Abstract: Abstract This chapter explores the importance of vivid narrative in history-writing by probing the importance of spectacle in the Judaean War. It focuses in particular on two spectacles narrated by Josephus: first, his description of his own capture by the Romans at Jotapata, where he makes a historiographical spectacle of his own body, and second, the detailed and vivid account of the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, where the temple becomes a central spectacle in his narrative. The rhetorical emphasis that marks these episodes served to focus the reader’s or listener’s attention and allowed the historian to underscore key themes of the entire work: celebrating the power of his Flavian patrons, damning the rebels for their conduct during the rebellion, enhancing his own reputation as general and priest, and finally, highlighting the former grandeur of Jerusalem and its temple, and the tragedy of their destruction.
Publication Year: 2005
Publication Date: 2005-05-19
Language: en
Type: book-chapter
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 22
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