Josephus and the Emperor

In 1932 Lion Feuchtwanger published the novel “The Jewish War,” then in 1935 came “The Sons,” and in 1945—“The Day Will Come.” These books formed a trilogy devoted to the life of the Roman historian and commander of Jewish origin, Josephus Flavius.

Joseph ben Mattathias, the founder of the first temple order in Jerusalem, witnessed terrible events and faced a difficult choice: to accept captivity or to embrace death, to switch to the side of the Romans and betray his faith—or to die. Despite all hardships, he chooses his own path. Living in Rome and benefiting from the patronage of the Flavians, he becomes the most devoted proponent of the unique role of the Jewish people in human history.

The themes of exile from one’s homeland and the place of the Jewish people in the world take on special, personal meaning in the work of Feuchtwanger—the German of Jewish origin who was forced to leave Germany because of the Nazis.