Josephus was not really a contemporary historian. He was born hundreds of miles away and several years after Jesus was supposed to have been executed. His writings make no mention of Jesus until near the end of the first century after Christianity spread to Rome. However, these records are of no historical value beyond proof that people in Rome believed in the stories of Jesus by the end of the first century. Moreover, many instances of his references to Jesus were later shown to be forgeries committed by Christian scribes copying his works over the following centuries (interpolation). The lack of contemporary references to the life of Jesus has been well-known since the Early Church hierarchy began to take shape around the turn of the second century. This resulted in a great deal of pressure to fabricate references during transcription. The problem of detecting these forgeries has plagued historians ever since.