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　　External Websites Penn Museum - Great Battles: The Siege and Fall of Masada Print Cite verifiedCite While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Select Citation Style MLA APA Chicago Manual of Style Copy Citation Share Share Share to social media Facebook X URL https://www.britannica.com/event/Siege-of-Masada Feedback External Websites Feedback Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Feedback Type Select a type (Required) Factual Correction Spelling/Grammar Correction Link Correction Additional Information Other Your Feedback Submit Feedback Thank you for your feedback Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

　　External Websites Penn Museum - Great Battles: The Siege and Fall of Masada Written by Tony Bunting Tony Bunting is a historian who has recently completed a research project at the University of Central Lancashire on the evolution of nineteenth-century British imperialism. He was a contributor to 1001... Tony Bunting Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Last Updated: Jul 29, 2024 • Article History Table of Contents

　　Masada, Israel See all media Date: 73 (Show more) Location: Israel Masada (Show more) Participants: Judaea ancient Rome Zealot (Show more) See all related content → After the fall of Jerusalem in 70 ce, Emperor Titus returned to Rome and received a triumphant welcome for his success in defeating the First Jewish Revolt. At the same time, the Romans began to restore order in Judaea by putting down any final resistance and regaining control of the last few strongholds held by Zealots. The last and longest of these final encounters was the Siege of Masada, which occurred in 73 or 74.

　　Only a small number of Zealots escaped the massacre of men, women, and children at Jerusalem in 70. Some went to the fortresses of Herodium and Macharaeus, two mountain fortresses. Others who escaped, members of the extremist Sicarii (Latin for “dagger carriers”) sect, settled in the apparently impregnable mountaintop fortress of Masada, overcoming a small Roman garrison there.

　　The Romans, commanded by Lucius Flavius Silva, laid siege to Masada, building a 2.5-mile (4 km)-long circumvallation wall of dried field stones around the mountain, which rises 1,325 feet (403 m) above the desert floor and looks out over the Dead Sea. A blockade would have been lengthy, however, because the defenders, led by Eleazer Ben Yair, had plentiful food and water supplies. So the Romans also set about building a massive earth ramp on the western side of the fortress. Built under constant fire from the defenders, the ramp was 1,968 feet (600 m) long and rose 200 feet (61 m) to the fortress walls. The Romans then pushed a siege tower up the ramp. Equipped with a ram and raining stone ballistae and iron bolts on the defenders, this soon battered a breach in the wall. When the Romans entered the fortress, however, they discovered that most of its 960 inhabitants had committed mass suicide, preferring death at their own hands to slavery or execution. The Jewish historian Josephus, our only source for the story of the siege, claimed to have been given a full account by two women who survived by hiding inside a drain. The witnesses claimed that, because suicide was against Jewish belief, the Sicarii had drawn lots to kill each other, with the last man the only one to take his own life. Masada was the last act of the Jewish war. The Jews fled to safe areas around the Mediterranean, with many thousands being sold into slavery.

　　Many historians doubt the reliability of Josephus’s account, some going so far as to argue that the Siege of Masada never occurred. Archaeological evidence, however, indicates that a battle was indeed fought at the site at the time Josephus records. For all that, Masada is now protected as a national park and is one of Israel’s most heavily trafficked tourist sites, with about 750,000 visitors climbing to the fortress each year.