Customer Reviews

Josephus: The Jewish War, Books I-II (Loeb Classical Library No. 203) (Bks.I-II v. 2)

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The "real" Josephus is a very hot topic among Christian theologians looking for the actuality behind the gospels and students of Judaica trying to go beyond Josephus' usual superficial "traitor" image. If you can't read the original Greek, the next best thing is to read the Loeb (Harvard U. Press) Classics edition with facing English and Greek text. However, even that format might be heavy going for the more casual, but curious, reader. The Penguin edition is far from a watered down popularized version of the Loeb. It is a condensed rendering without sacrificing essential detail. The liberties taken by Williamson largely consist of rearranging J's clumsy seven parts into 23 easily digested chapters. The most valuable part of this edition, however, is not Willliamson's lucid translation but E. Mary Smallwood's outstanding notes and appendices. Her historical asides provide a crash course in the then-current scholarship on the Josephus Problem.

The narrator is a self-serving,wiley ex-Priest of the Jerusalem Temple who was a "general" on the crucial Galilee front, until he was taken captive under mysterious circumstances. He cleverly prophesized" that his captor, Vespasian, would be the next emperor. Meanwhile, J served his former enemy as an intelligence analyst and intermediary. Eventually, after the fall of Judaea, he became a protege Emperor Vespasian and his son Titus, soon to be successor. Using his own notes and memory (quite selective and filtered) and the official field reports as well as the war diaries of Vespasian and Titus, Jewish expatriate Josephus wrote what amounts to the official Roman military history of the war against the Jews. Yet he did not totally sell out. He managed to portray his countrymen as mounting a valiant, though nherently futile, effort.

This is no dry dusty "classic" -- it is an exciting, dramatic illustration of how Roman military power deals with an intractable and fanatic province. Apart from Julius Caesar's accounts of his military exploits, there are few such detailed expositions of imperial Rome at war.

If you have any interest in the crisis of Judaism, the birth of Christianity, the Roman War Machine, or simply a cracking good adventure yarn...this book is for you. Josephus' story behind the history would make an excellent topic for a screenplay.

Jim Bloom

A Traitor's Tale

Imagine if the only account of the American Revolution was written by Benedict Arnold and you get a good idea of what Josephus' history is like. The Jewish War is a contemporary account of the Jewish revolt against Roman occupation in 66-73 AD. In terms of ancient history, The Jewish War is unusually detailed since the author was an active participant in events. Josephus was born in 37 AD, seven years after the crucifixion of Christ, and he was educated as a scholar and priest. Shortly after Judaea erupted in rebellion in May 66 AD, Josephus joined the insurgents and was tasked with organizing the military defense of Galilee. Although the initial Roman effort to suppress the rebellion in late 66 AD failed, the Roman Empire quickly responded to the Jewish revolt. A 50,000 man Roman army under the general Vespasian was assembled in Syria and invaded Galilee in Spring 67 AD. Although Josephus put up a stout defense of the province, Vespasian overran one town after another until Josephus' own stronghold of Jotapata fell in July 67 AD. While most of the Jewish defenders were killed in the final assault or committed mass suicide, Josephus decided to remain alive and collaborate with the all-conquering Romans. Initially Josephus was treated as a prisoner but after demonstrating himself as a willing collaborator, he was treated as a guest. For the remainder of the war, Josephus remained close to the Roman command headquarters and was able to gather insights that he would commit to his history of the war. However it is important to remember that Josephus was a traitor (after the war he settled in Italy), and his desire to flatter his former enemies and to rehabilitate his tarnished reputation are important bias factors that shape the account.

The first six chapters (130 pages) deals mostly with the reign of Herod the Great and the internal power struggles in Judaea in the 1st Century BC. Although this third of the book is only intended to provide the background history of Judaea, it does hammer home the reality of constant struggles for dominance by various factions. Jew on Jew violence was endemic. The seventh chapter covers the period 6 - 58 AD when Judaea came under direct Roman rule due to anarchy in the province after Herod's death. Pontius Pilate, the famous Roman governor of 26-36 AD, is only mentioned in three paragraphs. Jesus Christ is not mentioned at all in this Penguin translation, but the Loeb translation does offer a short section on Christ and John the Baptist. Certainly these chapters are disappointing in the relative lack of detail provided on recent events prior to the revolt, as opposed to the highly-detailed accounts of events that occurred 100-200 years prior.

