ABSTRACT
The last ten years has seen the publication of only one monograph specifically dedicated to the First Revolt, the detailed study by Jonathan Price of the history of the groups which struggled for control within Jerusalem during the war (Price 1992), but there has also been a plethora of smaller-scale studies on particular aspects of the Revolt. The main focus of these investigations has been in four areas: the value of Josephus’s narrative as a historical source; the status in Jewish society of the leaders of the rebellion; the ideology of the rebels; and the aftermath of the war (on the ideology of the rebels, see Chapter 3 by Freyne on Galilee and Idumea and Chapter 4 by Berlin on Galilee, in this volume). It seems fair to state that, despite considerable progress in each of these areas, no consensus has been reached, so that it is not yet really time for a new synthesis to be attempted. Nor, despite the light shed on many interesting side issues by excavations, have recent archaeological investigations and the welcome publication of the final reports from sites such as Masada up to now had a major impact on the direction of research, in contrast to the role played by archaeology in the recent study of the Bar Kokhba Revolt. What is offered here is an indication of the direction in which current scholarship seems to be heading and some suggestions for the future.
