Dura-Europos
Simon James, an archaeologist at the University of Leicester, has presented evidence that a dozen Roman soldiers, found in an old mine in the city under siege Dura-Europos, Syria, died not as a result of a stab with a sword or a spear, but suffocated.
Dura-Europos, a city on the Euphrates, was conquered by the Romans, who then settled there a large garrison of troops. About the year 256 AD C., the city was subjected to a fierce siege by an army of pop-Sassanid Persian Empire. The dramatic story has been reconstructed exclusively from archaeological remains, since no ancient text describes. Excavations in the area began in the 1920s and continued during 1930. However, not everything was discovered so far. To be resumed excavations in recent years have ended, resulting in several spectacular discoveries.
Dura-Europos, a city on the Euphrates, was conquered by the Romans, who then settled there a large garrison of troops. About the year 256 AD C., the city was subjected to a fierce siege by an army of pop-Sassanid Persian Empire. The dramatic story has been reconstructed exclusively from archaeological remains, since no ancient text describes. Excavations in the area began in the 1920s and continued during 1930. However, not everything was discovered so far. To be resumed excavations in recent years have ended, resulting in several spectacular discoveries.
The Sassanid used the whole arsenal of techniques to overcome old siege of the city's defenses, including excavation of mines to overcome its walls. The Roman defenders responded by "contraminas" to repel the attackers. In one of those narrow and low underground galleries, was found in the 1930's, a lot of bodies, from about 20 Roman soldiers with their weapons yet. Recently, as James was working at the archaeological site, reviewed the "crime scene" trying to figure out the cause of death of these soldiers and how they got to where they were found.
Judging from the corpses, it seems clear, as the archaeologists say that when miners and contramineros met, the Romans lost the skirmish. A careful analysis of the disposition of the bodies showed that they were deliberately stacked against Roman tunnel mouth, using his victims to create a barrier of bodies and shields, thereby paralyzing the Roman counterattack while setting fire to the counter-move, collapsing the gallery , allowing the Persians to continue his forward operating underground. This explains why the bodies were found at that position. But how did they die? Killing 20 soldiers in an area with less than 2 meters in height or width, and about 11 feet long, required the Persians a superhuman fighting force, or something more insidious.
The findings in the Roman tunnel revealed that the Persians used bitumen and burning sulfur crystals. When burned, these materials produced dense clouds of poison gas.
Persians to the Romans had heard while digging the tunnel counter and prepared a dangerous surprise for them. Archaeologists believe that the hearths placed Sassanian and bellows in your gallery, and when the Romans opened a gap, the Sassanid poured the mixture of chemicals and suffocating clouds of smoke pumped into the tunnel through the hole Roman. The departure of Roman assault was knocked unconscious in question seconds, dying within minutes.
The findings in the Roman tunnel revealed that the Persians used bitumen and burning sulfur crystals. When burned, these materials produced dense clouds of poison gas.
Persians to the Romans had heard while digging the tunnel counter and prepared a dangerous surprise for them. Archaeologists believe that the hearths placed Sassanian and bellows in your gallery, and when the Romans opened a gap, the Sassanid poured the mixture of chemicals and suffocating clouds of smoke pumped into the tunnel through the hole Roman. The departure of Roman assault was knocked unconscious in question seconds, dying within minutes.
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