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.