Representing the Dynasty in Flavian Rome : The Case of Josephus' Jewish War

This work is a re-examination of the political dimensions of the Jewish War of Flavius Josephus. It offers a significant new reading of a text vital to understanding both Roman and Jewish history in this period, and illuminates important questions about "free speech" and "censorship" in the increasingly autocratic culture of Early Imperial Rome.

Representing the Dynasty in Flavian Rome investigates the problem of contemporary historiography and regime representation in Flavian Rome through a close study of a text not usually read for such purposes but which has obvious promise for a study of this theme, the Jewish War of Flavius Josephus. Having surveyed the evolution of our conception of Josephus'' relationship to Flavian power, taken a broad account of issues of political expression and regime representation in Flavian Rome outside Josephus and examined questions relating to the structure and date of the work, Davies provides a series of thematically-focused readings of the three senior members of the Flavian family, Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian, as represented by their contemporary and client Josephus. Key topics explored include the level of independence of Josephus'' vision, his work''s relationship to how the regime is depicted in other contemporary sources, how Josephus makes the Flavians serve his own agenda (which is distinct from the heavy focus of much previous scholarship on how Josephus served their agenda), and the viability and usefulness of certain types of reading practices relating to figured critique which have recently become influential in Josephan scholarship. The book offers a new approach to Josephus'' relationship to the Flavian Dynasty and sheds new light on contemporary historiography and political expression in the Early Principate.