Sasanian Chemical Warfare

[Jona Lendering]

Two nice articles on the fall of Dura Europos: one and two (with a terrible photo).

[Sean Manning]

That is interesting; thanks for the link! I didn't know Simon James was still excavating the place.

[Untilatie]

Wow!

Really interesting... thanx for posting it!

[Joe_71]

What isn't mentioned in those articles is that the Sassanian skeleton died as a possible result of self-gassing when getting the chemical pot lit. How embarrassing.

For a great but pretty grim read on the findings see;

James, S.T. 2005. ‘The deposition of military equipment during the final siege at Dura-Europos, with particular regard to the Tower 19 countermine.’ Archäologie der Schlachtfelder -- Militaria aus Zerstörungshorizonten; Akten der 14. Internationalen Roman Military Equipment Conference (ROMEC), Wien, 27.-31 August 2003. Carnuntum Jahrbuch 2005: 189-206.

If you can get ahold of it that is! I got my copy from Simon but wouldnt fancy trying to locate in otherwise.

[Epictetus]

This is an interesting find. Vitruvius mentions poisonous fumes in a couple of places, so the ancients evidently knew (in some cases) how to 'manufacture' them. For example, he knew that people who smelt lead can get sickly and recommends against using lead pipes to carry water. I guess it shouldn't be surprising that the ancients would be ingenious enough to find a use for the poisonous fumes they knew about.

[Arminius Primus]

Ave,

It has been a very long time since my university chemistry course but doesn't burning sulfur in the presence of water make sulfuric acid. All together a nasty business, for the folks on the receiving end.

Was there any defense to this type of chemical attack?

Regards from the Balkans, Arminius Primus aka Al

[Ron Andrea]

Distance. :lol:

[Gäiten]

It must have been a great shock for the Romans to see that they had now an adversery as capable in siege warfare as they were.
Especially because their old Eastern enemies, the Arsacid Parthians, somewhat ignored that art of war.

We know that the Romans (and Sassanian Iranians) built so many very advanced fortresses along their frontier that some people liken that to an ancient Maginot line.
Do you know some sources wherein the architecture (both Roman/Byzantine and Sassanian) is described?

[S SEVERUS]

Rome's Desert Frontier: From the Air
Book by David Kennedy, Derrick Riley; B. T. Batsford, 1990. 256 pgs.

[S SEVERUS]

Also interesting to read :

The Limits of Empire - The Roman Army in the East.
Benjamin Isaac

[Gäiten]

Also interesting to read :
The Limits of Empire - The Roman Army in the East.
Benjamin Isaac

Thank you for your hints.

[Khodadad]

Please also see this response:


http://www.humanities.uci.edu/sasanika/ ... arfare.pdf

[Gäiten]

Please also see this response:
http://www.humanities.uci.edu/sasanika/ ... arfare.pdf

Interesting, however, I do not understand his bitterness.

[zakhx150]

That is interesting; thanks for the link! I didn't know Simon James was still excavating the place.

Still excavating, teaching (and preaching!) very enthusiastically. This topic came up in a recent lecture I had with him. I would suggest keeping your eyes open for a forthomcing article he has sent off for publication titled

"The point of the sword: what Roman-era weapons could do to bodies—and why they often didn’t"

in M. Müller and H.J. Schalles, Eds. Waffen in Aktion. Akten der 16. Roman Military Equipment Conference, Xanten. Xantener Berichte 16., [forthcoming]

The content of this is a fascinating and clearly well researched.

[Sean Manning]

What isn't mentioned in those articles is that the Sassanian skeleton died as a possible result of self-gassing when getting the chemical pot lit. How embarrassing.

For a great but pretty grim read on the findings see;

James, S.T. 2005. ‘The deposition of military equipment during the final siege at Dura-Europos, with particular regard to the Tower 19 countermine.’ Archäologie der Schlachtfelder -- Militaria aus Zerstörungshorizonten; Akten der 14. Internationalen Roman Military Equipment Conference (ROMEC), Wien, 27.-31 August 2003. Carnuntum Jahrbuch 2005: 189-206.

If you can get ahold of it that is! I got my copy from Simon but wouldnt fancy trying to locate in otherwise.

I just checked my university's interlibrary loan system, and found out that it could find only three copies in European libraries which aren't part of the same system. hock: I'm constantly amazed at how hard to get some recent academic works can be- you'd think that if they printed a few hundred copies, at least one would end up in a Canadian library. But of course buying books is expensive and libraries never have enough money ...

I'll keep my eyes out for that "point of the sword" article. Maybe he'll have to print a new edition of his books on finds at Dura Europus to include all the new stuff? The first one was sold out when I discovered it.