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Introductory readings in Josephus

While his whole writing corpus is part of classical and biblical studies, for the general reader some particular Josephus passages have special interest. We list a number of these, to invite more extensive browsing in the works of this first-century Jewish historian.

In his account of the Jewish War against Rome, Volume One is our main source for Jewish history in the period from Alexander of Macedon to the start of the Christian era. Volume Seven of the War includes the tragic destruction of Jerusalem, the siege of Masada and the triumph celebrated in Rome at the conclusion of the war.

The Autobiography tells of Josephus' continued loyalto to Judaism, despite having surrendered his army to Vespasian, and later going to Rome as a pensioner of Vespasian's household, where he lived in cultured leisure near the Palatine hill in the heart of imperial Rome.

Of the many vignettes scattered through the twenty Volumes of his Antiquities of the Jews, one might wish to start with the references to John the Baptist and Jesus, in Volume 18 and then his account of Herod the Great, in Volume 14, which tells of Herod's father's bond with Julius Caesar and Herod's own loyalty to Mark Antony, despite Cleopatra's desire to have Palestine under her control. Going back to Volume 1, we find Josephus' re-telling of the patriarchal stories, often adding little details of Jewish folklore that are not found in the Bible.

In telling the story of Joseph in Egypt in Volume 2 he typically elaborates on the moral aspects of Joseph's dilemma - since he wishes to commend the sensitive Jewish moral code to his educated Roman readers. Similarly, he lays great stress on the moral majesty of Moses, and on the divine providence that guided his survival at birth and then his early years in Pharao's household.

Click here for links to passages of special interest in his two major works. Students will note specific episodes and speeches that illustrate the advocacy skill with which Josephus wrote, to persuade the Roman aristocracy of his day to respect the ancient religion of the Jews and treat them as a special case, worthy of exemption from the duty of emperor-worship, which was quite anathema to them, even though they can be admirable citizens of the empire in all other respects.

Patrick Rogers