Terrorism and Theocracy: The Radical Resistance Movement against Roman Rule in Judea

Abstract

This chapter discusses a case of ancient terrorism, the fight of the most radical branch of the Judean resistance movement against Roman rule in the first century ce by means of kidnapping and assassination. Ancient Judean terrorism was not only provoked by the foreign occupation, but also fed on the fertile ground of social antagonisms within Judean society. The zealot ideology of the Sicarii was fueled by theocratic, even apocalyptic beliefs, closely intertwined with radically egalitarian visions of society. Spectacular actions against the Roman Empire and its indigenous collaborators finally instigated the Judean War. Though modern terrorism has many different facets, the religiously motivated Islamic type shows parallels with the ancient Judean paradigm—in methods, but even more in ideology, which is based on comparable political and social conditions.