I was brought up with Matthias, my own brother by both parents, and made great progress in my education, gaining a reputation for an excellent memory and understanding. [Sidenote: A.D. 51-2] While still a mere boy, about fourteen years old, I won universal applause for my love of letters; insomuch that the chief priests and the leading men of the city used constantly to meet in order to obtain from me more accurate information on some particular in our legal institutions. [Sidenote: A.D. 53-4] At about the age of sixteen I determined to gain personal experience of the several sects into which our nation is divided. These, as I[64] have frequently mentioned, are three in number—the first that of the Pharisees, the second that of the Sadducees, and the third that of the Essenes. I thought that, after a thorough investigation, I should be in a position to select the best. So I submitted myself to hard training and laborious exercises and passed through the three courses. Not content, however, with the experience thus gained, on hearing of one named Bannus, who dwelt in the wilderness, wearing only such raiment as trees provided, feeding on such things as grew of themselves, and using frequent ablutions of cold water, by day and night, for purity’s sake, I became his ardent disciple. With him I lived for three years and, having accomplished my purpose, returned to the city. [Sidenote: A.D. 56-7] Being now in my nineteenth year I began to govern my life by the rules of the Pharisees, a sect which is akin to that which the Greeks call the Stoic school.—_Vita_ 2 (8-12). Footnote 64: Lit. “we.” For the various descriptions of the Jewish sects see §§ (53)-(55). (2) A Shipwreck on the Voyage to Rome. The Eve of the War Josephus meets with the same fate as St. Paul within a few years of the event so graphically described in Acts xxvii. [Sidenote: _c._ A.D. 64]