Booty of war, a rare case

Speaking of the booty of war raises images of soldiers plundering palaces or the houses of the wealthy citizens in the territory they just conquered. In antiquity, the booty was the soldier’s pay or the common citizen’s way to take revenge on their lords for the suffering they had endured. 

Philip II, Alexander’s father, was the first to introduce a regular professional army and pay his soldiers for their services. Alexander followed suit, but old habits are hard to break, and his soldiers did not shy away from helping themselves to the enemies’ wealth when the opportunity arose. 

There were cases where Alexander forbade his troops from appropriating the treasures they found (see: Fire over Persepolis) and restrained his army from looting Babylon and Susa. But once they arrived in Persepolis, he let them loose to rampage the city, all but the palace. The Macedonians were unstoppable in their insatiable greed, storming through the houses and plundering the premises. The Persian wealth had rubbed off onto the common people, and it was said they possessed much silver and gold. Diodorus speaks of an “orgy of plunder”. Alexander’s proud army definitely was drunk with craving. The rampage became so outrageous that Alexander had to intervene in person.  

Today’s warfare is totally different from antiquity and can hardly be compared, but looting still exists. 

Let me, for instance, stop the time clock at WW2. Although it is hardly 80 years ago, it is difficult to separate looting from saving an artifact from bombed or burned buildings. If it happens to be a museum, we can speak of looting when the precious content is carried off as a trophy. However, it can be labeled as stolen when it is taken illegally out of the country of origin, although it may be retrieved for safekeeping. 

No matter the qualifier used, the object has been removed unknowingly from its established and documented environment. 

[Picture from Smithsonian Magazine]

Recently, an intriguing case made headlines. A Roman tombstone from the 2nd century AD was found in a garden in New Orleans, USA. The fine marble slab carried an inscription in Latin, reading: “To the Spirits of the Dead for Sextus Congenius Verus, soldier of the praetorian fleet Misenensis, from the tribe (natio) of the Bessi [i.e., a Thracian], (who) lived 42 years (and) served 22 in the military, on the [trireme] Asclepius. Atilius Carus and Vettius Longinus, his heirs, made (this) for him well deserving.” 

The tombstone was clearly out of place and out of its context. After further in-depth research, the New Orleans owners discovered that this artefact had been reported missing from the Archaeological Museum of Civitavecchia, near Rome, after it was bombed by Allied forces during WW2. In the process, the museum and its collection were destroyed. The museum reopened as late as 1970. 

The tombstone had been part of an ancient cemetery in Civitavecchia that contained some twenty graves of Roman soldiers. It had been discovered in the 1860s, and its Latin inscription had been carefully recorded in a catalogue from 1910 before the stone was moved to the local Archaeological Museum. This being established, and with the help of professionals, the American and Italian authorities are presently in the process of returning the stone to Civitavecchia. 

How exactly this tombstone ended up in New Orleans is another story. The previous owners of the house came forward when the media reported on this odd discovery. The lady of the house had received the plaque from her grandparents, who lived in Italy during WW2. Her grandmother was Italian, and her grandfather was from New Orleans. 

Our world is not perfect, as we are still debating whether the Parthenon friezes, now at the British Museum, should be returned to Athens. In antiquity, the strongest or the most powerful party simply took what they wanted. 

I developed the concept of looting in antiquity in an earlier post entitled, Wartime looting in antiquity. We have come a long way since then, yet not long enough.