... turn allows us to understand the way in which Judaea was administered. The most complete, yet also the most problematic source, is the work of Josephus: a commander in the Jewish revolt of 66AD, who then, when captured by the Romans, became a Roman citizen and client of the Flavian emperors, under whom he wrote a narrative of the Jewish war. Josephus' work therefore is often taken less seriously because of the obvious bias and the apologetic tone of his writing. He also admits to being influenced by Thucydides and perhaps this is why he often speaks of stasis. Perhaps his literary influences caused his historical writing to deviate a little from the truth in order to follow more oratorical rules. Yet he is the only extant provincial historian to have described his own society in such detail. And in this wealth of detail he does allow us to confirm ...

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