Israel and Jordan, Winter 2010-2011 / 20101222g_MasadaRomanEncampment Ruth Milner, rmilner plus web at bookofmarvels dot net

The remains of a large Roman encampment built during the siege. The rebels were able to hold out largely because of Herod's paranoia: the whole mesa top was walled, and a dozen very large cisterns were built, which then were filled partly by local rainfall and partly by an aqueduct that collected runoff from wadis (arroyos) farther west.