The Jewish War: Last half of book 6

[cahn]

Last week:Lament for the destroyed trees and landscape around Jerusalem. A woman eats her own child. More discussion of Titus and whether he wanted to spare the Temple or not. The Carthage and Alexandria precedents for Romans treating defeated opponents. Torching a temple = REALLY BAD LUCK. The timetable of the siege of Jerusalem set by Vespasian's ascent as emperor.

This week: The aftermath of the burning of the temple, and the end of the siege of Jerusalem. Still some pretty awful stuff.

Next week: First half of book 7... isn't this the last book?! OK, selenak, give us a stopping point... :)

Comments

Re: Recap

[cenozoicsynapsid]

Yes, Micah 5:2 and its relatives are messianic prophecies from the Jewish point of view too. And I agree: although I'm not entirely sold on the theory that J proclaimed Vespasian the messiah while Nero was still alive, this is the strongest piece of textual evidence for it so far. It certainly appears that Vespasian's imperial propaganda wanted to associate him with messianic prophecy (in a kind of generic "various omens of greatness" way aimed mainly at a Roman audience).

Re: Recap

[cahn]

Fair, I'm not necessarily sold on it either! But yeah.