Besieged for months, nearly a thousand Jewish rebels chose death over Roman capture

Masada was a fortress atop an isolated plateau where Jewish rebels held out after the fall of Jerusalem, until Roman legions built a massive siege ramp to breach its walls around 73-74 AD. According to Josephus, the defenders chose mass suicide the night before the final assault rather than be taken as slaves.

— Flavius Josephus, The Jewish War — c. 75 AD