Eleazar's Speeches

Eleazar’s speeches at the end of Josephus’ Jewish Wars offer some interesting commentary on how this particular sect of Judaism viewed the Roman occupation.  Or rather the views Josephus ascribed to this group of people.  While it is clear that not all Jews were opposed to Roman rule, after all Josephus himself believed that Judaism and Roman rule could coexist, this particular group of people were vehemently against it.  When examining these speeches it is important to remember that Josephus was not present when the speeches were actually given.  Instead they were conveyed by a group of people that avoided suicide by hiding in a well.  Now what makes this section interesting is how Josephus appears sympathetic to Jewish cause.  He certainly didn’t have to be.  He could have written this section to make Eleazar appear as lunatic; he was commissioned to write this history under Roman rule, they certainly did not care how the Jewish revolt was viewed.   If anything, they would most likely prefer to view their enemies as barbarians hardly worthy of thinking twice about.  Instead Josephus illustrates the scene as one of imminent destruction with the Jewish leader Eleazar maintaining his composure and humanity.  Eleazar decides instead surrendering to torture and slavery he and his followers would commit suicide.  Viewed today this may seem like a cowardly escape, but Eleazar saw it as the only remaining option to control his own fate.

So if this wasn’t to be a means of escape then what was it?  Eleazar himself answers this.  He claims that he already has a commitment that he will serve no other person except God.  He sees this as only keeping his word.  “Since we, long ago, my generous friends, resolved never to be servants to the Romans, nor to any other than to God himself, who alone is the true and just Lord of mankind, the time is now come that obliges us to make that resolution true in practice.”  This is Eleazar keeping his word and in interesting attribute to have for scoundrel and enemy of the Roman Empire.

The next discourse I find very intriguing.  Eleazar claims that they have not been defeated by the Romans, but by the wrath of God.  That “God hath convinced us that our hopes were in vain, by bringing such distress upon us in the desperate state we are now in, and which is beyond all our expectations; for the nature of this fortress which was in itself unconquerable, hath not proved a means of our deliverance.”  He goes on to say that they are being punished for revolting against the Romans.  I find it interesting that Josephus would write this.  I understand that he was writing for a Roman audience, but he didn’t have to make the Jews appear sorry for their actions.  Perhaps as a Jew himself, he sought to gain sympathy from his own people and try to mend any misgivings between the Romans and Jews.  But I think it extends beyond this.  I believe we can see a bit of Josephus through these speeches.

Granted, Josephus had no qualms about serving under Rome.  Still, he didn’t decry the actions of Eleazar and his followers.  Even in these dire and absolutely dreadful circumstances, Josephus shows the resiliency of his people.  Instead of surrendering to slavery they decide to take the last thing they own, their lives.  It’s an interesting statement that Josephus is making.  That although revolting against the Romans may have been the wrong course of action, Josephus still held some allegiance with his Jewish ancestry and wasn’t willing to abandon that quite yet.

Eleazar's First Speech
Eleazar's Second Speech

Josephus and the Jewish Wars

The character of Josephus presents an interesting study on both the events of the Jewish Wars and also the nature of the Roman Empire.  What makes Josephus such an interesting case is that previous to being a Roman historian, he was a Jewish rebel on the frontlines of the resistance.  When examining Josephus, it is important to first examine his past as an orthodox Jew.  He was of priestly and royal ancestry and well studied in both the teachings of the Sadducees and Pharisees.  It is quite apparent that as a young man, and throughout his life, he was sympathetic to the Jewish cause.  He had been sent to Rome to present the case for the release of Jewish priest to Nero and upon his return to Jerusalem, he was drafted as the commander of the Galilean forces. 

