Justus of Tiberias

(1st century AD)

   Jewish historian. Justus came from a respected family in Tiberias, which was in the domain of the last of the Herodian dynasty, Agrippa II, tetrarch of the region round the Sea of Galilee. He had a Greek education, and both his name and that of his father, Piscus, are Hellenic and not Hebrew in form.

   In the revolt that broke out in AD 66 Agrippa II remained a loyal ally of Rome, believing that it was futile to oppose its imperial might. Tiberias came under the control of the insurgents and Justus was among the citizens imprisoned by JOSEPHUS, who had been sent by the Jewish government in Jerusalem to take command in the Galilee. Justus escaped to Berytus (Beirut) and became secretary to Agrippa. He wrote his own account of the events in Galilee in the early phases of the war, but made it public only some twenty years later after the death of Emperor Domitian, the last of the Flavian line. Justus was strongly critical of the role of Josephus, who had defected to the Romans when they subdued the Galilee. Josephus then published his own Life, in which he attempted to vindicate himself and was abusive about Justus. Justus also wrote a chronicle of the kings of Israel, but neither of his works has survived.