The Works of Flavius
Josephus; Translated by William Whiston
Antiquities of the Jews -- Preface
1. THOSE who undertake to write histories, do not, I perceive, take
that trouble on one and the same account, but for many reasons, and
those such as are very different one from another. For some of them
apply themselves to this part of learning to show their skill in
composition, and that they may therein acquire a reputation for
speaking finely: others of them there are, who write histories in
order to gratify those that happen to be concerned in them, and on
that account have spared no pains, but rather gone beyond their own
abilities in the performance: but others there are, who, of
necessity and by force, are driven to write history, because they
are concerned in the facts, and so cannot excuse themselves from
committing them to writing, for the advantage of posterity; nay,
there are not a few who are induced to draw their historical facts
out of darkness into light, and to produce them for the benefit of
the public, on account of the great importance of the facts
themselves with which they have been concerned. Now of these
several reasons for writing history, I must profess the two last
were my own reasons also; for since I was myself interested in that
war which we Jews had with the Romans, and knew myself its
particular actions, and what conclusion it had, I was forced to
give the history of it, because I saw that others perverted the
truth of those actions in their writings.
THE WARS OF THE JEWS
OR
THE HISTORY OF THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM.
PREFACE
1. (1) WHEREAS the war which the Jews made with the Romans hath
been the greatest of all those, not only that have been in our
times, but, in a manner, of those that ever were heard of; both of
those wherein cities have fought against cities, or nations against
nations; while some men who were not concerned in the affairs
themselves have gotten together vain and contradictory stories by
hearsay, and have written them down after a sophistical manner; and
while those that were there present have given false accounts of
things, and this either out of a humor of flattery to the Romans,
or of hatred towards the Jews; and while their writings contain
sometimes accusations, and sometimes encomiums, but no where the
accurate truth of the facts; I have proposed to myself, for the
sake of such as live under the government of the Romans, to
translate those books into the Greek tongue, which I formerly
composed in the language of our country, and sent to the Upper
Barbarians; (2) Joseph, the son of Matthias, by birth a Hebrew, a
priest also, and one who at first fought against the Romans myself,
and was forced to be present at what was done afterwards, [am the
author of this work].
