Flavius Josephus, a Jewish historian, born in Jerusalem about A. D. 37, died about 100. His father belonged to the highest sacerdotal family, and his mother was descended from the Asmonean princes. He received a superior education, and acquired an extensive acquaintance with Greek literature. He studied the doctrines of the three Jewish sects, and passed three years in the desert with the ascetic Banus, of the sect of the Essenes, after which he remained by creed as by birth a Pharisee. At the age of 26 he was sent to Rome to plead the cause of some Jewish priests arrested by the procurator Felix, and, escaping from a shipwreck on his way, was introduced to Pop-psea, the wife of Nero, and not only effected the liberation of his friends, but received many presents from the empress. Returning to Jerusalem, he attempted to dissuade the Jews from the revolt on which they were bent, but failing in his efforts he joined the war party. He was appointed one of the generals and deputed to defend the province of Galilee, and he made vigorous and for a time successful preparations against the Romans, though vehemently opposed by a strong party in the council at Jerusalem led by John of Giscala. On the approach of Vespasian in 67 he threw himself into Jotapata, the strongest of the Galilean cities, where he maintained a desperate resistance for 47 days.

Escaping from the massacre which succeeded its fall, he took refuge in a cave, but was betrayed to the Romans. He thereupon assumed the character of a prophet, and, professing to derive his knowledge from the sacred books of the Jews, announced to Vespasian that-the Roman empire should one day be his and his son's. Confidence in him was increased by the discovery from prisoners that he had foretold the exact number of days that the siege of Jotapata should last. He was not, however, released from bonds till Vespasian became emperor, and Titus succeeded to the control of the Jewish war. He was present at the siege of Jerusalem, suspected as a traitor by both Jews and Romans, and accompanied Titus on his return to Rome, where he passed the remainder of his life in literary pursuits. He was presented with the freedom of the city, an annual pension, and a house which had formerly been an imperial residence. He was three times married, and was divorced from his first two wives. Pride in the ancient glories of his nation, awe of the greatness and power of Rome, personal vanity, and a tendency to unbounded flattery of the Flavian family, appear with equal prominence in his writings.

In a passage, the genuineness of which is much disputed, allusion is made to Christ as something more than man, to his miracles, Messiahship, death, and resurrection in accordance with the prophecies; but there is no evidence that he was a Christian. His principal works are a "History of the Jewish War,"written in Hebrew, translated by himself into Greek, and published about 75; and a treatise on "Jewish Antiquities," written in Greek, completed about 93. The former extends from 170 B. C. to the war which terminated in the destruction of Jerusalem, of which it gives a detailed narrative; and the latter includes the period from the creation to A. D. 66, and manifests a desire to conciliate heathen readers. He also wrote his own biography, and a treatise against Apion on the antiquity of the Jewish nation. An account of the martyrdom of Eleazar, and of seven youths and their mother, entitled has been ascribed to him, but is of doubtful genuineness. The best editions of his works are by Hudson (Oxford, 1720), Havercamp (Amsterdam, 1726), and Dindorf, in Didot's Bibliotheca Graeca (Paris, 1845). The principal English translations are by Lodge (1602), L'Estrange (1702), Whiston (1737), and Dr. Robert Traill, who died, leaving finished only "The Jewish War," which was edited by Isaac Taylor (2 vols., London, 1847). An imitation of Jose-phus's histories, in excellent Hebrew, but containing many legendary and fabulous narratives, was composed in the middle ages, and has often been published under the title "Book of Josipon."