writing and was generally known, was explained and interpreted in the same way as the Bible. The Talmud does not include a single quotation from the scholium. Although the comments found in the scholium are mentioned in the Talmud, they are not credited to Megillat Taanit, but are quoted as independent baraitot, so that the scholium took them from the Talmud, and not vice versa. Schmilg provides references intended to prove an earlier origin for the scholium; however, these sources merely prove that the scholiast intended to make his work pass for a product of the tannaitic period. As the text and the scholium of Megillat Taanit are distinct in form and in language, so do they differ also in historical accuracy. The text is an actual historical source, whose statements may be regarded as authentic, while its dates are reliable if interpreted independently of the scholium. The scholium, on the other hand, is of very doubtful historical value and must be used with extreme caution. Although it contains some old baraitot which are reliable, the compiler has mixed them with other, unhistorical, accounts and legends, so that even those data whose legendary character has not been proved can be credited only when they are confirmed by internal and external evidence. In some editions, a third section appears: the "final discourse" (Hebrew ma'amar aharon) which lists days on which one should fast (in contrast to the rest of Megillat Taanit, which lists days on which fasting is forbidden). This section dates to the period of the Geonim. Authorship of the Aramaic text The Talmud, and the scholium to Megillat Taanit itself, provide slightly different accounts of the authorship of Megillat Taanit: According to an old baraita in the Talmud, "Hananiah ben Hezekiah of the Garon family, together with a number of others who had assembled for a synod at his house, compiled Megillat Ta'anit." According to Halakot Gedolot, Hilkot Soferim, the members of this synod were "The elders of Bet Shammai" and "The elders of Bet Hillel." Megillat Taanit must have been composed, therefore, about the year 7 CE, when Judea was made a Roman province to the great indignation of the Jews. This calendar of victories was intended to fan the spark of liberty among the people and to fill them with confidence and courage by reminding them of the victories of the Maccabees and the divine aid granted