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Written in 75 AD by the Jewish historian and Roman citizen Titus Flavius Josephus, The Wars of the Jews describes Jewish history from the capture of Jerusalem in 164 BC to the destruction of that city in 70 AD. Beginning with Antiochus IV Epiphanes, a Seleucid ruler who captured the city, and going through the revolts against the Roman Empire to the events of the First Jewish-Roman War in which Jerusalem was razed, Josephus opens modern eyes to the conditions of Judaism in the first century. 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.

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