Siege of Yodfat The Siege of Yodfat ( , also Jotapata , Iotapata , Yodefat ) was a 47 day siege by Roman forces of the Jewish town of Yodfat which took place in 67 CE , during the Great Revolt . Led by Roman General Vespasian and his son Titus , both future emperors , the siege ended with the sacking of the town , the deaths of most of its inhabitants and the enslavement of the rest . It was the second bloodiest battle of the revolt , surpassed only by the sacking of Jerusalem , and the longest bar Jerusalem and Masada . The siege was chronicled by Josephus , who had personally commanded the Jewish forces at Yodfat and was subsequently captured by the Romans . Background . The Great Revolt . Judaea had been a troubled region throughout the 1st century CE , torn between different religious sects , struggling to fit into the Roman system and subject to Roman procurators who were often corrupt and repressive . A major rebellion finally erupted in 66 CE and a rebel government established in Jerusalem . When Cestius Gallus , the legate of Syria , failed to take Jerusalem and was then ambushed at Beth Horon , the rebellion spread into the kingdom of Agrippa II , including the Galilee . Emperor Nero thereupon called upon Vespasian , a distinguished veteran of the conquest of Britannia , to suppress the rebellion . In April 67 Vespasian , accompanied by legions X " Fretensis " and V " Macedonica " , landed at Ptolemais . There he was joined by Titus , who had arrived from Alexandria at the head of Legio XV " Apollinaris " , and by the armies of various local allies including that of king Agrippa II . Fielding more than 60 , 000 soldiers , Vespasian proceeded with an invasion of the Galilee . The Jews had failed to establish an effective field army and Vespasian ' s campaign was therefore dominated by sieges . The rebel government in Jerusalem had assigned command of both Galilee and the Golan to Yosef Ben Matityahu ( the future Josephus ) who , according to Josephus himself , had prior to the Roman invasion fortified 19 of the most important towns of the region , including Yodfat . After a failed attempt to confront the Roman army at Sepphoris , Josephus had retired to Tiberias , but soon established himself at Yodfat , drawing the Roman legions to the town . Ancient Yodfat . The ancient town of Yodfat is located about 22 km southeast of Acre and 9 km north of Sepphoris , in a topographical setting that contributed greatly to the town ' s defense . It was positioned on an isolated hill hidden between high peaks , surrounded on three sides by steep ravines and easily accessible only from the saddle to the north . Archaeological exploration of Yodfat has revealed traces of habitation from the early Hellenistic Period ( 4th and 3rd centuries BCE ) through Roman times , though the town reached its zenith in the 1st century CE , prior to the revolt , when it expanded from the summit of the hill to its southern plateau . The same excavations have also revealed two , perhaps three , phases of fortification . The first , a wall surrounding the summit , was dated to the early 1st century BCE and attributed to the Hasmonean kings who had at the time expanded their influence to the Galilee . These were later bolstered by an additional parallel wall , while a massive tower stood at the center of the site and a small one to the west . The final phase of fortification took place at the turn of the millennium , with the construction of a wall that encompassed both the summit and the southern plateau , an area of roughly 47 dunams ( approx . 12 acres ) . On the accessible northern side of Yodfat this was composed of a case - mate wall , turning into a single solid wall enforced with a few towers beyond the summit . The single wall closely followed the topography of the hill and in some cases directly abutted or incorporated existing buildings , suggesting it was constructed in haste , during stressful times . These may have been the revolt - era fortifications Josephus attributes to himself . Yodfat , however , suffered from a lack of any local natural source of water . Excavations have revealed the existence of an extensive system of cisterns , both public and private , that were used to collect rain water . While a large quantity of corn had been stored away , Yodfat ' s dependence on a limited and diminishable supply of water would prove problematic during the Roman siege . Although undoubtedly inflated , Josephus puts the population of Yodfat on the eve of the siege at over 40 , 000 people , including refugees . Roman Siege . In early June 67 a force of 1 , 000 cavalrymen arrived at Yodfat to seal off the town , followed a day later by the entire Roman army . Vespasian pitched his own camp north of the town , facing its only accessible side , while his forces surrounded the city . An assault against the wall on the second day of the siege failed , and after several days in which the defenders made a number of successful sorties against his forces , Vespasian decided to prosecute the siege with vigour . The Roman army then began building a siege ramp against the city walls , and when these works were disrupted by the Jews , Vespasian set 160 engines , catapult s and ballista s , backed by lightly armed troops , slingers and archers , to dislodge the defenders from the walls . These were in turn met with repeated sallies by the besieged , but work on the ramp continued , raising it to the height of the battlements and forcing Ben - Matityahu to have the walls themselves raised . Ben - Matityahu had Yodfat ' s limited supply of water rationed before the siege began . The Romans had heard of this and began to use their artillery to target efforts to draw water , hoping to exacerbate an already difficult situation and bring a swift end to the siege . The Jews confounded these expectations by wringing out their clothes over the battlements until the walls were running with water , leading the Romans to believe they had some hidden supply of water . According to Josephus , this had the double effect of strengthening Roman resolve to take the city by force and the defenders ' resolve to fight , hoping to die by the sword rather than thirst or starvation . With the completion of the assault ramp , Vespasian ordered a battering ram brought up against the wall . Various stratagems were used by the defenders against the ram , including lowering sacks filled with chaff to receive its blows ( until these were torn away by the Romans ) and sallying forth and