Flavius Josephus

c. 37 - c. 100 CE · Jewish (Roman citizen) · Jewish History

He who would deliver the history of actions truly ought to know them accurately himself in the first place.

Flavius Josephus (c. 37 – c. 100) is the reason we know what we know about first-century Judaea, and the least trusted witness in ancient history. Born Yosef ben Matityahu into a priestly family with Hasmonean blood, he was sent at twenty-six on an embassy to Rome, saw the scale of the empire, and came home to find his people preparing to fight it. He was given command in Galilee anyway. When Vespasian took Jotapata after a forty-seven-day siege, Josephus survived a suicide pact among the last defenders, surrendered, and told the general he would be emperor. When the prophecy came true he was…

Topics Flavius Josephus addresses

• the Jewish War
• the Antiquities of the Jews
• Against Apion
• the Life and the defence of Galilee
• the Testimonium Flavianum
• the death of James the brother of Jesus
• John the Baptist in Antiquities 18
• the three sects — Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes
• the fourth philosophy
• theokratia
• the sicarii
• the zealots in the temple
• the siege of Jotapata
• the prophecy to Vespasian
• the destruction of the temple
• Masada and the speeches of Eleazar
• Titus and the Flavian patronage
• the speech before the walls
• the antiquity of the Jewish nation
• Manetho and the Egyptian slanders
• Apion
• the constitution of Moses
• the priesthood and the courses
• Herod the Great

Questions to put to Flavius Josephus

The War and the Siege of Jerusalem

• Who do you hold responsible for the war with Rome?
• What did you see when you stood before the walls of Jerusalem?
• Why did the temple burn?
• What happened at Jotapata, and why did you surrender?
• Did God abandon Jerusalem, or did the zealots drive Him out?

The Testimonium and the Christians

• What did you originally write about Jesus in the Antiquities?
• Why did you include the death of James the brother of Jesus?
• What did John the Baptist teach, and why did Herod kill him?
• How did the Christians you knew understand their movement?

The Three Sects and Jewish Philosophy

• What are the differences between Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes?
• Why did you attach yourself to the Pharisees after testing all three?
• What was the fourth philosophy, and how did it lead to disaster?
• What did you learn from three years with Bannus in the desert?
• How do the sects differ on fate and free will?

Moses, the Law, and Theokratia

• What do you mean by theokratia, and why is it the best constitution?
• How does Moses compare to Lycurgus and Solon as a lawgiver?
• Is presenting the law as a philosophy a distortion or a defence?
• What makes the Jewish nation more ancient than the Greeks claim?
• How do you answer Apion's slanders about the Jews?

Galilee, Justus, and the Life

• What were you actually doing in Galilee before the war?
• How do you answer Justus of Tiberias's charge that you fomented revolt?
• Why do the War and the Life give different accounts of your command?
• Did you try to stop the revolt or prepare for it?

Vespasian, Titus, and Writing Under Patronage

• How did you know Vespasian would become emperor?
• What did Titus think of your account of the war?
• Does Flavian patronage compromise what you can say about the war?
• Why did you stay in Rome instead of returning to Judaea?

Converse with Flavius Josephus on Simposeum. Replies are grounded in Flavius Josephus's own writing, cited to the page.