Ancient art of war. As warriors of past centuries intimidated their opponents
"In ancient times, people found many ways to use sound during the war. During their research of ancient written texts, I found a great variety of sound weapons. Using sound in the war evolved for millennia, from natural sounds of animals and music to modern sound devices," says Meyor . According to Meyor, often in ancient times, horses were trained to withstand different sounds, including sounds of combat pipes that could stun animals and escape.
"For example, residents of the city of Cardia, which was located in the territory of modern northwestern Turkey, were famous for their cavalry. But for the sake of entertainment, they taught the horses to" dance "to the sounds Bisaltia in the northeast of the present Greece and used this knowledge in battle against the cardians. According to historical sources, in one of the battles of Bisalti began to play music on their pipe They moved to the beat of the music.
It caused chaos on the battlefield, and the inhabitants of Bisalia won, "says Meyor. According to the scientist, horses in ancient times were also accustomed not to respond to the clatter of bronze swords and shields during the battle, but the roar of elephants brought the horses into the rabies. This was especially relevant during the campaigns of Alexander the Great to Asia in the 4th century BC. During the war with Persia, which used combat elephants in her army.
"Alexander's scouts found out that elephants have bad vision but very sensitive hearing. Therefore, they do not like unexpected loud sounds. In one of the battles Alexander Macedonian ordered the use which laid, in combination with the roar of pipes, forced the combat elephants, "says Meyor. The ancient Romans collided with combat elephants in 280 BC. During the war with the Greek king Pyrrhra.
Both the elephants and the riders who sat on them and beat the drums caused panic in the Roman soldiers and Roman horses. The Romans also used pigs and tubes to frighten elephants, which led to the severe defeat of the Greek king. The Romans used similar tactics for combating elephants in 202 BC. In the battle at the same. At that time, the Romans defeated the Carthagin Warler Hannibal and his army and thus won the Second Punic War, says Meyor.
"Later, the Romans themselves began to use elephants in their army. For example, to prepare for the battle, in 168 the king of Perseus Macedonian ordered the construction of wooden elephant models, inside which people who made different loud sounds were sitting with the help of pipes. Such tactics were to be accustomed Macedonian horses to the appearance and sounds of elephants. But it did not help the Macedonians, and the Romans won, " - says the historian.
Another way to instill horror from the enemy for thousands of years was the battle. In particular, the German tribes, who were opposed by Roman warriors during their conquest campaigns, developed special battle calls. They began as low murmurs, and then turned into a real deafening roar that frightened the Romans. Also, the ancient Celtic tribes used a carnch - a special brass tool in the form of a bronze pipe, which ended with a socket in the form of a dragon, boar or wolf.
The loud sound that the pipe was published also caused horror. It is worth mentioning another sound technology used in the war in ancient times. These are arrows that are symbolized and made a very loud sound. Chinese historians describe the use of these arrows with steppe nomads in the 1st century BC. A small bone or wooden sound chamber, whistle, attached to the handle behind the tip of the arrow.
In the battle of the heather of thousands of arrows that whistled, terrified enemies and their horses, "says Meyor. As for the 20th century, during the Second World War, both German and Soviet Army used loud music on the front line so that the opponent could not be able to to fall asleep. In the late 80's, during one of the military operations in Panama, the US Army used rock music to stun and disorient the enemy. In particular, it is used to suppress civil riots.