Plundering the enemy camp

One of the most common forms of ‘corruption’ we can find in armies is when plundering the enemy camp affected the outcome of a battle, either preventing a complete victory or leaving an army vulnerable to counterattack. Livy’s account of operations in 216 BC after the defeat at Lake Trasimene and before Cannae (22.42.1-12) has the Carthaginian camp apparently abandoned and Roman soldiers inspired by greed clamouring for the order to advance and plunder it. The consul Varro “behaved like a member of the mob of soldiers”, ordering the advance whereas the other consul, Paulus, rightfully suspected some treachery and urged caution. At Cynoscephalae in 197 BC, Plutarch blames the Roman allies, the Aetolians, for allowing Philip V of Macedon to escape because they fell to plundering the Macedonian camp…

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Ancient Warfare (Digital) - 1 Issue, AW XVII.1

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