"The rebels were sustained by the traditional faith of the common people, a religion of radical messages spread by itinerant preachers - messages about the wickedness of the 'sons of darkness', about the breaking of the 'covenant' between God and his people and about an imminent apocalyptic settling of accounts in which the 'sons of righteousness' would rise up against the rich, cleanse the land of oppressors and restore to the people the fruits of their labor."
Sounds to me like something a modern-day commentator might say about a radical militant terrorist group, like Al Queda or some other radical Islamist group opposed to the wicked West .... but it's not. It's from an article entitled "Hadrian and the Limits of Empire," written by Neil Faulkner and published in History Today (Aug 2008) and the rebels in question are first century Jews of Palestine and the diaspora, who had risen up against Roman tax collectors, Greek landlords and fellow Jews perceived as traitors.
Interesting ... ;-)
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