The Life of Flavius Josephus


The Life of Josephus, also called the "Life of Flavius Josephus", or simply Life or Vita, is an autobiographical text written by Josephus in approximately 94-99 CE as an appendix to his Antiquities of the Jews, where the author for the most part revisits the events of the First Jewish-Roman War. Life is also a response to allegations made against Josephus by Justus of Tiberias. Nothing survives of Justus of Tiberius's works except what is mentioned by Josephus in Life.
The Life of Josephus is the earliest complete autobiography that has survived intact from the ancient world. Most of the work focuses on the activities of Josephus as a general in Galilee, where Jesus of Nazareth ministered, around the mid 60s AD during the first Jewish revolt against Rome. He discusses demographics of the inhabitants of Galilee, economics, cultural patterns, and government.
Josephus states he is descended from a priestly family and is related to Hasmonenan dynasty. At around 26 years old, Josephus traveled to Rome to negotiate the release of Jewish priests imprisoned there by Nero. With the assistance of Nero's wife, Poppaea, and a Jewish actor, he succeeded in securing their freedom. Upon his return to Jerusalem, at the outbreak of the First Jewish–Roman War, Josephus was appointed the military governor of Galilee. His arrival in Galilee, however, was fraught with internal division: the inhabitants of Sepphoris and Tiberias opted to maintain peace with the Romans; the people of Sepphoris enlisted the help of the Roman army to protect their city, while the people of Tiberias appealed to King Agrippa's forces to protect them from the insurgents. Josephus trained 65,000 troops in the region.

Composition

Scholars have discussed the possible reasons that Josephus would have had to even write an autobiography in the first place. Some has suggested that since Justus of Tiberias made allegations against Josephus, that this was, in part, a response to him. Others have suggested that it was his effort, as a survivor of the War, to explain to the Judean diaspora why he failed "to master the Galilee" and why he was rejected by the authorities. Others have suggested that he was trying to establish his qualifications since he was writing about the War or was practicing common trends of great men to write in praise and defense of their character.

As an appendix to ''Antiquities of the Jews''

In the end of Antiquities of the Jews, Josephus makes a reference that his autobiography was supposed to be at the end of that work. He states:
At the end of Life, Josephus makes reference once more that his autobiography is the last part of Antiquities of the Jews. He states:

Internal and external evidence

There are numerous internal and external evidences that also signify that Life was supposed to be at the end of Antiquities of the Jews. For example, ancient writers like Eusebius, who were familiar with his works, did not treat Life as a separate work when quoting a passage from it and all manuscripts of Antiquities of the Jews include Life with books 11-20. Also style, phrases, references to people from Antiquities of the Jews continue into Life.

Editions