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The Life/Against Apion
Josephus, soldier, statesman, historian, was a Jew born at Jerusalem about 37 CE. A man of high descent, he early became learned in Jewish law and Greek literature and was a Pharisee. After pleading in Rome the cause of some Jewish priests he returned to Jerusalem and in 66 tried to prevent revolt against Rome, managing for the Jews the affairs of Galilee. In the troubles which followed he made his peace with Vespasian. Present at the siege of Jerusalem by Titus, he received favours from these two as emperors and from Domitian and assumed their family name Flavius. He died after 97.
As a historical source Josephus is invaluable. His major works are: History of the Jewish War, in seven books, from 170 BCE to his own time, first written in Aramaic but translated by himself into the Greek we now have; and Jewish Antiquities, in twenty books, from the creation of the world to 66 CE. The Loeb Classical Library edition of the works of Josephus also includes the autobiographical Life and his treatise Against Apion.
As a historical source Josephus is invaluable. His major works are: History of the Jewish War, in seven books, from 170 BCE to his own time, first written in Aramaic but translated by himself into the Greek we now have; and Jewish Antiquities, in twenty books, from the creation of the world to 66 CE. The Loeb Classical Library edition of the works of Josephus also includes the autobiographical Life and his treatise Against Apion.
448 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1926
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About the author
Flavius Josephus
1,539 books211 followersTitus Flavius Josephus was a 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer who was born in Jerusalem - then part of Roman Judea - to a father of priestly descent and a mother who claimed royal ancestry.
He initially fought against the Romans during the First Jewish–Roman War as the head of Jewish forces in Galilee, until surrendering in 67 to Roman forces led by Vespasian after the six-week siege of Jotapata. Josephus claims the Jewish Messianic prophecies that initiated the First Roman-Jewish War made reference to Vespasian becoming Emperor of Rome. In response Vespasian decided to keep Josephus as a hostage and interpreter. After Vespasian did become Emperor in 69, he granted Josephus his freedom, at which time Josephus assumed the emperor's family name of Flavius.
Flavius Josephus fully defected to the Roman side and was granted Roman citizenship. He became an advisor and friend of Vespasian's son Titus, serving as his translator when Titus led the Siege of Jerusalem, which resulted -- when the Jewish revolt did not surrender -- in the city's destruction and the looting and destruction of Herod's Temple (Second Temple).
Josephus recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century AD and the First Jewish–Roman War, including the Siege of Masada, but the imperial patronage of his work has sometimes caused it to be characterized as pro-Roman propaganda.
His most important works were The Jewish War (c. 75) and Antiquities of the Jews (c. 94). The Jewish War recounts the Jewish revolt against Roman occupation (66–70). Antiquities of the Jews recounts the history of the world from a Jewish perspective for an ostensibly Roman audience. These works provide valuable insight into 1st century Judaism and the background of Early Christianity.
Alternate spelling:
Flávio Josefo (Romance languages)
He initially fought against the Romans during the First Jewish–Roman War as the head of Jewish forces in Galilee, until surrendering in 67 to Roman forces led by Vespasian after the six-week siege of Jotapata. Josephus claims the Jewish Messianic prophecies that initiated the First Roman-Jewish War made reference to Vespasian becoming Emperor of Rome. In response Vespasian decided to keep Josephus as a hostage and interpreter. After Vespasian did become Emperor in 69, he granted Josephus his freedom, at which time Josephus assumed the emperor's family name of Flavius.
Flavius Josephus fully defected to the Roman side and was granted Roman citizenship. He became an advisor and friend of Vespasian's son Titus, serving as his translator when Titus led the Siege of Jerusalem, which resulted -- when the Jewish revolt did not surrender -- in the city's destruction and the looting and destruction of Herod's Temple (Second Temple).
Josephus recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century AD and the First Jewish–Roman War, including the Siege of Masada, but the imperial patronage of his work has sometimes caused it to be characterized as pro-Roman propaganda.
His most important works were The Jewish War (c. 75) and Antiquities of the Jews (c. 94). The Jewish War recounts the Jewish revolt against Roman occupation (66–70). Antiquities of the Jews recounts the history of the world from a Jewish perspective for an ostensibly Roman audience. These works provide valuable insight into 1st century Judaism and the background of Early Christianity.
