Once Again: Who Captured Masada? On Doublets, Reading Against the Grain, and What Josephus Actually Wrote

A critical reassessment of Josephus' account reveals that Masada was captured by Jewish rebels, not Romans, during the First Jewish-Roman War (66 CE). The study challenges traditional interpretations by closely analyzing two conflicting passages in Josephus' 'War': one describing a Roman storming of Masada (2.408) and another attributing its capture to Eleazar ben Jair and the Sicarii (7.297). By avoiding overreliance on source-criticism or compositional analysis, the research demonstrates that Josephus' narrative is consistent when read contextually—both passages refer to Jewish rebels capturing Masada from Roman forces, with no actual doublet or intentional omission. This approach underscores the importance of contextual reading in historical texts.

Schwartz, D. R. (2020). Once Again: Who Captured Masada? On Doublets, Reading Against the Grain, and What Josephus Actually Wrote. Scripta Classica Israelica, 24, 75–83. https://doi.org/10.71043/sci.v24i.3455