What Motivated Soldiers to Be the First to Climb the Siege Ladder

Being the first on the wall in a siege often meant certain death. It involved battling through to the wall, climbing an exposed ladder or siege tower through a hail of projectiles, only to meet a superior force of defenders upon reaching the top. Nevertheless, brave men in antiquity and the Middle Ages repeatedly took on this daunting challenge. They even competed against each other for the privilege, because everyone wanted to scale the defenses and face the enemy first. In this video, we ask why the soldiers of ancient Rome were willing to face death to be the first on the wall. Patreon (thank you): Paypal (thank you: Twitter: Some must read mlitary history books: Ambrose, S. E., Band of Brothers: E Company, 2001. Baime, A. J., The Accidental President: Harry S. Truman, 2017. Beard, M., Emperor of Rome: Ruling the Ancient Roman World, 2023. Bevoor, A., Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege: 1942-1943, 1999. Beevor, A., The Second World War, 2013. Brennan, P D., Gettysburg in Color, 2022. Clausewitz, C., On War, 2010. Kaushik, R., A Global History of Pre-Modern Warfare: 10,000 BCE–1500 CE, 2021. McPherson, J., Battle Cry of Freedom, The Civil War Era, 2021. Tsu, S., The Art of War, 2007, Sledge. E. B., With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa, 2008. Pomerantsev, P., How to Win an Information War, 2024. Bibliography Büttner, Anita, Untersuchungen über Ursprung und Entwicklung von Auszeichnungen im römischen Heer, in: BJ 157 (1957), pp. 127-180. Le Bohec, Yann, s. v. Auszeichungen, Militärische, in: Der Neue Pauly Online [Last accessed on: .]. Maxfield, Valerie A., The Military Decorations of the Roman Army, Berkeley/Los Angeles 1981. Wardle, David, s. v. Virtus, in: Der Neue Pauly Online: [last accessed on ].