Josephus' account of the outbreak of the war is a bit confusing. Whether they were revolting for political or religious reasons is unclear. The relative impact of Roman heavy-handedness versus nationalist aspirations is ambiguous. Josephus covers the period May 66 to July 67 AD in great detail, primarily because he was an active commander in Galilee in this period. Most of this account is probably factual, except to where it relates to the author's prowess or the incident in which he was captured.

After Josephus capture, the account then focuses primarily on the rival Jewish factions which attempted to seize power in Jerusalem and the Roman siege of that city. Josephus covers the four-month siege of the capital (summer 70 AD) in great, bloody detail. While the author's claims that over one million Jews died in the siege are greatly exaggerated since the population was only 600,000, there is little doubt that the final capture of the city was a scene of great carnage. Josephus spends great effort to paint the Jewish defenders in the blackest light as impious gangsters, bent only on looting their own city and eliminating all rivals. On the other hand, the Romans are painted in a very favorable light. Both these portrayals are colored by Josephus' circumstances as a traitor (during the siege he repeatedly went to the walls and called on the defenders to surrender).

The siege of Masada is covered in only the last fifteen pages, with little discussion of the Roman assault ramp. This overly-succinct section, which covers the dramatic ending of the war, is disappointing. As military history, The Jewish War does provide interesting lessons. The initial Roman punitive expedition to crush the rebellion failed due to poor planning and hasty execution. Vespasian's campaign was methodical and successful, particularly in eliminating all insurgent towns around Jerusalem before beginning a major siege. The Roman Army fought best in open, set-piece battle but was several times defeated in confused street fighting inside Jerusalem and other towns. Untrained but fanatical enemies can inflict losses on even well prepared regular troops, particularly when the fanatics are cornered and their situation is desperate.

Despite omissions that were included in the Loeb translation, the Penguin editors are to be applauded for the excellent footnotes and appendices covering topics such as money, provincial administration and Jewish bandit factions. The map of Judaea is decent, but the map of Jerusalem does not show surrounding areas where the Romans camped. All in all, The Jewish War is valuable in covering a little-known war at a crucial time, but the author's veracity is often suspect.

The Jewish War is a very valuable source in studying the Jewsih history under the Roman domination. The book covers the facts happened from the occupation of the Greek in Jews, to the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. In other words, it is crossing from the Old Testament to the New Testament. However, most of the events it recorded are not covered in the Scripture. Such events as the domination of the Greek and the Macabee reovlt, a period between the two Testaments, are always missed by the Christian since it is not recorded in the Bible. Also, the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem, famous to most of the Christian, but only know little. So, this book supplies a lot of information for the background of the Old and New testaments. Herod, Flenix, King Agrippas, they were the names that are familiar with. Therefore, to better understand the New Testament, this book is a must. In imitating Herotodus's style in writing history, Josephus left a lot of other information when depicting the Jewish-Roman war. This book is thus a good source-book for the solidery system of the Roman. How the Roman soldiers matched, how they fought, how they used their battling machinery etc. , and also the geographic information of Palestine and Israel. I highly recommend this book.

I bought this book to read before a trip to Israel in 1999. It's a very readable English translation. This gives Josephus' account of the war between the Romans and the Jews in the 1st century. Most fascinating (and horrible) are the accounts of the destruction of Gamla and Jerusalem and the final siege of Masada. Scholars are critical of Josephus because he puts too much of himself into the story and because it is probably biased in favor of his Roman benefactors. (Josephus began fighting against the Romans, but then came over to their side when he was captured and convinced of the hopelessness of the rebellion. He tried to convince the Jews not to fight, but to accept Roman rule. He wrote this history for the Romans' benefit after the war.) Nevertheless, there are very few good historical accounts of this place and time. Reading it gives you a taste of what life would have been like in that ancient land during this terrible period. It's well worth the time spent reading it, especially if you plan to visit the places described.

Part history, part memoir, Josephus' account of the events leading up to and during the Jewish revolt against Rome from A. D. 66 to A. D. 73 is still regarded by many historians as the primary account of the war. Admittedly, it is a heavily biased account, a mea culpea written to restore Josephus' tarnished reputation among his fellow Jews and to heap praise on his benefactors, the Roman emperors Vespasian and Titus. I commend Penguin Classics for issuing a very readable translation that was written in 20th Century English. Anyone interested in getting a glimpse into what Rome or ancient Judea was like during the first century before or after the birth of Christ will find this essential reading.

