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A comment on The sea people: Alexander the Great trod in the footsteps of forgotten Greeks. Parent comment

Re:The sea people: Alexander the Great trod in the footsteps... by AlbertCory on Sunday December 05, 2021 @11:55AM (#29450666)
By "explain" I hope no one hears "justify" (although someone will do it anyway):

You see this with the Romans, too: they tell a city to surrender, it doesn't, the Romans conquer it and practice unspeakable brutality on whomever's left.

So what's happening? They have very limited resources, you forced us to expend them, maybe lose some of our own soldiers, and waste a valuable campaigning season - ok, now you pay the price, and let this be a warning to the next city: if we tell you to surrender, you'd better surrender.

What if the city does surrender? Are those people killed or sold into slavery anyway? I don't think historians bother recording those episodes.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:The sea people: Alexander the Great trod in the footsteps... by mcguire on Sunday December 05, 2021 @03:33PM (#29452909)
"What if the city does surrender? Are those people killed or sold into slavery anyway?"

Typically, no. The attacker may leave the city entirely intact, or may place their own proxy government. They may take the elites of the city as prisoners, either as punishment or as insurance.

[ Parent | on HN ]