Josephus' telling of the jewish rebellion

Since this is the most historically driven mod, i thunked that this would be the best place to post this request.

I've got several books on Rome, and the parts on the Jewish rebellion seem quite biased. they quote most if not all of their stuff from Josephus, but not nearly enough of his work(or anyone elses for that matter) to seem unbiased. I'm quite interested in learning more about the age of antiquity, and would greatly appreciate anyone with the access to such archives online to help me out here. I want to read Josephus' work on the Jewish rebellion. I've heard alot about it but never got to see or read it with my own eyes. I like to read such things to create my own interpretations and opinions. (i am a hobbyist historian)

thankyou to anyone who helps me locate the reading.

Adrian Goldsworthy's book "In the name of Rome:The men who won the Roman Empire" Features a section on Titus, the commander of the siege. Quite a good read, and he is clearly critical of Josephus and makes a point to mention his obvious Pro-Roman and particularly Pro-Vespasian stance.

Check this one out: http://books.google.com/books?id=z_k...um=1&ct=result

aawwwwesome, thanks Paulus and Gaius. now i have something to read this month! :D

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Originally Posted by Celtic_Punk

Since this is the most historically driven mod, i thunked that this would be the best place to post this request.

I've got several books on Rome, and the parts on the Jewish rebellion seem quite biased. they quote most if not all of their stuff from Josephus, but not nearly enough of his work(or anyone elses for that matter) to seem unbiased. I'm quite interested in learning more about the age of antiquity, and would greatly appreciate anyone with the access to such archives online to help me out here. I want to read Josephus' work on the Jewish rebellion. I've heard alot about it but never got to see or read it with my own eyes. I like to read such things to create my own interpretations and opinions. (i am a hobbyist historian)

thankyou to anyone who helps me locate the reading.

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What books, or what authors did you read?

Im reading the Rubicon By Tom Holland right now, and a Simon Baker book called Ancient Rome, Thats all I have for Rome, I've got a book about different decisive conflicts through most recorded history. A book called "The Greeks at War: From Athens to Alexander" by Dr. Philip de Souza, Waldemar Heckel & Dr. Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, all three are profs. the rest of my books are on WWII since that was my first passion.

I found that Simon Baker was really biased when it came to the jewish rebellion. He tried to show both sides but you could tell he wasn't telling you something.

any books someone can recommend (doesn't have to be on Rome or the jewish rebellion specifically, I'm always looking for a book to read, infact im moseying through the Art of War right now.) would be fantastic, thanks.

by the way, who thought that florus was a retard for going through that mountain pass during his retreat. I mean i couldn't think of a better place for an ambush. the jew slingers tore the legionaries apart.

Hmm, The Tom Holland book...Do you like it??

And about Josephus:

Another thing to keep in mind with Josephus is his hostility towards other Jewish groups/ factions. Doesn't Josephus call the defenders of Masada a bunch of murderers and fanatics??

I don't know, but he was one of them, iirc. He later on sneaks his way out of having to kill himself like the others and surrenders to the Romans. He justifies that by saying that he had an epiphany and God tolds him he wanted Josephus to survive so that he can spread his glory. Josephus is very self-centered and talks a lot about his personal heroic deeds etc. Kind of a spineless jerk with to a way to big ego, if you ask me.

Tom Holland reads very well, but I understand he is rather casual with the facts. He certainly doesn't give much space to critical analysis, even after bewailing the fact that so many sources contradict each other, so don't take anything he writes as gospel truth.

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Originally Posted by machinor

I don't know, but he was one of them, iirc. He later on sneaks his way out of having to kill himself like the others and surrenders to the Romans. He justifies that by saying that he had an epiphany and God tolds him he wanted Josephus to survive so that he can spread his glory. Josephus is very self-centered and talks a lot about his personal heroic deeds etc. Kind of a spineless jerk with to a way to big ego, if you ask me.

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i had always had the impression that he was driven more by a realization that the jews couldn't drive the romans out of judea and that he wanted to save his people, or is this a propaganda story spread by the romans and josephus himself?

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Originally Posted by Ludens

Tom Holland reads very well, but I understand he is rather casual with the facts. He certainly doesn't give much space to critical analysis, even after bewailing the fact that so many sources contradict each other, so don't take anything he writes as gospel truth.

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Very true Ludens. I think his writing is more for a "let's get the basic story out there" book than a rigorous historical analysis.

As long as one knows that going in, though, his books are still enjoyable. The reader must just realize that you take away the general story, rather than specifics.

I believe Tom Holland is a novelist who decided to try his hand at history. That would explain his style of writing and his loose approach to facts ;)