Jerusalem's Traitor: Josephus, Masada, and the Fall of Judea

by Desmond Seward

When the Jews revolted against Rome in 66 CE, Josephus, a Jerusalem aristocrat, was made a general in his nation's army. Captured by the Romans, he saved his skin by finding favor with the emperor Vespasian. He then served as an adviser to the Roman legions, running a network of spies inside Jerusalem, in the belief that the Jews' only hope of survival lay in surrender to Rome. As a Jewish eyewitness who was given access to Vespasian's campaign notebooks, Josephus is our only source of information for the war of extermination that ended in the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple, and the amazing times in which he lived. He is of vital importance for anyone interested in the Middle East, Jewish history, and the early history of Christianity.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Middle East, Ancient History, Biography, Israel, Religion

344 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Desmond Seward was an Anglo-Irish popular historian and the author of over two dozen books. He was educated at Ampleforth and St, Catherine's College, Cambridge. He was a specialist in England and France in the Middle Ages and the author of some thirty books, including biographies of Eleanor of Aquitane, Henry V, Richard III, Marie Antoinette and Metternich.

Reviews

[Therese · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is essentially a modern retelling of Josephus's biography and his role in the history of the Jewish War that led to the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 70 C.E. It's a pretty readable account written in a journalistic style and aimed at the general reader. The material it covers is fascinating without a doubt, and since I've never read Josephus straight, it was full of surprises for me.

I'm always searching for history books that are both rigorous from a scholarly standpoint and well-written enough to be accessible and enjoyable to non-scholars. This book succeeded on the latter end, but less so on the former, since it didn't strike me as particularly rigorous. The author made some quite interesting-sounding assertions that weren't footnoted - for example (if I recall correctly) there was a statement to the effect that actual Jewish religious practice in first century Judaea was quite varied and pretty much left up to the individual to decide. Things that seemed kind of significant for the author to just assert without offering further references or support - and the paucity of footnotes was occasionally frustrating to me.

That said, I can certainly recommend it just as an interesting and accessible book on a hugely important historical subject.

[Justin Tapp · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book after reading an advance copy of Ben Witherington III's A Day in the Fall of Jerusalem (3 stars), a historical fiction narrative of days in 70AD complete with factual tidbits in sidebars. I also recently read William H. Marty's The World of Jesus (4 stars) that looks at the timelines, political intrigue, and family trees of first century Palestine as well.

If you don't want to read Josephus in the original, then Seward's work will suffice. He retells Josephus' works in an engaging fashion and adds some commentary as well as context. He supplies commentary to the reliability or possible motives behind certain passages. There is also a little bit of what is known from recent archaelogy or anthropology, and the latest of what historians believe about Josephus' life. It is not for an academic audience, it is entertaining.

Some bits that I gleaned:
Josephus was a follower of John the Baptist and probably like his father, who was likely of the party of the Pharisees, most likely in the lineage of priests. He also hung out with stoics. Josephus famously testifies to Christ (the Testimonium Flavianum) and that particular passage's authentication is debatable but Seward comes down on the side of it being plausibly authentic and moves past it fairly quickly.

We underestimate today how threatening and subversive monotheism was to Roma and its culture. This is the primary reason why Jews and later Christians were persecuted, either locally or widely. People familiar with the New Testament also underestimate the sheer brutality of living in that age, the frequency of wars, rebellions, and political intrigue that could lead to mass-slaughter. We can gloss over that today. Josephus, for example, wrote of the cruel Gessius Florus, who was procurator over Judea from 64-66. Florus would antagonize the Jews, desecrating their synagogues and removing money from the Temple treasury for the Emperor. The Jewish protest led to a Roman crackdown and many deaths. Josephus records that Samaritans, erstwhile rivals, joined in Florus' soldier's activities and the spark of rebellion quickly spread into a fire. While King Agrippa, who considered himself a Hebrew, tried to make peace the growing series of reprisals between Greeks and Jews became basically a civil war, even places like Galilee. This culminated in an outright pogrom in Caesarea. (Witherington's narrative ignores any part of this civil war runup in his text, which looks at areas in Galilee just after 70 AD, it's like nothing ever happened and there is no tension and no mention is made of Josephus having actually been a one-time governor of Galilee.)

