Although Josephus' debt to the traditions of Greco-Roman historiography is widely recognized, the classical elements in his Bellum Judaicum are still often dismissed as just formal ornatus. This study reconsiders Josephus' intellectual affiliation to his predecessors in the genre and argues that the work's classical complexion, and in particular its distinctive color Thucydideus, are integral to the intellectual and ideological design of BJ. Deployed typically at crucial points where Josephus deals with the motives of the Jewish insurgents, the classical elements...