"Good morning." "Please, have some." "You wrote all this for the Romans?" "Battles, sieges, wars." "I write the stories that I'm told." "But your stories must please your masters." "Or what will they do?" "Behead you?" "Crucify you?" "Sit down." "You say I'm a traitor, but which of us is master of their destiny?" "Who is free... and who is in chains?" "You tell me." "Never forget, you are my prisoners." "Until I hear the full story, you will remain so." "I don't think you've slept well, I can tell." "Was it a dream, perhaps?" "A lion?" "Yes." "And a snake." "A giant snake." "Yes, well, the snake would be Rome, would it not?" "Hissing, waiting to devour the lion." "They were camped below us... an insult every time we looked over the wall." "I used to think we could see heaven from Masada." "But all I saw were the gates of hell." "We were only a few hundred." "If their empire was so great, why did they have to cross the desert to destroy us?" "Well, Masada was an ember that could ignite the flames of rebellion in other places." "It had to be crushed." "So... let us begin." "Report." "By sundown, both camps will be set up." "The full contingent arrives by the end of the day tomorrow." "The scouts say there are only two ways up." "The serpent's path up the side, how is it?" "Too steep and narrow to support any troops or equipment." "What about the cliffs on the back of the mountain?" "You would need ropes to climb up that way." "They'll pick us off like sparrows." "How long do you think they can last?" "It is rumored they have plenty of oil and grain in their storerooms, left over from the time of King Herod." "We, on the other hand, will need to feed thousands of mouths every day." "And for water?" "They have a network of cisterns that are replenished every time there is a flash flood." "Starving them out would take years." "We're not waiting for them to starve, Claudius." "We're going to go up there and get them." "No one's ever done that before, not in the hundred years since it was built." "Block every exit." "I want guards posted to bar any passage through the ravines." "They must have nowhere to run." "You're going to force them to take a stand." "The best way to catch a scorpion is to crush it in its own garden, no?" "The Sicarii say this mountain is invisible." "They believe their God pulled a curtain over it." "They were wrong." "How many are up there?" "Stay away from the walls!" "Do not let them count our numbers!" "Let them think we have thousands of warriors!" "Gather a few men." "Let's see what the pig eaters are up to." "You're wanted in the armory." "My love!" "My love." "The warriors need your help." "They do?" "Can you make more of these?" "We're running short." "My angel, my dove." "Thank you." "Thank you!" "The man from the valley." "Yes." "His name was Yoav." "An air of mystery surrounded him." "He never spoke, yet his eyes held a deep sorrow." "I never knew how Yoav's fate would be bound to mine." "As yours was to Eleazar?" "Eleazar and I were bound to each other steel to steel." "Have you ever known that kind of love?" "I'll see you tonight." "I'm sorry." "You can't come in." "I-I don't understand." "Why are we treating him like this?" "I can't let you in." "He's locked in a cage like an animal." " What is happening?" " What has he done to us?" "They've had the slave locked up in there" " since he tried to escape." " You can't do this to him." "I have to see him." "This is my fault." "I will not let him die alone." "Eleazar is still scouting with the warriors." "Who else can give permission?" "Maybe his wife, Channa." "Yes." "Yes, I will go to her." " I don't think that is wise." " Why not?" "Because she will see that you're too close to him and she won't help you." "You know her?" "Since before you were born." "Oh." "Then I'll go." "I have seen her watch the children play." "Take L'viyah with you." "No one can resist her smile." "Whatever you do, Aziza, please be careful with her." "Yes?" " I have a favor to ask of you." " Go away." "Please." "Please." "It's for my friend." "She takes pity on the slave." "I can't help you." "Ooh." "Perhaps I have something for you." "A potion to help with your breathing." "No one can help me." "Thousands of them." "The entire Tenth Legion." "And many slaves." "To build their camps." "More camps?" "Five." "Six." "Maybe more." "All around the mountain." "Go back to the Snake Path." "You and Uri, come with me." "Hold this for me." "Aziza... she must put a flame to it and breathe in the smoke." "It will help her instantly." "Do not let the fire flame too brightly or she