Josephus may not have been actually acquainted with Nero, but apparently knew his wife, Poppea. Poppea was allegedly instrumental in getting Gessius Florus his position, but Josephus writes of her as a God-fearer who had sympathy for the Jews. Agrippa frowned on Nero and Seward writes of what is known or surmised about Nero's behavior.

Josephus was a capable commander of men but was a terrible governor of Galilee in peacetime. At the outbreak of the Jewish War, Josephus fought the Roman army in Galilee and led his men to a cave, allowing some to commit suicide before he himself went over to the Romans to help Vespasian. Josephus became useful as a translator, negotiator, and recorder. But historians differ as to whether Josephus actually got the lands and patronage that he writes about. He prophecied that Vespasian would become Emperor, and this apparently gained him the favor he needed and he enjoyed a good relationship with Titus Vespasianus, the next Emperor.

The true enemy in Josephus' works become the Zealots, telling his fellow Jews that the Zealots had betrayed the peace-loving Romans who had at least allowed them to maintain their Temple and worship. Therefore, "you are not just fighting Romans, but God." According to Josephus, the Zealots set off a class warfare that was brutal. He claims they were butchering or starving people inside Jerusalem's wall and them throwing them over. Josephus maintained a spy network of some sort within Jerusalem and encouraged surredner. However, Roman legionnaires were also ripping open Jewish captives after one captive was found to have swallowed some gold to smuggle it out of the city. This gruesome act discouraged surrender and just made matters worse. In Josephus work, both Jews and the Romans were at fault for destroying the Temple.

Titus, commanding the Roman seige of Jerusalem, reportedly absolves himself of guilt after hearing of atrocities and cannibalism inside Jerusalem. (Titus also had an affair with Bernice, daughter of Herod Agrippa, and he later dismisses her after he becomes Emperor.) Joseph accredits all of the actions and destruction to the hand of God and as punishment on the Jewish people. Masada would fall years later, and Josephus records Eliazar and the Masada suicide pact. After the destruction of the Temple, the Torah would be the center of Jewish worship and culture. Josephus wrote "Our Law will live forever."

The author also provides a brief summary of the later Bar-Kokhba War and the fate of Palestine as well as Josephus. Titus eventually became Emperor for only two years and his nephew, the insane Domition, succeeded him. Josephus had to defend his work and reputation at points in his life. Jews and Christians were increasingly heavily persecuted as the Emperor went mad.

One weakness of Seward's work is that he does not examine all the manuscript evidence of Josephus' work. My understanding from other sources is that there are some differences in the manuscript fragments and issues in translation. Josephus claimed Titus and Vespasian as sources and offers a letter from Herod Agrippa II testifying to the good quality of his book.

I give this book four stars out of five. You're likely better off to read, or listen to, the entirety of Josephus' works since they're freely available. But this is an in-depth summary and easy to enjoy. If you are more interested in understanding the context of the time in Palestine in which the New Testament was written, then check it out.

[BAM doesn’t answer to her real name · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
For anyone looking for another angle to study the Ancient Romans

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to the audio book (and the most annoying thing about audio book is lack of footnotes). At times it was quite interesting. Learned quite a bit. Seward does seem to try be fair and take an honest look at Josephus.

[Joost Nixon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A dark chapter in the history of redemption. Josephus seemed a man of his times, and the cultural rot pervaded both Jerusalem and Rome.

