Masada (1981)
Plot.
Where to Watch.
This TV Show Is About.
Cast & Crew.
Peter O'Toole
General Cornelius Flavius Silva
Peter Strauss
Eleazar ben Yair
Barbara Carrera
Sheva
Nigel Davenport
Mucianus
Alan Feinstein
Aaron
Giulia Pagano
Miriam
Anthony Quayle
Rubrius Gallus
Paul L. Smith
Gideon
Denis Quilley
Marcus Quadratus
David Warner
Senator Pomponius Falco / Falco
Anthony Valentine
Merovius
Clive Francis
Attius, Head Tribune
David Opatoshu
Shimon
Timothy West
Emperor Vespasian
George Innes
Titus
Richard Pierson
Ephraim
Jack Watson
Decurion
Joseph Wiseman
Jerahmeel
Heinz Bernard
Elder
Christopher Biggins
Claudius Albinus
David A. Block
Reuben
Warren Clarke
Plinius
Vernon Dobtcheff
Chief Priest
Michael Elphick
Vettius
Ken Hutchison
Fronto
David Mauro
Epos
Kevin McNally
Norbanus
Alexander Peleg
Zidon
Joey Sagal
Seth
Michael Shillo
Ezra
Richard Basehart
Narrator
George Eckstein
Producer
Boris Sagal
Director
Ron Rutberg
Editor
Edwin F. England
Editor
Jennings Lang
Executive Producer
Robert L. Kimble
Editor
Peter Kirby
Editor
Morton Stevens
Original Music Composer
Paul Lohmann
Director of Photography
Media.
Details.
Release DateApril 5, 1981
StatusEnded
Seasons1
Episodes4
Running Time2h
Filming LocationsMasada, Israel
Genres
Wiki.
Masada is an American television miniseries that aired on ABC in April 1981. Advertised by the network as an "ABC Novel for Television," it was a fictionalized account of the historical siege of the Masada citadel in Israel by legions of the Roman Empire in AD 73. The TV series' script is based on the 1971 novel The Antagonists by Ernest Gann, with a screenplay written by Joel Oliansky. The siege ended when the Roman armies entered the fortress, only to discover the mass suicide by the Jewish defenders when defeat became imminent.
The miniseries starred Peter O'Toole as Roman legion commander Lucius Flavius Silva, Peter Strauss as the Jewish commander Eleazar ben Ya'ir, and Barbara Carrera as Silva's Jewish mistress. It was O'Toole's first appearance in an American miniseries.
Masada was one of several historical miniseries produced in the early 1980s following the success of the miniseries Roots that aired on the ABC Network in 1977 and Shogun which aired on NBC in 1980.