‘jewish doctrine takes three forms’ 143
way. Ananus promptly collected his citizen force, which, though superior
in numbers, in arms and through lack of training was no match for the
Zealots. Ardour, however, supplied either party’s deficiencies ... Thus,
swayed by their passions, they met in conflict ... Any Zealot who was
struck climbed up into the Temple, staining with his blood the sacred
pavement, and it might be said that no blood but theirs defiled the
sanctuary.Within weeks the strife led to the dramatic murder of Ananus, and from
then to the spring of 70 the Zealots were de facto in charge of the inner
Temple and the performance of the sacrifices. Only when the Roman
forces under Titus began their siege of the city just before Passover in 70
ce did the Zealots agree to cooperate with the other Jewish forces
against the common enemy.^54
Josephus, who produced our only account of the actions of the Zeal-
ots during these years, was hardly an objective observer. By 68 ce he
had himself surrendered to the Romans, in response, he said, to a divine
instruction. The only Jewish rebels to whom he was inclined to accord
any legitimacy were the faction led by his old ally Ananus. It is thus
hard to know how much credence to give to his description of the
excesses of the Zealots at the height of the revolt:
With an insatiable lust for loot, they ransacked the houses of the wealthy;
the murder of men and the violation of women were their sport; they
caroused on their spoils, with blood to wash them down, and from mere
satiety unscrupulously indulged in effeminate practices, plaiting their hair
and attiring themselves in women’s apparel, drenching themselves with
perfumes and painting their eyelids to enhance their beauty. And not only
did they imitate the dress, but also the passions of women, devising in their
excess of lasciviousness unlawful pleasures and wallowing as in a brothel
in the city, which they polluted from end to end with their foul deeds. Yet,
while they wore women’s faces, their hands were murderous, and
approaching with mincing steps they would suddenly become warriors
and whipping out their swords from under their dyed mantles transfix
whomever they met.It is unlikely that Josephus would provide his readers with a clear notion
of the religious ideology of Jews whom he despised so intensely, and as
a result their religious views have to be deduced essentially from their
adherents and their actions rather than Josephus’ evaluation.^55
Josephus described the Zealots as brigands, but their leaders appear