Vasily Rudich taught history and classics at Yale University in 1984-1995. He is the author of Political Dissidence under Nero: The Price of Dissimulation and Literature and Dissidence under Nero: The Price of Rhetoricization. He lives in New Haven, Connecticut.

• Preface Introduction: "The Vibrant Faith" 1. Chapter One: "The Breaking Point" 2. Chapter Two: "The Road Down" 3. Chapter Three: "The First Regime" 4. Chapter Four: "The Policies of Zeal" 5. Chapter Five: "The Dagger Men" 6. Chapter 6: "The End of the Factions" Conclusion

"While his expertise as a Roman historian certainly provided Rudich with a valuable foundation for the present study, and his earlier examinations of dissident psychology led naturally to this analysis of violent religious dissent, his focus on Roman Judea necessitated a brave plunge into unfamiliar territory - a virtual quagmire of scholarly literature that he admits to having underestimated initially." - William den Hollander, Canadian Reformed Theological Seminary, in the Bryn Mawr Classical Review"Rudich's is an extremely ambitious and worthwhile project that has yielded a stimulating and original book ... this book will ultimately be of great value to interested lay readers and specialists alike."- Shushma Malik, University of Queensland, in The Classical Review