Project Gutenberg's The Life of Flavius Josephus, by Flavius Josephus

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Title: The Life of Flavius Josephus

Author: Flavius Josephus

Translator: William Whiston

Posting Date: December 23, 2008 [EBook #2846]
Release Date: October, 2001

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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Produced by David Reed

THE LIFE OF FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS

By Flavius Josephus

Translated by William Whiston

1. The family from which I am derived is not an ignoble one, but hath
descended all along from the priests; and as nobility among several
people is of a different origin, so with us to be of the sacerdotal
dignity, is an indication of the splendor of a family. Now, I am not
only sprung from a sacerdotal family in general, but from the first
of the twenty-four [1] courses; and as among us there is not only a
considerable difference between one family of each course and another,
I am of the chief family of that first course also; nay, further, by my
mother I am of the royal blood; for the children of Asamoneus, from whom
that family was derived, had both the office of the high priesthood, and
the dignity of a king, for a long time together. I will accordingly set
down my progenitors in order. My grandfather's father was named Simon,
with the addition of Psellus: he lived at the same time with that son
of Simon the high priest, who first of all the high priests was named
Hyrcanus. This Simon Psellus had nine sons, one of whom was Matthias,
called Ephlias: he married the daughter of Jonathan the high priest,
which Jonathan was the first of the sons of Asamoneus, who was high
priest, and was the brother of Simon the high priest also. This Matthias
had a son called Matthias Curtus, and that in the first year of the
government of Hyrcanus: his son's name was Joseph, born in the ninth
year of the reign of Alexandra: his son Matthias was born in the tenth
year of the reign of Archclaus; as was I born to Matthias in the first
year of the reign of Caius Caesar. I have three sons: Hyrcanus, the
eldest, was born in the fourth year of the reign of Vespasian, as was
Justus born in the seven