Josephus’s Lamentations in the Judean War: Body, Emotional Resistance, and Gender

What is it about?

First-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus starts his first historiographic work, the Judean War, by announcing his need to lament as he is about to report the misfortunes of his homeland, torn by civil war and eventually destroyed by the Romans. Such an announcement is unique in ancient historiography. This article analyzes Josephus’s inaugural statement in the light of the constructions that laments receive in his multiple cultural backgrounds— biblical, early Jewish, as well as ancient Greek and Roman traditions. It also considers how the War reflects these constructions. Josephus’s laments, staging his wailing voice and suffering body, suggest self-abasement. However, his protagonists’ laments often convey resistance and rebellion, a frequent function of laments in the different traditions Josephus engages. He also masculinizes the typically feminine lamenter-qua-protester figure, perhaps to avoid feminizing his own role. This article interprets Josephus’s laments as emotional resistance against the Roman power and an embodiment of his carefully subversive account of the Judean War.

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