Josephus was a Jewish historian who helped prepare Galilee for the revolt against Rome in 66 A.D. In 67, he checked the advance of Vespasian, the Roman general who would soon be emperor, defending the fortress of Jotapata for forty-seven days before surrendering. He would probably have been killed, but he prophesied that Vespasian would someday become emperor. The general spared his life, and Josephus adopted his captor's family name, Flavius. He continued to enjoy imperial patronage under Vespasian's son Titus and later Domitian, living in Rome and writing his voluminous works, which include Wars of the Jews, Antiquities of the Jews, an autobiography, and Against Apion, a defense of the Jews against the Greek grammarian Apion.