Philo of Alexandria ─ An Intellectual Biography

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

Philo was a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher who left behind one of the richest bodies of work from antiquity, yet his personality and intellectual development have remained a riddle. Maren Niehoff presents the first biography of Philo, arguing that his trip to Rome in 38 CE was a turning point in his life. There he was exposed to not only new political circumstances but also a new cultural and philosophical environment.

Following the po­grom in Alexandria, Philo became active as an intellectual in the capital of the Empire, responding to the challenges of his time and creatively reconstructing his identity, though always maintaining pride in the Jewish tradition. Philo’s trajectory from Alexandria to Rome and his enthusiastic adoption of new modes of thought rendered him a keen figure in the complex negotiation between East and West.

Maren R. Niehoff, Max Cooper Professor of Jewish Thought at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, trained in Jerusalem, Berlin, and Oxford and at the Harvard Society of Fellows. She lives in Jerusalem, Israel.