Masada 70 AD

In 70 AD, the Romans wanted to destroy the rebellion from the Jews. Specifically these Jews were known as the Zealots. If you recall, one of Jesus's apostles was a Zealot-Simon the Zealot (not Simon Peter).  They were rebelling against the Roman rule and heavy taxation. To squash this, the Romans destroyed the Temple and the city of Jerusalem.  A collection of the Jews left and settled on Masada, a high table top mountain just west of the Dead Sea.

Herod the Great had built a palace there about 70 years prior and stocked it with plenty of food and water. Herod suffered from paranoia so he had palaces built in strategic locations throughout Israel.  Herod built this tabletop city in case anyone wanted to kill him. The area was surrounded by steep cliffs that would be impossible for anyone to conduct a surprise attack   In 70 AD, Herod had long since died and the palace had been abandoned.  However, the place still contained all the food and water from decades before.

The 960 Zealots and there families settled on the mountain and discovered all the facilities and food left behind. Pictured below are the walls of the homes and storage houses.

When the Roman soldiers arrived, they set up 10 large encampments which completely surrounded the mountain. Their plan was to starve the people by cutting off any possible supply lines.  Three years later the Jews/Zealots were still living there.  The many attempts by the Romans to invade the compound was met by the Jews rolling down large boulders or shooting flaming arrows.  All attempts failed.  Notice the large cistern Herod built to store water.

They even built a synagogue to worship in.  There still sits a rabbi writing the scriptures by hand.  

After 3 years of no success, the Romans began building a long ramp to the top. The remnants of it can still be clearly seen in the pic below.  It does not quite reach the top of the mountain anymore due to erosion over the last 2000 years.

The story then becomes quite sad.  The Romans after years of attempts were finally able to make progress.  The Jews knew they would be overtaken and did not want to go into slavery or bondage.  They one by one began committing suicide which was strictly forbidden in their religion.  When the Romans were finally able to scale the mountain, they were surprised and disappointed that there was no conquest to be had after all those years of trying. 

You can still see the wall the Romans made in the pic below.  It appears as a line that surrounds the mountain but is actually a standing wall.