26 December 2008

How would you defeat a war elephant? With a war pig!

Pliny the Elder reported that "elephants are scared by the smallest squeal of a pig" (book VIII ch. 9). Antipater's siege of Megara during the Wars of the Diadochi was reportedly broken when the Megarians poured oil on a herd of pigs, set them alight, and drove them towards the enemy's massed war elephants. The elephants bolted in terror from the flaming squealing pigs often killing great numbers of the army the elephant was part of… The Romans would later use the squeals of pigs to frighten Pyrrhus' elephants…

1 comment:

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...