Bibliography
| Title: An Historiographical Analysis of the 'De Excidio Hierosolymitano' of Pseudo-Hegesippus Type: Thesis Year: 1977 Abstract: "In the late fourth century A.D. an anonymous Christian author composed what is usually considered an inept Latin translation of Josephus' Jewish War. But closer analysis suggests that this pseudo-Hegesippus (who was probably a native of Antioch and was not, as is often thought, Ambrose of Milan) was actually writing his own version of the history of the Jewish revolt of 66-70, designed to show that the Jews had brought their misfortunes upon themselves and that Christianity had superseded Judaism as the true religion. Pseudo-Hegesippus writes in the classical historiographical fashion, and he seems to have been the first Christian to attempt to do so. Like Livy adapting Polybius, pseudo-Hegesippus uses an earlier published work as his main source. But he writes his won prologue, which states his won theme and disparages Josephus' history as inadequate. He includes or omits material from Josephus as it relates to his won theme and shows a noticeable lack of interest in military matters, which are Josephus' primary concern. He incorporates Christian material, including one of the earliest extant versions of the Quo vadis? Story. He consults sources other than Josephus, sometimes preferring another source to Josephus. He can be shown to have used I Macchabees, Lucan, Suetonius, and Tacitus, and the probability that he used Livy is quite high. As Livy did with Polybius, pseudo-Hegesippus rewrites al the speeches in Josephus. His versions are sometimes eight or nine times as long as Josephus'. He also composes two speeches were Josephus has none. Pseudo-Hegesippus should thus be seen not as a poor translator but as someone attempting to blend the classical historiographical pattern with a Christian understanding of history, without reducing historiography to apologetics, as Augustine and later Christian writers did". Keywords: Reception of Josephus: Antiquity, Middle Ages, Early Modern Period |