The Jewish War

This chapter presents an overview of Josephus’ War. In this book, Josephus’ prophecy about the Roman Empire, about which he spoke to Vespasian, is central. God, who revealed to Vespasian through Joseph ben Matthias, chose the Roman general to rule the Roman Empire. Josephus was shaped by the Bible, as he presents himself as the last of the Jewish prophets. He wrote the earliest edition of War in Aramaic to the Jewish communities living in the Parthian kingdom and rewrote it in Greek soon after he arrived in Rome; it was published in its final form between 79 and 84 CE. He intended it for the Jewish public and the Greek Jewish communities living in the Roman Empire. But, as this chapter emphasizes, what makes Josephus’ writings distinctive is that he is a propagandist of the Flavian dynasty.