xv–xvi), makes four points (AJ 1.5) by indicating that this writing: 1) is aimed at all the Greeks (Hellēnes, i.e. non-Jews, see also 1.9); 2) concerns “our entire ancient history” (hapasan tēn par’hēmin archaiologian; cf. AJ 20.259, 267; Vita 430; Apion 1.54, 127; 2.136, 287); 3) as well as the arrangement of the Jews’ political constitution (politeuma); 4) in the form of a translation from the Hebrew Scriptures. The first point implies that the audience aimed for in the Antiquities consists primarily of non-Jews, in particular the contemporary cultural elite in Rome (Mason 1998, 2003b, 2005; den Hollander 2014: 279–286). The reference to the local wealthy freedman Epaphroditus as Josephus’s patron (AJ 1.8–9; also Vita 430; Apion 1.1; 2.1, 296), who is characterized as a lover of every kind of culture (1.8), supports this configuration of Josephus’s main audience. The key word archaiologia (“Antiquities”; Rajak 1982: “Archaeology”; Mason 2000: xxiii: “Judaean Ancient Lore”; 1.5) implies a history from ancient times onward, starting, in fact, with the creation of the world (1.21, 26, 27). This implies that the history of the Jews is as old as the history of humankind. In Against Apion Josephus presents the content of Antiquities as follows: it is based on the Sacred Scriptures of the Jews, it concerns the origin of the Jewish people, its original composition and the land possessed currently, and comprises a history of 5000 years (Apion 1.1; cf. AJ 20.259–261). The Jewish laws and the political organization of the Jews are central topics in this history (Schwartz 1983–1984; Feldman 1998: 144–148; Swoboda 2014: 469–470). The laws are divine and revealed by Moses (briefly explained in 1.18–26). They are contrasted with legal systems based on myths or mythologies current among other people (1.15, 22). They have moral implications, which Josephus connects with the philosophy of nature (the Jewish constitution reflects natural law; 1.18, 24–25) and the nature of God, who serves as the perfect model for humans (1.19, 23) and punishes and rewards all humans on the basis of their deeds (1.20; also 1.14). Josephus is confident about the non-Jewish interest in his enterprise, because he can point to the persuasive analogy of the Septuagint: the Greek translation of the books of the law produced at the invitation of King Ptolemy II with the support of the high priest Eleazar (1.9–12). Josephus indicates that his work will even surpass this translation, because he will transmit all of Jewish Holy Scripture (1.12; Krieger 2000: 259–261; Swoboda 2014: 450–451, 467). As a matter of fact, only books 1–11 are based on Jewish Scripture and these books are a paraphrase and not a translation.
Josephus’s Life is consistently written as a first-person report and it begins with the author’s distinguished ancestry (genos), descending not only from a priestly family but also from the Hasmonean dynasty (Vita 1–2). This beginning (1–12) also highlights Josephus’s education and anticipates in this way a self-portrait of him as a public figure in the short period that he was active as a Jewish leader and military commander (December 66–May 67 CE; Vita 12–413; Bilde 1988: 104–113; Mason 2001: xxvii–xxxiv). It ends with a report about domestic affairs in Alexandria, the area of Jerusalem, and Rome (Mason 2001: xxi–xxiii; other self-introductions: BJ 1.3 and Apion 1.54–55). The short epilogue (Vita 430) confirms that it concerns the autobiography of Josephus (Bilde 1988: 104–105; Mason 1998, 2001: 173, 2016b; Schwartz 2007: 3–4). It highlights Josephus’s character (ēthos) as the main body of the work has done several times. A phrase in this epilogue (“the entire record of the Antiquities up to the present …”) may indicate that The Life was intended to function as an appendix to the Antiquities (cf. AJ 20.259, 267; Barish 1978; Bilde 1988: 104–105; Mason 1998, 2001: xiv–xv, 173; Siegert et al. 2001: 1, 23 n.1; Schwartz 2007: 3–4).
