The Wrong Side of History

The Bones of Christ, Book 2

By: Tom Cayler

Narrated by: Tom Cayler

This is the second in The Bones of Christ series. It is a first person re-telling of Josephus Flavius's "The Jewish Wars."

Josephus was a— Traitor! Right up there with Benedict Arnold and Judas Iscariot (though some would argue that Judas was only following orders, see: “The Disciple He Loved”).

There is no doubt that Josephus was a traitor, the question is: Why? As governor of Galilee, Josephus defeated the Romans at Beth Horon, northwest of Jerusalem, in 66 A.D., led the people of Jotapata in a heroic resistance against soon-to-be-emperor Vespasian in 68 A.D., then capitulated.

Josephus took Vespasian’s family name, Flavius, and fought with the Romans in the siege of Jerusalem.

Ultimately, Josephus immigrated to Rome where he wrote: “The Jewish Wars” and “Antiquities of the Jews.” Both are classics of the period.

This first-person novel (with footnotes) is written as if Josephus’s outline for “The Jewish Wars” was found in the ruins of one of the eleven synagogues that operated in first century C.E. Rome. The story is propelled by that one question: Why?

©2017 Tom Cayler (P)2025 Tom Cayler