Meaning of JOSEPHUS (Flavius)

Descendant of the priestly family, he was born in Jerusalem in the year 37 or 38 AD. Belonging to the Pharisee party, he began his career as a lawyer at the age of 26, heading to Rome, where he obtained the absolution of some Jewish priests.

In 66 AD, he took part in the Jewish revolt against the Romans. Taken prisoner, and later released, he put himself at the service of the latter. He accompanied Titus in his last campaign in Palestine, being present at the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

Established in Rome and enjoying imperial favor, he devoted himself to the writing of his works, dying at the end of the 1st century.

Plays:
The Wars of the Jews tells of the history of the Jews from the Maccabees to the destruction of Jerusalem, with the last revolt that led to the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem occupying most of the book.

The Antiquities of the Jews is a work that presents, in twenty books, the general history of the Jewish people. The author gives a great deal of precious detail about the period from the Maccabees to Herod.

His usual tendency is to bring the Jewish people closer to the Greeks and Romans on a cultural level. He compares the conceptions of the rabbis with the ideas of the Greek philosophers.

The famous passage about Jesus (18:2-4) does not seem to be a total interpolation, since it exists in the old Arabic version, although without the enthusiasm with which it appears in the Western versions.

The writing Against Apion is a defense of Judaism, full of useful data about the beliefs and customs of the Jews of the diaspora.