Joseph r sicarii biography of martin

For other uses, see Sicarius.

Jewish Zealots who militantly resisted Roman occupation

The Sicarii^[a] (“Knife-wielder”, “dagger-wielder”, “dagger-bearer”; from Latin sica = dagger) were a group of JewishZealots, who, in the final decades of the Second Temple period, conducted a campaign of targeted assassinations and kidnappings of Roman officials in Judea and of Jews who collaborated with the Roman Empire.

They later became known for a reported mass suicide at the Siege of Masada. The Sicarii carried sicae, or small daggers (sickles), concealed in their cloaks;^[1] at public gatherings, they pulled out these daggers to attack, blending into the crowd after the deed to escape detection.

The only source for the history of the Sicarii is Josephus. Victims of the Sicarii are said by Josephus to have included the High PriestJonathan, and 700 Jewish women and children at Ein Gedi.^[2][3]

A relationship between the Zealots and the S