ABSTRACT
With these words placed in the mouth of the General Titus, the first century historian Josephus (37-97 C.E.) offered an apology and an explanation for the destruction of Jerusalem and the First Revolt against Rome, which occurred from 66-70 C.E. In this passage, Josephus asserts that God had sided with the Romans during this time and epoch. And the rebels of Judea and Galilee, the so-called “tyrants,” had opposed God and the Romans, through whom God exercised rule. Social conflict, theology, personal hubris-these are only three of the possible causes for what was, for Josephus and his Jewish contemporaries, a momentous event. This famous and provocative first-century historian is the single most vital source of information and interpretation about the Revolt. Josephus produced his corpus between ten to twenty-five years after the Revolt and the destruction of Jerusalem. His first major work was The Jewish War, followed by the exhaustive The Antiquities of the Jews. The former was most likely finished during the short reign of the Emperor Titus (79-81 C.E.), and the latter was written during the longer reign of Titus’ brother and successor, Domitian (81-96 C.E.). Under Domitian Josephus also produced two shorter works, his Life, an autobiography, and a defense and explanation of Judaism called Contra Apionem.
