Jerome. Lives of Illustrious Men 13
13 Josephus, son of Matthias PL 23, 629
Josephus, the son of Matthias, priest of Jerusalem, taken prisoner by Vespasian and his son Titus, was banished. Coming to Rome he presented to the emperors, father and son, seven books On the captivity of the Jews, which were deposited in the public library and, on account of his genius, was found worthy of a statue at Rome. He wrote also twenty books of Antiquities, from the beginning of the world until the fourteenth year of Domitian Cæsar, and two of Antiquities against Appion, the grammarian of Alexandria who, under Caligula, sent as legate on the part of the Gentiles against Philo, wrote also a book containing a vituperation of the Jewish nation. Another book of his entitled, On all ruling wisdom, in which the martyr deaths of the Maccabeans are related is highly esteemed. In the eighth book of his Antiquities he most openly acknowledges that Christ was slain by the Pharisees on account of the greatness of his miracles, that John the Baptist was truly a prophet, and that Jerusalem was destroyed because of the murder of James the apostle. He wrote also concerning the Lord after this fashion: “In this same time was Jesus, a wise man, if indeed it be lawful to call him man. For he was a worker of wonderful miracles, and a teacher of those who freely receive the truth. He had very many adherents also, both of the Jews and of the Gentiles, and was believed to be Christ, and when through the envy of our chief men Pilate had crucified him, nevertheless those who had loved him at first continued to the end, for he appeared to them the third day alive. Many things, both these and other wonderful things are in the songs of the prophets who prophesied concerning him and the sect of Christians, so named from Him, exists to the present day.”
Josephus Matthiae filius, ex Hierosolymis sacerdos, a Vespasiano captus, cum Tito filio ejus relictus est. Hic Romam veniens, septem libros Judaicae captivitatis Imperatoribus patri filioque obtulit, qui et bibliothecae publicae traditi sunt, et ob ingenii gloriam, statuam quoque meruit Romae. Scripsit autem et alios viginti Antiquitatum libros, ab exordio mundi, usque ad decimum quartum annum Domitiani Caesaris, et duos Ἀρχαιότητος, adversum Appionem grammaticum Alexandrinum, qui sub Caligula legatus missus ex parte Gentilium, contra Philonem etiam librum, vituperationem gentis Judaicae continentem, scripserat. Alius quoque liber ejus, qui inscribitur περὶ Αὐτοκράτορος λογισμοῦ, valde elegans habetur, in quo et Machabaeorum sunt digesta martyria. Hic in decimo octavo Antiquitatum libro, manifestissime confitetur, propter magnitudinem signorum, Christum a Pharisaeis interfectum, et Joannem Baptistam vere prophetam fuisse, et propter interfectionem Jacobi apostoli, dirutam Hierosolymam. Scripsit autem de Domino in hunc modum: Eodem tempore fuit Jesus vir sapiens, si tamen virum oportet eum dicere. Erat enim mirabilium patrator operum, et doctor eorum, qui libenter vera suscipiunt: plurimos quoque tam de Judaeis quam de gentibus sui habuit sectatores, et credebatur esse Christus. Cumque invidia nostrorum Principum, cruci eum Pilatus addixisset, nihilominus qui eum primum dilexerant, perseveraverunt. Apparuit enim eis tertia die vivens. Multa et haec alia mirabilia carminibus Prophetarum de eo vaticinantibus, et usque hodie Christianorum gens ab hoc sortita vocabulum, non defecit.
Ἰώσηπος Ματθίου υἱὸς, Ἱεροσολύμων ἱερεὺς, παρὰ Οὐεσπασιανοῦ ἁλοὺς, μετὰ Τίτου τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ κατελήφθη. Ὃς εἰς Ῥώμην ἐλθὼν, ἑπτὰ λόγους τῆς Ἰουδαϊκῆς ἁλώσεως, τοῖς δύο βασιλεῦσι τῷ τε πατρὶ καὶ τῷ υἱῷ προσήνεγκεν, οἵ τινες καὶ τῇ δημοσίᾳ Βιβλιοθήκῃ παρεδόθησαν. Καὶ διὰ τὴν δόξαν τῆς εὐφυΐας, ἀνδριάντος ἠξιώθη. Ἔγραψε δὲ καὶ τῆς Ἀρχαίολογίας λόγους εἴκοσι, ἀπὸ τῆς τοῦ κόσμου ἀρχῆς ἕως τεσσαρεσκαιδεκάτου ἔτους Δομιτιανοῦ Καίσαρος, καὶ δύο Ἀρχαιότητος κατὰ Ἀπίωνος γραμματικοῦ Ἀλεξανδρέως, ὃς ἐπὶ Καλιγύλα πρεσβευτὴς ἀποσταλεὶς παρὰ τοῦ μέρους τῶς ἐθνικῶν, κατὰ Φίλωνος λόγον, περιέχοντα κατάγνωσιν τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἔγραψε. Ἔστι καὶ ἄλλος αὐτοῦ λόγος περὶ Αὐτοκράτορος λογισμοῦ, ἐξαίρετος πάνυ, ἐν ᾧ καὶ τοῦ πάθους τῶν Μακκαβαίων ἐμνήσθη. Οὗτος ἐν τῷ ὀκτωκαιδεκάτῳ τῆς ἀρχαιολογίας λόγῳ φανερῶς ὁμολογεῖ, διὰ τὸν ὄγκον τῶν σημείων, τὸν Χριστὸν ἐσφάχθαι παρὰ Φαρισαίων, καὶ Ἰωάννην τὸν βαπτιστὴν ἀληθῶς γεγενῆσθαι προφήτην, καὶ διὰ τὴν σφαγὴν Ἰακώβου τοῦ Ἀποστόλου τὰ Ἱεροσόλυμα πεπορθῆσθαι. Ἔγραψε δὲ καὶ περὶ τοῦ Κυρίου οὕτως· Γίνεται δὲ κατὰ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον Ἰησοῦς, σοφὸς ἀνὴρ, εἴγε ἄνδρα αὐτὸν λέγειν χρή. Ἦν γὰρ παραδόξων ἔργων ποιητὴς, διδάσκαλος ἀνθρώπων τῶν ἡδονῇ τἀληθῆ δεχομένων, καὶ πολλοὺς μὲν Ἰουδαίους, πολλοὺς δὲ καὶ τοῦ ἑλληνισμοῦ ἐπηγάγετο, ὁ Χριστὸς οὗτος ἦν. Καὶ αὐτὸν ἐνδείξει τῶν πρώτων ἀνδρῶν παρ' ἡμῖν, σταυρῷ ἐπιτετιμηκότος Πιλάτου, οὐκ ἐπαύσαντο οἱ τὸ πρῶτον αὐτὸν ἀγαπήσαντες. Ἐφάνη γὰρ αὐτοῖς τρίτην ἔχων ἡμέραν πάλιν ζῶν, τῶν θείων προφητῶν ταῦτα καὶ ἄλλα μυρία περὶ αὐτοῦ εἰρηκότων, εἴς τε νῦν Χριστιανῶν ἀπὸ τοῦδε ὠνομασμένων οὐκ ἔλιπε τὸ φύλον.