A few days ago, it suddenly became lively there. The Romans seem to be assembling huge things. What's the use? Can you fly to the top of the mountain with your wings? It's fantastic. God bless, this is the famous Masaadeh, an invincible fortress. How dare these arrogant Romans challenge the will of God?
Masadai landform
A century-old feud: the Jewish problem in Rome
Since Pompeii occupied Jerusalem in 63 BC, the "Jewish problem" has become a social problem that the Romans have to face for a long time. Jews believe in monotheism and scoff at the religious beliefs of other nationalities; They are used to immigration, but they are incompatible with local residents; Jews refused to perform military service for religious reasons, and refused to pay any taxes except donating 2 drachma silver coins to the temple in Jerusalem every year; The most special thing is that Jews have a special liking for theocracy, and they are eager to establish a completely independent theocracy with Jewish laws in Jerusalem.
In order to maintain the ruling order, Rome once adopted a religious tolerance policy towards Jews. Jews not only have a high degree of autonomy, but also have the right to decide internal disputes, exempt from military service and logistical support obligations to Rome, and allow religious gatherings. The rights of Jews scattered all over the country are also officially guaranteed.
Jews in the Roman Empire
However, since Augustus officially established the Jewish province in 6 AD, the contradiction between the Romans and the Jews has gradually intensified. The king of Judah and the high priest attached themselves to the governor of Rome and became increasingly opposed to the Jewish poor at the lower level; In addition, Jews and Greeks in Syria and Egypt have accumulated many contradictions due to conflicts of commercial interests and cultural barriers.
In June 66 AD, a conflict broke out between Jews and Greeks in Kaseria, the capital of Jewish province, because of a property dispute. Roman Governor Florus was partial to the Greeks and confiscated the 17 Tarant gold coin of the Jerusalem Temple on the grounds of paying taxes.
Angry Jews launched an anti-Roman uprising, which spread from Caesarea to Jerusalem and eventually evolved into a great uprising that swept through Judea. The Roman garrison in Jerusalem was wiped out by the insurgents. The joint crusade between the 12 army sent by the governors of Rome and Syria and the army of Herodias Kipa II, the Jewish king, was also a crushing defeat, with nearly 6,000 people lost. Nero, the Roman emperor, thought the situation was serious. He appointed the retired general Vespami as the commander-in-chief and used three elite legions to storm.
Roman No.1 12 Legion was ambushed by Jewish rebels and defeated.
The King's Teacher: Roman Imperial Corps
After a hundred years of tempering after the famous Marius Reform (BC 107), the Roman legions in the imperial period made a qualitative leap in all aspects.
The division of young soldiers, mature soldiers and adult soldiers was abolished. All the heavy infantry are incorporated into the legion, and the state is responsible for the unified equipment of armor, javelin, Spanish dagger and Latin long shield.
The formation form of the legion has also changed. A complete Roman legion has a capacity of 6,000 people, divided into 10 brigades, including 800 in the first brigade and 480 in the other nine brigades, and the number of cavalry is small.
Roman legion
In addition, each legion began to have its own eagle emblem, which has become a symbol of Roman military strength.
On the operational level, the operational mode of the Roman Legion in the later period was more flexible, but in most cases it still adopted three arrays: four brigades in the first column and three brigades in the second and third columns. The soldiers in the front row will retreat after a few minutes of fighting, and the soldiers behind will take over the fighting and rotate in turn.
Roman cavalry
Of course, these changes are not a leap in themselves. The real incomparable advantage of the Roman legion lies in its advanced military technology. They had an engineering unit, which was unique in the Mediterranean world at that time. In the Jewish War, the Roman Legion will fully demonstrate its powerful combat effectiveness in destroying cities and uprooting villages.
In May 67 AD, Vespa began to March into Galilee in northern Judea. As the main force, the three legions are all elite troops that have fought against Armenia and Parthia, and the three auxiliary legions cooperate in the battle.
In addition, Vespa was supported by Jewish soldiers of Herodia Kipa II who ruled the northeast of Judea and local Roman allied soldiers. This multi-ethnic joint force has a total of 60,000 people, and the front line is directed at Jerusalem.
Masaad fortress
In 67-68 AD, the Romans occupied Galilee, captured Utapata, the northern gateway, and marched south. Vespa adopted the strategy of "cutting off the wing first, then pounding the heart", sweeping the surrounding areas of Jewish land first and gradually tightening the siege of Jerusalem. Wherever the Roman army went, it killed and plundered. They tried to shock the people through the reign of terror, and at the same time drove the uprising elite to central towns such as Jerusalem in order to catch them all.
