The Date of III Maccabees: Additional Support for the Roman Period

Abstract

The date, and following it, the proper interpretation of the Alexandrian composition known as III Maccabees (henceforth III Macc.) has long been at the center of a debate in research, i.e., whether it should be dated to the Hellenistic period in Egypt, or to the Roman period. This paper suggests that III Macc. was composed not too long after the inauguration of the Herodian Temple in Jerusalem — hence an additional support for its dating to the Roman period.