Rise of Zealotry

The Zealots were a Jewish religious and political movement in the first century CE that opposed Roman rule over Judea and rejected paying tribute to Rome. Its roots are traditionally traced to the revolt of Judas of Galilee against the Roman census of Quirinius, and they believed that God alone should rule Israel. The Zealots played a major role in the Great Jewish Revolt that began in 66 CE, when they and other rebel factions fought the Romans and each other in Jerusalem. After the Romans destroyed the Temple in 70 CE, the last rebels held out in the fortress of Masada until its fall in 73 or 74. The movement is known mainly from the works of the historian Josephus, who was critical of them.

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