Titus Flavius Josephus (37 - c. 100), born Joseph ben Matityahu (Hebrew: יוסף בן מתתיהו, Yosef ben Matityahu), was a first-century Romano-Jewish scholar, historian and hagiographer (A hagiography is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader.), who was born in Jerusalem - then part of Roman Judea--to a father of priestly descent and a mother who claimed royal ancestry. He initially fought against the Romans during the First Jewish-Roman War as head of Jewish forces in Galilee, until surrendering in 67 to Roman forces led by Vespasian after the six-week siege of Jotapata. Josephus claims the Jewish Messianic prophecies that initiated the First Roman-Jewish War made reference to Vespasian becoming Emperor of Rome.