Short answers, pulled from the story.
Flavius Josephus was born in Jerusalem to a father named Matthias from the priestly order of Jehoiarib and an aristocratic mother claiming descent from the Hasmonean dynasty. He grew up wealthy and educated alongside his older brother, also named Matthias.
Flavius Josephus took command of Jewish forces in Galilee and trained 65,000 troops while facing internal division between cities like Sepphoris and Tiberias. He eventually surrendered to Flavius Vespasian in July 67 AD after retreating from the siege of Yodfat where he proposed collective suicide for forty companions.
Emperor Vespasian freed Flavius Josephus as a gesture of gratitude after Josephus predicted that Vespasian would become emperor during their captivity at Yodfat. The new emperor granted him Roman citizenship along with accommodation in Judaea and a pension before he adopted the family name Flavius.
Flavius Josephus wrote The Jewish War between AD 75 and 78 as a seven-volume account in Greek covering events from the Maccabees through the fall of Jerusalem and subsequent sieges of Herodion and Masada. The text provides crucial information about figures including Pontius Pilate, John the Baptist, James brother of Jesus, and Jesus himself.
Antiquities of the Jews spans twenty-one volumes covering creation to Flavius Josephus's own time while serving as an apologia defending Jewish antiquity against Greek critics. It extends beyond political history to include institutions, religious practices, and private life alongside explanations of basic Judean laws for a Gentile audience.