Flavius Josephus

Flavius Josephus (born 37 C.E.) wrote the only remaining account of the utter destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Temple in the year 70, and the heroic battle at Masada waged three years later. His position as a Jewish leader and then as the Roman court historian during the reign of Vespasian ensured that his historical works would be read and preserved by Jews and Romans alike. His narrative is not a mere chronicle; it is, in the best historiographical tradition, an attempt to make events intelligible. He does what no other historian, Greek or Latin, could have done: He examines the past…