Josephus: The Historian and His Society

Rating:
Summary: A excellent commentary on a true classic of history
Review: Now in it's second edition featuring a new Introduction and additional Bibliography, Josephus: The Historian And His Society is a excellent commentary on a true classic of history by Tessa Rajak (Reader in Classics at the University of Reading). A Jerusalem upperclass priest and Pharisee, and a controversial Jewish general in the great and doomed revolt against their Roman occupiers by the Jewish populace in 66-73 CE, Josephus was the author of two ancient history texts: "Jewish Wars" and "Jewish Antiquities" which became seminal works of importance to both Jewish and Greco-Roman history. These works were combined under one cover and became known to academia as an indispensable reference resource for scholars and non-specialist general readers with an interest in ancient history. Well versed in both Greek and Hebrew, Tessa Rajak is particularly positioned to assess diverse source materials and provide contemporary readers with a sociological account of the Jewish revolt and its cultural context, as well as the role of Josephus himself in the events in which he participated and/or personally observed, as well as his chronicled accounts of Jewish and Roman personalities and politics.