The conquered: Civilians
Being Besieged
Conquered, Raped, and Murdered
3. Becoming a slave
1.
2.
1. Being Besieged
Caesar’s Siege of Alesia
Caesar’s siege at Alesia,
Gaul 52 BC
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Employed same tactics as Scipio at Numantia
1. encampment of army;
2. construction of 23 forts in a ring to keep watch on town;
3. siege lines constructed around site to blockade town
Main siege line 16 km circumference (consisted of 2 ditches, the
inner one filled with water, a palisade rampart with turrets every 24
m)
Caesar had additional obstacles: 1. rows of 4 tree trunks with
sharpened branches, placed into 1.5 m deep ditches (nicknamed
cippi = gravestones); 2. 8 rows of sharp stakes vertically in c. 1 m
deep pits, concealed by brush (nicknamed lilia = lilies); 3. in front of
these, buried at random, barbed spikes fixed in foot-long lumps of
wood (nicknamed stimuly = spurs)
Construction of another siege line, facing the other way against
enemy outside
Caesar’s Sieges
Carried out a total of 17 sieges
 Siege of Avaricum 52 BC; construction of huge
embankment 98 m wide, 24 mhigh, to bring his
men across deep gully (only approach route),
took 25 days to complete
 Siege of Uxellodonum 51 BC: Construction of 18
m embankment from which a 10-storey artilleryarmed siege tower allowed him to target the
town’s fresh-water-spring; led to surrender of
town
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Sulla’s Siege of Piraeus (Athen’s port
city) in 87 BCE
Full-scale mechanized siege
1. Siege machines (Plutarch, Sulla 12.2 claims
10,000 pairs of mules used in daily hauling of
raw materials)
 2. construction of embankment with earth,
timber, masonry; construction of tunnels
 Extremely difficult siege: Mithridates general
Archelaus in command of Piraeus: built siege
tower opposite Roman siege works, sent men on
midnight sorties to burn Roman equipment,
undermined Roman embankment, intercepted
Sulla’s tunnels
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Lucullus siege of Themyscira
72 BC
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The besiegers of this place brought up towers,
built mounds, and dug tunnels so large that
great subterranean battles could be fought in
them. The inhabitants cut openings into these
tunnels from above and thrust bears and other
wild animals and swarms of bees into them
against the workers. (Appian, Mithr. 11.78)
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Siege was abandoned
Requirements and Problems of
mechanized siege
Labour intensive: legionaries involved in building
embankments, ramparts, siege machines,
digging tunnels
 Enormous amount of raw materials
 Time consuming: sieges took months and often
years
 Toll on legionaries: in addition to heavy
labour also frequent attacks on enemy:
exhaustion, diseases, etc; soldiers frustrated
when siege drawn out; attacks repelled
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Counter Measures
During Lucullus’ siege of Amisius (modern
Turkey), the town’s commander
Callimachus set fire to town to cover his
flight
 Lucullus tried to save town from complete
destruction while soldiers ransacked the
burning buildings (Plut. Luc. 19.4)
 Setting besieged town on fire deprived
victors of their loot.
