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Julius Caesar’s Bread Warfare At Dyrrachium

By
thehistorianshut
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(Caesar painted by Lionel Royer (1852–1926) cropped behind a Pompeii market fresco, all [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

 

In 48 BCE, while the civil war between Julius Caesar and Gnaeus Pompey was still in full swing, the two brilliant generals found themselves in a stalemate at Dyrrachium, located in modern-day Albania. Pompey was the first to set up camp at Dyrrachium. When Julius Caesar arrived, he naturally decided to implement one of his specialties—siege warfare. Despite Caesar having far fewer men than Pompey, the Caesarian forces began construction of a large messy, semi-circular wall around Pompey’s position, cutting him off from all land-based escape routes. In response, Pompey created his own defensive wall.

 With the armies of Caesar and Pompey positioned behind opposing fortified walls, a waiting game ensued. Both sides hoped that their rations could last until their enemy began to starve, or a breach in the wall was found or created. The stalemate caused trouble for both Pompey and Caesar. In Pompey’s camp, food had been well stocked, but fodder for horses began to run low and safe water became scarce. On Caesar’s side, securing food was the main issue hindering the troops.

In his Commentaries on the Civil War, however, Julius Caesar recounted how one of his camps along the wall at Dyrrachium alleviated their food crisis with some clever cooking. The men under the command of one of Caesar’s officers, named Valerius, were fairly well off—they had access to cattle and milk. In addition, the soldiers discovered a nearby source of edible roots, which Julius Caesar called chara. With milk and chara roots present in ample quantities, some curious soldier mixed the two ingredients in a culinary experiment and found that the chara roots could be baked into something resembling a loaf of bread.

With the production of their chara bread, Caesar’s men were kept reasonably well fed. They also seemed to have loaves to spare, for Caesar wrote that his men would sometimes throw the chara bread at Pompey’s forces (sometimes tossing loaves over Pompey’s walls) to prove that they still had food and the siege would not be ending anytime soon.

Nevertheless, in walling off Pompey’s camp, Caesar had to spread his men thin, creating vulnerabilities. Pompey attacked a weak point in his enemy’s wall—a part still under construction—and broke free from the siege, dealing Julius Caesar one of his most clear defeats of the Civil War.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Sources:

Sun Tzu and the Art of War

By
thehistorianshut
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(Soldiers from the Ming Dynasty Departure Herald, from the Jiajing reign period in China (1522-1566), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

A Violent Golden Age

The centuries spanning the Spring and Autumn Period (8th-6th century BCE) and the Warring States Period (6th-3rd century BCE) saw the onset of an incredible amount of human innovation and thought. On one hand there were military advancements in China, such as the crossbow (introduced around the 5th-4th century BCE) and cavalry (made professional in China soon after the crossbow). On the other hand, texts of philosophy, religion and strategy were written that are still widely admired to this day. The number of great minds that operated during the Warring States Period is simply baffling. There was Confucius and his philosophical successors, notably Mencius and Hsün Tzu. Also prevalent were the major Daoist (or Taoist) intellectuals like Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu. Later, there were the philosophers of authoritarianism and legalism, such as Lord Shang and Han Fei Tzu. Also present was the religious wildcard, Mo Tzu, who preached universal love and told of a personified Heaven that punished evil and rewarded good. Nevertheless, during this highly congested time period filled with so many geniuses, there lived a military strategist who would surpass all others in popularity and fame (except, perhaps, Confucius and Lao Tzu)—he was Master Sun, better known as Sun Tzu.

The famous work that is attributed to Sun Tzu is The Art of War. It was one of several collections of sayings, proverbs and advice on war and life that was produced by the ancient Chinese. Along with The Art of War, other notable scrolls dealing with war were The Book of Changes, The Thirty-Six Stratagems and The Hundred Unusual Strategies. The Art of War can be read both as a war manual and as a handbook for general use in daily life.

Sun Tzu had a unique philosophy on war. He was utterly ruthless, and yet, he would go above and beyond in his attempts to avoid unnecessary confrontation. For Sun Tzu, if a conflict could be won without a fight, then no fight was necessary. Nevertheless, avoiding did not mean abandoning victory. No, Sun Tzu’s ideal victory would involve deploying spies to discover an enemy’s vulnerabilities, followed by using espionage, sabotage and diplomacy to exploit these weaknesses, forcing the enemy into submission without raising a single weapon. If war happened to be unavoidable, then Sun Tzu would rely on an adaptable system of military moves and countermoves along with rigorous premeditated preparation and training to ensure victory in battle. Sun Tzu seemed to be heavily influenced by Daoism and believed that the Way (Dao) always provided a general with a path to survival and victory.

