Jewish Zealot

Name

Professor

Class title

March 15, 2014

Perspective of A Jewish zealot in first century CE Judea

Zealotry is a political movement that seeks to incite the people of Judea Province to rebel against the Roman Empire and expel it from the holy land by force of arms. Josephus was the first to indentify us as the fourth Jewish sect after Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform sects. The word comes from Zealous meaning “Zealous on behalf of God”. As such I am opposed to pagan roman rule and the polytheism they stand for. During the Roman occupation of the holy land, we have stages several revolts, some more successful than others. We are also called Sicarii, from the custom of going about with daggers or "sicae" hidden beneath their cloaks, with which they would stab any one, found committing a sacrilegious act or anything provoking anti-Jewish feeling. (Jewish Encyclopedia)

Our faith consists of belief in a sole God, YAWEH, who has created the Universe and who has chosen to reveal himself to the prophet Moses by means of a rule of life he imposed on it, The Torah. According to our beliefs the earthly destiny of a nation, as well as the eternal salvation of an individual, depends on the observance of this rule of life, through which any relationship to God must take place. Jewish people have lived across the Roman Empire since the second century BC. Julius Caesar and Augustus supported laws that allowed us religious protection. We were allowed to continue our faith and Jewish communities existed from our homeland Judea across the Mediterranean Sea. Since we practice a very different faith from our neighbors we choose to live in very close-nit communities to protect ourselves. Each community has its own synagogue, but the Temple in Jerusalem is the spiritual center of our worship.

Constantine rose to the top of the political ladder until he was able to gain power and become the emperor of Rome through a coup. Then, his mother was able to convince him to mount...