Josephus is by far the most important source for the history of the Jews from the close of the biblical period in the fifth century B.C. to his own day. He is indispensable to an understanding of the political, social, economic, and religious background of the rise of Christianity and of the other Jewish sects of the era, as well as of Jewry of the Diaspora. He is the most complete source for the history of ancient anti-Judaism, as well as the most important literary guide to the geography, topography, and monuments of Palestine, so that the archaeologist must dig with a spade in one hand and a copy of Josephus in the other. As the author of the earliest systematic paraphrase-commentary on the historical books of the Bible, he is crucial for an understanding of Jewish law and lore, antedating the codification of the Mishnah by...