is pre-Schism) just went WTF? Who cares about icons or lack of same? Not our Popes!

Constantinople: WE DO!

Back to original Jerusalem: Josephus, you'll note, also keeps saying that either God's will or now in this part Fate must be the explanation for how this war is going to end. Which does beg the question: why is it God's will? So far, I get the impression it's God's will because all the internal strife. (I.e. in our narrator's mind, that is.) Or maybe it's a reverse chicken and egg, i.e. the internal strife is because it's God's will and God is unfathomable. (Of course and depressingly, Christianity eventually came up with the "blood libel" and the whole idea of the eventual fall of Jerusalem and destruction of the Temple being divine punishment for not recognizing Jesus as the Messiah etc.)

(BTW, the pre-Christinan Roman default explanation for whenever they get defeated is that it's decadence and foreign influence and they're not as tough and manly as their glorious ancestors. This is such a rethoric staple centuries before the Roman Empire reaches its maximum extension and cultural height - not necessarily the same thing - that it's hilarious, with every generation practically declaring the previous ones to be the true incarnation of Romanitas and themselves as the decadent softies.)

Oh lolololol I also didn't really twig to this, that's hilarious.

Now Feuchtwanger has Justus and not John of Gischala as Josephus' most important rival and frenemy, but he does use John of Gischala a lot, too, and once you've finished with this, you can go back to book 2 of the trilogy which has a scene where John of Gischala gives Joseph his personal review of The Jewish War as a book. :)

[cahn]

...icons! And thus was iconoclasm born.

Hee, I did know about the icons! Long ago I read an abridged version of John Julius Norwich -- actually because The Dragon Waiting piqued my interested in Byzantium. Perhaps I should go back and read it again because I've forgotten almost all of it. I know it's not the most accurate thing out there but I remember it being quite entertaining.

So far, I get the impression it's God's will because all the internal strife. (I.e. in our narrator's mind, that is.)

I'm pretty sure it's this -- he brought it up in the prologue, after all, as the reason why all this happened, and lannamichaels also said that. I think (?) that the God-being-unfathomable-cited-as-a-reason may be more of a Christian concept?

you can go back to book 2 of the trilogy which has a scene where John of Gischala gives Joseph his personal review of The Jewish War as a book. :)

Ahhhhh I will have to reread that again!