MASADA - the History of a Roman siege

Today we look at the historical and archaeological evidence for the siege of Masada, c. AD 73. This is preulde to discussing the TV mini series about in released in 1981, as it makes sense to consider the historical siege first. The focus is particularly on the Roman army and the camps and siege works constructed during the operation. For further reading:-

I. Richmond, The Roman Siege Works at Masada', Journal of Roman Studies 52 (1962), pp. 142-155 (from which I have taken some of the maps and plans).
J. Roth, 'The length of the siege of Masada', Scripta Classica Israelica (1995), pp. 87-110
G. Davies, 'Under siege: the Roman field works at Masada', Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research', 362 (2011), pp. 65-83
H. Ashkenazi, O. Ze'evi-Berger, B. Gross & G. Stiebel, 'The Roman siege system of Masada: a 3D computerized analysis of a conflict landscape', Jorunal of Roman Archaeology 37 (2024), pp. 215-240 - if youy search for the title this can be found on-line.
Also highly recommended is J. Magness, Masada: From Jewish Revolt to modern myth (2019).

Pictures are my own, supplemented by some for wiki commons for aerial views and that sort of thing.