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DESERTION AND DEFECTION. An imaginative portrait of the great Jewish historian Josephus. In the first-century Jewish revolt against Rome, he failed to honor the suicide pact he made with his soldiers. When he was later captured and taken to Rome, he predicted that the Roman commander Vespasian would become emperor. When the prediction proved accurate, Josephus was taken into the imperial family and became known as Flavius Josephus. Thereafter he attempted to restore his reputation among his countrymen through his writings.