Creator Bio
Josephus
37–100
Flavius Josephus was born into a prominent Jewish priestly family and served as a general stationed in the Galilee during the First Jewish Revolt (66–73 CE). He was captured by the Romans and eventually integrated into the Flavian imperial aristocracy, who commissioned him to compose chronicles of the Jewish–Roman war and the history of the Jews. Josephus’ works, all written in Greek, include The Jewish War, Jewish Antiquities, Against Apion, and his autobiography, Life of Josephus. These writings provide important insights into the Judaisms of the Second Temple period and include one of the few surviving accounts of the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE.
Content by Josephus
Primary Source
Alexander and the Jews
Jewish Antiquities 11.297–339 (selections)
During the time when John became high priest, Bagoses, the general of Artaxerxes’ army, polluted the Temple and imposed tribute on…
Primary Source
Alexander’s Death and His Successors
Jewish Antiquities 12.1–9
When Alexander, king of Macedon, had put an end to the dominion of the Persians and had settled affairs in Judaea in the manner described above, he died [in Babylon]. His empire fell among many…
Primary Source
Josephus on the Samaritans in Limbo
Jewish Antiquities 11.340–347
When Alexander had thus settled matters at Jerusalem, he led his army into the neighboring cities. When all the inhabitants to whom he came received him with great kindness, the Samaritans—who had…
Primary Source
Jews as Seleucid Soldiers
Jewish Antiquities 12.119–121
The Jews also received honors from the kings of Asia when they served them in war; for example, Seleucus Nicator made them citizens of the cities that he built in Asia and in lower Syria, and in the…
Primary Source
Tobiad Family Conflict: War between Hyrcanus and His Brothers
Jewish Antiquities 12.228–236
Upon Joseph’s death, the people grew rebellious on account of his sons. For whereas the brothers made war against Hyrcanus, who was the youngest of Joseph’s sons, the multitude was divided, but the…
Primary Source
The Rise of Joseph Son of Tobias
Jewish Antiquities 12.154–174
After this, Antiochus [Antiochus III] made a treaty of friendship with Ptolemy [Ptolemy V Epiphanes], giving him his daughter Cleopatra [Cleopatra I Syra] to marry. He also gave him Coele-Syria…
Primary Source
Josephus Recounts the Seleucid Conquest
Jewish Antiquities 12.129–137
During the reign of Antiochus the Great, who ruled over all Asia, the Jews, as well as the inhabitants of Coele-Syria, suffered greatly, and their land was severely devastated. For while he was at war…
Primary Source
Antiochus IV Enters Jerusalem
Jewish Antiquities 12.237–256
About this time, upon the death of Onias the high priest, Antiochus gave the high priesthood to Jesus his brother, for the son of Onias…
Primary Source
Mattathias’s Uprising according to Josephus
Jewish Antiquities 12.265–286
Now at this time there was one whose name was Mattathias, who was living in the village of Modiin, in Judaea, the son of John, the son of Simeon, the…
Primary Source
Rededication of the Temple
Jewish Antiquities 12.316–326
The first-century historian Josephus gives an account of the origin of Hanukkah and suggests an etiology for one of its names, the Festival of Lights.
Primary Source
The Death of Jonathan and the Rise of Simon
Jewish Antiquities 13.187–213
Now when Trypho learned what had befallen Demetrius [that he had lost his entire army and been captured by the Parthians], he no longer…
Primary Source
John Hyrcanus
Jewish Antiquities 13.230–300 (selections)
So Ptolemy [Hyrcanus’ brother-in-law] retired to one of the fortresses above Jericho, called…
Primary Source
Aristobulus I
Jewish Antiquities 13.301–310, 314–319
After their father Hyrcanus died, the eldest son, Aristobulus, saw fit…
Primary Source
Alexander Janneus
The Jewish War 1.85–98
Aristobulus’ widow released his brothers from prison and made Alexander king, as he seemed to have the best claim both in seniority and for his apparent moderation. But when he came into power he had…
Primary Source
Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II
The Jewish War 1.117–122
Meanwhile Alexandra fell ill, and her younger son Aristobulus seized the opportunity. With all his many friends—all won over to his cause by his dashing nature—he took control of all the fortresses…
Primary Source
Jonathan Becomes High Priest
Jewish Antiquities 13.181–183
When Simon and Jonathan had administered these affairs, they returned to Jerusalem, where Jonathan gathered all the people together. He counseled them to restore the walls of Jerusalem, to rebuild the…
Primary Source
Simon's Leadership according to Josephus
Jewish Antiquities 13.225–229
Antiochus, however, by reason of his greediness and wicked disposition, forgot about the kind service that Simon had afforded him in his time of necessity, committed an army of soldiers to his friend…
Primary Source
Josephus on Queen Salome
Jewish Antiquities 13.320–432 (selections)
When Aristobulus died, his wife Salome, who was called Alexandra by the Greeks, let his brothers out of prison—for Aristobulus had kept them in…
Primary Source
The Accession of Salome
The Jewish War 1.107–112
He [Alexander Janneus] bequeathed the kingdom to his wife Alexandra, confident that the Jews would accept her authority more than anyone else’s, as her diametric contrast to his own brutality and the…
Primary Source
Civil War over Hasmonean Succession
The Jewish War 1.123–140
The unexpected success won by Aristobulus alarmed his enemies, most notably Antipater, for whom he had a long-standing detestation. Antipater was an Idumaean by birth, and ancestry, wealth, and other…
Primary Source
Pompey Enters Jerusalem
The Jewish War 1.141–158
