6 Fractured Vision: Josephus and Tacitus on Triumph and Civil War

Abstract

This chapter explores the different ways Greek and Latin writers from the late first to third centuries CE experienced and viewed Roman power and state institutions. Josephus' description of triumph has attracted much attention and prompted a wide range of reactions. In the preliminaries of the triumph, Josephus sets up the scene artfully, using the transition from night to day to draw his readers' eyes towards the glittering central figures, Vespasian and Titus. So, comparison with the famous images from Achilles' shield casts an intriguing light on Josephus' superficially jingoistic and pro-Roman account of the Flavian triumph. Unfortunately, Josephus' narrative of the civil war and the Flavian triumph survives in isolation from other extended accounts of the same events, above all the parallel version from Tacitus' Histories. The chapter concludes that the way in which Josephus has crafted his account of the Flavian triumph provides an alternative discourse in action. Keywords: civil war; Flavian triumph; Greek writers; Josephus; Latin writers; Tacitus