SICARI
The Sicarii (“Knife-wielder”, “dagger-wielder”, “dagger-bearer”; from Latin sica = dagger) were a group of the Jews who, in the decades preceding Jerusalem's destruction in 70 CE, conducted a campaign of "terror-kidnapping, extortion, robbery, and murder" against other Jews and Romans, and became known for a reported mass suicide at the Siege of Masada. The Sicarii carried sicae, or small daggers (sickles), concealed in their cloaks; at public gatherings, they pulled out these daggers to attack, blending into the crowd after the deed to escape detection.
The only source for the history of the Sicarii is Josephus. Victims of the Sicarii are said by Josephus to have included the High Priest Jonathan, and 700 Jewish women and children at Ein Gedi.
A relationship between the Zealots and the Sicarii is often stated, but is unclear from the original sources.
The Sicarii are regarded as one of the earliest known organized assassination units of cloak and daggers, predating the Order of Assassins and the Japanese ninja by centuries.
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