The Antagonists is a 1971 historical novel by Ernest K. Gann about the siege of the Masada citadel in Israel by the 10th Legion of the Roman Empire in AD 73. The novel was adapted as a television miniseries, "Masada", broadcast first in 1981. The two antagonists of the title are Eleazer ben Yair, leader of the Jewish Zealots who make a final stand on Masada; and the Roman general Flavius Silva.