Josephus exaggerated everything else, why not this?
Although it is curious that in terms of the size of the platform, Josephus consistently understates it. In the Antiquities he gives the perimeter of the compound as 4 stadia but in The Jewish War he calls it 6 stadia ( 1 Roman stade = 607 feet.)
The thing is modern measurements indicate the total as 8 stadia which gives Josephus an error rate of 25-50% depending on the source used. It also leaves open the possibility that what we see now is a later Roman construction or at least an expansion of the original Herodian construction. Hadrian did built an enormous temple to Jupiter when he rebuilt the city as Aelia Capitolina. Perhaps the original Herodian platform was insufficient for his needs?
Although it is curious that in terms of the size of the platform, Josephus consistently understates it. In the Antiquities he gives the perimeter of the compound as 4 stadia but in The Jewish War he calls it 6 stadia ( 1 Roman stade = 607 feet.)
The thing is modern measurements indicate the total as 8 stadia which gives Josephus an error rate of 25-50% depending on the source used. It also leaves open the possibility that what we see now is a later Roman construction or at least an expansion of the original Herodian construction. Hadrian did built an enormous temple to Jupiter when he rebuilt the city as Aelia Capitolina. Perhaps the original Herodian platform was insufficient for his needs?
