Flavius Josephius
Imaginary portrait by Thomas Addis Emmet , 1880 Brief Background: Flavius Josephus ( c. AD 37 – c. 100 ), born Yosef ben Mattityahu, was a Roman–Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing The Jewish War , he was born in Jerusalem —then part of the Roman province of Judea —to a father of priestly descent and a mother who claimed Hasmonean royal ancestry. He initially fought against the Roman Empire during the First Jewish–Roman War as general of the Jewish forces in Galilee , until surrendering in AD 67 to the Roman army led by military commander Vespasian after the six-week siege of Yodfat . Josephus claimed the Jewish messianic prophecies that initiated the First Jewish–Roman War made reference to Vespasian becoming Roman emperor . In response, Vespasian decided to keep him as a slave and presumably interpreter . After Vespasian became emperor in AD 69, he granted Josephus his freedom, at which time Josephus assumed the Emperor's ...
