Antiquities 20.9.1 is more about the young High Priest Ananus and his quick removal from the priesthood b/c of his unjustified stoning of James and others.
The interest in this passage is b/c of the mention of James as "the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James"
Who this James was, and his significance, is not fully clear ...... this younger Ananus, who, as we have told you already, took the high priesthood, was a bold man in his temper, and very insolent; he was also of the sect of the Sadducees, who are very rigid in judging offenders, above all the rest of the Jews, as we have already observed; when, therefore, Ananus was of this disposition, he thought he had now a proper opportunity. Festus was now dead, and Albinus was but upon the road; so he assembled the sanhedrin of judges, and brought before them the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James, and some others; and when he had formed an accusation against them as breakers of the law, he delivered them to be stoned: but as for those who seemed the most equitable of the citizens, and such as were the most uneasy at the breach of the laws, they disliked what was done; they also sent to the king, desiring him to send to Ananus that he should act so no more, for that what he had already done was not to be justified; nay, some of them went also to meet Albinus, as he was upon his journey from Alexandria, and informed him that it was not lawful for Ananus to assemble a sanhedrin without his consent. Whereupon Albinus complied with what they said, and wrote in anger to Ananus, and threatened that he would bring him to punishment for what he had done; on which king Agrippa took the high priesthood from him ...
Palestinian Jewish Christian Hegesippus (100-180 CE), portions of whose five books of early Church history only survive in passages cited by Eusebius, tells us
"There were many James', but this one...the Lord's brother...was Holy from his birth. Everyone from the Lord's time till our own has called him the Righteous," and that "ecause of his unsurpassable Righteousness he was called the Righteous, and Oblias," (E.H. 2.23)
Clement of Rome (30-97 CE), or someone purporting to be him, addresses his letter in the non-canonical pseudo-Clementine Homilies of Clement to "James... the Bishop of Bishops, who rules Jerusalem, the Holy Assembly of the Hebrews and the Assemblies everywhere," as does Peter similarly in his Homilies letter.
http://www.thenazareneway.com/james_the ... _jesus.htm
The account of the stoning of James given by Hegesippus in the second century is different, and Hegesippus's version elevates the significance of Jame's death & matyrdom to the start of the siege of Jerusalem .... John Meier writes:
"According to Hegesippus, the scribes and Pharisees cast James down from the battlement of the Jerusalem temple. They begin to stone him but are constrained by a priest; finally a laundryman clubs James to death (2.32.12-18). James's martyrdom, says Hegesippus, was followed immediately by Vespasian's siege of Jerusalem (AD. 70)."
Meier, John P (1991). A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus, v. 1 (New York: Doubleday) p58.
Though
... the text attributed to Hegesippus, with the account of the fall of Jerusalem following the death of James, may have previously circulated under the name of Josephus.
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/testimonium.html
Jerome, in Illustrious Men, concurs with the 'Hegesippus account' - "Josephus records the tradition that this James was of so great sanctity and reputation among the people that the downfall of Jerusalem was believed to be on account of his death."
as does Wataru Mizugaki ...
"Origen appreciates Josephus by noting that he has 'researched on the cause of the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple' and concludes that Josephus is 'not far from the truth' in concluding that the reason for the calamity was the assassination of James the Just by the Jews", in "Origen and Josephus" by Wataru Mizugaki (p. 329), in Louis H. Feldman, Gohei Hata (editors), Josephus, Judaism and Christianity (Wayne State University Press, 1987). ISBN 0-8143-1831-2
... and John Painter (1997), Just James: The Brother of Jesus in History and Tradition, page 205 (Fortress Press). ISBN 0-567-08697-6
The James in Antiquities 20.9.1 may well be the basis for James the Just
The vague reference to "Jesus, who was called Christ" - whether authentically by Josephus, or as a scribal emendation or interpolation - seems to be distinct from the later reference to Ananus's successor, Jesus ben Damneus.
Could the 'vague Jesus' in Antiquities 20 have been a contemporary of 'James' - Jesus ben Ananias / Ananus / Annanus - who we know from Josephus's War of the Jews 6.5.3, where Albinus is also recorded in a disciplinary role.
In those times, brother often meant more than sibling.
Has this been discussed elsewhere? What do people think of this proposal?
add - Could Jesus ben Ananius/Ananus/Annanus be related to Ananus the High Priest in Antiquities 20.6.1, or be a character derived from him?
.