The Obscure Sun Tzu

  (Cavalry from the Ming Dynasty Departure Herald, from the Jiajing reign period in China (1522-1566 AD), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

 

Much like the poet Homer, historical records about Sun Tzu remain remarkably vague. There are very few historical accounts that detail the life of Sun Tzu, and almost every obscure aspect of Master Sun’s life is continuously debated by those who deny or defend the position of Sun Tzu as a real person from history.

Most of what is perceived to be known about Sun Tzu primarily comes from two sources: the Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Qian (145-85 BCE) and The Spring and Autumn Annals detailing events that occurred between 722-481 BCE, in the Zhou Dynasty. With sources such as these, Sun Tzu can be loosely placed in a time period and pinpointed to a general area of ancient China.

Broadly speaking, Sun Tzu’s life, death and the recording of his sayings into The Art of War occurred during the long period of time between the 6th and 3rd century BCE. If, however, you follow sources such as Sima Qian, Sun Tzu is thought to have been a contemporary of Confucius, who likely lived around 551-479 BCE.

Sun Tzu’s supposed place of birth, and his kingdom of employment, fit the assumption that Master Sun lived mainly in the 6th and 5th century BCE. According to the scant information about Sun Tzu, the master strategist was born in Ch’i (or Qi), which is in the modern Shandong Province, but he eventually found employment in the court of King Ho-Lu (or He Lü) of Wu, who is believed to have reigned from 514-496 BCE. The Kingdom of Wu was located in modern Zhejiang. If Sun Tzu truly did work for King Ho-Lu, then he would, indeed, have been a contemporary of Confucius.

A popular and amusing story—which most historians believe to be fictional—occurred when Sun Tzu first was introduced to King Ho-Lu of Wu. According to the tale, King Ho-Lu was impressed by Sun Tzu’s military philosophy, but wanted to see the strategist demonstrate his skill. This demonstration, however, would not be an average exhibition, and the troops involved in the display would not be typical soldiers. No, King Ho-Lu wanted to see if Sun Tzu could whip the women in his palace into a capable fighting force. Therefore, the king’s concubines were marched out and Sun Tzu was tasked with transforming them into an army. Under the right conditions and experiences, almost anyone can be made into a more than competent fighter regardless of strength, size or sex—nevertheless, these ancient pampered concubines likely had little experience with the military.

Sun Tzu called the concubines together, organized them like an army, and instructed them on how to complete some simple drills. When he ordered the women to undertake the drills just as he had shown them, the concubines suffered a burst of sudden laughs and giggles. At this point, Sun Tzu chastised himself—he decided that he must not have given the instructions and orders with adequate clarity. Nevertheless, when he ordered the women to complete their drills a second time, the concubines, again, broke into uncontrollable giggles.

This breach of discipline was too much for Sun Tzu—he had two of his ‘officer’ concubines detained and scheduled for execution. After this decision was made public, Sun Tzu quickly received an urgent notice that the two condemned women were King Ho-Lu’s favorite concubines, and the king wanted the women pardoned. Sun Tzu responded bluntly, simply saying that because he was the general appointed by the king, he had the duty and the power to ensure that the military acted properly in order to ensure the country’s security. Suffice it to say, the two women were executed and the rest of the concubines no longer had any disciplinary troubles.

On a more solid historical note, the Kingdom of Wu was a major participant of the Warring States Period, and King Ho-Lu (r. 514-496 BCE) is widely believed to have been an actual king of the Kingdom of Wu. Sun Tzu is often mentioned in commentary on the Wu-Chu Wars that occurred between 512-506 BCE. In particular, Master Sun supposedly played a major role in Wu’s victory over Chu in the Battle of Boju (506 BCE), when the strategist commanded Wu’s forces, along with King Ho-Lu and the king’s brother, Fugai.

Even though Sun Tzu’s life, philosophy and exploits were included in various ancient accounts, it remains historically suspicious that Master Sun’s name is absent from one of the major prime sources describing King Ho-Lu’s time period—TheZou Commentary. Nevertheless, by the time of the Han Dynasty (around 206 BCE-220 CE), The Art of War, and its supposed author, Sun Tzu, were widely known household names in China.

The unknowable truth about the history of Sun Tzu does not change the monumental influence brought about by The Art of War for multiple millennia. From ancient times to the present day, people of all walks of life have found inspiration and guidance from the writings of Sun Tzu. The Art of War is one of the few books that can claim to be cherished and embraced universally by soldiers, philosophers, capitalist businessmen and communist revolutionaries, alike.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Sources:

Geoffrey Chaucer

By
thehistorianshut
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Geoffrey Chaucer (1342-1400)

“I do not choose to stuff with chaff and straw
My lengthy tale, I rather seek the corn.”

