⁶⁴⁵ “These” are presumably “the laws” of 1.190, but the lack of noun suggests that this is not a verbal citation from Ps.-Hecataeus. The most suffering suggested in the following stories is severe beating and fines, but the exaggeration here mirrors Josephus’ other references to “tortures” (1.43; 2.232) and “terrible” deaths (here θανάτοις δεινοτάτοις; cf. ἐν τοῖς ἐσχάτοις τῶν δεινῶν, 2.228; War 2.151; for death in general see 1.42-43; 2.218-19, 234, 272, etc.). The Maccabean theme here has rightly led most scholars to conclude that the sentiment is post-Maccabean (Bar-Kochva 1996a: 91-97; cf. Holladay 1983: 328); but if it is Josephan in origin, that tells us nothing concerning the authenticity of his source.