I think they wanted to make a joke about then current leftist and/or nationalist movements in the third world and/or the radical left in Britain. I don't think they knew much about IUDAEA in the 1st century. Of course they could have known it, but they never said that's where the joke came from...
It could have been both a reference to leftist movements in the 1970s AND a reference to anti-Roman movements in the 1st century.
John Cleese had certainly studied enough Latin to be able to teach it, and it's hardly possible to study the language of the ancient Romans without also studying their history.
Of course they never said that the joke came from their knowledge of 1st century Iudaea, but as far as I know they never said that it didn't, either. Since their work is generally well researched, it's more likely than not that this was too.
In short, based on the criteria given for "Accidentally Correct Writing" (i.e. Life of Brian's overall accuracy, the availability at the time of information about 1st century Iudaea, and the Python's own words about their work), it seems more likely that they showed their work.
Edited by Anorgil
Does this remind you of anything? The actress playing Judith is rather skinny... strikes a Crucified Jesus pose... and crucified criminals were naked, not wrapped in loincloths as you'd find on a Crucifix... pretty on the nose. non?
Were the instances of We ARE Struggling Together an example of Shown Their Work or Accidentally-Correct Writing? They can't be both, of course.
Quotes from the "Accidentally Correct Writing" page are italicized below:
A work that has Shown Their Work would be accurate overall, while one that has Accidentally Correct Writing would only get a few things correct.
Life of Brian is accurate overall and has other instances of Shown Their Work, so it seems reasonable to suppose that they were showing their work here too.
Alternately, the author could not have known the piece of information in question, and explicitly claimed to be "just guessing", but turned out to be right.
Since the history of the Roman Empire and its outlying colonies like Judea has been well documented (albeit generally with pro-Roman bias) for more than a thousand years, it is reasonable to suppose that information on Jewish inability to unite against the Romans was available in the 1970s when the Pythons wrote the film. And as erudite as the Pythons are, it is equally reasonable to suppose that they made use of that information.
Unless the Pythons explicitly said in a verifiable source that they had no idea about the infighting between the Jews in the 1st century AD, I argue that it was a case of Shown Their Work, not of Accidentally-Correct Writing.
Edited by Anorgil Hide / Show Replies