Good morning students of Jewish history!
I drove to work this morning. Normally I take the Long Island Railroad, which I really love because that’s when I get my writing done, but since I had to be in the car today I spent the drive preparing for my first Brooklyn lecture by listening to Who Was Josephus? I gave this lecture back in 2013, and it’s one of my most popular (viewed a crazy 150,000 times). I actually had fun listening to me–wish I had time to attend more of my lectures!
Anyway, my presentation on Josephus scheduled for the 25th at the Mighty Avenue J campus of Touro College is going to be my third on this incredibly important figure in ancient Jewish history. I’ll probably provide a very brief overview of this lecture, and a bit from my second, which focuses on his defense of Judaism from the charges of one Apion (viewed only 6,000 times), but the main point of this month’s lecture will be to focus on his career in Rome.
I know it’s a violation of my usual rule of “no hard questions,” but I figure if some people in the audience have seen these videos, perhaps the Q&A will be even more stimulating than it normally is. Let’s start off the year with a high-level encounter with Jewish history!
HMA
That is awesome. Josephus may be a problematic source, but as the only source with only the Greek MSS to draw from he never the less remains the most widely read historian from the first century CE. His remarkable life and strong defense of Judaism against Apion sheds light into what was a most interesting personal life.