may never breathe again." "I pity her." "Uh-uh." "Leave her with us." "You didn't bring the baby?" "No." "I'll arrange for one visit for your friend." "Tell the witch I say thank you... for allowing me to breathe." "Shh, shh." "Ewn?" "Gareth?" "Can you hear me, brothers?" "Do you hear me?" "Yes, yes, I hear you." "I hear you." "I hear you." "Yael." "It's okay." "They treat him worse than a dog." "I can't leave him like that." "The least I can do is bring him food and water" "Did she say anything about me?" "Yes, she sent her gratitude." "Her gratitude is a curse." "I need an hour, no more." "Well, I'd have to bring the baby with me this time." "Otherwise, she won't do anything." "Yael, she's a demon." "Where was Eleazar during this time?" "What was he doing?" "He came back from the expedition and had seen the vastness of the Roman army." "He should have known then that surrender was your only option." "Eleazar believed Masada would be our salvation." "He was our leader." "His words lifted our hearts and gave us courage." "We believed we could overcome the demons camped at our feet." "Flavius Silva had thousands of fighting men." "You had only a few hundred." "That may be true... but we believed God was on the side of the innocent." "God is never on the side of the innocent." "God is on the side of the one that has the most weapons." "When the fortress of Machareus fell to the Tenth Legion, under the command of Flavius Silva, the very same one who's surrounding us now, he promised freedom in exchange for surrender." "He lied." "When our brothers surrendered," "Flavius Silva ordered every man slaughtered and every woman violated." "They then took the women and children and threw them on pyres and burned them!" "Masada is the last Jewish fortress standing in Judea." "We have wine, oil and plenty of food left." "Our cisterns are full." "We can wait for them to tire and move on." "But hear this." "Whatever happens, there'll be no retreat for Masada!" "Baruch hashem!" "Baruch hashem!" "Freedom or death!" "Freedom or death!" " Freedom or death!" " Freedom or death!" "Freedom or death!" "Freedom or death!" "Freedom or death!" "Freedom or death!" "Freedom or death!" "Freedom or death!" "Freedom or death!" "Freedom or death!" "Baruch hashem!" "Baruch hashem!" "You don't shout with us, brother." "Do you not believe in our fight for freedom, or are you too afraid to die?" "I'm already dead." "My dearest." "My love." "My little lamb." "You will sleep with me on a bed of silk." "Fetch the baby tomorrow." "But his mother is waiting for him." "Does your friend want to visit the slave again, or does she not?" "You are beautiful." "I look terrible." "I love your tears." "Now cry some more so that I can kiss them away." "I have to go get L'viyah." "I will be back, I promise." "I promise." "Channa?" "Channa?" "Shh, shh." "Channa, it is I, L'viyah's mother." "She's better off with me." "I will take care of her." "Channa?" "Shh, shh, shh." "Channa?" "Channa!" "Channa!" "Channa!" "Shh, shh, shh, shh." "Channa?" "Channa!" "It's my fault." "It's my fault." "She's barren." "She'll never give the baby back." "Can you talk to Eleazar?" " No, I cannot." " You know him." "I saw you together." "I'm sorry." "I'll go." "I've come to get the child." "Her mother wants her back." "I didn't know she had a mother." "Who's the father?" "Not everyone has a father, Eleazar." "Everyone has that." "Wait here." "You need to give the baby back to her mother." "She is mine now." "No." "Please." "Don't take her." "Don't... take her." "Thank you." "We tried to ignore the world appearing below us." "Camps were built overnight." "Tents rising so quickly, they seemed to come into being before our very eyes." "Hmm." "I'm sure your people were feeling the... the threat mounting." "Yes." "Fear was starting to take hold." "This is always the time when people turn against each other." "And you," "Witch of Moab... you would have been the perfect target for people wanting to blame someone." "People wanted flesh and blood to turn against." "Channa eagerly knew where to point the finger." "She took her revenge." "She turned the people against me." "She's a witch!" "She's a witch!" "Kill her!" "Kill her!" "So this is your doing?" "This is your revenge?" "You witch!" "You will not have my husband!" "I've had him all along!" "Kill the witch!" "No!" "Let me go!" "Stop it!" "Out of the way!" "Let her go!" "Set our sister free!" "Yahweh!" "Our spirits are dry!" "Mayim!" "Mayim, mayim, mayim!" "Yahweh, open up the sky!" "Heal us!" "Drench us with your geshem." "Amen!" "Amen