I have always found Zombies fascinating. Or precisely our fear of them. Zombies are relatively weak creatures. Very often slow, dragging across the ground and exceedingly stupid. As a threat they really don't have much firepower. They aren't even very gory. Grey and skinless at times, but they got nothing on Freddy Krueger. And yet they remain an enduring symbol in modern culture. Appearing repeatedly in our movies and games and doomsday survival plans. These creatures have very little going for them except of course for their tenaciousness. Zombies are difficult to stop. They just keep coming. They're not smart, but they are determined. You can rip out their limbs, shoot of their heads and rip out their hearts and they will keep coming. You can push them back. Fairly easily very often. But they will always be there. And there will always be more. And eventually little by little they will defeat you. It's inevitable. And that is what scares us. Because there is nothing scarier than an opponent you cannot defeat.
The Roman Empire at its peak
The Romans built an empire spanning a vast majority of Europe. Uniting a land mass that was broken into a variety of warring tribes and pulling together one of the greatest empires of all time. They sustained that rule for close to 2 millennia. That's 2000 years. Talk about endurance. The fascinating thing about the Romans is that they were essentially originally just a city. The empire was literally the city of Rome and it's tributary provinces. Imagine India as the Mumbai empire (I am not going to say Delhi) or the United States being completely conquered by the city of Washington. That is stunning. Never before or again (until now...) would a single city dominate the world like that. So how do the citizens of a single city pull together such absolute power for themselves? Ruling empires and nation states a world away. It's fascinating to consider this question. How does a continent go from a million warring tribes, cities and empires to a singular power raised by a single city? The answer always seems to be complex. And yet the underlying truth is often simple. The personality of a civilization is often revealed in singular moments of desperation and drive. If ever there was such a battle for the Romans. One that would explain how such power and legacy was built singularly it would be the siege of Masada. An absolute masterclass of tenacity. If you ever need to understand how empires are built, this is the battle to look at. Read on to know more about one of the most fascinating battle of all time and the men who fought it.
I present to you the Siege of Masada
If ever there was a battle won through pure audacity it would be this one. You see that picture above? That is the modern day ruin of Masada.
Masada was a fortress nigh impregnable. Those small walls you see above? They were 6 metres tall originally. That’s more than 19 feet. The fortress was built on a mountaintop and was considered nigh impregnable. It had double walls with space in between to store food. The area under the land that you see stored water for long periods of time. It was in the middle of nowhere. So any besieger would run out of supplies before the garrison in the fort. The only entry paths were snaking and thin or extremely steep. Nowhere near ideal for assault.
That is to say no ordinary army, no matter how big could have broken through those walls. To paraphrase the great George R.R Martin "A million men could have marched on those walls and million men would have been repulsed" But the Romans… the Romans were a force of nature. Noone denied the Romans. Noone stood in their paths. Not unless they were allowed to. In 73AD the Jews of Judaea revolted in a revolt that shook the very base of the empire. It was a bloody brutal rebellion. As casualties mounted rapidly the Romans responded with impunity. Claims from the time place the casualties of the siege of Jerusalem at 1 million. With 97000 prisoners taken. This might not be an accurate number, almost definitely, but it gives us a good idea of the psychological impact of the rebellion on the people of the time.
But as with all the rebellions they faced the methodical brutality and military brilliance of the Romans won out. And city by city, town by town the zealots were subdued until finally, only Masada remained. The last stand of the Sicarii rebels. Knife-wielding murderers, the Sicarii were known to carry out kills in crowded marketplaces and surprisingly enough could also hold their ground against Roman legionaries in the field. A garrison of less than a thousand held the fort. Many of them refugees. The fortress was located in a region of minimal resources. Supplies were difficult to provide. Any other empire would have ignored the rebels. They could do very little from their hidey hole. Their numbers were weak. Their army, for all intents and purposes, broken. But you do not last in power for two millennia by letting rebels fester away in your territory. No, a message had to be given. No matter where their enemies hid, the Romans would find them. And they would kill them.
Yep, that’s what they were facing
And so the Romans marched past the dead sea and into the Negev desert. They sent the very best, the Legio X Fretensis or the 10th Legion of Rome. Levied by Augustus Caesar himself, it had been around for more than a hundred years since the era of the first Emperor of Rome. With a multitude of Auxiliary cohorts (Allied troops) the 10th Legion set seige to Masada. They built a set of walls around the fort. Walls of stone, quarried from the region itself. Reaching a total length of 3.2 km the walls can be seen even today, more than 1900 years later. The walls were formidable, cutting off the Zealots from the outside world. They had camps set up on both side and multiple outposts where they kept auxilliary troops on guard. This was to be a perfect operation.
One of the Roman Legionary camps that can still be seen
At this point, the zealots still held the advantage. They had supplies that could last decades. And the Romans had literally no chance of breaking through with the 10,000 men they had. Or so it seemed.