Furious at this, Pompey kept Aristobulus in custody and advanced up to the city to review the possible means of assault. He could now see the strength of the walls which made them virtually…
Primary Source
Antipater’s Campaigns and Advance to Power
The Jewish War 1.187–200
After Pompey’s death Antipater changed sides and began to curry favour with Caesar. When Mithridates of Pergamum, leading an army against Egypt, was held up at Ascalon by notice that the frontier…
Primary Source
Conflicts between the Young Herod and Hyrcanus
The Jewish War 1.201–207
Antipater saw Caesar out of Syria and then returned to Judaea. His first act was to rebuild the wall of the capital which had been destroyed by Pompey. He then toured the country, suppressing any…
Primary Source
The Death of Antipater and Herod’s Revenge
The Jewish War 1.225–241
When war was declared on Cassius and Brutus by the young Caesar [i.e., Octavian] and Antony, Cassius and Murcus…
Primary Source
Parthian Invasion, Phasael’s Death, and Herod’s Flight to Rome
The Jewish War 1.248–279
Two years later, Barzaphanes, the Parthian satrap, together with the king’s son, Pacorus, occupied Syria. Lysanias had now…
Primary Source
Herod’s Arrival in Rome and Appointment as King of Judaea
The Jewish War 1.280–289
His ship came into serious distress off Pamphylia, and most of the cargo had to be jettisoned, after which it could just limp to safety in Rhodes, an island deeply traumatized by the war with Cassius…
Primary Source
Herod Moves against Antigonus and Avenges His Brother
The Jewish War 1.290–342 (selections)
Herod had by now sailed from Italy to Ptolemaïs, and, having put together…
Primary Source
Herod Takes Jerusalem
The Jewish War 1.343–357
When the storm died down, he advanced on Jerusalem and marched his army right up to the walls on what was coincidentally the third anniversary of his…
Primary Source
The End of the Hasmonean Priesthood
Jewish Antiquities 20.247–251
Herod was then made king by the Romans, but he no longer appointed high priests from the family of Asamoneus [i.e., the Hasmoneans]. Rather, he chose certain men not from eminent families who could…
Primary Source
Octavian Confirms Herod’s Claim to Kingship
The Jewish War 1.388–393
“Caesar,” he said, “I was made king by Antony, and I acknowledge that I have throughout served Antony’s interests. I will not conceal from you either that, if I had not been occupied with the Arabs…
Primary Source
Augustus Expands Herod’s Kingdom
The Jewish War 1.398–400
At the end of the first Actiad Caesar added again to Herod’s kingdom, giving him the district known as Trachonitis and the adjacent areas of Batanaea and Auranitis. What had happened was this…
Primary Source
Renovation of the Temple
Jewish Antiquities 15.380–391
In the eighteenth year of the reign of King Herod, after the acts recorded above, he undertook a very great task, namely the renovation of the Temple of God at his own expense. He both expanded it and…
Primary Source
Josephus Catalogues Herod’s Construction Projects
The Jewish War 1.401–428
So in the fifteenth year of his reign Herod renovated the temple and built a new circuit of walls to double the previous extent of the surrounding area…
Primary Source
Herod the Builder
Jewish Antiquities 16.136–149
Around this time, Caesaria Sebaste, which Herod had been in the process of building, was finished. The entire building project was completed by the tenth year, its allotted time being extended to the…
Primary Source
Olympic Games
Jewish Antiquities 15.267–276
Because of this, Herod departed even more from the ancestral customs and gradually corrupted the ancient way of life, which should have been inviolable, through the introduction of foreign practices…
Primary Source
Herod’s Response to Famine
Jewish Antiquities 15.299–316
Now on this very year, which was the thirteenth of Herod’s reign, the most severe calamities overtook the country, whether because of God’s harboring wrath or because such misery recurs naturally in…
Primary Source
Herod’s Relationship with Augustus
Jewish Antiquities 15.342–343
While Herod was engaged in these matters, Sebaste already having been built as a city, he decided to send his sons Alexander and Aristobulus to Rome to meet with Caesar. When they arrived, they lodged…
Primary Source
The Decline and Death of Herod
The Jewish War 1.656–673
From that time on Herod’s disease spread to affect every part of his body with a range of symptoms. He had a fever (relatively mild), intolerable itching all…
Primary Source
Archelaus’ Rise to Power
The Jewish War 2.1–19
Archelaus’ obligation to travel to Rome exposed him to a fresh outbreak of disorder. He had kept seven days’ mourning for his father…
Primary Source
Antipas Contests Archelaus’ Rule
The Jewish War 2.20–39, 80–96
Meanwhile Antipas returned to the fray and disputed the succession to the throne…
Primary Source
Philip and Antipas Reign as Tetrarchs
The Jewish War 2.167–168
After Archelaus’ ethnarchy had been turned into a Roman province, the other two brothers, Philip and Herod Antipas, continued to administer their own tetrarchies. When Salome died she bequeathed her…
Primary Source
Antipas as Tetrarch
Jewish Antiquities 18.36–38
Now Herod the tetrarch, who was in great favor with Tiberius, built a city and called it Tiberias. He built it in the best part of Galilee, at the lake of Gennesareth, which is near a village called…
Primary Source
Herod Agrippa I
Jewish Antiquities 18.161–167; 19.343–361
Now when Agrippa arrived at Puteoli, he wrote a letter to Tiberius Caesar, who…
Primary Source
Alexandra
Jewish Antiquities 14–15 (selections)
Herod [ . . . ] heard of the arrest of his brother from others, and on the advice of the…
Primary Source
Mariamme the Hasmonean
Jewish Antiquities 14–15 (selections)
So [Herod] marked off the place with three bulwarks and erected…
Primary Source
Doris and Her Son Antipater
The Jewish War 1.432–591 (selections)
When he came to the throne he had…
