If we wanted to approach Josephus with the question “Is his work accurate?” his distances would be an obvious place to start. His distances have often been used to successfully identify sites: Josephus claims that A is 30 stadia (ca. 6 km) from B, but if a candidate for B is actually 37.5 stadia (ca. 7.5 km) from A, we look for a better option. Here as always we need to understand the nature of our evidence before using it in historical reasoning.

Josephus nowhere explains his method or sources for indicating distance. His main unit of distance measurement is the stadion, and if we review all occurrences of numbered stadia (plural) in his works, some general patterns suggest themselves. The word appears 121 times in total, although in a few cases it refers to a stadium facility or to an undefined number (“many stadia” etc.). Below are all the passages that give numbered stadia as measurements. The figures down the left side are not ordinals. They are the numbers of stadia given by Josephus in the corresponding passages to the right.

1: Ant. 15.415; Life. 399

2: War 2.189; 5.133, 134, 270; Ant. 7.225, 243

3: War 3.245; 5.68; Ant. 20.95

4: Ant. 9.225; 15.400; Life. 64, 322

5: Ant. 20.169; Life.. 398

6: War 4.533; 5.70, 192

7: War 2.528; 3.146; 5.68; 7.286; Ant. 19.340

10: Ant. 5.20

20: War 1.403, 425; 3.521; 4.107, 467, 659; Ant. 5.140; 7.34, 312; 10.114; 15.297; Life. 118, 265, 395

30: War 2.386, 551; 3.447, 521; 4.3, 44, 615; 5.51; 7.101, 217, 284; Ant. 5.139; 12.408; 19.6; Life. 157, 281, 349

33: War 5.159

40: War 3.506; 5.508; Ant. 7.283; 8.303; Life. 234

50: War 2.516; Ant. 5.20; 13.175; Apion 1.197

60: War 1.265, 419; 2.188, 291, 338; 4.3, 474; Ant. 4.112; 5.4; 14.359; 15.324; Life. 115, 214, 349

70: War 1.673; 4.467; Ant. 12.369

80: Ant. 13.276; 17.199

90: War 5.523; 6.5; Ant. 18.365

100: War 2.188; 6.151, 375; Ant. 18.179; 20.113

120: War 2.188; 3.510, 515; 4.456; 7.229; Life. 349

140: War 3.506

150/ War 4.474, 482; Ant. 13.390

160:

180: War 7.426

200: Ant. 18.60

230: War 4.456

300: War 4.613; Ant. 9.7; 15.168

400: War 2.175

520: War 3.10

580: War 4.482

600: War 1.79; Ant. 13.312

2000: War 4.610

3600: War 4.610

From this inventory several patterns become clear.