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Originally Posted by asaris
And wasn't Josephus Jewish, not Roman?
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yes...he appears to be a Pharisaic Jew, born in Jerusalem.
but...during the war, he's captured after he avoid martyrdom. he tells his compadres that its a sin to suicide, so they draw lots to see who kills who. Josephus rigs the draw so he goes last. he then flees to surrender to the romans. he toadys up to vespasian and takes his family name, flavius. his histories are mostly self-defense and to further the cause of the now emperor vespasian.
later christians read his sources, and do some editing/invention to make it look like a confirmation of their beliefs. it's pretty transparent when you read the original text...the stuff is put in very obvious asides that don't further Josephus' point at all...very much out of character with the rest of the text.