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Melvyn Bragg

Tessa Rajak

Philip Alexander

Martin Goodman

Simon Tillotson

In Our Time: Josephus

Josephus

21/05/2015

BBC Radio 4 - In Our Time, Josephus

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Flavius Josephus, author of The Jewish War.

It is said that, in Britain from the 18th Century, copies of Josephus' works were as widespread and as well read as The Bible. Christians valued "The Antiquities of the Jews" in particular, for the retelling of parts of the Old Testament and apparently corroborating the historical existence of Jesus. Born Joseph son of Matthias, in Jerusalem, in 37AD, he fought the Romans in Galilee in the First Jewish-Roman War. He was captured by Vespasian's troops and became a Roman citizen, later describing the siege and fall of Jerusalem. His actions and writings made him a controversial figure, from his lifetime to the present day.

With

Tessa Rajak
Professor Emeritus of Ancient History, University of Reading

Philip Alexander
Professor Emeritus of Jewish Studies, University of Manchester

And

Martin Goodman
Professor of Jewish Studies, University of Oxford and President of the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies

Producer: Simon Tillotson.

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