Selah!" "Yahweh!" "Mayim!" "Amen Selah!" "Yahweh!" "Hear our supplication!" "How long..." "Ah!" "Mayim!" "Mayim." "Mayim." "Mayim." "Did you really believe that you made it rain all by yourself, Witch of Moab?" "That power is from God." "From love." "I was merely an instrument." "Does that frighten you at all?" "Of course." "My mother warned me." "Love would be my undoing." "I don't understand." "Love makes you give yourself away." "It binds you to another person's fate, like I was bound to Eleazar." "When I saw Aziza and Amram," "I feared he would lead her to her ruin." "Why are you saying that?" "He will tempt you with the path you must not travel." "I have seen your destruction, Aziza." "I want to protect you from love." "So we must all stay away from love?" "This is the fate of all your children?" "It is me." "Whomever I loved would be doomed." "And Eleazar?" "You didn't want to love him?" "You took him away from his wife." "We had no choice." "I curse what it is to be a woman." "Is that why you made me live as a boy?" "Tell me, Immah." "You owe this to me now." "They were bandits." "They found us unprotected." "A woman and a child, alone." "What they did to me... they also did to you." "Do you understand," "Aziza?" "Sa'adollos loved you." "And when he saw what they had done, he was like a demon from another world." "He killed each one of the bandits." "I vowed no one would ever hurt you like that again." "And so I changed your name and decided you would be a boy." "To save you from the fate of women." "When you change your name... you change your fate." "Your name had been Rebekah." "But now you were Aziza, one who is mighty." "From then on, you were a boy." "I want to be a warrior again." "I am that person, Immah." "Let me be who I am." "I don't want to lose you, child." "You are my heart." "I shall be a warrior again." "That is my fate." "And you cannot change it." "Amram!" "Amram!" "Uri, calm down." " What did you see?" " Roman convoy." " Where?" " Up in the ravine." "How many soldiers?" "About 30 or 40 soldiers." " 12 carts." " Are you sure?" "Yes, I'm sure." "I saw them up in the ravine." "What is it?" "Uri spotted Roman carts in the ravine heading towards the first camp." "It's their line of supply coming from the Salt Sea." "I'm sure there's another one coming from Jerusalem, too." "They have thousands of mouths to feed every day." "We should attack the convoy, cut off their supply." "Yes." "Go." "Let them think demons stole their supply." "Brothers," " gather your weapons." " Amram, Amram, I want to go." "Please." "Adir, you're not ready yet and your mother would kill me." "Maybe next time." "Brothers, hurry!" "Come on!" "My mother gave me this." "Spell book." "Secret recipes passed down from her mother and her mother before." "A cure for night blindness." "Headache." "To catch a thief." "The leaf of a date palm is the cure for a scorpion bite." "Be careful with that one." "Just a few drops of it will make any strong man completely powerless." "Mix it with water, and it is deadly." "What are you going to do?" "About your slave." "I cannot let him be a prisoner, but I don't want to lose him." "Well, if you wait too long to decide, you will lose him anyway." "They will kill him." "Immah, where is Adir?" "He's resting." "He's not in there." "Take three men, approach from the rear." "Make a lot of noise when you are in position." "When they go after you, we'll take them from the front." "Join us then." "Adir?" "What are you doing here?" "Go back." " Go back!" " I want to fight." "Please!" "Please, Amram!" " Please!" " Shh!" "Be quiet." "And stay behind me." "When I cut a pig eater, make sure he doesn't rise again." "Understood?" " Yes!" " Shh!" "Quiet." "Quiet." "Go now, my brother." "May God protect you." "What's that?" "Go and see what's happening!" "Where are they?" "!" "Come on!" "Gather the dead." "Take whatever you can carry and burn the rest." "Adir!" "Adir." "You did good." "Adir, you did good." "You are one of us now." "Let's go back up." "Adir!" "He followed us." "I tried to send him back." "Adir!" "How dare you?" "Get out!" "Get out!" "Adir." "Stay calm." "Stay calm." "Adir." "Go get some water." " Shh, shh, shh, shh, shh." " Yael, hurry!" "Water!" "Shh." "We have to burn his garments, so the demons can't enter him." "Burn his garments so the demons can't enter him?" "The threat wasn't coming from demons, it was coming from real men." "The Roman army waiting down below." "What were the men doing?" "Sleeping?" "Only 15 dead and three carts destroyed, General." "What was in the carts?" "Barrels of wine... and