Sicarii

The Sicarii were a group of Jewish assassins who were active throughout Judaea in the years leading up to and during the First Jewish–Roman War, which took place at the end of the Second Temple period. Often associated with the Zealots (although this relationship is uncertain), they conducted a high-profile campaign of targeted assassinations of Romans and of Jews who collaborated with them. They later became notorious for a reported mass suicide during the Siege of Masada. The group's signature weapon and namesake was a type of large dagger known as a sica, which they concealed in their cloaks before attacking their targets at public gatherings, thereafter blending in with the crowds to escape undetected.

Other than the Roman-era Jewish historian Josephus, there are no sources for the history and activities of the Sicarii. According to Josephus's account, the Sicarii's victims may have included Jonathan the High Priest, who was assassinated inside of the Second Temple shortly after being designated as the High Priest of Israel; and more than 700 Jewish women and children at Ein Gedi on the Dead Sea.

To date, the Sicarii are one of the earliest known organized "cloak and dagger" assassination forces, predating the Order of Assassins and the ninjas (among other examples) by many centuries. Due to there only being a single source on the group, their true allegiances and motives remain subjects of discussion among historians. The group is not believed to have engaged in open conflict beyond Masada and possibly the Zealot Temple siege, when they executed any Jews advocating surrender to the Roman army.

In modern Israel, the legacy of the Sicarii was widely reviewed as part of the Masada myth, which asserts that the group was entirely dedicated to preserving Jewish national dignity during the Jewish–Roman wars. While it served as a means of promoting feelings of resilience and nationalist pride in ancient Jewish history, the narrative has been scrutinized for downplaying Josephus's description of the Sicarii's fanaticism and murders of numerous innocent Jews. However, the popularity of the Masada myth in Israeli society has waned since the late 20th century due to the Sicarii's extremist connotations, which inspired Jewish terrorist groups like the Sicarii of 1989–1990, who claimed responsibility for a number of attacks against Palestinians and against Israelis who expressed support for the Israeli–Palestinian peace process.