Getting Started: Some introductory readings in Josephus

While the whole of his writing corpus is important for classical and biblical studies, some passages in Josephus are of special interest even to the general reader. In this file I shall list and introduce a number of these passages, in the hope of whetting the appetite for more extensive browsing within the works of this first-century Jewish historian.

Among the volumes of the Jewish War, the first is of vital importance as our main source for Jewish history in the period from Alexander of Macedon to the start of the Christian era. The seventh and final volume includes the tragic destruction of Jerusalem, the siege of Masada and the triumph celebrated in Rome at the conclusion of the war.

Clearly, one will need to read the autobiography for an understanding of how Josephus sees his own place within Judaism, despite his having surrendered to Vespasian and going to Rome as a pensioner of the imperial household and living a life of leisured culture on the side of the Palatine hill.

While there are many fascinating vignettes in the twenty volumes of his Antiquities of the Jews, one might wish to start with the passages in volume 18 about John the Baptist and Jesus and then go to his description of the early career of Herod the Great, in volume 14, which illustrates his father's friendship with Julius Caesar and Herod's own loyal association with Mark Antony, despite the desire of Cleopatra to gain control of Palestine. Then, 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 a list of passages of special interest in his two major works. In the months ahead it is planned to add considerably to these suggested readings in Josephus. We will draw attention to specific episodes and speeches, illustrating 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