Flavius Josephus is without a doubt the most important witness to ancient Judaism from the close of the biblical period to the aftermath of the destruction of the temple in 70 CE. His four surviving works---
Judean War,
Judean Antiquities,
Life, and
Against Apion---provide the narrative structure for interpreting the other, more fragmentary written sources and physical remains from this period. His descriptions of the Temple, the Judean countryside, Jewish-Roman relations and conflicts, and groups and institutions of ancient Judea have become indispensable for the student of early Judaism, the Classicist, and the reader of the New Testament alike.
The priestly aristocrat Josephus was born in 37 CE and died around the year 100. After fighting against the Romans in the war of 66-74 and surrendering in the earliest phase of the campaign, he moved to Rome where he began a productive literary career. His four surviving works in thirty Greek volumes are widely excerpted for historical purposes, but still not often read in their literary and historical contexts. This project aims to assist every serious reader of Josephus by providing a new literal translation, along with a commentary suggesting literary and historical connections.
Please note that
Judean Antiquities Books 1-4 is also available in
hardback, ISBN 90 04 10679 0 (still available)
