JOSEPHUS

Autobiography

Flavius Josephus was born in Jerusalem in 37 A.D.  His father, Matthias, was a priest, and his mother belonged to the Asmonean princely family.  So distinguished was he as a student that, at the age of twenty-six, he was chosen delegate to Nero.  When the critical juncture arose for his nation, through the rebellion excited by the cruelties of Gessius Florus, the Roman procurator, Josephus was appointed governor of Galilee The insurrection proved fatal, for Vespasian by his invasion rendered resistance hopeless.  Subsequently he lived in Rome, and the date of his death is unknown.  The works of this writer are monumental.  He wrote his vivid “Wars of the Jews” in both Hebrew and Greek.  His “Antiquities of the Jews” traces the whole history of the race down to the outbreak of the great war.  Scaliger, one of the acutest of mediaeval critics, declares that in his writings on the affairs of the Jews, and even on those of foreign nations, Josephus deserves more credit than all the Greek and Roman writers put together.  His fidelity and veracity are as universally admitted as his direct and lucid style is generally admired.  His account of his own life and career is a masterpiece in this category of literature, for it is written with blended modesty and naivete.  In many passages of this “Autobiography” he does not hesitate to assume great credit for his own courage, probity, and skill, but in each case the justification is manifest, for he constantly refers to the tortuous and treacherous machinations of his virulent enemies.  The “Autobiography” is from beginning to end a thrilling and wonderful romance of real life, for the hairbreadth escapes of this extraordinary man are among the most singular recitals in the whole world of adventure.  The whole story is unique, as was the noble individuality of the man himself.

I.—­Priest of the Blood-Royal

The family from which I, Flavius Josephus, am derived is not an ignoble one, but hath descended all along from the priests.  I am not only sprung from a sacerdotal family in general, but from the first of the twenty-four courses of the Jewish priests, and I am of the chief family of that course also.  With us, to be of the sacerdotal dignity is an indication of the splendour of a family.  But, further, by my mother I am of the royal blood; for the children of Asmonaeus, from whom that family was derived, had both the office of the high-priesthood and the dignity of a king for a long time together.

My father Matthias, to whom I was born in the first year of the reign of Gaius Caesar, was not only eminent in Jerusalem, our greatest city, on account of his nobility, but had a higher commendation on account of his righteousness.  I was brought up with my brother Matthias.  As a child I gained a great reputation through my love for learning, and, when I was about fourteen years of age, was frequently asked by the high-priests and chief men of the city my opinion about the accurate understanding of points of the law.