 The ruins of a Roman camp near the fortress of Masada. Picture by Ester Inbar. Lucius Flavius Silva was a late-1st century Roman general, governor of the province of Iudaea and consul. History remembers Silva as the Roman commander who led his army, composed mainly of the Legio X Fretensis, in 73 AD up to Masada and laid siege to its near-impenetrable mountain fortress occupied by a group of Jewish rebels called the Sicarii. His actions are documented by first century Roman historian Josephus and remains of a 1st century Roman victory arch identified in Jerusalem in 2006. Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ...
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Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1024 × 768 pixel, file size: 121 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) A Roman camp near Massada, Judean Desert, Israel, Feburary 2004. ...
Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1024 × 768 pixel, file size: 121 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) A Roman camp near Massada, Judean Desert, Israel, Feburary 2004. ...
The 1st century was that century that lasted from 1 to 100 according the Gregorian calendar. ...
Iudaea was the name of a Roman province, which extended over Judaea (Palestine). ...
This article is about the highest office of the Roman Republic. ...
Legio X Fretensis (Latin: Tenth legion of the sea strait) was a Roman legion levied by Augustus in 41/40 BC to fight during the period of civil war that started the dissolution of the Roman Republic. ...
Combatants Jewish Sicarii Roman Empire Commanders Elazar ben Yair Lucius Flavius Silva Strength 960 15,000 Casualties 953 Unknown Masada (a romanisation of the Hebrew מצדה, Metzada, from מצודה, metzuda, fortress) is the name for a site of ancient palaces and fortifications in the South District of Israel on top of...
Sicarii (Latin plural of Sicarius dagger- or later contract- killer) is a term applied, in the decades immediately preceding the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE, to the Jewish Zealots, (or insurgents) who attempted to expel the Romans and their partisans from Judea: —Josephus, Jewish Antiquities (xx. ...
A fanciful representation of Flavius Josephus, in an engraving in William Whistons translation of his works Josephus (37 – sometime after 100 CE),[1] who became known, in his capacity as a Roman citizen, as Titus Flavius Josephus,[2] was a 1st-century Jewish historian and apologist of priestly and...
Siege of Masada -
- See also: First Jewish-Roman War
The historical context of the siege of Masada was Rome's cleaning up remaining Jewish resistance to Roman rule after crushing the rebellion in Jerusalem in 70 AD. While Masada was the last vestige of the rebellion it was not much of a threat. The attack on Masada was more for Roman prestige than imperial security. Silva's forces were an enormous projection of overwhelming Roman power. Rome's 10,000 soldiers outnumbered the men, woman and children on Masada by 10-to-1. Combatants Jewish Sicarii Roman Empire Commanders Elazar ben Yair Lucius Flavius Silva Strength 960 15,000 Casualties 953 Unknown Masada (a romanisation of the Hebrew מצדה, Metzada, from מצודה, metzuda, fortress) is the name for a site of ancient palaces and fortifications in the South District of Israel on top of...
Combatants Roman Empire Jews of Iudaea Province Commanders Vespasian, Titus Simon Bar-Giora, Yohanan mi-Gush Halav (John of Gischala), Eleazar ben Simon Strength 70,000? 1,100,000? Casualties Unknown 1,100,000? (majority Jewish civilian casualties) Jewish-Roman wars First War – Kitos War – Bar Kokhba revolt The first...
Combatants Roman Empire Jews of Judea Commanders Titus Flavius Vespasianus Simon Bar-Giora Yohanan mi-Gush Halav (John of Gischala) Eleazar ben Simon Strength 70,000 men 13,000 men, split among three factions Casualties Unknown 60,000–1,100,000 (mass civilian casualties) The Siege of Jerusalem in the...
The central challenge to Silva and his battlefield engineers was to overcome the isolated plateau and its fortifications, originally constructed by King Herod. Silva surrounded the mountain fortress with a 6 foot thick, 7 mile long siege wall (circumvallation) to prevent any attempts of escape. The wall also enclosed the eight base camps established for the army. After failed attempts to breach Masada's defences, Silva's legionaries built a siege ramp against the western face of the plateau, using thousands of tons of stones and beaten earth. The huge dirt ramp, which survives to this day, allowed the Romans to employ a battering ram to breach Masada's walls. Silva's victory was hollow as his opponents, some 960 men, women and children, committed mass suicide shortly before the Romans took the mountain top. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with contravallation. ...
Later life He was Roman governor of Iudaea in 73 to 81 AD. In 81, he became consul. Iudaea was the name of a Roman province, which extended over Judaea (Palestine). ...
Historians speculate about the end of Silva's life. After his consulate in 81 AD and after the death of Titus, Silva likely fell victim to Domitian's reign of terror which purged popular generals whom the emperor saw as rivals. Falling into disfavour, Silva's accomplishments were erased from Roman archives in what Romans called damnatio memoriae. Thus the Silva family's name and it's prestige were lost. Tondo of the Severan family, with portraits of Septimius Severus, Julia Domna, Caracalla, and Geta. ...
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