A Synopsis of the Works of Josephus from the Beginning If the Hasmonean Period to the Destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans

Josephus was born in Jerusalem in 37 AD. He was of priestly and royal Hasmonean lineage and was educated in the major Jewish schools in Jerusalem. At the beginning of the Jewish revolt against Rome, he was given the responsibility of being governor and commander of the army in Galilee. When captured by the Romans, he was spared being sent to Rome for execution by Emperor Nero when he presented himself to the Roman general and prophesied that he (Vespasian) and his son Titus would eventually be named Emperor. Intrigued and flattered by what Josephus had said (which came to pass), Vespasian retained Josephus as his prisoner and granted him certain favors. When Vespasian was acclaimed Emperor by his troops, he released Josephus from captivity. Josephus accompanied Titus and the Roman army to Judea where he witnessed the siege and destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. Josephus then accompanied Titus to Rome where he was granted Roman citizenship, took the name Flavius Josephus, and was commissioned to write historical treatises. He apparently spent the rest of his life in Rome as a historian and author. His four surviving works are Wars of the Jews, Antiquities of the Jews, The Life of Flavius Josephus, and Flavius Josephus Against Apion.

Antiquities gives a history of the Jewish people from Genesis in the Hebrew scriptures to the time just prior to the Jewish revolt against the Romans. Wars begins with the uprising of the Jews in 163 BC led by the Maccabees (Hasmoneans) against the forces of Antiochus IV, and concludes with the destruction of Jerusalem (70 AD) and nearby fortresses by the Romans.

The writings of Josephus cannot be overestimated. They give a history of the Jewish people from antiquities to about 73 AD, and they also give a valuable background for events described in the New Testament. They are also the only surviving account of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by the Romans, and the battle at Masada three years later