Julius Caesar and Origin Stories in the Works of Josephus

Abstract: Josephus’s favorable treatment of Julius Caesar offers an “origin story” for the relationship Josephus hoped to (re-)establish between the imperial Caesars and the Jews. Through this origin story, Josephus suggests that Jewish rights under Roman rule had a long history that should continue to be honored by the Flavians. By establishing the “ancient” origins of Jewish rights under the Romans and focusing on the Jews’ unique relationship with Julius Caesar as their originator, Josephus creates an “origin myth” for the Jews’ relationship with the later Caesars. This aetiological focus places Josephus squarely within the Greco-Roman historiographical tradition of the early empire.