Masada

The breathtaking citadel at Masada sits on the flanks and summit of a towering mesa on the western shore of the Dead Sea. King Herod built two palaces on the site: one that sprawls across the mesa’s flat top and one constructed dramatically in three tiers on its north-facing cliff.
Much of Herod the Great’s success as a leader is tied to his conciliatory relations with the Romans. Seventy years after his death, though, Judaean rebels openly challenged Roman rule. After taking Jerusalem in A.D. 70, Roman forces besieged Masada, where roughly a thousand rebels had holed up. Some 15,000 forces assailed the mountain citadel for nearly two years before breaking through. The rebels, called Zealots, allegedly committed suicide rather than be captured. .