1

Other than the books of Maccabees and Antiquities of the Jews (book XII) by Josephus, can anyone help me by pointing me to other early (3rd century or earlier) sources for the Judean rebellions under Antiochus IV?

I didn't notice any mention of them under Cassius Dio, or Livy (I may have missed them).

Any help appreciated. ,

Improve this question
7
  • 7
    The way this question is phrased implies that more should be expected. Two complete and independent sources is a pretty good amount for an ancient event.
    – T.E.D. ♦
    Jun 23, 2022 at 1:39
  • I was just wondering if there were more. I assume from your answer that you aren't aware of any, and that those two are all there is. Thank you for the reply.
    – Glenn
    Jun 23, 2022 at 11:07
  • 1
    @Glenn I do not see any answer around here, just a comment, and comments in their original function are meant to guide posters to improve their questions. Here: it may be read as to lower your expectations ("there must be…"), but also as "please indicate why that may not suffice, for you, " as the default position of "alas, that's it". Hint: this was IMO a pretty big event (bring a short description of it/link; some readers are unfamiliar with the terse info above;), and Josephus may not be so independent from Maccabees as "two independent srcs" suggests?
    – LаngLаngС
    Jun 23, 2022 at 11:28
  • @LangLangC : Thank you for the correction. I shouldn't have assumed that T.E.D. was familiar with the topic. And I can see that my question can be thought to assume there were other sources. I didn't mean it to I was just wondering whether there were other early sources. In case Maccabees and Josephus were constructions under Constantine for example.
    – Glenn
    Jun 23, 2022 at 11:42
  • 1
    @Glenn That way lies madness. Any ancient source can be impugned because so little survives from those times. All we can do is cross-check documents against each other and with what archeological evidence exists and apply good sense to work things out as best we can. Declaring awkward-to-our-theories documents to be forgeries is tempting, but really is just the other side of the credulity coin. (Had Constantinople fallen even just a century later, copies of many more ancient might have survived.)
    – Mark Olson
    Jun 23, 2022 at 14:06

0

Reset to default

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.