The Romans: The Caesars (44 of 54)

The final Jewish pocket of resistance held out until AD 74, when the rock fortress of Masada was overcome and the inmates, 960 men, women, and children, committed mass suicide. To take Masada, the Romans, who had had to carry over the desert all the materials, as well as provisions and water, constructed a ramp (seen here from the top) rising 140 metres to the summit. Archaeological evidence gathered in the 1960s largely confirms the account of Josephus (AD 37 - c. 100), who wrote a history of the Jewish wars at Vespasian’s behest. (Atkinson Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies, York University, Canada)

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