MASSADA, a Castle or Fortress in the Tribe of Judah, to the West of the Dead Sea, or the Lake Asphaltites, not far from Engiddi, situated upon a steep Rock, and of very difficult Access. But as soon as one is come to the Top of the Rock, there is found a Plain of a sufficient Extent, which may be even cultivated, and afford Subsistence in a Time of Necessity. Jonathan the Asmonean, Brother of Judas Maccabæus, and High-Priest of the Jews, fortified this Place, to put himself in a Condition of withstanding the Kings of Syria1. Herod the Great, observing the Importance of this Fort, fortified it a new, and made the Place impregnable. And as there was no Water in this Place, he caused several Cisterns to be made, and brought thither a vast Quantity of Provisions, that if any Misfotune should happen to him, or if the Countrey should revolt from him, he might there find a secure Place of Retreat.
After the last War of the Jews against the Romans, Eleazar Son of Jair, and Grandson of the famous Judas the Gaulonite, at the Head of the Sicarii, or Assassins, so called from the horrible Cruelties and Impieties they committed, seized the Fort of Massada2. Flavius Sylva, whom Titus had left in Judæa, in Order to reduce what yet held out in the Province, there besieged Eleazar. He began by putting Garrisons into all the neighbouring Places, to secure the Countrey, and surrounded the Place with a Wall of Circumvallation, with Bodies of Guards at convenient Distances, that no one might make their Escape. Then he carried on the Siege with great Vigour, and Works that were almost incredible. Eleazar on his Part defended himself very courageously, and seeing that he could hold out no longer against the Roman Army, but that he must be taken in this Place, which he thought to be impregnable; he perceived the Finger of God in this Matter, but too late. For the Hardness of his Heart urged him to Despair, so that he persuaded all the Jews that were with him to kill one another, and the last that survived was to put Fire to the Castle. This Counsel they put in Execution, and voluntarily slew one another. Two Women, who with five young Children had hid themselves in the Aquæducts, the Day following informed the Romans of what had been done. This happened in the Year of Christ, or the common Æra 71. To this may be added the following Observations upon this famous Siege.
Observations upon the Siege of Massada, and the Works of the Romans before this Place.☞ The Siege of Massada by the Romans is one of the most remarkable, of which we have any Account in History3. The Strength and advantageous Situation of the Place, the Courage and vigorous Defence of the Besieged, the Valour and Capacity of the Roman General, all these together produced surprising Effects, and which have few Examples among the Antients. The Moderns in their most memorable Sieges, that is to say, since the fourteenth Century, have never produced, nor so much as conceived the like. Josephus, who has given us a Description of this famous Siege, furnishes us with Examples of Valour, Stratagems, Surprizes, Patience, and Obstinacy, that are yet more surprizing than any in this; the Defence of Jotapata, and that of Jerusalem, were vastly more to be admired. But as to the Works and other Operations peculiar to War, I cannot find any that surpass them, or even are equal to ‘em. It was a Master-piece of Roman Skill and Perseverance. The Jews themselves did not shew less Skill or Courage. They were desperate, ‘tis true, but desperate in such a Manner, as to put in Practice all the Subtleties of Art and Ingenuity, in Order to sell their Lives as dear, and to purchase as much Glory with them as was possible. If it can be said that there are any Desperadoes that are wise and prudent, ‘tis when they choose rather to die with Freedom, than to fall into a shameful Slavery.
After Sylva had compleated his Wall of Circumvallation, he took Possession of a Rock that was larger than that upon which the Castle was built, but lower by three Hundred Cubits, and besieged the Place on this Side. Upon this Rock he caused to be raised, as Josephus tells us4, a Mass of Earth of one hundred Cubits; but because the Platform did not seem to be solid and substantial enough to support the Machines, Sylva built upon it a kind of Cavalier with great Stones, that was fifty Cubits high, and of the same Breadth. Besides the usual Engines, there were others that had been contrived by Vespasian and Titus; and besides this, they raised upon this Cavalier a Tower of sixty Cubits, all covered with Iron, from whence the Romans threw so many Stones and Darts at the besieged, that they durst not any longer appear upon their Walls.
This Passage obliges me to a Digression that I cannot avoid; it has something in it that seems very absurd. The French Translator says º, that the Platform (as he very improperly calls it) did not seem to be solid and substantial enough to support the Machines. If the Earth could not support this great Weight, it could much less support a Cavalier of great Stones, and above that a Tower of sixty Cubits, all faced with Iron. The Text in this Place must have been altered and corrupted, which would be no great Wonder; it might be one indeed, if Josephus should be guilty of such bad Reasoning.
