Review of Zwierlein, Das Bellum Iudaicum des Ambrosius

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Das Bellum Iudaicum des Ambrosius.

Otto Zwierlein, Das Bellum Iudaicum des Ambrosius. Untersuchungen zur antiken Literatur und Geschichte, 157. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2024. Pp. xvii, 646. ISBN 9783110585568.

Review by
Carson Bay, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ. cbay@ias.edu

... Otto Zwierlein’s substantial monograph resurrects this debate by arguing comprehensively that Ambrose wrote DEH. ...

Overall, Zwierlein’s book is ambitious, packed with useful data, and relatively careful in its scholarship. While taking cues from the history of scholarship, Zwierlein generally draws conclusions from engagement with the ancient texts themselves, which is laudable. Zwierlein’s overarching thesis is quasi-convincing, which I find troubling: as a scholar who has not treated DEH as though Ambrose were (probably) the work’s author, I now find myself needing to return to that question. So also must all scholars now who will study that work. ...

For PaleoJudaica posts on Pseudo-Hegesippus' De excidio Hierosolymita, including posts on the reviewer's work on the subject, see here and links.

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