« What kind of Truth did Josephus Promise? His truth in ancient historiographical perspective »

Résumé
Flavius Josephus (37– ca. 100 CE), our indispensable source for Judaea under Roman rule and the background to Christian origins, speaks often of his commitment to ‘truth’ (ἀλήθεια). But what does he mean by this? After considering basic questions of definition, etymology, and translation, we take a representative (not exhaustive) inventory of Josephus’ uses of the term in context, to see what this truth either accompanies or opposes. Then we look at what he could not have meant by ἀλήθεια, given his obvious practice as a writer of history. A few soundings in Greek and Roman historiography, to help us understand what his audiences might have expected in hearing his truth language, allows us to test his claims against such norms of the time. 

Primary Sources 

  • Herodotus 1.1 (first third) (Remacle)
  • Thucydides 1.22 (Remacle)
  • Lucian, How History Should be Written  (Remacle)
  • Josephus, Judaean War 1.1–16 (Remacle)

Scholarly Studies 

  • A. J. Woodman, Rhetoric in Classical Historiography (1988), especially 197–212 (accessible en ligne sur Sofia).
  • J. Marincola, Authority and Tradition in Classical Historiography (1997), especially 128–74.
  • D. S. Potter, Literary Texts and the Roman Historian (1999), especially 122–54 (accessible en ligne sur Sofia).
  • C. Pelling, Literary Texts and the Greek Historian (2000), especially 1–7, 44–60 (accessible en ligne sur Sofia).
  • L. Pitcher, Writing Ancient History (2009), especially 1–45.