Dembek, Zygmunt

Mayor, Adrienne

English

U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons

Naval War College ReviewVolume 57Number 2 Spring Article 212004Greek Fire, Poison Arrows & Scorpion Bombs:Biological and Chemical Warfare in the AncientWorldZygmunt DembekAdrienne MayorFollow this and additional works at: https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-reviewThis Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons. It has been accepted forinclusion in Naval War College Review by an authorized editor of U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons. For more information, please contactrepository.inquiries@usnwc.edu.Recommended CitationDembek, Zygmunt and Mayor, Adrienne (2004) "Greek Fire, Poison Arrows & Scorpion Bombs: Biological and Chemical Warfare inthe Ancient World," Naval War College Review: Vol. 57 : No. 2 , Article 21.Available at: https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review/vol57/iss2/21experience of the First World War thatmarked the passing of the Mahanianideal of climactic shoot-outs betweenbattleships and pointed to new realitiesin naval strategy? Almost from the timethe echo of the guns in the North Seafaded, naval strategy shifted to thingsradically different from decisive battlesbetween capital ships. The strategicframework of Forward . . . from the Seaappears to have little in common withJutland or Dogger Bank.Nevertheless, the struggle to adapt tothis shift is part of the experience we seeunfolding in Castles of Steel. Jellicoecame to realize that his fleet’s primarypurpose “was not destruction of the en-emy fleet, but command of the sea withthe accompanying ability to maintainthe blockade.” Ultimately, we see a suc-cessful adjustment on the strategic levelby the British, contrasted with a com-plete failure of German grand strategy.Finally, this is clearly a well researchedbook. Telling figures on German eco-nomic imports show precisely the effectof the British blockade. Information onthe coal consumption of ships couldeasily have been left out, but because ofits inclusion, we have a much better un-derstanding of a ship’s limitations andabilities. The reader comes to know thecharacters involved in the drama, andwe can thereby understand theirchoices better. Robert Massie’s carefulattention is evident throughout thebook and contributes to its stature as aseminal volume in understandingWorld War I at sea, as well as the evolu-tion of seapower and strategy in theearly twentieth century.DAVID A. SMITHDepartment of History,Baylor UniversityMayor, Adrienne. Greek Fire, Poison Arrows &Scorpion Bombs: Biological and Chemical Warfarein the Ancient World. New York: Overlook, 2003.319pp. $27.95Adrienne Mayor’s recent effort is acomprehensive review of the use of bio-logical and chemical weapons by an-cient cultures. Mayor is an independentscholar of the classics and folklore wholives in Princeton, New Jersey. She hasbeen published in MHQ: QuarterlyJournal of Military History and variousarcheology journals, and she is the au-thor of The First Fossil Hunters: Paleon-tology in Greek and Roman Times(Princeton Univ. Press, 2000); a simi-larly titled program is scheduled for theHistory Channel in July 2004.This work describes in detail the use ofweapons of mass destruction by the an-cient cultures of Greece, Rome, China,India, Islamic regions, and Mongolia.Mayor presents a much needed updateof the historical use of these weapons. Ifmodern scientists appear to understandthe nature and effects of chemical andbiological weapons through their exper-tise in biochemical and molecular sci-ences and epidemiology, ancientcivilizations created and used similarweapons by empirical evidence alone.The (mythical) first use of a biologicalweapon in the ancient world was byHercules, who dipped his arrows in thevenom of the slain Hydra. Ancientmyths may also reflect the realities oftheir time. Descriptions of poisonedwounds in the Trojan War accuratelydepict the effects of snake venom andother toxins, lending confirmation ofthe use of this type of weapon. In AD198–99, the citizens of Hatra (the1 8 6 N A V A L W A R C O L L E G E R E V I E WC:\WIP\NWCR\NWC Review Spring 2004.vpMonday, March 29, 2004 8:30:03 AMColor profile: DisabledComposite  Default screen1Dembek and Mayor: Greek Fire, Poison Arrows & Scorpion Bombs: Biological and ChemicPublished by U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons, 2004remains of this city are located south ofMasul, Iraq) successfully defended theircity from a Roman attack by the use ofclay-pot bombs likely filled with scorpi-ons and other venomous insects gath-ered from the surrounding desert.Hannibal catapulted earthenware jarsfilled with venomous snakes during adecisive naval battle against KingEumenes of Pergamum between 190and 184 BC.One of the greatest current concerns inhomeland defense today is the protec-tion of food and water supplies fromintentional contamination. Mayor pre-sents evidence that purposeful poisoningof food and water sources as a militarytactic was once commonplace. The ear-liest documentation of poisoned drink-ing water referenced is from Greece in590 BC, when hellebore was used to poi-son the water source of the city Kirrhaby the Amphictyonic League, causingthe inhabitants to become “violentlysick to their stomachs and all lay unableto move. The Amphictyons took thecity without opposition.” Aeneas theTactician in 350 BC wrote a siegecraftmanual recommending that militarycommanders “make water undrink-able” by polluting rivers, lakes, springs,wells, and cisterns. A more recent anal-ogy is presented with the Iroquois’ useof animal skins to cause illness in thewater supply of over a thousand Frenchsoldiers during the eighteenth century.The earliest recorded use of incendiaryweapons was of flammable arrows byPersia against Athens in 480 BC. Chemi-cal