Benedictus Niese

Benedict Niese's prefaces to the Works of Flavius Josephus discuss the date and transmission of the text of Josephus' works and describe in-depth the manuscripts that form the basis of his critical edition, explaining the relationships between them and evaluating their relative worth. This resource compiles the Latin prefatory material from all seven volumes.

This index is taken from Volume 7 of the Niese edition of Josephus' works. It is largely an index of proper names, providing name disambiguation for different parties that happen to be known by the same name. For example, this index records 17 different individuals known by the name of "John" and 20 different individuals known by the name "Jesus" or "Joshua". Such disambiguation proves helpful when discerning what Josephus wrote concerning particular individuals.

The critical apparatus is a textual apparatus that provides witnesses to variant readings found within the available manuscripts of Josephus' works. As such it provides a window to the transmission history of Josephus' works and allows the reader to consult and interact with textual witnesses. This information is invaluable for students of the Second Temple period and as comparative data for textual critics.

Benedict Niese's critical edition of the Works of Flavius Josephus (Flavii Josephi Opera) contains a cross-reference apparatus near the bottom of each page. The design alerts the reader to parallel material in the Old Testament or in other portions of the Works of Flavius Josephus. These portions of the cross-reference apparatus are represented here, in a format that can synchronize and scroll with the Works of Flavius Josephus, either in English or Greek.