[WaldenOgre · Rating 4 out of 5]

一个自相矛盾的亲历者，记述了一段迷雾之中的传奇往事。他笔下的故事，俨然是历史和文学的结合体。

作为一个机会主义者，他毫无保留地赞颂罗马军团的力量，将他们视作上帝意志的执行者；作为一个贵族，他诋毁那些出身低贱的同胞，将圣城与圣殿的毁灭归咎于他们的狂热与好战；而作为一个犹太人，他又由衷敬佩马萨达的反抗者们的决绝勇气，为他们写下回荡至今的自由宣言。

他也不得不在一个罗马公民和一个犹太人的双重身份之间反复挣扎：“鄙视那些不如神的统治者，这情有可原，但这些人恰好统治着世界。”

后世的历史学家对他褒贬不一，认为他的性格是“历史之谜”。如其中一些人所言：“他的文学生涯以罗马辩护者开始，以犹太的民族主义者结束。”

[Relstuart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Josephus is responsible for one of the few first century mentions of Jesus. He is also the only one history has preserved who relays the history of the fall of Masada, a siege that is still influential today in Jewish culture in Israel. This book is mainly a biography of Josephus and a history of the siege and fall of Jerusalem. The story of Josephus has to be pieced together from his writings (several have survived). The fall of Jerusalem has a few chroniclers but Josephus was actually there and his history was approved by Roman leadership who were also there.

It's fascinating but also very sad. Lots of death and destruction. Many thousands of people died in the revolution where Jews killed Jews and then more as Rome re-asserted their power. Much of it seems so needless as we see the foolish choices of the different factions in Jerusalem fight and kill each other as much or more than they fought the Romans.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This biography of Josephus was great. I thought the author did a good job of balancing Josephus' own claims with considered skepticism, and frequently supplemented Josephus' accounts with those of other historians, archaeology, or just plain logic.

For someone like me who has travelled and studied the land of Palestine, it was fun to picture the places and the events happening there. I'm not sure how it would have been for readers who weren't familiar with those though.

Josephus' life is pretty amazing, and mostly plausible. The wars sounded absolutely horrible though. Certain events didn't quite make sense (such as enemies being close enough to the wall to hit with a rock, but no one had a sharp shooter archer around?).

This book helped me fill in some holes in my first century knowledge, and knowledge of Roman military activities.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good, general overview of the war between Rome and Jerusalem, as seen through the eyes of the most prominent Roman Jewish historian of the struggle. Very much made me want to go on and read Josephus' writings for myself.

[Mike Rogers · Rating 3 out of 5]

I kept hearing about Josephus as I've been learning about the Holy Land and decided I needed to know more about him. This book is a good summary of his life, if not very well written or breaking any new ground. Seward seems to rely on the work of others and doesn't really have an original thesis about the man. He even admits in the conclusion that it may not be appropriate to call Josephus a traitor ("It can be argued that... he was a patriot").

Josephus, a Jew of high birth, was a participant in the war between Judaea and Rome in the First Century. He was governor of Galilee and fought against the Romans, then defected to the Romans and was at the side of Titus during the sieges of Jerusalem and Masada. His firsthand observations of the siege of Masada are the only extant account of this event. Josephus was highly critical of the Zealots for mounting such fierce oppositions to the Romans during the war, holding them responsible for the destruction of the Temple, but admits their patriotism in committing suicide at Masada rather than surrendering to the Romans at the end of the war. After the war he lived his remaining days in Rome as a citizen, chronicling what he observed and writing Jewish history.

This book was a good, if not very original or well-written, summary of the Jewish-Roman War and biography of Josephus. It succeeded in satisfying my desire to learn more about Josephus and his importance to ancient history.

[Neill Goltz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t find it in my library possessions – 50 years on from my college history studies – but I once had and read for my coursework as an example of original source material - a paperback “Josephus: The Jewish War” from the college bookstore.

That was a long time ago and while memory still serves pretty well, I wonder now if it was a summarized or truncated translation from the original.

Why? Because it was nowhere as vivid as this comprehensive interpretation of that historical period and personalities by author Seward here in “Jerusalem’s Traitor.”

I hope that the absolute horror of the siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE by the future Roman Emperor Titus is exaggerated by both Josephus and author Seward, but who now will ever know? But as a TV witness here in 2024 to the horrors of Gaza and Rafah, it’s probably close to the truth.

