Resumen de Reading the Roman-Jewish treaty in 1 Maccabees 8:: narrative, documents, and Hellenistic historical culture
This article examines the historiographical poetics of the Roman-Jewish treaty that is quoted in 1 Maccabees 8. On a narrative level, the unusual verbatim quotation of the treaty acts as a guarantee for the narratorial voice, while the evocation of an epigraphic bronze copy of the text allows the text to fulfill an archival function. The inclusion of a bilateral treaty document in a piece of Hebrew (or Hebraising) historiography also indicates a moment of cultural transfusion, when a habit of Greek history writing – the verbatim quotation of treaty documents – was incorporated into a distinct historiographical tradition. This analysis offers a new perspective on the question of the Hellenism of 1 Maccabees. This article is offered to Brian McGing in gratitude for his teaching.
