Bibliography
| Title: Masada. A Consideration of the Literary Evidence Secondary Title: GRBS Volume: 21 Pages: 245-260 Type: Journal Article Year: 1980 Abstract: "Eleazar's speech in favor of suicide at Masada (War 7:332-336; 341-388) presents an antilogos to Josephus' speech against suicide at Jotapata (War 3:362-382). Josephus invested Eleazar with certain philosophical characteristics, the political significance of which would not have been lost on a Greco-Roman audience in the 70s. The value of Eleazar's speech against the opponents of the Flavian regime is obvious: talk of freedom, slavery, and suicide put them in the same category as the Jewish fanatics who killed themselves on a godforsaken summit in Judea. To argue that Josephus wished to portray the end of the Sicarii as heroic ignores the ambience in which the narrative was written". - D.J.H. Keywords: History of the Judean War (66-73) |