Flavius Josephus' Self-Characterisation in First-Century Rome

Eelco Glas, Ph.D. (2020, University of Groningen), is a postdoctoral fellow at Aarhus University. His research focuses on Jewish literary culture in the context of the Graeco-Roman Mediterranean.

Historiography of Rome and Its Empire Series

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Introduction: Josephus’ Self-Fashioning as a Character in the Judaean War

 0.1 ‘There’s No Such Thing as Bad Publicity’

 0.2 Background, Aims, and Approach

 0.3 Outline and Scope of the Study



1 Character and Exemplarity: Reading the Judaean War within Greek and Roman Historiographic Traditions

 Introduction

 1.1 The Judaean War: Basic Observations

 1.2 Character and Rhetoric in Graeco-Roman Culture

 1.3 Character and Characterisation in Graeco-Roman Historiography

 1.4 Moral Character and the Purposes of Josephus’ Writings

 1.5 Rhetoric and the Presentation of Character in the War

 1.6 Conclusions



2 The Perspective of Josephus’ Self-Characterisation

 Introduction

 2.1 Josephus’ Self-Characterisation in the Judaean War: Outline and Compositional Framing

 2.2 Josephus and Autobiographical Practice in Flavian Rome

 2.3 The Prominence of Autobiographical Discourse in the Judaean War

 2.4 Conclusions



3 Josephus’ Virtues and the Moralising Nature of the War

 Introduction

 3.1 Josephus’ Art of Statesmanship: Beating Stasis in Galilee (BJ 2.569–646)

 3.2 Josephus’ Self-Portrayal and Graeco-Roman Models of Ideal Leadership

 3.3 Josephus’ Changing Fortunes

 3.4 Josephus’ Self-Characterisation and Roman Exemplary Discourse

 3.5 From Narrative Persona in the War to Public Persona in Rome



4 Josephus and the Decorum of Self-Praise

 Introduction

 4.1 Plutarch’s On Inoffensive Self-Praise

 4.2 Greeks and Romans on the Problem of Self-Praise (and Solutions for Practising it Anyway)

 4.3 Josephus’ Self-Fashioning as a Historian (Beyond the War)

 4.4 The Art of Moderating Self-Praise in the War

 4.5 Conclusions



5 Character Contested: Josephus’ Rhetoric of Self-Defence and Apology

 Introduction

 5.1 Josephus’ Use of Apology in the Jotapata Narrative: What Is at Stake?

 5.2 Apology and Self-Aggrandisement: Comparative Observations

 5.3 Apologetic Pretence in the Autobiographical Sections of the War

 5.4 Josephus’ Art of Survival and the Divine in the Cave of Jotapata (BJ 3.340–391)

 5.5 Josephus Nightly Dreams in the Cave of Jotapata (BJ 3.351–354)

 5.6 Conclusions



6 Conclusions

Bibliography

Index