Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Josephus' account of a war marked by treachery and atrocity is a superbly detailed and evocative record of the Jewish rebellion against Rome between AD 66 and 70. Originally a rebel leader, Josephus changed sides after he was captured to become a Rome-appointed negotiator, and so was uniquely placed to observe these turbulent events, from the siege of Jerusalem to the final heroic resistance and mass suicides at Masada. His account provides much of what we know about the history of the Jews under Roman rule, with vivid portraits of such key figures as the Emperor Vespasian and Herod the Great. Often self-justifying and divided in its loyalties, The Jewish War nevertheless remains one of the most immediate accounts of war, its heroism and its horrors, ever written.
About the Author
G.A. Williamson was born in 1895 and was a Classical Exhibitioner at Worcester College, Oxford, graduating with a First Class Honours degree. He was Senior Classics Master at Norwich School from 1922 to 1960. He also translated
Josephus: The Jewish War (1959) and
Procopius: The Secret History (1966) for the Penguin Classics. He died in 1982.
G.A. Williamson was born in 1895 and was a Classical Exhibitioner at Worcester College, Oxford, graduating with a First Class Honours degree. He was Senior Classics Master at Norwich School from 1922 to 1960. He also translated Josephus: The Jewish War (1959) and Procopius: The Secret History (1966) for the Penguin Classics. He died in 1982.
Betty Radice read classics at Oxford, then married and, in the intervals of bringing up a family, tutored in classics, philosophy and English. She became joint editor of the Penguin Classics in 1964. As well as editing the translation of Livy’s The War with Hannibal she translated Livy’s Rome and Italy, Pliny’s Letters, The Letters of Abelard and Heloise and Erasmus’s Praise of Folly, and also wrote the introduction to Horace’s Complete Odes and Epodes, all for the Penguin Classics. She also edited Edward Gibbon’s Memoirs of My Life for the Penguin English Library, and edited and annotated her translation of the younger Pliny’s works for the Loeb Library of Classics and translated from Renaissance Latin, Greek and Italian for the Officina Bodoni of Verona. She collaborated as a translator in the Collected Works of Erasmus, and was the author of the Penguin Reference Book Who’s Who in the Ancient World. Betty Radice was an honorary fellow of St Hilda’s College, Oxford, and a vice-president of the Classical Association. Betty Radice died in 1985.
Table of Contents
Foreword to This Edition
Introduction
Josephus' Life
Josephus' Works
Josephus as a Historian
THE JEWISH WAR
Preface
1. Herod's Predecessors
2. Herod's Rise to Power
3. Herod Master of Palestine
4. Herod's Murder of Mariamme and her Children
5. Herod's Murder of his Heir, and Death
6. The Rise and Fall of Archelaus
7. Judaea under Roman Rule
8. War Clouds
9. The Outbreak of War
10. Josephus Governor of Galilee
11. The Coming of Vespasian and Titus
12. Josephus the Prisoner of Vespasian
13. Vespasian's Conquering Advance
14. Factions in Jerusalem
15. Atrocities in the City. Vespasian's Intervention
16. Vespasian Emperor
17. The Siege of Jerusalem - First Stages
18. Two Walls Captured
19. The Horrors of the Siege
20. Antonia Captured and Destroyed
21. The Temple Burnt and the City Taken
22. Jerusalem Destroyed: Roman Celebrations
23. Cleaning-up Operations
Notes
Appendixes:
A. Bandits, Terrorists, Sicarii and Zealots
B. Roman Provincial Administration and Defence
C. Money
D. Josephus' Calendar
E. Qumran
F. The Slavonic Versions of The Jewish War
Chronological Table
Maps and Plans:
The Eastern Mediterranean
Palestine
Jerusalem in A. D. 70
Herod's Temple Enclosure
Herod's Temple
The Herodian Family
Glossary of Technical Terms
Bibliography
Index