Roman / 52 BCE
Alesia
Builders extend two defensive circuits around the hilltop settlement. Roman patrols hold the space between them while a relief force approaches from outside.
ROMAN / JUDAEAN DESERT / 73 / 74 CE
Masada.
Western siege ramp.
Watch a supply line build an earthen approach over the western spur. When the surface is ready, a timber tower can climb toward the casemate wall.
Play the Masada siege simulation
What to watch.
Follow a basket carrier from the supply camp onto the natural western spur. The crew’s loading, hauling, depositing, and return cycles determine how quickly the ramp grows.
Use Works to inspect the construction front. New material changes the approach height; the timber tower waits until the works are ready before advancing up the slope.
Use City to inspect the casemate walls and plateau buildings. Defenders patrol the battlements and launch simplified projectiles toward the approaching works.
The historical setting.
The western ramp, siege camps, and encircling wall survive. The ramp was built on a natural spur; the Romans did not build the mountain. The siege is commonly dated to 73 or 74 CE.
How the model simplifies it
The plateau, camps, and ramp are schematic. Construction speed, worker numbers, tower motion, and the breach sequence are illustrative. Details of the final assault and the historical narrative remain debated.
Three.js renders the scene, while cannon-es handles dynamic bodies, gravity, collisions, pickup constraints, and projectiles. Workers follow local job routines. Siege engines and ships use controlled movement. This is a playable engineering visualization, not an archaeological survey or a calibrated battle model.
Play in your browser.
Construction begins automatically. Choose Overview, Works, City, or Camp to move closer. Drag to orbit and scroll or pinch to zoom. Click a person to inspect their job, then choose Follow this person if you want to stay with them.
Grab & toss lifts workers and soldiers. Release slowly to drop or flick to throw. Shockwave knocks nearby people off balance. Space pauses; 1×, 4×, and 12× change the simulation speed. Advance works moves you to the later phase. Progress is saved separately for each siege in this browser.
Open MasadaSources and further reading.
These links support the historical context. The miniature’s geometry, agents, and physical parameters are original simplified implementations.
Explore another siege.
Roman / 70 CE
Jerusalem
Work crews build approach terraces beneath the northern defenses. Towers and artillery support an assault against several walls around a dense urban model.
Macedonian / 332 BCE
Tyre
Haulers carry rubble from the shore and extend a causeway toward an island city. Ships circle the works and towers advance as the stone surface emerges from the water.
Ottoman / 1453 CE
Constantinople
Crews prepare protected gun positions and bring ammunition forward. Heavy cannon fire physical projectiles toward a miniature section of the layered land walls.
Ottoman / 1648–1669 CE
Candia
Digging crews push zigzag trenches toward the Venetian bastions. Supply carriers move between the camp and batteries while cannon exchange fire over the earthworks.