Rise of the Jewish Assassin

 

During the second temple time period when the Jewish people were under Roman domination, there arose a group of Jewish assassins who were much the for father of modern day terrorism. Their tactics were not the use of guerrilla warfare to take down enemy Roman soldiers but rather their target were the wealthy Jewish Elite Sadducees who were allied with the Roman, plus some rich Romans themselves.

The book goes into details about the first Jewish Revolt and how Pompei destroyed the first rebellion. The book also goes into some of the power struggles that beset the Roman provinces and the Herodian dynasty. There were many Jewish groups that rose during this time. The three main groups are the Sadducees, Essenes, and Pharisees.  

The Sadducees were the elite temple priesthood who were allied with Rome and helped them keep the grip on Judea.  The Essenes were troubled by the corruption of the temple practices, so they moved off towards En Gedi and the Dead Sea area. They practiced celibacy and wore all white. The Pharisees are the only sect to have survived and they morphed into Rabbinic Judaism.

Out of all this there arose the zealots. They fought against the Romans by using terror, and guerilla warfare tactics. It is not sure if the Zealots were the same as the Sicarii or if the Sicarii are an offshoot of the Zealots.

One of the main historians to record the deeds of the Sicarii is Josephus. Since he was a Greek Jew allied with the elite. Per his background he wrote rather negatively of the Sicarii. He thought of them as rogues, poor bandits. In reality some the zealots may have been bandits. The defenders at Masada were supposedly Sicarii. They chose death over surrender.

The revolt against the Romans may have been nationalistic but there was a class struggle going on as the pro-Roman Jews were wealthy while those in opposition were from the poorer classes. During the siege of Jerusalem the Sicarii took over the temple and fortified it. The siege against Jerusalem by the Romans was long lasting. Not only was it Jews against Romans but it was also Jews against jews. After the siege and the defeat at Masada some of the Sicarii fled to Alexandria in Egypt and other places in Libya.

There was anti Jewish sentiment in Alexandria. The Jews were forced to put up images of Cesar in their synagogues.  Jewish refusal fueled programs against the Jewish community. Josephus likes to blame the Sicarii for the revolt and all that befell the Jewish people. I would say it was Roman oppression and interference of Jewish life that sparked the revolt.