the-the oysters you ordered from Corsa." "I will make those Jews drink the blood of their children." "Accelerate the building of the siege wall." "We can't possibly go any faster, General." "The slaves are dying like flies in this heat." "What are slaves for but to die?" "Get a siege tower started now." "Tower?" "The fortress is over a thousand feet high." "There's no tower that can poss..." "To destroy them we have to reach them." "And I shall reach those walls even if I have to build a tower tall enough to touch the sky." "Adir's leg doesn't look good." "I don't think he'll be able to go with the warriors." "All warriors must go when called;" "Adir's one of us now." "Amram, he can't even walk without a crutch." "You and your mother, you baby him too much." "Is something wrong?" "Don't trouble yourself with such things." "Tell Adir I'll need him soon." "Adir." "How do I look?" "Like me." "A bit smaller, maybe." "It'll be our secret." "I'll make you proud, Adir." "I promise." "Are you sure you want to do this?" "Yes." "Just when I was getting used to you being a girl, and now you're a boy again." "Think you can use this?" "Who do you think I am?" "A girl?" "Tonight we go behind the Roman lines." "They won't be expecting us so soon." "Let us show them that we have no fear." "Let us show them that God is with us." "Brothers, many of us will fall tonight." "We take no prisoners." "Baruch hashem." "Baruch hashem!" " Freedom or death!" " Freedom or death!" "Freedom or death!" "Freedom or death!" "Freedom or death!" "Freedom or death!" "Did you even try to stop her?" "What was Shirah supposed to do?" "Send her injured son or her daughter who was a warrior?" "It was not my choice anymore." "It was hers." "No!" "You did well tonight." "A real warrior." "Please don't say anything." "Warrior's promise." "And walk beside me next time." "Aziza." "What are you doing here?" "Looking for my brother." "If I did not know you better, I might think you were lying." "So you know me, Amram." "But do you really see me?" "Is there a difference, love?" "Aziza." "That means "mighty," correct?" "You knew that?" "Of course." "He's a Jew." "It's a strong name." "I gave her that name to help her be fearless." "It was my greatest gift to her." "Gift?" "To be fearless is to be blind." "Where are we with the siege walls?" "Progressing fast, General." "I had a dream last night." "I saw Masada crumbling under the mighty ram of Rome." "You did?" "Yes." "In my dream, we were right there, right against these walls." "You don't believe dreams come true." "Nor do I." "But in my hands, this one will." "Because I shall make it so." "A little higher, then draw." "Just to the left." "It's not too late, Yael." " Come with me." " Shh, shh." "They'll hear you, they'll hear you." "Baruch atah, Adonai" "Elohanu, melech ha'olam," "Asher kidishanu b'mitz votav, v'tzivenu" "L'had'lich neir shel Shabbat." "You invited Eleazar to your Shabbat dinner?" "Yes." "We were together, breaking bread as a family for the first time." "Did Aziza know that Eleazar was her father?" "No." "But they had a special bond." "I hear you make the finest arrows, Aziza, and shoot even better." "Oh." "I test them for Adir." "She shoots better than anyone, even though she's left-handed." "I am, too." "But I shoot with my right." "So do I." "Cross the cold ocean for me." "I will." "Where the fish are as big as men." "It's not too late, Ya-Ya." "You know I can't come with you." "Wynn." "Pale snow." "Baruch hashem." "This is for you." "You may need it when you go into battle next time." "Much deserved gift for a warrior." "Thank you." "See?" "They believe I am you." "Have I done well as a warrior?" "Yes." "Very well." "And have I slain many?" "Only when you needed to." "You are my armor, my sword, my treasure." "My love." "Everything I'm fighting for." "I'm not the only thing you're fighting for." "Eleazar." "Yes?" "Do you think this child will ever see peace?" "That's what I'll be fighting for." "You're with child?" "Yes." "So the legacy of your great leader lives on." "A siege tower." "They can't use that here." "We're too high." "It will never work." "Romans don't build for nothing." "And what about that stone wall?" "Doesn't makes any sense." "We can climb over it." "It won't keep us out." "It's not to keep us out, Amram." "It's to keep us in." "It's a siege wall." "Time was running out for you." "You must have known this." "Yes." "Some looked to reconcile with their loved ones and make peace with their lives." "There you are." "You were looking for me?" "I wanted to say thank you." "I owe you my