ABSTRACT
A seemingly insignificant episode in Josephus Flavius’ The Jewish War, referring to the destruction of the pirates of Joppa (Jaffa) and Joppa itself in 67 CE, 1 has given rise to a number of interpretations. 2 Indeed, it appears that this relatively unimportant event described somewhat unemphatically by the ancient writer, had a much greater effect on history than we are made to believe. In order to disentangle what is historical truth and shed more light on the episode, we turn to a closer look at certain aspects of the realpolitik of those times.
