Today, itвЂ™s tourists and pilgrims who make the journey up the mountain to Masada. They had committed suicide rather than be conquered by the Romans. Instead, they found hundreds of Jews - men, women and children - dead. In the final attack, thousands of Roman soldiers charged up a stone-and-earthen ramp, but, surprisingly, found no resistance. Looking down from the fortress today, you can still see traces of the camps where the Roman troops had hunkered down for what turned out to be a months-long siege, even though their numbers were in the thousands while the number of Jews was in the hundreds. The Romans had set up camps around the base of Masada and the Jews had a birdвЂ™s-eye view of what the enemy was up to. Today, we know details about what happened here so many centuries ago only because they were documented by Flavius Josephus, a Jewish-Roman historian and eyewitness.ДЄs events unfolded, the Jewish patriots who took refuge atop the mountain seemed to have the upper hand against their enemy, troops from the 10th Roman Legion. ItвЂ™s a privilege - one that brings goose bumps - to stroll around the ruins of this fortress, to walk in the footsteps of those who chose death over Roman slavery. You come here expecting to get a peek at what life was like during biblical times, but you leave with a humbling lesson in courage. You come here hoping for some great photo opportunities, but you leave in awe of the mountain and the beauty surrounding it, knowing your camera will never do it justice. Visiting Masada is one of the highlights of a trip to Israel.

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