Review: Honora Howell Chapman, Zuleika Rodgers (eds.), A Companion to Josephus

Considered the most important historian of Jewish antiquity, the works of Flavius Josephus offer unparalleled insight into the world of Late Second Temple Judaism, the dawn of Christianity, and the early years of the Roman Empire. A Companion to Josephus presents a collection of readings that probe deeply into aspects relating to the four extant works of the first-century Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus. Featuring contributions from more than two dozen renowned international scholars specializing in Josephus and related studies, the readings introduce the writings of Josephus, put them into their historical contexts, explore their transmission and reception, and highlight contemporary scholarly approaches to two millennia of Josephan studies. Following an examination of the four individual texts and their manuscript tradition and situating the writings of Josephus among contemporaneous Greek, Roman, Jewish, and Christian works, a wide variety of themes are explored—the archaeology of Galilee, military history, the Jerusalem Temple, the role of women, Jewish rulers, and more. Further readings follow the transmission and reception of the Josephan corpus along its remarkable journey from Late Antiquity through to the Medieval, early Modern, and Modern periods. As the first single-volume scholarly guide to Josephus, A Companion to Josephus sheds important new light on the writings of an eyewitness to a pivotal point in world history. Contributors include Eran Almagor, John Barclay, Albert I. Baumgarten, Helen K. Bond, Silvia Castelli, Honora Howell Chapman, Saskia Dönitz, Erich S. Gruen, Gohei Hata, Tal Ilan, Sabrina Inowlocki, David A. Kaden, Richard Kalmin, Karen M. Kletter, Kate Leeming, Tommaso Leoni, David B. Levenson, Thomas R. Martin, Steve Mason, James S. McLaren, David Nakman, Maren R. Niehoff, Zuleika Rodgers, Jonathan P. Roth, Daniel R. Schwartz, Paul Spilsbury, Jan Willem van Henten, Zeev Weiss, and Alice Whealey.