Unlike modern biographies, Graeco-Roman lives do not cover the whole life in strict chronological sequence, complete with detailed psychological analysis of the subject’s character. Often, they have only a bare chronological outline, beginning with the birth or arrival on the public scene and ending with the death; the intervening space includes selected stories, anecdotes, speeches and sayings, all displaying something of the subject. Against this background, the gospels’ concentration on Jesus’
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