Calgary, March 2023
The four horsemen of apocalypse are called Conquest, War, Famine and Death. They are riding in the sky, observing how people down on Earth comply with their demands. They always have been there and will keep on riding in the sky forever. They will never disappear.
The old soldier thought he has seen it all, that nothing could surprise him. He participated in the war against the Jewish rebellion in the land of Judea, where the population refused to accept the supremacy of the all-mighty Roman empire. He saw the destruction of Jerusalem, the capitol of Judea and the centre of the Jewish resistance. The destruction was caused more by the civil war between Jews themselves then by the enemy. Part of population of Jerusalem wanted to negotiate with Romans but was attracted by the hard-liners, called Zealots, who were against any kind of peace agreement. Therefore, all what the Romans had to do was to wait for the civil war to weaken the defence and then take and destroy the city. But a small group of Zealots, about 1000 people, managed to escape and went south of Jerusalem to a fortress at the top of a hill. There, under the leadership of rebel leader Eleazar Ben-Yair, they planned to continue the resistance. It was there, on the top of that hill, where the old soldier was standing, and even he was surprised by the devastation all around him. The settlement was destroyed and there were corpses everywhere. Men, women, children. But the devastation was not caused by the Romans, there was no battle. It was all done by the rebels themselves.
It wasn’t supposed to end like this. The Roman emperor didn’t want to win the campaign against the Jewish uprising by mass suicide of the enemy. There was no glory in that. What the emperor Vespasian wanted was the surrender of the Jewish resistance in exchange for some kind of concessions, but he certainly couldn’t tolerate enemy fortress in the middle of his empire. By that time the uprising was already defeated and the fortress on the hill couldn’t resist much longer, so the emperor sent one of his legions, commanded by general Lucius Flavius Silva to finish the job. But as it turned out, finishing the job wasn’t that easy. The rebels rejected the demands for surrender and to starve them to submission would take a long time. To speed things up, general Silva decided to build a ramp to position his wall-battering machines to breach the defender’s fortifications. It took Romans only about six weeks to do that and they were ready for an attack. But general Silva still hoped to convince the rebels to surrender. If his soldiers attack the fortress, they will kill everybody, there will be no parade of prisoners and no glory for him. Therefore, he called the old soldier to come to his headquarters.
“Legionary, you have been with us for a long time, you know our ways and you know the enemy. I need you for a secret mission. I want the fortress to surrender without the bloodshed and for that I must talk to their leader, Eleazar Ben-Yair. I want you to deliver him a message,” and Silva gave the soldier a letter.
It wasn’t an easy task to accomplish. The defenders had guards at all approaches to the fortress and would kill anybody trying to enter. But the old soldier knew his ways. He found a secret passage, got to the entrance of the fortress, gave the letter to a guard, whispered: “this is for your leader” and disappeared in the darkness.
When Eleazar Ben-Yair read the message, his firs instinct was to reject it. He wouldn’t negotiate with the enemy. But the message promised him a safe passag and suggested negotiations, not the surrender. Perhaps it would be worthwhile to listen what the Roman general has to say. Therefore, at the given place and time he was met by the same old soldier, who took him to the general Silva’s tent.
“So, Eleazar Ben-Yair. What do you intend to do?” asked the general.
“We will fight you.”
“How many soldiers do you have?”
“There is about 1000 of us and we all will fight you.”
“I have 16,000 soldiers. How do you expect to defeat us?”
“God will help us.”
“How many soldiers your God have?”
“Enough,” and Eleazar Ben-Yair was going to leave, but Silva grabbed his arm. “Sit down!”
“You promised me a safe passage.”
“Yes, but only after we agree on something. You have 1000 people up there, men, women, children, and you are responsible for their lives. If my soldiers attack, they will kill everybody. Don’t you fell anything for you people?”
“Yes, I feel for their souls, and we will receive you the way our God demands.”
Silva didn’t know what that it meant, but it was obvious there wouldn’t be any more negotiations. The old soldier guided Eleazar Ben-Yair back to the fortress and the next day Silva ordered to breach the fortress fortification, but not to attack the inhabitants. The Romans expected some resistance, but the place was eerie quiet. When the first soldiers entered in, they couldn’t believe what they saw. The settlement was destroyed and there were corpses everywhere. Men, women, children. The old soldier was watching the devastation and then he saw a man crawling out of one of the dwellings.
“What happened here?” he asked.
“We did what Eleazar Ben-Yair ordered us to do.”
“And what was that?”
“He said that it is better to die than live under the Roman oppression. He asked us to kill our wives and children and then to kill each other. I was the last one left and was supposed to commit suicide, but I couldn’t do that. I am a coward.”
“Why Eleazar Ben-Yair asked you to commit a mass murder?”
“He said it is the God’s will.”
“Your God asks you to kill you wives and children?”
“That’s what Eleazar Ben-Yair said.”
This kind of religious fanatism was new to the old soldier. Roman gods didn’t require such sacrifices.
“What is the name of this place?” the soldier finally asked.
“Masada.”
The four horsemen of apocalypse were looking down, enjoying the view.