As a history major of the ancient world, I am ashamed to admit I had no idea. Thank you, author Seward.

[Dylan Rudling · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of an unstoppable force battling an immovable object.

A great insight into a slice of history that is usually glossed over in the grand scope of the Pax Romana. It certainly feels like the events Josephus describes in his works have had an everlasting effect on the spread of religion, the Jewish identity, and Levantine politics. It also reveals a great deal about the brutal yet effective nature of 1st century Rome - I wasn't previously aware just how meticulous affairs were between Romans, Judaeans, Syrians, and others in the area. I didn't know about ancient pogroms either - horrible stuff that still lasts until today.

A real eye opener, this book. The only downside was reading this in audiobook format, which is my bad! Could have really done with a reference section, maps, and the occasional photo of some of these ancient sites.

[D Kass · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this description and critical analysis of the the first century writings of Josephus, who authored one of the few surviving histories of the Jewish revolt against the Romans and the only one that records the siege at Masada. A fascinating look at life and war during that period.

[Mijael Feldman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super fun and interesting. Never had heard about Josephus and this book made me really understand who he was and everything that he tells in The jewish war but from a third party point of view with logic and coherence.

[Michael Bogin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story well told. There are some parts that are a bit choppy, that seem to be missing a few lines or a transition. But overall a really interesting story. The siege of Jerusalem and destruction of the Temple left me almost in tears.

[N · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great introduction to Josephus’ story and the Jewish War.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Masada has always been a subject that I find interesting. I knew that it was a time of great strife in the Jewish history. Josephus was there, he was the traitor to Jerusalem.

[Steve Cran]

What a fitting book to readd at a time like this. THe Jewish day of mourning has been and gone and many religious jews fasted and prayed for the third temple to be rebuilt. THe jews morn the Roman take over a Judea. This book is both a biography of the historian, Josephus Flavius and a document of the Roman Judean War.



During the time of the Roman occupation over Judea things started out rather well. However as timme progressed especially under the reign of the Roman Emperor Nero things got worse. The Holy Land was divided into three parts. One part was the Galilee, inhabited by peasnts called the Am Hareretz. The authorr contends that they spoke hewbrew with a thick accent and were looked down upon by Judeans. The author says that they were not pure Jews, I do not know how correct this is. Another part was Samaria inhabited by Samaritan who transplanted there by the Assyrians. When times were good the Samaritan would claim that they were Hebrews. When things were bad for the Jews they denied kinship. The Jews had a very up and down relationship with the Samaritan. Recfent genetic testing shows that the Samaritan are in fct Israelites. Israelite menn who maried Assyrian women. Judea was in the south comprising of Jerusalem and surrounding cities.



Josephus was born into an aristocratic family of priests. They owned land, something which priestly families were not suppposed to do. He was well educated and ccould speak Aramaic, Hebrew and Greek Koine which was the lingua Franca of the Romann empire. Theere were lotss of Syrian Greeks in the holyland. During the life of Josephus Judean society was divided betweeen the land owning, priestlt aristrocarts and the peasant faarmers. There was tension between these two groups. The priestly class favored Rome and the peasants craved for independence. Often times the Priestly class would loan money to the peasant and when the peants could not pay the debt the priests took the land.



In the years 65 -66 ad Josephus wnet to Rome to help freee some priests who were imprisoned their. He was very impressed with Roamn military might after seeing a miliatary parade. He had realized then and there that no one could staand up to Roman miliatry might. Upon his return from Rome after a sucesful mission he found that a Jewish rebeelion againt Roamn authority was brewing. SAevveral things led to this revoilt.One was a Roman Procurator who taxed the Jews mercilessly and levied all sorts of unfaair laws against them. Another problem was that Roman troops in Judea were comprised of soldiers ffrom neighboring countries whoo were often hostile to Jews. they would often murder Jews andd Rob them. Another problem was the Syrian greks settled oin the country alongside the Jews in various cities. As things beggan to deterioraate these Syrain Greeks would massacre Jews.



