The autobiographical text The Life of Josephus is a text written by Flavius Josephus around 94 to 99 BC. The commander of a Jewish insurgency who was captured by the Roman in 67 BC he won his liberty by ingratiating himself with the Roman victors. The Life of Josephus is both a retelling of the events of this War and a justification by Josephus of his part in it. His position with his Roman and Jewish contemporaries and even now with modern day scholars is ambiguous. Many question his decision to eschew suicide in favour of capture. The works of Josephus have been pivotal in gaining an understanding of the period of the First Jewish-Roman War, The Dead Sea Scrolls and other Archaeological discoveries.

"An audacious history of Josephus (37-c.100), the Jewish general turned Roman historian, whose emblematic betrayal is a touchstone for the Jew alone in the Gentile world"--Dust jacket flap.

Flavius Josephus, the priest from Jerusalem who was affiliated with the Pharisees, is our most important source for Jewish life in the first century. His notice about the death of James the brother of Jesus suggests that Josephus knew about the followers of Jesus in Jerusalem and in Judaea. In Rome, where he lived for the remainder of his life after the Jewish War, a group of Christians appear to have flourished, if 1 Clement is any indication. Josephus, however, says extremely little about the Christians in Judaea and nothing about those in Rome. He also does not reference Paul the apostle, a former Pharisee, who was a contemporary of Josephus’s father in Jerusalem, even though, according to Acts, Paul and his activities were known to two successive Roman governors (procurators) of Judaea, Marcus Antonius Felix and Porcius Festus, and to King Herod Agrippa II and his sisters Berenice and Drusilla. The knowledge of the Herodians, in particular, puts Josephus’s silence about Paul in an interesting light, suggesting that it may have been deliberate. In addition, Josephus’s writings bear very little witness to other contemporaries in Rome, so much so that if we were dependent on Josephus alone we might conclude that many of those historical characters either did not exist or had little or no impact in the first century. Asiedu comments on the state of life in Rome during the reign of the Emperor Domitian and how both Josephus and the Christians who produced 1 Clement coped with the regime as other contemporaries, among whom he considers Martial, Tacitus, Pliny the Younger, and others, did. He argues that most of Josephus’s contemporaries practiced different kinds of silences in bearing witness to the world around them. Consequently, the absence of references to Jews or Christians in Roman writers of the last three decades of the first century, including Josephus, should not be taken as proof of their non-existence in Flavian Rome.

Flavius Josephus is without a doubt the most important witness to ancient Judaism from the close of the biblical period to the aftermath of the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70. His four surviving works - Judean War, Judean Antiquities, Life, and Against Apion - provide the narrative structure for interpreting the other, more fragmentary written sources and physical remains from this period. This is the first comprehensive literary-historical commentary on the works of Flavius Josephus in English. Steve Mason, York University, Toronto, edits the scheduled 10 volumes.

As one can guess from the title, 'The Life of Flavius Josephus' is a biography of Flavius Josephus. He was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for The Jewish War, who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly descent and a mother who claimed royal ancestry.

The Life of Flavius Josephus, or simply Vita, is an autobiographical text written by Josephus in approximately 94-99 CE, where the author for the most part re-visits the events of the Jewish-Roman War, apparently in response to allegations made against him by Justus of Tiberias. Titus Flavius Josephus was a first-century Romano-Jewish scholar, historian and hagiographer, who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly descent and a mother who claimed royal ancestry. He initially fought against the Romans during the First Jewish–Roman War as head of Jewish forces in Galilee, until surrendering in 67 CE to Roman forces led by Vespasian after the six-week siege of Jotapata. After Vespasian became Emperor in 69 CE, he granted Josephus his freedom, at which time Josephus assumed the emperor's family name of Flavius. He fully defected to the Roman side and was granted Roman citizenship. Josephus recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the first century CE and the First Jewish–Roman War, including the Siege of Masada. His most important works were The Jewish War (c. 75) and Antiquities of the Jews (c. 94).

A Companion to Josephus presents a collection of readings from international scholars that explore the works of the first century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus. Represents the first single-volume collection of readings to focus on Josephus Covers a wide range of disciplinary approaches to the subject, including reception history Features contributions from 29 eminent scholars in the field from four continents Reveals important insights into the Jewish and Roman worlds at the moment when Christianity was gaining ground as a movement Named Outstanding Academic Title of 2016 by Choice Magazine, a publication of the American Library Association