The Sicarii in Josephus' Judean War
| Mark Brighton Abstract:No comprehensive study of the Sicarii in Josephus' Judean War has been done. Scholars who have paid attention to the Sicarii have done so selectively and are also divided about their historical existence, nature, and activities in part because of disagreement concerning the rhetorical elements in Josephus' presentation. This study focuses upon all those places in War where the Sicarii are explicitly or implicitly mentioned. Each passage is analyzed for its rhetorical elements, and then literary and historical conclusions are presented. This study shows that "Sicarii" was a label applied to a group of bandits who embarked upon high profile assassinations in the early stages of the Judean war. Josephus adopted this label to develop and bring to a resolution several major themes in War. This examination leads to the conclusion that from a historical perspective, "Sicarii"was a somewhat fluid term used to describe Jews of the Judean revolt who were associated with acts of violence against their own people for religious/political ends.
The full dissertation is available following this abstract. |