SCENES OF HUMAN DESTRUCTION. 



127 



by malevolent passions, and of the retributive 

 justice of the Governor of the world. The de 

 struction of human life in the numerous wars in 

 which it was engaged, is beyond all specific cal 

 culation. During the space of sixteen years, 

 Hannibal, the Carthaginian general, plundered 

 no less than four hundred towns, and destroyed 

 300,000 of his enemies ; and we may safely reck 

 on, that nearly an equal number of his own 

 men must have been cut off by the opposing ar 

 mies ; so that several millions of human victims 

 must have been sacrificed in these bloody and 

 cruel wars. 



The following is a summary statement of the 

 number of human beings that were slain in seve 

 ral of the battles recorded in history. In the 

 year 101 before Christ, in an engagement between 

 Marius, the Roman Consul, and the Ambrones 

 and the Teutones, in Transalpine Gaul, there 

 were slain of these barbarians, besides what fell 

 in the Roman army, 200,000, some historians 

 say, 290,000. And it is related, that the inhabi 

 tants of the neighbouring country made fences 

 for vineyards of their bones. In the following 

 year, the Romans, under the command of the 

 same general, slaughtered 140,000 of the Cimbri, 

 and took 60,000 prisoners. In the year 105, B. 

 C. the Romans, in a single engagement with the 

 Cimbri and the Teutones, lost upwards of 80,000 

 men. In the battle of Canrtse, the Romans were 

 surrounded by the forces of Hannibal, and cut 

 to p : cces. After an engagement of only three 

 how *, the carnage became so dreadful, that even 

 the Carthaginian general cried out, to spare the 

 conquered. Above 40,000 Romans lay dead on 

 the field, and six thousand of the Carthaginian 

 army. What a dreadful display of the rage and 

 fury of diabolical passions must have been exhi 

 bited on this occasion ! and what a horrible scene 

 must have been presented on the field of battle, 

 when we consider, that, in the mode of ancient 

 warfare, the slain were literally mangled, and cut 

 to pieces ! In the battle of Issus, between Alex 

 ander and Darius, were slain 110,000; in the 

 battle of Arbela, two years afterwards, between 

 the same two despots, 300,000 ; in the battle 

 between Pyrrhus and the Romans, 25,000 ; in 

 the battle between Scipio and Asdrubal, 40,000 ; 

 in the battle between Suetonius and Boadicea, 

 80,000. In the siege of Jerusalem by Vespa 

 sian, according to the account of Josephus, there 

 were destroyed, in the most terrible manner, 

 1,100,000; and there were slaughtered in Jeru 

 salem, in 170, B. C. by Antiochus, 40,000. At 

 Gyrene, there were slain of Romans and Greeks, 

 by the Jews, 220,000 ; in Egypt and Cyprus, in 

 the reign of Trajan, 240,000 ; and in the reign 

 of Adrian, 580,000 Jews. After Julius Csesar 

 had carried his arms into the territories of Usi- 

 petes in Germany, he defeated them with such 

 slaughter, that 400,000 are said to have perished 

 in one battle. At the defeat of Attila, King of 



the Huns, at Chalons, there perished about 

 300,000. In the year 631, there were slain by the 

 Saracens in Syria, 60,000 ; in the invasion of 

 Milan by the Goths, no less than 300,000 ; and 

 in A. D. 734, by the Saracens in Spain, 370,000. 

 In the battle of Fontenay, were slaughtered 

 100,000 ; in the battle of Yermouk, 150,000 ; and 

 in the battle between Charles Martel and the 

 Mahometans, 350 ; 000. In the battle of Muret, in 

 A. D. 1213, between the Catholics and the Al- 

 bigenses, were slain 32,000; in the battle of 

 Cressy, in 1346, 50,000 ; in the battle of Hali- 

 don-hill, in 1333, 20,000; in the battle of Agin- 

 court, in 1415, 20,000; in the battle of Towton, 

 in 1461, 37,000; in the battle of Lepanto, in 

 1571, 25.000; at the siege of Vienna, in 1683, 

 70,000; and in a battle in Persia, in 1734, 

 60,000.+ 



The most numerous army of which we have 

 any account in the annals of history, was that of 

 Xerxes. According to the statement of Rollin, 

 which is founded on the statements of Herodotus, 

 Isocrates, and Plutarch, this army consisted of 

 1,700,000 foot, 80,000 horse, and 20,000 men 

 for conducting the carriages and camels. On 

 passing the Hellespont, an addition was made to 

 it from other nations, of 300,000, which made 

 his land forces amount to 2,100,000. His fleet 

 consisted of 1207 vessels, each carrying 230 

 men ; in all 277,610 men, which was augmented 

 by the European nations, with 1200 vessels car 

 rying 240,000 men. Besides this fleet thesmall 

 galleys, transport ships, &c. amounted to 3000, 

 containing about 240,000 men. Including ser 

 vants, eunuchs, women, sutlers, and others, who 

 usually follow an army, it is reckoned, that the 

 whole number of souls that followed Xerxes into 

 Greece, amounted to 5,283,220 ; which is more 

 than the whole of the male population of Gibdt 

 Britian and Ireland, above twenty years of age, 

 and nearly triple the whole population of Scot 

 land. After remaining some time in Greece, 

 nearly the whole of this immense army, along 

 with the fleet, was routed and destroyed. Mar- 

 donius, one of his ablest commanders, with an 

 army of 300,000, was finally defeated and slain 

 at the battle of Platea, and only three thousand 

 of this vast army, with difficulty escaped de 

 struction. 



The destruction of human life in the wars 

 which accompanied and followed the incursions 

 of the barbarians, who overthrew the Roman 

 empire, is beyond all calculation or conception. 

 It forms an era in history most degrading to the 

 human species. In the war which was waged in 

 Africa, in the days of Justinian, Procopius re 

 marks, &quot; It is no exaggeration to say, that fiv 



The above statements are collected from the 

 facts stated in Rollin s Ancient History, Millet s Ele 

 ments, Mavor s Universal History, the historical Ar 

 ticles in the Encyclopedia Britannica, from a list at 

 battles contained in the &quot; Pictures of War,&quot; &c. 