Alternate spelling:
Flávio Josefo (Romance languages)
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 10, 2013
Josephus was an important Jewish historian from the late 1st century. Four of his texts are extant. The Jewish War is a description of the disastrous Jewish rebellion of 66 AD. The second, The Antiquities of the Jews, is a summary of Jewish history from Genesis up to the outbreak of the war. This book contains Josephus’ two minor works: an autobiography and Against Apion, a defense of Judaism against its Roman critics.
Personally, I don’t find Josephus to be a gifted writer. His prose comes across as stuffy and laborious – although this is probably (in part) because his last major translator died in the 18th century. So for me, his texts sink or swim based off of their historical interest. The Autobiography largely fails this test. It was written, at least in part, as a defense against attacks from Justus of Tiberius. Josephus was an easy target after the failure of the Jewish rebellion, as he gave himself up to the Romans rather than commit suicide and became more or less an agent of the Empire. As a result, the bulk of the Autobiography is concerned with defending Josephus’ conduct during his time as a general in Galilee. Most of the interesting bits were covered in The Jewish War, so if you’ve read that this is largely a rehash.
Against Apion looked more promising. I thought this might be an interesting defense against 1st century anti-Semitism. But for the first half it is mostly concerned with proving that Jewish culture is at least as old as Greek culture (mission accomplished, FWIW). It picks up a bit in the second half. A few Gentile rumors are deftly defused, including one eye-opener where the Jews would supposedly capture a Greek citizen, keep him in the temple to fatten him up for a year, then sacrifice him (even eating him!). Josephus skewers these myths with admirable sarcasm, and also turns the tables by exposing the ludicrousness of some of the Greco-Roman beliefs, including the exploits of one Zeus/Jupiter himself:
” [T]he chief of all their gods, and their first father himself, overlooks those goddesses whom he hath deluded and begotten with child, and suffers them to be kept in prison, or drowned in the sea. He is also so bound up by fate, that he cannot save his own offspring, nor can he bear their deaths without shedding of tears. These are fine things indeed! as are the rest that follow. Adulteries truly are so impudently looked on in heaven by the gods, that some of them have confessed they envied those that were found in the very act. And why should they not do so, when the eldest of them, who is their king also, hath not been able to restrain himself in the violence of his lust, from lying with his wife, so long as they might get into their bedchamber?”
/drops mic
But, for the most part, this is dedicated to showing that Judaism is an old belief system, and it’s not going to scintillate the average reader.
Having gone through Josephus’ whole corpus, the only text I’d recommend to general readers is The Jewish War, and even that I’d only recommend to readers specifically interested in 1st century history. Jewish Antiquities has some notable passages, but they are buried in a long, uninspired presentation of history that will put all but the most determined readers to sleep. That text is of great interest for historians as a primary source, but it’s not particularly engaging. As for these minor works? If you’ve made it through the first two texts, and aren’t completely sick of Josephus’ style, they’re worth a read. They are much shorter than his major works, and each have their interesting moments. But there’s simply not a lot to recommend here. 2 stars.
Personally, I don’t find Josephus to be a gifted writer. His prose comes across as stuffy and laborious – although this is probably (in part) because his last major translator died in the 18th century. So for me, his texts sink or swim based off of their historical interest. The Autobiography largely fails this test. It was written, at least in part, as a defense against attacks from Justus of Tiberius. Josephus was an easy target after the failure of the Jewish rebellion, as he gave himself up to the Romans rather than commit suicide and became more or less an agent of the Empire. As a result, the bulk of the Autobiography is concerned with defending Josephus’ conduct during his time as a general in Galilee. Most of the interesting bits were covered in The Jewish War, so if you’ve read that this is largely a rehash.