In June 68 AD, Emperor Nero committed suicide after being overthrown by a coup. Vespami temporarily withdrew his troops for the throne, and the war came to an end. In 70 AD, Titus, the son of Vespa Mi Pai, proclaimed himself emperor, launched another war. The Jewish rebels in Jerusalem panicked, causing factional disputes, burning down the city's grain reserves and accelerating their failure.
In June 5438+10, after seven months of siege, Jerusalem finally fell, most of the defenders died in battle, and urbanization was in ruins. Terrible hunger and slaughter left nearly one million residents and fleeing refugees in the city, and 70,000 people were sold as slaves by the Romans.
The fall of Jerusalem
However, the uprising was not a complete failure ―― Masaad, known as "invincible", hoped Cezanne would be in Jewish hands.
Masaadeh, which means "fortress" in Hebrew, is located at the top of a rock at the junction of Judea Desert and the bottom of the Dead Sea, which is 100 km east of Jerusalem. The hillside is about 320 meters high, and the top is an open platform, which is about 645 meters long and 3 15 meters wide. The fortress is surrounded by deep valleys and the terrain is extremely dangerous.
This fortress is said to have been built by the ancient king of Israel. Herod, the Jewish king (74 BC-the first four years) invested a lot of manpower and material resources to repair and expand. The wall of the top platform is 5.5 meters high and 3.6 meters thick; Surrounded by 30 towers with a height of 22 meters.
In order to persist for a long time, Herod also stored weapons and strategic materials such as iron, copper and lead for 1 10,000 people in the fortress; In order to ensure water supply, he also dug waterways on the rock wall and chiseled many reservoirs; The grain accumulated in the fortress can't be eaten for several years, and there are a lot of wine, oil, beans and dates.
The restoration map of Masaadeh fortress shows the road under the control of watchtower.
Masaad siege war
In AD 6, the fortress of Massayed was taken over by the Roman army. During the Jewish uprising in 66 AD, a small number of Roman troops stationed here were wiped out by the Sicari Party. This gang is an extremist among the rebels and is famous for carrying out assassination activities with the short knife "Sika".
After the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD, Masaad became the last stronghold of the rebels, and Eleazar, the leader of the Sicari Party? 6? Ben. 6? Yair led about 65,438+0,000 disabled soldiers, including the old, the weak, women and children.
In the winter of 72 AD, the new Jewish governor Lucius? 6? Flavi? 6? Silva led the Roman army to Masaad. After battlefield investigation, the Romans methodically launched their siege deployment:
The first step: a tight blockade.
The Romans first set up eight barracks around the fortress as siege bases. Then a stone wall was built to connect these barracks. Every 75-90 meters, a tower is set up to form an annular blockade line with a circumference of 3.5 kilometers, cutting off all the links between Masaad and the outside world.
Roman blockade
Due to the secluded Masaad desert, lack of water, food and grass, the logistics support of the Roman legion is not easy. A soldier is more expensive than a long time. For Roman generals, it is best to do it quickly. The longer the war drags on, it will not only increase the cost and casualties, but also eliminate the hatred accumulated by the local people, which is not conducive to rebuilding the ruling order after the war. So, Flavi? 6? Silva did not adopt the consumption strategy of long-term siege, but directly carried out a frontal storm.
Siege has always been a taboo for military strategists: sending soldiers' equipment to a steep hillside more than 300 meters high, regardless of the commanding harassment of the enemy, and winning the battle. Even in modern wars, this is a difficult problem. This was an almost impossible task in ancient times. However, the Roman legion used their military engineering technology to prove to the world that they could not only accomplish it, but also did it well.
Step 2: Build a dike to clear the way.
There is no way to go up the mountain? The Roman response was to find another way! After investigation, the only suitable construction site is a ridge named "White Bone Spur" on the west side of the fortress. Flavi? 6? Silva decided to build a siege causeway here-a slope made of mud and stone, through which the Romans could transport soldiers and siege equipment directly from the foot of the mountain to the door of the fortress at the top of the mountain.
Weichengdi avenue
This project can't be done simply by piling earth and stone. The pavement structure of the causeway must be firm and smooth, so as to ensure that it can carry siege equipment weighing several tons without causing landslides, which can only be realized by developed engineering technology.
The construction method of the Roman legion is to dig a step on the original roof in advance, and then transport wood from other places to make beams and nail them on the dug steps. The gaps between beams are filled with gravel, and the supporting structure is covered with sealed soil.
