JOSEPHUS, FLAVIUS

born AD 37/38, , Jerusalem died AD 100, , Rome original name Joseph Ben Matthias Jewish priest, scholar, and historian who wrote valuable works on the Jewish revolt of 6670 and on earlier Jewish history. His major books are History of the Jewish War (7579), The Antiquities of the Jews (93), and Against Apion. Additional reading Josephus' life and times are chronicled in H. St. John Thackeray, Josephus, the Man and the Historian (1929, reprinted 1967); Norman Bentwich, Josephus (1914, reprinted 1976); William Reuben Farmer, Maccabees, Zealots, and Josephus: An Inquiry into Jewish Nationalism in the Greco-Roman Period (1956, reprinted 1973); R.J.H. Shutt, Studies in Josephus (1961); G.A. Williamson, The World of Josephus (1964); Tessa Rajak, Josephus: The Historian and His Society (1983); and Seth Schwartz, Josephus and Judean Politics (1990).