life." "You don't owe me anything." "Why are you always by yourself?" "You're never with the others." "I'm not by myself." "My wife was... raped and beaten by Roman soldiers." "And I was there for her last breath." "And I have carried it with me ever since." "So I'm never alone." "And I also made an oath that..." "I would never be with another woman after she died." "Well..." "I am not a woman." "I'm a warrior." "Hey." "Hey." "Uh-uh." "Oh..." "What color was my mother's hair?" "You never guessed why I cannot look at you?" "I only saw hatred in your eyes." "When I saw you, I saw your mother." "Her hair was red as the sun." "Just like yours." "Where have you been?" "I see you with your mother and your brother, but you don't come to me anymore." "You're watching me?" "Is this a new game, little dove?" "Staying away from me to make me desire you more?" "Amram!" "You dare to run from me?" "Huh?" "!" "You dare to run from me?" "You belong to me!" "Do you understand me?" "!" "I chose you!" "Is this what you want?" "!" "If this is what you want, then do it." "This is not the stuff of dreams, Claudius." "This is what we will use to break these rebels." "I see nothing but a slope, sir." "We will build a ramp on this slope." "A ramp?" "And when the ramp reaches high enough, we will pull the siege tower to the top and break through that wall." "The rest will be simple." "We will create what they think only their God could form." "A cliff that reaches up from the floor of the valley." "We'll grab them in our fists and pluck them off their mountain." "They'll never breach that gap." "They would need a mountain of rocks to reach our walls." "They already moved a mountain of sand." "We cannot fight a mountain, but we can fight those who seek to move it." "You want to attack the ramp?" "This is suicide." "Tonight." "Pass the word." "What do you want?" "Only a minute." "You wanted my life." "I wanted my husband." "Then go to him!" "Please." "Only you can grant me the protection of his life." "I'm not a magician, Channa!" "Get out!" "Tonight the warriors are going out to try to stop the building of the ramp." "They will not all return." "I beg of you Shirah, save Eleazar." "Even if it's only for yourself." "I cannot divine God's will." "Don't do this for me." "Do this for the man we love." "Hey." "Hey." "The story of the poisoned water was a mystery to the people of Masada." "Our warriors found the bodies of their enemies lying on the ground." "It was a mystery to the Romans as well." "They believed it was the work of demons." "And you believed it?" "What Yael did was incredible." "The poison had done its work." "She was a woman unafraid." "A shining star before the eyes of God." "Now it was sealed between us." "I had seen her destiny was entwined with mine." "It was you." "This is your destiny." "To give women what they need most." "They will come to us for this." "Yael, everything my mother taught me, and her mother before her, will be yours now." "All the secrets that bind a mother and a daughter together for eternity." "Shirah, I am not worthy of it." "Yes, you are." "Snakeskin from the black viper." "Ash from the fire." "Strings tied in knots." "It's all in here." "We're the keepers of the memory, Yael." "Our duty is to pass the story down." "Flavius Silva says here:" ""We worked day and night" ""to get the ramp closer to the wall," ""the Jews unleashed barrages of burning oil," ""arrows and stones onto the soldiers and the slaves."" "Little good that it did." "Slaves kept filling the gap with boulders while the soldiers kept up volley after volley of arrows into the fortress." "Arms, loose!" "And then the barrage halted." "Only silence from the other side of the ramp." "Eleazar Ben Ya'ir!" " Bring more arrows..." " Shh!" "I am Lucius Flavius Silva," "General of the Tenth Legion and Governor of Judea." "I offer you peace." "Let me kill him." "I won't miss this time." "Quiet!" "Eleazar Ben Ya'ir!" "Do you wish your people to live or to die?" "Tell your people if they surrender, they shall go free." "They have the word of Flavius Silva." "Masada... delenda est." "You were doomed from then on." "We begged God to protect us." "But your God wasn't listening." "What did you do to save yourselves, hmm?" "Your unborn child?" "What did you do?" "We comforted each other." "You comforted each other!" "Yes!" "Don't cry, my love." "There's no time for that." "When I look at you," "I don't see the face the enemy sees." "I see the man I met in Jerusalem, with eyes deep like the dove." "And now our story will be lost forever." "No." "It cannot be