Masada fortress.

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 Judea 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. The end of the siege culminated with the mass suicide of the Sicarii who preferred death to defeat or capture. His actions are documented by first century Jewish-Roman historian Josephus and remains of a 1st century Roman victory arch identified in Jerusalem in 2005 and of course the extensive earthworks at the Masada site, a monument to the highwater mark of Roman seige warfare.

[edit] Siege of Masada

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, women and children on Masada estimated by Joshephus at 960 men, women and children by 10-to-1.

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 high, 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.

[edit] Later life

He was Roman governor of Iudaea in 73 to 81 AD. In 81, he became consul.

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 its prestige were lost.

[edit] Archaeological Finds

In October 2005 Hungarian Archaeologist Dr. Tibor Grull, published an article about a stone tablet unearthed in 1999 near the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The Latin inscription on the tablet describes Silva as the victor of Masada. It is believed the tablet was part of the Roman restoration of Jerusalem after Rome's victory.

[edit] On Film & Television

Portrayed in the 1981 Television Mini-Series Masada by Peter O'Toole.

[edit] References

• The Roman-Jewish wars and the capture of Masada by Flavius Josephus
• Siege of Masada
• New archeological evidence referring to Flavius Silva (2006)

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