What follows is one of the most impressive military maneuvers of all time. A marvel of human brilliance actually. For I cannot imagine calling it anything else. Imagine standing on the hill. Looking down on the sieging army. Knowing with absolute certainty that you are safe. Knowing that there is no way on planet earth that those men can come up that hill. And then imagine looking down and watching a miniature mountain rise. Imagine it as it reaches ever closer by the day. And day by day it threatens you more. There is no scarier feeling in the world than this. Than watching the impossible happen right before your eyes. Watching it slowly walk up to you, smiling, blade in hand. Ready to kill you. What do you do when the conditions don’t suit you? When every single variable stands against you? If you are the Romans, you change the conditions and break the variables.
The Romans effectively reshaped the mountain. They built a ramp along one side with a more forgiving slope than the mountainside. A ramp as tall as the mountain itself. The massive construction weighed one and a half times the empire state building. And it was built in 2 months. Pushing rock up the hill until the fort was a short leap away and then nothing. The construction remains a masterpiece of military construction. Built by the legion and by a labour force consisting of slaves captured from the great revolt. Because nothing raises the middle finger like rebel slaves working under arrow fire from their own side.
Yep, that route you see up the hill was built by the Romans. The square structures on the right are the Roman camps at the fortifications.
And when the ramp was ready the Legion marched up the hill. Swords and Shield in hand. Ready for a grand fight.
They found a massacre.
The cowardly zealots decided to kill each other rather than risk getting captured. They watched for months as the Romans pushed their siege engines up the hill. Firing arrows at the marching besiegers. But when the time came to fight they would not raise their blades.
And that was the difference between the Romans and their enemies. They would fight to the end. Even when there was no hope. Hannibal faced the same problem 4 centuries before. He brought Rome to its knees. Marched into Italy and destroyed an army of 16 legions (84,000 men). And yet the Romans would not surrender. They would not surrender until they were completely destroyed. The only two options in any war for them were victory and total annihilation. Very few in war as in life can truly annihilate their enemies. Victory depends on capitulation. And thus the rare opponent like the Romans that never relent and never surrender end up winning over the larger scale of time. The Sicarii thought they were safe cowering in their forts. They could not have been farther from the truth. No one is safe from the truly relentless. And the Romans were nothing if not relentless. If there was no other option they would held the fortifications for decades if necessary until the zealots surrendered. And they would have surrendered. Or died. And so it happened. The siege of Masada ended in a Roman victory. Yet another in a long list to come. The empire would live on for 3 more centuries. Until their determination crumpled. And with it their power.
If you like this post do subscribe to this blog to know about our latest updates. This is Of Ballads and Broken Dreams where we explore History, Philosophy and the intersection between the two. Next we will be exploring how the humble stirrup changed the history of Medieval Europe, Hannibal's masterpiece of a victory at Cannae and the connection between the Romans and Mcdonalds. Stay tuned for more!
Ciao Ciao
Parth Thakur
(Check me out on Quora if you're interested)
Ciao Ciao
The Roman Empire at its peak
The Romans built an empire spanning a vast majority of Europe. Uniting a land mass that was broken into a variety of warring tribes and pulling together one of the greatest empires of all time. They sustained that rule for close to 2 millennia. That's 2000 years. Talk about endurance. The fascinating thing about the Romans is that they were essentially originally just a city. The empire was literally the city of Rome and it's tributary provinces. Imagine India as the Mumbai empire (I am not going to say Delhi) or the United States being completely conquered by the city of Washington. That is stunning. Never before or again (until now...) would a single city dominate the world like that. So how do the citizens of a single city pull together such absolute power for themselves? Ruling empires and nation states a world away. It's fascinating to consider this question. How does a continent go from a million warring tribes, cities and empires to a singular power raised by a single city? The answer always seems to be complex. And yet the underlying truth is often simple. The personality of a civilization is often revealed in singular moments of desperation and drive. If ever there was such a battle for the Romans. One that would explain how such power and legacy was built singularly it would be the siege of Masada. An absolute masterclass of tenacity. If you ever need to understand how empires are built, this is the battle to look at. Read on to know more about one of the most fascinating battle of all time and the men who fought it.
I present to you the Siege of Masada
If ever there was a battle won through pure audacity it would be this one. You see that picture above? That is the modern day ruin of Masada.
Masada was a fortress nigh impregnable. Those small walls you see above? They were 6 metres tall originally. That’s more than 19 feet. The fortress was built on a mountaintop and was considered nigh impregnable. It had double walls with space in between to store food. The area under the land that you see stored water for long periods of time. It was in the middle of nowhere. So any besieger would run out of supplies before the garrison in the fort. The only entry paths were snaking and thin or extremely steep. Nowhere near ideal for assault.
