New research points to a different narrative of Roman siege of Masada

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A team of archaeologists from Tel Aviv University (TAU) recently published their surprising findings, concluding that the siege of Masada took a matter of weeks, not years, as was previously thought.

Many visitors to Israel may have ascended the Masada Fortress in southern Israel’s Judean Desert, where Jewish rebels resorted to suicide rather than be forced into Roman servitude. The story of the Masada resistance is legendary but was always assumed that the rebels had held off their position in the fortress for much longer.

Senior lecturer Dr. Guy Stiebel from TAU's Department of Archaeology and Near Eastern Cultures and TAU's Dr. Hai Ashkenazi from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) conducted research with Ph.D. students Omer Ze’evi-Berger and Boaz Gross and they found new evidence to prove the fortifications may have been completed within 11 to 16 days.

The researchers arrived at their conclusions after analyzing the Roman stone fortifications and camps around Masada, using high-tech surveying and analysis methodologies. They compared the volume and design of the Roman fortifications with human workload calculations.

Their findings were published online last month by Cambridge University Press in a peer-reviewed article – “The Roman siege system of Masada: a 3D computerized analysis of a conflict landscape” from the Journal of Roman Archaeology.

“Based on our findings we argue that the Roman siege of Masada took a few weeks at the most. As empires throughout history have done, the Romans came, saw and conquered, quickly and brutally quelling the uprising in this remote location,” Stiebel wrote.

“We know that there were 6-8,000 Roman soldiers. And we have data and charts showing how many stones young soldiers can move in a day,” he explained. Their calculations were based on Roman engineering records, as well as more recent army projections for building projects in the Second World War.

Not only have researchers found evidence suggesting the rapid pace of Roman construction, but they also underscored a lack of archaeological proof to support the idea that the Jewish rebels occupied the site for three years.

While speaking to the Times of Israel, Stiebel explained that if the Roman army had been encamped there for years, there would have been the remains of extensive trash piles, food and animals, discarded artifacts, graves and other signs, such as those found in other long-term Roman camps. Because there isn't, he said, “this clearly shows us that this episode was a short one.”

Stiebel explained that the modus operandi of the Roman army was, “We came, we saw, we conquered. That is how imperial armies work. The clear interest of an empire is to be as quick as it can. There is a huge cost if you send thousands of soldiers, you need to supply them and their animals.”

He also noted that the closest source of water would have been the spring at Ein Gedi, some 18 km (11 miles) away from the site.

“Until recently, the Masada siege has been looked at through the eyes of the besieged, but the decision to send soldiers was a Roman one,” Stiebel concluded that the Romans may have been more interested in preserving the production of balsam, a perfume, at Ein Gedi than crushing the Jewish rebellion.

The traditional view has depended heavily on the writings of Flavius Josephus, a Roman–Jewish historian and military leader who wrote about the Roman destruction of Jerusalem and the siege of Masada. However, the researchers pointed out that Josephus didn’t specify the length of the siege or indicate at what point the Jewish rebels fled to the fortress.