Primary Source
Salome
Jewish Antiquities 17.34–68 (selections)
When these letters were brought, the women stopped their efforts to flee to the Romans…
Primary Source
Pheroras’ Wife
Jewish Antiquities 17.34–68
Pheroras was greatly enslaved to his wife, her mother, and her sister…
Primary Source
Primary Source
Berenice’s Birth and Marriages
Jewish Antiquities 18–20 (selections)
Agrippa had two sons and three daughters by Cypros. [The…
Primary Source
Agrippa and Berenice Avert War with Rome
The Jewish War 2.309–405 (selections)
At this time it happened that King Agrippa was out of the country: he…
Primary Source
Berenice’s Petitions on Behalf of Justus
Life of Josephus 343, 355
And you, Justus, would have paid the penalty by the order of Vespasian, had not King Agrippa, although he received the authority to put you to death, [merely] imprisoned you in chains for a long time…
Primary Source
Pilate Imports Standards to Jerusalem
The Jewish War 2.169–177
Pilate was sent by Tiberius to Judaea as procurator, and in a covert operation at night he smuggled into Jerusalem under wraps those portrait plaques of the emperor which are called standards. When…
Primary Source
Roman Exposure, Tragedy, and Burning of the Law
The Jewish War 2.223–231
After the death of Herod the king of Chalcis, Claudius appointed to the kingship his nephew Agrippa (the son of Herod’s brother Agrippa). As procurator of the rest of the province Tiberius Alexander…
Primary Source
The Sicarii
The Jewish War 2.254–257
The countryside may thus have been swept clear, but a new breed of terrorists was growing like a cancer in Jerusalem, the so-called Sicarii who murdered people right in the middle of the city in broad…
Primary Source
The Rise of False Prophets and Messiahs
The Jewish War 2.258–265
As well as these [the Sicarii] another group of criminals came into being, less bloodstained in action but with a more blasphemous agenda, who ruined the calm of the city…
Primary Source
Racial Conflict in Caesarea
The Jewish War 2.266–270
Another disturbance broke out at Caesarea, with racial conflict between the Jewish element of the population and the Syrian inhabitants. The Jews claimed the city as theirs on the grounds that its…
Primary Source
Roman Corruption
The Jewish War 2.271–283
Felix’s successor as procurator, Festus, set out to deal with the main plague affecting the country: he captured large numbers of the terrorizing bandits, and put a good many to death. But his…
Primary Source
The First Flames of War
The Jewish War 2.284–332 (selections)
Meanwhile the Greeks of Caesarea had won their case at Rome, and…
Primary Source
Outbreak of the Revolt
The Jewish War 2.406–421, 433–448
Agrippa Banished from Jerusalem
So for the time being Agrippa managed…
Primary Source
Revolt in the Galilee
The Jewish War 2.562–568
When the Jews who had pursued Cestius returned to Jerusalem, they either forced or persuaded any remaining pro-Romans to join their movement, and held a mass meeting at the temple to appoint further…
Primary Source
Nero Appoints Vespasian to Suppress Revolt
The Jewish War 3.1–7
News of the reverses in Judaea naturally came as a fearful shock to Nero, though he concealed it well. His public reaction was one of dismissive irritation, claiming as he did that what had happened…
Primary Source
Josephus Goes over to the Romans
The Jewish War 3.379–408
“Our best course then, my friends, is to take the sensible view and not compound our human predicament with impiety towards the God who created…
Primary Source
Battle at Gamala
The Jewish War 4.1–29, 49–81
The defeat at Tarichaeae brought the surrender of those Galileans who had still remained in revolt…
Primary Source
Factional Infighting in Jerusalem
The Jewish War 5.1–39 (selections)
So Titus made his way as described across the desert from north Egypt to Syria…
Primary Source
Titus Marches toward Jerusalem
The Jewish War 5.40–288 (selections)
Titus was now on the march from Caesarea, having concentrated part of his forces there…
Primary Source
A Thwarted Plot to Surrender to the Romans
The Jewish War 5.527–540
[Matthias] had given Simon his possession of the city, and yet Simon had him not only killed but tortured as well. Matthias was the son of Boethus, a member of a high-priestly family, and absolutely…
Primary Source
Josephus Rescued from the City
The Jewish War 5.541–547
Meanwhile Josephus, still insistently going round outside the city to reiterate his appeals, was struck on the head by a stone and dropped senseless on the spot. The Jews made a dash for his body, and…
Primary Source
Famine and Desertion
The Jewish War 5.420–427
For all this emotional appeal by Josephus, the insurgents would not budge, and thought it far from safe to change their course. The people, though, took it as a spur to desertion. Some sold their…
Primary Source
Titus Besieges Jerusalem
The Jewish War 5.491–501, 508–522
Titus now held a conference with his officers. The more bullish recommended bringing up…
Primary Source
The Fate of Those Who Escape
The Jewish War 5.548–557
Of those now deserting some had no choice but to move quickly and jump down from the wall: others sallied out with stones in their hands as if to do battle, and then fled to the Romans. But desertion…
Primary Source
Roman Capture of the Antonia and Burning of the Colonnade
The Jewish War 6.149–192 (selections)
Meanwhile the rest of the Roman army demolished Antonia and its foundations in seven days and engineered a wide road giving access to the…
Primary Source
A Mother's Infanticide
The Jewish War 6.193–217
Meanwhile in the city the victims of famine were dropping in their thousands, and there was suffering beyond description. In every house the mere flicker of…
Primary Source
The Temple Falls
The Jewish War 6.228, 232, 237–266
