The Legend of Legio X Fretensis

[E. I.Smith]

The Legio X Fretensis was a Roman legion founded by Augustus Caesar (who at that time went by the name Gaius Octavius) in the year 41 B.C. The legion, which lasted from 41 B.C. to A.D. 410, was famous for its successful military campaigns throughout Judea during the First Jewish-Roman war. It was also famous for its use of cutting-edge tactical weapons, namely the ballista, which was a catapult that could launch projectiles up to 400 meters away.

As the First Jewish-Roman war neared its conclusion, with Legio X Fretensis having previously captured nearly every Zealot stronghold, Emperor Vespasian of the Roman Empire ordered them to siege the remaining Zealot strongholds of Herodium, Machaerus, and Masada. One legend concerning Legio X Fretensis, set during the legion’s march towards Masada, tells the story of how Lucilius Bassus, the commander of Legio X circa A.D. 71, captured Eleazer, an enemy Zealot, as he was taunting the legion while outside of the safety of his fortress. This act was presumably an attempt by Eleazer to boost the morale of his comrades, whose defeat to Legio X was imminent. Lucilius Bassus then had Eleazer stripped, tied to a wooden stake and whipped in full view of his comrades. Bassus then ordered his troops to erect a cross for Eleazer to be crucified on. Eleazer’s screams and pleas for mercy were so horrific that his comrades offered the Romans a ransom; if the Romans freed Eleazer, then the Zealots would vacate the fortress. The Romans, having no interest in engaging in such a transaction, disposed of Eleazer, took his comrades as slaves, and then proceeded to continue its march to Masada, arriving in A.D. 73. The Romans garrisoned the fortress of Masada, only to find that the Zealots had burned the fortress and committed a mass suicide amounting to 960 soldiers. This story is a testament to the bitterness and desperation that accompanied the First Jewish-Roman War.