It thus turns out that the identification of Nabataeans as Arabs can be seen as origi- : in texts dealing with the Roman conquest of Syria in 65-62 Be. A closer look at of Pompey quoted by Diodorus does not, however, support the intepretation that of Arabs. The of Arabs and Nabataeans. If read as it stands in the It is the lit-

doi:10.4324/9781315029535-46

Chapter

It thus turns out that the identification of Nabataeans as Arabs can be seen as origi-

Chapter

ABSTRACT

A central issue in the story is Pompey's Arab campaign. In the additional material used by Josephus when writing Antiquities it is said that Pompey himself intended to go against the Nabataeans. This notice comes from Theophanes, Pompey's own chronicler. The account of Scaurus' operations in Antiquities, on the other hand, comes from an anti-Scaurus source, emanating from the circles around Antipatros and Hyrcanus. From Pompey's inscription it is, however, clear that Scaurus implemented Pompey's Nabataean plans: Pompey in his triumph claimed to have subjected 'King Aretas of Nabataeans, king of the Arabs'. The reference must be to Scaurus' achievement. Theophanes must have told about Pompey's plans for a campaign against the N abataeans. Josephus describes a campaign against Arabia and its Arab king.37 The different terminology reflects different sources: the one emerging from Antipatros' circle, around the man who was married to a noblewoman from Arabia and who had been a 'friend' of their king, the other from the chronicler of the Roman conqueror. The terminology of the latter is also reflected in the characterization of Aretas' Arabs as Nabataeans at the siege of Jerusalem, a notice which comes from Theophanes.