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Lucius Flavius Silva
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Lucius Flavius Silva was a late-1st century Roman general, governor of the province of Iudaea and consul. History remembers Silva as the Roman commander who led his army, composed mainly of the Legio X Fretensis, in 73 AD up to Masada and laid siege to its near-impenetrable mountain fortress occupied by a group of Jewish rebels called the Sicarii. The end of the siege culminated with the mass suicide of the Sicarii who preferred death to defeat or capture.
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Lucius Flavius Silva was a late-1st century Roman general, governor of the province of Iudaea and consul. History remembers Silva as the Roman commander who led his army, composed mainly of the Legio X Fretensis, in 73 AD up to Masada and laid siege to its near-impenetrable mountain fortress occupied by a group of Jewish rebels called the Sicarii. The end of the siege culminated with the mass suicide of the Sicarii who preferred death to defeat or capture. His actions are documented by first century Roman historian Josephus and remains of a 1st century Roman victory arch identified in Jerusalem in 2006.
Siege of Masada
The historical context of the siege of Masada was Rome's cleaning up remaining Jewish resistance to Roman rule after crushing the rebellion in Jerusalem in 70 AD. While Masada was the last vestige of the rebellion it was not much of a threat. The attack on Masada was more for Roman prestige than imperial security. Silva's forces were an enormous projection of overwhelming Roman power. Rome's 10,000 soldiers outnumbered the men, women and children on Masada by 10-to-1.
The central challenge to Silva and his battlefield engineers was to overcome the isolated plateau and its fortifications, originally constructed by King Herod. Silva surrounded the mountain fortress with a 6 foot high, 7 mile long siege wall (circumvallation) to prevent any attempts of escape. The wall also enclosed the eight base camps established for the army. After failed attempts to breach Masada's defences, Silva's legionaries built a siege ramp against the western face of the plateau, using thousands of tons of stones and beaten earth. The huge dirt ramp, which survives to this day, allowed the Romans to employ a battering ram to breach Masada's walls. Silva's victory was hollow as his opponents, some 960 men, women and children, committed mass suicide shortly before the Romans took the mountain top.
Later life
He was Roman governor of Iudaea in 73 to 81 AD. In 81, he became consul.
Historians speculate about the end of Silva's life. After his consulate in 81 AD and after the death of Titus, Silva likely fell victim to Domitian's reign of terror which purged popular generals whom the emperor saw as rivals. Falling into disfavour, Silva's accomplishments were erased from Roman archives in what Romans called damnatio memoriae. Thus the Silva family's name and its prestige were lost.
On Film & Television
Portrayed in the 1981 Television Mini-Series Masada by Peter O'Toole.
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