  • From The Canterbury Tales of Geoffrey Chaucer (The Man of Law’s Tale), translated by Nevill Coghill (Penguin Classics, 2003).

 

Roland Garros, Anthony Fokker And The WWI Fighter Plane Revolution

By
thehistorianshut
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Left: Roland Garros c. 1910, Right: Anthony Fokker c. 1916, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

 

In World War One, the French airman, Roland Garros, took the first step in revolutionizing the airplane for warfare. His dream was to be able to fire a machine gun through turning airplane propellers without endangering the aircraft. Garros’ design was simplistic and not the most efficient model, but it got the job done—he basically armored his propellers with metal wedges that deflected bullets away from the propeller blades. Even though his design was a bit brutish, Roland Garros managed to shoot down four German airplanes by the time he crashed and was captured by the Germans in 1915. He would remain a prisoner of war in Germany until 1918.

Unfortunately for the Allied Powers of WWI, Roland Garros was not all that was recovered from the crash in 1915—Germany also salvaged Garros’ airplane propeller and gun design. The Germans then handed the design over to the brilliant Dutch engineer, Anthony Fokker. Although Fokker wanted to remain neutral in WWI, and had actually tried to sell his airplanes to the Allies, the Allied Powers had refused to buy his planes and Germany became his main client. The Allies would soon regret their decision not to work with Fokker, for he would take Garros’ design and improve it exponentially.

In less than a year after Roland Garros was captured, Anthony Fokker designed a mechanism that synchronized an airplane’s machine gun to the propellers in such a way that the bullets passed by the propeller blades like clockwork without collision. With this new invention in 1915, the Fokker E-1 fighter plane was born and the Fokker Scourge of German air superiority began.

As for Roland Garros, he escaped from German custody in February of 1918 and immediately took to the skies in an Allied fighter plane. Unfortunately for Garros, however, his plane was shot down later that year, but this time, he did not survive. In a twist of irony, the German plane that shot Garros out of the sky was none other than one of Anthony Fokker’s synchronized fighter planes.

Written by C. Keith Hansley

Sources:

Sun Tzu

By
thehistorianshut
-

Sun Tzu (Chinese strategist and philosopher, 6th-5th Century BCE)

“Speed
Is the essence of War.
Exploit the enemy’s unpreparedness;
Attack him unawares;
Take an unexpected route.”

  • From Sun Tzu’s The Art of War (Chapter 11), translated by John Minford (Penguin Classics, 2009).

 

Christine de Pizan

By
thehistorianshut
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Christine de Pizan (c. 1364-1430)

“You can’t define something as being for the common good of a city, country or any other community of people, if it doesn’t contribute to the universal good of all.”

  • From The Book of the City of Ladies (Part II, section 54) by Christine de Pizan, translated by Rosalind Brown-Grant (Penguin Classics, 1999).

 

The Story Of A 15th-Century Witch Who Started A Devastating Plague After Being Buried

By
thehistorianshut
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(The Premature Burial by Antoine Wiertz (1806–1865), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

 

The Malleus Maleficarum (or The Witches’ Hammer) was the go-to manual that witch-hunters and inquisitors would reference during most of the witch-hunting era. The book was written by Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger, two professors of theology who happened to be in the Order of Friars Preachers and were also Papal Inquisitors with a glowing recommendation from Pope Innocent VIII. Along with their description of witches, devils, monsters and the powers and abilities of all the above, the authors of the Malleus Maleficarum also included in their text some stories and accounts of supernatural events that they picked up in their research. This is one of the really odd tales from their book involving a witch, a burial shroud and a plague that decimated a town.

This particular event described in the Malleus Maleficarum probably occurred (or was set) in an Italian town. The story refers to an official called a ‘podesta,’ which usually refers to a magistrate in medieval Italy.

The tale began with an experienced sorceress and enchantress being buried in an uncertain Italian town. An interesting note—the writers did not clarify if the woman was buried dead or alive, but the story works in either scenario. Nevertheless, she was buried and life went on as usual for the rest of the inhabitants of the Italian town…at least in the beginning.

Soon after the burial of the sorceress, a sudden plague brought utter devastation to the small town. The rate of death was so high that the officials of the town began to search desperately for a way to save themselves and their fellow citizens.

In their frantic search for a cure for the plague, the town officials stumbled upon a rumor that the plague was somehow caused by the sorceress who had been buried earlier. According to the rumor, the plague was being sustained by the sorceress eating her own burial shroud and would not end until the entirety of the shroud was swallowed and digested.

With this new lead, the officials of the town journeyed to the place where they had buried the sorceress and then excavated the woman from her grave. When they observed the woman—lo and behold—the officials found that the sorceress had eaten her way through half of her burial shroud.

