Death rather Than Slavery

As the X Roman Legion prepared for the final assault on the rocky plateau of Masada in AD 73, a group of Jewish Zealots surrounded by the fortress made a decision that remained in history.
Instead of surrendering and subjecting themselves to the bondage of Rome, they chose to die by their own hands.
According to historians its chief Eleazar Ben Ya'ir pronounced this speech.
"We are expected to be enslaved and tortured if the enemy captures us alive ... We may consider it a grace to be allowed to choose the death we choose ... We die free, gloriously surrounded by our wives and our children. eternal fame, leaving to him as the only triumph the bodies of those who dared to be their own executors. "
Married men killed their relatives. The survivors chose 10 men who would kill the rest. Of the 10 was chosen one that killed the rest and that in the end committed suicide.
When the Romans entered the fortress, they did not exalt their victory, but they admired the nobility and courage that so many men had shown, by carrying out their own executions without hesitation.
Of the 967 Jews only 7, (2 women and 5 children) hiding in a cistern survived to tell the facts.
The Romans were so impressed with what they saw that they spared their lives.