According to tradition, Roman history began with the fall of Troy. It ended, more than
two and half millennia later, with the capture of Constantinople. The intervening centuries are
filled with sieges and sacks, some documented by literary sources, others known from archaeological
evidence. Together, these allow us to reconstruct what happened when the Romans took a city.
Since sieges were expensive and unpredictable, Roman generals usually tried to negotiate before
investing a city. They paraded their armies around the walls, menacingly unlimbered siege engines,
and did everything else they could to convince their opponents that resistance was futile.
Until the first ram touched the walls, the inhabitants of a city could surrender on terms
that preserved their lives and at least some of their property. But once the siege began,
they were, by every rule and convention of ancient warfare, at the mercy of their attackers.
If the Romans were able to maintain their supply lines,
they could starve their opponents into submission. When food ran out in Numantia,
a Celtiberian fortress in northern Spain, the inhabitants were reduced to eating grass,
leather, and finally the bodies of the fallen. After they had cannibalized the wounded,
the survivors, too weak to man their walls, surrendered to the Romans.
More often than not, a city was taken before it capitulated. Roman military
engineers were very good at breaking walls, and equally adept at shattering morale. At the
Hod Hill fortress in Britain, for example, archaeologists discovered a dense cluster
of ballista bolts around the chieftain’s hut, apparently aimed to decapitate the resistance.
Eventually, whether the inhabitants opened the gates or engineers brought the walls down,
soldiers poured into the city’s streets. Looting invariably followed. The historian Polybius
claimed that this was an orderly affair, with part of the army being appointed to strip a city of its
valuables, bring them to the marketplace, and divide them equitably. In reality,
matters were seldom so neat. Soldiers took everything they could grab and kept
everything they could. After the capture of Jerusalem, for example, legionaries
sold so much pilfered treasure that gold was devalued throughout the eastern provinces.
Looting was often accompanied by killing, especially if the siege had been long,
and the Romans had spent months being taunted by the enemy and watching comrades fall in
battle. At least occasionally, the violence was deliberate. Polybius claims that a Roman
general ordered his men to kill everyone they encountered in a newly captured town,
leaving their mutilated corpses as a warning of what would happen to those who dared oppose Rome.
There is some archaeological evidence for calculated brutality. The British defenders of
Maiden Castle were found decapitated, and severed limbs were discovered in the priestly houses of
Jerusalem. At the Spanish town of Valencia, taken by Pompey in 75 BC, dismembered skeletons
came to light, along with the remains of a man killed by having a javelin thrust up his rectum.
Caesar records how, having captured a rebellious Gallic stronghold, he decided to be merciful:
instead of executing those who had borne arms against Rome, he merely cut their hands off.
Usually, however, the inhabitants of captured cities were victims of the sheer heat and frenzy
of the sack. As Tacitus observed, “once killing has begun, it is difficult to stop.” When Cremona
fell during the civil wars of 69 AD, for example, and despite the fact that the city was Roman,
some of the inhabitants were tortured until they surrendered their valuables.
Others were seized as captives, or wantonly killed. Young women and boys were violated.
Non-Roman cities suffered even greater atrocities. When legionaries took the Jewish town of Jotapata,
they killed most of the inhabitants, sparing only women and children. Not long after, and despite
being ordered not to harm noncombatants, Roman soldiers ran amok in Jerusalem,
leaving streets choked with the bodies of the slain. Caesar’s soldiers massacred the entire
population of Avaricum; only those who managed to throw themselves from the walls survived.
Once their blood cooled, the soldiers began to take prisoners. Slaves, especially young
and attractive ones, could be worth a small fortune on the market. After the fall of Alesia,
as a special reward, Caesar gave each of his soldiers a Gallic captive to sell. According
to Josephus, nearly 100,000 prisoners were taken during the Jewish War. Some
were sent to work on the Corinthian canal or Egyptian mines; others perished in the arena.
In the second part of this video, we’ll consider how – hypothetically – someone
trapped in a city that had been captured by the Romans might survive. First, however,
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Returning to our topic. Let’s assume that you have found yourself in a city that has just
been captured by the Romans. We won’t dwell on how you got yourself into this situation. Nor
should you, since you should be focusing very intently on how to survive the next few days.
If possible, get outside the walls. The Romans typically erect siege fortifications to keep
anyone from entering or leaving a beleaguered city, but there’s a decent chance that the
soldiers on duty will have left their posts to join the looting. If you can find a postern
gate or let yourself down from the wall, you might be able to get away in the confusion.
If you can’t escape, you’ll want to avoid detection as long as possible – and that
means finding a hiding place. The possibilities, of course, will vary. If you’ve found yourself
in a Gallic or British hill fort, there aren’t many places to go. If you’re in a large city
like Carthage, on the other hand, you’ll have plenty of options, but also lots of competition.
The Romans have no concept of sanctuary; hiding in a temple will just get you killed faster,
since the soldiers will look for loot there first. You’ll want to avoid large
public plazas and thoroughfares, since these will soon be swarming
with soldiers. You should also steer clear of any neighborhood or house that looks wealthy.
Since the entire city will be looted sooner or later, even poorer areas are dangerous. Hiding in
the rubble of a building destroyed in a recent fire or bombardment is a reasonably safe bet,
though only if you can keep out of sight. Better yet, if you can manage it, would be a well or
half-filled cistern. Josephus, the historian of the Jewish war, survived the capture of Jotapata
by crawling down a well and concealing himself in a natural cavern for two days.
If you are discovered in the initial frenzy of the sack,
you’re likely to be killed. But if you’re found after the first day,
you have a much better chance of being taken captive. If you are discovered,
surrender quickly. During the sack of Syracuse, Archimedes was reportedly murdered for ignoring
the Roman soldier who ordered him to leave his geometric proofs and come see the general.
If you have any gold, silver, or jewels, do not attempt to conceal them. If possible,
avoid giving any impression that you are wealthy. This is not medieval Europe,
where rich captives were held for ransom. If they think you have money, Roman soldiers
are likely to torture you on the assumption that you’re concealing your wealth. After the
capture of Jerusalem, some soldiers disemboweled captives whom they suspected of swallowing coins.
If you’re a young woman, you need to be especially careful. Your best hope of
safety may be to surrender to the Roman general or one of his subordinates. Some
of these men are noted for their principles; Scipio Africanus, for example, believed that
it was inappropriate for any officer to consort with female captives. Other generals are less
scrupulous: Julius Caesar was notorious for sleeping with the wives of Gallic chieftains.
This is the one scenario in which claiming to be rich and influential will be helpful,
since women of high rank are often paraded in Roman triumphs, and treated reasonably well.
The rebel queen Zenobia not only survived being displayed in Aurelian’s triumph,
but went on to marry a senator and join the Roman aristocracy.
Sometimes, as mentioned earlier, captives were massacred or sentenced to death in the arena.
Far more often, they were sold as slaves. This was a brutal and drawn-out process;
Josephus claims that 11,000 captives died while waiting to be sold after the fall of Jerusalem.
Captivity is not necessarily a life sentence. Roman slaves are often freed – and some,
like Spartacus, manage to escape. But whatever happens next, you will have ample opportunity
to reflect on the fact that the rise of Rome ruined millions of innocent lives.
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