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Few had as much at stake during a siege as the women. When a city was conquered, the women were treated as spoils of war. They lost all rights and were sold into slavery, mistreated, and humiliated. For the women of a besieged city, everything was at stake. Therefore, they took an active part in the defense. Many ancient sources indicate that women built walls, took on logistical tasks, and even fought in active combat—in most cases by throwing roof tiles and stones at the attackers. Nevertheless, the role that women played in sieges in antiquity is still poorly understood. To shed some light on the subject, we will look at four of the most important ways women took part in sieges in ancient Greece—and sometimes even decided them.
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Loman, Pasi, No Woman no War. Women’s Participation in Ancient Greek Warfare, in: Greece & Rome 51 (2004), pp. 34-54.
Martinez Morales, Jennifer, Women, Diversity, and War off the Battlefield in Classical Greece, in: Konijnendijk, R., Kucewicz, C., Lloyd, M. (eds.), Brill’s Companion to Greek Land Warfare Beyond the Phalanx, Leiden / Boston 2021, pp. 122-144.
Martinez Morales, Jennifer, Women on the Walls? The Role and Impact of Women in Classical Greek Sieges, in: Armstrong, Jeremy/Trundle, Matthew (eds.), Brill’s Companion to Sieges in the Ancient Mediterranean, Leiden/Boston 2019, pp. 150-168.
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I love the art and the history, it really provides great immersion together.
They tended live stock and stayed out of the way, hoping they would be taken as wives and not scullery maids. In short they did f*ck all before being turned into war trophies.
A man builds, provides and protects the home, a woman aids and supports him, everything is between the lines – catapult crews motto,
Great information!! Thank you for widening my limited understanding of history!!
interesting topic, i thought for sure you'd bring up Pyrrhus of Epirus demise lol
Could you make a video saying “how good were kings at combat?” I lot of stories of kings depicts them as being really good at combat, but clearly there has to be a stretch right? Like propaganda and stuff? You see stories of kings fighting against like multiple attackers and winning easily and I want to know if all kings in the past were just really good at combat or if it was propaganda spread at the time.
In the new Zealand land wars, it was common for women and children to reload the muskets for the warriors fireing behind walls, which alowed for a near constant rate of fire the main thing slowing them down being the time it took to aim..
They did other things like encouraging and plucking fuses from the "morters" that landed in the fort, but i cant remember them all off the top of my head
@0:01
Uh… yeah but the men who lost a siege were fucking killed.
I didn't know "throw like a girl" was such an old stereotype. Misogyny never changes
Interesting video! I have always wondered about that
Make sandwiches
Let us not forget that one mother who, seeing his son in danger, threw a brick/tile onto Pyrrhus of Epirus and crippled him
Edit: She got mentioned, so not forgotten
Ladies defending their home during a siege
A massively underrated premise
Honestly i belive that ANYONE should fight, any woman and men from 10 to 70 years old
Do you think the defenders had a lot of sex during a siege? Imagine being there, the only way to survive is to work together with each and every other inhabitant of your town. That would strengthen bonds right? Throw in the prospect of being murdered or sold into slavery at any moment and you could argue that people's threshold to get it on might lower a bit right? On the other hand getting pregnant during a siege is bad timing.
BS
Complain?
In the Middle Ages, women seem to have actionned the catapult which killed Simon de Montfort at the seige of Toulouse in 1218.
The Nereid Monument is not in Xanthos but in London…
Recurve bows are more typical of ancient Greece than the self bows depicted.
Un video sobre el comercio romano de exclavos
Painting a bit of a distorted picture here.
Of course women had a role, but apart from very rare situations, women do not do battle. There is a reason for this that is obvioous.
Providing sustenance, taking care of wounded, etc is all part of womens traditional roles. You can add spying (intel), which is part of a macro view of war, but in itself has nothing to do with battle.
This is so important and so overlooked! Thank you for your excellent work!
4:37 "For even a long way off a woman betrays her sex when she tries to throw."
Wise words.
Gotta get me one of those wall building women 😂
Quite relevant nowadays.. half the women I live near think there all Xena and their partner are Gabriel.. Hercules has the day off..
They starved, sickened and died, for the most part.
Women have always been an extremely powerful force in history. I thin alot of times we misunderstood their place and imagine only recently women able to do things.
Ancient Greeks: Routinely mistreat, assault and enslave women of captured cities.
Also Ancient Greeks: Lose entire battles because women are suddenly very motivated to help with the defenses.
Who could've seen that coming…
Pyrrhus was maimed by his "victories", but was ultimately defeated by Greek women.
And these days they're useless during war. Great.
They got raped, idk
"Women had everything at stake in a siege" Unlike men, of course, who just died.
Though it's a medieval story, you should check out the Siege of Eger, where women made a significant contribution in every single role, even fell in great numbers alongside the men on the walls.
May this sacrifice to the algorithm give this video a well-deserved boost. Even though niche topics like this might not generate the highest view counts, I appreciate it when they're covered.
gotta say argive women seem specially dangerous among the greek women, good for them.
Fascinant 👏👏👏👏👏👏
So dusting the battlements came later?
It's not like you have to be super strong to throw stones from a wall. If the walls are high enough, even just letting a middle-sized stone drop will cave a skull in.