Flavius Josephus was a Roman–Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing The Jewish War, he was born in Jerusalem—then part of the Roman province of Judea—to a father of priestly descent and a mother who claimed royal ancestry.
Imaginary portrait by Thomas Addis Emmet, 1880
Galilee, site of Josephus's governorship, before the First Jewish–Roman War
The works of Josephus translated by Thomas Lodge (1602)
1581 German translation of Josephus' The Jewish War in the collection of the Jewish Museum of Switzerland
History of the Jews in the Roman Empire
The history of the Jews in the Roman Empire traces the interaction of Jews and Romans during the period of the Roman Empire. A Jewish diaspora had migrated to Rome and to the territories of Roman Europe from the land of Israel, Anatolia, Babylon and Alexandria in response to economic hardship and incessant warfare over the land of Israel between the Ptolemaic and Seleucid empires from the 4th to the 1st centuries BCE. In Rome, Jewish communities thrived economically. Jews became a significant part of the Roman Empire's population in the first century CE, with some estimates as high as 7 million people; however, this estimation has been questioned.
Image of Joshua from the 3rd-century wall paintings at the synagogue of Dura-Europos
Siege and destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, painted c. 1504
Detail of a menorah relief on a column, Ostia Synagogue, 1st century
Jewish ritual objects depicted in 2nd century gold glass from Rome