Taking in this bizarre and shocking sight, one official (the podesta) drew his sword, decapitated the sorceress and threw the head far away from the grave. According to the tale, as the head of the sorceress rolled away from the grave (and the burial shroud within it) the plague abruptly came to an end and the town was able to recover. So ended this odd tale about a sorceress (possibly buried alive) who brought a plague on a town by eating her own burial shroud.

If you are curious about how this story was presented in the Malleus Maleficarum, click HERE for a Google Books link to the section where this account is listed (Malleus Maleficarum, Part 1: Question XV).

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Source:

  • The Malleus Maleficarum by Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger, translated by Montague Summers. New York: Dover Publications, 1971.

John Locke

By
thehistorianshut
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John Locke (1632-1704)

“Without consciousness there is no person.”

  • From John Locke’s An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (Book II, chapter 27, section 23). Reprinted in The Longman Standard History of Modern Philosophy by Daniel Kolak and Garrett Thomson. New York: Pearson Education, Inc., 2006.

 

Alexander The Great Was One Of The First Military Minds To Use Ancient Anti-Personnel Artillery

By
thehistorianshut
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(Alexander (by Placido Costanzi (Italian, 1702-1759)) with a catapult pointed at Darius III (Pompeii mosaic), all images Public Domain via Creative Commons)

 

Alexander the Great and his father Philip II were two of the greatest military innovators of the ancient world. Philip took control of Greece by renovating the Macedonian military. He outfitted his men in light armor with small shields, and equipped his infantry phalanxes with spears that were much longer than those used by the average Greek hoplite. The result was an infantry force that had long reach, but was also incredibly maneuverable. Philip also modified the doctrine of his cavalry to work closely in tandem with his infantry, and he developed a contingent of military engineers that could create infrastructure and build siege engines. Much of Alexander the Great’s successes can be attributed to his father’s brilliant military innovations, but Alexander perfected what his father developed, and he put into action new, genius war strategies of his own.

One of the areas of war that Alexander the Great revolutionized was the use of ancient artillery in battle. Most ancient generals, including Alexander’s father, thought that machines like catapults were purely siege engines—and in keeping with the name, these devices were usually only used against walls and other settlement fortifications. Alexander the Great, however, being the military genius that he was, envisioned that catapults could be used in far greater a degree than just simply lobbing rocks at walls. Historians cite Alexander the Great as one of the earliest military innovators to use artillery, like catapults, against enemy military formations during battle, and not just during sieges.

Artillery worked well with Alexander’s style of warfare. He liked to surprise his enemy, get into their heads and spread confusion and fear. Firing large projectiles from catapults at infantry formations served as a powerful form of psychological warfare, and any break in discipline caused by Alexander’s artillery gave the Macedonian infantry and cavalry vital advantages to utilize during battle.

Written by C. Keith Hansley

Sources:

  • Alexander the Great by Philip Freeman. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2011.
  • Alexander the Great: The Story of an Ancient Life by Thomas R. Martin and Christopher W. Blackwell. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012.

The Christian New Testament Was Under Construction For A Very Long Time After The Death Of Jesus

By
thehistorianshut
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(St Paul writing his epistles, by Valentin de Boulogne (1591–1632), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

 

The first generation of Christians was sluggish to write down the life, death and teachings of Jesus. For the most part, the first faithful followers believed Jesus’ second coming would likely occur in their lifetime. So, understandably, preserving their savior’s words in writing was not their first priority. As the years continued to roll on, however, Christians finally began to write about their religion. Nevertheless, by the time the bulk of the New Testament was being written, multiple decades had elapsed since the time of the crucifixion and many of Jesus’ apostles had also passed away.

The apostle, Paul, formerly Saul of Tarsus, wrote the earliest texts of the New Testament. His letters to the numerous local churches he had a hand in creating were written in the decades preceding his death—as Paul (along with the apostles Peter and James) died in the 60s, it is safe to assume that the letters of Paul were written prior to, or during, that decade. Of the canonical gospels of the New Testament, the Gospel of Mark is the oldest—it is thought to have been written around the year 70. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke came next, both thought to have been written in the 80s. The last of the gospels was the Gospel of John, which was written in the 90s, the decade in which John the Evangelist is believed to have died.

Though most of the books and letters contained in the New Testament are thought to have been written in the 1st century, it took much longer for the early church fathers to decide what should be included and excluded in the Bible. As far as historians and archeologists know, it took until the 4th century for the ancient Catholic Church to decide on a final list of New Testament books. In 367, Bishop Athanasius of Alexandria wrote the oldest known list (in his Easter Letter) to contain the twenty-seven books eventually recognized by the ancient Catholic Church to be the canonical books of the New Testament.

Written by C. Keith Hansley

Source:

  • Early Christianity: A Brief History by Joseph H. Lynch. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.
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