A Defence of Ancient Jewish-Alexandrian Citizenship | Josephus, 'Against Apion' (Part 4)

This is PART FOUR of a series going through Josephus' book 'Against Apion'.

Flavius Josephus, born Josephus son of Mattathyahu, was a priestly aristocrat in Judea. He would lead part of the defence in Galilee during the Jewish-Roman War, but after the territory was overrun, in the spring of 67 AD, he surrendered to the Romans. He was eventually taken to Rome and spent the rest of his life writing about the war itself, Judean history and culture, as well as his own career.

He would compose four invaluable works: The Jewish War, Jewish Antiquites, The Life of Josephus & Against Apion. In this series we will look at one of his lesser known works, Against Apion, which responds to Jewish critics and defends Jewish history, beliefs and practises.

In Part 4, Josephus will turn to Apion, offering his longest and most detailed response to an individual opponent. Josephus states that Apion’s criticism covers three main topics: the migration from Egypt; a charge against the Judeans who reside in Alexandria; and thirdly, charges concerning the ritual practiced in the Jerusalem temple and the Jewish law. The first and second of these topics will be addressed in this video.


▬ Contents of this video ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

0:00 - Intro
2:36 - Chapter 1:
Apion's Exodus Account
6:53 - Chapter 2: Alexandrian Jewish Citizenship and History
12:34 - Chapter 3: Apion's Case Against Jewish-Alexandrian Citizenship
17:52 - Conclusion


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