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From: jfrechet@umd.edu Subject: Re: REPLY: Sources for the Origins of the Rules of War (2) Date: March 9, 2010 11:49:57 PM EST To: H-NET Military History Discussion List <H-WAR@H-NET.MSU.EDU> Not sure if you are after premodern examples, but Polybius 5.8-12 includes an interesting commentary regarding Philip V's violation of the customs of war (hoi tou polemou nomoi) when he presided over the violation of the Aetolian sanctuaries at Thermum in 218 B.C.: "But the fact is, that whereas the taking and demolishing an enemy's forts, harbours, cities, men, ships and crops, and other such things, by which our enemy is weakened, and our own interests and tactics supported, are necessary acts according to the laws and rights of war; to deface temples, statues, and such like erections in pure wantonness, and without any prospect of strengthening oneself or weakening the enemy, must be regarded as an act of blind passion and insanity." I.e., leaving a people homeless and starving was OK because of its military utility but sacrilege was a bridge too far... More generally, Josiah Ober has an article on Classical Greek customs in Howard, Andreopoulos, and Schulman's anthology, _The Laws of War: Constraints on Warfare in the Western World_. Best, Joe Frechette ----- For subscription help, go to: http://www.h-net.org/lists/help/ To change your subscription settings, go to http://h-net.msu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=h-war -----
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