Flavius Josephus

1 9.9

A Jewish historian and military leader from the first century who writes about the Jewish revolt against Rome

proper noun

: Flavio Josefo

Did Flavius Josephus really believe in the prophecy of the Messiah?

Examples

The writings of Flavius Josephus are essential for understanding Jewish history.
Flavius Josephus wrote his first work, the Jewish War, during the Jewish revolt against Rome.
Flavius Josephus is often cited by scholars studying the history of the Second Temple period.
Many historians rely on the accounts of Flavius Josephus for information about the Jewish revolt.
The writings of Flavius Josephus provide insight into Jewish life during Roman rule.
In his writings, Flavius Josephus provides a detailed account of Jewish history for future generations.
Flavius Josephus served as a translator for the Romans during their siege of Jerusalem.

Synonyms

Joseph ben Matthias

vsFlavius Josephus

9.9

A Jewish commander who later wrote important books about the war with Rome

is the same person but later adopted a Roman name

Surface Forms

Flavius Josephus main

Morphology

Flavius + Josephus

This is a personal name referring to a specific historical individual; the meanings of the constituent tokens do not combine to yield the biographical information (Jewish historian and military leader). The components are proper-name fragments (not semantically transparent words), and personal names are arbitrary and language-specific, so a B1 learner who knows the name parts would not be able to derive the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Flavius Josephus comes from his Jewish name Josephus and the Roman family name Flavius that he took after joining the Romans. He was a Jewish leader who later wrote first-hand accounts of the 'Jewish revolt' against Rome, so his name now stands for an important source for that history.