(Hebrew name, Joseph ben Matthias). Born A.D. 37 in Jerusalem; died after 100 in Rome. Ancient Jewish historian.

Born into a priestly family, Flavius Josephus became thoroughly acquainted in his youth with the teachings of the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes, all of which he described. Supporting the religious and political trends of the Pharisees, he was active in political life. At the outbreak of the Jewish War (66–73), Josephus was appointed a military commander in Galilee, but after the defeat at Jotapata he turned traitor and surrendered to the Romans. He acted as an interpreter during the siege and destruction of Jerusalem, after which he settled in Rome, became a Roman citizen, and was appointed historiographer of the Flavian dynasty, whose family name he took.

Josephus left four works (in Greek). History of the Jewish War describes events from 167 B.C. to A.D.. 73. (Originally written in Aramaic, it was first published in Russian translation in 1900. A translation into ancient Russian by N.A. Meshcherskii was published in 1958 under the title Josephus Flavius’ History of the Jewish War: Researches and Text.) Antiquities of the Jews describes the period from the “creation of the world” to the beginning of the Jewish War (Russian translation, vols. 1–2, 1900). The work On the Antiquity of the Jews: Against Apion (Russian translation, 1898) is an apologetic polemic against the first-century Egyptian writer Apion, and Life, an autobiographical work, was Josephus’ attempt to justify himself against the accusations that were being leveled against him. Because he used and cited many valuable sources and documents that have not been preserved, Josephus’ works have been an important source for the study of the peoples of the ancient East and the Mediterranean. The basic tendencies of his works are a pro-Roman presentation of the Jewish War, attempts to justify his betrayal, and an apologia for the Jews.