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Flavius Josephus (A.D. 37-circa 97) was given the name Joseph Ben Matthias at birth. This aristocrat, Doctor of Law, rebel leader and historian, who was considered one of the Fathers of Jewish History, owes his renow to a " fortuitous " event the triumph of Christianity. For centuries, the Jewish people had ignored him, because they thought that he had embraced the Roman cause during the war of Judea. But to the Romans, Josephus' works described insignificant events. The capture of Jerusalem ? Destruction of the Temple ? Exile of the Jews ? These were just brief episodes in the history of the Empire. Two ambiguous passages in the Jewish Antiquities, as early as the third century, earned Joseph his reputation in the expanding Christian world : he seemed to bear witness to the historical veracity of Jesus... Josephus's work deserves to be read on its own merits. It is, indeed, a testimony, but an eminently arduous one : to express in words a traumatic occurrence, thus transforming into History an event that is still unfolding (i.e., retelling it according to an admissible causality). In this book, the author strives to demonstrate, on the basis of the works : The Jewish War, Jewish Antiquities, Against Apion, and an autobiography, Josephus' perception of History what motivates it and what it reveals. In conclusion, the reader can follow Josephus' renewed good fortune in a century that witnesed the traumatic (re)birth of the State of Israel : this man who was a fictional hero, a supporter of nationalistic illusions was also a distinguished historian.Denis Lamour teaches philosophy in preparatory classes for entry examinations to the grandes écoles, in Brussels.
