In 73 CE anti-Roman riots prevailed in Judea, which general Flavius Silva was supposed to quell. The Romans surrounded Masada – a Jewish fortress on the Dead Sea and erected a series of ramparts and fortifications to cut fortress defenders from food and drinking water supplies. This tactic, however, did not bring any results because the Jews had large reserves.
So, the Romans decided to build a huge embankment, which could transport siege engines to the top of the fortress. After a long time, they managed to break into the fortress to their horror that no one defends this fortress anymore, because the defenders committed mass suicide earlier setting food and weapons in the middle of the main square, so that the Romans could see that they could for a long time to defend themselves and that they would rather die than surrender to the Romans. The legend says that the black birds that can be found today in this wilderness are the souls of defenders guarding this place.
