The sicarii resisted and the Roman’s spent a few months trying to clear the obstructions the sicarii made to climb the mountain. When it became clear the Roman’s would break through, rather than be taken alive, these zealots slaughtered their wives, children and then killed themselves.

April 09, 2026 - 23:18 UTC

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reminds me of the simplistic story of jonestown people "drinking the kool-aid" [really flavor-aid, iirc] that omits the way caregivers inflicted this on children and elders, and the way some people were forced into it not by groupthink but by men with guns
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This story is now told, albeit with more grandiosity, in Israel as a national symbol of courage and resistance.

So our conversation on the mountain revolved around this.

Our counselor said “doesn’t it take bravery to do this? To die for your beliefs?” I was aghast. And said I thought he was nuts.
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“Bravery?” I said. “Was it brave for goebbels and his wife to slaughter their children so they could die with Hitler?”

“That’s totally different” he replied.

I disagreed and the group groaned so I left it alone. But it stuck with me as a lasting impression over the years of what Israel is.
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OG family annihilators
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It’s so wild how that story is told on Masada vs the actual story. Like it’s straight up a “Roman’s vs Jews” thing on Masada, while it’s clearly just ancient Ammon Bundy if he was Jewish and liked killing and pillaging other Jews for not being Jewish enough for him.
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