The Jewish Historian Flavius Josephus: A Biographical Investigation

the old administrative report [in] Life 28/29: the principal men of Jerusalem had found out that
“the robbers” had weapons at their disposal. Since they (sc. the principal men of Jerusalem)
were for their part unarmed, they were afraid of being subjected to these opponents and [104]
for that reason they sent Josephus to Galilee with two other priests, Joazar and Judas, with the
mandate to convince these fellows to lay down their arms. It is seen clearly that the enemies of
Jerusalem are not the Romans but “the robbers”; protection from them is desired; for that
reason a legation consisting of three priests is sent to them; for it is indeed clear that [the
person] who has the mandate to persuade the robbers to lay down their arms is not a
commander but an envoy. Therefore, according to Life 28/29, Josephus set foot in Galilee not as
commander in the Jewish-Roman War but as an envoy [sent] to the robbers. It also
corresponds completely to this situation when Josephus says about himself in section 65 that
he was sent off as envoy (ὑπὸ τοῦ κοινοῦ τῶν Ἱεροσολυμιτῶν πρεσβεύσων μετὰ τούτων
πεπόμφθαι πρὸς αὐτούς), and he then refers three times to his fellow envoys Joazar and Judas
as συμπρέσβεις (63; 73; 77). At first Josephus also manifestly conducts the negotiations with the
robbers entirely in accordance with the directive that he had been issued in Jerusalem (section
77 ff.). He must certainly realize in so doing that the disarming planned in Jerusalem is
impossible; instead of this he attempted to make the robbers harmless by inducing the
Galileans to pay them fees, in return for which the robbers were to promise to set foot on
Galilean territory only when they were summoned or when they did not receive their fees.
Josephus thereupon dismisses the robbers with the strict order that they are not to wage war
with either the Romans or with the surrounding inhabitants; because he was concerned
above all that peace should reign in Galilee (78).
Whoever proceeds from the views of the War or the added segments must again be
amazed. The commander, who is to prepare for the war against Rome, sees his principal duty
as keeping robbers, whom he cannot disarm, away from his province and – the Romans – by
payment. One would perhaps like to imagine that he wished in this way to prevent a
premature attack on the Romans, but this is contradicted not only by the designation of the
robbers as enemies (28/29), but even more so [by the fact that] the report 70 ff. actually makes
such considerations irrelevant; because here John of Gischala requests that Josephus and his
fellow envoys hand over the grain that is being stored in Upper Galilee. [105] Josephus refuses
delivery because he intended to keep the grain either for himself or – for the Romans. Josephus
93