Historical Fictions and Hellenistic Jewish Identity: Third Maccabees in Its Cultural Context

Title Page, Copyright, Dedication

In honor of beloved Virgil— “O degli altri poeti onore e lume . . .” —Dante, Inferno The Joan Palevsky Imprint in Classical Literature The publisher gratefully acknowledges the generous contribution to this book provided by the Classical Literature Endowment Fund of the University of California Press Associates, which is supported by a major gift from Joan Palevsky. Historical Fictions and Hellenistic Jewish Identity This page intentionally left blank Historical Fictions and Hellenistic Jewish Identity Third Maccabees in Its Cultural Context sara raup johnson University of California Press berkeley los angeles london University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California University of California Press, Ltd. London, England© 2004 by the Regents of the University of California Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Johnson, Sara Raup, 1966–. Historical fictions and Hellenistic Jewish identity : Third Maccabees in its cultural context / Sara Raup Johnson. p. cm. — (Hellenistic culture and society ; 43) Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 0–520–23307–7 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Third Book of Maccabees—Criticism, interpretation, etc. 2. Jews—History—586 b.c.–70 a.d. 3. Jews—Identity— History—To 1500. 4. Historical fiction—History and criticism. I. Title. II. Series. bs1825.52.j64 2005 229'.75—dc22 2004008506 Manufactured in the United States of America 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed on Ecobook 50 containing a minimum 50% post-consumer waste, processed chlorine free. The balance contains virgin pulp, including 25% Forest Stewardship Council Certified for no old growth tree cutting, processed either tcf or ecf. The sheet is acid-free and meets the minimum requirements of ansi/niso z39.48-1992 (r 1997) (Permanence of Paper).8 To Myles M. and Ruth R. Johnson, my parents, and Erich S. Gruen, il miglior fabbro This page intentionally left blank Histories have previously been written with the object of exalting their authors. The object of this History is to console the reader. No other history does this. History is not what you thought. It is what you can remember. All other history defeats itself. Preface, 1066 and All That This page intentionally left blank ...