1 Ἐμοὶ δὲ γένος ἐστὶν οὐκ ἄσημον, ἀλλ' ἐξ ἱερέων ἄνωθεν καταβεβηκός. ὥσπερ δ' ἡ παρ' ἑκάστοις ἄλλη τίς ἐστιν εὐγενείας ὑπόθεσις, οὕτως παρ' ἡμῖν ἡ τῆς ἱερωσύνης μετουσία τεκμήριόν ἐστιν γένους λαμπρότητος.

2 ἐμοὶ δ' οὐ μόνον ἐξ ἱερέων ἐστὶν τὸ γένος, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐκ τῆς πρώτης ἐφημερίδος τῶν εἰκοσιτεσσάρων, πολλὴ δὲ κἀν τούτῳ διαφορά, καὶ τῶν ἐν ταύτῃ δὲ φυλῶν ἐκ τῆς ἀρίστης. ὑπάρχω δὲ καὶ τοῦ βασιλικοῦ γένους ἀπὸ τῆς μητρός: οἱ γὰρ Ἀσαμωναίου παῖδες, ὧν ἔγγονος ἐκείνη, τοῦ ἔθνους ἡμῶν ἐπὶ μήκιστον χρόνον ἠρχιεράτευσαν καὶ ἐβασίλευσαν.

3 ἐρῶ δὲ τὴν διαδοχήν: ὁ πρόπαππος ἡμῶν Σίμων ὁ Ψελλὸς ἐπικαλούμενος. οὗτος ἐγένετο καθ' ὃν καιρὸν ἠρχιεράτευσεν Σίμωνος ἀρχιερέως ὁ παῖς, ὃς πρῶτος ἀρχιερέων Ὑρκανὸς ὠνομάσθη.

4 γίνονται δὲ τῷ Ψελλῷ Σίμωνι παῖδες ἐννέα: τούτων ἐστὶν Ματθίας ὁ Ἠφαίου λεγόμενος: οὗτος ἠγάγετο πρὸς γάμον θυγατέρα Ἰωνάθου ἀρχιερέως τοῦ πρώτου ἐκ τῶν Ἀσαμωναίου παίδων γένους ἀρχιερατεύσαντος τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ Σίμωνος τἀρχιερέως, καὶ γίνεται παῖς αὐτῷ Ματθίας ὁ Κυρτὸς ἐπικληθεὶς ἄρχοντος Ὑρκανοῦ τὸν πρῶτον ἐνιαυτόν.

5 τούτου γίνεται Ἰώσηπος ἐνάτῳ ἔτει τῆς Ἀλεξάνδρας ἀρχῆς, καὶ Ἰωσήπου Ματθίας βασιλεύοντος Ἀρχελάου τὸ δέκατον, Ματθία δὲ ἐγὼ τῷ πρώτῳ τῆς Γαί̈ου Καίσαρος ἡγεμονίας. ἐμοὶ δὲ παῖδές εἰσιν τρεῖς, Ὑρκανὸς μὲν ὁ πρεσβύτατος ἔτει τετάρτῳ τῆς Οὐεσπασιανοῦ Καίσαρος ἡγεμονίας, ἑβδόμῳ δὲ Ἰοῦστος, ἐνάτῳ δὲ Ἀγρίππας.

6 τὴν μὲν τοῦ γένους ἡμῶν διαδοχήν, ὡς ἐν ταῖς δημοσίαις δέλτοις ἀναγεγραμμένην εὗρον, οὕτως παρατίθεμαι τοῖς διαβάλλειν ἡμᾶς πειρωμένοις χαίρειν φράσας.

1Now¹ in my case, my ancestry² is rather distinguished,³ having originated with priests⁴ long ago. Just as the basis of noble birth⁵ is different among various [nations], so also among us membership⁶ in the priesthood is a certain proof⁷ of an ancestry’s brilliance.⁸

2Now in my case, my ancestry is not merely from priests; it is also from the first day-course of the twenty-four⁹ —an enormous distinction, this¹⁰ —and indeed, from the most élite¹¹ of the divisions¹² within this [course]. Further,¹³ I have a share of royal ancestry from my mother¹⁴ because the children of Asamoneus,¹⁵ of whom she was a descendant,¹⁶ for a very long time served as high priests and exercised the kingship of our nation.¹⁷

3I shall state¹⁸ the succession,¹⁹ then. Our patriarch was Simon, who was surnamed Psellus.²⁰ This man lived in the period when the son of the high priest Simon²¹ served as high priest—he was the first of the high priests named Hyrcanus.²²

4Simon Psellus had* nine children. [One] of these was* Matthias,²³ known as “of Epheus.”²⁴ This man took for himself²⁵ the daughter of the high priest Ionathes²⁶ —the first of the children of Asamonaeus’ ancestry to serve as high priest and the brother of Simon the high priest²⁷ —into marriage. Then in the first year of Hyrcanus’ rule,²⁸ he [Matthias] had* a child Matthias, surnamed Curtus.²⁹

5From this man came* Josephus,³⁰ in the ninth year of Alexandra’s rule;³¹ from Josephus, Matthias, in the tenth year of Archelaus’ reign;³² and I from Matthias, in the first year of Gaius Caesar’s³³ imperium.³⁴ I have three sons: Hyrcanus,³⁵ the oldest, from the fourth year,³⁶ Iustus³⁷ from the eighth year,³⁸ and Agrippa³⁹ from the ninth year⁴⁰ of the imperium of Vespasian Caesar.⁴¹

6I thus present the succession⁴² of our ancestry as I have found it recorded in the public registers,⁴³ sending a greeting⁴⁴ to those who try to malign us.⁴⁵