The fate of prisoners of war

As the U.S. recently discovered, military victory is quickly followed by the problem of what to do with captured enemy soldiers. How have other nations dealt with POWs?

How were POWs treated in antiquity?

Barbarically. Throughout most of history, warriors considered death preferable to dishonor, so soldiers who were captured were viewed with contempt. If not killed outright, POWs were used as slaves or tortured and maimed for amusement. In 352 B.C., Philip of Macedon ordered the drowning of 3,000 prisoners taken from the Greek city-state of Phocis. Ancient Rome threw prisoners into the Colosseum to die in staged battles or be eaten by wild animals. Brutality was the norm through the Dark Ages, when the Crusaders butchered 2,500 Muslim prisoners at the siege of the Palestinian port of Acra in 1105. Tamerlane, the Turkish conqueror, reportedly slaughtered 100,000 prisoners in 1398 during the sack of Delhi.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us