| Masada | |
|---|---|
&sq=&lang=&file=File:Masada_dvd_cover.jpg) DVD cover | |
| Genre | Historical drama |
| Based on | The Antagonists by Ernest Gann |
| Written by | Joel Oliansky |
| Directed by | Boris Sagal |
| Starring | |
| Narrated by | Richard Basehart |
| Composers |
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| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 4 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | |
| Producer | Richard Irving |
| Production locations | Masada, Israel |
| Cinematography | Paul Lohmann |
| Editors |
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| Running time | 394 minutes |
| Production companies |
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| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | 5 April – 8 April 1981 |
| Infobox instructions (only shown in preview) | |
Masada is an American television miniseries that aired on ABC in April 1981. Advertised by the network as an "ABC Novel for Television," the TV series' script is based on the 1971 novel The Antagonists by Ernest Gann, with a screenplay written by Joel Oliansky. It tells a fictionalized account of the historical siege of the Masada citadel in Israel by legions of the Roman Empire in AD 73. 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.