In the centuries of imperial conquests in the
Eastern Mediterranean, first by
Alexander and his
successors (see
Hellenistic period) and then by the
Romans, a phenomenon arose among the literate elites of the various civilizations that were incorporated into the newly formed imperial states. This took the form of historians from different cultures (typically Egyptian,
Jewish, or Greek) writing histories in the form of
polemics, with each author claiming his own civilization as the world's oldest, a designation that—to the authors and audience of these works—would serve as proof of cultural supremacy.
Against Apion was Josephus's contribution to the polemical discourse, and also a work of Jewish
apologetics, an earlier example of which are the works of
Philo of Alexandria (c. 20 BCE – c. 50 CE.)
Against Apion is a wide-ranging defense of
Judaism against charges laid against Judaism in Josephus's time. Josephus stressed Judaism's antiquity as a
classical religion and philosophy, and opposed it to what he perceived as the more recent—and so less venerable—traditions of the Greeks.
Against Apion cites Josephus' earlier work
Antiquities of the Jews, so can be dated after 94 CE. == Sources ==