Persians (today's Iranians) were killing Romans with chemical weapons in Syria 1700 years ago. And do you still expect that the US government will bring peace to the Middle East?
Earlier this week Adrienne Mayor, a research scholar in classics and history of science at Stanford University, told Discovery News that chemically enhanced accelerants had been documented in even older battles, including the 429 BC Peloponnesian War.
The Persian attack
But the Persian attack in 256 AD may represent one of the first documented instances of soldiers purposefully producing toxic fumes.
British archeologist Dr Simon James believes 20 Roman soldiers may have been killed by lethal poisonous gas during a Persian attack on their fort at Dura-Europas in Eastern Syria during the 3rd century. If true, it would be one of the earliest documented incidents of chemical weapons.
Dr James said: 'For the Persians to kill 20 men in a space less than two metres high or wide, and about 11 metres long, required superhuman combat powers, or something more insidious. I think the Persians placed braziers and bellows in their gallery, and when the Romans broke through, added the chemicals and pumped choking clouds into the Roman tunnel.' The Roman assault party were unconscious in seconds, dead in minutes.'
Dr James was alerted to the evidence by mineral residue near the bodies. He concluded the gas was created by adding a compound of burnt bitumen and sulfur to fire. These provided the vital clue. When ignited, such materials give off dense clouds of choking gases.
He also rediscovered the body of a Persian soldier, the man who probably ignited the poisonous weapon. 'He lingered too long to ensure it was alight, and was himself overcome by fumes.'
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