770)īauer's work is both delightful and intelligible. Rome: In the nine years after Aurelian, six men were given the title of emperor, and each one was murdered.' (p. 338)Īssyria: Ashurbanipal’s destruction of Babylon: “The rest of those living, I destroyed in the place where my grandfather Sennacherib was killed, and their carved-up bodies I fed to the dogs, to pigs, to wolves, to eagles, to birds of the heavens, to fish of the deep.”(p. As to others, 'I cut of their members (noses, ears, fingers, gouged eyes. 293)Īssyria: Ashurnasirpal said, 'I put up a pillar at the city gate and I skinned the chiefs who revolted against me, and covered the pillar with their skins. Chou had one court official flayed, and another carved up into meat strops and hung to dry. Shang Dynasty: Nobleman suspected of disloyalty were forced to lie on a red-hot rack. Fathers killed sons and sons killed fathers wives poisoned their husbands and husbands banished their wives, all in an effort to climb a royal throne or to remain perched on it.

Indeed, the history of the ancient world is a history of the slaughter of one’s enemies. It will encourage you.Īmerican political squabbles seem like playground shoving matches compared to the bloodshed that accompanies the rise and fall of nations, especially Rome. If this upcoming election has you worried for the fate of America, read The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome.

Ancient Times by Susan Wise Bauer