Hegesippus

historian [fl. 4th century]

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Article History

Quick Facts

Flourished:: 4th century

Flourished:: 300 - 399

Subjects Of Study:: Flavius Josephus; “History of the Jewish War”

See all related content

Hegesippus (flourished 4th century) was the supposed author of a free Latin adaptation of the Jewish War of Josephus, under the title De bello Judaico et excidio urbis Hierosolymitanae. The seven books of Josephus are compressed into five, but much has been added from the Antiquities of the Jews, also by Josephus, and from the works of Roman historians, and several entirely new speeches have been introduced to suit the occasion. Internal evidence establishes that the work could not have been written before the 4th century ad. Some authorities attribute it to St. Ambrose, bishop of Milan (c. 339–397), but there is nothing to settle the authorship definitely.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.