Jewish History

Against Apion

Name: Against Apion
Author: Flavius Josephus
ISBN: 9781612034454

by Flavius Josephus

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Overview

Josephus was born Jerusalem of a priestly and royal family. He excelled in his studies of Jewish law and studied with the Sadducees, Pharisees, and the Essenes, eventually aligning himself with the Pharisees. He went to Rome to free some imprisoned priests. After accomplishing this mission through the intercession of Nero's wife, Poppaea, he returned to Jerusalem to find the country in revolt against Rome. Josephus wrote a history of the Jewish War. His second major work was Antiquities of the Jews, his third Against Apion and The Life of Josephus, his autobiography. Josephus was an eyewitness to history, and his writings are considered authoritative.

Synopsis

Against Apion (Contra Apionem or In Apionem) was a polemical work written by Flavius Josephus as a defense of Judaism as a classical religion and philosophy, stressing its antiquity against what he perceived as more recent traditions of the Greeks. Josephus was born Jerusalem of a priestly and royal family. He excelled in his studies of Jewish law and studied with the Sadducees, Pharisees, and the Essenes, eventually aligning himself with the Pharisees. He went to Rome to free some imprisoned priests. After accomplishing this mission through the intercession of Nero's wife, Poppaea, he returned to Jerusalem to find the country in revolt against Rome. Josephus wrote a history of the Jewish War. His second major work was Antiquities of the Jews, his third Against Apion and The Life of Josephus, his autobiography. Josephus was an eyewitness to history, and his writings are considered authoritative.

About the Author, Flavius Josephus

John M.G. Barclay (Ph.D. 1986 University of Cambridge) is Lightfoot Professor of Divinity at Durham University. His previous publications include Jews in the Mediterranean Diaspora from Alexander to Trajan (323 BCE - 117 CE) (T & T Clark/University of California Press: 1996).