Against Apion looked more promising. I thought this might be an interesting defense against 1st century anti-Semitism. But for the first half it is mostly concerned with proving that Jewish culture is at least as old as Greek culture (mission accomplished, FWIW). It picks up a bit in the second half. A few Gentile rumors are deftly defused, including one eye-opener where the Jews would supposedly capture a Greek citizen, keep him in the temple to fatten him up for a year, then sacrifice him (even eating him!). Josephus skewers these myths with admirable sarcasm, and also turns the tables by exposing the ludicrousness of some of the Greco-Roman beliefs, including the exploits of one Zeus/Jupiter himself:
” [T]he chief of all their gods, and their first father himself, overlooks those goddesses whom he hath deluded and begotten with child, and suffers them to be kept in prison, or drowned in the sea. He is also so bound up by fate, that he cannot save his own offspring, nor can he bear their deaths without shedding of tears. These are fine things indeed! as are the rest that follow. Adulteries truly are so impudently looked on in heaven by the gods, that some of them have confessed they envied those that were found in the very act. And why should they not do so, when the eldest of them, who is their king also, hath not been able to restrain himself in the violence of his lust, from lying with his wife, so long as they might get into their bedchamber?”
/drops mic
But, for the most part, this is dedicated to showing that Judaism is an old belief system, and it’s not going to scintillate the average reader.
Having gone through Josephus’ whole corpus, the only text I’d recommend to general readers is The Jewish War, and even that I’d only recommend to readers specifically interested in 1st century history. Jewish Antiquities has some notable passages, but they are buried in a long, uninspired presentation of history that will put all but the most determined readers to sleep. That text is of great interest for historians as a primary source, but it’s not particularly engaging. As for these minor works? If you’ve made it through the first two texts, and aren’t completely sick of Josephus’ style, they’re worth a read. They are much shorter than his major works, and each have their interesting moments. But there’s simply not a lot to recommend here. 2 stars.
May 23, 2016
Having been a priest, Josephus accepts Jewish mythology as fact but then so do the pagans. He also believes in a transcendent creator god. He's arguing a case and parti pris. Making allowance for all that he's a pretty good, trenchant, not to say sarcastic. I can't accept David and Solomon subjugated many nations even if they existed and there's no archaeological proof they did. If they did it'd be because the great powers were in abeyance.
I'm fairly certain the Jews were semitic Asians and not Egyptian though pretty well convinced they took their circumcision from them. About Moses, if he existed and all we have is the name which the scholar of this book says derives from the Hebraic and not the Egyptian though a recent Guardian article said it was Egyptian. Since the Jewish scriptures were written after the captivity to give the few Jews returning to Jerusalem a purpose, who knows?
He calls Pyrrhus and Timon's arguments against his god crushing and mentions that the Epicureans deprived him of a providential care for mankind, which is good, considering he believes otherwise and that god's works are manifest if not to the Epicureans and Sceptics.
I can see where the Xians and Moslems got their distaste for sex: no such sexual connexions except that of man and wife and then only for procreation. What may one say then of sodomy? remembering this is the big unpunished because unadmitted crime between heterosexuals? Abhorrent! Death too good for them. The motive of course is to perpetrate the nation and sodomy doesn't. Women are to submit to men for direction since authority has been given to men by god. Says he! Abortion is forbidden because a soul would be destroyed. There's an interesting explanation for ablution to do with partition of souls implanted in bodies.
The Athenians condemned Protagoras to death because he couldn't know whether the gods existed or not. They offered a talent for the head of Diagoras who jeered at their mysteries. Anaxagoras escaped death by a few votes for saying the sun was an incandescent mass and not then a god. Religion's the pits.
I'm fairly certain the Jews were semitic Asians and not Egyptian though pretty well convinced they took their circumcision from them. About Moses, if he existed and all we have is the name which the scholar of this book says derives from the Hebraic and not the Egyptian though a recent Guardian article said it was Egyptian. Since the Jewish scriptures were written after the captivity to give the few Jews returning to Jerusalem a purpose, who knows?
He calls Pyrrhus and Timon's arguments against his god crushing and mentions that the Epicureans deprived him of a providential care for mankind, which is good, considering he believes otherwise and that god's works are manifest if not to the Epicureans and Sceptics.