Titus, now realizing that his attempt to spare a foreign temple was only causing injury and death to his own men, gave orders for the gates…
Primary Source
The Temple’s Fate Realized
The Jewish War 6.267–295, 315–317
While there must be deep mourning for the loss of this marvellous building—a monument more…
Primary Source
The Sack of Jerusalem
The Jewish War 6.403–408, 414–419
Now masters of the walls, the Romans planted their standards on the towers and clapped and sang in joyful celebration of their victory. They had found the final stages of the war much easier…
Primary Source
Triumphal Procession in Rome
The Jewish War 7.123–162
While it was still night all the military had marched out under their officers by companies and cohorts, and taken up their position, which was not on this occasion round the gates of the Upper Palace…
Primary Source
The Fortress at Masada
The Jewish War 7.275–303
So the Roman general arrived with his forces to take on Eleazar and the Sicarii occupying Masada with him. Silva quickly established control of the whole…
Primary Source
Collective Suicide at Masada
The Jewish War 7.304–336, 389–406
With the investing wall which I have mentioned now completed round the entire site, and the…
Primary Source
Revolts of 66 CE in Alexandria
The Jewish War 2.487-497
In Alexandria there had always been antagonism between the natives and the Jewish colony ever since Alexander, grateful for the Jews’ enthusiastic support against the Egyptians, had rewarded their…
Primary Source
Jewish Unrest and Its Suppression in Alexandria and Cyrene
The Jewish War 7.407–418, 437–450
With Masada thus captured, the Roman general left a garrison in the fortress and went back with his army to…
Primary Source
Jewish-Greek Relations in Mid-First Century Alexandria
Jewish Antiquities 19.278–291
Now about this time discord broke out between the Jews and the Greeks in the city of Alexandria; for after Gaius had died [in 41 CE], the nation of the Jews, whose condition had been significantly…
Primary Source
Tensions in Parthian Babylonia and the Rise and Fall of Asineus and Anileus
Jewish Antiquities 18.310–379
A terrible, most severe disaster now took place among the Jews in Mesopotamia, especially those…
Primary Source
Queen Helena of Adiabene
Jewish Antiquities 20.17–53, 94–96
Around this time [during the reign of Herod], Helena, queen of Adiabene, and her son Izates…
Primary Source
Divergent Conceptions of Fate
The Jewish War 2.119, 162–166
Jewish doctrine in fact takes three forms. The adherents of these sects are called Pharisees, Sadducees, and, thirdly, Essenes. [ . . . ] Of the two schools mentioned first, the Pharisees constitute…
Primary Source
Pharisees on Fate and the Afterlife
Jewish Antiquities 18.12–15
Now, as for the Pharisees, they live simply and forgo luxurious foods, and they follow conduct directed by doctrine and do what their doctrine prescribes as good for them, and they believe they should…
Primary Source
Herod Is Smitten with Mariamme
Jewish Antiquities 15.320–322
There was a citizen of Jerusalem, Simeon, the son of a certain Alexandrian, Boethus, one of the well-known priests, and he had a daughter who was considered the most beautiful woman at that time. So…
Primary Source
Lifestyle and Beliefs
The Jewish War 2.119–161
The Essenes, who are native Jews, are particularly known for their high-minded discipline, and they are a closer-knit community than the others. They…
Primary Source
Testimonium Flavianum of Josephus
Jewish Antiquities 18.63–64
Now Jesus, a wise man, was living around this time—if indeed one should properly call him a man. For he was a performer of incredible works, a teacher of those men who receive the truth with pleasure…
Primary Source
Josephus on Herod's Assassination of John
Jewish Antiquities 18.116–119
To some of the Jews, it appeared as if the army of Herod had been destroyed by God, quite justifiably as retribution for what Herod did to John, the one called the baptist. For Herod had murdered him…
Primary Source
Hyrcanus II as Ethnarch
Jewish Antiquities 14.192–197, 208–210
“I, Julius Caesar, imperator the second time and high priest, have made this decree, with the approbation of the Senate. Whereas Hyrcanus the son of Alexander, the Jew, has demonstrated his fidelity…
Primary Source
Augustus Appoints Archelaus Ethnarch
Jewish Antiquities 17.317
After Caesar had heard these pleadings, he dismissed the assembly. But a few days later, he appointed Archelaus, not as king but as ethnarch of half the territory that had been subject to Herod…
Primary Source
Pompey Rewards Hyrcanus II with the High Priesthood
The Jewish War 1.153
Pompey did not touch the money or any other of the holy treasures, but just one day after its capture he instructed the sacristans to cleanse the temple and resume the usual rites. He also reinstated…
Primary Source
The Zealots Install a New High Priest
The Jewish War 4.147–149
In the end the people were reduced to such a state of abject fear, and the terrorists proceeded to such manic extremes, that they were actually able to take into their own hands the election of high…
Primary Source
Moses Establishes the Gerousia
Jewish Antiquities 4.216–218
For it is not fit that causes should be openly determined out of regard to gain or to the status of the suitors, but rather, the judges should esteem what is right before all other things. For…
Primary Source
Letter from Antiochus III to Ptolemy Mentioning the Gerousia
Jewish Antiquities 12.138
Since the Jews, upon our first entrance into their country, demonstrated their friendship toward us, and when we came to their city [Jerusalem], received us in a splendid manner, and came to meet us…
Primary Source
Letter from Jonathan on Behalf of the Gerousia to the Lacedaemonians (Spartans)
Jewish Antiquities 13.165–169
The [Roman] Gerousia then confirmed what had been formerly decreed concerning their friendship with the Jews and gave them letters to convey to all the kings of Asia and Europe, and to the governors…