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Cirta surrenders to Jugurtha of
Numidia
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But Adherbal, though he thought that anything
was better than trusting to Jugurtha, yet
because the Italiotes were in a position to use
compulsion if he opposed them, surrendered on
the terms which they had advised. 3 Thereupon
Jugurtha first tortured Adherbal to death and
then made an indiscriminate massacre of all the
adult Numidians and of traders whom he found
with arms in their hands. (Sallust, Jug. 26)
Scipio’s sack of Byrsa
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Now Scipio hastened to the attack of Byrsa, the strongest part of the city,
where the greater part of the inhabitants had taken refuge. There were
three streets ascending from the forum to this fortress, along which, on
either side, were houses built closely together and six stories high, from
which the Romans were assailed with missiles. They were compelled,
therefore, to possess themselves of the first ones and use those as a means
of expelling the occupants of the next. When they had mastered the first,
they threw timbers from one to another over the narrow passageways, and
crossed as on bridges. While war was raging in this way on the roofs,
another fight was going on among those who met each other in the streets
below. All places were filled with groans, shrieks, shouts, and every kind of
agony. Some were stabbed, others were hurled alive from the roofs to the
pavement, some of them alighting on the heads of spears or other pointed
weapons, or swords. No one dared to set fire to the houses on account of
those who were still on the roofs, until Scipio reached Byrsa. Then he set
fire to the three streets all together, and gave orders to keep the
passageways clear of burning material so that the army might move back
and forth freely. (Appian, Pun. 127)
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Then came new scenes of horror. As the fire spread and carried everything down, the
soldiers did not wait to destroy the buildings little by little, but all in a heap. So the
crashing grew louder, and many corpses fell with the stones into the midst. Others
were seen still living, especially old men, women, and young children who had hidden
in the inmost nooks of the houses, some of them wounded, some more or less
burned, and uttering piteous cries. Still others, thrust out and falling from such a
height with the stones, timbers, and fire, were torn asunder in all shapes of horror,
crushed and mangled. Nor was this the end of their miseries, for the street cleaners,
who were removing the rubbish with axes, mattocks, and forks, and making the
roads passable, tossed with these instruments the dead and the living together into
holes in the ground, dragging them along like sticks and stones and turning them
over with their iron tools. Trenches were filled with men. Some who were thrown in
head foremost, with their legs sticking out of the ground, writhed a long time. Others
fell with their feet downward and their heads above ground. Horses ran over them,
crushing their faces and skulls, not purposely on the part of the riders, but in their
headlong haste. Nor did the street cleaners do these things on purpose; but the tug
of war, the glory of approaching victory, the rush of the soldiery, the orders of the
officers, the blast of the trumpets, tribunes and centurions marching their cohorts
hither and thither -- all together made everybody frantic and heedless of the
spectacles under their eyes.
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These, taking olive branches from the temple, besought Scipio that
he would spare the lives of all who might wish to depart from Byrsa.
This he granted to all except the deserters. Forth-with there came
out 50,000 men and women together, a narrow gate in the wall
being opened, and a guard furnished for them. The Roman
deserters, about 900 in number, despairing of their lives, betook
themselves to the temple of æsculapius with Hasdrubal and his
wife and their two boys. Here they might have defended
themselves a long time although they were few in number, on
account of the height and rocky nature of the place, which in time
of peace was reached by an ascent of sixty steps. But, finally,
overcome by hunger, want of sleep, fear, toil, and approaching
dissolution, they abandoned the enclosures of the temple and fled
to the shrine and roof.
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It is said that as the fire was lighted the wife of Hasdrubal, in full
view of Scipio, arrayed in the best attire possible under such
circumstances, and with her children by her side, said in Scipio's
hearing, "For you, Roman, the gods have no cause of indignation,
since you exercise the right of war. Upon this Hasdrubal, betrayer of
his country and her temples, of me and his children, may the gods
of Carthage take vengeance, and you be their instrument." Then
turning to Hasdrubal, "Wretch," she exclaimed, "traitor, most
effeminate of men, this fire will entomb me and my children. Will
you, the leader of great Carthage, decorate a Roman triumph? Ah,
what punishment will you not receive from him at whose feet you
are now sitting." Having reproached him thus, she slew her children,
flung them into the fire, and plunged in after them. Such, they say,
was the death of the wife of Hasdrubal, which would have been
more becoming to himself. (Appian, Pun. 132)
The Fallen City: urbs direpta
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Xenophon Cyr. 7.5.73 Cyrus after the sack of
Babylon to his troops:
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“for it is a law established for all time among all
men that when a city is taken in war, the
persons and the property of the inhabitants
thereof belong to the captors. It will, therefore,
be no injustice for you to keep what you have,
but if you let them keep anything, it will be only
out of generosity that you do not take it away”.
Rape
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A complaint to the Roman senate by
ambassadors from Locri against the Roman
garrison stationed in their city:
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“They all rob, plunder, beat, wound, slay; they
defile matrons, maidens and freeborn boys,
dragged from the embrace of parents. Every day
our city is captured, every day it is being
plundered.” (Livy 29.17.15-16 in Rich/Shipley pg. 70)
The Sack of Cremona
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forty thousand armed men burst into the town; the number of campfollowers and servants was even greater, and they were more ready to
indulge in lust and cruelty. Neither rank nor years protected anyone; their
assailants debauched and killed without distinction. Aged men and women
near the end of life, despised as booty, were dragged off to be the soldiers’
sport. Whenever a young woman or a handsome youth fell into their hands,
they were torn to pieces by the violent struggles of those who tried to
secure them, and this in the end drove the despoilers to kill one another.