lost." "You're right." "It has to live." "For our child." "You have to live." "You have to live." "What are you saying?" "I cannot breathe without you." "You're my destiny." "Let us not speak." "Let us not speak." "Let us lie together and forget the world." "Remember only each other." "It's called a siege tower." "The Romans love to use it to crush their enemies." "Our warriors were fighting back." "Sadly, an exercise in futility." "Your weapons would be useless against it." "From inside the siege tower, the Romans could attack and yet still be protected from your arrows." "Ingenious." "And then they could use a ram to strike against the walls of Masada." "Archers... loose!" "Archers, loose!" "Release the ram!" " Release the ram!" " Release the ram!" "Ready!" "Pull!" "Pull!" "For the glory of Rome!" "Move to the right!" "Ready!" "Prepare the catapult." "Destroy it!" "Now!" "Ignite!" "Release!" "They're going to breach the wall!" "Gather the people!" "Our enemy is upon us and we can hold them back no longer." "But we can deny them victory!" "Our God does not allow us to harm ourselves." "It is the greatest sin, to take one's own life." " But we cannot be slaves!" " No." "We cannot see our families tortured and cut into pieces!" "Let us go out of this world with our wives and children free." "Let us carry the burden of our sin." "We shall slay ourselves!" "Ten death givers shall be chosen and the last one will take on the burden of all our sins and slay himself." "Eleazar chose the men who were to give death." "I looked out at all these families, my brothers and sisters, clutched together in desperate embraces." "And who would believe this?" "What lies would the Romans tell?" "Someone had to live to tell this story." "It was our fate to survive." "Come with us." "We have been commanded to die." "I cannot live without him." "Then live for him." "For all of them." "To tell our story, Shirah." "Aziza." "Aziza." "We have to stay together." "Come." "Come." "Amram." "Aziza!" "Aziza!" "Stop!" "Come back." "Why couldn't you love me?" "Why... couldn't you love me?" "Why?" "Why..." "Shh." "Shh." "I take the last breath of your life with me." "My warrior." "Wait!" "Wait!" "Shirah." "I give you the last breath and the soul of your daughter," "Aziza." "Take her with you." "Wherever you may go." "Neshama." "It was a scene from hell." "Families laid out, preparing for their deaths." "Look." "You are with my mother." "Baruch hashem." "Shirah!" "I don't fear death." "I would have died a hundred times to have had your love." "You've always had it, my love." "Always." "Do this for me." "So I can die with honor." "Go." "There's someone down there." "Come out." "Now." "This is Flavius Silva." ""We saw only vultures and ravens circling" ""overhead, and charred bodies" ""lying in rows." ""Even the soldiers were disturbed by the multitude of slain before their eyes."" "Is it true you passed these things by?" ""There was not a living soul left." ""Everything had been destroyed." "We were at a loss to guess what happened."" "You lived through this tide of death." "Over 900 people slayed themselves and everyone they loved rather than be captured by the Romans." "Whores and their whelps." "Don't waste wooden nails crucifying them." "Let's run them through now." "What happened to your people?" "Where is the man who led you, Eleazar Ben Ya'ir?" "He is murdered." "How could he be murdered?" "We had not yet come over the wall, and all were already dead." "My name is Shirah, and I can tell you the story of this fortress." "I only ask one favor in return." "And who are you to ask such a favor?" "The closest companion to Eleazar Ben Ya'ir." "We have need of your favor, great general, and you of ours." "There will be no one alive to tell the Romans what happened here." "Victory or disgrace?" "Who will know?" "What is this favor?" "Our lives." "The Romans wanted us to say that we were led to our destruction by a reckless fool named Eleazar Ben Ya'ir, that our warriors cowered in fear as Flavius Silva ground Masada to the dust under his heels." "But we have told you the truth." "We didn't save ourselves to tell you a lie." "We saved ourselves to honor our brothers and sisters." "In telling their story, this is our kaddish for them." "And so it continues through our children and the children of their children so that this story never dies." "I will write your story as you've told it to me." "Let them be free." "Shalom." " Shalom." " Shalom." "Here is the riddle of love." "Everything it gives you it takes away." "But I ask you, would you have it any other way?"