# Ancient Persians 'gassed Romans' - BBC News



## Yrys (25 Jan 2009)

Ancient Persians 'gassed Romans'

Ancient Persians were the first to use chemical warfare against 
their enemies, a study has suggested.

A UK researcher said he found evidence that the Persian Empire 
used poisonous gases on the Roman city of Dura, Eastern Syria, 
in the 3rd Century AD. The theory is based on the discovery of 
remains of about 20 Roman soldiers found at the base of the city 
wall.






Remains in the city wall suggest toxic 
gases were used in a siege on the city


The findings were presented the Archaeological Institute of America's 
annual meeting. The study shows that the Persians dug a mine 
underneath the wall in order to enter the city.

They also ignited bitumen and sulphur crystals to produce dense 
poisonous gases, suggested Simon James, an archaeologist at 
the University of Leicester. He added that underground bellows 
or chimneys probably helped generate and distribute the deadly 
fumes.

The Romans apparently responded with counter-mines in an effort 
to thwart the siege. "For the Persians to kill 20 men in a space less 
than 2m high or wide, and about 11m long, required superhuman 
combat powers - or something more insidious," said Dr James.

"The Roman assault party was unconscious in seconds, dead in minutes."

Excavations showed that the soldiers' bodies were stacked near 
the counter-mine entrance by the attackers to create a protective 
barricade before setting the tunnel on fire. "It is clear from the 
archaeological evidence at Dura that the Sasanian Persians were 
as knowledgeable in siege warfare as the Romans," said Dr James.

"They surely knew of this grim tactic."






Evidence also shows that the Persians dug their mine with the 
intention of collapsing the city wall and adjacent tower. Although 
the mine failed to destroy the structures, the attackers eventually 
conquered the city.

However, how they broke into the city still remains a mystery 
because details of the siege cannot be found in surviving historical 
records. Dura was later abandoned, and its inhabitants were 
slaughtered or deported to Persia.

In 1920, the well-preserved ruins were unearthed by Indian 
troops trying to dig defensive trenches along the buried city wall.
The structures were excavated in a series of campaigns in the 
1920s and 1930s by French and American researchers.

In recent years, they have been extensively re-examined using 
modern technology. Dr James and a colleague are currently 
investigating records and objects collected about 80 years ago.


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## AirCanuck (26 Jan 2009)

very interesting - great find!

so much for Ypres being the first.  I love ancient warfare articles - keep em coming!


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## geo (26 Jan 2009)

Think that Ypres will be the 1st large scale application of poisonous gas technology.
This Roman/Persian stuff was small in scale by comparison


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## OldSolduer (26 Jan 2009)

Oh those pesky Persians!! 
Interesting nonetheless.


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## AirCanuck (26 Jan 2009)

geo said:
			
		

> Think that Ypres will be the 1st large scale application of poisonous gas technology.
> This Roman/Persian stuff was small in scale by comparison



regardless of scale, still very interesting!  After seeing it used in siege once (relatively successfully) you'd think there HAS to be further uses of it


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## geo (26 Jan 2009)

No doubt - but it doesn't look like it was part of any skillset that the Persians hung onto -  lord knows there was the probable sentencing to death of the sappers who dug the mine shaft.


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## kkwd (1 Feb 2009)

This "gassing" was probably unintentional. The Persians probably just put the bitumen and sulfur (B&S) in to make the fire hotter to better collapse the wall. They probably didn't know about the Roman counter-mine. If they did it would have taken some super human effort to get that B&S fire started up as a Roman assault party moved down 20 metres of tunnel. I think any fire producing smoke would have had the same results for the Romans being in a confined space and breathing it in. As for the forcing of the fumes through the Roman counter-mine it would have been readily achieved when the Romans knocked out the last few inches of dirt and created some suction. So I guess it was a combination of Syrian luck and Roman bad luck. But anyway, it didn't play a big part in the final victory so it is just an interesting exercise in ancient history speculation.


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## a_majoor (1 Feb 2009)

Other examples of using sulpher to generate toxic smoke clouds are reported in Warfare in the Classical World: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Weapons, Warriors, and Warfare in the Ancient Civilisations of Greece and Rome . The general idea was to ignite a caldroun of sulpher and push it forward through a breach in the wall. One refinement was to make the pole holding the caldron hollow and using a bellows to force air over the burning sulpher; making a much more potent fire and blowing the smoke into the beseiged stronghold.


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## AirCanuck (1 Feb 2009)

kkwd said:
			
		

> As for the forcing of the fumes through the Roman counter-mine it would have been readily achieved when the Romans knocked out the last few inches of dirt and created some suction.



I don't know about that... that would be assuming that the air was at a lower pressure in the counter-mine...  unless you're just speculating that the smoke rises due to heat and thus would follow this new exit?


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## kkwd (1 Feb 2009)

I suggest as the scientists mentioned in this article did. It is all just speculation on my part and maybe a bit of imagination mixed in, or a lot.


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## AirCanuck (1 Feb 2009)

no no I think you really brought up some excellent points.  Study history at all?  

Somehow I can't see them using things that would create such noxious fumes in their own tunnel for purposes of excavation, if only because of the danger to their own soldiers/diggers.  

