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St Photius the Great, tr. Freese, 1920; selections

Codex 33: Justus of Tiberias, Chronicle of the Kings of the Jews

Read the Chronicle of Justus of Tiberias,¹ entitled A Chronicle of the Kings of the Jews in the form of a genealogy, by Justus of Tiberias.² He came from Tiberias in Galilee, from which he took his name. He begins his history with Moses and carries it down to the death of the seventh Agrippa of the family of Herod³ and the last of the kings of the Jews. His kingdom, which was bestowed upon him by Claudius, was extended by Nero, and still more by Vespasian. He died in the third year of the reign of Trajan, when the history ends. Justus’s style is very concise, and he omits a great deal that is of the utmost importance. Suffering from the common fault of the Jews, to which race he belonged, he does not even mention the coming of Christ, the events of His life, or the miracles performed by Him. His father was a Jew named Pistus; Justus himself, according to Josephus, was one of the most abandoned of men, a slave to vice and greed. He was a political opponent of Josephus, against whom he is said to have concocted several plots; but Josephus, although on several occasions he had his enemy in his power, only chastised him with words and let him go free. It is said that the history which he wrote is in great part fictitious, especially where he describes the Judaeo-Roman war and the capture of Jerusalem.

Notes

Contemporary of Josephus, by whom his character and works are violently attacked. He was condemned to death by Vespasian, but his life was spared by Agrippa. He also wrote a history of the Jewish war.
The Greek phrase is βασιλέων τῶν ἐν τοῖς στέμμασι, usually translated “crowned kings,” but στέμμα more probably here means a genealogical tree.
Agrippa II, before whom St. Paul made his defence. The statement that he died in the third year of Trajan’s reign (100) is objected to on the ground that Josephus’ Autobiography, which gives an account of Justus, was published immediately after the Antiquities (in the reign of Domitian).