Primary Source
Herod’s Conflict with the Sanhedrin and His Revenge
Jewish Antiquities 14.168–169; 15.173
When Hyrcanus heard this, he complied with them. The mothers of those who had been slain by Herod further raised his indignation, for those women continued appealing to the king and the people every…
Primary Source
Rights Granted to the Jews of Alexandria
Against Apion 2.37, 42–43
If he [Apion] had read the letters of King Alexander and those of Ptolemy, son of Lagos, and had he been conversant with the records of those kings of Egypt who succeeded him and with the monument…
Primary Source
Jews' Privileges Lead to Tensions in Alexandria
The Jewish War 2.487–488
In Alexandria there had always been antagonism between the natives and the Jewish colony ever since Alexander, grateful for the Jews’ enthusiastic support against the Egyptians, had rewarded their…
Primary Source
The Jewish Ethnarchy of Alexandria
Jewish Antiquities 14.117–118
Accordingly, territory has been designated in Egypt specifically for the Jews, and a large portion of the city of Alexandria has been marked off for this nation. An ethnarch of their own has been…
Primary Source
Ethnic Tensions after the Roman Conquest of Alexandria
Against Apion 2.60–61
Finally, when Alexandria had been captured by Caesar, she was reduced to such straits that she judged herself without hope for survival unless she could kill the Judeans with her own hands, having…
Primary Source
Jonathan Confirms Friendship with Rome
Jewish Antiquities 8.163–165
Jonathan, having therefore achieved a glorious victory and killed two thousand of the enemy, returned to Jerusalem. So when he saw that all his affairs were succeeding, in his view, through the…
Primary Source
Roman Jews Support the Judean Community
The Jewish War 2.80–83
In Rome Archelaus had to face another challenge, this time brought by a number of Jews who had set out before the revolt, and with Varus’ blessing, to make a formal case for an autonomous nation-state…
Primary Source
Tiberius Expels Jews from Rome
Jewish Antiquities 18.81–84
There was a Jewish man who had fled from his homeland due to an accusation of transgressing certain laws, as well as fearing punishment for the same, and he was in all respects a wicked man. He, then…
Primary Source
Jews of Antioch Granted Citizenship
Against Apion 2.39
And why is it necessary to speak of the other [peoples], for our own [people] who inhabit Antioch are called Antiochenes, as Seleucus, its founder, granted them citizenship. Similarly, in Ephesus and…
Primary Source
Jews Accused of Conspiring Against Antioch
The Jewish War 7.43–62, 107–111
The Jewish diaspora is strongly represented in native populations throughout the world, but the largest intermingling is in Syria, given the immediate proximity of the two countries. There was a…
Primary Source
Roman Emperors Preserve the Rights of Antioch’s Jews
Jewish Antiquities 12.119–124
The Jews also obtained honor from the kings of Asia when they campaigned with them in war. For Seleucus Nicator made them citizens in the cities he built in Asia, and in lower Syria, and in the mother…
Primary Source
The Friendship of Antiochus the Great to the Jews
Jewish Antiquities 12.147–153
Now he [Antiochus III, r. 222–187 BCE] wrote bearing witness to us, with respect to both our piety and loyalty, right at the time when he was at the upper satrapies, when he had learned of seditions…
Primary Source
Jews’ Rights and Allowances
Jewish Antiquities 14–16 (selections)
Hyrcanus also sent one of these ambassadors to Dolabella, who was then the governor of Asia, requesting that he exempt the Jews from military service and…
Primary Source
Jewish Community of Cyrene
Jewish Antiquities 14.114–118
And this same Strabo bears witness in another passage that at the time when Sulla crossed over into Greece in order to wage war against Mithridates, he sent Lucullus to put an end to a sedition that…
Primary Source
The Decree of Caesar Augustus to the Jews of Cyrene
Jewish Antiquities 16.162–164
Caesar Augustus, high priest and tribune of the people, ordains as follows: Since the nation of the Jews has been found agreeable to the Roman people, not only at this time but also in the past, and…
Primary Source
The Laws of Moses
Jewish Antiquities 20.113–117
Now before their first state of mourning had ended, another misfortune struck them as well; for some of those who had raised the previous rebellion, when they were traveling on the public road, about…
Primary Source
Josephus Recounts the History of the Septuagint
Jewish Antiquities 12 (selections)
When Alexander had reigned twelve years, and after him Ptolemy Soter had reigned forty years, Philadelphus took the kingdom of Egypt…
Primary Source
Twenty-Two Books
Against Apion 1.37–43
And this is naturally done, or rather by necessity, given that not everyone is permitted to become a writer of his own accord; nor is there any disagreement as to what has been written. But only the…
Primary Source
Scribes Appointed by David
Jewish Antiquities 7.363–364
David, desiring to appoint his son king over all the people, called together their rulers in Jerusalem, along with the priests and Levites. Having first counted the Levites, he found them to be thirty…
Primary Source
Scribes as Tax-Exempt Temple Administrators
Jewish Antiquities 12.141–144
I would also have the work about the Temple finished, and the porticoes, and if there be anything else that ought to be built. And as for the materials of wood, let them be brought down from Judaea…
Primary Source
Herod’s Renovation of the Temple
Jewish Antiquities 15.391–425
Josephus’ Jewish Antiquities includes a detailed account of Herod’s renovation of the Temple in the late first century BCE. See also “Renovation of the Temple” and the jerusalem temple.
