re: #577 lostlakehiker

Yes, the British Empire is a better fit. The British Empire that enslaved, despoiled, exterminated local cultures, etc. etc.

The history you have given is strongly of the ‘hindsight is 20/20’ variation, in terms of what came after the revolt. The governors of Judea really were quite fabulously corrupt. What was being offered was not the Pax Romana that held sway in much of the rest of the empire, but a much more oppressive form. The choice being offered to Jews was oppression, slavery, and the slow destruction of their culture, or revolt, with all those attendant dangers.

To call Jews of the time period religious zealots is a little odd. They were certainly no more ‘zealous’ than the Romans were, and the revolt was not on religious grounds per se, but about living conditions— including their religion, but not because of their religion. “A good life” for Jews of the time period would certainly include being able to worship properly. I don’t think it’s a sign of religious zealotry to revolt in order to have the freedom to practice one’s religion.