It must be a truly awful thing when a city falls. What happened to Baghdad when the Americans took it was nothing compared to what happened at the end of a siege in the ancient world. The armies of old fought hand to hand, and when they finally breached the wall of a city—often after years of fighting—there was no holding them back until the bloodlust had finally been satisfied.
Surrendering men should not be killed—but there is a time to surrender, and when it has past, you might as well fight to the end. In a way, this was
