Excerpts from Books and Wikipedia
Masada is an ancient fortress atop an isolated rock plateau near the Dead Sea. It provided cisterns and granaries enough for people to survive a siege for years. The Romans began the siege in 72 by constructing a ramp to the plateau and rolling up a battering ram. The people at Masada were a part of the Sicarii extremist group who had continued to rebel after the failure of the Jewish revolt of 66-70. Nine hundred sixty men, women, and children committed mass-suicide when the Romans broke through the wall in the spring of 73. Josephus (the Roman historian) said, "Miserable men indeed were they, whose distress forced them to slay their own wives." [Furtado: 1001 Days]