Eran Almagor
ELECTRUM, Volume 19, 2012, pp. 9 - 40
https://doi.org/10.4467/20843909EL.12.001.0742Following the recent attempts to rehabilitate the reputation of Ctesias and the information given in his works, this paper proposes to understand certain of the seemingly fanciful details that were associated with the physician and his writings. It tries to shed some light on several uncertainties connected with Ctesias (i.e., his sojourn in Persia) and the Persica (i.e., date, original style and sources of imagery). It argues that the pedestrian lists included in the work might have been later interpolations and that the minor works circulating under Ctesias’ name might have been either sections of the Persica that were taken out to be presented as stand-alone volumes or else falsely attributed to him. The paper addresses the Indica and puts forward several possibilities concerning its relation with the Persica. The influence of Ctesias on the author Deinon is examined, and in the appendix the impact of the Persica on Xenophon’s Anabasis is analyzed.
Eran Almagor
ELECTRUM, Volume 26, 2019, pp. 141 - 157
https://doi.org/10.4467/20800909EL.19.009.11212This note examines again the overall significance of Jerusalem within the Bar Kokhba revolt. It does so firstly by suggesting a better way to read our texts: Cassius Dio (69.12.1–4) wrote in a partially thematic way, and Eusebius (HE 4.6.1–4) merged several sources together, so that there is no real difference between the two texts in terms of the sequence of the revolt and the establishment of the colony Aelia Capitolina. Secondly, the examination of other sources, different types of evidence and several traditions, may suggest that the Roman reconstruction works in the city did not finish before the revolt, but in fact were halted by it, even without assuming that the rebels actually controlled Jerusalem.
Eran Almagor
ELECTRUM, Volume 24, 2017, pp. 123 - 170
https://doi.org/10.4467/20800909EL.17.025.7507