Until recently, popular narrative suggested that the Roman army found it very difficult to take the Masada fortress, standing as a symbol of Jewish heroism in modern Israel.
For many years, it was assumed that this siege, one of the final moments of the First Jewish-Roman War, took nearly three years, but researchers have begun to challenge this belief.
Previous studies provide insights into the quantity of earth and stones a Roman soldier could move in a single day.
There are also records that about 6,000-8,000 soldiers participated in the siege of Masada.
Using this information, scientists could calculate how long it took them to build the entire siege system which included eight camps and a stone wall surrounding most of the site.
“We found that construction took merely about two weeks,” Hai Ashkenazi, another author of the study, said.
“Based on the ancient historical testimony it is clear that once the assault ramp was completed, the Romans launched a brutal attack, ultimately capturing the fortress within a few weeks at the most. This leads us to the conclusion that the entire siege of Masada lasted no more than several weeks,” Dr Ashkenazi said.
