Eve-Marie Becker studies the Gospel according to Mark, seeing it as the earliest gospel, and places it in the context of Hellenistic historiography (Greek, Roman and early Jewish). She examines the dating and the assimilation of events in contemporary history and analyzes their chronological and their causal structure. This historiographical approach to Mark serves various purposes, among which are the establishment of the historical value of the pre-Markan sources and the traditions and the acknowledgement of the 'historiographical achievement' of the editor Mark. The author shows the literary cognation of the 'Gospel' genre, but also its special place in the history of the genre. unrevised e-book edition 2019; Original edition 2006