When was the last time you put a city to the sword? It’s not something we do much anymore today. Yet there was a day and age when it was quite normal to slaughter every last man, woman, and child in a captured city. Neil Eckart of the podcast War and Conquest returns to the show today to talk about Julius Caesar’s slaughter of the Gallic city of Avaricum.

Be sure to support the show at www.patreon.com/deadideaspod to get your portrait drawn!

Music and graphic design by Rachel Westhoff. Maps, pics, references and more at http://www.deadideas.net.

Time/place: Avaricum, Gaul, 52 BCE

Dead Idea: Putting Cities to the Sword

Main Sources

Caesar, J. (1982). The Conquest of Gaul. London: Penguin.

Grossman, D. (2009/1995). On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society. New York: Back Bay Books.

Marlantes, K. (2011). What It Is Like to Go to War. New York: Atlantic Books Monthly.

Audio Credits

“Let’s Do It (Let’s Put That City to the Sword)” song mixed from “Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall in Love)” from Piano Busker.