Religion and Romans editor Paul Hehn has posted a new profile of Flavius Josephus, the Jewish leader who was conquered by the Roman general Vespasian but then became pals with him anyway. (Conquerors were open-minded in those days.)
Josephus wrote Antiquities of the Jews, a history that happens to mention Jesus of Nazareth in passing. Or probably mentions him; there’s a lively debate among scholars over whether the passages now credited to Josephus were pumped up by Christians (or even added wholesale) later to make Jesus sound more heroic.
Link four of our Josephus profile has an excellent analysis of the controversy. Or read our entire profile.