The Life of Flavius Josephus
Jan 2009 · The Floating Press
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About this ebook
The autobiographical text The Life of Josephus is a text written by Flavius Josephus around 94 to 99 BC. The commander of a Jewish insurgency who was captured by the Roman in 67 BC he won his liberty by ingratiating himself with the Roman victors. The Life of Josephus is both a retelling of the events of this War and a justification by Josephus of his part in it. His position with his Roman and Jewish contemporaries and even now with modern day scholars is ambiguous. Many question his decision to eschew suicide in favour of capture. The works of Josephus have been pivotal in gaining an understanding of the period of the First Jewish-Roman War, The Dead Sea Scrolls and other Archaeological discoveries.
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John Overweel
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April 26, 2020
I have not read this book yet but find it disturbing that the publisher gets the dates so badly wrong: Josephus lived and therefore wrote in the first century and not in 94-99BC as the introduction asserts. I would like a book with page numbers so that I can remember where I left off.
About the author
A member of a wealthy priestly family in Judea, Josephus was a Pharisee originally named Joseph ben Matthias. An active supporter of anti-Roman activity, he became governor of Galilee, a post he held with honor and valor until Galilee was taken by the Romans in a.d. 67. He won the favor of the Roman general Vespasian, whose name---Flavius---he took as his own and through whose patronage he later became a Roman citizen. Although often criticized for becoming a supporter of Rome, in his work Against Apion he passionately defends Jewish religion and culture. Josephus wrote both in Greek and in Hebrew. His writings are neither remarkably fine representatives of classical culture nor the product of deep learning in Jewish literature and history. They do, however, tell the reader a great deal not known from other sources. The Jewish War (75--79), based to a great extent on what Josephus himself saw, heard, and experienced, describes the tragic events of the Jewish revolt against Rome. Antiquities of the Jews (93) covers the history of the Jews from creation to the war with Rome, with special attention given to the Maccabees and the dynasty of Herod.
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