Customer Reviews

The Life. Against Apion (Loeb Classical Library)

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This is the only available edition of Josephus worth the money.

The translation is somewhat dated, but more reliable than the abridged Penguin paraphrase and much more readable than Whiston's 1737 workhorse.

This volume becomes easily worth $20+ if one knows a little Greek, though. One can really do good scholarly work with Josephus' writings for a mere $280 for all 13 of them.

The Loeb volumes on Josephus are indispensible for understanding the political realities of first-century Judaism(s). Josephus is not the best historian who ever lived, because he is biased, self-aggrandizing and transparently apologetic for the aristocracy and priestly classes in Judea. But the fact of the matter is that we don't have anything else which begins to offer as much detail about first-century Judea as Josephus' writings.

Steve Mason's "Josephus and the New Testament" should be on your shelf if you want to study Josephus, too. His theory about the author of Luke-Acts having relied on Josephus is overdone, but otherwise his work is greatly enlightening.

As Mr. Smith said, this is the only translation of the Josephus books to own.

The Life Against Apion is Josephus' attempt to refute the virulent Anti-Semetic felling that was ever present in the Roman Empire during the First Century AD. This work done by the Loeb Classical Libary is a must for anyone from serious historical scholar to the causal history buff.