Chemical Warfare In The Ancient World
According to Plutarch, in 80 BCE, the Roman general Sertorius ordered his troops to stack mounds of gypsum powder outside the hillside hideaways of Spanish rebels, which when the wind picked up blew the dust into their hideouts and made it impossible to breath.
The poisoning of the water supply was another method of chemical warfare that was used in the classical world.
During the First Sacred War, 595-585 BCE, when the city of Cirrha was being besieged, the water supply was cut and when the defenders were suffering from thirst, the water was turned back on with the added bonus of hellebore roots, which poisoned the supply. This had the effect of rendering the defenders defenceless and allowed the city to be taken.
Source :- Antiquity Now
Alexander the Great and the Rain of Burning Sand
The Phoenicians heated fine sand in enormous shallow bronze bowls. Then they either poured or catapulted the red-hot sand over Alexander’s soldiers.
The sand rained down on “those who were fighting most boldly, bringing them utter misery.”
There was no escape for anyone within range, says Diodorus, as the molten grains of sand “sifted down” on the Macedonians, “searing their skin with intense heat, inflicting terrible pain.”
Diodorus tells how the victims writhed, trying to shake off the sand, “shrieking like those under torture.” In “excruciating agony,” Diodorus continued, many of Alexander’s men “went mad and died.”
The account of the rain of burning sand at Tyre, created two millennia ago, bears an uncanny resemblance to the effects of a modern chemical incendiary, white phosphorus. Like the burning grains of sand deployed by the Phoenicians, the hot metallic embers of white phosphorus cause clothing and other materials to combust.
When white phosphorus bombshells burst, the explosion showers white-hot shrapnel that sticks to the skin and burns through flesh to the bone, causing severe deep burns or death.
Biological And Chemical Weapons From The Ancient World
By Brad D Fuller
One of the most devastating ancient weapons ever described was the notorious Greek Fire. This was reportedly based on the development of an effective distillation and siphoning pump technologies. This allowed a flammable mixture to be pressurized and pumped from boats, creating a launch-able stream of liquid fire.
The main ingredient of the mixture was said to be Naphtha, a chemical that had been used in firebombs and dumped off castle walls for years.
Pumping pressurized and distilled Naphtha through tubes aimed at ships was certainly a brilliant feat of engineering for the time, and the exact delivery method was a heavily guarded secret and is now lost to time.
Resembling modern Napalm, this would have been a terrifying weapon to deal with, the only defenses described included draping the ship in wet hides, only sailing in stormy weather, or attempting dangerous evasive maneuvers
Several forms of toxic smoke and gasses were implemented by ancient people.
Burning noxious items to create clouds of smoke to deter opponents was common, it was however hard to control, as a shift in the wind could cause this to fail miserably. The Chinese developed an interesting way to manage this.
In AD 178 China used an early form of tear gas to quell an armed peasant revolt. Powdered limestone dust was equipped on horse drawn chariots with bellows attached to blow the dust forward with the wind. When the dust interacts with moist membranes such as the eyes and nose, the effects are corrosive, blinding and suffocating those inhaling it.
This tactic created an effective fog, this combined with stampeding horses, loud gongs and drums the rioters were thrown into chaos and overwhelmed. Methods such as this are still used to this day, with modern tear gas or pepper spray, and while the wind can still be a problem modern gas masks have minimized this threat.
Perhaps the most common story of Ancient Bio Warfare stems from this account.
In 1346 the Mongols had an outbreak of Bubonic Plague amongst their troops.
It did not take long for them to learn that proximity to a victim or corpse would spread the disease, so naturally they realized they could weaponize it. A few catapult shots later and the city of Kaffa was littered with plague-ridden corpses of the Mongols own troops. This would be the introduction of the dreaded disease to Europe.
Spreading disease was not the only desired effect of this tactic. The psychological effects that it had on the opposing troops was demoralizing and terrifying. The idea for this type of warfare has always been to incite panic and fear, and this tactic no doubt accomplished that well.
Chemical and Biological Warfare in Antiquity
In antiquity, naturally occurring toxins were exploited to wage primitive and relatively sophisticated forms of chemical and biological warfare.
A wide array of poisonous plants, venomous insects and reptiles, pathogens, and toxic chemicals were weaponized in ancient Europe, the Mediterranean, North Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, India, China, and North and South America. Evidence for the concept and practice of toxic warfare can be traced back to thousands of years, to the Hittites of Asia Minor.
Such tactics and weapons did not require a scientific understanding of toxicology, epidemiology, or chemistry, or depend on advanced technology: they arose from observation and experimentation with easily available toxic substances. Attacking an enemy’s biological vulnerabilities with secret toxic agents could be advantageous when facing armies with superior numbers, bravery, skills, or technology. Yet the use of chemical and biological weapons also raised practical and moral dilemmas in ancient cultures.
Links :-
https://antiquitynow.org/2013/11/14/chemical-warfare-in-the-ancient-world/#f11
https://www.wondersandmarvels.com/2013/02/alexander-the-great-and-the-rain-of-burning-sand.html
httpshttps://viralamo.com/10-biological-and-chemical-weapons-from-the-ancient-world-listverse/
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/285407184_Chemical_and_Biological_Warfare_in_Antiquity
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