Antiquities of the Jews 18.3.3 account of the life, crucifixion, and followers of Jesus
The celebrated passage in Flavius Josephus's Antiquities of the Jews describing Jesus as a wise teacher who performed surprising deeds, was condemned to the cross by Pontius Pilate, and whose followers (the tribe of Christians) continue to this day.
Rigorous 4-part empirical analysis separating ancient text from bias and consensus
Antiquities 18.63–64 recounts: 'About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man... He was a worker of startling deeds, a teacher of people who receive the truth gladly. And he gained a following among many Jews and many Greeks... When Pilate, upon hearing him accused by the principal men among us, condemned him to the cross, those who loved him at first did not cease.'
Independent non-Christian historical corroboration of Jesus's ministry as a teacher and healer, his execution under Pontius Pilate with Jewish leadership involvement, and the rapid growth of the Christian movement.
Scholarly consensus (Meier, Vermes, Crossan) holds that an authentic historical core written by Josephus was modified by later Christian scribal glosses (such as 'if indeed it is lawful to call him a man' and 'he was the Christ'). The 10th-century Arabic version by Agapius preserves a more neutral, unembellished original reading.
Josephus wrote in Rome under the patronage of the Flavian emperors (Vespasian, Titus, Domitian); he is generally neutral to mildly curious about early Messianic sects while eager to portray Jewish history positively to a Roman audience.