He continued to honour me up to the time of his departure from this life, without any abatement in his kindness towards me. . . . Vespasian also presented me with a considerable tract of land in Judæa.
About this time I divorced my wife, being displeased at her behaviour. She had borne me three children, of whom two died; one, whom I named Hyrcanus, is still alive. Afterwards I married a woman of Jewish extraction who had settled in Crete. She came of very distinguished parents, indeed the most notable people in that country. In character she surpassed many of her sex, as her subsequent life showed. By her I had two sons, Justus the elder, and then Simonides, surnamed Agrippa. Such is my domestic history.
A.D. 79
A.D. 81
The treatment which I received from the Emperors
continued unaltered. On Vespasian's decease Titus, who
succeeded to the empire, showed the same esteem for
me as did his father, and never credited the accusations
to which I was constantly subjected. Domitian succeeded
Titus and added to my honours. He punished
my Jewish accusers, and for a similar offence gave orders
for the punishment of a slave who was a eunuch and my
son's tutor. He also exempted my property in Judæa
from taxation—a mark of the highest honour to the
privileged individual. Moreover, Domitia, Cæsar's wife,
never ceased conferring favours upon me.
Such are the events of my whole life; from them let others judge as they will of my character.—Vita 75-76 (414-430).
For further autobiographical details see below, §§ (38), (43), (44),
(46), (48).
