הֲרוּגֵי מַלְכוּת

ביטוי (אנגלית)

Martyrs of the Kingdom/ the Ten Martyrs (Tanaim, including Rabbi Akiva, executed by the Romans)

הגדרה (אנגלית)

People who were sent out to be killed at the hands of the monarchy or foreign power. The Ten Killings of the Kingdom is a collective name for the ten slain who were sent to kill by the Romans during the period after the destruction of the house of the Second Temple, who insisted on teaching Torah or on deposing rabbis for violating the prohibition imposed on them. The most prominent of them was Rabbi Akiva.

("Unless an hour has passed, when there is no eulogy for the slain of the kingdom" - Sota Moh ab, and so: "And I have heard that some say: Blessed is he who returns here with his Talmud in his hand, and I have heard that some say: The slain of the kingdom - no living creature can stand between them. Where did they come from? Only Rabbi Akiva and his companions" - Baba Batra 10 ab, And so: "R. Yishmael ben Elisha, the high priest, who was also one of the ten slain kings, he was in the company of those who saw the blasphemy" - Sefer Kaptor and Perach, chapter 5, and so: "And so: "What am I and what are my torments compared to the torments of the great righteous, like ten slain kings?" - Y. Burla/ Kisuphim, 43, And so: "And night after night, after midnight, he hears the sound of the cries of the slain of the kingdom, and his knowledge of a predator falls upon him from the greatness of the terror" - H. Hazaz/ Ha-Heshbon, 185)