"Provided with a comfortable house and freed by his pension from financial worries and the need to earn a living, Josephus settled down in Rome to write a full account of the war of 66-70 in which the Jews had attempted, and failed miserably, to shake off the Roman yoke under which they had spent the previous sixty years, and to recover their political independence" (pg. 13.)

"All this I have embraced in seven books. To those who took part in the war or have ascertained the facts I have left no ground for complaint or criticism; it is for those who love the truth, not those who seek entertainment, that I have written. I will now begin my story where I began my summary" (pg. 31.)

"Gabinius next reinstated Hyrcanus in Jerusalem, entrusting him with the custody of the Temple, and set up a political system based on aristocracy...