He's responding to the claims of a writer named Apion, who seems to have a real bone to pick with the Jews of Alexandria.
Apion, you see, is going after the Alexandrian Jews, criticizing their origins and their place in the city. He says they “came out of Syria, and inhabited near the tempestuous sea, and were in the neighborhood of the dashing of the waves.” Now, Josephus is having none of it. Is Apion really trying to diss the location? Seriously? As Josephus points out, everyone knows that the part of Alexandria near the sea is prime real estate!
But it gets worse. Apion’s implying that the Jews somehow seized that land. Josephus sets the record straight. It wasn't taken by force. Alexander the Great himself granted them that land and equal rights with the Macedonians! Imagine having the founder of the city welcoming you.
Josephus then gets really fired up. What if the Jews lived somewhere less desirable, like Necropolis? Would Apion be happier then? And what about the fact that they were even called Macedonians? It's a clear indication of their acceptance.
He then brings up the receipts. Where are Apion's facts? Has he even bothered to read the letters of Alexander, Ptolemy, or any of the subsequent rulers? What about the pillar in Alexandria that spells out all the privileges granted to the Jews by Julius Caesar? If Apion knew these things and still wrote this nonsense, Josephus says, "he hath shown himself to be a wicked man; but if he knew nothing of these records, he hath shown himself to be a man very ignorant." Ouch.
And Apion also seems confused about how Jews can even be called Alexandrians. To this, Josephus patiently explains that colonists often take the names of those who brought them to their new homes. It's like the Jews of Antioch being called Antiochians because Seleucus, the city's founder, granted them privileges. Or the Jews in Ephesus who share the same name as the original inhabitants. Even the Romans, Josephus says, were so generous that they allowed entire nations like the Iberi, Tyrrheni, and Sabini to call themselves Romans!
Josephus then throws down the gauntlet: if Apion rejects this way of obtaining citizenship, then maybe he should stop calling himself an Alexandrian! How can someone born in the heart of Egypt claim that title if he wants to deny it to others? Especially, Josephus notes, since the Romans, the current rulers, have actually forbidden Egyptians from having the privileges of any city. It's a bit rich for Apion to want those same privileges for himself, while simultaneously trying to strip them from those who rightfully earned them.
The core of Josephus’s defense is that Alexander didn’t just bring the Jews to Alexandria out of necessity. He chose them because they were virtuous and loyal. Josephus then brings in another source, Hecataeus, who said that Alexander honored the Jewish nation so much that he exempted Samaria from tribute because of their equity and fidelity.
Even Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, trusted the Jews, entrusting them with the fortresses of Egypt and sending them to secure Cyrene and other Libyan cities. And his successor, Ptolemy Philadelphus, not only freed Jewish captives but also sought to understand Jewish law, commissioning Demetrius Phalereus, Andreas, and Aristeas to translate the sacred scriptures. Why, Josephus asks, would Ptolemy go to such lengths to learn about Jewish law and philosophy if he despised the people who practiced it?
So, what do we take away from this? It's more than just a historical squabble. It's about belonging, about the right to a place, about the power of historical narratives. Josephus isn't just defending the Jews of Alexandria; he's defending the very idea of a diverse and inclusive society, one where people are judged not by their origins but by their character and contributions. And that's a fight that, sadly, still resonates today.
4. But let us now see what those heavy and wicked crimes are which Apion charges upon the Alexandrian Jews. "They came [says he] out of Syria, and inhabited near the tempestuous sea, and were in the neighborhood of the dashing of the waves." Now if the place of habitation includes any thing that is reproached, this man reproaches not his own real country,
[Egypt,] but what he pretends to be his own country, Alexandria; for all are agreed in this, that the part of that city which is near the sea is the best part of all for habitation. Now if the Jews gained that part of the city by force, and have kept it hitherto without impeachment, this is a mark of their valor; but in reality it was Alexander himself that gave them that place for their habitation, when they obtained equal privileges there with the Macedonians. Nor call I devise what Apion would have said, had their habitation been at Necropolis? and not been fixed hard by the royal palace [as it is]; nor had their nation had the denomination of Macedonians given them till this very day [as they have]. Had this man now read the epistles of king Alexander, or those of Ptolemy the son of Lagus, or met with the writings of the succeeding kings, or that pillar which is still standing at Alexandria, and contains the privileges which the great [Julius] Caesar bestowed upon the Jews; had this man, I say, known these records, and yet hath the impudence to write in contradiction to them, he hath shown himself to be a wicked man; but if he knew nothing of these records, he hath shown himself to be a man very ignorant: nay, when lie appears to wonder how
Jews could be called Alexandrians, this is another like instance of his ignorance; for all such as are called out to be colonies, although they be ever so far remote from one another in their original, receive their names from those that bring them to their new habitations. And what occasion is there to speak of others, when those of us Jews that dwell at Antioch are named Antiochians, because Seleucns the founder of that city gave them the privileges belonging thereto? After the like manner do those Jews that inhabit Ephesus, and the other cities of Ionia, enjoy the same name with those that were originally born there, by the grant of the succeeding princes; nay, the kindness and humanity of the Romans hath been so great, that it hath granted leave to almost all others to take the same name of Romans upon them; I mean not particular men only, but entire and large nations themselves also; for those anciently named
Iberi, and Tyrrheni, and Sabini, are now called Romani. And if Apion reject this way of obtaining the privilege of a citizen of Alexandria, let him abstain from calling himself an Alexandrian hereafter; for otherwise, how can he who was born in the very heart of Egypt be an
Alexandrian, if this way of accepting such a privilege, of which he would have us deprived, be once abrogated? although indeed these
Romans, who are now the lords of the habitable earth, have forbidden the
Egyptians to have the privileges of any city whatsoever; while this fine fellow, who is willing to partake of such a privilege himself as he is forbidden to make use of, endeavors by calumnies to deprive those of it that have justly received it; for Alexander did not therefore get some of our nation to Alexandria, because he wanted inhabitants for this his city, on whose building he had bestowed so much pains; but this was given to our people as a reward, because he had, upon a careful trial, found them all to have been men of virtue and fidelity to him; for, as
Hecateus says concerning us, "Alexander honored our nation to such a degree, that, for the equity and the fidelity which the Jews exhibited to him, he permitted them to hold the country of Samaria free from tribute. Of the same mind also was Ptolemy the son of Lagus, as to those
Jews who dwelt at Alexandria." For he intrusted the fortresses of Egypt into their hands, as believing they would keep them faithfully and valiantly for him; and when he was desirous to secure the government of
Cyrene, and the other cities of Libya, to himself, he sent a party of
Jews to inhabit in them. And for his successor Ptolemy, who was called
Philadelphus, he did not only set all those of our nation free who were captives under him, but did frequently give money [for their ransom]; and, what was his greatest work of all, he had a great desire of knowing our laws, and of obtaining the books of our sacred Scriptures; accordingly, he desired that such men might be sent him as might interpret our law to him; and, in order to have them well compiled, he committed that care to no ordinary persons, but ordained that Demetrius
Phalereus, and Andreas, and Aristeas; the first, Demetrius, the most learned person of his age, and the others, such as were intrusted with the guard of his body; should take care of this matter: nor would he certainly have been so desirous of learning our law, and the philosophy of our nation, had he despised the men that made use of it, or had he not indeed had them in great admiration.
