“REGES IUDAICI”: ПРАВИТЕЛІ-ЮДЕЇ ТА КОНСТРУЮВАННЯ ОБРАЗІВ РИМО-ПАРФЯНСЬКОГО ПРИКОРДОННЯ У ТВОРАХ ЙОСИФА ФЛАВІЯ

V. Humennyi

doi:10.15407/orientw2021.03.015

“REGES IUDAICI”: JUDAIC RULERS AND CONSTRUCTING IMAGES OF ROMAN-PARTHIAN FRONTIER IN THE WORKS OF JOSEPHUS FLAVIUS

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https://doi.org/10.15407/orientw2021.03.015

V. Humennyi

Ivan Franko National University of Lviv

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2405-1975

Abstract

The article represents an attempt to analyze the images of the Roman-Parthian frontier area created in the works of Josephus Flavius. A key role in his narrative was played by the figures related to the history of the western satrapies of the Arsacid Kingdom and the rulers of small kingdoms in the Upper Tigris and Euphrates area. The history of regions whose rulers were Jews or converted to Judaism interested Josephus especially, and he characterized their activities and all their successes and failures according to their religious and ritual activity. In such a way Josephus describes the activities of two Jewish brothers from Nehardea, and the history of the conversion to Judaism of the ruling house of Adiabene Kingdom.
According to the author of the article, the examples of Jews and rulers who were converted to Judaism, described by Josephus, performed their specific function in the construction of the Jewish narrative of Josephus’ works. The forms and methods of both Roman and Parthian politics in the border regions during the 1st–2nd centuries CE in practice was far more complicated. The success of Asineus and Anileus, in Josephus’ interpretation of their Jewish origins, was rather a reflection of the crisis that engulfed Parthia’s political life in the time of Artabanus the Third rule, and similarly their downfall may also be related to Artabanus’s struggle with his rivals. In the case of Adiabene, the conversion of the ruling court to Judaism was spontaneous, but by Joseph it is presented as an act of providence and the will of the Lord, who then guided Helen and Izates the Second in their political actions and activity. Therefore, successful activities of such Jewish and Judaic rulers were possible only through the practices of political interaction of the Arsacid dynasty with their dependent territories and kingdoms, and they radically changed in the 2nd century CE after the direct military intervention of the Romans.

How to Cite

Humennyi, V. (2021). “REGES IUDAICI”: JUDAIC RULERS AND CONSTRUCTING IMAGES OF ROMAN-PARTHIAN FRONTIER IN THE WORKS OF JOSEPHUS FLAVIUS. The World of the Orient, (3 (112), 15-26. https://doi.org/10.15407/orientw2021.03.015

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Keywords

Abiabene, Ancient Judaism, Josephus Flavius, Parthia, Roman Empire

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