1988/12/01 by Shaye J. D. Cohen
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Archaeology #Archaeology and Historical Studies #Art #Biblical Studies and Interpretation #Classical Antiquity Studies #Genealogy #Historiography #History #Josephus #Literature #Philosophy #Theology
paper · doi:10.2307/2504993
openalex publication_date 1988/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Throughout his writings Josephus plays the historical critic.' The Jewish War opens with an attack against the Greek historians of the war of 66-70 CE: they disregard the truth, base their narratives on little data or false data, vilify the Jews, and magnify the Romans (Jewish War 1.1-8).2 Greek historians care more for rhetoric than truth (Jewish War 1.13-16). In the Jewish Antiquities Josephus criticizes Polybius, good man, for ignoring the true explanation of the death of Antiochus Epiphanes (Jewish Antiquities 12.358-359),' and criticizes Nicolas of Damascus for being biased in favor of his patron Herod (Jewish Antiquities 16.183-187). In the Vita Josephus devotes a long digression to the malfeasance of Justus of Tiberias as both politician and historian (Vita 336-367).4 These and other passages show that Josephus practiced historical criticism in all his works, but it is the Against Apion that contains his most detailed reflections on the duties and methods of the historian. The Against Apion of Josephus, completed in the last decade of the first century CE or in the first decade of the second, is a magnificent defense of Judaism and Jewish history. In the first three quarters of the book Josephus attempts to prove the antiquity of the Jews and the falsehood of various stories told about them. In the last quarter of the book Josephus describes the beauty, harmony, and perfection of the constitution established by Moses. The book is usually and rightly regarded as apologetic; Josephus himself calls it an apologia (2.147). In fact, it is the only extant representative of ancient Jewish literature that clearly and unambiguously was an apology for Judaism.5 But the Against Apion is not just an apology; it is also an essay in historiography and historical criticism, as an outline of the work will make clear.