The Galilæan Zealots were in possession of only three fortified places--Gamala, Mount Tabor, and Gischala--in the extreme north. Joseph of Gamala and Chares were the leaders of the insurgents in Gamala. All in vain had one of Agrippa's officers besieged the place for some months; the Zealots held out, until at last Vespasian with his force approached the fortress. The story of the siege constitutes one of the most heroic pages in the whole account of the war. For many days the besieged fought from their walls in a manner worthy of the first great Zealot Judas. At the end of three weeks the battering-rams of the Romans opened a breach in the walls, through which the enemy crept. As the besieged retired, their assailants followed them into a labyrinth of narrow streets, and found themselves suddenly attacked from the house-tops. The Romans tried to save themselves by clambering on some low-roofed houses, but these were too weak to bear their weight and gave way, burying the men in their ruins. The besieged then seized upon huge stones--their whole city, so to speak--and hurled them upon their enemies' heads, so that flight was impossible. This victory, falling upon the Feast of Tabernacles, was a glorious day for the men of Gamala; but it was dearly bought, for the corpses of the Romans lay upon the bodies of many Judæan warriors, who could ill be spared. Chares, one of their leaders, was mortally wounded. At last the Romans, after secretly mining one of the fortified towers, made a feint of attacking it; the Judæans rushed to the battlements, and were preparing for defense, when the walls gave way and fell with a fearful crash, burying the besieged, amongst whom was the sole remaining leader, Joseph, the son of the midwife. The siege was now practically over, for the Romans poured in, and slaughtered every man they met. Nearly five thousand died by their own hands; only two maidens were left out of the whole population of Gamala. Meanwhile the fortress of Mount Tabor was taken by the strategy of Placidus. It stood isolated on an almost perpendicular height, rising sixteen hundred feet from the plain of Jezreel. From its position it was invincible. But Placidus tempted the greater part of the garrison out of the fortress by feigned flight. When his pursuers were close upon him, his cavalry wheeled around and threw themselves upon the unfortunate Judæans, of whom some few fled to Jerusalem, whilst the weakened fortress opened her gates to the enemy.