I can see where the Xians and Moslems got their distaste for sex: no such sexual connexions except that of man and wife and then only for procreation. What may one say then of sodomy? remembering this is the big unpunished because unadmitted crime between heterosexuals? Abhorrent! Death too good for them. The motive of course is to perpetrate the nation and sodomy doesn't. Women are to submit to men for direction since authority has been given to men by god. Says he! Abortion is forbidden because a soul would be destroyed. There's an interesting explanation for ablution to do with partition of souls implanted in bodies.
The Athenians condemned Protagoras to death because he couldn't know whether the gods existed or not. They offered a talent for the head of Diagoras who jeered at their mysteries. Anaxagoras escaped death by a few votes for saying the sun was an incandescent mass and not then a god. Religion's the pits.
June 7, 2025
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Churchill Antiguo de la Guerra de los judíos.
El escritor judío de la antigüedad famoso por su obra histórica sobre la Guerra de los judíos y la destrucción del templo de Jerusalem en estas dos obras justifica y respalda su obra principal a través de la crítica historiográfica y su perspectiva como testigo, que me recordó las memorias de Winston Churchill sobre la Segunda Guerra Mundial, y a pesar de no ser victorioso sí nos muestra las consecuencias de la guerra como designio divino.
Me gustó particularmente su obra Contra Apión porque realiza crítica historiográfica muy aguda y también sofística erudita muy cómica. También destaco un par de elementos muy modernos del escritor antiguo, pues la religiosidad judía son los ancestros del protestantismo, y asimismo la tesis desarrollada por Weber.
Churchill Antiguo de la Guerra de los judíos.
El escritor judío de la antigüedad famoso por su obra histórica sobre la Guerra de los judíos y la destrucción del templo de Jerusalem en estas dos obras justifica y respalda su obra principal a través de la crítica historiográfica y su perspectiva como testigo, que me recordó las memorias de Winston Churchill sobre la Segunda Guerra Mundial, y a pesar de no ser victorioso sí nos muestra las consecuencias de la guerra como designio divino.
Me gustó particularmente su obra Contra Apión porque realiza crítica historiográfica muy aguda y también sofística erudita muy cómica. También destaco un par de elementos muy modernos del escritor antiguo, pues la religiosidad judía son los ancestros del protestantismo, y asimismo la tesis desarrollada por Weber.
January 23, 2025
La autobiografía muy auto adulatoria y contradiciéndose con cosas de otros escritos, tienes que haberte leído las Guerras de los Judíos si quieres enterarte (3 estrellas)
En cuanto al Contra Apión, donde defiende la antigüedad de los judíos está bien, he sacado cosas interesantes. (3.5 estrellas)
En cuanto al Contra Apión, donde defiende la antigüedad de los judíos está bien, he sacado cosas interesantes. (3.5 estrellas)
July 5, 2025
Not a ton of fun to read until the second part of Against Apion, but lots of interesting material there!
January 12, 2019
Both the works in this volume are responses to other books that no longer exist. But there the similarity ends. I understand Josephus had help writing Against Apion, but if it weren’t for his name on the cover I would not have known there was any shared authorship at all.
According to the Life, Josephus’s Jewish War was the official Roman history, published under the seal of the Emperor. Twenty years later, after the death of Domitian, one Justus, who plays a supporting role in the Jewish War, published his own history which contradicted Josephus’s account and which criticised Josephus. The Life is Josephus’s attempt to set the record straight. The problem is that his account of the same events differ between the two books. This Loeb volume actually has a few notes which cross-reference these inconsistencies. There’s also a nice fold-out map. Anyway, which of the accounts are we to believe? Can we believe either of them? Frankly, I am more inclined to trust Justus’s account - and I haven’t even read it! Josephus argues that Justus has waited twenty years before publishing because many of the key players - who could have given evidence against his account - have since died. I would argue that as those people happened to be Emperors of the known world they would have killed him for telling the truth.
Against Apion is a response to a book by Apion, who has a walk-on part in Antiquities of the Jews. He has argued that the Old Testament is a load of fresh bollocks and that Moses could not have pre-dated the eighth century BC. Interestingly, modern archeology has proved that IF Moses ever lived, he must have done so before 1207 BC. Josephus’s arguments are singularly unconvincing. What makes this such a spectacularly good read is the window it opens onto how the Jews viewed themselves and were viewed in the first century AD, and the glimpses it affords, by accident, of the workings of the world at the height of the Roman Empire. There are also lots of quotations from other books which no longer exist.
