cahn

Ugh, thank you for the reminder about atrocities, even if I hate it.

Titus playing his legions: actually is likely connected to Galba NOT paying, in that Titus, not being stupid, undoubtedly had heard about this - it has only happened in the previous year! - and since he can't see in the future, he can't know whether or not his father will be as easily toppled as the previous three guys. => Keeping his legions happy is important; this isn't a gesture just directed at the besieged Jews.

Ohhhhh with my usual disregard for chronology I didn't even realize that it was only the year before, although of course (and yeah, let's not make the siege last any longer than it has to...) -- right, yeah, it would be especially important to do that now!

Josephus has to go through some major verbal contortions to exculpate Titus from the fact that his legionnaries crucify the not-really-deserters who left the city to look for food but not to change sides.

Heh, yeah. There's so much "well, he just felt really bad about it! But didn't actually stop it!" there...

BTW, as opposed to Josephus earlier rant about John of Gischala's guys crossdressing and wearing guyliner some chapters ago, I find his descriptions of what's going on within the besieged city mostly believable.

Yeah, I am also more likely to believe this. I think the tone is different, too -- more of a sustained sadness than the sort of titillated-outrage that I felt was more the tone of the EYELINER.

And of course taking food from the Temple as the ultimate blasphemy. This is something that strikes us and presumably even Josephus' non-Jewish readers back in the day very differently - if you're starving, of course it makes sense to not only longer sacrifice food to God but eat it yourself

Yeah -- I mean -- it's sensible, but!