Image and Imitation

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Flavius Josephus ranks among the most influential and prolific ancient Jewish writers. His account of near-contemporary events in the Jewish War and the latter half of the Jewish Antiquities have often been subjected to critical scrutiny. Josephus' writings, however, also include an account of the most remote past of the Jewish people in the first eleven books of the Jewish Antiquities. Yet, only rarely has this part of his authorship been subjected to a historiographically oriented analysis. Martin Friisoffers such an analysis with emphasis on Josephus' various strategies of self-presentation. He provides numerous examples of the comprehensiveness of Josephus' self-presentational style, and shows how Josephus consistently presents himself as a capable and competent historian in a manner that is highly reminiscent of, and easily comparable to, that of some of the greatest ancient Greco-Roman historians.