public archives. The ledgers
of the debt collectors and moneylenders, the property deeds and public records—all
of it went up in flames. There would be no more record of who was rich and who was
poor. Everyone in this new and divinely inspired world order would begin anew.
With the lower city under their control, the rebels began fortifying themselves for
the inevitable Roman assault. Yet rather than sending a massive army to retake Jerusalem,
Rome inexplicably dispatched a small force to the city, which the rebels easily repelled
before turning their attention to the upper city, where the few remaining soldiers
left in Jerusalem were holed up in a Roman garrison. The Roman soldiers agreed to
surrender in exchange for safe passage out of the city. But when they laid down their
arms and came out of their stronghold, the rebels turned on them, slaughtering every
last soldier, removing utterly the scourge of Roman occupation from the city of God.
After that, there was no turning back. The Jews had just declared war on the greatest
empire the world had ever known.
Chapter Six
Year One
In the end, it came down to just a thousand men, women, and children—the last of the
rebels to survive the Roman onslaught. The year was 73 C.E . Fitting that what had begun with the Sicarii should end with the Sicarii. The city
of Jerusalem had already been burned to the ground, its walls toppled, its population
slaughtered. The whole of Palestine was once more under Roman control. All that remained
of the rebellion were these last few Sicarii who had fled Jerusalem with their wives
and children to hole themselves up inside the fortress of Masada, on the western shore
of the Dead Sea. Now here they were, stuck on top of an isolated rock cliff in the
middle of a barren desert, watching helplessly as a phalanx of Roman soldiers gradually
made its way up the face of the cliff—shields up, swords drawn—ready to put a definitive
end to the rebellion that had begun seven years earlier.
The Sicarii originally came to Masada in the first few days after the launch of the
war with Rome. As a naturally fortified and virtually impregnable fortress situated
more than a thousand feet above the Dead Sea, Masada had long served as a refuge for
the Jews. David came here to hide from King Saul when he sent his men to hunt down
the shepherd boy who would one day take thecrown from him. The Maccabees used Masada as a military base during their revolt against
the Seleucid Dynasty. A century later, Herod the Great transformed Masada into a veritable
fortress city, flattening the boat-shaped summit and enclosing it with a massive wall
made of white Jerusalem stone. Herod added storerooms and grain houses, rainwater
cisterns, even a swimming pool. He also placed in Masada a huge cache of weapons sufficient,
it was said, to arm a thousand men. For himself and his family, Herod constructed
a monumental three-tiered palace that hung from the northern prow of the cliff face,
just below the lip of the summit, complete with baths, glittering colonnades, multihued
mosaics, and a dazzling 180-degree view of the briny-white Dead Sea valley.
After Herod’s death, the fortress and palaces at Masada, and the cache of weapons
stored therein, fell into Roman hands. When the Jewish rebellion began in 66 C.E ., the Sicarii, under the leadership of Menahem, seized Masada from Roman control
and took its weapons back to Jerusalem to join forces with Eleazar the Temple captain.
Having seized control over the city and destroyed the Temple archives, the rebels
began minting coins to celebrate their hard-won independence. These were etched with
symbols of victory—chalices and palm branches—and inscribed with slogans like “Freedom
of Zion” and “Jerusalem Is Holy,” written not in Greek, the language of the heathens
and idolaters, but in Hebrew. Each coin was self-consciously dated “Year
of the debt collectors and moneylenders, the property deeds and public records—all
of it went up in flames. There would be no more record of who was rich and who was
poor. Everyone in this new and divinely inspired world order would begin anew.
With the lower city under their control, the rebels began fortifying themselves for
the inevitable Roman assault. Yet rather than sending a massive army to retake Jerusalem,
Rome inexplicably dispatched a small force to the city, which the rebels easily repelled
before turning their attention to the upper city, where the few remaining soldiers
left in Jerusalem were holed up in a Roman garrison. The Roman soldiers agreed to
surrender in exchange for safe passage out of the city. But when they laid down their
arms and came out of their stronghold, the rebels turned on them, slaughtering every
last soldier, removing utterly the scourge of Roman occupation from the city of God.
After that, there was no turning back. The Jews had just declared war on the greatest
empire the world had ever known.
Chapter Six
Year One
In the end, it came down to just a thousand men, women, and children—the last of the
rebels to survive the Roman onslaught. The year was 73 C.E . Fitting that what had begun with the Sicarii should end with the Sicarii. The city
of Jerusalem had already been burned to the ground, its walls toppled, its population
slaughtered. The whole of Palestine was once more under Roman control. All that remained
of the rebellion were these last few Sicarii who had fled Jerusalem with their wives
and children to hole themselves up inside the fortress of Masada, on the western shore
of the Dead Sea. Now here they were, stuck on top of an isolated rock cliff in the
middle of a barren desert, watching helplessly as a phalanx of Roman soldiers gradually
made its way up the face of the cliff—shields up, swords drawn—ready to put a definitive
end to the rebellion that had begun seven years earlier.
The Sicarii originally came to Masada in the first few days after the launch of the
war with Rome. As a naturally fortified and virtually impregnable fortress situated
more than a thousand feet above the Dead Sea, Masada had long served as a refuge for
the Jews. David came here to hide from King Saul when he sent his men to hunt down
the shepherd boy who would one day take thecrown from him. The Maccabees used Masada as a military base during their revolt against
the Seleucid Dynasty. A century later, Herod the Great transformed Masada into a veritable
fortress city, flattening the boat-shaped summit and enclosing it with a massive wall
made of white Jerusalem stone. Herod added storerooms and grain houses, rainwater
cisterns, even a swimming pool. He also placed in Masada a huge cache of weapons sufficient,
it was said, to arm a thousand men. For himself and his family, Herod constructed
a monumental three-tiered palace that hung from the northern prow of the cliff face,
just below the lip of the summit, complete with baths, glittering colonnades, multihued
mosaics, and a dazzling 180-degree view of the briny-white Dead Sea valley.
After Herod’s death, the fortress and palaces at Masada, and the cache of weapons
stored therein, fell into Roman hands. When the Jewish rebellion began in 66 C.E ., the Sicarii, under the leadership of Menahem, seized Masada from Roman control
and took its weapons back to Jerusalem to join forces with Eleazar the Temple captain.
Having seized control over the city and destroyed the Temple archives, the rebels
began minting coins to celebrate their hard-won independence. These were etched with
symbols of victory—chalices and palm branches—and inscribed with slogans like “Freedom
of Zion” and “Jerusalem Is Holy,” written not in Greek, the language of the heathens
and idolaters, but in Hebrew. Each coin was self-consciously dated “Year
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