Against Caesar's wishes
Flavius Josephus as a Source for the Burning of the Temple
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4008136 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Tommaso Leoni (York University, Toronto, Ontario, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2007 |
| Volume | 58 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 39-51 |
| Publication date | 2007-04-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Jewish Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-2097 • E-ISSN: 2056-6689 |
| Publisher | Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.18647/2704/jjs-2007 |
| OpenAlex | W2333727261 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 8 |
Since Bernays in 1861, scholars have disputed Josephus' account in Bell. Iud . 6.252 that a Roman soldier during the siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE acted on 'some supernatural impulse' when he threw a piece of burning wood into the Temple, thus starting the fire that destroyed it. The vast majority of scholars have followed Bernays in giving more credence to the account of the Christian chronographer Sulpicius Severus, who in his Chronica reports that Titus ordered that the Temple be burned. Many a priori assumptions have come into play when examining Josephus' narrative, which instead appears unequivocally clear, consistent and substantially trustworthy
Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Josephus · Judaism · Temple · Archaeology and Historical Studies · Biblical Studies and Interpretation · Historical and Linguistic Studies · History
| Citations per year | 0.57 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2012 - 2024 (13) |
| Highly cited | No |