That is to say no ordinary army, no matter how big could have broken through those walls. To paraphrase the great George R.R Martin "A million men could have marched on those walls and million men would have been repulsed" But the Romans… the Romans were a force of nature. Noone denied the Romans. Noone stood in their paths. Not unless they were allowed to. In 73AD the Jews of Judaea revolted in a revolt that shook the very base of the empire. It was a bloody brutal rebellion. As casualties mounted rapidly the Romans responded with impunity. Claims from the time place the casualties of the siege of Jerusalem at 1 million. With 97000 prisoners taken. This might not be an accurate number, almost definitely, but it gives us a good idea of the psychological impact of the rebellion on the people of the time.
But as with all the rebellions they faced the methodical brutality and military brilliance of the Romans won out. And city by city, town by town the zealots were subdued until finally, only Masada remained. The last stand of the Sicarii rebels. Knife-wielding murderers, the Sicarii were known to carry out kills in crowded marketplaces and surprisingly enough could also hold their ground against Roman legionaries in the field. A garrison of less than a thousand held the fort. Many of them refugees. The fortress was located in a region of minimal resources. Supplies were difficult to provide. Any other empire would have ignored the rebels. They could do very little from their hidey hole. Their numbers were weak. Their army, for all intents and purposes, broken. But you do not last in power for two millennia by letting rebels fester away in your territory. No, a message had to be given. No matter where their enemies hid, the Romans would find them. And they would kill them.
Yep, that’s what they were facing
And so the Romans marched past the dead sea and into the Negev desert. They sent the very best, the Legio X Fretensis or the 10th Legion of Rome. Levied by Augustus Caesar himself, it had been around for more than a hundred years since the era of the first Emperor of Rome. With a multitude of Auxiliary cohorts (Allied troops) the 10th Legion set seige to Masada. They built a set of walls around the fort. Walls of stone, quarried from the region itself. Reaching a total length of 3.2 km the walls can be seen even today, more than 1900 years later. The walls were formidable, cutting off the Zealots from the outside world. They had camps set up on both side and multiple outposts where they kept auxilliary troops on guard. This was to be a perfect operation.
One of the Roman Legionary camps that can still be seen
At this point, the zealots still held the advantage. They had supplies that could last decades. And the Romans had literally no chance of breaking through with the 10,000 men they had. Or so it seemed.
What follows is one of the most impressive military maneuvers of all time. A marvel of human brilliance actually. For I cannot imagine calling it anything else. Imagine standing on the hill. Looking down on the sieging army. Knowing with absolute certainty that you are safe. Knowing that there is no way on planet earth that those men can come up that hill. And then imagine looking down and watching a miniature mountain rise. Imagine it as it reaches ever closer by the day. And day by day it threatens you more. There is no scarier feeling in the world than this. Than watching the impossible happen right before your eyes. Watching it slowly walk up to you, smiling, blade in hand. Ready to kill you. What do you do when the conditions don’t suit you? When every single variable stands against you? If you are the Romans, you change the conditions and break the variables.
The Romans effectively reshaped the mountain. They built a ramp along one side with a more forgiving slope than the mountainside. A ramp as tall as the mountain itself. The massive construction weighed one and a half times the empire state building. And it was built in 2 months. Pushing rock up the hill until the fort was a short leap away and then nothing. The construction remains a masterpiece of military construction. Built by the legion and by a labour force consisting of slaves captured from the great revolt. Because nothing raises the middle finger like rebel slaves working under arrow fire from their own side.
Yep, that route you see up the hill was built by the Romans. The square structures on the right are the Roman camps at the fortifications.
And when the ramp was ready the Legion marched up the hill. Swords and Shield in hand. Ready for a grand fight.
They found a massacre.
The cowardly zealots decided to kill each other rather than risk getting captured. They watched for months as the Romans pushed their siege engines up the hill. Firing arrows at the marching besiegers. But when the time came to fight they would not raise their blades.
And that was the difference between the Romans and their enemies. They would fight to the end. Even when there was no hope. Hannibal faced the same problem 4 centuries before. He brought Rome to its knees. Marched into Italy and destroyed an army of 16 legions (84,000 men). And yet the Romans would not surrender. They would not surrender until they were completely destroyed. The only two options in any war for them were victory and total annihilation. Very few in war as in life can truly annihilate their enemies. Victory depends on capitulation. And thus the rare opponent like the Romans that never relent and never surrender end up winning over the larger scale of time. The Sicarii thought they were safe cowering in their forts. They could not have been farther from the truth. No one is safe from the truly relentless. And the Romans were nothing if not relentless. If there was no other option they would held the fortifications for decades if necessary until the zealots surrendered. And they would have surrendered. Or died. And so it happened. The siege of Masada ended in a Roman victory. Yet another in a long list to come. The empire would live on for 3 more centuries. Until their determination crumpled. And with it their power.
If you like this post do subscribe to this blog to know about our latest updates. This is Of Ballads and Broken Dreams where we explore History, Philosophy and the intersection between the two. Next we will be exploring how the humble stirrup changed the history of Medieval Europe, Hannibal's masterpiece of a victory at Cannae and the connection between the Romans and Mcdonalds. Stay tuned for more!
Ciao Ciao
Parth Thakur
(Check me out on Quora if you're interested)
Ciao Ciao
