Ancient Persians 'gassed Romans' - BBC News

[kkwd]

Yup... right behind the herd of elefants

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

 

[AirCanuck]

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

 

[George Wallace]

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.

 

[geo]

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

 

[Nfld Sapper]

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]

 

[geo]

Ahem... Centurion was a rank back then

 

[kkwd]

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.

 

[a_majoor]

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