Josephus’s final work, known as Contra Apionem (written between 94 and c. 105 CE), is a sequel to The Jewish Antiquities (Apion 1.1–2) and intended as a refutation of slanders about the Jews and lies about their origin by non-Jews as well as a presentation of the correct view of the ancient origin of the Jews (Apion 1.3–4, 59; Bilde 1988: 113–122; Barclay 2007: xvii–lxxi). This purpose explains why some of the early readers of this work refer to it as On the Antiquity of the Jews (or: Judaeans; Origen, C. Celsum 1.16; Hist. Eccl. 3.9.4, Mason 2000: xxiii). Josephus’s counterargument brings other witnesses (non-Greek reports, cf. Apion 1.58–59) about the origin of the Jews that the Greeks consider most trustworthy. He refutes the slanders of Apion and others by demonstrating that they contradict themselves (cf. already Apion 1.4). He also explains why not many Greeks mention the Jews in their history and attempts to inform those persons who are or feign to be ignorant of this history through the work of those who have not neglected it (Apion 1.5; cf. 1.3). He concludes this work with a detailed exposition of the illustrious Mosaic laws and Jewish religion (Apion 2.145–296).
Relevance for the History of the Jews
What is the relevance of these works for the history of the Hellenistic and Roman Near East? Obviously, Josephus focuses on the history of the Jews, especially on the Jews in their heartland Judaea. However, as we will see in subsequent sections, he is also a relevant source for some other topics.
The Jewish War concerns the conflict between the Jews and the Romans in Judaea and Galilee in the first century CE. Its overture in books 1 and 2 starts with the invasion and persecution by Antiochus IV (175–164 BCE) in Judaea (1.31–35) and it offers extensive information about the Maccabean revolt and the Hasmonean dynasty of Jewish leaders that resulted from it (1.36–179). Next Josephus focuses on the take-over by the Herodian rulers with Herod the Great (40–4 BCE) as the prime figure (1.180–2.168). This “pre-history” ends with the switch to a direct administration by Roman governors (6–66 CE), which partially coincided with the rule of the Jewish kings Agrippa I (41–44 CE) and II (50–93/4 CE; War 2.169–292). The actual history of the war comprises War 2.293–6.442, starting with provocations by the Roman governor Florus, who relieved the temple treasury of seventeen talents (2.293–308), and culminating with the burning of the temple and the destruction of the city of Jerusalem narrated in book 6. Book 7 deals with the removal of the last hotbeds of resistance, including the rebels on Masada (7.252–406) (Figure 22.3), and the consequences of the Jewish defeat: the triumphal march of the Flavians, described in great detail (7.123–162), the land of the Jews becoming imperial property and the introduction of the fiscus judaicus as replacement of the temple tax, levied on all Jews in the empire (Bilde 1988: 65–70; Heemstra 2010). Josephus’s interpretation of the events is, among other things, apparent from his remark that after Cestius Gallus’s failed attempt to capture Jerusalem and King Agrippa II’s failure to persuade the Jews to desist the eminent Jews left Jerusalem – swimming away from the city “as if from a sinking ship” (2.556) – and from his repeated notices that the radical rebels who stayed behind were fighting each other (e.g. 2.433–448; 4.121–366, 503–584).
Although The Jewish Antiquities cover a far longer period than the War, almost half of its twenty books concern the Hellenistic and early Roman periods (books 12–20). The last book of the section that is based on Jewish Scripture (books 1–11) ends with an excursus on Alexander the Great (336–323 BCE; AJ 11.304–347), a caesura in the composition which explains why Alexander was able to defeat the Persians and found a new empire: when he met the high priest of the Jews in the robes of his office, he realized that the dream he had had meant that the God of the Jews would lead his army to victory (11.329–335). Therefore, Alexander sacrificed to God in the Jerusalem temple and understood that he was the Greek leader who would defeat the Persian Empire as the Book of Daniel that was shown to him implies (Daniel 8:21; AJ 11.336–337). Alexander granted the Jews several privileges, including the right to serve in his army as mercenaries without transgressing their practices (11.338). The excursus shows once again Josephus’s leitmotiv that the God of the Jews determines human affairs and rewards and punishes humans according to their deeds (see above).
Book 12 deals with the period after Alexander’s death (323 BCE) up to the death of Judas (161 BCE), the leader of the Maccabean Revolt against Antiochus IV and V. Books 13 and 14 cover the later Hasmonean rulers as well as the take-over by Herod the Great, who manages to capture Jerusalem only three