"Arma letale": le epidemie nelle guerre di Sicilia

Abstract

In this contribution historiographic information on individual cases of epidemic broke out during military campaigns in Sicily is dealt with (the Athenians’ siege near the walls of Syracuse in 413 BC; the Carthaginian conquest of Akragas in 406; the two sieges of Syracuse, in 405 and 395 BC, by Carthaginians; the Roman conquest of Akragas, in 262 BC, and of Syracuse, in 212 BC). The main goal is to assess not only the historical significance of infectious diseases, their causes and symptoms, but also the impact they had on the outcomes of conflict. Our interest mainly focuses on the conduct that, according to literary sources, the protagonists of war events held to face the sudden appearance of diseases, and their overflow among their troops. The judgment by the historians on the causes and effects of epidemics, widespread in military camps, is often placed in relation to the degree of piety by commanders, and their ability to foresee the impact of contagious diseases on the progress of conflict. More than the number of the dead, the commanders’ capacity of taking the most appropriate decisions in fragile conditions to solve the troubles due to the spread of epidemics was decisive to reach a happy outcome.