setting fire to the ram . Josephus also chronicles an incident in which one of the defenders , renowned for his strength , cast a huge stone on the ram from above , breaking off its head . Nevertheless , the attempts to batter down the wall continued . When Vespasian himself was wounded by a defender ' s dart , the Romans were so incensed that they continued their bombardment of the wall throughout the night . By morning a breach had been created and the Romans were ready to assault the walls . The besieged , however , charged through the breach , and when the Roman attempted to scale the walls , scalding oil was poured down upon them from above and they were beaten back . Vespasian ' s next ploy was to raise the siege ramp even further , and in order to protect his soldiers he had three siege towers built , each 15m tall . Raining missiles on the defenders , the towers allowed the Roman soldiers beneath to complete their siege works , heightening the ramp until it surpassed the city walls . Fall of Yodfat . On the 47th day of the siege , the day when the ramp surpassed the walls , a deserter went over to the Romans and disclosed the dire situation within Yodfat . Few defenders had remained , and these , worn out by their perpetual fighting and vigilance , usually slept during the last watch of the night . At dawn on the very next day , the first of Panemus ( July 20 , 67 ) , a band of Romans reportedly led by Titus himself stealthily scaled the walls , cut the throats of the watch and opened the gates , letting in the entire Roman army . Taken by surprise , the Jews were furthermore confounded by a thick mist , and the Romans quickly took hold of the summit , pursuing the inhabitants down the eastern slope . According to Josephus , 40 , 000 were slain or committed suicide and 1 , 200 women and infants were taken into slavery , while the Romans suffered but a single fatality . Vespasian ordered the town demolished and its walls torn down . The Romans prohibited burial of the fallen and it was only a year or more later when Jews were allowed to return to bury the remains in caves and cisterns . Yosef Ben - Matityahu had hidden in one of the caves that litter the site , along with 40 other prominent citizens of Yodfat . Although Ben - Matityahu was in favour of surrendering to the Romans , the majority of his comrades opted to kill themselves rather than fall into Roman hands . As suicide is considered sinful , they decided to draw lots to kill each other . Ben - Matityahu and another man , however , were the last to survive , and both resolved to give themselves up . Taken to see the Roman general , Ben - Matityahu prophesied that Vespasian would one day become emperor . Vespasian subsequently spared the rebel leader , who began collaborating with the Romans . At first a slave , he would later be freed and be granted Roman citizenship as Flavius Josephus . Archaeology . Josephus ' role as leader of the defenders of Yodfat , his subsequent collaboration with the Romans and his servitude to the Flavians have all made his account of the siege of Yodfat suspect . As the sole account of the battle , as well as of many events of the Great Revolt , the credibility of Josephus has been a central subject of historical inquiry . As the original site of Yodfat had never been resettled nor built over , it provides an almost unparalleled glimpse of both Jewish life at the time and the battle site . Yet although the site of Yodfat had been identified in the mid 19th century , excavations of the ancient town only began with six seasons undertaken between 1992 and 2000 . These have revealed that Josephus ' description of the events at Yodfat were , to a large extent , accurate . The site shows evidence of hasty fortifications and of a large scale battle which took place . Exploration of the Roman assault ramp as well of the residential areas of the town have produced hundreds of bow and ballista arrowheads , as well as catapult stones , while in the ramp were also found a pair of caligae nails and a large rolling stone . A fill containing a catapult stone in the corner of the northern casemate wall is indicative of attempts at reinforcement against a battering ram . Human bones of all ages were found in every house and cistern , including arms and skulls bearing cut marks from heavy sharp tools . Hundreds , possibly thousands , of people were clearly killed during the battle . The archaeology of Yodfat also reveals that the fortification of Yodfat cannot be credited to Josephus ' effort alone . Furthermore , archaeology is unable to provide insight into many of the details he provides , particularly events surrounding the final fall of Yodfat and his surrender to Vespasian . The figure he provides for the population of Yodfat , and the large number of casualties are clearly inflated . A more realistic figure would place the population of the town on the eve of the siege , including refugees and fighting men , at 7 , 000 people . One find of particular interest is an 8 by 11 cm stone slab , found in the residential area on the eastern slope of Yodfat , covered on both sides with scratched drawings made by a pointed tool . One side depicts a building with a triangular roof upon a podium , a small tree and a harp , and is thought to portray a " Nefesh " ( a traditional Judean mausoleum ) . The other side of the stone features a crab , the astrological symbol of the Hebrew month of Tammuz , on the first day of which Yodfat fell . The stone is believed to have been the work of a besieged Jew anticipating his own impending doom , and its likeness has been etched on a modern memorial to the defenders of Yodfat placed at the foot of the Roman siege ramp . The Roman ramp in the saddle below the Yodefat wall towers was a twin ramp and where it became steep , ramp infill was held in place by still visible concrete revetment . In 1993 a University of Rochester archaeological team mapped a square kilometer centered on a brass datum placed near the center of Yodefat hill by British surveyors . The mapping project ' s primary goal was to create a digital elevation model with rendered wire frame model and a map depicting all extant city archaeological features , the siege ramp , entrances to cisterns , an olive press on the lower eastern slope , and niche graves on the slopes below the walls . In addition , potential locations for Roman artillery were identified through analysis of ballista trajectories found archaeologically at the base of the north towers .