Primary Source
Construction and Renovation of the Temple
The Jewish War 5.184–237 (selections)
The temple, as I have said, was situated on a commanding hill. At first the level…
Primary Source
The Temple Courts
Against Apion 2.103–107
[The Temple] had four surrounding porticos, and every one of these maintained its own protection in accordance with the law. It used to be permitted for anyone to enter the outer court, even…
Primary Source
Josephus on the Symbolism of the Tabernacle
Jewish Antiquities 3.179–187
Now some might wonder at the hatred people have for us, which they profess to show on account of our despising the deity whom they themselves profess to honor. For if anyone observes the construction…
Primary Source
Josephus on the Symbolism of the Temple
The Jewish War 5.212–214, 217–218
In front of these doors hung a curtain of equal length, a Babylonian tapestry worked in blue, linen-white, scarlet, and purple. This was a wonderful piece of artistry, but the combination of colours…
Primary Source
The Samaritan Temple at Mount Gerizim
Jewish Antiquities 13.74–79
Now it happened that the Jews in Alexandria and the Samaritans who worshiped at the temple on Mount Gerizim, which was built in the days of Alexander, were in conflict. They were disputing about their…
Primary Source
Onias Receives Permission to Build a Temple
Jewish Antiquities 13.62–73
But then the son of Onias the high priest, who bore the same name as his father, having fled to King Ptolemy—the one who was called Philometor—was residing in Alexandria, as I mentioned earlier. When…
Primary Source
The Construction of Onias’ Temple
The Jewish War 7.426–432
Ptolemy was persuaded by this proposal, and granted Onias a site twenty miles from Memphis in the borough of Heliopolis. Here Onias built a fort, and then constructed his temple out of huge stones…
Primary Source
The Proper Attitude for Sacrifice
Against Apion 2.195–197
We offer sacrifices not for the sake of our own self-serving drunkenness—for such excesses are not in accordance with the will of God—but in the spirit of sobriety. And at the time of these sacrifices…
Primary Source
Josephus on the Jews’ Permission to Collect the Temple Tax
Jewish Antiquities 16.166–171; 18.312–313
“Caesar to Norbanus Flaccus, greetings. As for those Jews, however many there may be, who have been accustomed, according to their…
Primary Source
The Temple Tax Redirected as a New Punitive Roman Tax on the Jews
The Jewish War 7.218
He also imposed a tax on all Jews, wherever they lived, requiring them to pay two drachmas a head each year into the Capitol, the same contribution they had previously made to the temple at Jerusalem…
Primary Source
Pompey’s Conquest and Appointment of Hyrcanus II
Jewish Antiquities 14.69–74
But when the siege engine was brought forward, the greatest of the towers was shaken by it and brought down, and it broke through part of the fortifications, so that the enemy began pouring in. First…
Primary Source
Conflict within the Priesthood
Jewish Antiquities 20.179–181
Around this time, King Agrippa granted the high priesthood to Ismael, the son of Fabi. And then hostility and internal division were ignited between the chief priests, on one side, and the priests and…
Primary Source
Priests Attempt to Prevent Revolt
The Jewish War 2.316–318, 336
Alarmed at this demonstration, the political leaders and the chief priests tore their clothes and made grovelling appeals throughout the crowd, imploring them to desist, and not to add to what they…
Primary Source
Priestly Politics and the Cause of War
The Jewish War 2.409–417
At the same time things were happening in the temple. Eleazar, the son of the high priest Ananias, a young radical who was Captain of the Temple at the time, persuaded the ministers in charge of…
Primary Source
Leading Priests Desert Jerusalem
The Jewish War 6.113–115
Many of the upper class, though, were shaken by his [Josephus’] speech. Some of them were too frightened of the revolutionary police to make a move, despite recognizing that they themselves were…
Primary Source
Portents of War and Destruction
The Jewish War 6.290–299
And then, before the revolt and the upheaval leading to war, when the people were gathering for the feast of Unleavened Bread on the eighth of the month Xanthicus [in spring, 66 CE], so brilliant a…
Primary Source
The Priestly Vestments
The Jewish War 5.228–236
Those of priestly descent who could not officiate because of some physical defect were still allowed within the parapet along with their unblemished colleagues, and received the benefits to which they…
Primary Source
The Nobility of Priestly Lineage
Life of Josephus 1–2, 9
Now my lineage is not an obscure one, having descended from the priests since the beginning, and just as nobility of birth has a different foundation for each people, among us, membership in the…
Primary Source
The Priestly Rotations and Duties
Against Apion 2.108, 193–194
For even if there were four tribes of priests and each of these tribes had more than five thousand men, they would observe their offices, nevertheless, at specifically assigned times for a…
Primary Source
Violence at the Temple on Sukkot
Jewish Antiquities 13.372–373
As for Alexander, his own people were in sedition against him. For during the celebration of a festival, when he stood at the altar and was about to offer sacrifice, the people rose up against him and…
Primary Source
Violence at the Temple on Passover
The Jewish War 2.224–227
The usual crowd had converged on Jerusalem for the feast of unleavened bread, and the Roman cohort had taken up position on the roof of the temple colonnade—there is always an armed guard on duty at…
Primary Source
The Synagogue as Repository of Books and Funds
Jewish Antiquities 16.164
But if anyone is discovered stealing their sacred books, or their sacred money, whether it be from the synagogue or banquet hall, he shall be deemed a sacrilegious person, and his property shall be…
