In 72 CE, the Roman governor of Judaea, Lucius Flavius Silva, led a full legion and several auxiliary units, including Jewish prisoners of war, totaling some 15,000 men and women, of whom an estimated ...

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(JTA) — The legend of Masada is etched into Jewish lore: For years, the story goes, ancient Jews held out in a desert fortress against their Roman foes. Now, researchers from Tel Aviv University have ...

When you glance at it from the highway, Masada looks much like any other mountain in the Judean desert. Yet it was on these heights, and in the middle of this dreary landscape, that King Herod the ...

The main details of the famous 1st-century Roman siege on Masada are extremely well-known: The years-long Roman soldiers’ encampment below the walls, the Jewish rebels’ last stand after the ...

The main account of the siege comes from the Roman-Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, who described extended anticipation as the Romans prepared to attack. The legend of Masada is etched into Jewish ...