The Period of the Great Revolt
Josephus relates that one of the first events of the Great Revolt of the Jews against the Romans, which broke out in 66 CE, was the conquest of Masada by the Sicarii, a group that got its name from the small knife they carried, called a sica. The Sicarii were led by Menahem, son of Judah the Galilean, who was murdered in Jerusalem in 66 CE. After the murder, Eleazar Ben Yair fled from Jerusalem to Masada and became commander of the rebel community on the mountain. It was a varied group, which apparently included Essenes and Samaritans. The last of the rebels fled to Masada after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE and joined those already at the fortress under the command of Eleazar Ben Yair. The rebels, who lived in rooms in the casemate wall and in some of the Herod’s palaces, constructed a synagogue and mikvehs (Jewish ritual baths). They left behind numerous material vestiges attesting to their community life.
The Siege
According to Josephus, Masada was the last rebel stronghold in Judea. In 73 CE, the Roman Tenth Legion, led by Flavius Silva, laid siege to the mountain. The legion, consisting of 8,000 troops plus auxiliary forces, built eight camps around the base, a siege wall, and a ramp made of earth and wooden supports on the natural slopes to the west. Captive Jews brought water to the troops, apparently from En Gedi, as well as food. After a siege that lasted for a few months, the Romans brought a tower with a battering ram up the ramp with which they began to bombard the wall. The rebels constructed an inner support wall out of wood and earth, which the Romans then set ablaze.
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