additives soon followed in order toenhance burning characteristics againstmore sturdy defenses. The use of fireand incendiary material was an impor-tant tool during early naval battles.During Alexander the Great’s siege ofTyre in 332 BC, the Phoenicians refitteda large transport ship as a floatingchemical firebomb with sulfur, bitu-men, pitch, and kindling material. ThePhoenicians ignited the ship just beforeit struck a pier on the fortified island;the pier was destroyed.Greek fire, an ancient predecessor ofnapalm, was a weapons system used toattack ships during naval engagements.Pressurized distilled naphtha waspumped through bronze tubes aimed atships. The delivery system was capableof shooting liquid fire from swivelingnozzles mounted on small boats. It wasfirst used to break the Muslim navy’ssiege of Constantinople in AD 673, andagain saved the city from this fleet in AD718. From the seventh century, theByzantines and Arabs formulated varia-tions on Greek fire, which resemblednapalm, for “it clung to everything ittouched, instantly igniting any organicmaterial—ship’s hull, oars, rigging,crew, and their clothing. Nothing wasimmune.” A paper published forNapoleon claims to have rediscoveredthe lost recipe for Greek fire, with thedisturbing title “Weapons for theBurning of Armies.”A thread throughout Mayor’s history isunease or taboos associated with bio-logical and chemical weapons. Victimsof Hercules’ poison arrows includedChiron, a centaur who taught the medi-cal arts to humans, and Hercules’ son,Telephus. Such instruments violatedthe “traditional Hindu laws of conductfor Brahmans and high castes, theLaws of Manu.” In 1139 the SecondLateran Council decreed that Greekfire and similar burning weapons were“too murderous” to be used in Europe.A modern chemical weapon tragedy re-counted by Mayor is the 2 DecemberB O O K R E V I E W S 1 8 7C:\WIP\NWCR\NWC Review Spring 2004.vpMonday, March 29, 2004 8:30:04 AMColor profile: DisabledComposite  Default screen2Naval War College Review, Vol. 57 [2004], No. 2, Art. 21https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review/vol57/iss2/211943 German bombing of the SS JohnHarvey, which was docked in Bari, Italy,secretly holding two thousand M47A1sulfur mustard (H) bombs. The explo-sion exposed U.S. personnel and Italiancitizens to chemical weapons, which re-sulted in hundreds of deaths.This work imparts seminal informationon the use of biological and chemicalweapons in the ancient world, and assuch it provides an outlook missingfrom much current thought about thisera. It is highly recommended.ZYGMUNT DEMBEKLieutenant Colonel, MS, USARAuthor of Biological Weapons Defense (HumanaPress, 2004)Rubin, Barry, and Judith Colp Rubin. Yasir Arafat:A Political Biography. New York: Oxford Univ.Press, 2003. 354pp. $27.50The Palestinian people would have beenbetter off as citizens of Israel. That is aconclusion one can reach after digestingthe political biography of Yasir Arafatby the veteran Middle Eastern writer-reporter team of Barry Rubin andJudith Colp Rubin.The book is clear on its takeaways. Tounderstand Arafat, you must under-stand the “struggle” as well as his rec-ord of failure. Arafat now holds therecord for creating, and remaining theleader of, the planet’s longest-runningrevolutionary movement, while at thesame time failing to bring the Palestin-ian struggle to a successful conclusion.In his adult life, Arafat has spent fivedecades as a revolutionary, forty yearsas chief of his own group, thirty-plusyears as a leader of an entire people, andseven years as head of a government.Despite all the opportunities and re-sponsibility, Arafat has not brought thePalestinian people peace, victory, or anindependent state. His failures and hisown vision of the “struggle” have costthe Palestinians dearly. When, in 2000at Camp David, he was offered a recog-nized Palestinian state on generally rea-sonable terms, he walked away. Hisrejection of the offer ignited the currentintifadah.This fresh dissection of Arafat shouldbe of great interest to Review readerslooking for insight as to why the UnitedStates has often appeared “eager to giveArafat another chance” in its own questto broker a lasting Middle East peace.For years, no matter how many timesArafat proved unreliable, the UnitedStates found reasons to give him an-other chance. Either he is indispensableto the peacemaking process, or he is thelone remaining roadblock. If the UnitedStates is ever to break this maddeningcycle, it must first know Arafat for whohe really is.The Rubins’ portrait of Arafat may bethe most intimate to date, exposing himto the reader and asking questions thatbeg for answers. How did such a manbecome the leader of his people? Whathuman “tools” does Arafat exploit?If one reads only a single chapter, makeit “Being Yasir Arafat.” Reading like apsychological profile from a CIA dos-sier, this chapter not only details someof Arafat’s most intimate behavior,habits, beliefs, and idiosyncrasies butgoes on to connect the dots to providethe why of his behavior: Why doesArafat forever wear the traditional Arabkaffiya head garb, and why is it folded acertain way? Why does he always sportthe scruffy beard? Why is he alwaysdressed in a military uniform when he1 8 8 N A V A L W A R C O L L E G E R E V I E WC:\WIP\NWCR\NWC Review Spring 2004.vpMonday, March 29, 2004 8:30:04 AMColor profile: DisabledComposite  Default screen3Dembek and Mayor: Greek Fire, Poison Arrows & Scorpion Bombs: Biological and ChemicPublished by U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons, 2004

Greek Fire, Poison Arrows & Scorpion Bombs: Biological and Chemical Warfare in the Ancient World

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Greek Fire, Poison Arrows & Scorpion Bombs: Biological and Chemical Warfare in the Ancient World

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