Antiquities of the Jews is a 20-volume history of the Jews, from their biblical origins through the Jewish-Roman wars of the 1st century CE. Composed in Greek by the Jewish-Roman historian Josephus Flavius at the end of the 1st century CE, the work was intended to explain Judaism to general Greek and Roman audiences and to attest to the Jewish tradition’s wisdom and antiquity. It is considered a vital source of Jewish history, particularly of the late Second Temple period, and of ancient Roman history generally.