The Jewish Historian Flavius Josephus: A Biographical Investigation

From these facts the previously mentioned contradictions concerning the question of
the Life belonging to the Antiquities are ultimately clarified as well. There was a first edition of
the Antiquities, which was published without the Life, and which therefore includes the closing
words and signature at the end of Book 20. In contradistinction to this, there is a second
edition of the Antiquities which was expanded to include the Life and which therefore did not
reach its conclusion until the end of the Life: this explains [6] the closing words which belong
once again to the Antiquities and the signature of the Life which refers to them. Therefore, even
though the Life is printed today as a separate text, such a division was never the intention of
Josephus who rather wished to see the self-portrayal considered as a part of the Antiquities, as
the very opening words of the Life (ἐμοὶ δὲ γένος) could have indicated to everyone. This
erroneous practice of the publishers is a consequence of the fact that our manuscripts have
arbitrarily mixed the text of two editions. Because closing words were to be found in 20.267/8,
a new work had to begin with the Life; it has now become obvious that these closing words
stem from the first edition, and do not belong at all in a text which includes the Life.
Chapter II. Josephus’ self-portrayal
1. Josephus and Justus of Tiberias
There are two direct sources available for the biography of the Jewish historian
Josephus: because of the fact that the author played a significant role as statesman and officer
during the course of the Jewish-Roman conflict, he had reason to make mention of himself
very frequently in the description of the war. Besides this, he inserted his self-portrayal,
discussed above in the previous chapter, into the Antiquities as an expansion, and it is selfevident
that here also reference would have to be made in part to the same events. Of course,
precisely this reciprocal relationship of the two writings presents certain difficulties; the
younger of the two, namely the Life written after the year 100, is far from exhaustive, but
rather presumes for its completeness an acquaintance with the older War published between
the years 75 and 79. The conflict between Josephus and Vespasian, his involvement in the siege
of Jotapata, his capture, and lastly his experiences during the siege of Jerusalem are not
recounted in the Life; rather, for all these issues, which were of prime importance in Josephus'
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