In any case the Zealots lauccnhed a revot and were militarily successful driving the Roman out of Judea. Nero who was emperor at the time coould not allow for this insullt to Roamn authority stand. He sent Vespasian and his son Titus to quell the rebbellion. Joesphus was the gobernor of Tiberias and Galille. Ultimately Galille fell. It was a fracticious area with lot of infighting between differnt groups. So called Patriots would stela ffrom the farmer. Josephus himself hid in a ccave and was evventually discverd. His comrrads chose to fight rather then surreneder. Josephus convinced them al to committ suiced. He worked for the Romans after that.



The book then describes the seige of Jeruslam. The defender held out and fought well againsst the Romans depite being out numbered, out weaponed and out trained by a superior army. What uptimately did the Jews in was constant infighting. Class war far between teh rich and poor lead to a civil war in which the peasnts sufered. The militias robbed everyoone they could aftern being as rapacious ass the Romanms if not worse. In the end the Roamn prevail and it was an all out Holocaust

[Joseph Rizzo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great introduction to the topic of the 1st century Jewish revolt against Rome. Because Josephus' work is pretty much the only source material, much of the work is trying to get into the mind of Josephus and reason out some of his apparent exaggeration and biases.

This is a chronicle of the events and situations leading up to the revolt, the revolt itself, and then the reconquest of Judea by Vespasian, Titus, and the Roman armies. It does speak of much of the political situations going on in Rome simultaneously and how that is influencing battlefield decisions by the commanders.

Much of the blame for the start of the war can be pointed at the outrageous behavior of Florus the procurator of Judea. However, the existence of the Zealots for several decades before the war is proof of a popular resentment of Roman occupation. Florus just provided enough of a spark to really get the Zealots into action.

The conquest of most of Judea was done without too much effort by the Romans, including Galilee and the capture of its rebel governor, Josephus himself. Josephus was dedicated enough to the cause to lead the defense of Jotapata against Vespasion, but not dedicated enough to not quickly beg for mercy and his life and offer himself to serve the Romans.

The climax of the events and the book is the siege of Jerusalem. One of the biggest calamities for Jerusalem besides the Roman armies are the faction fighting between the zealots inside the city and the famine. If not for this, they might have stood a chance in this siege.

One of the interesting things to do is to read this history keeping Jesus prophecy in Matthew 24 in mind. The conclusion of Josephus and the Zealots in Masada are that God had abandoned them and was using the Romans as an instrument of their destruction, much as he had with the Babylonians in the 6th century BC and the first destruction of the temple.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An extremely interesting book. To better understand the Roman wars on Jerusalem, I wanted to read the historical expert on the subject, Flavius Josephus. I just didn't know if I would stay with the lengthy, dry text he wrote in 'The Jewish War' back in the first century CE. But Josephus, while known by archeologists to be reliable and accurate in his detailed physical descriptions of ancient structures, is considered by many historians to have spoken out of both sides of his mouth to save his tail, and frequently exaggerated numbers.

I thought this book would give me the rich history recorded by Josephus in more interesting prose, and declare when it was likely that this wily fellow was varying from fact. I was happy to be right on both counts. This book reads well, moves at a rapid pace, and helped me to learn a great deal about the Roman/Jewish wars. The battles were very lengthy with huge casualties on both sides. The Romans were more magnanimous in selected situations than I'd ever imagined -- very selected. And the Jews were much more aggressive and strategic fighters than I'd ever thought. Surprisingly, they nearly beat the Romans on several occasions. One wonders how history might have been different had they defeated the Romans.

This is not light reading, but not as dry as the subject would typically demand. If you are strongly interested in the wars of the Romans for Judea, and the Jewish battles against them for Jerusalem and Masada, this is your book.

