An ancient Roman history text, translated by Charles Yonge, and written by the Greek philosopher Philo of Alexandria. The Embassy to Gaius was a meeting between Gaius Caligula, the then Roman Emperor, and a large contingent of Jews. They wished to overturn Gaius' plans to have a huge statue of Zeus installed in the temple. Gaius' hatred of the Jews is legendary. This book is important because it helps to understand the relations between Jews and Romans in the first century A.D.

The philosopher Philo was born about 20 BCE to a prominent Jewish family in Alexandria, the chief home of the Jewish Diaspora as well as the chief center of Hellenistic culture; he was trained in Greek as well as Jewish learning. In attempting to reconcile biblical teachings with Greek philosophy he developed ideas that had wide influence on Christian and Jewish religious thought.

Foreword by David M. Scholer is dated May 2008.

Philo's writings are a comprehensive and important source of late Second Temple Judaism. This volume gives important insights into his exegetical works. The structure of the books and their exegetical ideas are seen here as being closely connected and his writings are analysed against the background of the history, variety and outlook of Alexandrian Jewry. Philo's exegesis is a meeting place between Jewish and Greek notions and ideas; tensions are reflected, such as those between particularism and universalism, between specific biblical and historical earthly events and general macro- and micro-cosmic principles, and between heavenly ascents and interpreted history and eschatology. In addition, glimpses are gained of community life in a Hellenistic Jewish community, especially of issues on the borderline between Jews and their non-Jewish surroundings. New Testament material illuminates Philo's broader Jewish context, and in turn Philo throws light on New Testament backgrounds.

This first biography of Philo of Alexandria, one of antiquity's most prolific yet enigmatic authors, traces his intellectual development from Bible interpreter to diplomat in Rome