Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

ZEALOTS • 711of Luke also mentioned one of the disciples of Jesus as being one“Simon who was called the Zealot” (Luke 6:15), while later Romanhistorians recorded two subsequent revolts in Judea as late as thesecond century that recalled the tactics of the Zealots. At least twoseparate groups were known as the Sicarii while another group wasknown as the Zealots, but their common tactics and goals suggestthat these various groups were either independent manifestationsof a continuing resurgence movement in Judea or cellular groupsemanating from the same organized conspiracy.The tactics of the Zealots included assassination in broad daylightof Roman officials and members of the Temple priesthood, usuallyby stabbing with a dagger (sica) in the midst of milling crowds intowhich the assassin then escaped. They also took hostages for ransomand extorted protection payments from Jewish landowners. Finally,they engaged both in guerrilla warfare and in open engagementswith Roman troops. The Zealots also resorted to the first recordedinstances of the tactic of mass passive resistance by staging sit-indemonstrations involving unarmed men, women, and children in thestreets of Jerusalem to protest instances of Roman disregard for Jewishreligious sensitivities. The Zealots timed both their assassinationsand these protests to coincide with certain holy days during whichJerusalem would be packed with throngs of Jewish pilgrims. Romanofficials were faced with the dilemma of backing away from confrontation,in which case more resistance to Roman authority wouldbe encouraged, or employing force against civilians, so providing theZealots with more instances of Roman sacrileges with which to fueltheir cause. These efforts prefigured later efforts by modern urbanguerrilla groups to instigate mass uprisings by provoking authoritiesinto indiscriminate repression in reprisal for terrorist attacks.Despite the success of the Zealots in provoking the mass revoltagainst Roman rule in Judea, ultimately Roman forces besieged anddestroyed Jerusalem, including the Second Temple, and killed orenslaved the surviving Jewish population in the countryside, the survivingmembers of which were sent into exile. Josephus recorded thatmore than 900 Zealots were besieged in the fortress of Masada near thesouthern end of the Dead Sea. When capture of the fortress by Romanforces following a three-year-long siege seemed imminent, the Zealotsreportedly committed mass suicide rather than allowing themselves tobe enslaved by the Romans. See also MILLENNIALISM.