Since 63 B.C.E., the kingdom of Judea had essentially been a Roman province. But in practice, at first it was treated as a tributary kingdom; Rome allowing a certain amount of self-government.
In the year 4 B.C.E., the king of Judea (or Judaea) Herod the Great died. After his death, his kingdom was divided into three parts -- the largest, containing the provinces of Judea, Samaria, and Idumaea was to be governed by Herod's son Archelaus.
But Archelaus was found by his subjects to be brutal and tyrannical. To avoid open rebellion, the Romans deposed him and installed a series of procurators, or governors.
At first, things went relatively smoothly; the Jews living more or less peacefully under Roman rule. The procurators allowed a certain amount of autonomy, and did not interfere in matters of worship. But with the appointment of Pontius Pilate in 26 C.E., conflict and bloodshed began.
Roman insensitivity towards religious matters, and higher taxes inflamed the Jewish population.
And Roman troops were now stationed in Jerusalem.
Things worsened under the reign of Emperor Caligula. He demanded that the Jews erect an image of him in the Temple. Only his somewhat timely death prevented a violent confrontation.
Caligula was followed by Claudius, who appointed Agrippa I, the grandson of Herod, as king of all of Israel. Israel was again given the status as a kingdom.
Agrippa loved his people and their traditions, but when he died unexpectedly, the Romans thought his son too young to rule and reestablished the procurator system.
From this point on, there was constant strife between the Jews and the procurators. Anarchy was fast approaching.
Protests about taxation, among other grievances grew to the point where Roman citizens were attacked. A Roman legion that had been stationed in Syria was sent in to restore order. This legion was defeated in an ambush.
The Roman response was immediate and typical.
New legions were sent to the area, and Jerusalem was put under siege.
By the summer of 70, after a prolonged siege, the Romans had breached the walls and put most of the city to the torch.
While all of this was happening, a group of Jewish extremists known as the Sicarii overcame the Roman garrison at Masada, the site of ancient palaces and fortifications.
Before the Romans garrisoned it, Masada had recently been the site of a palace recently improved upon by Herod the Great.
Masada itself is an isolated plateau on the edge of the Judean desert close to the southern edge of the Dead Sea. The cliffs on the east side are 1,300 feet high, and 300 feet high on the west. The plateau was protected at the top by a wall 12 feet thick. At that time, the top was only accessible via three small winding paths leading to a fortified gate.
Inside the walls, there were cisterns for gathering rain water, an armory, storehouses, and the palace itself.
Now it was being used as a base for the Sicarii to resist the Romans.
The leader of the Sicarii on Masada was Eleazar ben Ya'ir (who may have also been known as Eleazar ben Simon). Along with him were 960 men, women, and children.
In 72, the Romans decided to mop up all other scattered resistance. Roman General Lucius Flavius Silva along with an army of 10,000 men of the X legion were dispatched to Masada.
Along with the army were thousands of Jewish prisoners.
Upon arrival, Silva set his men to siege operations.
Repeated attempts were made to breach the walls -- all unsuccessful.
Finally, Silva came up with a plan to construct a ramp that would go up to the top. He could then use his siege engines, with battering rams to pulverize an opening in the walls where his men could pass through.
This ramp was to be on the western side where the cliff face was shorter.
There is no record by the historian Josephus that any attempt was made by the Sicarii to resist the building of this ramp. What he did write was that the ramp was constructed mainly with the use of the Jewish prisoners.
A natural spur in the rock formation also aided the ramp building.
The ramp was completed in the Spring of 73. The Romans rolled their siege engines forward to the top, and the battering rams punched a hole in the wall.
On the morning of April 16th, the Romans entered the fortress and found all of the buildings ablaze except for the food storage bins.
They also found all 960 inhabitants dead, apparently by suicide.
Well, not quite all. Two women and five children were found hiding in a cistern.
What they related to the Romans horrified even them.
The evening before the final Roman assault, Eleazar told his followers that there was no way out. When the Romans broke in, they would either be immediately killed, later crucified, or enslaved.
There only recourse was to take their own lives and deny the Romans their "victory".
But suicide was against Jewish law. So it was decided to draw lots to see who would do the killing. In the end only one man would end up having to kill himself.
The lots were drawn, the men with families hugged their wives and children, and the killings began.
It was over long before the Romans broke in.
The Romans kept a garrison at Masada for some time afterward.
The Jewish revolt had ended. Many Jews that were not killed either scattered across the Mediterranean, or died of disease and hunger.