As for them intentionally or not using it on the counter mine, I agree they probably didn't know about it, but they probably intended to use it inside the city walls (release it from the tunnel when they broke through).

as you said, speculation.


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## George Wallace (1 Feb 2009)

You must remember that 1000 years ago things were not like today.  Commanders in those days were not afraid to sacrifice their men for a victory.  Their had very little regard for their mens safety.  In fact, many treated their horses better than their men.


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## kkwd (1 Feb 2009)

If you have a shortage of timber and need a good fire going I would say that adding some bitumen to the fire would be very effective. Looking at modern pictures of the city I can't see much to burn around it. And seeing that bitumen contains amounts of sulfur if an analysis was conducted it would turn up both. A few sappers lost in the fight is of no consequence, achieving the goal is of prime importance.


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## geo (2 Feb 2009)

> danger to their own soldiers/diggers.


... that's a Sapper (as in sapping the strength out of a wall/fortification)



> A few sappers lost in the fight is of no consequence,


Hey, hey, talk nice ... though that could explain why the saying " there are never enough sappers - when war breaks out"


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## Nfld Sapper (2 Feb 2009)

kkwd said:
			
		

> If you have a shortage of timber and need a good fire going I would say that adding some bitumen to the fire would be very effective. Looking at modern pictures of the city I can't see much to burn around it. And seeing that bitumen contains amounts of sulfur if an analysis was conducted it would turn up both. *A few sappers lost in the fight is of no consequence, achieving the goal is of prime importance*.



Right  :

A sapper is worth as much as a platoon of infantry.


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## AirCanuck (2 Feb 2009)

geo said:
			
		

> ... that's a Sapper (as in sapping the strength out of a wall/fortification)



No need to roll eyes, I understand what a sapper was (although I thought the name also had to do with the term saps from world war one when they would be in the forward positions ahead of the line - or was it the other way around? ie saps comes from sappers).  Anyway, i digress...

The reason I didn't use the term sapper was because I don't really think that they would have specialized sappers at that point in time, or if they did IMHO it's much more likely that there would be one or two to lead the project while the rest would just be (as I said) soldiers/diggers.  

What I mean is, when they DID eventually breach the ground on the opposite side of the tunnel, they wouldn't want to send in specialized men or engineers or what-have-you, they would want to pour in footsoldiers - so I doubt that all the men digging would be 'sappers'.

NFLD Sapper, I don't think kkwd was speaking in terms of today's views, I think more like the terms that were expressed earlier with respect to how officers treated their men.  

I still disagree with the notion that it was an accident using the gas... although I guess it could be decided by a vital question that geo brought up.

Was the purpose of the tunnel, as he stated, more to 'sap' the strength of the city walls, or was it to breach the other side and use it an a point of invasion?


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## kkwd (2 Feb 2009)

NFLD Sapper said:
			
		

> Right  :
> A sapper is worth as much as a platoon of infantry.



1 company of infantry - $15,678,213.23
1 battery of guns       -  $24,789,012.67
1 squadron of tanks   -  $45,342,813.78
1 sapper                   - priceless

Note: The above costs are flexible, depending on your imagination.  ;D


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## geo (2 Feb 2009)

kkwd.... 
When you are stuck in a minefield... you betcha your bottom dollar that a Sapper & his kit is priceless


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## George Wallace (2 Feb 2009)

The ancient Persians had minefields?                                                                                                    >


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## geo (2 Feb 2009)

Yup... right behind the herd of elefants


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## kkwd (2 Feb 2009)

geo said:
			
		

> Yup... right behind the herd of elefants



I can see it, the sapper going through his kit to find his pooper scooper.  ;D


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## AirCanuck (2 Feb 2009)

We're getting a little off-topic here... Anyone have any thoughts on what has been said above? (aside from more sapper-banter)


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## George Wallace (2 Feb 2009)

CBRN has been used by man in many forms over the past 2000 years.  Poisoning wells.  Boiling oils and tar.  Toxic or noxious fumes.  It shows how man rose above the animals in his use of his imagination and ingenuity.


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## geo (2 Feb 2009)

Catapults to throw diseased carcasses & corpses into fortified cities.... to spread the plague & other not so nice things


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## Nfld Sapper (2 Feb 2009)

geo said:
			
		

> Catapults to throw diseased carcasses & corpses into fortified cities.... to spread the plague & other not so nice things



Wasn't that your first job geo in the troop?  >

 ;D

[/back on topic]


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## geo (2 Feb 2009)

Ahem... Centurion was a rank back then


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## kkwd (2 Feb 2009)

Man certainly has the imagination to conceive the most terrible ways to vanquish an enemy. One terrible weapon is fire. It takes little resources but is very effective. A few fireballs chucked over the walls by the Persians can demoralize the defenders, especially if there was a shortage of water to control it.


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## a_majoor (8 Feb 2009)

Sapper is a relatively modern term, derived from the trenches or "saps" driven towards the walls of besieged forts or towns during the age of black powder war. Ancient engineers would be considered almost a form of magician, and have titles derived from their specialty. The Latin term was _ingenium_, which could be translated as "a man who's clever with tools and mechanisms". His assistants would be considered "_Immunes_", since their special skills would exempt them from ditch digging and other routine tasks.

Ancient engineers even anticipated the chain gun


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