Primary Source
Water Facilities at the Synagogue
Jewish Antiquities 14.258
“[ . . . ] We have further decreed that those who are willing among the Jews, both men and women, may observe their sabbaths and perform their sacred rites in keeping with Jewish law; and they may…
Primary Source
Jewish Places of Assembly
Jewish Antiquities 14.235, 259–261
“Lucius Antonius, the son of Marcus, proquaestor, and propraetor, to the magistrates, Senate, and people of Sardis, greetings. Our Jewish citizens have come to me and demonstrated that they have had…
Primary Source
Political Assembly at the Synagogue
Life of Josephus 277, 280
On the following day, therefore, everyone assembled within the prayerhouse, a huge edifice capable of receiving a large crowd, and when John entered, although not daring to speak openly about revolt…
Primary Source
Josephus on the Weekly Reading of Scripture
Against Apion 2.175
He [Moses] left no excuse for ignorance but assigned the Torah as both the finest and most necessary instruction, in order that it be heard not once, nor twice, nor frequently; but he enjoined that…
Primary Source
A Synagogue Is Polluted
The Jewish War 2.289
The next day was a Sabbath, and the Jews assembling at the synagogue found one of the local opposition sacrificing birds on an upturned pot beside the entrance. The Jews were enraged at what they saw…
Primary Source
The Importance of Practical Education
Against Apion 2.171–174
All practices, employments, and studies, for us, refer back to piety toward God; for [Moses] did not leave any of these phenomena unexamined or indeterminate. All education and the training of habits…
Primary Source
Josephus’ Education
Life of Josephus 8–10
I myself, having been brought up with my brother, whose name was Matthias—he had been born my legitimate brother from both parents—was making great advancements in the progress of my education…
Primary Source
Josephus’ Greek and Jewish Learning
Jewish Antiquities 20.262–263
I indeed may say, encouraged by the consummation of the work I set out to accomplish, that no other person—were he a Jew or foreigner, however so inclined—could so accurately deliver these accounts to…
Primary Source
The Balsam Industry in the Jordan Valley
Jewish Antiquities 15.96
After Cleopatra obtained these gifts [of territory in Judaea and Arabia from Antony] and escorted Antony, who was campaigning against Armenia, as far as the Euphrates, she turned back and came to…
Primary Source
Fair Weights and Measures
Against Apion 2.216
Moreover, if anyone commits fraud in terms of standard measures or weights, or conducts a sale that is unjust or has taken place with deceit, or if he pilfers something belonging to another, or if he…
Primary Source
Three Annual Pilgrimages
Jewish Antiquities 4.203
Let those from the far ends of the land that the Hebrews will come to possess assemble together three times each year in the city where the Temple will be, to give thanks to God for His bounty and…
Primary Source
Passover Pilgrims
Jewish Antiquities 11.109–110
As the Festival of Unleavened Bread was at hand in the first month, which the Macedonians call Xanthicus and we call Nisan, all the people flowed together out of the villages to the city and…
Primary Source
Passover Observance
Jewish Antiquities 17.213
Now, the appointed time had drawn near for the festival during which the Jews have as their ancestral law to serve unleavened bread, whose feast is called Passover and is a memorial of their…
Primary Source
Pilgrim Numbers on Passover
The Jewish War 2.280
As long as Cestius Gallus was busy in Syria with the administration of his province, no one dared to approach him with a formal complaint against Florus. But when he visited Jerusalem at the start of…
Primary Source
Pilgrims Swell Jerusalem’s Population
The Jewish War 6.420–427
The total number of prisoners taken in the whole course of the war amounted to 97,000: and the number of those who died in the siege from beginning to end was 1,100,000. The majority of these were of…
Primary Source
Political Unrest on Shavuot
The Jewish War 2.41-42
It was the subsequent arrival of Sabinus which gave the Jews a cause for revolution. [ . . . ] So when it was time for Pentecost (which is the name Jews give to the festival occurring seven weeks…
Primary Source
Hyrcanus’ Request to Refrain from Battle on Shavuot
Jewish Antiquities 13.251–252
When Antiochus had set up a trophy at the Lycus river, after defeating Indates, the general of the Parthians, he remained there for two days, at the request of Hyrcanus the Jew on account of an…
Primary Source
Prescriptions and Pilgrimage to Jerusalem
Jewish Antiquities 3.244–245
Now on the fifteenth day of the same month, when the season changes to winter, he [Moses] enjoins each household to pitch tents, in apprehension of the cold and for protection at that time of year…
Primary Source
Mass Exodus for the Festival
The Jewish War 2.515, 517
From Antipatris Cestius advanced to Lydda, and found the city empty, as the whole population had gone up to Jerusalem for the feast of Tabernacles. [ . . . ] Seeing the war now coming close to the…
Primary Source
A Summary of Jewish Divorce Law
Jewish Antiquities 4.253
He who desires to be divorced from his wife who lives with him, due to any possible cause—and many such causes occur among men—let him confirm in writing that he will never live together with her, for…
Primary Source
Salome Divorces Her Husband
Jewish Antiquities 15.259–260
Sometime afterward, when Salome happened to be quarreling with Costobarus, she sent him a bill of divorce and dissolved her marriage with him, though this was not in keeping with the Jewish laws. For…
Primary Source
Herodias Divorces Her Husband
Jewish Antiquities 18.109–110, 136–137