Roman bust said to be of Josephus (from Les Dossiers d' Archéologie)

The remainder of Josephus’ life after this event is what provides interest.  As commander of these rebel forces and surrounded by the Roman army, Josephus suggested a mass suicide for himself and his men. But Josephus did not kill himself and surrendered to the Romans as the sole survivor. Now what the Romans did next speaks to how the Romans sought to control a revolting people under their jurisdiction. Instead of killing or enslaving Josephus, which they could have easily done, he was appointed to write the histories of the Jewish War under Vespasian and Titus.  So in this manner, his account can be seen as explaining Judaism to the Romans and Roman rule to the Jews. The Roman rulers may have been sympathetic to Josephus for the reason that he felt Roman rule was compatible with Judaism. It would not be hard to argue that his work can be viewed as Roman propaganda. After all he was commissioned by the Romans to write his works. He only has praises for the Roman rulers and lauds the army in its efficiency

“One cannot but admire the forethought shown by the Romans, in making their servant class useful to them not only for the ministrations of ordinary life but also for war. If one goes on to study the organization of their army as a whole, it will be seen that this vast empire of theirs has come to them as the prize of valor, and not as a gift of fortune… one might say without exaggeration that, great as are their possessions, the people that won them are greater still.”

Josephus The Jewish Wars Book 3, Chapter 5

At the same time though he is sympathetic to the Jewish cause his sorrow is evident when he explains the destruction of the Temple and the sack of Jerusalem.

“And as for those that are already dead in the war, it is reasonable we should esteem them blessed, for they are dead in defending, and not in betraying their liberty; but as to the multitude of those that are now under the Romans, who would not pity their condition? and who would not make haste to die, before he would suffer the same miseries with them? Some of them have been put upon the rack, and tortured with fire and whippings, and so died.”

Josephus The Jewish Wars Book 7, Chapter 8

The Romans saw Josephus as an important tool to control the revolting Jews.  Here was a man of Jewish decent speaking well of the Romans and asserting that Judaism and Roman rule could be compatible. The question is how the common Jews viewed Josephus. Did they see him as a traitor now sympathetic to the Romans or possibly paid off to speak well of them?  Either way, his work provides great insight into the tactics the Romans used to control conquered lands and people, from the use of propaganda to the brute force of the Roman military.

Josephus description of Jewish Cannibalism

First Josephus describes the events leading up to the siege of Jerusalem.  The main topic he discusses is that of the starvation of the Jewish people inside Jerusalem.

                                                A portrait of Josephus
                                                          
One example he tells of is that of Mary, who was a respectable women from a high class family, who was starving in Jerusalem.  Her predicament as described by Josephus was " she perceived her labours were for others, and not for herself; and it was now become impossible for her any way to find any more food"  Therefore she resorts to drastic measures.  This is how it is describe by Josephus with Mary talking to her son. "The famine also will destroy us, even before that slavery comes upon us; yet are these seditious rogues more terrible than both the other. Come on; be thou my food, and be thou a fury to these seditious varlets and a byeword to the world, which is all that is now wanting to complete the calamities of us Jews. As soon as she had said this, she slew her son; and then roasted him, and ate one half of him."  She then saved the other half and offered it to soldiers after telling them what is was "those men went out trembling, being never so much affrighted at anything as they were at this, and with some difficulty they left the rest of that meat to the mother."

This passage is obviously one that is very disturbing since it tells of a mother having to resort to eating her own son.  However, this was one way in which the Roman people were able to justify the fact that they had just committed genocide on the Jewish people.  This is so because it painted the Jew as cannibals.  That these people were willing to eat each other.  In a society such as Rome this would be something that was not look at as a human trait.  Therefore this passage by Josephus really helps them to dehumanize the Jewish people and make them feel less guilty about killing so many of them.

This also has ramification on Josephus as the author of these texts.  He himself was a Jew and had fought alongside the Jews until he joined forces with Titus.  So it must have been hard for him to be able to justify what the Romans were doing to his own people.  So in dehumanizing them and making them seem as lesser people he is able to distance himself from the Jews.  This therefore will make his decision to join the Romans the correct one in his mind.  He would rather be part of the enemy then to be a cannibal.  So this description is very telling about Josephus.