Current Trial: Flavius Josephus Online

Flavius Josephus Online is the first comprehensive literary-historical online commentary in English on the works of Flavius Josephus, the first-century Jewish historian.

“Flavius Josephus, the first-century Jewish historian, 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 70 CE. After fighting against the Romans in the war of 66-73 and surrendering in the earliest phase of the campaign, he moved to Rome where he began a productive literary career. His four surviving works – Judean War, Judean Antiquities, Life, and Against Apion, in thirty Greek volumes – provide the narrative structure for interpreting the other, more fragmentary written sources and physical remains from this period. Josephus’ descriptions of the Temple, the Judean countryside, Jewish-Roman relations and conflicts, and groups and institutions of ancient Judea have become indispensable for students of early Judaism, Classics, and of Christian origins alike.”

This online collection of Josephus’ texts takes the form of a tree: starting with the four works (Judean War, Judean Antiquities, Life, and Against Apion) one can navigate to the relevant books and sections within these books. Indicated are both the separate sections within each book as introduced by William Whiston, as well as the order of lines as introducted by Benedikt Niese. The buttons at the top and the bottom of every entry enable one to go to the previous or next section, to go back to an overview of the book or to an overview of the entire work.

The editor’s introduction to each separate work can be found under ‘Introduction’. ‘Contents’ holds the original Greek text as well as commentary and interpretation. The tab ‘Appendixes and Bibliographies’ presents an overview of maps, excursus and appendixes to the four works.”

The Introduction, Contents, Appendixes and Bibliography, and How To are available at http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/browse/flavius-josephus-online

The trial runs for 30 days beginning September 12.