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34 Comments
- signul, on 02/15/2009, -2/+16Finally, someone found WMDs!
- jon30041, on 02/15/2009, -0/+9Didn't they used to throw plagued corpses into places under siege via trebuchet?
So... Yeah. It was ancient history. Biological warfare. People have been trying to find more gruesome ways of killing each other since... FOREVER. - scyphozoa, on 02/15/2009, -0/+9armies have been catapulting their disease-ridden corpses since catapults existed :\
- draculthemad, on 02/15/2009, -0/+8You always have to consider the source, but the article makes no real attempt to link it to any modern politics.
Its just a list of interesting anecdotes from antiquity. Even reading it over again I dont really see any kind of slant that would be cause for concern.
Unless you are urging for an out and out boycott? - Sevfan, on 02/15/2009, -0/+6I read that book, Greek Fire, back in high school - the examples of chemical and biological warfare throughout recorded history are incredibly numerous. I'm studying Classical Archaeology now (fourth year), and am surprised by the amount of people who view ancient history as simply a backwards and primitive epoch which has nothing to offer us today. I assure you it was not.
- user24, on 02/15/2009, -2/+7Buried as old.
- bauert, on 02/15/2009, -0/+5ya and brits gave native americans smallpox...
- DivineComedy, on 02/15/2009, -0/+5They didn't mention the old '***** on a stick' approach. :O So not only was the enemy wounded, but also almost guaranteed to catch some kind of infection.
- a1cd, on 02/15/2009, -0/+5Title got my hopes up...
- MikeSD34, on 02/16/2009, -0/+3That's disgusting. You should be ashamed of yourself, and should probably seek medical help.
- mojoel, on 02/15/2009, -0/+3you did WHAT with the whole bottle??
- Treason, on 02/15/2009, -1/+4I accidentally the whole bottle
- Sevfan, on 02/15/2009, -0/+3English longbowmen often suffered from bouts of dysentery on long campaigns. In fact, during the battle of Agincourt, a good portion of the English archers fought nude below the waist, dipping their arrows into the ditches dug for their irritated bowels along the front lines. This was done in desperation as the English were outnumbered six to one - I'm sure a few flowers of the French nobility died agonizing deaths due to a peasant's ***** smeared arrow.
- NeonDistraction, on 02/16/2009, -0/+3Yep, that was a common tactic during the plague.
Pretty effective too. Most cities/fortifications didn't last very long once plague-ridden corpses started flying over the walls. Not only did it spread the disease to many, but it scared the ***** out of everyone else. - Apocalyptic0n3, on 02/15/2009, -0/+3I read the heading the that article and went "Woh! No more chemical warfare?! Sweet!" and then I read the description and relost my faith in humanity.
- NeonDistraction, on 02/16/2009, -0/+3The Spanish did that too when they were colonizing South America.
- Treason, on 02/15/2009, -0/+2I accidentally the whole COCA COLA bottle
- novenator, on 02/16/2009, -0/+2"lethal fumes from a brazier burning sulfur crystals and bitumen?"
who hasn't huffed those? - JinandJuice, on 02/15/2009, -3/+5this is old news.
- gotikplage, on 02/15/2009, -0/+2Try again. Read the Mahabharata (Indian epic written in Sanskrit). Ancient western civilization was behind the times!
- imakecomments, on 02/16/2009, -0/+2http://www.d-e-f-i-n-i-t-e-l-y.com/
- Grazzit, on 02/15/2009, -0/+2Romans were very touchy about water supplies, mostly because they were extremely vulnerable to this with their reliance on aqueducts.
- inactive, on 02/15/2009, -0/+2Some Romans did, most of the human population did not live in cities at this time in history, though.
- novenator, on 02/16/2009, -0/+2Pluck Yew!
- inactive, on 02/16/2009, -0/+2Yeah, no *****.
- inactive, on 02/15/2009, -2/+3See it was the persians aka iranians. Bomb iran! bwhahahahahah!!!
- DonAlfred, on 02/15/2009, -0/+1we go nuclear
- DivineComedy, on 02/16/2009, -0/+1What a charming anecdote. :)
- ZellD, on 02/16/2009, -0/+1chemical and biological warfare are different things.
- Chrysalii, on 02/16/2009, -1/+2I'll be impressed when we discover that cavemen had nukes.
- shylove, on 02/16/2009, -0/+1Just because there is a history of it doesn't excuse it! War is a false profit and it generally involves the ends justiffy the means and that means barbarity of all kinds in service to nationalistic and tribal dominance based on fear, hatred and territoriality and based on ideological and religious fervor. If we don't stop glorifying and putting trust in war when it suits our purposes and proclaiming our resistance to it only when others use it, then we may well become the cause of our own extinction.
- inactive, on 02/15/2009, -2/+2Chemical Warfare reminds me of Vietnam. :(
- inactive, on 02/15/2009, -6/+4I can't imagine chemical warfare being all that useful in ancient wars; it seems it was more of a parlor trick. Kind of like ballistae: they never killed THAT many individuals on the battlefield, but seeing 5 or 6 guys impaled by a single spear had to ***** with the enemy rank and file.
Posioning wells is a bit different... That isn't warfare, that's mass murder. Definately no honor there, good for that Roman historian for calling out that commander. - ScienceDoc, on 02/14/2009, -15/+6This may be interesting, but Time-Warner is part of the corporate neocon media that let this Country go down. They really are no better than any of Murdoch's "news" services. Time backed the neocons 100% and refused to ask any tough questions. Please do not reward them for their poor behavior.
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