Siege of Masada

Siege of Masada
	Part of the First Jewish–Roman War
	; Masada National Park
Date	Late 72 – early 73 (traditional date) ; Late 73 – early 74 CE (proposed date)
Location	Masada, Israel (then part of Judaea Province); 31°18′56″N 35°21′13″E / 31.31556°N 35.35361°E
Result	Roman victory
Belligerents
Jewish Sicarii	Roman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Eleazar ben Ya'ir †	Lucius Flavius Silva
Strength
967, including non-combatants	Legio X Fretensis 4,800; Auxiliaries and slaves 4,000–10,000
Casualties and losses
960 dead, 7 captured (2 women, 5 children), according to Josephus	Unknown

The siege of Masada was one of the final events in the First Jewish–Roman War, occurring from 72 to 73 AD on and around a hilltop in present-day Israel.

The siege is known to history via a single source, Flavius Josephus,^[3] a Jewish rebel leader captured by the Romans, in whose service he became a historian. According to Josephus the long siege by the troops of the Roman Empire led to the mass suicide of the Sicarii rebels and resident Jewish families of the Masada fortress.

^ Campbell, Duncan B. (1988). "Dating the Siege of Masada". Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik. 73 (1988): 156–158. JSTOR 20186870.
^ Cotton, Hannah M. (1989). "The Date of the Fall of Masada: The Evidence of the Masada Papyri". Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik. 78 (1989): 157–162. JSTOR 20187128.
^ The Myth of Masada: How Reliable Was Josephus, Anyway?: "The only source we have for the story of Masada, and numerous other reported events from the time, is the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, author of the book The Jewish War."

[1] Campbell, Duncan B. (1988). "Dating the Siege of Masada". Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik. 73 (1988): 156–158. JSTOR 20186870.

[2] Cotton, Hannah M. (1989). "The Date of the Fall of Masada: The Evidence of the Masada Papyri". Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik. 78 (1989): 157–162. JSTOR 20187128.

[3] The Myth of Masada: How Reliable Was Josephus, Anyway?: "The only source we have for the story of Masada, and numerous other reported events from the time, is the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, author of the book The Jewish War."

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