This four part series tells to story of the siege of Masada; a seemingly impregnable mountaintop fortress were a small band of Jewish fighters attempted to hold off the might of the Roman Tenth Legion. The Zealots, under the leadership of Eleazar Ben Yair retreated to Masada after an uprising has been put down by the Romans; from here they strike out on a number of raids. Eventually Eleazar tries to negotiate a peace with Roman leader Lucius Flavius Silva. Silva thinks his terms are reasonable and takes them back to Rome; unfortunately politics gets in the way and he is ordered back to Judea. Here he lays siege to Masada and with the guidance of Rubrius Gallus, an expert in siege warfare, orders the building of a massive ramp and a siege engine topped by a giant battering ram. This will be a mammoth undertaking and while his men swelter in the heat the Zealots taunt them; the Romans are on minimal water rations and the Zealots and their families have so much water they can swim in it. This leads to rising tensions in the Roman ranks, not helped by the fact that Silva has taken a Jewish lover and is constantly drinking. Inevitably though the ramp is completed and the people of Masada must make a decision about what to do next; they know they can't defeat the Romans at this point.
I really enjoyed this series; the story is told at a moderate pace, it isn't rushed but nor does it feel boring. We are introduced to the key characters early on and it is inevitable that one will grow to care about what happens to them as the story unfolds. Peter O'Toole dominates proceedings as Silva; a general who respects his enemy while also being frustrated by him. The rest of the cast, which includes Peter Strauss as Eleazar, Barbara Carrera as Silva's lover Sheva and Anthony Quayle as Gallus does a solid job. Since it was made for television in 1981 it isn't surprising that the violence is less gory than one might expect of a more modern production; this isn't a problem though; in fact it means it can be watched by those who don't like gory scenes. While the series was impressive I think it could have done without the prologue and epilogue where we see modern Israeli soldiers taking part in a ceremony at Masada while a less than subtle narration makes it clear that we are meant to be sympathising with the doomed Zealots in the fort not the besieging Romans perhaps because we spent more time with the Romans I found them to be more sympathetic, especially Silva and Gallus. That said these scenes didn't spoil the series; they were only a few minutes out of six hours.
I really enjoyed this series; the story is told at a moderate pace, it isn't rushed but nor does it feel boring. We are introduced to the key characters early on and it is inevitable that one will grow to care about what happens to them as the story unfolds. Peter O'Toole dominates proceedings as Silva; a general who respects his enemy while also being frustrated by him. The rest of the cast, which includes Peter Strauss as Eleazar, Barbara Carrera as Silva's lover Sheva and Anthony Quayle as Gallus does a solid job. Since it was made for television in 1981 it isn't surprising that the violence is less gory than one might expect of a more modern production; this isn't a problem though; in fact it means it can be watched by those who don't like gory scenes. While the series was impressive I think it could have done without the prologue and epilogue where we see modern Israeli soldiers taking part in a ceremony at Masada while a less than subtle narration makes it clear that we are meant to be sympathising with the doomed Zealots in the fort not the besieging Romans perhaps because we spent more time with the Romans I found them to be more sympathetic, especially Silva and Gallus. That said these scenes didn't spoil the series; they were only a few minutes out of six hours.