The Jewish Historian Flavius Josephus: A Biographical Investigation

directly used by Josephus here can of course not have lain before Diodorus, it therefore follows
that Strabo and Diodorus must be traced back to a common source that is in turn
chronologically confined to a minimum [period] by the lifetime of Diodorus; because an event
from the year 63 can be extracted by Diodorus, who was writing under Caesar and at the
beginning of Augustus’ [reign], only from a source that originated between 63 and about 40.
Therefore it is worthwhile to find the Greek author who examined the history of Pompey at
this time in the detail such as we can still discern in the fragments of Strabo, in Josephus and
Diodorus: there is only the one name: Theophanes of Mytilene.
[150] According to Strabo 13.617 he was a writer; “but besides this he also acted as a
politician and as a result of exactly this he became a friend of Pompey the Great and
contributed to the success of all his undertakings.” In gratitude for these commendable
services [Verdienste] Pompey restored the freedom of Theophanes’ hometown so that
[Theophanes] enjoyed godlike honour there in the aftermath (Dittenberger, Sylloge
inscriptionum graecarum 3.753). From all this one sees what importance Pompey attached to
Theophanes as a person and to his political activity. So we can then easily envisage this Greek
also in the midst of such diplomatic negotiations as Diodorus and Strabo report in the place
cited; at least there is no doubt that he was informed as accurately as possible about the
incidents since he was indeed in the company of Pompey (Strabo 11.503).
But Pompey had intended yet another role for his diplomatic assistant: he was to
become the reporter of his deeds. Indeed, long ago it had become common in Rome for a
commander to bring his historiographer along on campaigns in accordance with Hellenistic
custom; just recently Pompey’s predecessor Lucullus had found in the poet Archias someone to
glorify his deeds in the Mithridatic War. Lucullus had procured citizenship for his poet, but the
validity of this conferment was contested so that it came down to a court case in the year 62.
Cicero assumed the defence of Archias. He, who indeed did not tire of advertising the glorious
deeds of his [own] consulship to the world, believed likewise to have found in Archias the right
man who was to celebrate his consulship in an epic (Arch. 28 and 31). When he was defending
Archias just for that reason, the latter had begun the epic; Cicero was so satisfied by the draft,
that he expected an aeternum testimonium laudis from it and therefore placed all necessary
material at the disposal of the poet. He also made no secret at all of [the fact] that in this case
he was defending Archias with a view to this epic De consulatu suo: through Cicero he was to
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