Last Night on Masada

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It is the night of the 20th of April, in the year 73. The Jewish revolt against Rome has been crushed by the inexorable might of the legions, and now only 992 rebels remain, beseiged on the fortress rock of Masada by ten thousand Roman soldiers.
The fortress wall has been breached, and both Romans and Jews know that the inevitable end must come with the dawn. Indeed, by the next day only seven of the 992 Jewish men, women and children will remain alive. . . .

'Masada' is still an emotive word in Israel. Every tank commander in the Israeli army is sworn in on the rock, and the oath he takes includes the words 'Masada shall not fall again'.
But what really happened on that night? The Jewish historian, Josephus, has made a noble, heroic tale of it. But Josephus is known to be a smoothtongued opportunist. The people on Masada were the last dregs of the rebellion-terrorists, gangsters, religious cranks , and simple farmers concerned only for their personal safety. Not the stuff of which heroes are made.

. .. Or is it? The truth is more complex than Josephus's glossy legend, but perhaps even more inspiring. This is not just the tale of a handful of Jews who died nearly 2000 years ago, but an exposition of the baffling complexity to be found in even the most ordinary of human minds.