Flavius Josephus [Paperback]

Hadas Lebel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 29, 2001

An account of Rome's campaign against Judea--through the eyes of the Jewish priest, general, Roman captive, and historian--narrates the key first-century events in Judeo-Christian culture.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

A century ago, the name Josephus would have evoked recognition from Westerners in all walks of life. His first-century eyewitness accounts of Rome's wars against Judaea provided classical scholars with valuable source material while his singular allusion to Jesus Christ made him popular with Christians. Within the Jewish community, however, there has always been controversy about his motives and actions. Was this Jew, who wrote so dramatically of the tragedy of Masada and the destruction of Jerusalem, a traitor to his people because he surrendered to the Romans and was honored by Vespasian and Titus? French scholar Hadas-Lebel explores Josephus's background and influences in order to answer this question. Her work is less a biography than an interpretation of her subject's behavior, thus defining his place in Jewish literature. Academic libraries may find this book a worthwhile addition. History Book Club alternate.
- Rose Cichy, Osterhout Free Lib. , Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

French writer Hadas-Lebel offers a scholarly buy terse biography of the enigmatic Jewish-Roman general and historian Flavius Josephus (37 A.D. - c. 95? A.D.), who participated in, witnessed, and then recorded the Jewish uprising against Roman rule (67 A.D. - 73 A.D.). Hadas-Lebel presents Josephus as an unusually clever but otherwise typical upper-class Jewish male of the priestly class, thoroughly grounded in Jewish Pharisaical traditions, and acquainted as well with the classical Greco-Latin learning of the regnant Romans. A patriotic Jew who feared and admired Roman strength, which he saw firsthand on a youthful visit to Rome, Josephus was a pragmatist who saw no hope in resisting Roman rule (his realism starkly contrasted with the mystical fatalism of many of the other Jewish leaders). Because of his priestly lineage and evident intellect, he became a natural, albeit reluctant, military leader of the rebellion (the causes of which are not explained in any depth); although he opposed the uprising against Rome, Hadas- Lebel speculates, he would have been executed if he has opposed the fanatical Jewish leaders. After an initial victory, the Jewish leaders were reduced to defending their fortified cities against the Roman armies of Vespasian and his son Titus. Josephus, designated by the rebels as the Governor-General of Galilee, defended Jotapata, often thwarting the more numerous and better armed Romans through a variety of clever stratagems. However, Jotapata finally fell, and after its destruction, Josephus befriended Vespasian and Titus through flattering prophecies about their ultimately becoming Emperors (which came true). The Roman generals spared him, and Josephus became the ally of the Romans and witness to their destruction of Judaea, including Jerusalem in 70 A.D. After the loss of Jerusalem, Josephus accompanied his captors to Rome, where he stayed for the rest of his life, and wrote the Jewish War (75?) and Jewish Antiquities (93?), among other works. Much is missing here: there is little analysis of the causes of the Jewish rebellion or of the civil war among Jewish factions (to which, in part, Hadas-Lebel attributes the fall of Jerusalem). Nonetheless, sticking faithfully to extant sources, Hadas-Lebel succeeds in making the astute, practical Josephus, and his moral compromises, come alive, and leaves the reader to decide whether Josephus was a despicable traitor or an admirable realist. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (January 29, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743217969
• ISBN-13: 978-0743217965
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #559,068 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Five stars if you haven't read Josephus..., July 24, 2006

By 

Michael Lewyn (Forest Hills, NY) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Flavius Josephus (Paperback)

perhaps three or four if you already have. This book is essentially a summary of Josephus's books (especially his Jewish War). If you have not read those works, this is an excellent guide to Josephus. If you have read Josephus, this book will add a little bit to your understanding, but obviously not as much. What Lebel does best is add emotion to Josephus's relatively dry account: that is, she tries to explain the passions that drove both Josephus and the Jewish rebels.

On the one hand, Josephus believed that the Jewish rebellion was suicidal, and that the destruction of the Second Temple may have even been Divine punishment for the rebels' murderous tactics. Lebel speculates that the rebels were driven not just by nationalism but by the hope of divine intervention. Even seemingly insane behavior (e.g. the rebels' destruction of food that Jerusalemites needed to survive the Roman siege) makes sense if the rebels believed that their bravery would be rewarded with a miracle. Indeed, some language in Josephus' own work supports this view: for example, Josephus quotes one rebel as stating: "Even had they wings, the Romans would never surmount the walls of Jerusalem."

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Pity this book is out of print..., January 15, 2001

By 

Thomas J. Brucia "Tom B" (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Flavius Josephus: Eyewitness to Rome's First-Century Conquest of Judaea (Hardcover)

As an in depth introduction to the times and life of Flavius Josephus, this book is very good. What prevents me from giving it a 4-star rating is not the text, but the (bluntly) inadequate appendices. The there are no family trees of the kings and high priests of the period (167 BCE to 95 CE). The maps are very incomplete (no indication of the locations of Sepphoris or Jotapata, for example!). There is no time line of Flavius Josephus's life. The "Dramatis Personae" does not list the dates of birth and death of each person. Many characters who briefly appear are not even listed. One minor quibble with the book is the Epilogues; though the author is French, I wish she had leaned a bit less on French evaluations over the centuries of Josephus's significance. The basic book, lest I be misunderstood, is excellent. I appreciated her liberal use of external sources, including but not limited to, the Babylonian and Palestinian Talmud, the Tosefta, Suetonius, Philo of Alexandria, Tacitus, Pliny, the Midrash Sifre, among many others. The horror of warfare during the revolt, and the heart-breaking destruction of the Second Temple and the destruction of Jerusalem -- they are here. Josephus's predicament, as he is caught between the super-power of his time and the insanity of his own people blindly bent on bringing destruction down on their people and land, is tragedy. The futile attempts of one man to stop history -- doomed to failure -- are caught in these pages. This book is worth reading (but bring a pen and paper to compensate for the sorry lack of summary information normally provided in a good set of appendices!)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Starting Place for researching the Jewish Revolt, August 31, 2003

By 

James J. Bloom (Silver Spring, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Flavius Josephus: Eyewitness to Rome's First-Century Conquest of Judaea (Hardcover)

I concur with the previous reviewer's disappointment over the lack of summarizing appendices. I found Professor Hadas-Lebel's
account quite adequate, even stimulating as an introductory text on the twin research controversies over Josephus and the revolt to which Josephus is virtually the sole eyewitness/contemporary account (unless one counts the tantalizing fragments of Tacitus). I wish that the author had included a bibliography or a discussion of the conflicting modern academic or religious studies. Nonetheless, this book is both a good summary of the debate and a solid introcution to Josephus, the events he desribes and his predicament in the context of a hostile world. Particularly valuable is Hadas-Lebel's review of Josephus' legacy in art, music, literature and judicial polemics -- mock courts-martial and the like. I am pleased to see this book available again in paperback. I ordered expecting that some of the above defects would have been remedied. I hope that English-speakers might soon find translations of some of the author's other more recent work on the Jewish Revolt.