To restore this Passage, or at least to make it intelligible, I would suppose that Sylva raised a Terrass, and caused it to be supported by a Wall, built with great Stones, in Order to raise thereon another Cavalier of fifty Cubits, upon the Top of which he built a Tower of sixty Cubits high. By such a Description the Reader may comprehend the whole Matter, and has no Need to puzzle himself any farther. ‘Twas by the Means of these Terrasses, and with the Help of Machines of all Kinds, that they brought forward their Rams to batter in Breach.
Sylva could not demolish the Wall, because it had its Foundation upon the Rock, and because they could not batter, but from a very high Situation. He therefore raised this prodigious Work of an hundred Cubits, that he might batter the Wall within Reach of a Ram of a great Length; but as this Terrass was only of the same Level with the Rock, and as the Ram could only batter the Bottom of the Wall; Sylva, to maintain this Attack, still raised a second Cavalier, as we have said before. However here is a Difficulty that offers itself; the Jewish Author says, that the Rock upon which he prepared his Attack was lower than the Castle by three hundred Cubits. There wanted therefore ninety Cubits, that the Works of the Besiegers might equal the Height of the great Cavalier, and of the Tower. There must be a Fault in the Text in this Place, as is very visible, or we must suppose, that the Rock on this Side was much lower, and consequently that the Wall was much higher; without this no Use could be made of the Ram.
Since we are so far advanced in a Matter of this Curiosity, let us produce the Remainder of this Passage of Josephus. Then Sylva caused a very great Ram to be made, with which he battered the Walls without ceasing; but hardly could he make any Breach in it. And the Besieged with incredible Diligence made another Wall within, which was Proof against the Effect of the Machines, because it was not made of resisting Matter, but deadned the Blows by yielding to their Violence. This Wall was built after the following Manner. They placed two Rows of thick Beams let into each other, which with the Space contained between the two Rows made the same Thickness as the Wall, which Space they filled up with Earth. And that this might not break out, they supported it with other Beams. So that this Work might have been taken for some great Building; and the Blows of the Machines were not only deadned by it, but it squeesed the Earth closer, and made it more firm and compact, being of the Nature of Clay. When Sylva had well considered this Work, he thought he could not demolish it any Way so readily as by Fire, and made his Soldiers throw so great a Quantity of burning Wood into it, that as this Wall was composed of the same Matter, and had many Interstices between, it took Fire and burned even to the Turf, and a great Conflagration presently began to appear.
Josephus is very obscure in his Description of the outward Wall, nor must we be surprized at it. ‘Tis the Fault of almost all the antient Writers, to become obscure, and not to be understood when they undertake to describe any extraordinary Works. Cæsar is the only one that has eminently excelled in this Piece of Mechanism. I am well assured, that the second Wall of Massada was of a Structure very like to the Walls of Bourges, the Description of which is given us by this Author in his Commentaries5. The Jewish Author says that this Wall was only composed of Wood, that is, of massy Timber. Many have imagined that it was a kind of Chest made of Timber, and filled with Earth or Clay. If it had been so, the Fire could never have been so great as this Author represents it. This Intrenchment must rather have been composed of great Beams laid their whole Length upon the Ground, ranged at a certain Distance from one another, and crossing Chequer-wise, the void Spaces being filled up with this Clay. And this is the Way wherein I conceive this Wall to have been built.
As to its Form or Figure, it appears not to have been parallel to the Stone Wall that they battered in Breach, but that it represented a circular or angular Cavity. For the Historian says afterwards, that when Sylva considered this Work, and perceived it would be very difficult to demolish it with his Machines, he resolved to set Fire to it, and made his Soldiers throw so great a Quantity of burning Wood into it, that this Retrenchment took Fire, because there were many Interstices between; that is to say, many Intervals between the Breach made in the Wall, and the second Wall of Timber. For it would be absurd to refer these Words, many Interstices between, to the Intervals of the Beams, because they were all filled with Clay. Such concave Works were no new Things to the Antients; they made them that they might have Flancks. It will be asked, perhaps, if it were an easy Thing to throw such inflamed Wood between the Breach and the inward Retrenchment. This could not be difficult, since it was likely that the Besiegers had made a Lodgment on the Breach, and might deliver from Hand to Hand these burning Faggots, to throw them into the Cavities of the Retrenchment: We could say much more to clear up this Passage, which is one of the most curious of the Jewish History, but then we should go beyond our prescribed Limits. The Reader may consult the Commentary of Mr. le Chevalier de Follard upon Polybius, Tom. ii. p. 501, &c.
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