Around this time, Aretas, king of Petra, and Herod [the Tetrarch] had a quarrel regarding the following: Herod the Tetrarch had married…
Primary Source
Funeral Ceremony
Against Apion 2.205
Our divine law has also provided for the decent burial of the dead, without extravagant burial rites or the building of illustrious monuments. Rather, it enjoined that the funeral arrangements be…
Primary Source
Pharisees’ Belief in Immortality
Jewish Antiquities 18.14
They also believe that souls have an immortal power within them, and that under the earth there will be rewards or punishments, according to how they have pursued either virtue or vice in this life…
Primary Source
The Essenes on Immortality of the Soul
The Jewish War 2.151–158
They are indifferent to danger, overcome pain by the power of their will, and think that a death which comes with honour is better than eternal life. [ . . . ] The reason for this is their firm belief…
Primary Source
Moses and Joseph as Scribes
Against Apion 1.288–291
Next after Manetho, I wish to inquire into Cheremon, for this man also, while claiming to write the Egyptian history, and having given the same name for the king as Manetho, that being Amenophis, as…
Primary Source
Josephus on Abraham
Jewish Antiquities 1.154–156
Now Abram, lacking a legitimate son of his own, adopted Lot, his brother Haran’s son, and his wife Sarai’s brother; and he left Chaldea when he was seventy-five years old, as God commanded him to go…
Primary Source
Hagar as Mother of an Arab Nation
Jewish Antiquities 1.213–221
Within a short time, Abraham had a son by Sarah, as God had foretold to him, whom he named Isaac, meaning “laughter.” They gave him this name because Sarah had laughed when God told her that she would…
Primary Source
Josephus on Pharaoh’s Daughter
Jewish Antiquities 2.224
Thermouthis was the king’s daughter. When she was playing beside the banks of the river and spotted a cradle being swept along by the current, she sent out divers and ordered them to carry the basket…
Primary Source
Tharbis, Moses’ First Wife
Jewish Antiquities 2.252–253
Tharbis was the daughter of the Ethiopian king. When she observed Moses bringing his army near the ramparts and waging battle valiantly, she admired the resourcefulness of his undertakings. Suspecting…
Primary Source
Josephus on Moses’ Prayer at the Sea
Jewish Antiquities 2.334–339
After Moses had spoken thus, he started leading them to the sea while the Egyptians looked on, for they were within sight. Now, having become so worn out by the distress of the pursuit, they thought…
Primary Source
Josephus on Greek Mythology
Against Apion 2.236–254
Then the Lysimachuses, Molons, and other such disreputable sophists, those deceivers of young men, revile us as the most inferior of men. I, on the other hand, would not have wished to inquire into…
Primary Source
Josephus on Solomon’s Transgression
Jewish Antiquities 8.191–193
Driven mad over women and mired in the heat of sexual passion, he [Solomon] was not satisfied with the native women alone, also marrying many women among the foreign peoples: the Sidonians, Tyrians…
Primary Source
God-Worshipers Supporting the Temple
Jewish Antiquities 14.110
And let no one wonder that there was so much wealth in our Temple, since all the Jews throughout the habitable earth, and those who worshiped God, even those from Asia and Europe, had been sending…
Primary Source
Josephus on Converts
Against Apion 2.209–210
It is also worthwhile to observe how our Lawgiver had regard for equity in relation to foreigners; for he will be shown to have made the best possible provision that we neither corrupt our own…
Primary Source
Rebuilding the Temple
Jewish Antiquities 11.84–88
When they heard the blast of the trumpets, the Samaritans, who happened to be enemies of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, came running together, wanting to learn the cause of the uproar. Perceiving…
Related Guide
Judea under Ptolemaic and Seleucid Rule
3rd–1st Centuries BCE
Conflicts between the Ptolemaic and Seleucid dynasties shaped ancient Judea and eventually led to the Hasmonean revolt.
Related Guide
The Rise and Decline of the Hasmonean Dynasty
2nd–1st Centuries BCE
After the Hasmonean Revolt, Jonathan and Simon establish a short-lived independent Judean kingdom, eventually brought down by a succession crisis and Roman intervention.
Related Guide
The First Jewish Revolt
66–73
Trace the causes and battles of the First Jewish Revolt, from the siege of Jerusalem to the destruction of the Temple and the fall of Masada.
Related Guide
Related Guide
Parthian and Sasanian Iran in History and Memory
1st–6th Centuries
Related Guide
The Beliefs of Pharisees and Sadducees
1st Century BCE–1st Century CE
Related Guide
Early Traditions about Jesus in Non-Christian Sources
1st–2nd Centuries
Related Guide
Communal Organization and Leadership: The Ethnarch
1st–6th Centuries
Related Guide
Communal Organization and Leadership: The Gerousia
1st–2nd Centuries
Related Guide
Scribes in Early Jewish Literature
2nd Century BCE–3rd Century CE
Related Guide
Economics, Labor, and Charity in Ancient Judaism
4th Century BCE–6th Century CE
Related Guide
Agriculture in the Economy of Ancient Judea
2nd Century BCE–7th Century CE
Related Guide
Death and the Next World in Ancient Judaism
4th Century BCE–6th Century CE
Related Guide
Resurrection in Early Jewish Texts
2nd Century BCE–5th Century CE
Related Guide
Real and Imagined "Others" in Ancient Jewish Literature
4th Century BCE–6th Century CE
Related Guide
Queen Berenice
1st–4th Centuries
Related Guide
Related Guide
Early Jewish Diaspora Communities: Alexandria
2nd Century BCE–1st Century CE
Related Guide
The Temple Tax: A Half-Shekel to Support the Second Temple
1st–3rd Centuries
Related Guide
Reading of Scripture and Prayer in the Early Synagogue
1st–6th Centuries
Related Guide
The Early Synagogue: Where Scripture Is Read
1st–6th Centuries