Informative Essay On Masada

What if you had to spend every day of your life anticipating your death? What if you knew the Romans could attack any moment, but you still had to press on? This is what life was like on Masada.
Everyday the Jews of Masada would try to live their lives in as much peace as possible while still knowing the Romans could attack any moment. In this paper I will be talking about the history of Masada, what life was like there, and what it was like for the Jews when they died. History of Masada It's unbearable to think about the terror the Jews must have been going through. The history of Masada was extremely rich. Masada was built by King Herod, ruler of Israel on behalf of the Roman Empire during the end of the first century B.C. Known as Herod the great he built beautiful cities and temples. He had built Masada as a home for his family with two large, luxurious palaces, a swimming pool, multiple bathhouses and several cisterns. There were storehouses full of supplies and weapons to sustain him and his family. After Herod's death a band of heroic Jewish rebels revolted against the Roman army. These rebels were known as the Zealots. They took refuge on the recently abandoned Masada, and lived normal, lives for two whole years. This was up until, of course, the Romans found their hiding
place. They had managed to keep the Romans off Masada for three years until the Romans finally decided to put an end to the Jews revolt. With Lucius Flavius Silva as their captain, the Roman soldiers attempted to break the walls of Masada, only to be unsuccessful.

Life at Masada Life on Masada was exceedingly simple before the Romans invaded. For the two years they were free they could live a normal life. Able to live, laugh, and love without any worries. It simply was a great time for them. The children would play games and some even went to school. The women were in charge of the household the chores. They could often be seen walking around with large jugs of water on their heads from the cisterns. The Jews had time to pray, chat, and do whatever they wanted to do. Though it was easy in the beginning, once the Romans attacked there was no more time for fun and games. They still tried to press on with there lives almost forgetting that the Romans were outside the walls. The Jews had to build up their defenses; the peaceful life they had was now gone. Their days were spent planing attacks and preparing for battle. They no longer had time to dream of fulfilling their life's ambitions. While it was hard living a normal life on Masada during those times the Jews tried there best.
One story called, Masada the Last Fortress, talks about a wedding taking place that helped the Jews take their minds off the war. They still had to do chores, help find resources, although they already had a lot, and keep up with their normal lives. The only real difference was that they had the burden of dealing with the war outside. As a result, knowing the Romans were right outside the walls made it hard for the Jews to have anything to look forward to. The Romans were getting stronger and were just about ready to strike. They had tried just about everything; they were starting to assume the Jews were going to die of starvation or thirst. Though things were tough the Jews stayed resilient while the Romans pervaded outside.

Death at Masada The leader of the Jews on Masada, Eleazar ben Ya'ir, had come up with an avid plan on how to end the war. Many of the Jews were having second thoughts about the whole plan; it was all a bit far fetched. They were to burn all their belongings and die in the fire along with everything else. Of course it's easy to see how they wouldn't want to do it. Eleazar would rather die a Jew then die a Roman prisoner. Every single Jew, though not all wanting to, put every belonging of theirs into a pile and set it aflame. They were to leave just enough food lying around to show the Romans they perished by choice, not by lack of nourishment. Almost every trace of the Jews was gone. The suicidal death was very noble of them. To give up everything for your religion is extremely hard to do, even for the Jews! Their act was very respectable,. They will always be remembered for that. Even after telling you the whole story, there is still one question left unanswered.
If all the Jews committed suicide then how did the story get around to us? Well, there's a very good explanation for that. While everyone else on Masada was cutting their own throats two old women and five young children hid in a cave to escape the fire and made it out alive. It is said that they were found by the Romans and told the story from their own perspectives. Of course you could assume that after many years of the story being passed down not every single detail would be completely accurate. We have found many artifacts that say otherwise, but that's a paper for another
day. The Jews were an amazing group of people! They lived two whole years in peace on Masada, and when the Romans attacked they were already prepared for whatever Rome had planned. They were able to keep them out for a few years until they decided to commit suicide. The history of Masada is extremely rich and the story behind it is enchanting. The Jews were a very brave bunch who would do whatever it took to gain the freedom they deserved. The fact that they would kill themselves for their religion is astounding. They did a very noble thing that can be respected and appreciated by many generations to come.