Greek Fire, Poison Arrows, and Scorpion Bombs : : Unconventional Warfare in the Ancient World / / Adrienne Mayor.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter EBOOK PACKAGE COMPLETE 2022 English
• VerfasserIn: Mayor, Adrienne,
• Place / Publishing House: Princeton, NJ : : Princeton University Press, , [2022]; ©2022
• Year of Publication: 2022
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (432 p.) :; 10 color + 34 b/w illus. 3 maps

A gripping and groundbreaking history of how ancient cultures developed and used biological, chemical, and other unconventional weapons of warFlamethrowers, poison gases, incendiary bombs, the large-scale spreading of disease: are these terrifying agents of warfare modern inventions? Not by a long shot. In this riveting history of the origins of unconventional war, Adrienne Mayor shows that cultures around the world have used biological and chemical weapons for thousands of years—and debated the morality of doing so. Drawing extraordinary connections between the mythical worlds of Hercules and the Trojan War, the accounts of Herodotus and Thucydides, and modern methods of war and terrorism, this richly illustrated history catapults readers into the dark and fascinating realm of ancient war and mythic treachery.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- About the Author -- Contents -- Preface -- Historical Time Line -- Maps -- Introduction: War outside the Rules -- Chapter 1 Heracles and the Hydra: The Invention of Biological Weapons -- Chapter 2 Arrows of Doom -- Chapter 3 Poison Waters, Deadly Vapors -- Chapter 4 A Casket of Plague in the Temple of Babylon -- Chapter 5 Sweet Sabotage -- Chapter 6 Animal Allies -- Chapter 7 Infernal Fire -- Afterword. The Many-Headed Hydra -- Acknowledgments -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index