How about the quality of Roman architecture ―― Today, 2000 years later, this causeway still exists for a long time.
The causeway still exists
Step 3: Push the lid.
During the causeway project, the defenders at the top of the mountain kept dropping arrows, javelins and stones in an attempt to block the progress of the project. The Romans set up long-range fire positions on the completed slopes and did not hesitate to fight back. The purpose of using long-range weapons by the Roman army is not to directly destroy the city wall (it is quite difficult to directly smash the fortress stone wall with the stone bullets of the crossbow), but to suppress the firepower and kill and repel the defenders on the city wall and in the city as much as possible.
The projectiles used by the Roman Legion in this campaign are as follows:
1. Ballot gun: It is the most widely used military machine in Rome. It is a precision shooting weapon, which mainly fires heavy arrows or javelin, and can also fire light stone bullets.
2. Scorpion crossbow: A light projective weapon, which is mainly used to launch light crossbows for killing people in medium and long range.
3. Stone thrower: The Romans called it "wild donkey". Heavy riprap weapon, capable of throwing large stones or stones. The rear single torsion spring releases energy through the rotating arm connected with the spring.
The fourth step: break the city and pull out the village.
After several months' construction, a 6 17 meter long and 206 meters high siege causeway that goes straight to the top of the mountain has finally been completed. At the same time, the Romans have built a 30-meter-high siege tower with roulette wheels at the bottom, which is slowly pushed from the bottom of the causeway to the top of the mountain.
The surface of this behemoth is covered with iron plates to prevent arrows and fire. About 200 people operate winch bearings to drive the mobile fortress. There is a 1 sheep-head-shaped city-breaking mallet at the bottom of siege tower, and a 1 giant trebuchet is installed on the first floor, which can launch giant stone bombs weighing 80kg. The specifications of crossbows or trebuchets on each floor are reduced in turn, and soldiers shoot directly with crossbows and javelins on the top two floors. In addition, each floor in siege tower has its own fire extinguishing device.
siege tower
On April 15, 73 AD, everything was ready. Roman legions spread out the standard siege formation "Tortoise Shell Array": the soldiers in the front row lay prone on the ground, the soldiers in the second row put shields in the front row, and the soldiers in the third row raised shields over their heads, overlapping like tiles, forming an impenetrable defensive formation, blocking the stones falling on the wall and driving the huge siege tower to rush towards the fortress gate.
Tortoise shell array
The hammer at the bottom of siege tower shook the solid wall of the fortress, and the catapult and crossbow on the tower kept shooting arrows, destroying the defenders on the wall, and the stone wall that was about to be broken beyond the Great Wall was soon broken. But the Jews built a second wall of logs and mud, which was soft enough to cope with the attack of the gavel.
Flavi? 6? Silva then ordered the soldiers to throw torches at the second city wall. A north wind blew head-on, almost burning the Roman siege tower. Perhaps God abandoned the Jews, and suddenly the south wind blew the flames onto the walls of the Jews, and the raging fire destroyed the last hope of the rebels.
Masaad's last moments.
In the early morning of the next day, the Romans launched a general attack from the gap in the city wall, and unexpectedly encountered no resistance. Including Eleazar? 6? Ben. 6? Most Jews, including Yair, committed mass suicide the night before.
Because suicide is not allowed in the Bible, they drew lots to choose one out of every ten people to kill the other nine, and a total of 960 people died. Only two women and five children survived. It is said that the Romans did not cheer for victory, but expressed admiration for the sacrifice of the defenders.
The heyday of Roman hegemony
In the process of besieging Masaad fortress, the Romans showed their strong fighting ability and superb military engineering level, and they were worthy of being the most powerful military force in the ancient world. The Jewish war also made the Romans realize the decisive significance of military power in maintaining hegemony. After that, any rebellion under the imperial rule will be severely and ruthlessly suppressed.
The victory of Titus built by Rome to commemorate the victory of the Jewish War.
The fate of the Jews is not over yet. In A.D. 13 1 year, Jews revolted again in order to resist Rome's religious oppression policy. Emperor Hadrian launched a devastating military conquest: more than 50 Jewish cities and more than 1,000 villages were destroyed and 580,000 people were massacred. The city of Jerusalem was completely razed to the ground and the remaining Jews were driven out of their homes? The Jewish problem in the Roman Empire was "finally solved" in bloody destruction. From then on, the Jewish nation began a tragic national diaspora that lasted for two thousand years.