Masada 1

ex carcere, ubi captivi custödebantur, tristēs clāmōrēs audiebantur.

From the prison, where the captives were held, sad cries were heard.

duae enim fēminae ludaeae, superstitēs eōrum quī contrā Rōmānōs rebellāverant, fortūnam suam lūgebant.

Two Jewish women, survivors of those who had rebelled against the Romans, mourned their fate.

altera erat anus septuagintā annōrum, altera mātrōna triginta annōs nāta.

One was a seventy-year-old grandmother, the other a thirty-year-old married woman.

unā cum eīs in carcere erant quīnque līberī, quōrum Simōn natu maximus solācium matri et aviae ferre temptābat.

With them in the prison were five children, among whom Simon, the eldest, tried to bring comfort to his mother and grandmother.

"Mater, cūr tū lacrīmīs opprimeris?

“Mother, why do you overwhelm yourself with tears?

noli lūgere!

Do not mourn!

decōrum est Iudaeīs fortitūdinem in rēbus adversīs praestāre."

It is proper for Jews to show courage in adverse circumstances.”

Māter fīlium amplexa, "Melius erat," inquit, "cum patre vestrō perīre abhinc annōs novem.

The mother embraced her son: “It would have been better to die with your father nine years ago.

Cūr tum ā morte abhorrui?

Why did I then shrink from death?

Cūr vōs servāvī?"

Why did I save you?”

Simōn, his verbis commōtus, mātrem rogāvit quō modō periisset pater atque quārē rem prius nōn nārrāvisset.

Simon, moved by these words, asked his mother how his father had died and why she had not told him sooner.

Eam ōrāvit ut omnia explicāret.

He begged her to explain everything.

Sed tantus erat dolor mātris ut primō nihil dicere posset.

But the mother’s grief was so great that at first she could say nothing.

Mox, cum sē collegisset, ad līberōs conversa, "Dē morte patris vestrī," inquit, "prius nārrāre nōlēbam nē vōs quoque perīrētis, exemplum eius imitātī.

Soon, having collected herself, she turned to the children: “I did not want to tell you at first about your father’s death so that you would not also die, following his example.

Nam tu frātrēsque obstīnātiōne iam nimium afficiminī.

For you and your brothers are already too obstinate.

Nunc tamen audeō vōbīs tōtam rem patefacere quod nōs omnēs crās moritūrī sumus."

Now, however, I dare to reveal the whole truth because we are all going to die tomorrow.”

Nōs Iudaeī contrā Rōmānōs trēs annōs pugnāre cōngebāmur.

We Jews were forced to fight against the Romans for three years.

Anno quarto iste Beelzebub, Titus, urbem Ierusalem expūgnāvit.

In the fourth year, that Beelzebub, Titus, captured the city of Jerusalem.

Numquam ego spectāculum terribilius vīdī: ubīque aedificia flammīs cōnsūmebantur; ubīque virī, fēminae, līberī occidebantur; Templum ipsum a mīlitibus diripēbātur; tota urbs ēvertēbātur.

Never have I seen a more terrible spectacle: everywhere buildings were consumed by flames; everywhere men, women, and children were killed; the Temple itself was plundered; the whole city was overthrown.

In illa clāde periērunt multa mīlia Iudaeōrum; sed nōs, quamquam ā mīlitibus infestīs circumveniebāmur, cum circiter mille superstitibus effūgimus, duce Eleazaro, ad rūpem Masadam processimus; quam ascendimus et occupāvimus.

Many thousands of Jews perished in that disaster; but we, although surrounded by hostile soldiers, escaped with about a thousand survivors under the leadership of Eleazar and proceeded to the rock of Masada, which we climbed and occupied.

Tu, Simōn, illō tempore vix quīnque annōs nātus erās.

You, Simon, at that time were barely five years old.

Rūpēs Masada est alta et praerūpta, prope lacum Asphaltiten sita.

The rock of Masada is high and steep, near the Dead Sea.

Ibi, mūnītiōnibus undique dēfēnsī, Rōmānīs diū resistēbāmus.

There, defended on all sides by fortifications, we resisted the Romans for a long time.

Intereā dux hostium, Lūcius Flāvius Silva, rūpem castellīs multis circumvēnit.

Meanwhile, the enemy commander, Lucius Flavius Silva, surrounded the rock with many camps.

Deinde mīlitēs, iussū Silvae, ingentem aggerem usque ad summam rūpem exstrūxērunt.

Then, by Silva’s order, the soldiers built a huge ramp up to the top of the rock.

Postrēmō aggerem ascenderunt, magnamque partem mūnītiōnum ignī dēlēvērunt.

Finally, they climbed the ramp and destroyed a large part of our fortifications with fire.

Tandem, cum nox appropinquāret, Silva mīlitēs ad castra redūxit ut proximum diem victoriamque exspectārent.

At last, when night approached, Silva led his soldiers back to camp to await the next day and victory.