this post was submitted on 06 Feb 2025
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Rough Roman Memes

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A place to meme about the glorious ROMAN EMPIRE (and Roman Republic, and Roman Kingdom)! Byzantines tolerated! The HRE is not.

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[โ€“] [email protected] 13 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago) (2 children)

Ah, I found the passage. It wasn't Josephus - it was an incident in the Third Jewish Roman War, about 40 years after his death. Later Jewish tradition records the incident as:

Said Samuel: It was at the end of the period of persecution. and they [some fugitives] were hiding in a cave. They proclaimed, "He who would enter, let him enter, but he who would go out, let him not go out." Now, the sandal of one of them became reversed, so that they thought that one of them had gone out and been seen by the enemies, who would now fall upon them. Thereupon they pressed against each other, and they killed of each other more than their enemies slew of them. R. Ila`i b. Eleaza said: They were stationed in a cave when they heard a sound [proceeding] from above the cave. Thinking that the enemy was coming upon them, they pressed against each other and slew amongst themselves more than the enemy had slain of them. Rami b. Ezekiel said: They were stationed in a Synagogue, when they heard a sound from behind the synagogue. Thinking that the enemy was coming upon them, they pressed against each other and slew amongst themselves more than the enemy had slain of them. In that hour it was enacted: A man must not go out with a nail-studded sandal.

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

I don't understand, those hiding thought the enemy was coming so they killed each other?

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 1 hour ago

There was actually a long history of just that in the Jewish-Roman Wars, where the Jewish rebels would often commit mass suicide rather than be captured by the Romans.

But in this case, I believe the source is saying that they crushed/trampled each other in a panic.

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 10 hours ago

the propaganda is real

Thanks!