According to the Life, Josephus’s Jewish War was the official Roman history, published under the seal of the Emperor. Twenty years later, after the death of Domitian, one Justus, who plays a supporting role in the Jewish War, published his own history which contradicted Josephus’s account and which criticised Josephus. The Life is Josephus’s attempt to set the record straight. The problem is that his account of the same events differ between the two books. This Loeb volume actually has a few notes which cross-reference these inconsistencies. There’s also a nice fold-out map. Anyway, which of the accounts are we to believe? Can we believe either of them? Frankly, I am more inclined to trust Justus’s account - and I haven’t even read it! Josephus argues that Justus has waited twenty years before publishing because many of the key players - who could have given evidence against his account - have since died. I would argue that as those people happened to be Emperors of the known world they would have killed him for telling the truth.
Against Apion is a response to a book by Apion, who has a walk-on part in Antiquities of the Jews. He has argued that the Old Testament is a load of fresh bollocks and that Moses could not have pre-dated the eighth century BC. Interestingly, modern archeology has proved that IF Moses ever lived, he must have done so before 1207 BC. Josephus’s arguments are singularly unconvincing. What makes this such a spectacularly good read is the window it opens onto how the Jews viewed themselves and were viewed in the first century AD, and the glimpses it affords, by accident, of the workings of the world at the height of the Roman Empire. There are also lots of quotations from other books which no longer exist.
April 6, 2016
In his 'Life' Josephus mainly describes his Galilean period, the more or less half year during which he was organizing the rebellion in the northern area of the country. At the end of this book he describes a spectacular event in Jerusalem through his intervention, at the end of the siege of the city in 70 CE. Maybe here also Galileans were involved?
Josephus recognizes three of his acquaintances who are hanging from crosses near Jerusalem. He hastens to Titus, who is the Roman commander in chief at that moment, and begs to have the three removed from their crosses. “He gave orders immediately that they should be taken down and receive the most careful treatment. Two of them died in the physicians’ hands; the third survived.” (Life 421)
Did two events of this kind, both of them with a Josephus playing the leading part, happen in Jerusalem in the first century CE, one around 30 CE and one in 70 CE? Too much coincidence doesn’t exist, so there was only one survival/resurrection event of this kind. In 30 or in 70 CE? There are numerous indications that it all happened in August of the year 70 CE.
(N.B. In the Gospels we meet Iosèph Arimathaias (Greek); in Aramaic the historian Josephus was called Yosèph bar Mattai.)
Josephus recognizes three of his acquaintances who are hanging from crosses near Jerusalem. He hastens to Titus, who is the Roman commander in chief at that moment, and begs to have the three removed from their crosses. “He gave orders immediately that they should be taken down and receive the most careful treatment. Two of them died in the physicians’ hands; the third survived.” (Life 421)
Did two events of this kind, both of them with a Josephus playing the leading part, happen in Jerusalem in the first century CE, one around 30 CE and one in 70 CE? Too much coincidence doesn’t exist, so there was only one survival/resurrection event of this kind. In 30 or in 70 CE? There are numerous indications that it all happened in August of the year 70 CE.
(N.B. In the Gospels we meet Iosèph Arimathaias (Greek); in Aramaic the historian Josephus was called Yosèph bar Mattai.)
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April 11, 2013“A member of the priestly order must, to beget a family, marry a woman of his own race, without regard to her wealth or other distinctions; but he must investigate her pedigree, obtaining the genealogy from the archives and producing a number of witnesses. And this practice of ours is not confined to the home country of Judea, but where there is a Jewish [Judean] colony, there too a strict account is kept by the priests of their marriages… A statement is drawn up by them and sent to Jerusalem, showing the names of the bride and her father and more remote ancestors, together with the names of the witnesses… [T]hey also pass scrutiny upon the remaining women, and disallow marriage with any who have been taken captive, suspecting them of having had frequent intercourse with foreigners.” ~ Josephus, Contra Apion, 1:7, translated by Thackeray
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