What Penguin has done with this translation is take one of Josephus's two primary texts and make it into a readable source. They have done a commendable job. The work, Bellum Judaicum, is, according to the introduction, more reliable than Josephus's other account, the Antiquitates Judaicae. I lack the scholarship to verify this claim.

The translation is, on the whole, excellent. It has attempted to use modern idioms in order to make the work more readable, and this occassionally is jarring (did Josephus REALLY use the word "helter-skelter" in his text?). Given that Josephus was clearly trying to appeal to the masses with his history, however, this choice can easily be forgiven.

The introduction and footnotes are very helpful. The footnotes are especially good at pointing out the places where Josephus allowed his literary zeal to run amok.

On the whole, this is a readable and enjoyable translation.

For those of you who are interested in what the first Jewish revolt was like, this books if for you. It's an eyewitness account to the events as they happen. Consider it the "official history" of the conflict. However, like all official histories, it shows a definite political slant. Unlike other histories, however, this was written by the conquered. The work is in the tone of an apology for Jewish actions and motivations during the war. Still, there is a lot more information out there as Josephus wrote several books. It is a better idea to go ahead and get the Complete Works of Josephus. The reason being is that there is a lot of information in his other work Antiquities of the Jews that is very important to understanding the conflict. The Complete Works will also have The Jewish War in them.

If ever there was a history book that you couldn't put down , this is it . The plotting and behind the scenes action is blended with clash of metal , the recoil of catapults and the wailing of those caught in the tempest of ancient Middle East politics , religion and power struggles . From such details as the consequences of one of the Roman soldiers decidng to "moon" the crowds gathered at the Temple , to the upheavals throughout the Roman Empire as Nero and his following Emperors fall one after the other in rapid succession . Eventually Rome being stabilised by the general in charge of the Judean war , Vespasian , becoming emperor . A classic of military history but also an exciting read .

I found Josephus to be an excellent source of history because he was both an eyewitness and a participant. Though undoubtedly slanted toward his own personal opinion, I think the events Joseph described really happened. He, at first, was part of the rebellion against Rome, but it seems he had reservations about the wisdom of the rebellion. He did fight, however, but was defeated and captured.

After his capture, he apparently realized the hopelessness of war against Rome and seemed to have been surprised and saddened by the civil wars, murders, and political infighting of the Judeans within Jerusalem. He tried many times to shame them out of their infighting, and he encouraged them to surrender undoubtedly because, due to their disunity, they faced certain defeat. He is sometimes referred to as a traitor because he did not support the rebellion to the end. I don't think this is fair to Josephus. Not every political movement in a country is righteous and justified. I wonder how I would act were I were a German citizen during the Nazi era or an Iraqi during Saddam Hussein's defiance of international law.

I found Josephus to be a very rich source of information for "Revelation and the Fall of Judea." I am very grateful that Josephus took the time to write such a detailed account of what he saw. He writes his history almost like a novel. This easy to understand translation makes for very interesting reading. I highly recommend this book.

This is a classical historical eyewitness account of the Jewish revolt 66-70 CE against Roman rule. It covers the following events: the outbreak of the war, campaign in Galilee, the isolation of Jerusalem, the fall of the city in the hands of Titus, destruction of the temple, the triumphal return of the conquerors to Rome, and the Massada episode. The first version was written in Aramaic but latter translated to an impeccable Greek, the narration covering many details concerning Roman war tactics (Flavius Josephus was himself a general, first for the Jewish rebels and later an advisor to Titus). It fails to our present concept of how history should be written in the sense that Flavius Josephus puts in too much of his personal life, with considerable self-adulation.
There are controversies as to how reliable is Flavius Josephus account (destruction of the Temple, for example), to what extent facts where distorted in order to set Flavius favorably in the eyes of his fellow Jews and in the eyes of his Roman benefactors. Whatever the criticisms to his personal life or the fallacies in his historical account, the fact remains that his writing is a rich source of information of a war brought about by the religious tension between the Jewish populace who had become impoverished through high taxation and the Roman government. Much ironical it may sound, but Jospehus with his shrewdness and a strike of luck was destined to remain alive so that we may enjoy and gain knowledge of a specific time in history.