the celebrated historian of the Jews, was of noble birth, by his father Matthias descended from the high-priests, and by his mother of the blood royal of the Maccabees; he was born A.D. 37, under Caligula, and lived under Domitian. At 16 years of age he betook himself to the sect of the Essenes, and then to the Pharisees; and having been successful in a journey to Rome, upon his return to Judæa he was made captain-general of the Galileans. Being taken prisoner by Vespasian, he foretold his coming to the empire, and his own deliverance by his means. He accompanied Titus at the siege of Jerusalem, and wrote his "Wars of the Jews," which Titus ordered to be put in the public library. He afterwards lived at Rome, where he enjoyed the privileges of a Roman citizen, and where the emperors loaded him with favours, and granted him large pensions. Besides the above work, he wrote, 1. Twenty books of Jewish antiquities, which he finished under Domitian. 2. Two books against Apion. 3. An elegant discourse on the martyrdom of the Maccabees. 4. His own life. These works are excellently written in Greek.