03_Biblica_Sharon_Layout 1 01/04/14 11:46 Pagina 54 54 NADAV SHARON imately twenty-five years old, after he had led an enormous army in war; and, only four years after Herod’s appointment, as men- tioned above, Octavian (Augustus) became consul before he was twenty 15. Additionally, Octavian’s deliberations, which are reported in Nicolaus’ passage quoted above, took place when he was only eighteen and a half years old. Given this background, a statement that the age of twenty-five was “quite young” for a minor post in a small faraway area would have undoubtedly been understood as very absurd. That could not have been Josephus’ intention, and cer- tainly not Nicolaus’. The age of fifteen, in contrast, would have in- deed been worthy of such an emphasis. 3. Comparable Cases of ne,oj in Josephus There are two comparable cases in Josephus’ own writings. The first case, which employs terminology similar to that used in Anti- quities in our case, is that of the future emperor Domitian. At the age of ca. eighteen, he is said to have marched against a revolt in Ger- many in 69/70 CE, without hesitating “as another of his age might have done — for he was still a mere stripling (ne,oj ga.r h=n e;ti pantapasin) — to shoulder such a burden of responsibility” (War , 16 7.85) . In the second case — in which Josephus employs the same terminology as employed in War in our case — young age was the reason not to give Agrippa II the kingship of Judea. Following the death of Agrippa I, Claudius contemplated making his son, Agrippa II, the next king, but was persuaded by his advisors that “it was hazardous to entrust so important a kingdom to one who was quite young (komidh|/ ne,w|) and had not even passed out of boyhood …” (Ant. 19.362). Agrippa was sixteen years old at the time (Ant. 19.354). Thus, the age of twenty-five for Herod at the time of his appoint- ment in Galilee would appear to contradict the immediate context and the regular usage of the terminology employed. It seems more sensi- ble, therefore, to accept the only known version of the text, which fits the immediate context excellently but contradicts a far-off passage, rather than an emendation that conforms to a far-off passage but makes little sense in its immediate context. 15 Cf. EYBEN, Restless Youth, 65-67; M. BEARD, The Roman Triumph (Cambridge, MA 2007) 16. 16 All translations of Josephus are from the Loeb edition.