PREFACE

...again, after about two hundred and ten years. For whether God spoke these things in secret, he said: "Because I wish, having appointed Cyrus as king of many and great nations, to send my people back to their own land, and to rebuild my temple." These things Isaiah prophesied one hundred and forty years before the temple was destroyed. Therefore, when Cyrus read these things and marveled at the divine power, a certain impulse seized him. This Greek passage is a quotation from Josephus’s Antiquities of the Jews (Book 11, Chapter 1), where he describes Cyrus the Great reading a prophecy about himself in the Book of Isaiah, which inspired him to allow the Jews to return to Jerusalem.

The illustrious Muratori Lodovico Antonio Muratori (1672–1750), a famous Italian historian and librarian. had also added in his letters to me that he had once sent to Hudson John Hudson, the editor of the previous major edition of Josephus. himself some of his own annotations on the most ancient Latin version of Josephus, which is contained in a manuscript codex of the Ambrosian Library The famous library in Milan. made of Egyptian papyrus—and therefore of venerable antiquity—but he was never certain whether they had reached Hudson. I believe they did indeed arrive, but were of no use, as Hudson prepared a completely new translation. For this reason, I also could not accept the offer made to me by that most learned and friendly man Pietro Piovene of the Society of Jesus, who is the Curator of Antiquities for the Most Serene Duke of Parma and Piacenza, the sole patron of men of letters in the Italian regions. He wrote that in the library of his Most Serene Prince there exists a very curious Latin copy of Josephus on parchment, produced around the XIII. 13th century. century, which differs marvelously from the copies published until now, first in its order and then in its wording.

The latter manuscript codex of the Leiden Library original: "Bibliothecæ Lugd. Bat.", page 395, number 72, written on silk paper A term often used for high-quality, smooth paper from the East., contains all seven books of the Jewish War; it is slightly damaged only at the beginning and end. The Prologue is missing, and it begins with the words "The faction of the powerful Jews..." original: "Στάσεως τοῖς δυνατοῖς Ἰουδαίων" and ends shortly before the conclusion of the final book, at the words "but I resist..." original: "ἀντίσχω δέ". Furthermore, in the same library on page 402, number 7, there is a fragment of Josephus from Book XIV of the Antiquities, which was previously missing in the Greek copies, excerpted from that distinguished Leiden manuscript of the Antiquities which we just discussed. It includes those Roman and Asiatic decrees which Jacobus Gronovius A Dutch classical scholar and Leiden professor. first published, filling a massive gap from this manuscript, together with certain corrections to the Lexicon of Suidas. From this source, Hudson also filled that gap in his own edition, though he excerpted only a few items in his notes from the observations of Gronovius, which appear in full in their proper places from page 706 onward in this edition. Among other collected materials, I also found the "Speech of Agrippa and Berenice" to the rioting Jews, which appears in Book II of the War, Chapter XVI, page 186; the comparison of which can be found among the Addenda on page 181. The codex itself is listed in the Catalogue of the Leiden Library, page 396, number 13. I should also mention one or two editions of Josephus collated in many places with manuscripts by Isaac Vossius A prolific 17th-century collector and scholar. and others, such as the Basel edition of 1544 (mentioned on page 391, number 5) and the Geneva edition (page 391, number 6). This entire collection of resources, preserved in that most excellent library, served our purposes. I had even believed I would find more there when I read on page 403, number 34, of "Flavian Readings" "Flavian" refers to Josephus's Roman name, Flavius. transcribed from the books of Hermolaus Barbarus and Scipio Carteromachus; however, I noticed they had nothing in common with our Flavius. These materials were closer at hand, but the things that follow were sought from further afield and received. Frederik Rostgaard, a most noble Dane, possessed an exceptional manuscript of Josephus’s Jewish War. It is described in the catalogue of his books, which were sold at auction in Copenhagen original: "Hafniæ" in January of this year (page 459, number 151), as follows: "Josephus on the Jewish War, in Greek. A manuscript codex on paper, of the best quality, approximately four hundred years old. A thick volume in small quarto." That codex is complete and proceeds without interruption from start to finish; at its end was written that well-known testimony concerning Jesus Christ The "Testimonium Flavianum," a passage where Josephus mentions Jesus, which has been the subject of much historical debate.. In good time, a comparison of it had been initiated by the most learned man Joannes Grammius, Professor of Greek at the Academy...