Greek Fire, Poison Arrows, & Scorpion Bombs: Biological & Chemical Warfare in the Ancient WorldFlamethrowers, poison gases, incendiary bombs, the largescale spreading of disease ... are these terrifying agents and implements of warfare modern inventions? Not by a long shot. Weapons of biological and chemical warfare have been in use for thousands of years, and Greek Fire, Poison Arrows & Scorpion Bombs, Adrienne Mayor's revealing exploration of the origins of controversial weaponry, draws extraordinary connections between the mythical worlds of Hercules and the Trojan War, the accounts of Herodotus and Thucydides, and modern methods of war and terrorism. This is the first book to trace biological and chemical warfare to its ancient roots and Mayor's thought-provoking findings are as riveting in their gruesomeness as they are surprising in their historical precedence. Drawing on sources ancient and modern, Mayor, an expert in classics and the history of science, describes ancient recipes for arrow poisons, booby traps rigged with plague, petroleum-based combustibles, choking gases, and the deployment of dangerous animals and venomous snakes and insects. She also explores the ambiguous moral implications inherent in this kind of warfare: are these nefarious forms of weaponry ingenious or cowardly? Admirable or reprehensible? Timely and fascinating, Greek Fire, Poison Arrows & Scorpion Bombs is an eminently readable page-turner that will catapult readers into the dark and fascinating realm of ancient war and mythic treachery -- and their devastating consequences. Book jacket. |
Contents
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS | 9 |
War Outside the Rules | 23 |
The Invention of Biological Weapons | 41 |
Copyright | |
5 other sections not shown
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
aconite Aelian Aeneas the Tactician agents Alexander Alexander's ancient Greek animals antidotes antiquity Apollo archers army arrow poisons Arthashastra Asia Assyrian Athenian attack battle bees besiegers biochemical weapons biological and chemical biological warfare biological weapons burning Carthaginian catapult century BC chapter chemical weapons combustible contagion created deadly death defense described destroyed Dio Cassius Diodorus of Sicily disease effects elephants enemy epidemics example Faraone FIGURE flames Frontinus Greece Greek and Roman Greek Fire Hatra hellebore Hercules Herodotus historian honey Hydra incendiaries India insects invention Iraq Islamic Kautilya killed King Kirrha legend Lucullus Majno Medea mice military Mithridates modern Museum myth mythic naphtha Odysseus Partington 1999 Peloponnesian Peloponnesian War Persians petroleum Philoctetes plague plant Pliny poison arrows poison weapons Polyaenus projectiles Psylli Quintus of Smyrna rodents scientists scorpions Scythian siege snake venom soldiers sting Strabo strategies sulphur temple toxic toxins Trojan Troy victims viper war elephants warriors wine wound