Individuals tried to carry off for themselves money or the masses of gold
dedicated in the temples, but they were assailed by others stronger than
themselves. Some, scorning the booty before their eyes, flogged and
tortured the owners to discover hidden wealth and dug up buried treasure.
They carried firebrands in their hands, and when they had secured their
loot, in utter wantonness they threw these into the vacant houses and
empty temples.” (Taciuts, Histories, 3.33.1-3 in Rich/Shipley, pg. 71)
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“When Scipio thought that a sufficient number of troops had
entered he sent most of them, as is the Roman custom, against the
inhabitants of the city with orders to kill all they encountered,
sparing none, and not to start pillaging until the signal was given.
They do this, I think, to inspire terror, so that when towns are taken
by the Romans one may often see not only the corpses of human
beings, but dogs cut in half and the dismembered limbs of other
animals…(Polybius 10.15.4 in Rich/Shipley, pg. 75)
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What has John Rich (Ch. 3) to say about Polybius’ controlled
pillaging?
Marius in Numidia
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“At daybreak the Numidians, who had no reason to fear
an attack, came out of the town in force, and Marius
ordered all his cavalry and the swiftest of his infantry to
run and occupy the gates. He was so eager for success
that he hurried after them himself, to prevent the men
from going after plunder. When the townspeople saw
themselves thus taken by surprise, with a part of their
number outside the walls and in the enemy’s power, they
were seized with such panic and dismay that they
surrendered. Nevertheless, the town was set on fire, the
adult men massacred, the remainder of the population
sold into slavery, and the booty divided among the
soldiers.” (Sallust, Jug. 91)
Sallust view on Marius’ action
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“This violation of the usages of war was
not inspired by avarice or brutality on the
consul’s part: the fact was that the place
was important to Jugurtha and difficult for
the Romans to reach, and the inhabitants
were a fickle and untrustworthy lot, whom
neither kindness nor fear had ever been
able to control.” (Sallust,Jug. 91)
Rules of Warfare?
there were no rules of war similar to
Modern ‘Geneva Conventions’. It was
entirely up to the mood of the commander
what to do with the captives
 Some Romans liked to display clementia,
but usually for a good reason
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War Captives
War Captives – the Evidence
Cannot quantify, only estimate figures– sources
provide no exact numbers
 Evidence is scattered over time and in terms of
type of evidence – literature (numbers often
exaggerated), legal deal with ownership,
archaeological (images, etc.)
 Evidence often anecdotal
 Almost all evidence comes from slave-owning
class
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Scale of Slave Trade
Between 65 BCE to 30 BCE c. 100,000
new slaves needed annually in Italy
 From 50 BCE to 150 CE over 500,000
needed per year
 In Comparison: New World slavery c.
28,000 per annum needed with maximum
of 60,000 at height of slave trade
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The Sources of slaves in the Roman
Empire
Warfare
 Natural reproduction (breeding)
 Infant exposure
 Trade
 Piracy and brigandage
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Warfare
Conquest of Italy: Mass enslavements – early 4th
century, Etruscan city of Veii – perhaps 10,000
slaves (sources not reliable)
 After Conquest of Italy, most slaves came from
outside Italy
 91-82 BCE Social War (between Rome and
Italian allies, Italians became slaves again
 Example: M. Aurius of Larinum (Cicero’s home
town) wascaptured at Asculum, became slave
of Roman senator Q. Sergius and worked in ager
Gallicus at Northern Adriatic coast.
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The Conquest of the Mediterranean
First Punic War, 256 BCE, siege of Aspis –
20,000 captives
 146 BCE destruction of Carthage – 55,000
enslaved
 25 BCE against the Salassi (Alps) 44,000.
 198 CE emperor Septimius Severus siege
of a Parthian city – 100,000
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What happened to the war captives?
Decision left to commanding general:
some were allowed to be ransomed
 Others sold off on the spot to traveling
dealers hanging around the army
 Others distributed to the soldiers as
payment or bonus
 Not all ended up in Italy
 Many slave markets existed all over
Mediterranean world
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War captives
Questions
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What were the usual steps in setting up a
siege of a fortified city?
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What does Rich say about Polybius’ model
of a controlled sack of a city? Does it
make sense to kill everyone? Explain.