- 13
Josephus, Flavius.
Description
- Antiquitates judaicae (De bello judaico libri vii) [in the translation of Tyrannius Rufinus]. [Augsburg: Johann Schüssler, 28 June-23 August 1470]
Provenance
Franke Parker, Du Palmarum, 2 April 1855, inscription on verso of flyleaf; Bequeathed to the Bishopric of Cornwall by the Rev. Franke Parker, M.A., Rector of Luffincott, Devon, 1883, bookplate (partly obscured)
Literature
Catalogue Note
first edition. The Greek text was first published much later, in 1544.
Flavius Josephus was a Jewish historian of a priestly family, who wrote largely in Greek, although his native language was Aramaic; indeed it was in this language that he wrote his account of the war against the Romans, a war in which he played an active role, and which ended in the sack of the Temple in Jerusalem. This work was written after 70AD, and translated into Greek. His work on Jewish history, the Jewish Antiquities, was written in Greek, and in part gives a much fuller account of the events up to 66AD, the year in which he had returned to Judaea after a period in Rome. Both works are important sources for the Jewish history of the period.