city. Those historians also have ventured to describe such
customs as were made use of by them, which they never had either
done or said; and the reason why these writers did not know the
truth of their affairs was this, that they had not any commerce
together; but the reason why they wrote such falsities was this,
that they had a mind to appear to know things which others had
not known. How can it then be any wonder, if our nation was no
more known to many of the Greeks, nor had given them any occasion
to mention them in their writings, while they were so remote from
the sea, and had a conduct of life so peculiar to themselves?

13. Let us now put the case, therefore, that we made use of this
argument concerning the Grecians, in order to prove that their
nation was not ancient, because nothing is said of them in our
records: would not they laugh at us all, and probably give the
same reasons for our silence that I have now alleged, and would
produce their neighbor nations as witnesses to their own
antiquity? Now the very same thing will I endeavor to do; for I
will bring the Egyptians and the Phoenicians as my principal
witnesses, because nobody can complain Of their testimony as
false, on account that they are known to have borne the greatest
ill-will towards us; I mean this as to the Egyptians in general
all of them, while of the Phoenicians it is known the Tyrians
have been most of all in the same ill disposition towards us: yet
do I confess that I cannot say the same of the Chaldeans, since
our first leaders and ancestors were derived from them; and they
do make mention of us Jews in their records, on account of the
kindred there is between us. Now when I shall have made my
assertions good, so far as concerns the others, I will
demonstrate that some of the Greek writers have made mention of