[Christa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great introduction both to Josephus and to the Roman campaign in Judea that culminated in the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. There was not a lot of technical jargon or analysis, but there was enough detail to be able to picture the people and events without having to stop and look up terminology constantly - another aspect of the book that makes it accessible to the general reader. If you are someone who has already done a lot of reading on the subject, this book would make a great overview, especially as the author takes some time to discuss the validity of some of the accounts.

While the book is generally a summary of the accounts given by Josephus, the author is careful to temper Josephus' word with the written accounts of other historians, along with archeological records, and even common sense!

I highly recommend this book - it will change how you think about the destruction of Jerusalem!

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

For many years I have heard people quote Josephus and I always wondered about his story. Now I know. This book chronicles in painful detail the fall of Jerusalem and the horrendous war in Israel for years leading up to 70 AD. Josephus was a ruling Jewish leader who turned to the Romans when it was convenient and later wrote one of the only histories we have of that time period. The vicious war tactics on both sides and the graphic descriptions of what happened as those huddled in the surrounded Jerusalem starved to death is now marked into my memory. If you are interested in history, religion, the Roman Empire, the early years of Christianity - this is a must read book. The writing style draws you in, the well-researched support gives you confidence in the story as presented and the character of Josephus and what he saw doesn't leave you once you've finished.

[George Serebrennikov · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book mainly covers the Jewish uprising against Rome in the first century AD, culminated by the second and final destruction of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem and fall of Masada. Most, if not all the information about the period, historians are getting from the literature work of Josephus, who was the Jewish general, aristocrat, governor of Galilee, traitor to his people, and close collaborator of Vespasian and Titus, future emperors of Rome. It is my third book on the subject of the great revolt against Romans and life of Josephus. The first was “Josephus” by Leon Feuchtwanger, but it is “historical fiction”, rather than actual history. Second – “War of the Jews” by Josephus himself, is a great book, but it was slightly difficult to read. The book by Desmond Seward is my third book, and I found it to be a page-turner.

[Carina · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent crash-course level introduction to Josephus, his works, and his contemporary world. It was nice to disappear into a work of history again and just power through it. When discussing the drama and politics of Rome itself, Seward's tone fell in line with what I would expect more from a gossip column than a historical work. Given the atrocities discussed, it almost read like a Shakespearean tragedy in how it kept the reader invested without getting overwhelmed. I will admit there were a couple of moments when the humour got a bit dark even for me. When discussing the actual destruction of Jerusalem, though, Seward was incredibly respectful and direct.

[Jim Talbott · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is enjoyable way to consume the life of Josephus without actually having to slog through Josephus. Of course, by limiting the book to events Josephus actually potentially saw, you miss out on his history of Herod and earlier for which his is also one of the few detailed sources. In any case, I teach this era for fifth grade Hebrew school, and it gave me a bunch of wonderful additional background to add to the rabbinic sources we have used in previous years.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid, informative overview on Josephus & the Roman destruction of Jerusalem. That said, it's less a biography of Josephus and more of a tale of the Jewish War itself, with special guest star Josephus. I find the book a bit obsessed with the in-fighting of the zealots in Jerusalem; it seems the author finds their machinations particularly interesting , but I can't say I share his fascination. Nothing remarkable, but informative and an extremely useful research tool.

[Luís Branco · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you enjoy history, especially Jewish or Judea history, it is a must read book. I loved the stories and the way the author summarized huge accounts into what was more relevant to know. It is a beneficial source for research and also a kind of preparation for anyone who intends to read Josephus books. It is a book that I will read again in the hereafter.

[Craig Bolton]

"Jerusalem's Traitor: Josephus, Masada, and the Fall of Judea by Desmond Seward (2009)"

[Yossi Ittach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written, in-depth overview and in the same time, so exciting you just can't stop reading. *very* well written, and definitely a must for anyone who has the slightest interest in history.

[Rachel Naveh · Rating 5 out of 5]

a very sad story of the fall of Judea for the hate and disagreement of its citizens. It didn't have to end like this.