I love my class on Hellenism

Why Josephus, the Jewish Roman historian, thinks that the Jewish political system is best:

1) The Greeks vacillated between three sets of government:

Monarchy= rule of one
Aristocracy=rule of the elite
Democracy=rule of the people

2) The Romans tried to have a "mixed constitution" with all three. The Roman Republic fell. (Incidentally, the U.S. Constitution copied the Romans.)

Greek monarchy=Roman consuls=U.S. president
Greek aristocracy=Roman senate=U.S. Senate
Greek democracy=Roman assembly=U.S. House of Representatives

3) Josephus actually coined the term "theocracy." He thinks that the Greek and Roman systems didn't work and that best rule was one where you looked to a divine basis for governance. He follows Plato, who said in the Republic that the ideal society is ruled by a philosopher-king, and in case the phil-king is lacking, you have city laws.

4) According to Josephus, the Jews rocked because they had a High Priest as phil-king as well as Mosaic Law. Theocracy is found in the Bible, and is superior because the Jews still exist as a lawful society.

I don't agree, obviously, but cool logic! (You should also know that this class involved heavy discussion of Star Wars, including how the Republic is always the morally right underdog and how Caesar gets a bad rap as the Emperor Palpatine...)