Siege of Jotapata
Jotapata played a major role in the First Jewish-Roman War (AD 66-73). The city housed Josephus' army, and was widely fortified. When the Roman army, led by Vespasian, arrived, it camped on the northern side, the only access to the citadel. Vespasian had three legions — Legio V Macedonica, X Fretensis, and XV Apollinaris — and supporting troops, for a total of about 60,000 men. After an unsuccessful direct attack, Vespasian ordered to lay a siege.
The siege lasted 47 days, with a strong resistance on Jews' side (Vespasian himself was wounded), but in the end the fortress fell by treachery. An estimated 40,000 were killed, while 1,000 women and children were sold as slaves. While the few dozen surviving fighters committed suicide, Josephus managed to survive this pact. See Josephus problem.==See also==
References
Primary sources
- Josephus, The Wars of the Jews, The War of the Jews:Book III#Chapter 7.
Secondary sources
External links
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Last updated on Wednesday August 20, 2008 at 01:16:20 PDT (GMT -0700)
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